Hello puppet people.  We’ve got a piece on Leaf defence targets coming out at 9, but until then, here are your links.

ICYMI

Katya: European Prospect Report Week Thirteen Vladimir Boobineb returns to the WHL!

Achariya: The Leaf Blueprint Episode Five Acha continues her anthropological look at the Leafs’ propaganda exercise.  Bozak is a veteran now, despite also being Young.

Around The NHL

The Athletic: Nikita Korostelev Prospect Report Joshua Kloke takes a look at the Russian RW prospect.  The Leafs seem to have drafted well out of Russia in recent years.

On The Forecheck: Swiss National League Still Dominated By German-Speaking Teams The folks at our Nashville sister site take a look at the Swiss National League, where ZSC Lions and SC Bern may be heading for a Champions League showdown.

Defending Big D: Line “Ruffling”, Or Line Chemistry, And Its Impact On Winning The Stars’ blog looks for a correlation between frequent lineup changes and record.

Canes Country: 2017 Carolina Hurricans Expansion Draft The Canes are excellently positioned for the expansion draft.  That Pesce-Slavin pairing they have going impressed me a lot when we played them, and still more so when I looked at their numbers afterward.  And they’re both exempt!

The Cannon: The Columbus Guide To Expansion The Columbus franchise is now old enough to get a driver’s license, and they have some advice on the expansion process for the Golden Knights.

Winging It In Motown: Defending Gustav Nyquist - Again Remember when Nyquist scored 48 points in 57 games, and everyone said he’s good, but he’s not that good?  Well, he’s good, but he’s not that good.

The Globe and Mail: Future NHL Stars Learn About Drugs, Taxes And More At Rookie Orientation Program The league and the players’ union have an educational program that tries to give rookies a heads up, hopefully steering them away from the experiences of Jack Johnson or Rich Clune.

For the record, Patrik Laine is a superb sniper, and while the “He’s better than Matthews!” chatter is silly, he’s going to have a great career.  This video is nonetheless hilarious.