Hockey Rambling

It’s all playoff pucks today. I’ll use that term because it was the name of the very first fantasy hockey article that I wrote way back in 2006 for a website that no longer exists. Canucks 2, Predators 1 (Canucks lead series 2-1) Just gotta catch my breath here… okay, I’m good. After looking a [...]

Chicago has signed defenceman Alex Vlasic to a six-year deal with an AAV of $4.6M per season. I wrote about him yesterday when discussing the Blackhawks so read that for more on him.   In salary cap leagues, this could be fine. It isn’t a heavy cap hit and he was just shy of two [...]

It was announced that Carolina defenceman Brett Pesce is likely to miss the first round of the playoffs. Carolina has a 2-0 series lead and has been in command of the game, if not the scoreboard, since the second period of Game 1. Pesce’s loss shouldn’t change a whole lot about that series, but it [...]

The Rangers have been the better team thus far, but the Capitals are hanging around and still haven’t lost at home yet. With the makeup of their team, the Capitals really need to get the matchup game right to have a chance at climbing back into the series. Especially if Jack Roslovic is making shots [...]

In an article from Montreal Canadiens writer Arpon Basu regard Cole Caufield and the shoulder surgery he had, it was mentioned that not having normal use from the shoulder for at least the first year post-surgery was normal. Considering he shot 8.9% on the season after averaging 14.1% across his first three seasons, that makes [...]

Panthers 3, Lightning 2 (Panthers lead series 1-0) During Sunday’s playoff opener, captain Steven Stamkos led the Lightning with a goal and an assist. Stamkos had an outstanding final quarter of the regular season, amassing 30 points in his final 20 appearances to sit top-10 in scoring during that stretch. Early indications suggest he’s carried [...]

After being away from the Ramblings for over a week, I’m back today. Big thanks to Brennan, Alex, and Mike for each taking on a day in my absence. What I’ve been up to during this time: Interactive Playoff Draft List: A fully customizable spreadsheet where you can fill out your own bracket and the [...]

The NHL Playoffs are here! We have two games today with the New York Islanders in Carolina at 5PM ET and then Toronto is in Boston at 8PM ET. Tomorrow is a four-day game when things really get rolling. What a wonderful time of year. Before we get to the playoff stuff, I just want [...]

As an Eastern time zone dweller, the playoff seeding in the West being decided by the last two games of the season which are 10pm and 10:30pm starts is not ideal. I wanted to go through a couple of quick thoughts on each series here, and I will update this section sometime Friday morning. Carolina [...]

Health in the postseason is a very big deal to the success of most teams, and those on the fringe especially. That is why it has been concerning that New York Islanders defenceman Noah Dobson had missed a couple of games with the team desperate for a postseason appearance. Some good news from Wednesday, though: [...]