There are a couple of more playoff related topics that we are going to hit in this column, but they need to wait until the finals have wrapped up. In the meantime, let’s return to the 2023-24 season as there are some additional ways we can look at the season, and some interesting reports we [...]
Well, we have a Stanley Cup Final series now. There’s no way the Panthers wanted to make the long trek back to Edmonton for another crack at winning the cup. The good news for Florida is that at least they still have two more cracks at it. The bad news is that if they can’t [...]
On Tuesday, Vancouver extended defenceman Filip Hronek for eight years at $7.25M. While that might seem like a big number, as a percentage of the cap in 2024-25, that works out to just over 8%, or a high-end number-2 defenceman. It is still a lofty ask – he needs to perform to levels like Hampus [...]
Unlike the Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey trade that had been teased for months if not a year, this bombshell came out of nowhere. https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1803502883041898781 The Capitals are taking on some huge term, banking on Pierre-Luc Dubois to rebound, meanwhile the Kings fix their hole in net while shedding immediate salary, but also adding [...]
The New Jersey Devils acquired Jacob Markstrom (salary 31.25% retained), and he will now form a tandem next year with Jake Allen. This is a /significant/ improvement over the options from last season. The return to the Calgary Flames was Kevin Bahl and a top-10 protected 2025 1st Round Pick. https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1803465819923366258 This furthers Calgary’s rebuild/reset with [...]
It’s time for another of my annual offseason polls. This one focuses on players who have seen their scoring pace rise for three or more consecutive seasons, or who’ve played a total of only three seasons but scored at a higher pace in each one thus far. To stress how difficult this is, of the [...]
The Edmonton Oilers took game five to drag the Florida Panthers back to Alberta. The Panthers still have two chances to close out this series, but it really has the feeling of one that’s going to seven. I’m not much into betting, but if I had to wager (responsibly) on game six, my money would [...]
Much like last week’s Eastern Edge power ranking of the Metro Division, the team at the top of the table is a no-brainer: The Florida Panthers are the best team in the East and are one win away from cementing themselves as the best in either conference. However, heading into next season the rest of [...]
Last week, San Jose filled their vacant head coaching spot by hiring Ryan Warsofsky. My breakdown of the hiring can be read here. With Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund, Henry Thrun, and a few nice prospects in the cupboard, it sure seems as if the Sharks are trending in the right direction. It will [...]
Last week, we looked at the impending UFA forwards and their possible valuations and this week we will look at the most intriguing defensemen. Here is the full list of 2023-2024 Defense valuations. Remember that this value is based on what each player did in the 2023-24 regular season, not on future performance or what [...]
