Silver Nuggets: Senators cap management; Rundblad to play against Canada

Well, the scheduling has worked out for the NHL. After it initially looked like the NHL might have 4-5 days without any games after Saturday, a couple of the series got extended. Happily for the NHL, they also happen to be on alternate nights, which means we ended up seeing a playoff game on Sunday and now Monday and Tuesday as well. If the Predators and Red Wings win again, we will see game sevens on Wednesday and Thursday.

The World Championships are also getting interesting with the last qualification games today. Honestly, if I didn't work during the day, I would love to watch it. I love international hockey when it isn't random junior kids.

Here are today's links, brought to you by mangoes, the official fruit of the Silver Nuggets.

General Sens News

• A pretty good article on what percentage of your cap hit to allocate to your first line centre, first line winger, second lines, third lines, first pairing on defence, etc. Now of course, this isn't the same for every team, as the talent level isn't spread out consistently, but in general it is a pretty good model. (Senshot)
• Following up on that, here is a take on how the Senators cap hits match up with that model. The one contract that stand out is that Chris Neil is grossly overpaid. Senshot also advocates buying out Kuba since the Sens have a lot of cap room. I still think we should let him improve his value first, unless Cowen has a blinder of a camp. Overall, the Sens are in a good position in terms of cap room going forward. (Senshot)
• Meanwhile, David Rundblad has finally been called up to Sweden's World Championship roster and will play against Canada today in the battle for first place in their group. The game will be on TSN at 2 p.m. for those interested. The winner will play Russia in the quarterfinal, while the loser plays Germany, so losing might not be that big of a deal. (Brent Wallace)
• University graduate Ryan Shannon is blogging from the World Championships in Slovakia, have a read. (Ottawa Senators)
• A group of Sens fans from Sens Chirp and Red Scarf Union are organising another road trip to Binghamton, this time for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday, May 21st. Cost is $90 including bus fare from Ottawa and game tickets. (Ultimate Tours)

More after the jump.

General Hockey News

• Here is a disgraceful dive from a sneaky Russian good old Canadian boy, Joe Thornton. (Globe and Mail)
• Jeremy Roenick thinks that his former teammate Patrick Marleau was 'gutless' last night after Pavel Datsyuk stole the puck from him, then stick-handled past him in a very Datsyukian way, leading to the winning goal for Detroit. (Yahoo!)
• Speaking of Datsyuk, he's the man of the playoffs so far for me. In a playoff season that has been more effort and strategy than jaw dropping talent, Datsyuk stands out. He played last night with a sore wrist that prevented him taking face-offs, but he was brilliant again. He now has 13 points in just 9 games. (Yahoo!)
• Lastly, Sean Avery endorses gay marriage. (Yahoo!)