Mock draft, Expansion Draft, and Off-Season Tales of Interest

It’s your Monday Links, News, and Notes

Good morning and a most blessed MLB Draft to those of you who observe. I hope your team selected that player you like unless you’re a Yankees fan in which case I hope they get your order wrong at Starbucks. And if you don’t like baseball then I have some good news because we’ll have the Seattle expansion draft in just ten more days and the NHL entry draft just two days later. Other than that I wouldn’t expect too much action around the league outside of a buyout or two or maybe a trade if we get lucky.

  • Here at the SB Nation network, we’ll keep you busy with our annual mock draft leading up to the real thing on the 23rd of July. For those who have followed us over the years, you’ll know we have swung and missed on a few of these over the years but I guess we have fun writing about players who will end up playing for Detroit or someone like that. Check it out because we consider this a real highlight of our annual schedule!
  • Marisa Ingemi penned an article regarding the role the Senators will play in the upcoming expansion draft and I wanted to include it because I always enjoy hearing voices from outside of the bubble we have in Ottawa. We’ve already discussed our strategy for the expansion draft ad nauseum and Marisa’s article comes pretty close to resembling what most Sens fans consider an ideal approach. Marisa also suggests that Ottawa and Tampa could make a swap along the lines of Joey Daccord for Erik Cernak (or Vincent Dunn of St. Louis) as Ottawa has too many goalies to protect and could use help on the blueline. I don’t hate it.
  • In more serious news, the anonymous former Chicago player who experienced abuse by a video coach in 2010 has stated he will not participate in the organization’s self-financed investigation into the matter. The team has had a decade to deal with this issue and can’t rectify the situation now by attempting to side-step a proper investigation from an impartial third party so I can’t blame the victim for choosing not to partake. The public has a right to know why Bard Aldrich got an endorsement from Chicago to continue coaching hockey despite the reports back in 2010.
  • In other important news, with the NCAA adopting a new policy on how athletes manage their own name, image, and likeness, the Florida Panthers will gauge interest in marketing athletes from nearby college programs. While the NCAA still has a long way to go in terms of fairly compensating athletes, players can now profit off endorsements and this seems like a good opportunity for a team like the Panthers to increase its footprint with some of the bigger, established institutions in south Florida.
  • In other NHL news, former Dallas Stars defender Stephen Johns spoke to Emily Kaplan about his MentalMiles campaign during which he roller bladed across the United States to promote mental health awareness. After post-concussion syndrome ended Johns’ career and he entered a battle with mental illness, Johns opted to use his experiences to inspire others and spread the word. Among those Johns collaborated with on his journey, Bobby Ryan reflected on his battle with alcoholism and his path to mental wellness.
  • And finally, Toronto continues to re-sign all of the players who helped (?) lead the team to another first-round exit last season. I don’t have anything to say about the signings. I just think it’s funny./

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