LHinks: Matt Martin saga, Yan Danis's salary, fading Tanguay rumors

The Crosby/Bobby Ryan draft. It wasn’t a great first round after O’Marra was taken at 15. None of the guys around him from 13-16 have even played an NHL game.

But you’d certainly prefer:

• the Czech Martin Hanzal (17) or Nashville’s D pick Ryan Parent (18)
• TJ Oshie at 24 or Edmonton’s Andrew Cogliano at 25
• and of course Paul Stastny in the 2nd round at 44

Ah, hindsight.

He was named asst. GM/director of scouting in August 2006; after that he’d been the head Euro scout for three years.

I agree, he’s done well from what we can tell so far. It’s always a guessing game, but there is evidence of sound strategy and principles behind his approach, which should pay off.

Hey, thanks. “The Steelers of hockey” — whew, got a ways to go there, but I like the recipe. Alas, the Hurricanes already claimed Bill Cowher.

FYI for everyone: the Complaint Department is always open, too. You want more or less (or different) stuff? I’m certainly open to input. And if there is stuff I don’t touch (like fantasy hockey) or stuff you want to expand on, you can make a FanPost, which we can also promote to the center of the page when conditions warrant.

Rec’d -—————————————-here—————————————————^

Yeah, I’m much more of a “wake me up when there is real news” guy, myself. I try not to use any energy on him, but I do mourn that the concept of the hockey rumor has been destroyed. We can play fantasy GM, tossing ideas around at the bar, or we can hear about published reports from responsible reporters — both are great. In between is that messy middle area of posting every “tip” and conversation someone allegedly said. Which just gets hopes up and … drives traffic. That’s my piece on that, though I’d add with every rumor a player agent is also a likely suspect.

I did hear word of Cheechoo stuff, which sounds 10 times more unrealistic than Tanguay.

The only reason I want Tanguay is to flip him later for picks and prospects. He’s not going to turn this team into a cup contender or even a playoff worthy team. So I don’t really care.

To me that’s it, right there. He’d help scoring this year (and move us closer to the middle?) but doesn’t fit the long-term goal. So if he wants a long-term deal, his deadline trade value probably diminishes.