Tristin McKinstry Articles - Page 59

The Carolina Hurricanes have emerged as one of the NHL’s better teams in recent years. And they’ve come rather close to the Stanley Cup Final, as well. In fact, they’ve made the Eastern Conference Finals twice since 2019. However, they were swept both times. Their failures in the Eastern Conference Finals are, unfortunately, nothing new. […]

The Edmonton Oilers have a ton of talent on their roster. In fact, they have the two best players in the world, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, on their roster. However, the team just hasn’t been able to translate this to success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They’ve come close, that’s for sure. Edmonton made […]

The Columbus Blue Jackets named associate head coach Pascal Vincent as the new bench boss on Sunday. Vincent’s promotion came on the heels of former head coach, Mike Babcock, resigning due to a recent scandal. Babcock is alleged to have gone through his players’ phones searching for their personal photos. Vincent spoke about his promotion […]

The Columbus Blue Jackets have been in the news lately and for all the wrong reasons. Columbus hired Mike Babcock as head coach in July to lead the team for the next few seasons. However, allegations of Babcock going through the phones of his players emerged in recent days. And on Sunday, the veteran head […]

The Buffalo Sabres enter the 2023-24 NHL season with more expectations now than they’ve had in recent years. Buffalo emerged as a true up-and-coming team last year. In fact, they nearly made the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Had they earned two more points, they’d have faced the Boston Bruins and not the Florida Panthers. Sabres fans […]

The Chicago Blackhawks are beginning a new era in their franchise this upcoming season. Gone are the days of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane leading the Blackhawks to success. Now, the team turns to generational prospect Connor Bedard to bring glory to the Windy City over the next several years. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are […]

The Minnesota Wild entered last season hoping to make the playoffs once again. They were coming off of a 113-point finish in 2021-22 and had the talent to play postseason hockey once again. Minnesota ended up making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2023, though they bowed out in round one to the Dallas Stars. The […]

The Detroit Red Wings enter the 2023-24 NHL season with some intrigue but a lot of question marks. Detroit didn’t lose any of their key contributors from last season. The most notable may have been Dominik Kubalik, who was traded to the Ottawa Senators in July. Training camps across the league are set to begin […]

The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to build upon their 2022-23 season. Though it ended sooner than they would’ve liked, the Maple Leafs still won their first playoff victory in nearly 20 years. It’s a victory that the Tampa Bay Lightning are still rather upset over. But it’s a weight off the back of Toronto. […]

The Chicago Blackhawks are entering a new era for their franchise, moving forward without icons Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. However, they have another potential icon ready to make his mark. First overall pick Connor Bedard is generating a level of hype fans have not seen in a while. But what exactly is it that […]

Training camp around the NHL will begin in earnest rather soon. And with it marks a shifting of the tide in terms of offseason moves. Instead of signing outright contracts, teams prefer to hand out professional tryout agreements and give players the chance to earn their spots. On Wednesday, the Arizona Coyotes were the latest […]

The Tampa Bay Lightning have emerged as the class of the NHL over the last few seasons. In fact, they became somewhat unbeatable, or so it seemed. Tampa won two consecutive Stanley Cups and made a third Stanley Cup Final in 2022. In 2022, they finally fell, losing to the Colorado Avalanche. Despite that loss, […]

The Chicago Blackhawks are likely to debut number one overall pick Connor Bedard this upcoming season. Bedard, considered a generational prospect, is one of the most hyped prospects in recent history. Only two players generated a similar buzz: Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid. Bedard likely begins his NHL career on October 10 when his Blackhawks […]

The Vegas Golden Knights have added a former member of their team in an off-ice capacity. Defenseman Nick Holden, a veteran of 12 NHL seasons, has accepted a player development role in Vegas. The 36-year-old also announced his retirement as a player on Tuesday. “Playing for Vegas was an amazing time in my career for […]

Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk is feeling good heading into training camp this fall. This is a very positive development after Tkachuk suffered a brutal sternum injury in the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights. On Tuesday, we learned a bit more about exactly how painful the injury was. Matthew’s brother, Ottawa Senators […]

Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk turned in one of the most clutch performances in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He scored big goals time and time again to lead his team to the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, the Final didn’t go as he or the Panthers thought. Tkachuk fractured his sternum in Game […]

The Chicago Blackhawks are currently without a captain now that Jonathan Toews is no longer on the team. He served as the team’s captain beginning in the 2008-09 season. Chicago and Toews agreed to part ways this summer as the future Hall of Famer hit the open market as a free agent. A couple of […]

The Columbus Blue Jackets are under fire due to recent allegations regarding head coach Mike Babcock. NHL analyst Paul Bissonnette shared claims from unnamed players on his Spittin Chiclets podcast on Tuesday. The allegations are that Babcock requested to see the pictures his players had on their phones and AirPlayed them on his office TV. […]

The Buffalo Sabres are finally heading into an NHL season with some true expectations. After years of hanging around the bottom of the league, Buffalo arrived last season. They missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs by just one point in 2023. Behind a strong core of Devon Levi, Owen Power, and Tage Thompson, the Sabres hope […]

