Tag Search Results for "Draft"
Missing the playoffs for the first time in years, the Flyers need to begin looking towards their future. They've already addressed this somewhat in-season by trading away veterans for younger players and draft picks. They've acquired their new #1 goaltender in Martin Biron, fiesty winger Scottie Upshall and three solid defensemen in Lasse Kukkonen, Braydon Coburn and Ryan ...
I will preface this by saying that, had the Flyers not been the worst team and yet lost out on the top pick, I would not bother to even attempt to find a better method of conducting the Draft Lottery... Also, in this case, it is no major problem in being #2 as opposed to #1. That said:
I understand the reason behind the lottery... since 'tanking' games to obtain a major...
The Chicago Blackhawks had the NHL's fifth-worst record and only an 8% shot at drawing the 1st pick in the draft. I guess it was their lucky day. After grabbing Jonathan Toews last years draft, the Hawks get ready for a possible franchise changing decision in 2007.
Unlike some past drafts many would argue that there is not a clear cut #1 pick this season. Many are tout...
Sundin has met with doctors and Sweden, and he will not need surgery. He has a small tear in his labrum, but it will NOT require surgery to repair.
When this story first broke I was sent two newspaper articles from Sweden, talking about how angry Sundin was with this. The belief around people I talked to is that one side of ownership (Tanenbaum) wanted Ferguson fired a...
Every year i make a mock draft based on CSS, ISS rankings and on what i read in the Hockey's Future forum. Here's my mock draft, the ranks 1 to 26 are ok and i based the ranks 27 to 30 on my playoffs predictions (i think Anaheim will win the cup so Edmonton will draft 30th with Anaheim's pick).
A chaque année je fais un mock draft en me basant sur les classements de la...
I am holding an NHL MOCK DRAFT and I need 5-6 General Managers to finish the draft that is scheduled for this Saturday. Anyone who is interested please inform me VIA PM.
more to follow on Gabe's blog
As we approach the last interesting days of this hockey season some of the blogs I have read recently have given me thoughts to ponder. I wrote before that we might see the beginning of 'parity' as star talent looks like it will disperse further from the traditional concentrations. If the cap increases that may not happen but certainly it will take a few more years for t...
I want to say congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks franchise, Brian Burke, Randy Carlyle, the players, staff and fans on their first Stanley Cup championship. Your organization did a fantastic job and proved that "old time hockey" can still be used to hoist that battered old mug.
It was awesome to hear the sheer excitement of the Ducks fans, both during and after the ga...
Here is my quick breakdown of what I expect each team to do this year at the draft. I will show you what each team's weakness is and later I will post who I think each team will draft based on these facts, in the first two rounds. A mock draft if you will. Here is my breakdown:
[b]Anaheim[/b] - May need defensive help, but Brian Burke has a knack to make a good trade...
Okay, so with the NHL Entry Draft not too far off in the distance, I think it's time to educate some folks in what is the proper method of conducting a draft.
DO: Address your needs first. Get what you know you're going to need. If you're Bob Gainey, you don't want to draft a goalie and a wing with your two first rounders. Draft a center and maybe a blue liner like, say...
Here is my prediction of the first round basing it on each team's needs as pointed out in my previous blog. I believe this is the most accurate way you can do a mock draft, and I hope you people enjoy this. Here we go:
1. Chicago - Patrick Kane - RW
2. Philadelphia - Kyle Turris - C
3. Phoenix - Alexei Cherepanov - RW
4. Los Angeles - Sam Gagner - C
5. Washington...
Well here we are. We can expect that the ink will be dry on a new contract for Mats Sundin this week. At least before Friday. I still have a mixed feelings about this. I understand that he is in the twilight of his career and that he wants to do everything he can to win with the Leafs. It's a great story but will it happen? Can it happen? I would hope that part of th...
Loyal Readers,
Welcome to my first blog on the Hockey Buzz site. It is that time of year. Sometimes I think it is as much fun as the season. Our beloved Oil have a lot of holes to fill, no untouchables, loads of draft picks and room under the Salary Cap. That is an equation for an exciting off season.
The biggest hole in my opinion is defensemen. The new NHL you n...
Here is the continuation of my series of predictions for the upcoming 2007 draft. This will be the final installment seeing as I haven't prepared a third round. I would be happy to make one up if you want me to, but as of right now this is it. Enjoy!
Round 2
31. Buffalo - Thomas Hickey- D
32. Phoenix - Stefan Legein - RW
33. Vancouver - Michal Repik - RW
34. Wa...
So we had the NHL Awards last night. I didn't watch them. All that I saw was from the bar after work. Honestly, I don't even get why these are on the tv. I like that awards are given out but the whole event just seems a little over the top for me.
But that's just my point of view.
As for who got what last night, most were expected. It was nice to see Vigneau...
So lots has gone down lately and lots of rumors floating around. I'm just going to take this time to go over the events and rumors leading up to the draft.
- Great move by the Flyers. I don't get why people are complaining, they get what they wanted and so did the Preds from what I can tell.
- I do think the Flyers over paid but they did something smart with the to...
I wrote earlier in my first blog about how the ratings etc. are not always what they appear, especially considering the total lack of any traditional/large US markets in the Stanley Cup Finals over the past four years compared to the other three major team sports.
I also mentioned, however, that certain things are just getting messed up by the NHL. Hence my surprise las...
BlueBloodPat writes...
Free Agents hardly a factor, Draft Day is what counts
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
For hockey fans, July 1st marks the beginning of one of the most exciting times in the hockey calendar, as hockey fans everywhere will sit in front of the computer and wait for their team along with their rival teams to overpay some of the most overrated players in the game. Year after year we do the same thing even though we already know that the free agents are not goin...
Well folks it looks like it will be slow typing for me for a while. While playing in my summer hockey league I broke my right ring finger in two places (a strange thing that could ONLY happen to me). That will be fewer blogs for at least three weeks. However, here is what is running through my head today.
The Oilers offseason plans.
Next to landing a mobile defence p...
Tout le monde le sait, le repêchage de la LNH commence demain à Columbus, la première ronde sera télédiffusée à RDS à 7hres.
voici le profil de quelques joueurs québécois qui pourraient être intéressants pour les canadiens:
Angelo Esposito
Esposito est un centre qui lance de la gauche. il patine très bien et il est très talentueux, mais il n'est pas ...
Hey pens fans,
In the first round the Pens select Centre Angelo Esposito from Quebec of the QMJHL. He is 6-1 weighing 180. Last Season with Quebe scored 27-G, 52-A, 79-pts in 60 games.
[url]http://penshockey.blogspot.com[/url]
Hey pens fans,
Here is who the Pens drafted and their positions. If we notice our already centre-heavy team drafted 4 centres.
Round 1 ANGELO ESPOSITO - CENTRE
Round 2 KEVEN VEILLEUX - CENTRE
Round 3 ROBERT BORTUZZO - DEFENSE, CASEY PIERRO-ZABOTEL - CENTRE
Round 4 LUCA CAPUTI - LEFT WING, ALEX GRANT - DEFENSEMAN
Round 5 JAKE MUZZIN - DEFENSE
Round 6 DUSTIN JEFFR...
BlueBloodPat writes...
Toskala ready for the competition, but is Razor?
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
With the acquisition of Vesa Toskala, The Leafs are poised to enter next season with a battle for the number one spot in goal, just like last year, only this time its serious. I mean, how many people actually thought that Aubin had a shot at being the number one goaltender? Sure he played good at the end of the 05/06 season, but there was no pressure on him. He was back...
Some of you may have followed my predictions for the first two rounds of this year's NHL entry draft. Here are the results of my predictions comparing them to where they actually ended up. They are ordered in how I picked them, the number on the right is where they actually ended up, and the third number is how far off I was:
1. P. Kane - 1 = 0
2. K. Turri...
The Nashville Predators finished off last season third in the overall standings, many people expected them to make it deep into the playoffs, if not win the Stanley Cup altogether. The Predators faced the red hot San Jose Sharks in the first round of the Western Conference Quarter Finals and even with a trade deadline acquisition of Peter Forsberg they lost in a 4-1 series...
With the recent aquisitions or Toskala and Bell, some people in leafland are still somehow on the offensiven and why? JFJ gave a clear indication that the one spot he intended to upgrade in his club was the the goaltending, and he did so in a reasonable fashion.
This draft was looked at by many as a weak draft year, so why not lose a first round pick in order to recieve...
I'll keep this one simple, straightforward, and to the point:
1) Chicago----Patrick Kane
Obviously the knock on Kane is size and for him he's going to have to use his agility more, which has been compared to Martin St. Louis', to continue to be productive at the next level. He runs the powerplay extremely well on the half wall and has great hands around the net. This sou...
Here we go again:
11) Carolina----Brandon Sutter
May have the best all-around game in the draft, but I still think this is a little high for him consideringCherepanov was still on the board. Needs to fill out a lot and still develop a little more grit. Yes he's a Sutter, but he isn't as Sutter-y as others. Has good character to fall back on if his skills don't make him a...
Here we go again.....
16) Minnesota(from ANA) ----Colton Gillies
A lot of people don't like this kid. I'm not one of them; I love his combination of size and skating ability. The knock on this guy is obviously the lack of offensive ability, but I think he just needs to put himself in better position to put up big offensive #s by putting on muscle so he can drive to the n...
duxown writes...
The Rest of the 1st round of the 2007 Draft Analysis+Ratings
Posted Friday | Comments 0
21) Edmonton Oilers----Riley Nash
My gut tells me they could have gotten this kid later but you never know. Trading up here was a mistake IMO. You aren't going to get better talent at 21 than you are at 30 and they had to give up the #36. I had my eye on this kid for the Ducks and he should be a good third liner.
Grade: B-
22) Montreal Canadiens---Max Pacioretty
Great ...
HyeDray writes...
Hello...Hello....Hello....anybody alive on Long Island?
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Not only do we lose our own top free agents, but apparently we will not be signing any. Can anyone at Hockeybuzz or anywhere else please explain to the 5 remaining Islander fans what the plan is going to be?
Are they going to go with youth and try to build through the next 3 drafts a la Pittsburgh?
Are they going to get a bunch of reclamation projects for Ted Nolan w...
Lord knows all of the Islander fans that remain—the dozen or so that have been up the last several nights—are upset, angry, frustrated. Not a single tier one or tier two free agent has signed, and the Islanders have little hope of starting little more then a n AHL level team come October.
So maybe this is the Real Plan A?
I have posted on many blogs that if this ...
Well it appears we have gotten to the point where I will write a blog on my 2nd favorite team...the Buffalo Sabres.
Thomas Vanek has been offered a 7 year 50 million dollar offer sheet by the Edmonton Oilers. If I'm Darcy Regier, I take the picks and run. Why? Vanek is a franchise player you might say. Look at it this way. He's going to get Edmonton's picks not the Anahei...
Bill Torrey had a difficult job in 1972. He was the General Manager of the expansion New York Islanders, graced with the blessings of several excellent draft years to come. But the difficult part had to be the other 16 GMs burning his ears with trade offers for his early draft choices.
Torrey was smart. He held on to his picks despite the temptations to play "lets make ...
I was just wondering what people thought about sleepers in this year's draft. A lot of scouts and experts projected Angelo Esposito as a #1 prospect in 05/06, and he wasn't taken till the 20th pick from The Penguins. Similarally, Alexei Cherapanov was projected to be in the top 10 at one point, if not the top 5 and wasn't snagged till the 17th pick from the Rangers. Do ...
Before I begin, let me dissuade your urges to assume that I'm just an Islander fan looking to speak negatively about another NHL franchise that is, seemingly, a bit worse off than they were at the end of last season. Quite contrarily, I am not and it remains to be seen just how the Sabres will fare when things play out come October. But the reason for my concern and the re...
With this being my first blog entry at Hockeybuzz, I figured I'd start by doing a general outline of the Canucks in the offseason and the team at its current state.
The team, even though they finished top of the Northwest Division (Typically considered the most balanced, if not hardest, division in the league. Though I'd have probably given hardest to Pacific), we...
Hey there,
Finally, across the city, we can feel the nervousness and febrility of everybody. All the talk and chat are centered in only one subject : The Canadians.
The passionate optimistist, the everyday pessimist, the young newbies, the seasoned veteran or the expert...everybody and their mama agree on one thing : They can't wait until it really starts!
So, let...
