Sami Vatanen re-signs in Anaheim, pretty reasonable deal at four years and about $5M per. He is a player with such potential, always working on his strength and defensive game and blessed with great instincts and speed going the other way. I feel like they were better off when they had Beauchemin and Lovejoy but this Ducks group is still very promising, especially Vatanen and Lindholm.

Pavel Datsyuk made it official, he is headed home to Russia. The Wings instantly become players in the Stamkos sweepstakes and any other peripheral competition for top free agents. Datsyuk is probably the most entertaining player I have ever seen. He didn't quite have the power of Forsberg but he had all the imagination and creativity, maybe more. Just a brilliant player who could do things with his sticks and his skates that few others could, and he put all his tools in a very tidy box. That all jumped out at me right away 15 years ago, but over the course of his career his defensive game became absolutely superlative. I think this guy is the mark by which all his peers should be measured, including guys who are considered "better" by many like Crosby and Toews. He was a complete player and there was never a dull moment with him on the ice.