The Canucks did a big contract on an unproven player that if this works out will be a cheap deal in a few years:

The deadline for eight-year deals is September 15.

‘We were aggressive’: Canucks place massive, calculated bet on Zeev Buium
Under new general manager Ryan Johnson and co-presidents Henrik and Daniel Sedin, the Canucks have placed a massive, calculated bet on Buium, who was the centrepiece in the haul of assets Vancouver received last December for trading superstar defenceman Quinn Hughes to Minnesota.
Sportsnet.caIain MacIntyre

Response from Bill Daily to The Athletic.


"After a post from the X account “NHLtoAtlanta” gained steam Friday, the National Hockey League denied that one of the groups developing a project to build an arena in suburban Atlanta that could house an expansion team has “submitted a final packet for approval.”

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic Atlanta is “not even remotely close to an application phase” after the development team behind The Gathering in South Forsyth posted an update saying it submitted a final financing packet to the NHL for review and approval.

Although the group behind the project to build that arena continues to update the league on progress toward a bid for a franchise, the application process is formal, comprehensive and time-consuming, and none of what the group has provided forms the basis of an application.
The chasm between journalism and insiderdom has never been wider
Pablo Torre’s reporting into the Clippers will be remembered for generations, proving the true value of journalism over insiderdom.
Awful AnnouncingMatt Yoder
One player who has to deliver for every Atlantic Division team
The Atlantic Division might just be hockey’s Group of Death. Which makes it even more important for each of these eight players to come through for their squads this season, writes Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon.
Sportsnet.caRyan Dixon

Your schedule for once this weekend is over:

We continue the T25 next week starting on Tuesday with number 7.

On the weekend we have the Leafs prospects in Gatineau, so we expect a roster early this week for that event.

We will wrap up the T25 after that weekend and move right into profiles of new Leafs players as training camp begins, sometime around September 17.

The preseason roars up on us fast with two games on Saturday, September 19. That's right two weeks to quasi-hockey.

Time to get ready! Summer is almost over. Enjoy your long weekend, everyone.

From The Branches