My second draft profile mini-sketches is out today, and as you can see below the late season lists are moving away from what was commonly believed up until about a week ago.

I find this interesting as May moves into June when the seemingly inevitable desire to make this dynamic and have players move up and down to liven things up. Stock rising and falling are the terms. Sometimes, like with Gaving McKenna, for example, it makes sense that an opinion of a player changes as their performance over a season changes. Sometimes it seems like you're watching someone try to liven up the ratings on a TV series that has lost its audience.

Or course mock drafts are not the same as rankings. Mock drafts are about what a person thinks a team will think they should do, and often involve imputing motives to the team that are suspect. I think San Jose looking for a right-shooting defender is an obvious thing they need to do. But they have a large number of prospects. They don't have to draft for it.

And in before the chants of BPA, this draft is very much one where there is real disagreement over who is best and what best even means, even at number one, and that's not just controversy for the sake of it. This isn't Laine vs Matthews stuff. They may very well draft Reid because they like him best.

I enjoyed this move by Carolina. Not because I care at all about this player, but because they're just signalling that they are so relaxed, have so much free time, they can start re-signing their depth guys.

The Marlies are having practices – more on them later today, but that means they're talking about various things:

The PWHL did something I'm not sure has happened in playoff hockey other than because of weather. They postponed yesterday's game between Montréal and Minnesota set for the Laval arena.

GAME 5 OF PWHL WALTER CUP PLAYOFFS BETWEEN MINNESOTA AND MONTRÉAL RESCHEDULED FOR MAY 12
NEW YORK AND TORONTO (May 11, 2026) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) has announced that Game 5 of the PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs between the Minnesota Frost and Montréal Victoire will be played TOMORROW, Tuesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. ET at Pla…
Professional Women's Hockey League

I guess it's a sign of the times that they felt compelled to get out in front of the usual disinformation and explain that this wasn't hantavirus.

I can't imagine what someone would have to do to get a suspension other than in a game they were eliminated in:

Sabres’ Malenstyn, Canadiens’ Xhekaj both fined for Game 3 infractions
Buffalo Sabres forward Beck Malenstyn and Montreal Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj were both fined following infractions made during Montreal’s 6-2 win over Buffalo in Sunday’s Game 3, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced on Monday.
TSNTSN.ca Staff

This was later confirmed by the Leafs and they updated their website as well. By sorting this out now, Doan is able to interview for any position without the asking for permission step getting in the way. He has interviewed in Vancouver.

Both Vancouver and Nashville have interviewed many people for their GM jobs and no one has been hired yet in a situation that seems a little weird.

All the expected topics here:

Maple Leafs mailbag: How will GM John Chayka attack the off-season?
From the No. 1 pick to the head coach, the Maple Leafs face plenty of questions this off-season. Sportsnet’s Luke Fox opened up the mailbag to dig into some potential answers.
Sportsnet.caLuke Fox

Last night, the big drama was should the Avs play Woody in net or go with Woody. In the end, they chose Woody and took a 3-1 series lead.

They'd like some rest too.

That's it for now, have a great day.

Mock Turtle Soup
“Neil, it’s your butcher, Lee.” “Hi Lee, what can I do for you?” “Did you by any chance order a calf’s head a couple of weeks ago? It’s the kind of thing you would order.” “You’re right it is the s…
British Food: A HistoryLike
From The Branches