NHL Articles - Page 189

The Buffalo Sabres have made a couple of interesting trades this offseason, including acquiring former fifth-round pick Beck Malenstyn from the Washington Capitals on June 29. And the franchise avoided arbitration with the restricted free agent, signing him to a two-year, $2.70 million contract on Tuesday, the team announced. “This guy is a player who’s […]

Despite winning the President’s Trophy in 2023-24 as the National Hockey League’s premier regular-season team, the New York Rangers were again unable to bring a Stanley Cup to the Big Apple after losing to the eventual champion Florida Panthers in the East Final. It’s now been over 30 years since Mark Messier led the Blueshirts […]

The Nashville Predators spent big in NHL Free Agency this summer. Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault signed with the Predators in free agency, and that alone would have been a big deal. However, they also signed the best defenseman on the market in Brady Skjei. For current Nashville forward Ryan O’Reilly, free agency could not […]

The Vancouver Canucks made an intriguing move late in NHL Free Agency this summer. The Canucks signed Daniel Sprong to a one-year contract after the veteran forward spent weeks on the open market. Sprong joins his third team in as many years. He spent the last two seasons with the Seattle Kraken and Detroit Red […]

The Washington Capitals made the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, it still feels as if their season was an utter disappointment. They could not overcome their offensive woes in the postseason. And while Alex Ovechkin had a great second half, he was very inconsistent. The Capitals set out to fix their uses in a massive […]

The Detroit Red Wings have had an interesting offseason, and they still have things left to do in NHL Free Agency. Detroit needs to sign franchise cornerstones Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond to contracts at some point this offseason. Those should get done at some point, but they aren’t the only restricted free agents in […]

The Columbus Blue Jackets hired a new general manager earlier in the offseason. And Don Waddell didn’t wait too long to make his first major move in charge. The Blue Jackets fired then-head coach Pascal Vincent before the NHL Draft. Now, they finally have a new head coach. Former Minnesota Wild bench boss Dean Evason […]

The Vancouver Canucks had an active NHL Free Agency period when the market opened on July 1. The Canucks signed Jake DeBrusk to a seven-year contract while adding depth such as Danton Heinen and Derek Forbort. However, they weren’t done with their activity once July 1 came and went. They recently signed forward Daniel Sprong […]

The Anaheim Ducks were involved in one of the more surprising moves of the 2023-24 NHL season when they acquired Cutter Gauthier in a trade from the Philadelphia Flyers. They traded defenseman Jamie Drysdale to grab the Boston College star. Gauthier made his NHL debut in the season finale, notching an assist in a 4-1 […]

The Columbus Blue Jackets hoped to be further along in their rebuild by now, but injuries helped ensure that they would be paying rent in the Eastern Conference cellar for the second consecutive year. They now move ahead with another new head coach in Dean Evason, who guided the Minnesota Wild to their first 50-win […]

The Utah Hockey Club had some serious work to do this offseason. When the league year started on July 1st, Utah had zero defensive players under contract. Thankfully, the team had no shortage of cap space to work with. They immediately went to work compiling a defensive unit from scratch. General manager Bill Armstrong did a […]

The NHL coaching carousel has finally stopped spinning. The Columbus Blue Jackets have hired Dean Evason as the 11th head coach in franchise history. Evason snatches the final opening after Pascal Vincent was let go very late in the off-season by the Blue Jackets. He takes over for a team that finished last in the […]

The Minnesota Wild have already made one trade this offseason, shipping out Vinni Lettieri to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Jakub Lauko. The 24-year-old is a former third-round pick by the B’s, and figures to start the 2024-25 NHL season on the team’s fourth line. Besides signing Yakov Trenin from the Nashville Predators and […]

Claude Giroux is entering the final season on his contract for the Ottawa Senators, and he has opened up on the potential of signing an extension with the franchise this summer, giving no indication that a long-term deal is on the way. “No, we haven’t had a chat,” Claude Giroux said on the Coming in […]

The St. Louis Blues were on top of the hockey world after going from worst-to-first in 2018-19, en route to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. The Blues went on an all-time run, highlighted by winning Game 7 against the Boston Bruins in an always-hostile TD Garden. It was the last seven-game series in a championship […]

The New York Islanders once again suffered from a lack of cap space, heading into the offseason. Perpetually in a cap crunch over the last few seasons, the Islanders have struggled to add. As a result, the organization finds themselves in a bit of a stale spot right now. Much of the team’s core, in […]

The Colorado Avalanche wanted to bounce back from a disappointing exit from the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And to some extent, they did. Colorado finished third in the Central Division behind the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars. They went on to defeat the Jets in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as well. However, they could not […]

The Anaheim Ducks started the 2023-24 season rather well. However, everything quickly came crashing down for this young team. And by the end of the season, they didn’t come close to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Ducks headed into NHL Free Agency with more than enough money and roster space to make some moves. And […]

The Pittsburgh Penguins were extremely active in NHL Free Agency a year ago. New general manager Kyle Dubas made it clear he wanted this team to remain competitive. He had no reservations about giving big contracts to veterans, which he believed would make them a better hockey team. The only issue is that the Penguins […]

The Nashville Predators won NHL Free Agency this summer. They signed Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault in a move to give more firepower to their top-six. And they brought in defenseman Brady Skjei to partner with captain Roman Josi on the backend. These moves certainly make them better, but there could be more moves on […]

