Taylor Hall, Ray Bourque and Sportsnet (Puck Daddy Countdown)

1. Evander Kane

Seems like a very awful guy.

1. Ray Bourque

You know you’re in good standing with the local media when the headline on your DUI arrest is: “Ray Bourque shows up for court one day early in drunken driving case.” Especially because the subhed reads: “Records show he had BAC of 0.249.” That’s like 3.1 times the legal limit, and that doesn’t even get mentioned until the second-to-last paragraph.

What a country.

1. That Andrew Shaw contract

Y’know, I think I probably have a higher opinion of Andrew Shaw The Hockey Player (but not Andrew Shaw The Person) than a lot of my peers. I see him as a very good No. 3 center who can fill in at the No. 2 spot in a pinch, or even work well as a wing on the second line. Scores on the power play, decent enough possession player, all that stuff.

And yet I remain mystified by this contract. Even if you like him more than I do — and clearly, this applies to the Montreal Canadiens’ front office — how do you feel like he’s worth a six-year deal? The money isn’t terrible, to be honest. It’s not good, but it’s probably the cost of doing business. While he does a lot of stuff the analytics crowd likes in a vacuum, he mitigates his value by doing things old school hockey guys love: grit (taking penalties) and defensive soundness (spending more time than you’d probably like in his own zone). And anyone arguing in Shaw’s favor who mentions his two Cup wins would do well to consider what number on the depth chart dude would have come in at. In terms of importance, was he even seventh on Chicago for either one of those Cups? In some order, you have to go: Toews, Kane, Crawford, Keith, Hjalmarsson, Hossa, Saad, Sharp, and Seabrook — at least — before you get to Andrew friggin’ Shaw.

Didn’t Dave Bolland win two Cups with this team? Didn’t Bryan Bickell? I wonder what happened with their subsequent long-term, middling-money contracts. I bet they worked out great.

1. The Oilers’ plans

The Oilers were lucky as hell to have Jesse Puljujarvi drop to them at No. 4. He’s probably an NHLer in October. And that might give them a little bit of flexibility in terms of what they do with some of the other forwards on that roster.

But then they move Taylor Hall, one of the four or five best left wings on the planet.

There is, however, this:

The idea that Edmonton would trade Hall (who, admittedly, should probably fetch a hell of a return that probably includes a high-end defenseman) only to spend basically the same money, if not more, on an older and worse left wing is, frankly, lunacy. It would be a deeply awful idea. But it might just highlight Peter Chiarelli getting into his old Boston-y habits, because Darren Dreger says they might also be in on Kris Russell, who is inarguably not going to be worth anything approaching his free agency ask.

1. The Sportsnet shakeup

The problem with the Sportsnet broadcast, and hockey broadcasts in the U.S. as well, is that the talking heads are basically required to have Played The Game. And for whatever reason, the guys who fit into that category and have TV jobs are almost universally wrong on an ongoing basis. Certainly, this is true of just about every talking head brought on to provide insight.

So the idea that they’re shuttling Nick Kypreos and possibly both PJ Stock and Glenn Healy out of the Hockey Night in Canada gigs they’ve held for a while now isn’t a bad one. There ought to be fresh voices on these broadcasts — hopefully not from white guys in their 50s — so making room here matters.

On the other hand, even if they’re not bringing those guys back, the decision to go back to Ron MacLean (hey, a white guy in his 50s!) is worrisome. He’s perfectly fine and everything, but going back to the old well the second something doesn’t work isn’t a good idea. Try literally anything new. Seriously.

If everyone agrees things can’t get worse, doesn’t that give you freedom?

1. Buyout candidates

So far the only two players to have been bought out are Jared Cowen, RJ Umberger, Thomas Vanek, Chris Higgins, and Brad Stuart. By the time you read this, the buyout window will be pretty close to closing, so you’ll know more than I do if any other players are squeezing through.

However, look at all those names and see if a common theme arises for you. Go on.

Hmm, yes, It seems that “anyone could have told you their contracts were awful the day they were signed” is the uniting theme here. Weird how NHL teams are only figuring it out now.

1. Kyle Okposo

In theory, signing Kyle Okposo is a good idea. Lots of reason to expect he’ll produce a lot for you.

But also, he played a lot with John Tavares, and much like Ryan Getzlaf (he of the infamous, “Go to the front of the net and I’ll make you rich” story), John Tavares seems to be something of a moneymaker for his linemates. Remember, there was a lot of talk about the danger of giving Matt Moulson a bunch of money based on a few 30-goal seasons playing with Tavares.

The number of goals he’s scored in 224 regular-season games since being traded? Yeah it’s 38. And he had 21 in his previous 58.

Not that I necessarily think Okposo is going to drop off a cliff like Moulson (who was 30 when he hit free agency), but there is that danger. And even a middling decline, rather than a catastrophic one, could very quickly make the contract not-worth-it.

So y’know, caveat emptor.

1. Passing on Alex Radulov

If dude really wanted $7.5 million to sign in the NHL, well, consider it a bullet dodged. I bet he can play a top-six role, but I wouldn’t have given him anything close to that kind of money. Let the KHL team in China or something do it instead.

1. That Filip Forsberg contract

Not really sure what David Poile has on all these young, very good Preds to make them continually sign discount deals. But whatever it is, it’s really working well. The total cap hit cost for Forsberg, Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, and Ryan Ellis — all of whom are signed through at least 2018-19 — is just $16.25 million. That’s a massive bargain.

1. Stamkos drama

So many possibilities! Now squandered.

(Not ranked this week: No women in the Hall of Fame this year.

This isn’t a great class, if we’re being honest. Even Rogie Vachon couldn’t believe Rogie Vachon got in.

And I didn’t realize it until Pierre LeBrun sent out a tweet, but Cassie Campbell isn’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame? That’s legitimately outrageous. And speaking of people who should have a bigger role on Hockey Night In Canada: Cassie Campbell.)

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

(All statistics via War On Ice unless otherwise noted.)