By Jsaq and Number23-AKA H&B Olde Tyme Hockey
After doing a Flyers trade history review and analysis, I decided to tackle their entry draft record. Needless to say, it was a bit more difficult, so I enlisted the help of fellow Buzzard Number23. We are brothers-in-law, sort of a white trash version of the Gallof boys.
Anyhow, we decided to do this a little bit differ...
As the current Leafs team continues to slide down the slippery slope that is the Eastern conference, many fans are beginning to dream of greener pastures, and have begun to circle important dates like the Feb 26th trade deadline and the June 20th NHL draft. These two dates may finally offer some hope, and a brief glimpse of that elusive light at the end of the tunnel for s...
This Monday at 8PM we will be able to witness the lottery draft for the first overall pick in what is one of the deepest drafts in years. Right now, although it hasn't been solidified as definite, the Islanders sit in what appears to be the fifth worst spot, prompting the possibility of getting that 1st overall pick.
Sure, many probably figure the odds are not on our si...
The NHL draft lottery may have seen the Tampa Bay Lightning win the big prize, and most assume it to be Steven Stamkos, but the Blue Jackets made out better than anticipated.
Of course, after the first few weeks of the season, no one expected the Blue Jackets to be hunting for a lottery pick. Some didn't think they would be looking at a top-ten pick. But with the team s...
After watching the NHL draft lottery tonight, I realized that I had wasted about 20 to 30 minutes of my life and that I will never be able to get those minutes back. It got me thinking that there has to be a way to make this more of an event, something that provides the fans of non playoff teams something to cheer for in the spring. Afterwards the final of the NCAA baske...
I attended all three games and the viewer party in the last couple of weeks and it has been a ball. My wish is that more people in this area get to experience the excitement that was generated not only in the hockey community but to the city in general. The new ownership group looks to be top shelf and I have experienced games in all different sports in arenas around the...
Burke Is [b]Not[/b] the new GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. So now what? Well this may be a blessing in a disguise, or maybe it just sucks. Personally Burke was a qualified candidate who had the savvy to deal with media and ownership. His draft record however was abysmal, but maybe with some money injected in our scouting department who knows. Personally I want Nill to get ...
Big fan of former LAK GM Dave Taylor.
In my mind, to be a successful GM of a rebuilding team you need three strong qualities:
1) The ability to build through the draft
2) The ability to make shrewd trades
3) The ability to pick up bargains in the UFA market
In my mind, Taylor has all three of these qualities, and I'll quickly explain why, providing some exam...
With the off-season about to start for the Montreal Canadiens, putting rumours aside of course, there are a couple of players that wouldn't bust the bank, but might pay great dividends in the end.
One of those players is 6'5", 225 pound Paul Gaustad of the Buffalo Sabres. First off Gaustad is big, secondly he's a centre that can position himself in front of the net. Gau...
Okay so the draft is a little over a month away, we know that this draft is headlined by one Steven Stamkos, but as far as I'm concerned, the NHL draft goes 7 rounds, not just 1 pick. I decided to break down all seven rounds of the NHL draft and offer up some of the possibilities. This mock draft is based on the CSB Final Rankings.
[u][b]Round 1 [/b][/u]
1. Lig...
Canada, remember when you would check your rear-view mirrors and you would see the rest of the world well behind? Well check again because they're not there anymore, I would check beside you in your blind spots because they all caught up.
Canada loves to boast about its superior hockey talent, and historically it has been just that. The NHL over history has been domin...
As if it wasn't a big enough concern that the team I have all but worshiped for my whole life has missed the playoffs for 3 consecutive years, now I find myself worrying about the whole management situation that is an on-going mess in Toronto.
It is very troublesome that with an exceptionally crucial draft approaching, current interim GM Fletcher is apparently focussed ...
The Rangers have the following picks this year:
Round 1: #20
Round 2: #51
Round 3: #75, #81
Round 5: #142
Round 7: #202
The picks from rounds 4 and 6 belong to St. Louis (Backman deal), Los Angeles (Avery deal) and Dallas (Mike Green deal).
I've seen all kinds of ranking sites, so this is a bit overwhelming, but let's see who's available in this draft:
[b]N...
These picks are just my opinion please leave your thoughts and ill try to give back explanations of any questions.
1. Steven Stamkos,Sarnia Sting, Center (6’1, 180 pounds), Canadian
2. Drew Doughty, Guelph Storm, Defensemen (6’0, 213 pounds), Canadian
3. Zach Bogosian, Peterborough Petes, Defensemen (6’2, 200 pounds), American
4. Alex Pietrangelo, Niag...
[b]1.) Tampa Bay - [/b]Steven Stamkos
It's a given that the lightning will be taking him.
[b]2.) LA - [/b]Nikita Filatov
I can't see LA passing on a guy with his potential even with the Big 3, even 4 or 5 D-men that are available.
[b]3.) Atlanta - [/b]Drew Doughty
Personally I think Bogosian is the best D-man in the draft, but Doughty is also extremely good...
This years draft will be quite profitable for the Kings. 5 picks withing the 1st two rounds. What would your team do with all of these picks...??? We all know one thing..The Kings should not draft a goalie. Young goalies is what they have an abundance of and should pass on that position.
What I see they need is a solid left winger and some big defencemen.
Attached ...
Here's a switch from traditional thinking - A Canadian team that will accept missing the play-offs this year and a Florida team that MUST win or face potentially franchise threatening woes.
The set-up is there to see some deals done with the salary cap as a factor for both teams, but with needs on both sides that might see a decent fit.
Tampa has continually been loo...
There was an interesting article on the Official Sharks site about the Scoutting staff preparing for the upcomming draft. Here's the link to the original article:
http://sharks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=pa...rticleid=366124
I wasn't aware of it before, because I was not a hockey fan at the time of last years draft, but the team didn't have a pick in the first round, ...
[b]IF[/b] the Canucks had to trade their 10th overall to get a big player in return would you do it? If it meant the Canucks getting Jokinen should we do it? With Nonis locking up all our big trade bait players to NTC it might just have to be a center piece of a big trade. The big question is would you rather have one of the top ten kids in this draft or have Olli Jokinen?...
The Avalanche have only one selection in the first three rounds. Some websites suggested that Colorado might go after Blake Wheeler because of that. Assuming that this won't happen ([url=http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=15711]Wheeler will probably sign with Boston[/url]), the Avs need to look for other opportunities to compensate the fact that they have traded so...
Team1040 radio out of Vancouver is reporting that a source in Ottawa is sayin Malkin to L.A for 2nd overall pick and Cammilari.
Why is this canucks rated? Malkin+Kopitar=Force.
Before I get started with what to and not to expect this evening on Draft Day, I feel there are a few hot topics that should be addressed (and I know I'm a little late on these).
First off....Alexei Yashin. It's been causing massive hysteria on our island to think that our so-called youth movement may be quarterbacked on the frail shoulders of our former captain that w...
Flyers slated for #27 selection.
Previous draft comps..
2004 #29 Washington Mike Green
2003 #28 Anaheim Corey Perry
2003 #29 Ottawa Patrick Eaves
2001 #31 Buffalo Derek Roy
2000 #28 Philadelphia Justin Williams
1999 #26 Ottawa Martin Havlat
1998 #27 New Jersey Scott Gomez
1998 #29 San Jose Jonathan Cheechoo
There is a light at the end of the tunnel!
My w...
I believe this weekend, perhaps even today, will be the last of Maxim Afinogenov in a Buffalo Sabres sweater. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a Sabres fan of the utmost degree. My first game, albeit only six years ago or so, January 12, Sabres v. Islanders and Satan had put in his first goal in a long time ending a what came to be the norm - a slump. I have watched and li...
Oh boy, Rumors Rumors Rumors!
What will we hear today at 4:00Pm Pacific?
The Canucks Have Drafted Kyle Beach.
The Canucks Have Traded the 10th pick and and player for the number 2 pick.
The Canucks Have Sent Ryan Kesler and the 10th pick for Olli Jokinen.
I am expecting the Canucks to take Kyle Beach, and [b][u][i]NOT[/i][/u][/b] make any [b][u][i]big[/i][/u][/b...
I apologize for not posting this earlier than a few hours before the draft. Better late than never, right?
I used to scoff at those diehards who sat through the entire NHL draft (especially considering that typically, the first 5-10 picks aren't that hard to predict). But this year, the relative desperateness of the Flames' prospect pool - and future as a whole - has ca...
Well, here we go Leaf Nation. It's June 20, 2008 and suddenly we're collectively being hit with flashbacks of 1993. Fletch is back in charge of our beloved (cough) Maple Leafs and Cito Gaston is managing the Blue Jays. At the moment, the Toronto FC might just be the best franchise in town...omg, my world truly is upside down.
However, we need not fear. The march bac...
steal_your_faceoff writes...
With the 19th pick in the 2008 draft the Philadelphia Flyers
Posted Friday | Comments 0
select Luca Sbisa. This young man is projected to be the replacement for Kimmo Timonen on the powerplay in a few year's time. He is a puck moving, mobile defenseman with good hockey sense and lots of offensive upside. This Swiss Dman, from Lethbridge of the WHL, scored 6 goals, had 27 assists for 33 points lat year to go along with 63 penalty minutes. Sbisa led his tea...
First off... Initial thoughts are that there were a lot of winners in this years draft and not a whole lot of losers.
#1 Winner - Tampa Bay - but that is obvious
#2 Winner - LA - Doughty and the trade up to get Colten Teubert at the 12 spot makes their D very scary in the coming years.
Teams that I thought did very well for themselves aside from those teams is To...
I did a bit of number crunching last evening. The Flyers face an interesting cap situation following day one of the NHL draft. Here's how things stand and what could happen next.
Cap hit currently stands at: $50,792,000
Players accounted for: Briere, Richards, Gagne, Hartnell, Knuble, Lupul, Upshall, Giroux, Downie, Timonen, Hatcher, Rathje, Coburn, Parent, Kukkonen,...
So the draft is officially over and we know the names of the players we acquired:
Justin Daniels (3rd round)
Samuel Groulx (4th round)
Harri Sateri (4th round)
Julien Demers (5th round)
Tommy Wingels (6th round)
Jason Demers (7th round)
Drew Daniels (7th round)
Interesting notes on a couple of the guys we picked up: Apparently we acquired a set of twins in the ...
S Kaspar Rollins writes...
Flames Get Cammalleri, Dump Tanguay: Post Draft Thoughts
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Perhaps I underestimated Darryl Sutter. Minutes after he managed to get a 1st round (AND 2nd round, as I found out later) pick for disgruntled cap eater Alex Tanguay, Gord Miller reported as the Lightning prepared to take Steven Stamkos that there had already been a trade. I assumed he was confirming the Tanguay deal, but no, it was another trade with Calgary at the center...
Toronto in my opinion did the right thing in trading up to get Luke Schenn. They REALLY need a shutdown guy to build around, and to be honest he is not an offensive slouch and has stated he wants to concentrate on improving his offensive game more to become more well rounded, so it is a great move.
Most people did not like the idea of moving the other picks to jump thos...
[img]http://cdn.nhl.com/islanders/images/upload/2008/04/draft2008n.jpg[/img]
[i]Hi to every Habs and hockey fans who are taking time to read this blog! I hope you enjoyed the draft, as much as I enjoyed it! [/i]
Ok, the introduction had been done so, this is the time to talk about serious things. Before the 2008 entry draft, Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey told the ...
Acekicker123 writes...
Maple Leafs Draft 2008: Scouting Reports and Projections
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
This draft weekend was pretty much the only positive that Leaf fans could take away from the '07-'08 campaign. A disastrous season swept in the winds of change, and miracle of miracles: a high draft position. I will provide some thoughts and scouting reports, along with a "perfect-world projection".
Let's take a look the picks made, and some thoughts on each player:
...
Everyone knows that Rounds 1 and 2 produce the most NHL caliber players.
This blog reveals my personal opinion of the 2008 draft rounds 3 thru 7 sleeper picks...
[u][b]Mr Big's Late Round Sleepers[/b][/u]
_____round 3
#63 Kings -Robert Czarnik (c)
#66 Islanders - David Toews (c)
#67 Flyers - Marc-Andre Bourdon (d)
#72 Islanders - Jyri Niemi (d)
#73 Islanders...
[i]The Tennessean is reporting that Shea Weber has signed a three year 13.5 million dollar deal to remain a Predator. Great signing...David Poile continues to work his magic and get things done. This sets up our blue line for the next three years. Weber and Suter are just going to get better and better! [/i]
[b]The first big hurdle[/b] in the hockey off-season took plac...
