Most of the articles we've got on tap for you today have been pretty thoroughly discussed, and I don't have particularly strong opinions about any of them at the moment. I'm not sure what to think of the Kadri/Eakins ordeal, not sure who should be sent to the ECHL between Rynnas and Owuya, and I'm not sure what to expect from CBA negotiations.

Jonas Siegel had a pretty good quote from Eakins he posted on Twitter:

Eakins: "He’s a strong-willed guy; I’m sure he believes in everything that he had somebody type for him."

"I've never ever seen him at one of our games & I've never ever seen him at a practice & he's never come in and knocked on my door."

"I invite Don to come on down, 'You're more than welcome at any time. You've got a lot of fans here'. We'd be honoured to have him."

On one hand, Eakins just answered a simple question honestly, and I'm not sure he should be lambasted for it, especially since, in the grand scheme of things, this shouldn't hurt Kadri's pride too much. Heck, maybe it's even what he needs to get his eating habits sorted out. On the other hand, I'm not sure what the expectations are in terms of player-coach confidentiality, specifically in hockey-mad Toronto. Would anyone talk about this if it was some Columbus pick? Media pressure is a real thing in Toronto, and I believe it can have a serious effect on player development, so I suppose it's not a situation to be taken lightly. In the end, there is no way to quantify the effect of pressure on a player, so there is no way we'll ever know the answer how this affects anything.

One thing is for sure: Don Cherry isn't the only guy that sees the treatment of Kadri to be just another tile in the pattern that is the Leafs' player development.

Do some players elevate their game in the playoffs?
No surprise but Eric T has a pretty good explanation.

Siegel: Leaf prospects reenergize careers with Marlies
The resuscitation of careers of defenceman Mark Fraser and forward Nicolas Deschamps began with the Toronto Marlies under the watch of Dallas Eakins. From Jonas Siegel at TSN.

Don Cherry's rant at Leafs' handling of Nazem Kadri is misguided
Cam Charron elaborates.

Shannon Szabados Plays For Sherwood Park
Benjamin Massey continues his great non-NHL hockey history series with a look at a woman that played with men not as a publicity stunt but because she was better than them.

Will you watch KHL hockey?
No. Article from Ryan Fancey.

Marek Vs. Wyshynski Radio
Marek and Wyshynski are joined by Sean Leahy and Harrison Mooney.

Goalies will battle it out for back-up position
Someone is going back to the ECHL. From Kyle Cicerella.

One-on-One with Donald Fehr
Adam Proteau with a pretty good interview

The Leaf Report
With Jonas Siegel and James Mirtle, in case you haven't heard it already.

Eight years later nothing has changed.
David Johnson takes a look back at the previous lockout and points out that the salary cap hasn't fixed the root of the NHL's small-market woes.

Ideas to improve NHL Player Development
I think a lot of people would be interested in eliminating the minimum age of 20 to be in the AHL. From Hexys2Hander.

NHL owners would do well to listen to players
Yeah, while we're dreaming, I'd also like a pony. From Eric Duhatschek.

Players awash in rainy-day funds
The owners are of course aware of this, and are now probably determined to wait even longer to end this labour dispute. Story from Paul Waldie at the G&M.

Morgan Rielly, Player Development and What Could Have Been
I don't see Rielly as any more a gamble than the forwards that were picked before or after him, so I'm not worried about the 'risk' involved with this pick.

Bauer takes on sagging minor hockey enrolment
If I have children, they're all going to at the very least try playing hockey. Story from James Mirtle at the Globe.

Top 5 Ways Bleacher Report Rules The World!
This is a pretty interesting article. King Kaufman told me on Twitter that he's writing a big response so keep your eyes peeled.

PPP Insert

The site is now over six years old so I thought that it'd be neat to once in a while look back at what was going on around this date in the past. I'll randomly toss these into FTBs when I remember so this might be the only time it happens.

2011

Stephen Marche: "Leafs Fan"
Chemmy stretches his legs and deconstructs a poorly written post by a mittenstringer dipping his toe into the world of sports.

2010

Kaberle moves the puck up ice
Man, remember when we had that guy?

Leafs Fans Declare Kadri Flop, Jump Out Windows During Parade Planning Exercise
The more things change eh?

2009

Eddie Belfour - Leaf Of The Day
Hey it's everyone's favourite drunken goalie...that still stops the puck better than our sober goalies

2008

And Away We Go
More Negative Nancy Notebook coming your way