Quick Strikes for Thursday, June 25

First off, congratulations to Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman for winning the NHL GM of the Year award last night in Las Vegas. [Tampa Bay Lightning]
Surprise, surprise, we have new rule changes already for next season. You’d think that for one year, they wouldn’t tweak the rules any. This is why both players and referees have no idea what a penalty is on the ice, I swear. [NHL.com]
Already, speculation is rampant in regards to whether coaches will use two defensemen and one forward, two forwards and one defenseman, or just go for the full three forwards in with the new 3-on-3 overtime rules. But only goalie fans really think about what goalies might have to do differently. And, well, most people aren’t goalie fans – so here’s what one thinks about it. [InGoal Magazine]
Speaking of the NHL, they’ve opened up a window of opportunity for cities looking for an NHL expansion team. If awarded, the teams wouldn’t start playing until 2018. Guess we’ll see whether the Western Conference will get two more teams, or if the NHL will end up with another league realignment. [NHL.com]
The Montreal Canadiens may not have made it past the Lightning during playoffs, but their goaltender Carey Price raked in the trophies at the awards. And it was well-deserved, too. Many of the media had said that if Price hadn’t played so well, the Habs would never have gotten as far as they did. Congratulations to all of the winners. [TSN]
A lot of the salary cap and trade talk about the Bolts on Twitter has centered around defenseman Matt Carle. His contract takes up some cap room, and there are younger (see: cheaper) players that are able to take his place. However, should the Lightning really consider moving him – assuming they can? [Roar of the Thunder]
Mostly due to his lack of playing time during the playoffs, people are also speculating about whether or not Jonathan Drouin might be moved. Please note that this is a very tentative sort of speculation, as no one really believes he’ll be traded. Still, he’s only 20 years old, and he’s still hasn’t quite reached his full potential just yet. [The Lightning Lounge]
Could the Edmonton Oilers be another trade partner to shed salary with? It’s hard to say, especially with a new general manager in charge. But, I suppose it’s possible. [Lightning Shout]
I think we’re all thanking the hockey gods that Steven Stamkos still has a year left on his current contract. Can you imagine if this was the end of the contract, and he hadn’t been signed yet? Stammergeddon 2: Revenge of Toronto would be in full hysterical swing right about now. [Tampa Bay Times]
Former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle received a vote – a 3rd place vote, to be exact – for NHL Coach of the Year. The Leafs ended the season, if you’ll remember, second to last in the Eastern Conference. So was this a joke vote? Discuss amongst yourselves. [Pension Plan Puppets]
It seems that, no matter who’s in charge, the Vancouver Canucks go through goaltenders like tissue paper. They traded Roberto Luongo to make Eddie Lack their number one guy, and now they want to trade Eddie Lack to make Ryan Miller their starter? Do us all a favor, Vancouver. If you’re gong to trade Lack, trade him to the Florida Panthers so that he and Luongo can continue their bromance. [Canucks Army]
The NHL draft is this weekend, and while there will be a number of players who are not named Connor McDavid & Jack Eichel that will be drafted – as well as those two – there will be many player that won’t get drafted at all. Here are five that probably won’t, but may be brilliant pickups, all the same. [SB Nation College Hockey]

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