For Toronto fans, the Entry Draft 08’ signaled a new age. With the much vaunted clear out in the upcoming months, the draft had all the makings of a cornerstone with which the franchise could rebuild in the next few years.
Despite having 10 picks at their disposal, even after the eyebrow raising trade for Jamal Mayers, the Blue Nation was hoping that Toronto could buck...
B.D. Gallof writes...
Isles Draft Analysis, including Matt Ebbs, from ISS Hockey
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
In days of yore, we'd be recovering from some sort of catastrophic calamity whose reverberations would be lasting years, not just days. Or in this case, one Friday evening. In the past, we'd wave goodbye to Luongo, the pick that was Spezza, the hulking brut of Chara, and sit and try convince ourselves that all would be ok. Even though, somewhere within us, we knew better. ...
[i]Did you feel it too?[/i]
That brief, awkwardly off balance moment. Like taking the extra step in the staircase that isn't there, or lifting the empty milk carton you thought was full.
Filatov! Schenn! Wilson? Filatov!
Trade!
[i]Wait, what?[/i]
Trade again!
[i]Really?[/i]
Josh Bailey!
[i]Who?[/i]
What just happened?
[i]I need to lie down.[/i]
[b]Someone call...
I must begin by saying that this draft may go down in Devils history as the time when seeds were planted for the new era. Quite frankly, it’s about time. Defense alone will win you games, yes, but one needs simply to look back upon the last few playoff series where the Devils were eliminated to know that changes are necessary. In 2007 and 2008, the Devils were knocked ou...
The Avalanche went into the draft holding six picks and ended up making seven selections. The 61st pick overall was added by trading forward Brad Richardson to Los Angeles. Richardson was drafted in 2003, 163rd overall, with the draft pick Colorado got in the trade that sent Scott Parker to San Jose. So in the end, Parker turned out to be a 2nd round pick. However, it woul...
If there is one time of year when the NHL becomes a platform for stories of profound personal interest, the Entry Draft is that time. From the inspirational, brave and underdog style champion of the world tales to the heart warming and outright tragic, the Entry Draft is a narrative that runs a full gamut of emotions. Yet beyond the glitz of those first five or ten picks, ...
As I have mentioned in a previous blog, I am a huge Leaf fan, have been for the past 26 years(entire life). Given my memories start back when Bester was the blue and white's net minder and they lost to the Blues in the first round of the playoffs(was at one of the games at the Gardens), I like to think I have a very open mind when it comes to hockey and the Leafs.
As ...
In my first ever Hockeybuzz blog entry, I would like to look on the first five NHL Entry Drafts of the new millenium. I tried to list ten best picks from these years. This list doesn't mention neither Sid Crosby or Alex Ovechkin and others. Those aren't good picks, they are obvious picks. Rather, I have focused on the later rounds of draft and the giant pool of talent that...
This is the second part of my TOP10 draft picks chart, if you missed the first part, you can find it here:
[url]http://my.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?user_id=50777&post_id=6017[/url]
[b]5th - 2001, 7th round (227th overall), Colorado Avalanche - M. Svatos[/b]
It took some time before Svatos could be promoted from AHL Hershey Bears to Denver, but his first full season w...
With the imposition of the salary cap taking some clout away from the financial Super Powers (or so they say), the “new” NHL focuses upon the importance of successful drafting and a constant flow of young players on cheap, entry-level contracts. With scouts now being dispatched to all corners of the globe, it’s getting to be quite a small world. The boundaries of t...
On Draft Day ‘08, the Toronto Maple Leafs made the bold move of trading up from the 7th selection to grab Kelowna Rockets defenseman Luke Schenn 5th overall.
Leaf fans have been waiting a long, long time for a young franchise calibre to fall into their lap, and they may finally have found one in Luke. Heading into the draft weekend, Schenn had the presitigious honor o...
On Draft Day ‘08, the Toronto Maple Leafs made the bold move of trading up from the 7th selection to grab Kelowna Rockets defenseman Luke Schenn 5th overall.
Leaf fans have been waiting a long, long time for a young franchise calibre to fall into their lap, and they may finally have found one in Luke. Heading into the draft weekend, Schenn had the presitigious honor o...
Dale Mitchell was picked in the 3rd round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, 74th overall. At the time of the selection, Mitchell garnered plenty of interest and pressure from the fans and media as the Leafs' first pick that year. They had traded away their 1st and 2nd round picks to San Jose as part of the Vesa Toskala trade earlier that day. A little over a year later, Mitchel...
Tons of hype and mostly disappointing results.
On the surface, it would seem like Boston product Jimmy Hayes and the Toronto Maple Leafs were a match made in heaven.
All kidding aside, Hayes was drafted by Toronto in the 2nd round, 60th overall this past June. Once touted as a possible Top 10 pick in one of the deepest draft classes of the decade, Jimmy had an absolu...
The Blues are now in uncharted territory.
For the first time in a long time, the Blues are drafting and developing their own talent, and we'll start seeing the fruits of their labor.
Prior to the lockout, the last legitimate Blues first rounder that stayed in the organization and developed with the team is Barrett Jackman, drafted in 2000. That was 8 years ago. Whil...
TML35 writes...
The Cost of Moving up in this Year's draft: Is it Worth it?
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
It's tough to say what the price of moving up in a draft like this one would be. Moving even a few spots in the top ten could be quite expensive.
Garth Snow was demanding the Leafs pick along with two additional 2nd round picks(we ended up giving him a 2nd and 3rd) in last year's draft to move up two spots. This was the price in a draft not as strong as this one. With ...
[i][b]Thoughts on the Flyers, the NHL, and ice hockey on the planet Earth[/b][/i]
Author's note: I've been wanting to start a blog here for quite some time so I'm going to take a shot. The Flyers will be my main focus, but I'm interested in the game itself and all things hockey, so I hope anyone who is a hockey fan will find something of interest within these pages.
...
These last few days have been interesting, especially in regards to what Brian Burke has said about Tomas Kaberle.
In a very good interview with Steve Kouleas on the Score he said a few really key things that us Leafs fan were wondering about since Brian Burke took over.
He tackled all the talk about him not liking Europeans which he said was completely not true, [i]...
Since the lockout, the NHL has both enacted and endured many changes. One of the most intriguing, and certainly the most disturbing is one that has overcome many members of the media who make a living covering the NHL.
According to many card-carrying members of the hockey-media, post lockout teams should be more than willing to throw entire seasons and lose "on-purpose"...
This coming June is going to go a long way in telling us true Leaf fans what we are going to get under this new regime. The way that the Leafs are playing they have no shot at first or second in the June draft. Keep in mind that these scenarios take place if the standings were the same today as they would be at the end of the season. Also let me say that in no way do I ...
TML35 writes...
The True Blue and White: No more Exceeding Expectations
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Half the season is over, and the leafs are finally beginning to show their true colors.
Burke isn't surprised, although he denies that he and his staff are quote "tanking," he says that these losses are just the growing pains of icing a young team. Growing pains that will deliver us a much needed 1st round pick. As always with rebuilding, and any city that has undergon...
The NHL All Star game is in need of a major adjustment. While I do enjoy the skills competition and the young stars game, the big show is more of a big disappointment. First of all not all of the games stars are there, albeit some of them are injured and that is understandable. I really dislike the fact that every team needs to be represented and fan balloting system is...
We continue our reviews of prior Leafs drafts with the 1984 draft held in Montreal on June 9, 1984.
Legend: GP=Games Played, G= Goals, A= Assists, PTS= Points,
W= Wins, L= Losses, T= Ties, GAA=Goals Against Average, SO= Shutouts
[b]4th Overall Pick- Al Iafrate (Defensemen)[/b]
Leafs Regular Season Stats: GP- 472 G- 81 A- 169 PTS- 250
Leafs Playoff Stats: GP- 29 ...
With John Tavares being the likely candidate to go first overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, there have been various people have been saying how this kid is possibly better than Sidney Crosby and how he may in fact be the true "next one". Bringing a kid like this into the NHL can do wonders for the team that drafts him and for the league. Look what Crosby and Ovechkin did...
Fristly this is kind of a re-post on my part. I wrote this blog back in July of Last year and wanted to re-post it. I re-posted because well it looks like "Tank Nation" is getting their wish this year with the boys in blue and white. I have been able to watch John Tavares play alot more since Chrismas at the Jr Tourny and then the trade to the Knights. Amazing player, ...
Darkjester writes...
Would the Leafs be better off Drafting a Defenseman???
Posted Friday | Comments 0
With many Leaf fans looking forward and counting the days till Draft day where there beloved leafs will draft there franchise player who will bring the blue and white to the promise land. Some dream of JT after him leading Team Canada to Gold at the WJC. Others dream about Evander Kane and his amazing hands or Brayden Schenn who seems to be the Burke style player we all wo...
We continue our reviews of prior Leafs drafts with the 1985 draft held in Toronto on June 15, 1985.
Legend: GP=Games Played, G= Goals, A= Assists, PTS= Points,
W= Wins, L= Losses, T= Ties, GAA=Goals Against Average, SO= Shutouts
[b]1st Overall Pick- Wendel Clark (Defensemen)[/b]
Leafs Regular Season Stats: GP- 608 G- 260 A- 181 PTS- 441
Leafs Playoff Stats: GP...
Let us all concede that the NY Islanders will get the first overall selection in the 2009 Entry draft. Now that Milbury is not in charge they will probably make the correct choice and go with John Tavares over Victor Hedman. So what do the Leafs do with that second overall pick? Keep it and take Hedman? Keep it and take some one out of place? Or do we trade it?
I say ...
This is a funny city we seem to live in, the same media who bad mouths the Leafs when they don't sign a free agent or make the better trade or are not able to win more games against Montreal or Ottawa now has turned their attention to wanting the Leafs to tank and finish last in the league.
I find it ridiculous that in reading a couple of daily papers, last night's game a...
With 7 games left in the season, the Avs sit dead last in the Western Conference, coming in second only to the Islanders as the worst team in the league. Most years this would be disappointing, however,with the team lacking any true direction, this situation forces their hand slightly.
The consensus first overall pick is John Tavares, with Viktor Hedman coming in a clos...
In a season that started out with mixed vets and kids heading for a downward spiral to the bottom of the standings pretty much from the get-go, to a release of some "bad apples" and increased reliance on prospects and AHL fill-ins, the year is coming to a rapid close with only seven games remaining. During the usual fun-filled playoffs, 16 teams will compete for a chance t...
First off let me just say that watching John Tavares play here in London since his trade I have come to see that he is an exceptional talent..........So was Alexandre Daigle. I am not saying that Tavares will be a bust like Daigle, just that talent alone will not make you a star in the NHL. Daigle did not have the heart to play nigh in and night out at the NHL level and ...
Another NHL season is drawing to a close and, once again, the Blue and White find themselves out of contention for the playoffs. There are few among us that would have predicted otherwise as the 2008-09 NHL season began. A dismal team on paper has shown on some nights that it is just that, while on other nights they exude confidence and commitment to the positive work ethi...
First off, I want to explain that I am aware that it has been almost two weeks since I wrote my last blog. Being that we are in the month of May, although that means fans are in store for intense games of hockey during the NHL playoffs, it also means final research papers and exams are due, and I simply did not have the time to write about my beloved Islanders.
But now...
Since Lou Lamoriello took over as Devils General Manager in 1987, the Devils have earned a reputation as one of the best evaluators of draft talent in the NHL. Between Lamoriello and Director of Scouting David Conte—whom Lamoriello would contend really runs the show on draft day—save for an unfortunate stretch between 1999 and 2002, the Devils have always come through ...
Today Darryl Sutter confirmed he is keeping the 2009 first round pick, he had the option of giving phoenix this pick or the 2010 pick in the Jokinen deal. This draft is generally considered deeper than next years draft which some are saying could be as bad as the '99 draft but having said that is the 20th over all pick going to be that great?
At number 20 the Flames cou...
There is no doubt that John Tavares is offensively gifted and has the hands of a magician. But for a team that is in serious rebuild mode, is Tavares the wisest selection for the Islanders to make? As time goes on I'm becoming less sure.
I've always believed the standard for a winner is building from the net out. And with DiPietro lock up for the next 30+ years, it only...
First thing's first, congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins! Once the Devils were eliminated they became my adopted team from the East, and while my adopted team from the West, Chicago, did not make it to the finals, Pittsburgh both made it and won. I'm also happy for a pair of former Devils—Bill Guerin's only other Stanley Cup came here in Jersey back in his rookie ...