Veteran NHL forward Andrew Ladd has played a little over 1000 games throughout his career. He has had a rather interesting journey in the league over the last nearly two decades. Now, Ladd is hanging up his skates. The 37-year-old officially announced his retirement on Twitter on Sunday. “The time has come for my next […]

The Los Angeles Rams got off to a very positive start in 2023. They hit the road to take on their division rival Seattle Seahawks in Seattle on Sunday. And when the final whistle sounded, Los Angeles emerged victorious by a score of 30-13. Leading the way for the Rams was veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford. […]

The Las Vegas Raiders kicked off their 2023 season with a Week 1 victory over the Denver Broncos. It wasn’t the prettiest game from either side. In fact, Las Vegas won the game by just one single point. However, the game could have gone the other way after a crucial Jimmy Garoppolo interception. The veteran […]

The Los Angeles Angels put their best foot forward on August 1, buying at the MLB trade deadline in an attempt to make the playoffs. This is likely the last season they have with megastar Shohei Ohtani. And future Hall of Famer Mike Trout isn’t getting any younger. Unfortunately, those efforts were all for naught. […]

The Detroit Red Wings were active this offseason, trying to make their team better for 2023-24. Detroit swung trades for star goal-scorer Alex DeBrincat and veteran defenseman Jeff Petry. And they added a whole crop of free agents including J.T. Compher, Justin Holl, and Shayne Gostisbehere. This flurry of activity has many fans believing the […]

Milan Lucic made an obvious decision in NHL Free Agency, returning to the Boston Bruins on a one-year contract. Lucic has spent eight years away after being traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 2015. The veteran forward went on to spend time with the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, as well. Lucic returned to […]

The Detroit Lions entered their Week 1 primetime showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs with something to prove. Dan Campbell and his team had a ton of hype around them following their resurgence during the second half of last season. And on Thursday, Detroit made a statement by beating the defending Super Bowl champions in […]

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter the 2023 NFL season looking to prove the world wrong. The general perception of the team has shifted since legendary quarterback Tom Brady called it a career this summer. As a result, many are writing the Buccaneers off and expecting them to take a step back. However, this narrative doesn’t […]

The Edmonton Oilers are an incredibly talented team, and every hockey fan is aware of this. After all, they have the two best players in the NHL on their roster right now. However, despite having Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, Edmonton has yet to put it all together in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That said, […]

Carson Soucy joined the Vancouver Canucks this summer knowing he could play an increased role. It’s a situation he is excited about and is welcoming with open arms. But there’s another reason Soucy decided to put pen to paper with Vancouver. And it has to do with two Hall of Fame-worthy former players on the […]

The Arizona Coyotes have an incredibly bright future on the ice. Arizona has a very promising head coach who recently signed an extension with the club. And they have some exciting players waiting to make an impact at the NHL level. On Wednesday, the Coyotes decided to keep another important figure, general manager Bill Armstrong, […]

Free agent forward Patrick Kane mentioned recently that he is willing to listen to offers from interested teams. As of now, we aren’t aware of any team that has made an offer to the future Hall of Famer. However, recent reports indicate that Kane has an interest in joining his old rival, the Detroit Red […]

The Detroit Tigers are entering the final month of the 2023 MLB season looking to close things out on a high note. They played the second game of their series against the New York Yankees on Wednesday. However, things took a bad turn after starting pitcher Matt Manning exited the game due to injury. Detroit’s […]

The Ottawa Senators have an incredibly promising core of players already making an impact at the NHL level. On Wednesday, the Senators ensured one of those core players will remain with the franchise for quite a while. Ottawa has signed defenseman Jake Sanderson to a monster eight-year contract extension, the team announced on Twitter. The […]

The Columbus Blue Jackets made one of the more intriguing moves this summer across the entire NHL. And it didn’t involve a trade or NHL Free Agency signing. The Blue Jackets tabbed former Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock as their successor to Brad Larsen. Controversy has followed Babcock since […]

The New York Islanders are not far removed from being just one win away from the Stanley Cup Final. In 2020, the team came within two wins of competing for the Cup. New York came so close, but now it seems hockey’s holy grail is so far away. The Islanders made the Stanley Cup Playoffs […]

The Ottawa Senators pushed for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this past season. That push began last summer with their work in NHL Free Agency. Ottawa brought veteran forward Claude Giroux home as part of their effort. And during the season, they traded for then-Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun. Unfortunately, things didn’t work. […]

The Nashville Predators are heading into a new era of their franchise in more ways than one. For the first time, David Poile is not the team’s leader in the front office. That honor now belongs to Barry Trotz, who served as the franchise’s first head coach. Speaking of the head coach, that’s different now […]

The St. Louis Blues missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs this past season, but they don’t want a repeat performance in 2023-24. St. Louis is hoping for a return to postseason hockey next spring. They have a solid roster already in place and made some moves to bolster their existing group. Their most notable move might […]

The Montreal Canadiens are working through their rebuild and are likely to finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Division in 2024. Montreal has a number of promising players on their roster that should anchor them for the future. However, the team has a number of veterans who could bring a nice return via trade. […]