I wrote an article in March 2023 which looked at members of the 100 Hits/100 BLKS club leading to the end of last season. In this article, we are going to look at potential members of the club from each team in the West for 2023-2024.

Hopefully, it will help out a few people with their upcoming drafts.

Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks were not a physical team by any means but added Radko Gudas and Robert Hagg in free agency and most recently Ilya Lyubushkin from Buffalo to help in those categories.

Gudas should be amongst the league leaders in Hits as he had 312 with Florida where he averaged 17:22 per game and killed penalties 44.3 percent of the time. He had 128 BLKS in Florida and could see a few more in Anaheim if he increases his ice time.

Hagg played 38 games with Detroit in 2022-23 and went 111/47. He has been in the club two times in his career with a best of 258/158 in 2018-19 while with Philadelphia.

Lyubushkin has never had a 100/100 season in his five years in the league but has come very close with 99/103 in 68 games in Buffalo and 187/92 in 77 games split between Arizona and Tampa Bay.

Arizona Coyotes

The Coyotes have three defenders who could be in the club with Josh Brown, Matt Dumba and J.J. Moser.

In 68 games in 2022-23, Brown had 152/118 while averaging 15:46 per night. If he can play 60 games or more he should be good again.

In nine NHL seasons, Dumba has been in the club twice as he has only played five years with 69 games or more. In 2022-23 he played 79 games and went 104/116.

The 23-year-old Moser had an excellent 2022-23 where he played 82 games averaging 21:03 per game and finished with 31 points and went 80/137. He would need to elevate his physical play a little but he should be a lock for BLKS.

Calgary Flames

The Flames have a lock in Mackenzie Weegar and potential members in Nikita Zadorov, Noah Hanifin.

Weegar has had back-to-back 100/100 with 186/117 in Calgary and 179/156 with Florida.

Zadorov hasn't been a member of the club since 2017-18 while he was with Colorado where he went 278/106. The Hits are always going to be there but he averages about 75-80 BLKS.  

Hanifin had never broken 100 in either Hits or BLKS until his 8th season in 2022-23 where he went 76/129. He would need to elevate his physicality slightly but it looks like his BLKS will be there if he is killing penalties 42.6 percent of the time.

Chicago Blackhawks

Connor Murphy should be a lock as he has had 100/100 in seven of his nine years in the league and had 165/160 in 2022-23.

Seth Jones has been a member three times in his 10 NHL seasons, but is not a lock as he was 106/125 in 2022-23 in 72 games and needs to play 70 games or more.

 Jarred Tinordi has a career-high of 44 games in eight partial seasons in the NHL. The good news is that it was in 2022-23 and he had 139 Hits and 68 BLKS. If he can play 60 plus games he has a shot.

Nikita Zaitsev had his first year outside of the 100/100 club after seven seasons. He played just 46 games and ended up with 95/72. If he can play 60 or more games he should be back.

Colorado Avalanche

Jack Johnson used to be a good bet to get into the club as he has done it six times in 16 years in the league with the most recent time being 117/127 in 83 games in 2022-23 split between Chicago and Colorado. He will need to kill penalties and play 70 or more games to do it again.

Devon Toews hasn't been a member yet, but came close in 2022-23 as he had 93/138 in 80 games. He had never been over a hit per game in his first 235 games but elevated his physicality a little.

Bowen Byram has struggled to stay healthy, playing just 42, 30 and 19 games in each of the past three years. In 91 career games he has 168 Hits and 93 BLKS. In 42 games in 2022-23 he went 82/54. With his potential production he could emerge as a top multi-category defender.

Cale Makar has a three-year average of 95/101 per 82 games. In 77 games in 2021-22 he went 95/110. His ability to put up these totals is just gravy for a potential 100-point defender.

Josh Manson has never been in the club in nine NHL seasons, with the biggest reason being that he hasn't been able to stay healthy. The closest he came was in 2017-18 in Anaheim where he played 80 games and went 180/99. In 2022-23 he managed just 27 games and went 64/41. His three-year average for 82 games is 213/100.

Dallas Stars

Jani Hakanpaa has averaged 257/121 per 82 games over the past three seasons and went 224/128 in 82 games in 2022-23. As his shorthanded percentage has gone from 39.9, to 52.4 and 63.3 his BLKS have gone from 83, to 112 and 128.

Esa Lindell has been a member three times in seven tries but missed out in 2022-23 in 82 games where he went 87/147. His three year average for 82 games was 120/153.