Height: 5'11
Weight: 176 lbs.
ISS Ranking: 29
Name: Cody Eakin
Eakin currently plays for the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL and picked up 24 goals and 24 assists for 48 points in 54 games last season. He also racked up 42 penalty minutes during that span.
Eakin brings alot of grit and speed for a player of his size. Not afraid to go into the corners or ...
The NHL Entry Draft will soon be upon us and the Blues are looking to have another strong draft weekend.
The Blues have an amazing prospect cool, but it could stand to get better. After take the time to analyze team needs and prospects that could be available at the given times the team will be selecting players.
Round one: Given Jarmo's track record with late 1st r...
The June 26th NHL Entry Draft is not far away and now that the Stanley Cup Finals have come to an end, the hockey world now shifts its focus to the draft. Here are my predictions for who will go in the top 15.
[b]15. Anaheim Ducks – RW Scott Glennie (Brandon-WHL). [/b]Glennie has made amazing strides in the last year or so. He is definitely a bonafide goal scorer but...
Look for this years NHL Entry Draft to be a mirror reflection of last years draft (from a leafs perspective). When we all consider the possible moves that Brian Burke can make, one seems to make the most sense. He claims he does not want to give up too much, but we all know the steep price that comes with getting into the top 3. However, another significant jump from 7th t...
There are a LOT of rumours going around that the islanders are gonna draft Hedman..... that they're gonna take Duchene, but in all seriousness, as it stands now, the top 4 draft picks will be picked in that order.... the respective teams cant afford not to.
New York Islanders- They NEED Tavares, he may not be a defensman but he is still a strong player, he is also one o...
A little while back I completed my mock Draft and now that the draft is less than a week away I thought I'd look back and see if there were any changes. Here is the Old Draft order (note this was before standings were final)
1 New York Islanders C John Tavares
2 Colorado Avalanche D Victor Hedman
3 Tampa Bay Lightning D Jared Cowen
4 Atlanta Thrashers C Matt Duchene...
Celebrating a decade of squandered potential and faded dreams, the draft of 1999 turned out shallower than an infant’s paddling pool, yet despite being regarded as an acrimonious footnote in league history the draft of ’99 also served as an unlikely backdrop to one of the most meticulously engineered pre-draft coups ever.
Having only entered the Vancouver office si...
Alot of people have been wondering who the Islanders will select 1st overall in the upcoming 2009 NHL Entry Draft. There have been some rumblings lately that Matt Duchene will be the pick. Should we believe them? I dont think so.
The bottom line is, when the Islanders select a player 1st overall on friday night, that player should be and will be John Tavares. When you a...
We all know Sutter likes to make a splash at the draft, we also know in deep drafts he has traditionally traded down for more picks. What makes this draft a little different is that there is no first round pick next year to bank on. The schools of thought being trade down and get two okay guys or trade up and get a sure fire blue chip prospect.
In addition the Flames h...
I've been a hockey fan since the Panthers first season. The '96 Cup run is always going to be considered my favorite batch of memories, watching them take on the Bruins and then surprise both Philly and the Pens to make it all the way to the Stanley Cup.
"Panther fans should enjoy this, they won't always get to savor something this special." Coach said at that time. Man...
As the draft seemingly slowly approaches it is the biggest question in Islanders Country, who will be the 1st overall pick? With rumors of John Tavaras dancing in most Islanders fan's heads and the hope that he will bring a cup to Long Island, it could be clouding what is really behind the exteriors of the "Big 3". Lets take a quick look at each of the "Big 3" in my eyes....
approximately 2 days from now we'll know who the Leafs drafted with their first round selection. I have all the faith in Burkie (hence my Burke leafs jersey I purchased before he was announced as GM/President) but I do think he has a very tough task to complete in Montreal.
For Starters with all the media attention he has received over his stay up until now I can surel...
As we approach the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, I thought it might be fun to look back at Ranger’s drafts past. As we can all attest given the abysmal seasons in the late ‘90’s and early 2000’s, the Rangers haven’t always done a very good job of drafting and developing talent. Along the way though they drafted the pieces that helped bring the Stanley Cup to Manhattan. H...
I here every one talking about a big trade or move coming the blues way. I think what’s on most of the fans minds are will it include sticking to the plan or straying from it. what I mean by that is will the blues be throwing some draft picks another teams way or will they put one of the young players up in a deal. I think most people who call them self a blues fan would...
willytheleaf writes...
Just in case... Don't freak out if the Leafs trade down...
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
It is my belief that the Leafs will not be trading up in this draft. The teams in front of them are just too desperate to get a highly touted prospect... The Islanders will go for the option of selling tickets before looking for the future of the franchise, and Tavares will probably go first... Even though to me, it looks like Duchene and Hedman look like they will develop...
There seems to be tons of blogs surrounding the Leafs/GM Brian Burke's pursuit of a higher pick ahead of Friday's NHL Entry Draft - very few of those blogs are actually analyzing the work that Burke has done thus far.
With the regular season coming to a close, Burke stated to the mass media that he would do anything and everything in his power to land the Islander's to...
Thanks for the welcomes on the first blog. In this one, I will take a relatively brief look at who the Rangers have drafted recently (see Gmkiller’s blog for a more detailed look at the draft over the years) and some prior 19th picks; how our recent selections might impact who we draft this year; possible candidates for the 19th pick and my choice.
[i][u][b]Prior Draf...
Thanks for the welcomes on the first blog. In this one, I will take a relatively brief look at who the Rangers have drafted recently (see Gmkiller’s blog for a more detailed look at the draft over the years) and some prior 19th picks; how our recent selections might impact who we draft this year; possible candidates for the 19th pick and my choice.
[i][u][b]Prior Draf...
This is only my second blog on this site and has to be short and sweet since I do not have much time. I just wanted to share my thoughts about which players the Sharks should keep, as well as hear some input from other Sharks fans.
I think there are only three players that I would be really upset to see go and they are:
1 - Dan Boyle: He is my choice for Captain next...
Tonight the heavily anticipated NHL entry draft will be held with the Islanders set to make their first overall pick. The three top candidates are well-known by now: John Tavares, Victor Hedman, and Matt Duchene.
The order in which they should be listed has been debated over the past several weeks with them shifting over and over again. My personal take is that if we dr...
Tonight at approximately 7:17 Eastern time, the Coliseum erupted. That was because Islanders GM Garth Snow announced to the world that the Islanders were selecting John Tavares first overall in the 2009 NHL Draft. The 10,000 people at the Coliseum shook the Coliseum like it hasnt been shaken in years. However, that was just the first step.
Now its time to get John to th...
Acquiring Chris Pronger seals up the back-end for next season. He is exactly what the FLyers missed this year: someone to clear out the middle and score goals from the point. Holmgren paid a steep price but realize that he did it to win now. Luca Sbisa will be missed, but ultimately was deemed expendable when Homer said he had reached a deal with MA Bourdon. Sbisa was proj...
The Flyers mad a big splash today and landed Chris Pronger in a trade.
Smart move for the Flyers.
Flyer fans will start salivating the moment they hear of this news...visions of Crobsy getting crunched by Pronger along the boards...or Malkin getting hip checked as he tries to cruise through the middle of the ice.
Yep...they certainly have reason to think he will m...
It is perhaps the most eniviable position to be in on draft day to be sitting at the table farthest from the draft stage. At that table sits the Stanley Cup champion. This year it was my beloved Penguins who had that honor, but I was not impressed with what they did from that position.
To be fair, I know little about the players that were selected by Pittsburgh. None of...
It is perhaps the most eniviable position to be in on draft day to be sitting at the table farthest from the draft stage. At that table sits the Stanley Cup champion. This year it was my beloved Penguins who had that honor, but I was not impressed with what they did from that position.
To be fair, I know little about the players that were selected by Pittsburgh. None of...
I have to start by saying that the 2009 Draft was the first one where I actually did some research beyond the top five prospects. I went full on, putting together a list of the players that I liked in the order I liked them, as if I was prepared to walk out to the draft table myself. The reason for this, aside from the fact that its summer and I find myself with quite a bi...
It's that dreaded time of the year when the excitement of the draft is over and the anticipation of July 1st for Free Agency day is just starting to kick in.
It should be a day of even more nervousness for Canucks fans, as it could be the end of an era here in Vancouver should the Sedin twins hit the open market and sign with another team. It's suspected that long-time ...
Three seasons ago, it seemed pretty obvious where the best teams in the NHL lived...the Western Conference.
The Ducks had just beaten the Senators in 5 games to win their first cup. They appeared to be a team that could easily repeat. They were physical...mean even...and could score goals to boot.
While the Ducks did not repeat as champions, the Detroit Red Wings fin...
While he would never admit it, Ontario native Nazem Kadri must of felt a twinge of anger at how the biggest day in his life panned out. Treated like a high steak pawn at the 2009 draft where the dreams he worked so hard to achieve were to be realized, Kadri watched as a bitter Brian Burke failed to secure the vaunted trade northwards, then faced the ignominy of TSN analyst...
As I was preparing to write up part two for the Islanders draft recap, I received an email from one of the readers of New York Islanders Net who knows our sixth round pick, Anders Lee, personally. Instead of keeping the draft recap a three part series, I decided to make it a four part series, with this entry focusing only on Anders Lee, and then picking up from there. Here...
Now that the Fourth of July weekend has come and gone, and what a great weekend it was all around, it is time to settle back into the work week, and more importantly, some Islander talk. That being said, let’s take a look at Part III of our Draft Recap: the goaltenders. Part I covered John Tavares and Calvin de Haan, while Part II focused solely on 6th Round Pick Anders ...
Finally, part four of a four part series that has seen us recap the Islanders 2009 NHL Entry Draft. While it was somewhat successful for the most part, the two players we will look at today were somewhat off the charts for the Islanders and many other teams, however, they apparently have tremendous upside. Doesn’t it always seem as if the Islanders are taking the flyer p...
[b]By Glen Miller[/b]
New York Islanders Net
Compared to most teams, the Islanders’ off-season has been very quiet. While that might upset some Islanders fans and would certainly upset the fans of most every other NHL club, this is certainly the best move for the team. After several years of losing and trying to bring in veteran players to boost the club’s fortunes...
New York Islanders Net
http://islesnet.blogspot.com
Do you recall about two to three years ago when a simple look at the Islanders prospects would bring about a nauseating feeling? Between lack of depth and lack of quality, the Islanders were truly a team without any hope to compete in the future. After his first two seasons as general manager were quite unsuccessful...
Who says the draft is so important? Sure, the overwhelming majority of players enter the NHL through traditional means. But, there is a lot of talent in the NHL right now that never heard their name called at the draft table. You could assemble quite a team from these overlooked gems. Maybe Jim Balsillie can start his own squad by sifting through the junior ranks and E...
Few things are more frustrating for a hockey fan than to see your team draft a great prospect, watch him come up through the ranks to become a star, only to then see him leave as a free agent or trade. It's the reality of the NHL, but imagine if it wasn't so. Imagine a world where your team could keep every player it ever drafted. How different would the NHL landscape b...
With all this talk of trading a glut of high draft picks for Phil Kessel (1st round, 5th overall), discussion of 'draft pick value' seems to be the rage. I can't really beat the work Scott Cullen at TSN has done in analyzing the statistical odds a draft pick will make the 'big show' but I can throw in my two cents as to the value of draft picks to the Leafs.
When peopl...
Kamal Panesar writes...
Lack of proper player development is killing the Habs
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Having been a Habs fan for my entire life and watched the supposed renaissance of the team, under Gainey, it is apparent that something is amiss. Well, many things are amiss, actually, but the thing that stands out the most to me is our seeming lack of proper player development. I don't know if it is because of the media pressure in this city or the nightlife that makes ...
Thirty-five games into the season, more games played than any other team, the Montreal Canadiens find themselves a mere 2 points out of 29th spot overall. That’s more than enough reason to think this team is not a Stanley Cup contender. And in this modern NHL salary cap era that’s enough reason to rebuild for next season.
A common, successful strategy to rebuild is...
The Trade Deadline has passed. The Oilers dropped some salary (which isn't that tough when you look at some of the contracts the Oilers handed out over the years), did they improve the club though? In the long run..maybe. In the short term..absolutely not.
But here is the question that has to be asked for the rest of the season is this: Have the Oilers made themselves w...
March can be a very troubling month for hockey fans. It's this time of year that roughly 1/4 of fans are placed in the unfair position of outwardly cheering for their team to win, while inwardly, (almost subconsciously) almost hoping they lose. This irks me. And I hate being irked. Especially in March.
