Per NHL.com:

It appears Dale Tallon is quite the salesman.

The Florida GM spent Friday night convincing All-Star defenseman Brian Campbell that the struggling Panthers were a better hockey home for his skill set than the Original Six Chicago Blackhawks, who won the Stanley Cup in 2010.

Tallon, who recruited Campbell to play for those Blackhawks back in 2008 when he was GM in Chicago, worked his sale pitch magic again — using all the tricks in his arsenal. After all, Tallon admitted Saturday that he is “selling fun.”

“History; relationships,” he said when asked how he wooed Campbell to Florida, persuading him to waive his no-trade clause. “We got him to Chicago and we had to sell him on Chicago. He came and then we didn’t have to sell him that hard to get to Florida.”

All Tallon had to do was share the blueprint for the Panthers’ future.

“Dale did some great things in Chicago for a lot of guys and I’ve talked to a lot of my ex-teammates who are saying to me, ‘Get me there,’ “Campbell told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “”Dale will make this place very attractive for players to want to come and play there. We’ll get this organization going in the right direction and make the fans want to come back and support a great team.”

Tallon says the acquisition of Campbell will help in the recruitment of other players.`

“It’s going to be a destination for players,” Tallon said. “That’s the goal.”

While the GM is a good salesman, he does not have a warped sense of reality. He knows his team only won just 30 games this past season and finished No. 27 in the 30-team NHL. But he also knows that his plans work, and he believes he took the next step in that plan this weekend with his picks in the 2011 Entry Draft.

“We’re not there yet, but with the drafts we had last year and this last year; it’s coming,” Tallon said. “With the ability to sign some free agents moving forward, we’re going to get there quicker than we did in the past and that is the goal.”

Campbell certainly helps in that regard. Tallon may be comfortable with Campbell because of past history, but he also knows how much better he makes his new team.

“We need good players,” Tallon said. “We need as many good players as we can get. That’s a dimension we don’t have, a guy that can carry the puck and play 28 minutes a game and help our power play. We had the worst power play in the League, and Brian will help us immensely.

“He gives us offense from the back end, he gives us speed and he gives us the ability to get the puck out of our end quickly — all those things. It’s just one piece, but an important piece.”

Now he is ready to add even more pieces as the July 1 free-agent period approaches.

“We have some other things in the fire moving forward this week, so things are good,” Tallon said. “We put ourselves in a good position now and move forward. Still a lot of talk and chatter and we hopes this starts to steamroll and force us to make some moves.”

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell returned to full practice Wednesday for the first time since breaking his right clavicle March 14 in a game against the Washington Capitals.”Baby steps,” Campbell said. “It’s not going out there and swinging for the fences the first day. I’m just trying to get some strength.”

Coach Joel Quenneville ruled Campbell out for the first couple games of their playoff series against the Nashville Predators, which opens on Friday, but would not rule out playing him later in the series.

Doctors declared Campbell out for eight weeks after getting hit into the boards by Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin, who was suspended for two games after delivering the blow.

“We didn’t anticipate him playing for the first part of this series, but we’ll see how he progresses as we get some practice days in him,” Quenneville said. “How he’s skating, how he’s handling contact.

“It was good to see him out there. It looked like he fit right in there and handled it pretty well. Earlier on when he was injured, we didn’t think it was on the radar. We’ll see.”

Campbell ran all the normal drills on Wednesday but did not take part in any special teams work or take a position with another regular defenseman. He took some slapshots but not with full force.

Campbell says he’s been doing everything possible to get back as fast as he can.

“There’s an Airdyne bike there in the back,” Campbell said. “There’s taking every legal pill in the book that will allow me to heal faster. [There's] eating things that are not a whole lot of fun to eat. These are precious days right now.”

One thing Campbell can do now is sleep.

“It’s not the easiest thing,” Campbell explained. “Sleeping while sitting up. Anybody want to go home and try that, you’re welcome to. If they get more sleep than 45 minutes, they can come let me know.”

Campbell says he will see the doctors by the end of the week, and at that point he might have a better idea of when he can play.

“It’s an important time of the year,” Campbell said. “No one wants to sit around now.

Campbell had seven goals and 31 assists in 68 games before going down with the injury.

I found this over at Globe Sports and it is basically a perfect analysis:

1. Wade Redden, Rangers: His six-year, $39-million contract would not have been unreasonable compensation for an in-his-prime Redden who – for a five-year period between 2001 and 2006 – was a cumulative plus-123, while playing 25 minutes or so per night. But Redden’s play fell off dramatically in his final two years with the Senators and everyone imagined he’d be looking at a hefty pay cut, until Rangers’ GM Glen Sather came along. Don’t these guys scout any more?

2. Scott Gomez, Rangers: Gomez’s annual salary-cap charge of $7.357-million is ninth-highest in the NHL – he will earn $8-million in each of the next two seasons, before the numbers drop off to $7.5-million, $5.5-million and $4.5-million in the final three years of the contract. The Rangers signed Gomez, who led the league in assists in ‘04, to act as a set-up man for Jaromir Jagr, but the two never found any chemistry – and there isn’t a pure sniper on either the current roster or in the system that would help maximize what Gomez brings to the table.

3. Chris Drury, Rangers: About the only saving grace with Drury’s contract is its term – five years, which means there are only three years remaining. A cap charge of $7.05-million, any team interested in Drury would pay him $8-million in each of the next two years and then $5-million in the final year, a lot to pay for a player that has never scored 70 points in the NHL and conveniently managed his one-and-only season above 30 goals in his contract year with the ‘07 Sabres.

