Krejci bests Plekanec (and other links)

I consider myself to be the EOTP equivalent of a shitty parent. I'm out of touch, don't communicate particularly well, drift in and out of your life at my convenience, and show up even when you feel you're getting on fine without me. Until I get busted on a parole violation, you pretty much have to put up with my nonsense as I'm part of the family. It's undesirable, I know, but just humor me in my ramblings, dear reader. I've collected some quality links for my first post of the summer.

Habs News and Analysis

• If you're looking for pertinent (or even frivolous) Montreal Canadiens roster news, you've come to the wrong place. I can't find anything of note other than Tomas Kaberle being informed that the Habs will use their final compliance buyout on his contract.
• Christopher Boucher looks at Lars Eller's performance trends over the course of the 2013 season. As time progressed, Eller's overall risk/reward rating ("how many more successful plays a player makes than unsuccessful plays per-minute of ice-time") fell slightly, while his (average) defensive zone risk/reward rating skyrocketed, increasing by about 60% from the start of the year to the end of the year.
• The Zlatá hokejka or Golden Hockey Stick is an award given to the Czech hockey player that's had the best season as voted on by coaches, managers, trainers, and journalists associated with the Czech Ice Hockey Association. After finding himself in second-place in May's pre-award poll, Tomas Plekanec fell to third in the final voting. Pleks' nemesis David Krejci vaulted from fifth to first to capture the prize, with Jaromir Jagr taking second overall.

General News and Analysis

• There's not too much roster information of note heading into Game Six of the Stanley Cup Finals. Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa, who was scratched in Game 3 due to an upper-body injury, is expected to play Monday while Chicago coach Joel Quenneville is "optimistic" that Jonathan Toews will draw into the lineup after leaving Game 5 with an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Patrice Bergeron, much like Cory Schneider earlier in the playoffs, is suffering from a general "body injury." He's day-to-day and as of writing it's unclear whether or not he'll start. Watch the Bruins get eliminated at 8:00 ET on CBC, NBC, or RDS.
• Corey Sznajder over at Shutdown Line has scoring chance data and analysis for Game 5 and the Chicago-Boston series as a whole. Sznajder notes that the Blackhawks have out-chanced the Bruins at even strength in every game except for Game 3. Boston's superior goaltending and special teams play is why they find themselves two wins away from the Cup.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired the rights to Los Angeles Kings RFA goaltender Jonathan Bernier in exchange for Matt Frattin (RW), Ben Scrivens (G), a second round draft pick in 2014 or 2015, and a $500K cap hit. Cam Charron over at Leafs Nation is lukewarm to the deal, noting that the 24-year-old Bernier has only made 54 NHL starts since 2008. Charron also points out that Bernier's AHL save percentage (.927) is comparable to numbers posted by Scrivens (0.923). At least this deal is better than a Colton Orr extension.
• With the draft a mere week away, and the mock draft process pretty much exhausted, the hockey blogging community has turned its attention to commenting on potential trades. Senators blogger Travis Yost and Oilers writer Lowetide examine a potential Ales Hemsky-Zack Smith deal making the rounds in the blogosphere.
• Meanwhile, the Wild have apparently expressed interest in Penguins goaltender/epileptic chicken Marc-Andre Fleury. Also, according to "rumblings" heard by Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger, Dave Nonis has made Double Dion available.
• John Tortorella is likely to be named the next head coach of the Vancouver Canucks while Alain Vigneault was introduced to New York media on Friday as the new coach of the Rangers.
• Using even strength statistics over the past three seasons, HockeyAnalysis.com's David Johnson ranks the top unrestricted free agent wingers. In a surprising move, to me at least, Johnson ranks Jarome Iginla as the top available winger, while placing Patrik Elias fifth on his list below the fourth-ranked Clarke MacArthur. Between the three men, Elias placed first or second in three of Johnson's eight evaluation categories, while MacArthur placed first or second in one and Iginla placed first or second in two. Nathan Horton comes off very well by Johnson's metrics, placing first or second in four of the eight categories.