John Tavares; the NHL's next superstar

John Tavares is a Canadian junior ice hockey player. born September 20, 1990, in Oakville, Ontario. He is currently playing in the Ontario Hockey League with the Oshawa Generals. Tavares is the youngest player to be drafted in the OHL at the age of 14.

Tavares was erased Wayne'The Great One'Gretzky's name from the record books, either. When Tavares scored his 71st goal on march 2007 for the Ontario Hockey League's Oshawa Generals.

In a league desperate for an infusion of marketable talent, the thought of another marquee superstar coming so close on the heels of Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin is tantalizing. Problem is, Tavares is not coming soon enough. The 6-foot, 183-pound center isn't eligible to start saving some struggling NHL franchise until the 2009 draft. Tavares in action

Kari Lehtonen

Kari Lehtonen (born November 16, 1983 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender. He was drafted 2nd overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers. In 2001, as the youngest goalie in the SM-liiga, he earned the league's playoff MVP award, while he was playing for Jokerit.

During the 2003-2004 NHL season he played four games for the Thrashers, winning all four of them and posting one shutout. On opening night of the 2005-2006 season, Lehtonen suffered a serious groin injury when Florida Panthers center Nathan Horton collided with Lehtonen. The injury sidelined him for 35 games. Lehtonen was once again injured on April 6, 2006 when Tampa Bay Lightning forward Chris Dingman collided with him. Lehtonen tried to get to his feet but sprained his ankle in the process.

Shortly into the 2006-2007 NHL Season Kari Lehtonen broke the Atlanta Thrashers shutout streak record previously held by Michael Garnett. He also set his career highs in every category.

AirTran Airways, a low-cost airline with an Atlanta hub with more than 250 departures per day, signed Kari Lehtonen as an endorser for the 2006-2007 season.

On February 8, 2007, Lehtonen became the Thrashers franchise leader for wins by a goaltender with 49, surpassing Pasi Nurminen's record of 48.

On April 12th, 2007, Lehtonen was the starting goaltender for the Thrashers in their first NHL playoff game.

the star released from the New-York Islanders

Alexei Yashin has been released from the New-York Islanders just last week and is now an unrestricted free agent. He can now negociate with any NHL team for a new contract.Among the places that he is considering, Montreal is one of his first choices. He said that he has a nice relationship with Alex Kovalev, Andrei Markov and Saku Koivu.Can Yashin really help the Montreal Canadiens? We all know that Montreal has a big hole at the center position and with Yashin's raw talent, the 6'3'' and 220 pounds center could complete an efficient line along with Alex Kovalev and Sergei Samsonov.I think that Yashin could be a short term solution but the Habs should be very cautious with the amount of money and the duration of the contract that they are willing to offer to him. I think that a deal valued between 2 and 3 Millions for a single season could be a reasonnable price tag. Montreal should not offer a multi-year deal to force the russian player to perform next season.