Best of the Nation – 1.20.13

It’s been a crazy week here at the Nations. With the end to the lockout, every team around the league scrambled to get their clubs ready to go in just a week; we saw some trades, some buyouts and a whole mess of low-end free agent signings. Today, we recap the week that was.

Power Rankings: NHL Numbers rates the NHL’s 30 teams just prior to the start of the 2013 season. [NHL Numbers]

Vancouver opened their season on Saturday, and the only words to describe what happened are “gong show.” [Canucks Army]

Toronto, on the other hand, sporting a crew of young skaters and some unreliable goalies, played an airtight defensive game and won their opener. Plan the par… oh, it was against Montreal? Nevermind. [Leafs Nation]

Will the Oilers make the playoffs? Oilers Nation projects the Western Conference. [Oilers Nation]

Alexander Edler signed a six-year contract extension with the Canucks, taking arguably the top free agent defenceman this summer off the market. [Canucks Army]

Edmonton trades for Mark Fistric. [Oilers Nation/Oilers Nation]

The Toronto Maple Leafs waived Tim Connolly and assigned him to the AHL. [Leafs Nation]

Toronto also traded Matthew Lombardi to Phoenix. [Leafs Nation]

The owner of the Chicago Blackhaws sees no reason to apologize for the NHL lockout. [Oilers Nation]

Calgary should offer-sheet Ryan O’Reilly. [Flames Nation]

New Canucks’ starter Cory Schneider admits that the cramp which knocked him out of the playoffs against Chicago in 2011 was “anxiety” related. Oh boy. [Canucks Army]

Seth Jones catches Nathan MacKinnon in the consensus 2013 Draft rankings. [NHL Numbers]

Canucks GM Mike Gillis rips the Toronto media for perpetuating the rumour that he’s asking too much for Roberto Luongo. [Canucks Army]

Worst to First Jerseys returns! This time: looking at the Leafs. [Leafs Nation]

Canucks’ winger David Booth will miss 4-6 weeks with a strained groin. [Canucks Army]

The impact of Leafs’ former/current coaches Ron Wilson and Randy Carlyle on goaltenders over their NHL coaching careers. [Leafs Nation/Leafs Nation]

Luck can dominate a 48-game schedule. [NHL Numbers]

Vancouver has no interest in Scott Gomez. Why would they? They’ve got an old, undersized, AHL journeyman to fill in on the second line. [Canucks Army]

Why the Flames’ minor-league goalies are more deserving of NHL tryouts than the Flames’ backup goalies. [Flames Nation]

Who does Vancouver have interest in? Jim Vandermeer and Cam Barker, both of whom they signed to serve as defensive depth. Hmm. [Canucks Army/Canucks Army]

Calgary, meanwhile, has signed Steve Begin. [Flames Nation]

The Oilers’ 23-man roster. [Oilers Nation]

The Leafs’ 23-man roster. [Leafs Nation]

The Flames’ 23-man roster. [Flames Nation]