Hockey Rambling

The Edmonton Oilers staved off elimination in the most convincing possible way in an 8-1 rout of the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. Call it the magic of Shania Twain, who rocked the Edmonton crowd before the game. Connor McDavid was finally able to score his first goal of the [...]

In case you missed it, the Rangers have signed Kaapo Kakko to a “prove it” one-year, $2.4 million contract. Kakko will still be an RFA (with arbitration rights) after this contract. The former second overall pick (2019) was held to just 19 points – 13 of which were goals – in 61 games in 2023-24. [...]

I have spent the offseason reviewing the fantasy seasons of non-playoff teams. This covered the San Jose Sharks, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Anaheim Ducks, the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Montreal Canadiens, the Arizona Coyotes (now in Utah), the Ottawa Senators, the Seattle Kraken, the Calgary Flames, the New Jersey Devils, the Buffalo Sabres, the Philadelphia [...]

I have spent the offseason reviewing the fantasy seasons of non-playoff teams. This covered the San Jose Sharks, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Anaheim Ducks, the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Montreal Canadiens, the Arizona Coyotes (now in Utah), the Ottawa Senators, the Seattle Kraken, the Calgary Flames, the New Jersey Devils, the Buffalo Sabres, the Philadelphia [...]

Big news on Sunday dropped with the Washington Capitals in the process of buying the CapFriendly website and all of its background functions. What that means, is that the Capitals will have sole access to any of the data and tools, with the website going dark to the public (and other teams) in early July. [...]

It was a rough first period for a number of players during Game 2 between Florida and Edmonton. Darnell Nurse took a hit early-ish in the period and left the game for stretches at a time (he would miss about 20 minutes of game action but did come back), and then Eetu Luostarainen took a [...]

With no games on Sunday, I thought we’d see how individual and team performances differed between this season (2023-24) and last season (2022-23). Specifically, we’ll focus on the greatest power-play decline/improvement, team offenses, and player shot averages. Let’s get into it! Greatest Power Play Decline: Buffalo Sabres (-6.8%) Last Season: 23.4% (Rank: 9) This Season: [...]

Florida got off to a quick start in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final as Aleksander Barkov was able to break down the Edmonton forecheck, get up the ice, and two quick passes later resulted in a goal from Carter Verhaeghe. It doesn’t take long for these Panthers to get up the ice and [...]

I’m trying to evaluate two players who may fly under the radar heading into drafts this year but did put up solid numbers in the games they did play in 2023-23. First off, Alex Nylander, who was a revelation for Columbus in 23 games with them last season, scoring 11 goals and adding four assists. [...]

The DobberHockey writers have made their picks for the Stanley Cup Final. You can check them out here. My personal pick was Edmonton in 6. This was a really difficult pick for me to make. Florida is a nasty team that will give the Oilers everything they can handle, and they’re favored for good reason. [...]