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Quick Strikes: Former Syracuse Crunch goalie Mike McKenna goes for Calder Cup in Toronto

We have a new opening at 3rd goalie. You think McKenna is interested?

The Bolts

Steve Yzerman and the Tampa Bay Lightning made a minor trade with the LA Kings, acquiring Andy Andreoff in exchange for Peter Budaj. [Raw Charge]

Moving on to Andreoff, the 27-year-old winger will carry a cap hit of $677,500 for one year, and becomes a UFA in the next summer. He has spent the past three full seasons in and out of the lineup with the Kings, totaling 21 points (11g, 10a) and 196 penalty minutes in 141 games.

There are a handful of restricted free agents (RFAs) that Yzerman and the Lightning will have to navigate around this summer. [Raw Charge]

Adam Erne was starting to show some of the promise we had been expecting of him late last season. An unfortunate lower body injury ended his season prematurely. As a waiver eligible player, he should have an inside track on winning a spot out of training camp. He could slide into Chris Kunitz’s fourth line left wing role with the ability to move up on to the third line in the event of an injury. He also needs to play in 31 NHL games this season for the team to avoid him becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Staff and executive contracts aren’t as readily available as player terms and conditions, but OMG STEVE YZERMAN’S CONTRACT IS UP IN A YEAR OH NO OH NO DON’T READ THIS DETROIT!

In our final player grades we looked at the goaltenders. It should come as a shock to no one that Andrei Vasilevskiy is a straight-A student. [Raw Charge]

This shouldn’t be surprising. The backups didn’t play much this year so being too low or too high on them wouldn’t make much sense. Andrei Vasilevskiy played sixty five games and was one of the keys to the Lightning’s success, particularly early in the season. In that context, him receiving a high grade makes sense.

The Prospects

The Syracuse Crunch made a couple of one-year AHL deals with forwards Troy Bourke and Dylan Brassart. Both played the majority of their seasons in the ECHL, but got a cup of coffee in the AHL for several games. [Raw Charge] [Syracuse Crunch]

Brassart, on the other hand, is a newcomer to our organization. The undrafted center started his professional career in the Minnesota Wild organization before moving to Vancouver Canucksgroup last year. In nine AHL games with the Utica Comets, Brassart did not put up any points, but in 50 ECHL games, he put up a very good 54 points (23g, 31a) as the Idaho Steelheads fourth-leading scorer.

Shoutout to Cory Conacher for his great work supporting diabetes research.

Former Crunch starting netminder Mike McKenna is heading into Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals against the Toronto Marlies on Thursday night. McKenna has put up ungodly numbers against the four teams he’s been up against in the playoffs this season; he has a .929 save percentage and stopped 43 of 45 shots in a do-or-die Game 6 win (that I was at). Full disclosure, I’m a Torontonian and I hope he loses :D [The Hockey News]

While development is a big part of the AHL, it’s also the second-best league in the world for a reason. For all the rookies who dazzle in the short-term, you can’t forget the veterans who, when it comes to the post-season, often make the biggest impact. The Texas Stars are heading to Game 7 against the Toronto Marlies on Thursday and 35-year-old goaltender Mike McKenna is the reason.

The Game

SB Nation is running a mock draft in the month running up to actual NHL draft at the end of June. You can find everything all the SBN sites have written here. But anyway, Loserpoints broke down draft picks 18-21 and how it fits in the context of the league. [Raw Charge]

The Flyers selected Rasmus Kupari just a few picks earlier and I praised that pick. I’m going to praise the Philly crew again here as they add another high end talent. If it’s possible to be jealous of a blog’s mock draft, I’m jealous of BSB’s mock draft. Kupari and Kravtsov is a heck of a haul and if the real Flyers replicate that on draft night, that would be a huge win.

It looks like the Washington Capitals will be trading Phillippe Grubauer this summer. [Washington Post]

“For Gruby, I think he wants to be a No. 1,” MacLellan said, expressing his desire to keep Grubauer but wanting to do what is best for the netminder. “It is just a personal thing for Gruby. I would love to have Gruby back. We’ve got two really good goaltenders. I just think he is at the point where he wants his own team and he wants to be the guy that is running the show for his own team and I respect that.”

Highlight of the Night: Is it October yet?

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