So why do we tolerate this? Or the better question may be: Why ...
The big talk lately is all about the Toronto Maple Leafs trading away this years and next years first round draft pick to the Boston Bruins, some fans have accepted this, some fans are not sure what to think and others are mad as hell based on the Leafs current position in the NHL. I have decided to do some research on a team by team basis to see which teams in the NHL hav...
ok.the rangers are in 10th place{due to there lack of scoring and soft defense} behind atlanta{2pts}and boston/philly{4pts}the rangers schedule is easy on the way out.the last 2 games of the season are against philly .those 2 games could decide who gets the 8 spot.personally i hope the rangers dont make the play offs.i wish for this because it could mean the end of sather,...
As I look back on this season, 2009/2010 can't be called anything but a success. I can't help but look at the Kings and think about the years of prosperity that are on the horizon for this franchise. Look around the NHL at a team like Vancouver (my hometown team) and I see a 2-3 year window for a winning season before the core gets too old. Both the Sedin duo and Luongo...
leafs4f4 writes...
The Beginning of a Busy Burke Summer:Leafs Sign German D-man
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
The 2010 Leafs off-season might seem short of news lately, but Brian Burke is definitely hard at work.
Having already inked a pair of goaltenders last month – Finnish netminder Jussi Rynnas and NCAA standout, Ben Scrivens of Cornell University- the Leafs President and General Manager announced another signing; this one in the form of German blueliner Korbinian Holzer....
The Calgary Flames have, for better or worse, decided to stay the ship. And staying the ship means keeping Daryl Sutter. They have decided that radical changes are not needed. In their infinite wisdom, they are not going to trade any of the top players or prospects to get a number one pick. Unless, of course, Mr. Sutter can hypnotize one of the general managers into tak...
I'm going to highlight some of the habs needs and the players they can potentially draft to help meet those needs.
The habs had a great post season run. Until they ran into the much larger Philly team. Montreal's skilled (yet small forwards) tried to compete but had trouble finding the open room in the offensive zone. It is clear that Montreal needs some size and skill...
It’s been a LONG time since I wrote a hockey blog of any sort. Actually, as far as I can recall, the last blog I wrote on hockey or the Oilers was the day after Ryan Smyth was traded to the Island.
That’s a long time for me.
But, the itch to hold an open forum to air out my thoughts on the game as been fed, and now needs to be scratched. (If that makes any sense)...
INTRODUCTION 2010 NHL ENTRY DRAFT
The 2010 NHL Draft is turning out to be a fascinating one. Unlike recent draft years, this group of players lacks the ultra high end depth we’ve come to expect.
The 2010 draft has two great offensive players, and three premium defensemen in the top five, but after that group there are questions, questions, and more questions.
H...
Annotated Mock NHL Draft 2010
V-3.0
1. EDMONTON OILERS TAYLOR HALL – F
*Halfway between Stamkos and Taveres as an NHL prospect *
Edmonton’s rabid fans are salivating at the ‘idea’ of getting Taylor Hall, and Steve Tamballini is not going to let them down.
Yes, the Oilers really, really need a top line center, but Hall is just too good to pass up...
Annotated Mock NHL Draft 2010
V-3.0
11. DALLAS STARS MIKAEL GRANLUND - F
*A young Saku Koivu*
Intelligent and quick, with exceptional skills and great vision, this kid will juice up the stars offence for years to come.
There was some concern that Granlund might be smaller than his stats listed, and if he turned out to be 5’8” or 5’9” he would hav...
If you haven't bought your tickets, now is the time...the Islanders draft party is set for this Friday at the Nassau Coliseum with the 5th overall selection solely in Garth Snow's hands. Yours truly, (as usual every year) will be unable to attend due to work obligations...but here is a brief primer of the scenario's that I think might go down on draft day.
In order...
...
[img]http://fromthepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Hall-and-Seguin.jpg[/img]
For the last few month since January when everyone pretty much knew that the Edmonton Oilers were going to finish out of the playoffs and most likely in 30th Place in the NHL. Everyone’s been wondering who the Oilers were going to take, Taylor or Tyler. Some have said the Oilers would ...
This years NHL Draft is one of the most intresting in years. Over the last few years, the number one pick was pretty much a forgone conclusion. Ovechkin in 04, Crosby in 05, Johnson in 06, Kane 07, Stamkos 08, and last year John Tavares going #1, everyone knew that was the pick for the whole season. This year is different as the drama at the top of the board this year of c...
Been a little more then 8 months since I last wrote a blog, and since we are just under 24 hours from the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. I have been keeping tabs on many of the mock drafts and many bloggers predictions on what the 1st round will look like. Most especially the top 10. We all know Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin will be the 1st 2 players selected come friday night, but...
Only a few hours remain until draft and I am having difficulty containing my excitement. I didn't sleep much last night but that isn't much of a big deal. I was reading some of the blogs on here, and Eklund who is the one who updates regularly on rumors regarding FA's, UFA's, and possible trades said in his post late last night to keep a VERY close eye on garth snow and th...
Well, it's been a little over a week since Mr. Gauthier sent our Slovakian playoff wonderboy out of La Belle Province and off to St. Louis for... Lars Eller (He's danish...yummy) and Ian Shultz (No not the D-man who was a +50 for the Caps, that was his brother) and consequently sending the city into an outrage while rekindling that old nickname our GM was crowned with in A...
Check out my post at The Hockey Writers talking about the newest addition to the New York Islanders, 2010 5th overall pick, Nino Niederreiter!
http://thehockeywriters.com/el-nino-storms-into-long-island/
-Rob McGowan
Follow me on Twitter!
http://twitter.com/IslesRM
WarHero writes...
Habs trade up for 22nd pick, take D-Man, Jarred Tinordi!
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Folks, The Habs Brass has impressed me yet again!
Montreal GM Pierre Gauthier saw an opportunity to move up in the draft and jumped on it! The Habs traded 1st(27) and 2nd rounds picks to Phoenix for 1st(22) and 4th round picks, all 2010.
According to various sources, the player Vancouver was waiting for was in fact, Jarred Tinordi. I can only assume that Gauthier c...
Well that was Vanilla.
Calgary has made no significant moves at the draft as of yet after 5 rounds unless you count the acquisition of Henrik Karlsson from san jose, he a huge Swedish goalie, for a late round pick at this draft. He's 26 and you'd imagine he's the top spot for the #2 position in Calgary this year.
The biggest and most mind boggling blunder was when Ka...
With not a single pick in the top 60, expectations could not have been that high for the Flames at this year’s entry draft. The rumour mill buzzed with far-fetched rumours about players like Jordan Staal, Jason Spezza and even Ilya Kovalchuk that some desperate Flames fans (including myself) ate up. But all the Flames came away with after two days in Los Angeles was a po...
As you all know by now, on day 1 of the draft Habs GM Pierre Gauthier traded up for the 22nd pick to take towering defencemen Jarred Tinordi.
Let's now take a look at who the Habs picked on day 2.
Pick #113: Mark MacMillan
MacMillan is a 6'0", 150 pound, 18 year old forward from the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the BCHL. During the 2009/2010 season, MacMillan tallie...
The first week of July is always a busy time in the hockey universe in terms of player movement. It has evolved into a Mini Me of the Trade Deadline. While the top stories this year will center around the likes of Kovalchuk, Gonchar and Hamhuis, in terms of fantasy hockey, these deals will have little impact on where those players will rank on your draft list. The real ...
[img]http://cdn.nhl.com/flyers/images/upload/2009/10/matsumoto_phantoms1028.jpg[/img]
Jonathan Matsumoto, the leading scorer for the Phantoms last season, has been traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for pick #206 (Ricard Blidstrand.) Some people may say the Flyers gave up too quickly on Mats. I am one of those people. Matsumoto was never given a chance to prove himself in ...
Pick #89: Michael Chaput, C, Lewiston (QMJHL)
The Flyers started off their draft by selecting Michael Chaput of the MAINEiacs.Chaput was ranked 81st in The Hockey News Draft Preview. Chaput had a solid season for Lewiston in the Q, with 28 goals and 27 assists in 68 games. He finished 2nd in point and 1st in goals for the MAINEiacs. Chaput put up a good amount of points ...
landsharkhockey writes...
Top Fantasy Goalie Rankings and Draft Strategy for 2010-11
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Years ago, drafting goalies was easy. Every season, you could argue over order, but you couldn't go wrong with Roy, Brodeur or Hasek. These days, it's much harder to predict who will be the elite fantasy goalies from year to year. Consider this: the top 5 fantasy scorers from 2008 included the likes of: Tim Thomas, Niklas Backstrom, Steve Mason, and Cam Ward. If you s...
NHLNumbers writes...
Best Draft Years Between 1998 - Present (Anaheim to Detroit)
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Total Games Played and Player Quality Considered - All results are open to debate
Anaheim Ducks 2003 Draft
Rd 1. Ryan Getzlaf
Rd 1. Corey Perry
Rd 6. Drew Miller
Rd 8. Shane O'Brian
Atlanta Thrashers 2000 Draft
Rd 1. Dany Heatley
Rd 6. Darcy Hordichuck
Boston Bruins 2006 Draft
Rd 1. Phil Kessel
Rd 2. Milan Lucic
Rd 3. Brad Marchand
Buffalo Sabres ...
landsharkhockey writes...
Top Fantasy Defensemen Rankings and Draft Strategy
Posted Monday | Comments 0
When it comes to formulating your draft strategy, take some time to carefully consider your approach to defense. More than any other position, defensive scoring can vary dramatically from league to league. Some leagues value scoring by a defenseman higher than forwards, while others lump them together. This can dramatically change your approach in terms of when to draft...
landsharkhockey writes...
Top Fantasy Forward Rankings and Draft Strategy for 2010
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
For a solid fantasy hockey draft strategy, there is much to consider for goalies and defensemen. When it comes to forwards, it's a much simpler proposition. First off, get to know your point system. This can make a huge difference in ranking your players. For example, if your league counts goals and assists equally (join a new league), then guys like Joe Thornton and ...
Every fantasy hockey league is different. Even if you're Biff Tannen and you know exactly how many points each player will score next season, it's no guarantee for fantasy victory if you don't fashion your draft strategy to the league you're in. In this post, I'll give you some tips and guidance on how to draft (and win) in a standard CBS fantasy hockey league.
Point...
All good things eventually come to an end. When it comes to drafting a winning fantasy hockey roster, it's important to know when the end has come, or at least, know when it's approaching. As much as we hate to acknowledge it, hockey players can only stay on top for so long before they start to slide. If you draft with your heart and pay too much attention to history an...
When the second round of the 2010 draft was coming to a close, I kept hearing the talking heads all comment on how Krill Kabanov, a world class talent had slipped so far out of round one, and now what appeared to be round 2. At that moment, I began thinking, here is a player who is destined to be an Islander.
My take on Krill v2.0 and the "incident"
http://hockeyinde...
Toronto fans know this all to well as JF Jr. put them here until possibly this past season . He's not the only one to do this Sather in New york, Nashville (arguably due to Trotz getting the most out of his players), Florida, and Edmonton (all teams which have finished in the middle of the conference but not getting a top 5 pick, consistently.
Flames may enter purgator...
FelixBester writes...
Toronto Maple Leafs: Ten years of trading away draft picks
Posted Tuesday | Comments 27
With so much attention and discussion around the Phil Kessel trade and the repercussions it may have on the future of the Maple Leafs, I thought it would be interesting to go back 10 years or so and see what impact the first round draft picks of the last decade have played in the team's overall success and with the benefit of hindsight, has the trading of picks helped to p...
Being an Oilers' Fan for all of my life I must admit that seeing the Flames woes has given me a little bit of satisfaction. I think this is mainly because of the fact that I live in Calgary now and this is the first year since I have moved here that I haven't had to put up with listening to cocky Flames fans going on about how their perennial mediocre team was so great an...
first of all I have The Hockey news to thank for the idea of a third team but the rest is all my own thoughts.
For the First All Star Team you get ten sports writers to pick their top 21 top players and these are your "First All Stars". I don't mean just anyone either, people like Bob Mckenzie and Mike Milbury will pick this team. So this would be the team to b...
This years trade deadline definitely left me wanting more, as is the case for everyone I imagine. Spending hours waiting for something to happen and when it was all said and done, Dustin Penner was the only person being shipped out of Edmonton. Since then I have gone back and fourth on whether I thought it was a good trade or not. Initially I thought it was a great for us ...
