Michael Whitaker Articles - Page 5

The 4 Nations Face-off is scheduled to get underway starting on Wednesday, pitting the best NHL players from the United States, Finland, Canada and Sweden against one another for national pride and bragging rights. Tampa Bay Lightning captain Victor Hedman was an easy choice to be named to the Swedish roster, and was also named […]

Is this curtains for Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans in the only NHL town he’s ever played for? It looks as though the Canadiens and the pending unrestricted free-agent could soon split from one another. According to NHL analyst Pierre LeBrun, the Canadiens and Evans aren’t close on a new contract as the NHL Trade […]

St. Louis Blues veteran defenseman Ryan Suter’s career spans nearly 20 full years, and he appeared in his 1,500th game on Saturday night against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks at Enterprise Center. To celebrate the career achievement, the Blues celebrated Suter with a special acknowledgement of him becoming just the seventh defenseman in NHL history to […]

As if the Vancouver Canucks needed more drama, they’re dealing with some once again – this time, once again on the injury front. Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko, who missed all but one postseason game last spring and the first several weeks of this season, has departed Saturday night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs with […]

There’s both bad news and good news for the New York Rangers on a Saturday afternoon. The bad news is that goaltender Igor Shesterkin, the team’s franchise goaltender whom they just signed to a mammoth new contract extension, is going to be missing the next one to two weeks with an injury. The good news? […]

The Vancouver Canucks have been an extremely busy team in terms of recent trades, and now they’ve completed another transaction – though this one didn’t hold quite the same magnitude. On Friday, the Canucks traded depth defenseman Mark Friedman to the Nashville Predators in return for future considerations. A journeyman depth blue liner, Friedman had […]

The Chicago Blackhawks continue to struggle as the NHL’s worst team in the 2024-25 season, and appear well on their way to landing another top selection in the Draft Lottery. All eyes continue to be on sophomore forward Connor Bedard, who was the first overall selection in the 2023 NHL Draft after Chicago controversially won […]

It’s only a matter of time before we witness National Hockey League history by Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who is on the cusp of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894 career goals. Ovechkin inched closer to the record during Tuesday night’s victory on home ice over the Florida Panthers; he scored into the […]

The National Hockey League Department of Player Safety suspended Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman for 10 games following his actions against Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle during their recent matchup on Saturday night. Despite this being the fifth suspension of Hartman’s NHL career, he’s got some high-profile backers in his corner now. On Wednesday evening, […]

While the Calgary Flames remain very much alive in the postseason hunt for 2025, there is still one key type of player that they’re looking for in their lineup. According to Flames general manager Craig Conroy, the Flames are in the market for a forward that shoots right-handed, via The Fourth Period. “I’ve talked about […]

The Buffalo Sabres were raked over the coals on Sunday when they failed to step in after star forward Tage Thompson was rocked with a dirty hit from New Jersey Devils forward Stefan Noesen. No Buffalo Sabre standing up for Tage Thompson here is unbelievable and unacceptable #sabrehood pic.twitter.com/LGqieOQt7E — Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) February 2, […]

The Toronto Maple Leafs are set to take on the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Saddledome, but Toronto could be without one of their top players. Mitch Marner, who is on pace for a career-high in points, may be unable to play against the Flames after having missed two-straight practice sessions and is […]

The Vancouver Canucks have made a series of trades in the last week that included sending the disgruntled J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers for Filip Chytil while also acquiring Drew O’Connor and Marcus Pettersson from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais. Could the Canucks already be looking to […]

The new-look Calgary Flames are set to host the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday evening, marking Toronto’s first and only visit to Calgary this season. And as has been customary, the Flames are preparing for large numbers of Maple Leafs fans to invade their building. Toronto fans travel well, and for […]

The National Hockey League Department of Player Safety is making an example out of repeat offender Ryan Hartman of the Minnesota Wild. He’s been suspended for 10 games thanks to his actions on Saturday night during Minnesota’s game against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. The incident took place near the end of […]

The Montreal Canadiens suffered a frustrating defeat at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, losing by a 3-2 final score and missing a chance to pick up key points in the standings. And it was notable that Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis decided to bench power play specialist forward Patrik Laine during […]

The struggling Buffalo Sabres may have emerged victorious over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday by a 4-3 final score, but they also lost forward Tage Thompson following a questionable high hit from Devils forward Stefan Noesen. The hit from Noesen spun Thompson around and knocked his helmet off; there was also a notable lack […]

The Minnesota Wild were soundly defeated on Saturday night by the Ottawa Senators, losing a 6-0 final score in which they managed only 16 shots on goal while allowing 52. And the considerable loss on the scoreboard wasn’t the only loss by the Wild, who soon be without forward Ryan Hartman thanks to his actions […]

The struggling Buffalo Sabres may have picked up a 4-3 victory over the visiting New Jersey Devils on Sunday afternoon, but there was one particular incident during the game that had many accusing Buffalo of failing to step up and defend their teammate. Sabres forward Tage Thompson was rocked by a dirty hit from Stefan […]

