I'm sure there will be lots of chatter today about the contract awarded to Shea Weber and Patrick Sharpe's new deal, but this is a Leafs blog, and I'd rather hear about Leafs-related minutiae than other teams' star players. That's why my featured story for the day comes from The '67 Sound, over at The Leafs Nation. He's taken a look at which defensemen helped the Leafs push the puck in the right direction over the course of the past season. He concludes on a positive note:

Overall, I think the best case scenario for the Leafs is to improve from being one of the worst five possession teams in the NHL last year, to falling somewhere in the 15-20 range. If they can combine that with above average goaltending from Reimer, it should be good enough to challenge for the last two playoff spots in the East.

Don't ask me why he thinks so, go see for yourself.
Read on for more links.

Weber Gets $7.5M At Arbitration
From James Mirtle.

Blackhawks Re-Sign Sharpe
Article from the AP at the Globe. $5.9M cap hit until 2017, as per Cap Geek.

Sharks Sign Colin White To Solidify The Best Defence In Team History
Not that they're prone to superlatives at Fear the Fin.

Remembering Beehive Mania
If you just said "What?", you're like me. From Michael Langlois at Vintage Leaf Memories.

From The Branches