So as an Oilers fan the one thing we have to look forward to is the upcoming draft, so I figure I would give my predictions. Let me know if you agree or what you would change. I am only going to do the top 10 based on the current bottom 10 teams.
1)EDM: Adam Larsson - huge need for an all around defensive force with huge upside
2)OTT: Gabriel Landeskog - power fo...
Since Jay Feaster was announced the active g.m. as opposed to the acting g.m. and a major contract was just signed in Curtis Glencross I decided it was about time to focus...on the draft. Feaster said this is Tod Button's draft which makes me think he had less input than we may have realized previously, in addition the Flames have had their new amateur scouts on the ground...
Hockey season came to a halt sooner than most Sabres fans probably would have liked this year. While the NHL Playoffs rage on, the Buffalo Sabres are anticipating one of the most eventful off-seasons in recent memory as new owner Terry Pegula brings his winning attitude and deep pockets to the table.
And so I thought: while we're stuck watching the remainder of the tour...
The Islanders are just weeks away from selecting another top prospect with the fifth overall pick at this year's NHL Draft. Whom might Garth Snow choose? Head over to The Checking Line to find out!
http://thecheckingline.com/blog/rob-mcgowan/new-york-islanders/isles-look-another-big-draft-day
-Rob McGowan
Follow me on Twitter!
http://twitter.com/IslesRM
LeafsFanInOTT writes...
Overlooked? 2011 NHL Entry Draft Preview: Shane Prince
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
As the 2011 NHL Draft nears, hockey fans salivate at the thought of tomorrow’s stars donning their team’s jersey.
Obviously, the big names are out there for everyone, even the casual hockey fan, to see.
Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog, Adam Larsson, the names that have been talked about from day one of this season.
There are guys such as Jonathan ...
Last season, the word around the NHL was that the 2011 draft class would be the weakest one of the past ten years. Now? NHL GMs are saying this draft is deep, and is even drawing comparisons to the famed 2003 draft. This mock draft was much harder to put together than the one I did last year because of the amount of players that have a chance to go in the first round. Low ...
Well only 1 day until the draft and there is alot of speculation on who the habs should draft.
In my opinion it's time to go after that illusive big power forward. With the 17th overall pick, the habs should be able to find a good solid power forward with the draft as deep as it is this year. I know montreal's theory is take the best player available, I say let's take the...
EDM: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
COL: Huberdeay
FLO: Landeskog
NJ: Larsson
NYI: Hamilton
OTT: Strome
WIN: Couturier
PHI: Beaulieu
BOS: Murphy
MIN:Zinebejad
AVS: Brodin
CAR: Bartschi
CAL: McNeil
DAL: Armia
NYR: Grimaldi
BUF: Siemens
MTL: Saad
CHI: Oleskiak
EDM: Gibson
PHX: Klefbom
OTT: Jensen
ANA: Jenner
PIT: Rattie
DET: Musil
TOR: Puempel
WAS: ...
First off, this is my first blog. Just fyi.
Today, the Flyers made two big deals. Carter too Columbus for a pair of picks and Jakub Voracek. They also sent Mike Richards too the Kings for Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds and a 2nd round pick (overpayment imo). So how do these two trades affect Toronto and there train of thought going into the draft?
The first trade onl...
MikeInSauga writes...
Mock Draft - All Thirty Selections The Night Before
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
THis is before any trades occur with the first 30 picks.
1. Edmonton - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
2. Colorado - Gabriel Landeskog
3. Florida - Adam Larsson
4. New Jersey- Jonathan Huberdeau
5. New York Islanders - Ryan Strome
6. Ottawa - Sean Couturier
7. Winnipeg - Dougie Hamilton
8. Philadelphia (via Colombus) - Ryan Murphy
9. Boston (via Toronto) - Nathan Beaulie...
Happy Friday!
As anticipation grows with the looming draft tonight, like most Leafs fans, I'm hopeful that big Burke can live up to his reputation and pull the trigger on a trade that will shed the limelight on the city that eats, sleeps and lives the Leafs!
In wandering my way through the many credible tweeters today, it doesn't appear there is much life to many r...
MikeInSauga writes...
Combining the Kessel and Kaberle Deals. Who Wins?
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Both trade calls went through and both were accepted. But with some of those draft picks in today's draft, these trades weren't completed done until today. And so, with the players picked, who wins? First, it needs too be summarized:
To Boston :
Tomas Kaberle
Jared Knight
Tyler Segiun
Dougie Hamilton
To Toronto:
John-Michael Liles
Tyler Biggs
Phil Kessel
Joe ...
[img]http://i54.tinypic.com/64kvn8.jpg[/img]
I just finnish-ed(get it?) watching the Sabres recent first round draft pick Joel Armia of the Finnish Elite League, meet the media. A few answers to questions he had really kind of irked me:
Q: “Do you get much exposure to the NHL in Finland?
JA: “No, not much”
Q: “Do you know much about the Buffalo Sabres?”...
The draft came and went a bit more anti-climatic than expected. The Sabres did well for themselves adding the agile Finnish winger Joel Armia (though i would have preferred Mark McNeill) and the exciting Daniel Catenacci but to expect either of these players to have in impact in the 2011-2012 season is unrealistic. This years draft was to continue stocking the cupboard ...
1st Round- 8th Overall
C- Sean Couturier-Drummondville, QMJHL
Getting Sean Couturier with the 8th overall pick is a steal. Couturier, who was named the number one draft eligible prospect by International Scouting Services in December, is a player who is often compared to Jordan Staal. While he had the most points per game of any player in this draft, 1.66, he might n...
Random Notes for all the junior buffs out there...
London traded up only to pass on Mikhail Grigorenko and instead pick up Finnish defender Olli Maatta 1st overall. Hey, if the Knights are doing it – it must be right.
Grigorenko drafted 2nd overall to the Quebec Remparts. This is a great primer for the young Russian leading into his draft year. CAN’T WAIT to ...
Check out my new website dedicated to giving you all the best and most up to date fantasy information for the upcoming NHL Season.http://fantasyhockeytalkandtips.weebly.com/
So anyone out there in need of a website that not only gives you the in and outs of the hockey world? I mean not just the major teams in the leagues I mean even the low traffic teams like the hurricanes Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets. All the teams have fantasy relevant players and sleepers that everyone should be able to find out about. So have a peek at the newest we...
Being a Sharks fan requires a tough stomach.
Every year, we watch our team fail when it should succeed. We follow every big trade Doug Wilson makes and consistently say 'Ah! We overpaid!' Sometimes those trades work(Thornton/Boyle), sometimes they don't(Campbell/Guerin/Heatley). We're hoping for the best with Havlat/Burns. We never land big free agents.
These predic...
Today's fantasy hockey stats and formulas can provide more information than one person can possibly interpret at one time. It's becoming easier every year to get lost in the numbers.
I used to go thru some pretty intense number crunching when trying to predict how well players would perform in the upcoming season. Getting data from previous seasons and computing differe...
Ok...keeper league...everybody has 1 forward keeper...rank these players (projected top 20 picks)...GO!
Pavel Datsyuk
Anze Kopitar
John Tavares
Jeff Carter
Henrik Zetterberg
Brad Richards
Marian Gaborik
Bobby Ryan
Mike Richards
Jonathan Toews
Derek Roy
Joe Thornton
Ilya Kovalchuk
Patrick Marleau
Loui Eriksson
Jarome Iginla
Rick Nash
Matt Duchene
Dany H...
So with the off-season signings by Buffalo, the general attacks around Hockeybuzz has been that Buffalo is going the (failed) route of the Rangers and other teams and is trying to "buy themselves a title".
I decided to look into the team to prove how inaccurate that accusation is.
Of the 20 players who have played for Buffalo this season, 14 of these players were d...
leafer91 writes...
Next Couple Drafts Could Bring One Team A Solid Future
Posted Friday | Comments 0
From the 2001-2002 season to the 2003-2004, the Pittsburgh Penguins found themselves at the bottom of the Atlantic Division three years in a row. Placing so low in the standings allowed Pittsburgh to draft the likes of: Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal. Drafting these players has taken the Pittsburgh Penguins from being the laughing stock of...
Daniil Zharkov, 17 year old Left Winger of the Ontario Hockey Leagues Belleville Bulls is beginning to turn heads with his recent play. Zharkov has 5 goals and 1 assist on the season. Not impressed?, What if I told you his season only began five games ago?. That is right, Zharkov has been sidelined since the preseason with a broken left clavicle.
Zharkov was Belleville...
Michael_Stuart writes...
Flames/Bolts Preview + A Little "What If?" Scenario
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
It’s game day for the Lightning as the Calgary Flames come to town for the only meeting of the year between these two teams. When I look at both teams, I see disasters. Neither team is playing well right now. That being said, at least the Lightning have a future. We have young, talented players who should be able to carry this team for a really long time. In Calgary...
Michael_Stuart writes...
Risky Business: Victor Hedman and Other Top-5 D-Men
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
It’s early Christmas morning and I have time on my hands. Over the past few weeks I’ve been researching a topic and coming up with stats and facts to back my point of view. As the title of this blog says, I feel like there is a downside to picking defensemen with very high draft picks. It’s a well-known fact that defenseman take longer to develop and often don’t...
Blue chip prospects are running all over the NHL this year. With the 2010-11 season a little past the half-way point, now is a good time to catch up with the top five of the 2011 draft class and get a progress report of how our young hot-shots are doing.
[b]Ryan Nugent-Hopkins[/b] was undoubtedly the most highly touted prospect in the 2011 NHL draft. The crafty left ha...
This Sabres script has been written before and the story, for me , is getting very old. Since 1997 the Sabres have made the playoffs or just missed them 12 out of 13 years. And I, for one, don‘t want them to win more then 10 games over the next 2 months. It in no way helps them to just miss the playoffs a 5th year. In fact, losing the rest of our games gives us a g...
This Sabres script has been written before and the story, for me , is getting very old. Since 1997 the Sabres have made the playoffs or just missed them 12 out of 13 years. And I, for one, don‘t want them to win more then 10 games over the next 2 months. It in no way helps them to just miss the playoffs a 5th year. In fact, losing the rest of our games gives us a g...
Canadiens' fans worldwide hang and hide their heads in shame as the [i]Circ du Gauthier[/i] continues to embaress our proud organization. There is no doubt that the bottom has dropped out of whatever plan and rebuild Andre Savard had started and we have in fact returned to the days of Houle the Fool and Mario Trembley blindly leading the team through a mine field.
Once...
Without further ado...
1. Columbus- Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting
- Columbus succeeds to 'Fail for Nail' and select the best player in this draft.
Comparable: Alex Ovechkin
2. Edmonton- Ryan Murray, D, Everett Silvertips
- Although most scouts believe Grigorenko will go second overall, the Oilers address their needs on defense by taking the best blueliner in the ...
Without further ado...
1. Columbus- Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting
- Columbus succeeds to 'Fail for Nail' and select the best player in this draft.
Comparable: Alex Ovechkin
2. Edmonton- Ryan Murray, D, Everett Silvertips
- Although most scouts believe Grigorenko will go second overall, the Oilers address their needs on defense by taking the best blueliner in the ...
Without further ado...
1. Columbus- Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting
- Columbus succeeds to 'Fail for Nail' and select the best player in this draft.
Comparable: Alex Ovechkin
2. Edmonton- Ryan Murray, D, Everett Silvertips
- Although most scouts believe Grigorenko will go second overall, the Oilers address their needs on defense by taking the best blueliner in the ...
Without further ado...
1. Columbus- Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting
- Columbus succeeds to 'Fail for Nail' and select the best player in this draft.
Comparable: Alex Ovechkin
2. Edmonton- Ryan Murray, D, Everett Silvertips
- Although most scouts believe Grigorenko will go second overall, the Oilers address their needs on defense by taking the best blueliner in the ...
Without further ado...
1. Columbus- Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting
- Columbus succeeds to 'Fail for Nail' and select the best player in this draft.
Comparable: Alex Ovechkin
2. Edmonton- Ryan Murray, D, Everett Silvertips
- Although most scouts believe Grigorenko will go second overall, the Oilers address their needs on defense by taking the best blueliner in the ...
Without further ado...
1. Columbus- Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting
- Columbus succeeds to 'Fail for Nail' and select the best player in this draft.
Comparable: Alex Ovechkin
2. Edmonton- Ryan Murray, D, Everett Silvertips
- Although most scouts believe Grigorenko will go second overall, the Oilers address their needs on defense by taking the best blueliner in the ...
