It’s no secret that the Buffalo Sabres’ defense, albeit improved, is a weak spot on the roster. Past the big two of Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power, the depth is shaky, especially if players like Mattias Samuelsson don’t rebound after a tough season. Given that the Sabres will likely be fighting for a playoff spot
Ian Cole
During the offseason, the Tampa Bay Lightning needed to make some acquisitions to offset losing key players due to salary cap constraints. Reliable veterans such as Ryan McDonagh and Jan Rutta could not be retained, which required the team to search for reliable replacements. Veteran Ian Cole was one of the players that was brought
Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman just concluded a pretty successful weekend. The team added many forward prospects in the draft, highlighted by top pick Marco Kasper, addressing the team’s biggest deficiency in their prospect pool. On top of that, Yzerman was also able to address the team’s need for a new goaltender by
Flyers-Blackhawks talk on DeBrincat may not have gotten serious Pierre LeBrun: Don’t believe the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers have held any serious talks about forward Alex DeBrincat. Things can obviously change, but likely more tire-kicking than serious discussions. NHL Watcher: Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thought podcast: “What I think happened is that CHI asked
Hurricanes hope to bring back Trocheck and Niederreiter Kurt Dusterberg of NHL.com: Carolina Hurricanes GM Don Waddell is hopeful that they can re-sign pending unrestricted free agent forwards Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter. “We certainly hope they are both back, but it takes two sides. But I will have more dialogue with their agents in
Trotz heading to Vegas? SinBin.vegas: Emily Kaplan a couple of days ago on ESPN: “A few people in the league have suggested to me that there could be a deal in place already with Barry Trotz and VGK. Just knowing the way Vegas does business but we’ll have to wait to see where Barry Trotz
The Carolina Hurricanes eponymous intro song, ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’, perfectly sums up their start to the 2021-2022 season. As of Nov 16, they have a 11-2-0 record, the best in the league. What is it that is making this year different from last year though? Carolina Hurricanes Storm Surge (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI
Early yesterday, the New York Islanders announced a slate of long-awaiting signings, officially solidifying their offense, an upgrade in the eyes of some. These deals were all but assured during this unusually short offseason, but the numbers were of some concern as the Islanders still need to fill the hole left by defenseman Nick Leddy
The Carolina Hurricanes entered the 2021 offseason with a lot of question marks surrounding the defensive group. The top four still had three mainstays locked in, but Dougie Hamilton’s unrestricted free agency and subsequent departure created a lot of cloudiness around the group. Along with Jake Gardiner’s health concerns, Jake Bean’s clear lack of trust
The Minnesota Wild finished their four games out west with two straight victories versus the Vegas Golden Knights. Despite losing the first two contests in San Jose against the Sharks, the Wild earned five of a possible eight points in the standings. It was a rocky start to the week, but ending it on a
The Minnesota Wild have traded defenceman Greg Pateryn to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defenceman Ian Cole. Per sources, #mnwild have acquired #avs left-shot D Ian Cole (#GoIrish) for D Greg Pateryn. Cole: 2-time Cup champ with Pens, hard shot, hard-nosed, most importantly, exceptional quote Pateryn pending UFA ($2.25M AAV); Cole pending UFA ($4.25M
In the salary cap era, every contract comes with risk, and sometimes the dollar amount attached to a player’s salary overshadows his abilities on the ice. It is more important than ever for organizations to find team-friendly deals in order to maximize the use of their cap space to bring in the best possible players.
May take a Zadorov trade to get Byram in the lineup Mike Chambers of the Denver Post: (mailbag) The Colorado Avalanche have pending restricted free agent defensemen in Nikita Zadorov and Ryan Graves. Graves will get a nice contract from the Avs, but Zadorov may not. If the Avs move Zadorov, Bo Byram would have
Phaneuf hanging out with the Maple Leafs TSN: Bob McKenzie notes that Dion Phaneuf has been shadowing Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan for the past few days. “Now, I should point out. Dion has not officially retired from hockey, he would like another opportunity somewhere but the reason he is in Toronto is simply
The Canadiens desperately need a top-four defenseman Eric Engels of Sportsnet: The Montreal Canadiens desperately need another top-four defenseman – one that is left-handed and can play on the power play. It’s something that GM Marc Bergevin may need to overpay for. At the top of the free agent list is Toronto Maple Leafs pending