Thursday Morning Fly By: In which there is a cartoon Claude Giroux

*We are still talking about having this #2 pick. Just get used it it, we've got a few weeks still. Anyhoo, there is one very clear advantage that Nico Hischier holds over Nolan Patrick that might make him the more attractive player to take 1st overall. [BSH]

*And here's another set of reasons why we might want to settle into the idea of Nolan Patrick being our guy. [Hockeybuzz]

*And for funsies, here are five games that could've changed the lottery results. Alternate universes are fun. [The Hockey News]

*Let's see what The Experts think the Flyers' offseason plans should be. [TSN]

*Charlie's favorite prospect Oskar Lindblom has been named the top forward in the SHL, which is pretty awesome. [BSH]

*AND Carter Hart won goalie of the year AGAIN! [BSH]

*Our Canadian boys are absolutely crushing it at the IIHF Worlds right now. [Yahoo Sports]

*The fine folks over at Hockey Graphs have put together a ranking of all of the current NHL GMs and, spoiler alert, Ron's just okay. [Hockey Graphs]

*On the AHL playoff format and why it is dumb and needs fixing. [The Morning Call]

*Here's a list of players that are exempt from the expansion draft for...reasons. [ProHockeyTalk]

*There has been a lot of talk about the Nikita Zaitsev extension being a pretty decent model for what we should expect Shayne Gostisbehere to get from the Flyers. So it seems worth looking at why the Leafs fans think the signing is a good one... [Pension Plan Puppets]

*...and why they think it might be bad. [Pension Plan Puppets]

*Speaking of the Leafs, they apparently want to add more defense. We have some of that! [ProHockeyTalk]

*And finally, in what might just be the coolest thing ever to happen, the Hearst Lumberjacks of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League have released a new logo with A CLAUDE GIROUX THEME. [Timmins Press]