Quick Hits: Finally Some Action Edition

In Red Wings Land

Tatar Relieved To Return To Wings After ‘Tough’ Summer | Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News

With the Wings closing camp and getting ready to begin pre-season play tonight, Ted Kulfan had a bunch of closing thoughts to wrap up this early part of the hockey calendar. What really drew interest for me, though, was a tidbit about the Tatar contract negotiations. Quoting Tatar himself:

“I don’t think we were as far as the media was talking. I was reading some of the stuff, it was misleading. But we had it under control all the time. Me and Kenny (Holland, general manager) were talking and I didn’t see any issue.”

This may be something we should all keep in mind, given that we are still waiting for the Athanasiou situation to come to some type of close. Maybe, since AA hasn’t bolted for the KHL as of this writing, we should assume that pieces are still being shuffled but it’s all under control?

Around The League

Postmedia Players Poll: NHL Stars Expect McDavid, Crosby, Karlsson To Dominate | Mike Zeisberger, Toronto Sun

The Toronto Sun (of Phil Kessel hot-dog scandal fame) put together a highly scientific and widely answered poll of 25 (!) players, asking them various questions about what could happen this coming season. Some obvious predictions are obvious, while others get a bit interesting - like predicting Erik Karlsson to win the Norris despite currently being out indefinitely after ankle surgery. Check it out and let’s laugh at whichever players are wrong come June of 2018!