Ryan Suter has come close but has never reached 100/100 in 18 seasons even though he reached 100 BLKS nine times. His career high in Hits was 87 in 2008-09.

Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers have three probable locks in Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci. Potential candidates are Brett Kulak, Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm and Vincent Desharnais.

Nurse is one of the league leaders in these two categories averaging 180/155 over 82 games in the past three years. In 2022-23 he went 146/164 in 82 games.

Ceci has been in the club five times in his 10 years so far in the NHL. His three-year average over 82 games is 128/117.

Kulak had 105/106 in 2022-23 which was the first time for him in his eight years. If he can stay at 31.7 percent in killing penalties he might be able to duplicate.

Bouchard saw his penalty-killing go from 32.8 percent to 10.0 and consequently saw his BLKS go from 112 to 77. He would need to get back to killing penalties to have a shot.

Ekholm has reached 100 BLKS in seven of his 10 years but peaked at 91 Hits in 78 games in 2022-23 split between Nashville and Edmonton.

Desharnais played 33 games in his rookie year and pro-rated to 82 games his pace would have been 103 Hits and 109 BLKS. It just remains to be seen if Desharnais will be a regular in 2023-24.

Los Angeles Kings

The Kings have Mikey Anderson, Matt Roy and Drew Doughty as potential locks and Vladislav Gavrikov as having an outside chance.

Anderson established himself as a bit of a leader on the Kings in 2022-23 and was rewarded with a new eight-year deal. He had 162/129 in 77 games.

Roy has played 67 games or more three times in his five years in the NHL. Each time he has played 67 games or more he has reached 100/100. In 2022-23 he played 82 games and finished with 119/152.

Doughty has played 15 years now in the NHL and has been a member of this club seven times. In 2022-23 he played 81 games with 115 Hits and 104 BLKS.

Gavrikov has played four seasons in the NHL and had a career-high in 2021-22 when he put up 124/138. In 2022-23 he put up 74/115 in 72 games split between Columbus and Los Angeles.

Minnesota Wild

Jake Middleton could be the sole Wild player on this list. In his first two NHL seasons he has hit the 100/100 target both times. In 2022-23, Middleton had gone 115/155 in 79 games.

Jared Spurgeon has averaged 151 BLKS per 82 games over the past three years, but only 67 Hits. His career high is 91 Hits in 2018-19.

Brock Faber is a dark horse, as he played just two regular season games and had no Hits but did have nine BLKS. He also played six playoff games and had six Hits and eight BLKS. A lot will depend on if he is killing penalties and if he gets a regular role in 2023-24.

Nashville Predators

Potential candidates in Nashville are Luke Schenn, Dante Fabbro, Alexandre Carrier and Jeremy Lauzon with Jake Livingstone being a dark horse.

Schenn led the NHL in Hits in 2022-23 split between Vancouver and Toronto with 318 but came up a little short in BLKS with 98 in 70 games. In fifteen NHL seasons he has accomplished 100/100 nine times but hasn't done it since 2017-18 in Arizona.

Fabbro played more than 66 games for the first time in his career and ended up with 113/129 in 79 games. His shorthanded percentage increased from 17.6 to 32.4.

Carrier played just 43 games in 2022-23 and finished 57/67. He did play 77 games in 2021-22 and had 95/124 so he is quite capable if can stay healthy.

Lauzon has no trouble getting enough Hits with 224 and 250 Hits back to back. His shorthanded percentage has been over 40 percent the past two seasons, but his block totals have been just 75 and 63.

Livingstone saw five games after he turned pro from Minnesota State University. He managed six Hits and 11 BLKS which pro-rates to 98 Hits and 180 BLKS over 82 games.

San Jose Sharks

Mario Ferraro, Matt Benning, Kyle Burroughs and Radim Simek  could all be in the 100/100 list in 2023-24.

Ferraro played more than 63 games for the first time in his four years in the league. He played 72 games in 2022-23 and ended up at 129/145. His three-year pro-rated for 82 games would be 182/168.

Benning will need to rely on his 54.6 percent in killing penalties as he had 102/125 in 77 games in 2022-23. If his time declines he might struggle to stay here.

Burroughs has never played more than 48 games in a season, but had 165/84 with Vancouver in 2022-23. His three-year pro-ration for 82 games is 256/125. If he can play 70 or more games, I think he belongs here.

