Tristin McKinstry Articles - Page 7

The Minnesota Wild made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025, successfully rebounding from a disappointing campaign. Minnesota was expected to compete for the postseason in 2024. However, they did not have a great season, and missed altogether. This changed in 2025, as players like Marco Rossi and Filip Gustavsson stepped up in a major way. […]

The Chicago Blackhawks had a horrific 2024-25 campaign that left many around the league disappointed. Connor Bedard is expected to be the next leader of a Golden Age of Blackhawks hockey. However, they stumbled hard this past season, and that has thrown the status of their rebuild into some doubt. Chicago has made some intriguing […]

The Nashville Predators took a massive risk last summer. The Predators were eliminated by the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And in NHL Free Agency, they signed Jonathan Marchessault, Steven Stamkos, and Brady Skjei with the idea of contending for a Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, this expensive gamble did […]

The Dallas Stars made the Western Conference Final for a third consecutive season this spring. This is quite the impressive feat, especially for a team in the West. It’s been over a decade since a team from the West made three straight trips to the Conference Finals. It was the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles […]

The New Jersey Devils fell in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. New Jersey believed it had the roster needed to contend for the Stanley Cup this past season. However, injuries helped derail a promising season that ended in defeat at the hands of their division rival, the Carolina Hurricanes. The Devils […]

The San Francisco 49ers are gearing up for the 2025 NFL season. They have high hopes for the upcoming campaign after a last-place finish in 2024. Unfortunately, San Francisco will head into Week 1 without one of their top free agent signings in wide receiver DeMarcus Robinson. Robinson has been suspended for the first three […]

The Pittsburgh Penguins are open for business as the 2025 NHL offseason continues. Pittsburgh may legitimately be the only team in the league willing to sell. Every other team is either actively trying to contend or hesitant to tear things down to kick off a complete rebuild. Of course, Pittsburgh isn’t stripping this thing to […]

The Buffalo Sabres have had brutal luck over the last several years. A lot of Buffalo’s failures are self-inflicted, to be fair. Buffalo has been stuck in a repeating rebuild cycle since the mid-2010s. However, this team came within a tiebreaker of breaking their long postseason drought in 2023. Instead of making the postseason, though, […]

The Detroit Red Wings want to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2026. However, they have failed to make the postseason in each of the last nine seasons. Moreover, they have sold at a fair few deadlines in recent memory. The team has the ability to take a step forward, but it’s certainly not a […]

The Boston Red Sox are in the thick of the Wild Card race at this time. Boston holds the top Wild Card spot in the American League, and they face fierce competition from the likes of the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. Now, they are bolstering their lineup with the addition of former Washington […]

The Detroit Red Wings are looking to contend in the 2025-26 season. Detroit has a good young core in place already. Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider are already stars. Simon Edvinsson is not far behind, either. Other young contributors include Marco Kasper, Albert Johansson, and Carter Mazur. And this is only the tip of the […]

Every year, there are players who linger on the NHL Free Agency market who seek any opportunity they can get. Last year, one of those players was Max Pacioretty. The veteran forward sought a chance to make a roster and win a Stanley Cup. He signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and ended up making […]

The Carolina Hurricanes took a chance on Evgeny Kuznetsov at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. The veteran forward was looking for a fresh start away from the Washington Capitals. And Carolina believed he could help their playoff push. He left Carolina following the 2024 postseason, and after a year away, he is seeking a potential […]

The Pittsburgh Penguins did not make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025. They put in a decent challenge, for sure. However, they ended up falling short of the postseason. One of the bright spots, outside of Sidney Crosby, was veteran defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. Despite his solid season, he remains unsigned deep into 2025 NHL Free […]

We are around a month away from training camp beginning across the NHL. Most of the top options in NHL Free Agency are no longer on the market. However, there are always some stragglers left on the market who, in all intents and purposes, should have a job. Former Vegas Golden Knights winger Victor Olofsson […]

The 2025-26 NHL season is nearly upon us. 2025 NHL Free Agency is largely over and done with. And teams are preparing for the season ahead. However, there are always players on the market who many believe should have been signed a long time ago, yet remain unsigned. Former Carolina Hurricanes forward Jack Roslovic is […]

The Detroit Tigers defeated the Chicago White Sox on Monday night to kick off their three-game set. Spencer Torkelson was the hero on Monday, swatting a huge ninth-inning home run to give his Tigers the win. After a midseason slump, Detroit has now won nine of their last 14 games, and could be on the […]

The Ottawa Senators finally made the playoffs in 2025 after coming close in previous seasons. Ottawa had a rough start to the season, to be fair. However, they rebounded to win the top Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, they were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But NHL […]

The Vegas Golden Knights had a disappointing postseason exit in 2025. Vegas felt as if it could contend for the Stanley Cup once again. And they eliminated the Minnesota Wild to move past the first round after a one-and-done postseason run last summer. However, they fell flat against the Edmonton Oilers in the second round, […]

AJ Hinch’s Detroit Tigers have struggled since the MLB All-Star break, though they have seen promising signs in recent days. Unfortunately, they got an uncharacteristically brutal start from Tarik Skubal on Friday. It seemed as if they were on the cusp of a series-opening loss to the Los Angeles Angels. That is, until Matt Vierling […]

