Monday moaning: Free agents pessimistic about returning to Nashville, players go OT in Vegas

It's Draft Week, so expect lots of coverage around these parts leading up to the big day on Friday.  Until then, however, we still have plenty of discussion around players that need to be re-signed, lest they turn into free agents on July 1...

Agents expect Predators to lose some top players - The Tennessean

John Glennon got some pessimistic words from David Poile about resigning many of the Preds free agents last week, and this morning he gets the same from the agents representing Joel Ward and Vern Fiddler. If I had to guess as to which UFA's the Preds will re-sign, I'm going with Sully, Ward, and Fiddler.

Bettman's meeting with NHL players goes to overtime - TSN

"After waiting 16 years to make an appearance at the NHLPA's player meetings, Gary Bettman needed a little extra time to get his point across. The NHL commissioner spoke for almost two hours on Saturday morning -- more than double the time he was originally allotted. He began with an address to the roughly 110 players in attendance and faced questions on a range of topics." Good stuff as the Commish talks directly to the players. The relationship between players and owners has come a long way since the days of Ted Lindsay.

Preds On The Glass: Video Interviews from the NHLPA Meetings

"Buddy's Vegas Adventure" continues with some video interviews taken after those very same NHLPA meetings. Lots of interesting discussion with Georges Laraques and Robin Regehr in particular...

New England Hockey Journal - Where are all the New Englanders?

Jeff Kealty, chief amateur scout for the Nashville Predators, is asked about the decline of players from the Northeast getting selected in the NHL draft.

Lowetide: Draft Week Post #1-Desjardins NHLE's Work!

Lowetide illustrates the power of an analytical tool put forth by Gabriel Desjardins, that of "NHL Equivalents". Basically, it projects the likely production of a player in their first NHL season, based on production in the league they're coming from.

'Tennessean' wins 17 state press awards - The Tennessean

Nashville's largest daily newspaper toots its own horn for winning awards from the Tennessee Press Association, including one to Brad Schrade, "for his coverage of Boots Del Biaggio and the ownership of the Nashville Predators." Um... OK?