4. Brian Campbell, Blackhawks: At least, GM Dale Tallon was honest with reporters on the conference call announcing Campbell’s signing, noting that he overpaid and saying: “On July 1, you always overpay.” Did he ever. With an annual cap hit of $7.14-million for eight years, Campbell was, at best, a No. 3 on the Blackhawks behind Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, and had they been able to predict Cam Barker’s improvement, might have given Campbell a pass.

5. Shawn Horcoff, Oilers: His new six-year, $33-million contract is going to start next year with a $7-million payout, or what Iginla will earn with the Flames – too much in other words, for a player coming off a so-so 53 point season. Edmonton is paying him like a No. 1 centre – his cap number is higher that both Getzlaf’s and Perry’s – on contracts with similar terms. Presumably, Horcoff will get a chance to prove he is that under new coach Pat Quinn.

6. Daniel Briere, Flyers: The annual salary-cap hit is $6.5-million, but that’s because the final two years of the eight-year, $52-million contract are cheap – $3-million and $2-million respectively. But any team interested in Briere’s right would need to pay him $8-million and then three years at $7-million to get to that light at the end of the tunnel. Small and coming off abdominal surgery that limited him to 29 games, Briere will be difficult to move, and not just because he has a no-movement clause in his contract.

7. J.S. Giguere, Anaheim: With the emergence of Jonas Hiller, Giguere – a Cup winner in ‘06 – becomes superfluous in Anaheim; and if they could ever find a way of moving him, they might be able to hang on to Chris Pronger. Problem is, Giguere is the one player on the team with a no-movement contract – awarded by Burke for humanitarian reasons so the Gigueres could be close to the UCLA facility that treats his son, who was born with an eye disorder. Even if Giguere were to agree to the move, is there a market for a goaltender whose GAA jumped a full goal, year over year, who’ll earn $6-million and $7-million respectively in the final two years of his deal.

8. Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa: Lecavalier differs from others on this list because he continues to play at an elite level, even last year when he was hampered all season by a bad wrist. The problem: An 11-year contract that kicks in on July 1, in which the first seven years pay him $10-million per season before steadily declining as it winds down (to $8.5, $4, $1.5 and $1-million). At 29, and with 10 full seasons under his belt, can Lecavalier deliver $10-million worth of production for the next seven years?

9. Ryan Smyth, Colorado: Smyth spurned the Oilers’ 11th-hour contract entreaties back in the spring of ‘07 and found a willing buyer for his services in Colorado, who agreed to a five-year deal worth $31.25-million and an annual cap hit of $6.25-million. That’s a lot to pay a heart-and-soul player who is not a true first liner. Three years remain on the deal at $6.5-million, $5.5-million and $4.5-million. With the Avalanche’s fortunes declining, expect him to be an attractive commodity at next year’s trading deadline if he is still performing well.

10. Ryan Malone, Tampa: Of interest because there was talk that Toronto might take on his contract in a possible swap for the second overall choice in the draft. Problem is, with a cap hit of $4.5-million and six years remaining at $4.25-million, it is a lot of money and term for a player with a career average of about 45 points per season.

1. Fastest Skater – Finally this competition was back to normal. Last years method was brutal.

2. Breakaway Challenge – Better, but still not great. They should have had each player go after one another in rapid fire. Having only 1 minute was 1. not enough and 2. too slow in the time it takes to get another puck.

With that said Getzlaf and St. Louis had sick moves, but nothing we have never seen. They still did not prepare for this as well as they could have (see my last post for what is possible to do and I know these NHL players can do these moves.)

Ovechkin was obviously the most entertaining which was great.

3. Accuracy – Awwesome. Malkin and Heatley were sniping left and right!

4. Hardest shot – Awesome. Chara breaking the record and Weber putting up a challenge. Souray was a huge fail though. Expected more from him.

5. Elimination Breakaway Challenge – Fun and done the right way, but would still like to see each guy have 2 eliminations maybe.

Young Stars Game Highlights

Versus sucks! The whole time Versus would show replays of the last goal while the game was going on still.

They also went to commercial and came back after the 2nd period started and they say: “We missed a goal by…”

Then after Marc Staal scored, they zoom in on his face on the bench as someone else scored also.

Versus = Epic Fail!!!

The game night was fun, but hate how they have to hurry it along because they only have an hour or however long for TV purposes.

I would like to see a real Freshman vs. Sophmores game. This would have Toews, Kane,  Backstrom, Turris, Mueller, and Ryan thrown in the lineups. But I know the NHL likes every team represented and all that so this is cool I guess.

My only big compalints are:

1. Players who opt out of playing should be punished..Datsyuk, Lindstrom, Backstrom..

2. More events or longer breakaway challenege. Guys like Rick Nash, Mike modano, etc… We only saw in the final Breakaway Challange and most were out after the first shot.

All-Star Game

Eastern Conference

Sidney Crosby

Evgeni Malkin

Alexei Kovalev

Andrei Markov

Mike Komisarek

Carey Price

Western Conference

Patrick Kane

Jonathon Toews

Ryan Getzlaf

Brian Campbell

Scott Neidermayer

Jean Sebastien Giguere

Hmm, I guess only 4 teams fans took part in the voting process.  Crosby, Malkin, Getzlaf and maybe Kane are the only ones who actual deserve to be on that list.