The JT Miller era officially ended for the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night, as he was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for forward Filip Chytil, defenseman Victor Mancini and a 2025 first-round draft pick. Coincidently, the deal that sent Miller to the Rangers wasn’t the only trade that the Canucks completed late […]

The Vancouver Canucks traded away forward J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers, his original NHL club, on Friday. The trade came after weeks of rumors that Miller wasn’t getting along with teammate Elias Pettersson. He’s back with the Rangers, who drafted him 15th overall in the 2011 NHL Draft. He and his new Rangers […]

The Seattle Kraken have mostly struggled in the 2024-25 NHL season, and are on track to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third time in their four-year history. With a record of 23-27-3, things aren’t looking promising for a return to the postseason. And earlier on Friday, the Kraken announced unfortunate injury news to […]

The Vancouver Canucks are the reigning Pacific Division champions, but they’re going to be hard-pressed to continue holding the division crown thanks to their inconsistent play so far in the 2024-25 NHL Season. Not only has their on-ice play been up and down, but they’ve also had to deal with the drama of an alleged […]

The Utah Hockey Club are in their inaugural season in Salt Lake City after their move from the desert and their previous identity as the Arizona Coyotes. They weren’t able to settle on an official new identity and mascot, so they’re simply known as the Utah Hockey Club for now. Reports indicate that they were […]

Veteran forward Taylor Hall has joined his seventh team last week, as he was included in the blockbuster three-team trade between the Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes; he was traded from Chicago to Carolina, and it’s a move that he approves of. Hall explained that he’s happy to be in a new location […]

Philadelphia Flyers firebrand head coach John Tortorella has countless examples throughout his coaching career of him blowing his top at players, media members and the officials. Simply put – when he’s unhappy, you’re going to know about it. And he lost his cool during Wednesday night’s Flyers game against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential […]

The tenure of former Stanley Cup-winning forward Brandon Saad with the St. Louis Blues is coming to a close. According to multiple reports, he and the Blues have worked out a mutual contract termination that allows him to become an unrestricted free agent. NHL Insider Chris Johnston noted that with the contract termination, Saad is […]

The New Jersey Devils won’t have captain Nico Hischier for the foreseeable future, as announced by head coach Sheldon Keefe following practice on Wednesday. The Devils captain took a cross-check to the face during Saturday’s win over the Montreal Canadiens, and left the game; he’s already missed one game, and will miss several more, via […]

The Seattle Kraken have made the difficult decision to part ways with the goaltender who they not only made the first in their history but also had locked up to a multi-year contract. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer has landed on waivers on Wednesday afternoon, meaning that he’ll have 24 hours to be claimed by any of […]

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had to carry on without goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who has been unavailable for the last several weeks after he underwent a procedure to remove a piece of cartilage in his knee. He’s been working his way back into game shape, and it won’t be long before the Leafs deem him […]

The Vancouver Canucks are the reigning Pacific Division champions, but they’re going to be hard pressed to hold on to their division crown thanks to their inconsistent play this season. Additionally, the team has had to put up with a rift between top forwards Elias Pettersson and JT Miller; both players have separately denied that […]

The Edmonton Oilers have been without forward Evander Kane for the entire 2024-25 NHL season so far, but he’s inching closer to a return to action. The good news for Kane is that he’s back on the ice, writing on social media that it was his first time skating in a long time and that […]

The Tampa Bay Lightning underwent a major leadership transition during the offseason, as the Steven Stamkos era officially came to a close; he signed a four-year contract with the Nashville Predators after months of speculation that he wouldn’t be able to come to an agreement to remain with the only NHL team he’d ever played […]

The NHL salary cap, which has been in place since the start of the 2005-06 NHL season and was the reason for the lockout that wiped out the entire 2004-05 campaign, is expected to rise in time for next season. And the Washington Capitals, who are one of the biggest surprises in the League this […]

The Chicago Blackhawks teamed up with the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes on a monumental three-team trade earlier this week, sending forward Taylor Hall to the Hurricanes and receiving a draft pick in return. As part of the three-way deal, they also retained 50% of Mikko Rantanen’s salary; he was traded from Colorado to Carolina. […]

The Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs have been rivals for years, and met each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs multiple times in the early 2000s, all series wins by Toronto. On Saturday night, the Maple Leafs invaded Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa – but it may as well have been a home game […]

One of the most consequential trades in recent NHL history was pulled off on Friday night, with several notable players changing locations. The Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks all combined for a monumental deal that resulted in Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall joining the Hurricanes, Martin Necas and Jack Drury (and draft picks) […]

In one of the most notable trades in recent National Hockey League history, the Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche got together on an absolute stunner of a deal, while the Chicago Blackhawks were also involved. The full trade is as follows: Hurricanes receive: Mikko Rantanen from Colorado, Taylor Hall from Chicago Avalanche receive: Martin Necas, […]

The Chicago Blackhawks continue to struggle in the 2024-25 NHL season, finding themselves in the very last spot in the standings. Management clearly had higher expectations in 2023 first-round draft pick Connor Bedard’s sophomore season, and it resulted in the firing of head coach Luke Richardson in early December. One player that the club is […]