Without further ado...
1. Columbus- Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting
- Columbus succeeds to 'Fail for Nail' and select the best player in this draft.
Comparable: Alex Ovechkin
2. Edmonton- Ryan Murray, D, Everett Silvertips
- Although most scouts believe Grigorenko will go second overall, the Oilers address their needs on defense by taking the best blueliner in the ...
Without further ado...
1. Columbus- Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting
- Columbus succeeds to 'Fail for Nail' and select the best player in this draft.
Comparable: Alex Ovechkin
2. Edmonton- Ryan Murray, D, Everett Silvertips
- Although most scouts believe Grigorenko will go second overall, the Oilers address their needs on defense by taking the best blueliner in the ...
Without further ado...
1. Columbus- Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting
- Columbus succeeds to 'Fail for Nail' and select the best player in this draft.
Comparable: Alex Ovechkin
2. Edmonton- Ryan Murray, D, Everett Silvertips
- Although most scouts believe Grigorenko will go second overall, the Oilers address their needs on defense by taking the best blueliner in the ...
Without further ado...
1. Columbus- Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting
- Columbus succeeds to 'Fail for Nail' and select the best player in this draft.
Comparable: Alex Ovechkin
2. Edmonton- Ryan Murray, D, Everett Silvertips
- Although most scouts believe Grigorenko will go second overall, the Oilers address their needs on defense by taking the best blueliner in th...
The answer is: only the GMs truly know.
I hear a bunch of media people saying, "Oh they're going to get a better deal during the summer" because their answer to everything is "wait and develop", yet I can name a whole bunch of summer deals that didn't pan out for the teams this year, LA and CBJ getting the Philly players within the hour last summer both turned out terri...
ShudBeFamous writes...
Habs future: Current roster and who they should draft
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
First off, I do not beleive montreal needs to draft a Defencemen this upcoming draft, so I am writing this blog as if they will be drafting one of the top 4 offencive prospects that could go in the top 5 in Pittsburgh this June.
1. Nail Yakupov (5'11, 189lbs) - W - Sarnia Sting - 37GP/30G/35A/65PTS/26PIM
2. Mikhail Grigorenko (6'3, 200lbs) - C - Quebec Remparts - 57GP/...
Not to many people are talking about this because it seems everyone feels that Columbus will draft Yakopov first overall. I really don't feel this is the case. Its not that I feel Yakopov isn't worthy of being drafted first overall its that he is Russian and this is Columbus.
Columbus has had a horrible record with Russians; Filitov, Zherdev come to mind when you thin...
Not to many people are talking about this because it seems everyone feels that Columbus will draft Yakopov first overall. I really don't feel this is the case. Its not that I feel Yakopov isn't worthy of being drafted first overall its that he is Russian and this is Columbus.
Columbus has had a horrible record with Russians; Filitov, Zherdev come to mind when you thin...
BarDownBobo writes...
Why Steve Tambellini SHOULDN'T Trade The First Overall
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
The second that it was announced that the Edmonton Oilers had won the right to select first overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft suggestions started pouring in that they should trade the pick off for some immediate help, likely defensively. However it is my belief that the Oilers would not be better off to trade the pick, instead should do the obvious thing and select Sarni...
Why would Edmonton trade the 1st Overall pick? The second Edmonton won the Draft Lottery everyone started to compare them to the Quebec Nordiques who also got the 1st Overall pick three years in a row. Quebec would win the Stanley Cup five seasons later as the Colorado Avalanche, guess how many of those 1st Overall picks were on that Stanley Cup winning team. If your gue...
Why would Edmonton trade the 1st Overall pick? The second Edmonton won the Draft Lottery everyone started to compare them to the Quebec Nordiques who also got the 1st Overall pick three years in a row. Quebec would win the Stanley Cup five seasons later as the Colorado Avalanche, guess how many of those 1st Overall picks were on that Stanley Cup winning team. If your gue...
Why would Edmonton trade the 1st Overall pick? The second Edmonton won the Draft Lottery everyone started to compare them to the Quebec Nordiques who also got the 1st Overall pick three years in a row. Quebec would win the Stanley Cup five seasons later as the Colorado Avalanche, guess how many of those 1st Overall picks were on that Stanley Cup winning team. If your gue...
With Draft day looming, a lot of questions are in play.
Do we draft A potential top 6 forward in (Grigorenko, Forsberg, Galchenyuk).
Do we trade up with Edmonton (Who is in dire need of depth at D, and could get it in Ryan Murray.).
Do we trade for rights to an upcoming UFA (Parise).
There is a lot to think about, with one solid line (Pacioretty, Cole, Deshairn...
More and more it’s becoming abundantly clear that the Lightning will be holding onto the 10th overall pick at this year’s NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh. Whether you agree with the move or not, it shouldn’t come as that much of a shock when you consider that Al Murray, the Lightning’s chief amateur scout, has been quoted as saying that Steve Yzerman will be taking ...
ISS released their new draft rankings yesterday. There are some surprises and the reason for the changes can be seen. Forsberg moved to the number 2 spot for his finish as top forward in the Under 18 tournament. However with that said Matt Dumba moved up but was ranked behind U-18 Dman Jacob Trouba. Dumba Lead the tournament in points and was selected as the number one...
Keep in mind that this article reflects my opinions and does not use any Draft Day rumours on any other persons blogs or news articles.
To start off the draft, the Edmonton Oilers faithful have been awarded with watching thier Team "Kick off" the Draft Day by selecting first overall for the third year in a row. A Pick widely considered to be used on Draft Day front Runn...
The Stanley Cup finals are upon us but I don't really care about it. Whether the Los Angeles Kings or the New Jersey Devils win, I could care less. I'm more interested in what's going to happen at the draft. Not too long ago a rumor surfaced that the Edmonton Oilers were entertaining the idea of trading the 1st overall pick to Columbus in a package deal including the 2n...
Hello all first off this will be the first bit of any sort of writing since high school so bare with me.
Coaching situation
Ever since the WHC there has been rumors of Brent Sutter becoming the next coach of the Oilers. I highly doubt that rumor will come true. Dont get me wrong Sutters a solid coach but I think he'll sign with another team thats closer to a contend...
With the NHL Draft getting closer I thought I would try and write about some of the top prospects out there and American defenseman Jacob Trouba is the first one I thought I would talk about.
A gem in the USA hockey system this 6-2, 195 blueliner is destined to play in the NHL someday but it will take some time. He will attend Michigan University this Fall and he will n...
Hello all first off this will be the first bit of any sort of writing since high school so bare with me.
Coaching situation
Ever since the WHC there has been rumors of Brent Sutter becoming the next coach of the Oilers. I highly doubt that rumor will come true. Dont get me wrong Sutters a solid coach but I think he'll sign with another team thats closer to a contend...
Hello all first off this will be the first bit of any sort of writing since high school so bare with me.
Coaching situation
Ever since the WHC there has been rumors of Brent Sutter becoming the next coach of the Oilers. I highly doubt that rumor will come true. Dont get me wrong Sutters a solid coach but I think he'll sign with another team thats closer to a contend...
With the 2012 NHL draft creeping up quite fast and the Finals almost over, draft / trade speculation is going to start like a wildfire. So, I thought I would write a small piece about who Burke should draft (1st round), in my opinion of course.
1) Draft either Galchenyuk or Grigorenko, whichever of the two will be available. Galchenyuk, from what I've read, is the bett...
hockeyjunkie05 writes...
Leafs Plan from 2012 Entry Draft Forward..Or what it shud be
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
With the 2012 NHL Entry Draft less than 2 weeks away i thought it would be a good time to post my first blog and look at what I think Brian Burke and the Toronto Maple Leafs should do to improve their team. In the last few months the Leafs have been linked to several players and prospects but none moreso than Rick Nash, Roberto Luongo and most recently both top prospects N...
Hey, this is my first blog and I would appreciate any feedback or [u]constructive[/u] criticism. I have always enjoyed the draft and the speculation and trades it brings. And the opportunity for all us fans to play NHL GMs for a day (or months before). I have only watched 3 of these guys live and only 2 of them several times for consistency so I am not pretending to be an ...
With the draft coming up, the thought on most Oiler fans minds is do we take a defenseman (Ryan Murray) instead of Yakupov to fill our need on the blueline. But will it even help?
The thing to consider is that this team is not a contender. We are in year 3 of the rebuild and just starting to climb out of the basement. Therefore, there's no need to do anything drastic. ...
With the draft approaching, there is a lot of talk about what Brian Burke could possibly be up to, in order to better the club for the upcoming season and the future. There have been many scenarios bounced around over the past few weeks and every option discussed seems to have a bevy of supporters, regardless how different the path may be. After watching some of these conv...
This is a continuation from my last blog where I had a mock top 10. Just to remind you once again, I really don’t know these players that well so I am not trying to be an expert on them.
11) Cody Ceci-D
Washington Capitals
In Ceci, Washington gets a big bodied 2 way defensemen that a lot of teams are really high on. He has loads of offensive upside scoring at n...
Ok so the Oilers draft Yakupov on the 22nd. How does that impact the rest of the Oilers Top Six?
In this past season the Oilers top six consisted of Hall, RNH, Eberle, Gagner, Hemsky and for at least the first part of the season Smyth. Just replace Smyth with Yakupov and bang, the Oilers now have an awesome top six, right? Nope I don't think so. It takes more than sk...
I wrote another blog where I talked about how I could see Brian Burke pulling off some big deals to make Toronto into a legitimate playoff team. Another way I could see Toronto’s offseason going, one that would take more patience, is to trade up in the NHL draft to acquire some star power. We know Burke likes those big deals and isn’t afraid to go after some players he...
Right winger Nail Yakupov is the consensus number one pick at this year draft. With Edmonton already possessing some big time offense, a star RW (Eberle), and a fairly small top six, they could very well trade down to round out their roster. I have created 3 different deals where the Oilers trade the 1st overall pick.
1) Yakupov and Oliver Roy (G) dealt to Ottawa for M...
Hello, this is my first blog at Hockeybuzz (obviously) and I should introduce myself. I go by Gator26 (Gator was my highschool handle) and I adore the Habs. Ever since child birth, I've seemed to enjoy to watch them play (maybe not last season) but nonetheless, they still have my heart. Recently just got ink'd actually, the logo is now part of my body. Sounds odd when I sa...
The Philadelphia Flyers' defense was an obvious fault in their game, leading to their subsequent elimination by the New Jersey Devils in 5 games in the Conference Semi-Finals. This was a problem during the season, however it was masked by their winning ways, as well as the inconsistent play of goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. During the season, the defense would bail him out of ...
Howard Berger tweeted yesterday that Toronto could be re-visiting talks for Stastny. We all know that Toronto was throwing deals at the Avs earlier in the season for Stastny that were just straight up ridiculous. They tried to offer us Nikolai Kulemin, Cody Franson and a third round draft pick in 2013 for Stastny. That would be a horrible deal so why not send one back a...
Just watching some TSN, and there is speculation that the Habs will trade P.K Subban and the 3rd overall pick to the Oilers for the 1st overall pick. Straight up, I think this is a bad deal for the Habs. Trading a young, semi-proven, future star in Subban and the 3rd overall pick for essentially Nail Yakupov (completely unproven) . I would totally take this deal if Edmonto...
Gotta say...I'm more than a little tired of hearing how Burkie dropped the ball in Leafville by not trading off his players for 1st rounders. I implore you...what possible sense would that have made?
Burkie said he had offers for his players. He said 1st rounders were offered. What he DIDN'T say was where those picks were. It's no secret that this is a weak draft. ...
andydrmm writes...
Live, Uncensored, Draft Blog (posted after the 1st Round)
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Before anyone freaks about the title of my blog, don’t worry. My goal with this, as I sit down at 7:50 pm (all times EST), to watch the NHL draft, is to throw my thoughts out about the draft as it unfolds. Unfortunately, you the reader will get to read it after the draft is over. Sorry! So, here we go, enjoy… And yes, I will be focusing my thoughts on the Sabres.
Le...
Michael_Stuart writes...
Lightning Draft Andrei Vasilevski and Slater Koekkoek
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
After a rather uneventful evening at the Tampa Bay Lightning draft table, the organization has come to acquire two very talented youngsters. Of course, the selections which took place at 10th overall and 19th overall were met with some controversy but as a whole, fans should be very happy with what transpired today! Get my thoughts on what happened with the Lightning ove...
