The National Hockey League (NHL) is North America’s premier professional ice hockey league, showcasing top talent in thrilling games, championships, and a rich history of the sport’s evolution.
There is something curious happening with the Toronto Maple Leafs heading into training camp. For once, some of the more intriguing lineup questions aren’t necessarily about who Toronto needs to bring in. They could be about what the Maple Leafs already have. Gavin McKenna and Easton Cowan give the organization two young forwards who could…
Training camp is always an important time for players trying to establish themselves in the NHL, but for some members of the Montreal Canadiens organization, this year’s camp could carry even more weight. The Canadiens have reached a point where competition is becoming increasingly difficult. Young players continue to push from below, while the NHL…
On Monday (Aug 12), the St. Louis Blues announced that forward Dalibor Dvorsky will change his jersey number to 15 this season. This is the fifth new number the team has announced this summer, following the numbers of their new acquisitions. As I did with the new players’ numbers, I am going to take a…
The Montreal Canadiens surprised the hockey world this past season with a run to the Eastern Conference Final. It requires a full team effort to knock off a couple of division rivals in a seven-game series, as the Canadiens did by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres. One depth piece that stepped up…
By the time the 2024 NHL Draft reached pick No. 223, most of the recognizable names had been taken off the board. The Pittsburgh Penguins still found a defenseman who, two seasons later, is making that late draft position look irrelevant. Finn Harding has gone from being one of the final selections of the draft…
Elias Pettersson was seen skating in Los Angeles, which immediately led to comments about how he looked and if this was a sign that he might be on his way to the Kings in a trade. It’s a big jump to suggest that an NHL player skating outside his own city might mean a deal…
If there’s one trend that new head coach Mike Babcock can change for the Edmonton Oilers this season, its avoiding the slow start. It seems like during the last seven seasons, the Oilers have always seemed to be playing catch-up after falling behind in the early stages of every NHL campaign. They’ve had to rely…
Frederik Andersen has already lived through one version of life as Mike Babcock’s starting goaltender. It involved 66 starts in consecutive seasons, public pressure in Toronto, and enough trust for Babcock to travel to Denmark to meet Andersen’s family after a playoff elimination. The Edmonton Oilers are not asking the 36-year-old to recreate that workload…
The Vegas Golden Knights don’t need to make a splash just for the sake of making one. After years of aggressive roster construction, the organization has shown it can find value in players who fit its style and fill a specific need. Eeli Tolvanen, still available in free agency, could be an intriguing option for…
Beau Akey does not need to play an NHL game for this season to be a success. After everything that has interrupted his development, simply putting together a healthy, dependable season with the Edmonton Oilers’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, Bakersfield Condors, might be more valuable. Akey’s first professional campaign never developed a normal rhythm….
