NHL News & Notes
Our latest NHL News & Notes focuses on the trade rumors that have already begun as we are one month away from the trade deadline. What big name players are becoming available, and what teams are in need to an upgrade.
Also don’t miss our NHL Quick Hits below, the best 2 minute read to get caught up with some of the top NHL storylines.
Cup Contenders
Colorado
New York
Tampa Bay
Toronto
Florida
Vegas Golden Knights
Lots of question marks as the league is less than a month away from the March 21st trade deadline.
What moves will the Rangers make to sure up a deep playoff run ? Kratsov, Chytil, Gorgiev plus picks seem to be available to move.
Boston must address secondary scoring to stay alive in tough Atlantic Division. Window is closing
Can Edmonton make a deal to stabilize their goal crease ?
Which bubble teams will go for it, and who will become sellers ?
Bubble Teams
Dallas Stars
Anaheim Ducks
Vancouver Canucks
NY Islanders
Columbus Blue Jackets
For teams like Dallas, New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks, big decisions need to be made over the next month in order to stay competitive in the Western Conference Wild Card race. More importantly to watch out of the west will be what teams like Los Angeles and Calgary do. With Calgary adding back Toffoli, and currently on a role, Calgary may look to get 1-2 more pieces to give themselves a chance against Colorado or Vegas later in the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Kings are another interesting storyline. Arguably ahead of schedule, the Kings find themselves right in the hunt for a top 3 spot, currently 2nd in the Pacific, but in a playoff race that has 9 Western Conference teams all within 9 points of one another. With Byfield coming along, do the Kings look to add a center or veteran wing to bring 3 impactful lines to the playoffs?
Players on the Move
Filip Forsberg
The Nashville dynamic forward is apparently being shopped, currently in his last year of his contract. Could teams like Calgary or Los Angeles buy in on the 27 year old ? Forsberg’s $6M cap hit is a nice price for a rental at his quality, but will be asking for much more if a team wants to sign for longer term.
Carey Price
Maybe not this season, but where Carey Price goes for his next chapter will be interesting. Will he go out west to be closer to family ie Calgary, Edmonton, Maybe even Vancouver ?
Claude Giroux
Looks like Giroux wants a chance at his well deserved cup, signaling that Philly is going into some type of rebuild. Reports have claimed he wants Colorado, which would make Colorado a wagon, but would Boston be interested as their window continues to close ?
Jeff Petry
Montreal’s recent success does not change the fact that they are not in a win now mode, so wouldn’t the Habs want to move a guy while his 2021 cup performance is still fresh in everyone’s memory ?
Jakob Chychrun
Same rumblings as last year with Chychrun, Arizona is clearly selling off, but is their price too steep for other teams?
Mark Giordano
Seattle’s first captain may also have the shortest tenure, as teams looking to beef up defensively couldnt go wrong adding Giordano to the top 6. Could we see a reunion in Calgary ?
Marc Andre Fleury
Chicago doesnt have the ability to turn the ship around, and moving Fleury makes sense to both parties. Unless MAF is happy in Chicago as a place to retire, Fleury wants to compete for a cup again. Could Fleury solve Edmonton’s goaltending problem
Huberdeau’s Sneaky Great Year
Possibly because he is playing in Florida, but Jonathan Huberdeau is not talked about enough. The assist machine league in points, and has been one of the most consistent players in the league. In the month of January, Huberdeau only had 2 games where he did not receive a point, and recorded 2 points or more in 46% of those games.
Detroit Stud Rookies
Stevey Y knows what he is doing. Yzerman has 2 of arguably the top 3 picks for rookie of the year, with defenseman Moritz Seider and forward Lucas Raymond. Seider has shown he is not afraid of this league, throwing his weight around but impressing more and more with his puck moving and offensive output. And then their comes Lucas Raymond, with 13 goals and 26 assists in 52 games.
With Larkin coming into his own as a captain, holding all top 3 round picks for the next 3 years, and these 2 pillars along with more to come, Detroit is a goalie away from becoming a dominant team in the future.
Montreal Rebuild
The Martin St. louis experiment has begun to pay off already, with the Habs taking a 4 game winning streak into Saturday against Ottawa. Cole Caulfield looks rejuvenated, clicking with line mates Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson, tallying 4 goals and 4 assists in his last 5 games. The Habs also made some front office moves, highlighted by the addition of former Tampa Bay Lightening star Vinny Lecavalier.
Vegas Juggles Salary Cap
With Jack Eichel joining the Golden Knights lineup, its hard not to see the writing on the wall : The Golden Knights are this year’s Tampa Bay Lightening. With both Alec Martinez (5.250M) and Mark Stone ($9.5M) on IR and LTIR, Vegas is ok for now, but will need Stone to stay on LTIR until the playoffs.
If and when that happens, imagine facing this Golden Knight line up at full force ?
Hughes Has Himself A Week
NCAA
New Jersey Devils prospect Luke Hughes broke the freshman defenseman scoring record at University of Michigan, and scored 2 highlight real goals, with NHL caliber cellys.
Slovakia Medals At Olympics For First Time
Olympics
Slovakia defeated Sweden to win the bronze medal last week, the country’s first ever medal in ice hockey. Draft prospect Juraj Slafkovsky had himself a tournament, leading all scorers with 7 goals, including 2 goals in the bronze medal game.
Bennett’s Monster Hit On Rookie
Check out this massive hit by Florida’s Sam Bennett on Columbus rookie Cole Sillinger.
Favorite Relocation Spots
The Arizona Coyotes recently announced they have an agreement with Arizona State to share the new ice hockey facility with the NCAA program. If the rink was going to look like Penn State’s Pegula Arena, this wouldn’t be a head scratcher for some NHL fans. But the new facility will only have around 5000 seats, no where close to the NHL average of around 17,000. It might work out for a team that struggles with attendance, plus creating a hotbed of pro and NCAA hockey in one area.
But, for some, it’s hard not to wonder what Gary Bettman is thinking. With Seattle coming in this season, the NHL is at a perfect maximum number of teams, so shouldn’t they now be trying to maximize every market ? Imagine the money Arizona is bringing in post rebuild vs the money that COULD be made, having some success in 5-10 years in a more traditional hockey market like Quebec.
The argument for spreading the game is valid, but couldn’t the Arizona State program fill that void ? With limited destinations left, are the Coyotes the only team who needs to move ?
What are your top cities for the NHL to consider relocating to ?
Quebec City
Portland
Hartford