Simek is similar to Burroughs in that he hasn't played more than 48 games in five years with the Sharks. His three-year pro-ration for 82 games is 178/111. The odds are that Simek won't play enough games to get there.

Seattle Kraken

The Kraken have built almost their entire defense around Hits and BLKS. They have Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, Will Borgen, Brian Dumoulin and Vince Dunn as potential members.

Larsson is one of the surest players in the league to provide Hits and BLKS. In 2022-23 he had 222/173 in 82 games and his three-year pro-rated average was 213/164.

Oleksiak had played 11 seasons in the NHL and got to 100/100 for the first time in 2022-23 when he had 126/115 in 75 games. He had a career-high 61.4 percent on the penalty kill with a prior high of 41.5.

Borgen will need to play more than 16:22 per night and 33.5 percent of the time on the penalty kill to improve on 203/89 in 82 games that he had in 2022-23.

Dumoulin was added as a free agent and fits the mold of the Kraken defense very well. He had 123/142 in 82 games in 2022-23 while with Pittsburgh and has hit 100/100 three times in his career.

Dunn is a very intriguing player for his production (64 points) and that he has the potential to join this list. He had 115/80 in 81 games in 2022-23 without playing much on the penalty kill.

St. Louis Blues

The Blues have Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk and Robert Bortuzzo who have a chance at this list.

Parayko has reached 100/100 four times in his eight years in the league. In 2022-23 he had 115/144 in 79 games.

Faulk has done it four times in 12 years in the league and was at 112/140 in 82 games in 2022-23.

Bortuzzo is more of an outside threat as he will need to remain healthy and play 70 games or more to have a chance. In 10 years in the NHL, Bortuzzo has only played more than 60 games twice and he has only done 100/100 once in 2017/18 when he did 121/108 in 72 games.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks added some defenders who could join the club in Ian Cole and Carson Soucy. Existing Canucks who could join them are Tyler Myers and that is probably it.

Cole has hit 100/100 five times in his career and had 117/123 in 78 games in 2022-23 where he killed penalties 57.1 percent of the time for Tampa Bay.

Soucy hasn't reached the list yet but came very close in 2022-23 when he had 143/96 in 78 games. He should be good to go in the Hits category but he will need to play about 40 percent of the time when the Canucks are shorthanded.

Myers has only joined the club once in his 14 years in the NHL. In 2022-23 he had 93/144 after putting up 145/148 in 2021-22.

Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights success can be partially attributed to their defenders listed here. They have Brayden McNabb, Nicolas Hague, Zach Whitecloud and perhaps Dysin Mayo.

McNabb has reached 100/100 five times before in his nine seasons. In 2022-23 he had 201/198 and came close to doing something no one has done since Mike Komisarek in 2007-08 which is 200/200.

Hague played more than 52 games for the first time in his career and finished with 117/131 in 81 games in 2022-23. He has some room to improve in BLKS as he was only on the penalty kill 19.3 percent of the time.

Whitecloud has yet to play more than 59 games in his three years in the NHL and as a result has come close but has had back to back years of 98/115 in 59 games and 90/97 in 59 games. He'll get there sooner than later.

Mayo has played 82 games in his career and has had 159/153 but he needs to get a regular role to get there again.

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets are loaded with defenders who belong here with Brenden Dillon, Neal Pionk, Dylan Samberg, Dylan DeMelo, Josh Morrissey and Logan Stanley.

Dillon has now played 11 years in the NHL and has hit 100/100 five times. In 2022-23 he had 198/108 in 82 games. He is a lock for the Hits, but still needs to squeak out the Hits the past eight years.

Pionk hit the mark for the first time in 2022-23 with 169/129 in 82 games. He saw his penalty killing go from 22.9 percent to 34.7 and hit 100 BLKS for the first time.

Samberg has now played 78 career games over two seasons and is at 112/112. He played 63 games in 2022-23 and will hope to play more than 70 games in 2023-24.

DeMelo has played more than 75 games three times in his eight years and has hit 100/100 in all three of those. In 2022-23 he had 120/102 in 75 games.

Morrissey exploded for 76 points in 2022-23 but even though he didn't get to 100/100 he had done it three times before. His Hits went down from 150 in 2021-22 to 89 in 2022-23.

Stanley has struggled to become a regular in the NHL in his first three seasons. He has played 19, 58 and 37 games and hit the 100/100 club when he played 58 with 131/100.

Thanks very much for reading and if you have any comments or suggestions, please leave them below or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15