Jacob Trouba Is Really Good At Hockey

When the news of Jacob Trouba's trade request broke, Kevin Cheveldayoff suddenly became busier than usual. It doesn't happen too often that a young defenseman of Jacob Trouba's magnitude hits the market, let alone late in September. Yet, here we are. Of course, Trouba asked out in May, meaning this news is only new to the public. Nevertheless, it changes everything. Considering every GM in the league knows Trouba wants out, Chevy doesn't have as much leverage as he would like to have. The fact that Trouba still needs to be signed certainly doesn't make the situation any better.

The question is... Is Trouba worth trading for?

Quick Thoughts: Michal Kempny is Getting Hammered in the Czech Media for No Reason

After having read a few questionable articles concerning Michal Kempny's play, I decided to express a few thoughts. It amazes me how stupid questions Czech reporters are able to ask. ''Should have Kempny played in the OT in the first place?''. They are asking all the wrong questions. 

Michal Kempny is the only decent puck-mover on the Czech blueline. He's the only one capable of skating and staying with those Canadians, Swedes and so on. He's the only one standing any kind of chance to become a top-4 defenseman at the NHL level one day. Is he perfect? Absolutely not. Did he make a mistake that directly led to a 3:0 Canadian lead? Yes, he did. That's not the point, really. I don't care about that mistake, honestly. Actually, I don't blame Kempny at all. As suggested above, he's the only d-man capable of producing any kind of offense. Trailing 2:0, there wasn't much of a risk involved either. In order to beat Canada, or at least give yourself a chance, you need to make a lot of smart plays, you need to catch the opposition off guard. That's what Kempny was trying to do. The only thing I would be questioning is what exactly Kempny was trying to accomplish with approximately 7 seconds left on the clock...

Flying-Under-The-Radar: David Schlemko

David Schlemko's deal was arguably one of the ''smarter'' signings this past summer. Sharks' GM Doug Wilson addressed his team's biggest need: a 3rd pairing on defense which was badly exposed during the SC finals. David Schlemko is a surefire improvement over leaving Roman Polak, and (he) might be able to put himself into a top4 conversation, too. Had he signed for one year less, the deal would have been almost perfect. That’s just the price Doug Wilson had to pay, though.