Detroit Lions defensive back Morice Norris suffered a serious injury in Friday’s preseason game with the Atlanta Falcons. Lions players sent heartfelt messages in the way of the incident at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. And the preseason game was suspended in the fourth quarter after the two teams huddled together at midfield for eight minutes. After the […]

The Calgary Flames nearly made the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They had a very solid season with some promising signs. Jonathan Huberdeau showed some life after a brutal start to his Calgary tenure. Nazem Kadri bounced back to score 35 goals. And Dustin Wolf emerged as one of the best young goalies in the NHL. […]

The Los Angeles Kings made the Stanley Cup Playoffs once again. And once again, they faced the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the postseason. Unfortunately, the result remained the same as their previous affairs. Los Angeles was eliminated by Edmonton for the fourth straight season, sending the team toward NHL Free Agency with […]

The Philadelphia Flyers collapsed at the end of the 2023-24 campaign. Philadelphia held a postseason spot for much of the season. However, they stumbled hard down the stretch, and missed out entirely. Unfortunately, they did little in NHL Free Agency last summer to improve their fortunes. And they didn’t come close to the postseason this […]

The Columbus Blue Jackets nearly made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025. In fact, they missed out on the postseason by two points. It was a surprising surge for a team many expected to finish near the bottom of the league. They entered NHL Free Agency hoping to make a big splash and improve their […]

The Detroit Tigers were active at the MLB Trade Deadline, making several small moves. As a result of these moves, Detroit had to shuffle its roster around a bit. One of the corresponding moves saw the Tigers place rookie Troy Melton in the bullpen after two starts at the back end of the rotation. Melton […]

The Chicago Blackhawks had a rough 2024-25 season. Many expected Chicago to take a step forward on the ice. Connor Bedard showed promise for a Blackhawks team needing a source of hope in 2023-24. However, things did not go well this past season. Bedard struggled at times, the team played poorly, and head coach Luke […]

The New York Islanders drafted Matthew Schaefer first overall in the 2025 NHL Draft. Schaefer separated himself from his peers in the draft this past season. And he certainly has a bright future ahead of him. On Monday, though, New York and Schaefer made a major decision regarding his more immediate future in hockey. Schaefer […]

The San Jose Sharks missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs as expected in 2025. However, there seemed to be a shift in perception around the team. Despite their lackluster results, the skill and quality were evident on many nights. San Jose is still rebuilding, but their performances at least showed that the future is bright for […]

The Montreal Canadiens made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a surprising turn this past season. Many expected this year to be a rough one for the young Habs. They struggled early on, which drove the point home even further. At one point, the Canadiens were ripped for regressing on the ice due to their particularly […]

The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered another disappointing postseason exit in 2025. They faced the Florida Panthers in the second round and had a 2-0 series lead early on. In fact, they had a chance to go up 3-0 against Florida. But the defending champions found their stride, defeating Toronto in six games. And in NHL […]

The St. Louis Blues made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025 after a rather successful regular season. The Blues faced the Winnipeg Jets during the first round of the postseason. St. Louis dominated at points in the series, but could not close it out. Winnipeg defeated St. Louis in Game 7, sending the Blues into […]

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the 2025 NHL offseason looking to sell. They had veteran trade candidates such as Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, and Erik Karlsson. And they were really the only team open to trading roster players for futures. Entering NHL Free Agency, it felt as if Pittsburgh would be quite active in moving its […]

The Houston Astros saw the return of Carlos Correa to the lineup for the first time since 2021. Correa re-joined Houston on Thursday at the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline in a deal with the Minnesota Twins. Their first opponent was the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Correa’s return was a talking point going into […]

The New York Yankees stacked their bullpen at the MLB Trade Deadline. One of their major additions was trading for Pittsburgh Pirates reliever David Bednar. Bednar joined New York with the expectation that he’d hold down opposing hitters in high-leverage situations. Along with Camilo Doval and Jake Bird, the Bronx Bombers are expected to have […]

The Detroit Red Wings are hoping to contend in the 2025-26 season. They do not want to end up where they’ve been for the last nine seasons: outside of the playoffs and in the NHL Draft Lottery. Detroit entered NHL Free Agency hoping to make a significant move. Unfortunately, that significant move has yet to […]

The Detroit Tigers made several trades leading up to the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline. In all, the AL Central leaders gave manager AJ Hinch more options to work with in the bullpen and starting rotation. Hinch is very familiar with one of these new faces — 41-year-old starting pitcher Charlie Morton, who came over through […]

The Detroit Tigers made a few moves on MLB Trade Deadline day. First, they made an intriguing trade with the Cleveland Guardians for injured reliever Paul Sewald. Then, they acquired Kyle Finnegan in a deal with the Washington Nationals. Before the buzzer went off on Thursday evening, though, they made another deal involving Baltimore Orioles […]

The Detroit Tigers are buying at the MLB Trade Deadline for the first time in over a decade. Detroit has yet to make a splash move despite its nine game lead atop the AL Central. However, they have made a few smaller moves. The Tigers traded for Chris Paddack in a deal with their division […]