From The Branches

Links on a Monday Phaneuf or Kessel: If You Can Only Sign One Kessel 10 times out of 10. TLN's Top 20 Leafs Prospects - Honourable Mentions What that says. The Departed: How Losing Grabovski and MacArthur Will Force the Leafs to Think Differently Ayup.

The Reim Minister of Defense. The Sultan of Saves. The Backup to Bernier. Whoops. I was actually going to link to HockeyBuzz - which is a sentence I never thought I'd write - because Travis Yost has been doing some phenomenal work with the Senators' finances. It's

Links Interview with Leafs Scout Garth Malarchuk Relatively speaking, this one is pretty tame. Landeskog Signs Sever Year Extension With Avs Me thinks this means ROR is as good as gone come March. That's pretty much it. Ah summer.

From Kadri to Phaneuf to Luongo, I've got a bit of everything for you.

Bring your runners.

Here be your links: Jake Gardiner: A Breakout Season Around the Corner? You mean like his 30 point campaign in 2011-12? Steve Dangle Podcast - August 11th David Alter is apparently badass. Who Should Play with Bozak and Kessel? Can we get Bozak to go play in the street? Seven

Every now and then, when it's been a while since I've seen a hockey game, and longer since I hit the ice, I end up seeing something that makes me feel like I've gotta drop everything and get back out there right now. It&

That's it, wave.

So what are you doing to keep yourself sane during August? Winning a Fight Has Impact on Future Outcomes They are bad outcomes. Machine Learning for the NHL Part 1 Machine Learning for the NHL Part 2 This is some pretty wild stuff. Eastern Conference Pairing/Tier vs Team Production

The Phoenix Coyotes staying in Glendale is the most exciting thing to report on, right now.

Take your morning from "drab" to "jacked up" by checking out this Phil Kessel video, care of @PhillyCheese81 (and/or @HadenFranke): And then follow it up with this Grabbo video (but stop at the 3:40 mark to maintain happy feelings.): Oh man I miss that

Cam Charon wrote an article about anchoring bias, and did some analysis on Benoit Pouliot. Joe Haggerty dismissed, and may have been influenced by anchoring bias when he did so. It's a little funny.

Ah, August. The slowest period of the offseason - teams are starting to line up, players and executives are taking their vacation, and prospect camps haven't opened yet. Here are a few links to get you through the day: Vintage Leaf Memories - Carl Brewer: the Jake Gardiner-like former

...and for the subsequent cap-clearing trade to be made.

Linkages Can the Leafs Afford a Lame Duck Kessel this Season? I doubt it. If the season goes south, I think Kessel will too. An Interview with Leafs Assistant Coach Scott Gordon Yes, it's full of more stupid comments as if you even needed to ask that question.

You know what time it is.

Mark Fraser's arbitration hearing is set for tomorrow. Reports are that the Leafs are looking to sign him for around $800k, and that his camp wasn't upwards of $2M per season over an unspecified term. This begs the question; why was Mark Fraser given a qualifying

In the - uh, rush - of last week, we never really took a second to talk about the Leafs' schedule this year. As always, Dirk Hoag's Super Schedule is helpful - the Leafs tie for the 11th most back-to-backs (at 16) and travel the 8th fewest miles.

That's right kids, the Godfather himself is turning another year older. How old? 30 whole years old. Like really really old. So give PPP a big heartfelt happy birthday in the comments, on twitter, wherever. Links What the Nonis Extension Likely Means about Leiweke's Influence It&

Embracing Numbers - Or Why I Learned to Watch the Game AND Use Statistics Read this article as it makes some very good points like the ones below: I'm warning people about confusing what is and what should be. Despite your system and your focus, not only is your

If you've got links to your thoughts on the Carl Gunnarsson signing, toss 'em in the comments.

Well ain't dick all happening in the world of hockey right now except Team Canada rosterbation which is totally yawnnnnnnn. But that doesn't mean we don't have links for you. Know a Writer: Jesse Spector He's a darling. Maple Leafs in Waiting

Last night on Twitter Dave Bolland was somehow brought up in conversation and some Hawks fans joined in with their take on Bolland and the picture both they and the stats painted wasn't very nice. Here are some highlights: @SkinnyPPPhish @felixpotvin @fearthefin Kane dragged his dead ass up

Because PPP forgot to do his homework.

Last week I gave you all the opportunity to vote on who you felt were the all-time best and worst Maple Leafs. Despite the fact that many of you can't follow simple directions, I was able to tally up your votes and determine the two rosters. Without