The Dallas Stars have one of the most talented teams in the entire NHL. And they proved their worth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year. However, they unfortunately ran into the same result they did in 2023. The Stars lost in the Western Conference Finals in six games this year and watched as their […]

The St. Louis Blues put in a late challenge for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. They struggled to begin the year, and even fired head coach Craig Berube after a loss to the Detroit Red Wings before the calendar flipped. But they responded well to interim coach Drew Bannister and challenged […]

The Vancouver Canucks are adding some depth to their roster after an impressive 2023-24 campaign. The organization has signed former Detroit Red Wings forward Daniel Sprong to a one-year deal, via PuckPedia. The contract is worth $975,000. Sprong was a key piece for the Wings last season, scoring 18 goals and providing 25 assists in […]

The Ottawa Senators were oh-so-close to being a team of destiny in 2017, taking the Pittsburgh Penguins to seven games in the Eastern Conference Final and eventually losing in heartbreaking fashion in double overtime. The Pens would go on to win the Stanley Cup that postseason, and the Sens have yet to make the playoffs […]

Despite 13 straight National Hockey League seasons without a playoff appearance — the longest such drought in North American professional sports — the Buffalo Sabres continue to struggle to make meaningful progress. In 2023-24, the club floundered again, finishing sixth place in the Atlantic Division with a 39-37-6 record. It wasn’t a terrible season by […]

Although there was some hope that the 2023-24 Columbus Blue Jackets could surprise the hockey world and make a push for the playoffs — especially after acquiring Damon Severson and Ivan Provorov last offseason — the campaign went off the rails pretty quickly and never got back on track. When the dust settled, the Jackets […]

The Los Angeles Kings drew the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third straight season. And once again, they could not overcome Connor McDavid and Edmonton’s offensive attack. The Oilers defeated Los Angeles in five games as they went on to make the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. As a result, Los Angeles […]

Veteran defenseman Matt Grzelcyk can trace a lot of career moments to the city of Pittsburgh. The Boston Bruins drafted him in 2012 when the NHL Draft took place in the city. He debuted at PPG Paints Arena in 2016 before scoring his first career goal in that same building in 2017. Now, he will […]

The New Jersey Devils were among the favorites to contend for the Stanley Cup at the beginning of the 2023-24 season. Unfortunately, they didn’t come close to living up to those expectations. They struggled for large stretches of the season and ultimately missed the playoffs entirely. After 2024 NHL Free Agency, though, there is hope […]

The New York Rangers came close to the Stanley Cup Final once again in 2024. New York hoped to go on a deep playoff run when they hired Peter Laviolette as head coach last summer. Now, they are looking to finally get over the hump and actually make the Stanley Cup Final in 2025. They […]

This time last year, Oliver Ekman-Larsson was at a crossroads of sorts. The veteran rearguard had just been bought out by the Vancouver Canucks. And he joined the Florida Panthers in NHL Free Agency hoping to do something to revitalize his career. Now, he is a Stanley Cup champion and recently signed a four-year contract […]

The Vegas Golden Knights were on top of the world just over one calendar year ago, celebrating the first Stanley Cup victory in just the sixth year of their existence since entering the NHL. Essentially, the Golden Knights went from the loveable team that could to the League’s new villain, especially due to their creative […]

The Detroit Red Wings have made some big moves in NHL Free Agency. They kept veteran forward Patrick Kane on a one-year contract and signed two-time Stanley Cup champion Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract. They are likely done shopping the open market, but they have some items left to take care of. One of […]

It’s no secret that Jake DeBrusk’s seven-year tenure with the Boston Bruins was not without its challenges — the 27-year-old did ask for a trade on two different occasions, after all. And after signing with the Vancouver Canucks in free agency on July 1, the former first-round pick broke his silence on the trade requests […]

The Seattle Kraken nearly went nuclear in just their second season of existence in 2022-23, defeating the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in Round 1 and coming within one victory of advancing all the way to the Western Conference Final. It was a hugely encouraging campaign in the State of Washington, providing hope that […]

The Carolina Hurricanes are in the midst of a mass exodus this offseason after watching a plethora of talent depart Raleigh, including forwards Jake Guentzel, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Teuvo Teravainen. And those might not be the only players on the move as youngsters Martin Necas and Seth Jarvis remain without a contract heading into 2024-25. […]

The Columbus Blue Jackets finished in the basement of the Eastern Conference in 2023-24 with just 66 points. Despite the offensive star power of Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine, the Blue Jackets struggled to win games in head coach Pascal Vincent’s only season behind the bench. This summer, they brought in Gaudreau’s old teammate Sean […]

Riding a 13-year playoff drought, the Buffalo Sabres find themselves still struggling to make meaningful progress. This past season, the Sabres finished 12th in the East. With a young core established though and an abundance of cap space, free agency seemed like a good opportunity to make improvements to their roster. However, Buffalo stayed relatively […]

Shortly before free agent frenzy kicked off on July 1, the Utah Hockey Club didn’t have a single NHL defenseman under contract. Fast forward a couple of weeks and the club’s defense is arguably better than it’s been in the last decade. The league’s newest franchise had nothing but cap space heading into free agency, […]