This coming week is a busy one on the NHL calendar with the draft taking place in Nashville on Thursday (round #1) and Friday (the way too may other rounds), and then the big day coming next Saturday: free agency day.

Canada Day will be a big free agent day for the Leafs who have more than a dozen players eligible for unrestricted status, meaning they can sign a new contract here again or with any team they want. By the end of this week we'll know so much more about the strategy of new Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving.

Until then we can enjoy the NHL Awards show on Monday too! Or not. With its cringeworthy jokes, celebrity guests you've only vaguely heard of, or do remember but only from when they were famous thirty years ago, it's probably be a pass, but we do have the fun of Mitch Marner up for the Patrice Bergeron Tr... err... I mean the Frank J. Selke trophy. It would be amazing to see Marner win it, but he would have to get more votes than Patrice Bergeron who has won this five of the past eleven years and who is basically at the end of his hockey career now and so I'm certain they'll give it to him again one last time, though once again, he earned it.

Other News

If you're wondering what that smell is...

Logan Day still hasn’t taken his jersey off after winning the Calder Cup
Hershey Bears head coach Todd Nelson said during the Calder Cup Finals that defenseman Logan Day has “ice in his veins.” Little did we know that Day also has superior olfactory sensory neurons in his nose. By that, I mean…
Ian OlandRMNB

There's some people unhappy in West Lorne that while their community won the Kraft Hockeyville contest the actual NHL pre-season game associated with that win won't happen in their town, but instead in St. Thomas, which is a 30 minute drive east on the 401.

Local organizers working to ensure West Lorne area kids’ front and centre for NHL pre-season game in St. Thomas
Excitement for the West Lorne Kraft Hockeyville celebration is already high, and the event is still three months away, but some are expressing disappointment an NHL pre-season game won’t be played in the West Lorne.
CTV News

The Rangers have now fully restocked their coaching staff after their end-of-season purge.

Phil Housley Named Associate Head Coach
Rangers announce their newest coaching addition
Roberto Solis-ByxbeeBlueshirt Banter

There is a battle brewing over who has the biggest hockey stick.

Duncan, B.C., could soon lose record for world’s largest hockey stick to U.S. town
A battle of who has the biggest hockey stick in the world is brewing outside of rinks in Canada and the U.S.
CTV News

Things to do in Toronto this weekend beyond the parade.

It’s Pride weekend in Toronto and there’s more happening than you think | CBC News
Friday marks the official kickoff of the Toronto Pride festival weekend and beyond the parade itself, there are plenty of under-the-radar events you might not want to miss.
Tyler CheeseCBC
From The Branches