In case you hadn't heard, Paul Holmgren shipped Jeff Carter and Mike Richards out of town to make room for Ilya Bryzgalov's hefty salary. But of course you heard that. We know this, because so did everyone else. And apparently, "everyone else" has an opinion on the matter.
We start in Philly itself, where Broad Street Hockey writes that the Richards trade might have been overkill - which, of course, should surprise no one. Broad Street Buzz Continues by saying that trading the captain might not have just been overkill, but that it might be something the franchise can't bounce back right away from. Philly Sports Daily has a bit of a sunnier outlook (like what I did there? Philly? Sunny? nevermind) on things, though, and FoxNews.com takes heart in the opportunity that now awaits a much younger Flyers core.
Back in Boston, Johnny Boychuk sat down with ESPN's Louise Cornetta to tell how winning the Stanley Cup was the highlight of his career in his ESPN Boston diary. For Bruins Assistant Director of Media Relations Eric Tosi, a similar story unfolded, as told in the Beverly Citizen. Meanwhile, NESN begs the new legions of Bruins fans to stick around when October gets here.
Puck Daddy looks back to Wednesday night's NHL Awards, and offers some interesting numbers on the voting for the night's awards. Lambert also picked up the slack for Wyshynski and Leahy and recapped the ceremony with a best and worst commentary.
But of course, the focus of the NHL world is on Minneapolis, where tonight the 2011 Entry Draft will begin. Cup of Chowder's own Kathryn discussed a few months ago what the draft has done for the Bruins lately at 7th to Last. While the Bruins have had recent success in the draft, it hasn't been all rosy, and NHL.com details where the Bruins (and the rest of the Northeast division) have struggled and succeeded in calling names. In the StarTribune, Kent Youngblood discusses how Minnesotans - who've made up a large part of the early round of the draft lately - take different roads to achieve their dreams. The Toronto Sun takes a closer look at the unique business relationship between Leafs' GM Brian Burke and Boston's Peter Chiarelli. Finally, The LeafsNation shows teams - looking at you, now, Florida - just how they can reach the salary cap floor.
Happy reading!