As I sat watching the NHL Draft tonight, I realized after Tampa Bay selected Slater Koekkoek tenth overall, that the Ottawa Senators would have a chance to select an extremely gifted player that many thought would not make it that far. In the four picks prior, I knew Ottawa would have a choice of Filip Forsberg, Mikhael Grigorenko, Radek Faksa, Zemgus Girgensons, Cody Ceci...
What excitement! At least from my perspective, this was a successful draft day for the Leafs. Not because of the picks, but because no stupid moves were made in order to "upgrade" the team.
Being able to hear Burke actually draft [b]Morgan Reilly[/b] was a relief. I was worried the pick may be traded before hand, as Burke likes to make bold and drastic moves like that....
The 2012 NHL Draft is now in the books, and reaction is pouring in from fans all around the league. As in any draft, there were surprises. Scouts' rankings were all over the board and that made for a very exciting weekend, as we saw players drop and rise. Now, with all 30 teams having made all 211 picks, allow me to list and explain a few teams that won big in the draft, a...
So, with the NHL 2012 Draft now officially over the week-long wait til free agency begins. The Rangers did not make any real noise at the draft and the rumors of a Rick Nash trade continue to swirl overhead. One potential suitor for Nash, or Bobby Ryan, has been very active, as the Flyers traded away both James van Riemsdyk and Sergei Bobrovsky in separate deals. Whether H...
After announcing Chandler Stephenson Friday night in Pittsburgh, the Capitals waited 81 picks before George McPhee took the podium again.
This gave Washington ample time to deliberate who would complement their draft class best. Instead of following the hype of the “best defensive draft ever,” the Capitals were one of four teams to not draft a defensemen by the t...
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Preface: Everyone can feel free to bark and scream at the title to this blog post, but if you manage to read through this long-winded explanation then you will begin to understand (and appreciate) its meaning.
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I'll start by saying this is one of my days of the year (behind Trade-Deadline Day, in which I have been "sick" my fair share to watch the entire ...
[IMG]http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u182/legacy1436/mad-hockey-goalie-thumb1801053.jpg[/IMG]
Matthew Barry has made an excellent point in his blog on Bernier to Toronto for Frattin and a 3rd rounder (http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Matthew-Barry/Frattin-and-a-3rd-for-Bernier/125/45651)
Barry's quote -
[i]Yeah, Bernier's been moaning like a kid whose parents won't t...
How can the Habs prepare for future success?
Heading into the 2012-2013 season a lot of uncertainty faces the Montreal Canadiens. The organizations fans would have you believe that they are a move or two away from contending for the cup. This however, is not the case.
After a disappointing basement finish, the organization needs to address several needs. The 2011-20...
Alright, 2nd blog today, but this a fun one. I will be doing my all-prospect team today. These prospects can only have a MAX of 1 year under their belt. They must also play their respective position. I will be doing 12 FW, 6 D and 2 G.
Yakupov-RNH-Landeskog
Schenn-Galchenyuk-Kreider
Johansen-Couts-Forsberg
Granlund-Hodgson-Connolly
Larsson-Gardiner
Gudbranson-Ha...
This is my last installment on the examination of Jay Feaster’s tenure as Flames GM. I hope the series has been interesting, informative, entertaining or some combination of the three.
To wind things up I would like to look at the Flames 2012 draft selections. Although Feaster has minimal involvement with assembling the scouting list, it is a product of the scouting s...
When the 2012 offseason began Brian Burke promised the Maple Leafs’ real offseason would begin on July 1st. Free Agent frenzy did bring a few new names to the club but none of those names happen to be pinned to a top six slot let alone a first line center role. There is still time for a move but as it stands now, are the Leafs improved enough to snap the seven year abs...
The NHL Entry Draft began in 1979, following 16 years of the NHL Amateur Draft. Here are the Top 10 Red Wings draft picks made since the first Amateur Draft in 1963.
1. [b]Steve Yzerman[/b] C, 1st Round 1983, #4 overall
2. [b]Marcel Dionne[/b] C, 1st Round 1971, #2 overall
3. [b]Nicklas Lidstrom[/b] D, 3rd Round 1989, #53 overall
4. [b]Sergei Fedorov[/b] C, 4th Round...
Next up is the Washington Capitals Top 10 draft picks. The Caps have indeed made other draft picks besides Alex Ovechkin. Here are the Washington Capitals’ top draft picks since their first draft in 1974.
1. [b]Mike Gartner[/b] RW, 1st Round 1979, #4 overall
2. [b]Alexander Ovechkin[/b] LW, 1st Round 2004, #1 overall
3. [b]Scott Stevens[/b] D, 1st Round 1982, #5 ove...
Next up is the San Jose Sharks Top 10 draft picks. While some of the Honorable Mentions are solid players today, they did not crack the Top 10 because they have had shorter careers relative to those in the Top 10. For example, when it is all said and done, Logan Couture will probably have had a better career than Jeff Friesen. But until then, he and his 130 career points w...
This installment of the Top 10 draft picks will focus on the Edmonton Oilers. They have plucked some serious talent from juniors since they joined the NHL in 1979. Wayne Gretzky was not drafted by the Oilers, or by anyone, so he will not be on the list. How will guys like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, and Nail Yakupov stack up against the high-flying Oilers from the 19...
Hello everyone hope you all had a great Christmas and happy new year. For the average hockey fan its been a tough and disappinting season to say the least. Luckily some of the best hockey of the year can be found threw the holidays in the annual World junior tournaments. As my first blog on the sit ide like to do my personal opinion of the nhl draft rewind segment. Now pe...
The Edmonton Oilers will be the recipients of the first overall draft pick until they assemble an entire roster of first overall draft picks. The league has virtually ensured this as now all fourteen teams that miss the playoffs have a chance to win the first overall pick. Plus we all know that the Oilers aren't making the playoffs anytime soon. They also managed to pry...
The flyers have had a rocky season the whole year, currently in 23rd place and most teams have games in hand on them don't look like they are going in the right direction. They have been poor on defense the whole season, offense has been inconsistent, and 5 on 5 of late has been a struggle. Teams have succeed against the flyers when they played a 5 on 5 game against them. ...
flamesfan1981 writes...
What should the Flames strategy be moving forward?
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Follow me on Twitter @flamesfan1981
It's no secret that the Flames organization is in need of a full rebuild. By full rebuild I mean a full tear it down completely and rebuild from the ground-up type of rebuild. With the recent trades of Jarome Iginla, Jay Bouwmeester and attempting to move Kiprusoff; all fans were under the assumption the Flames organization were doin...
flamesfan1981 writes...
Flames: Why the Flames need to draft Nathan MacKinnon!
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
Follow me on twitter: @flamesfan1981
For the past two decades the Calgary Flames franchise has attempted to fill their to center positions with low cost or washed up bandaid solutions that simply weren't the answer. To put this into better perspective, the Flames top 2 scoring Centerman since the 1996 season have been Robert Reichel (354 points in 425 games) and Craig ...
With the Oilers drafting 7th this season, there are plenty of different outcomes that could happen. It is very plausible that new General Manager Craig McTavish will trade the pick, or move down in order to bring in veteran talent. For the sake of this blog let's say they don't move. Jones, Drouin, Barkov, Mackinnon will all be gone in the top 4 but it gets fuzzier after t...
First blog, here goes nothing!
With the Flyers holding the 11th pick in this years draft, there are a lot of possible ways this thing could shake out. If no trades are made, and that is pretty doubtful, I see the top 12 picks going like this:
1. COL Jones
2. FLA MacKinnon
3. TB Drouin
4. NAS Barkov
5. CAR Monahan
6. CAL Lindholm
7. EDM Nurse
8. BUF Horvat (may b...
A lot of people are sick of the Oilers losing every year and think they should make a move to improve immediately. These are the people that are tired of year after year last place and waiting for the rebuild to be complete. To be honest, I don't blame them. But the future is bright in Edmonton and it's actually good that they're not trying to speed up the rebuild and m...
By ranking groups of players in tiers based on over-all ability, readiness, and /or upside, each NHL team can get a road map as to who may be on the board at various slotting points.If a team is trading an established player than might involve picks or even the trading of picks, the GM and his staff want to know exactly how large the tier will be with that newly acquired d...
So, Oilers blogger Richard Cloutier (@rdcloutier on twitter) wrote a blog today suggesting that MacT will be trying to trade up a couple spots so that he can pick Sasha Barkov. Considering the recent news that Valery Nichushkin has decided to come to North America, I can definately see the possibility of Barkov being available around the 4 or 5 spot.
I wr...
flamesfan1981 writes...
Flames: Best Case Scenario at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Follow me on Twitter @flamesfan1981 and please note I will be Tweeting LIVE FROM THE PRUDENTIAL CENTER at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft!
Thanks to the Flames partial fire-sale during the season, they are in a unique position of owning three 1st round draft picks in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft taking place in New Jersey. The draft is deemed by many scouts and hockey experts to ...
This is my first attempt at writing a blog so all constructive criticism and opinions are welcome. Ill write with some depth on the top ten picks, and then just make the rest quick with little explanation and based on current standings because the playoffs are not finished yet.rnrnThis year in hockey has been full of ups and downs for Oilers fans, our season was over quick...
This is my first attempt at writing a blog so all constructive criticism and opinions are welcome. Ill write with some depth on the top ten picks, and then just make the rest quick with little explanation and based on current standings because the playoffs are not finished yet.rnrnThis year in hockey has been full of ups and downs for Oilers fans, our season was over quick...
[b]1. Colorado - Nathan Mackinnon[/b]
A big showing in the memorial cup + the hiring of Patrick Roy makes Nathan Mackinnon too much to pass up. COL's prospect pool is stronger on D than up front and Mackinnon, Duchene, Landeskog are the avs answer to RNH Hall Eberle
[b]2. Florida - Seth Jones[/b]
Panthers go for BPA - Seth Jones and Gudbranson will be a ridiculo...
Every year the draft is filled with more and more speculation in regards to player trades and teams moving picks. Most especially since the trade deadline becomes more and more a moot point in the salary cap era.
Patrick Roy has come out and hinted that he as***Coach*** yes coach and VP hockey operations, may move the first overall (What a disrespectful move the Roy...
The 2013 draft class has been called one of the deepest in decades where the top 5 picks are “can’t miss” prospects, the next five could very well make any NHL roster next year, and the next 30 would be first rounders in most other draft classes. Seth Jones is a very intriguing prospect he has great size, a great shot, and is a proven winner at every level he plays ...
-[b]For[/b] the last year I've been reading comment after comment regarding what the oilers need to do to improve and take the next step. "We need to get tougher" "Top 6 forward, #1 Dman and 2 bottom 6 gritty vets with size" "Were not going to be able to this and that because we wont move our younger core players".
-[b]For [/b]me, going into next...
-[b]For[/b] the last year I've been reading comment after comment regarding what the oilers need to do to improve and take the next step. "We need to get tougher" "Top 6 forward, #1 Dman and 2 bottom 6 gritty vets with size" "Were not going to be able to this and that because we wont move our younger core players".
-[b]For [/b]me, going into next...
Jayo1808 writes...
Oil Country Exploding!!!!! Part II: Offseason Targets
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Before I get started here, I'm going to apologize for my last blog. for some reason, it didn't register any paragraph separation when it posted. I will try to make sure the format of this one is proper before I post it. Again, my apologies. On with the show.
Oilers GM Craig MacTavish has wastes no time making his mark on this franchise. He has already re...
Coming off a wildly disappointing season that saw Philadelphia miss the playoffs for the first time since 2007, we all knew that Paul Holmgren would have his hands full this summer. With the cap dropping $6M and the Flyers already needing to shed a hefty contract just in order to be compliant, Homer is stuck with a tricky deck to work with.
So what's in the cards with P...
Ok so im sure this will change closer to the draft, but here is my mock draft from now! (please note by placing Bruins 29th and Hawks 30th doesnt mean i think Hawks win it, they have the better record hence worse pick)
1. [img]http://1.cdn.nhle.com/avalanche/images/logos/medium.png[/img] D Seth Jones
2. [img]http://1.cdn.nhle.com/panthers/images/logos/medium.png[/img] C ...
Some random hits on the Oil.
[b]On Kristians Pelss[/b]
A very unfortunate story out of Latvia yesterday and today. In case you haven't heard, Oilers prospect and former Edmonton Oil Kings forward Kristians Pelss was reported as missing. Some media outlets in Latvia reported he had drowned after falling/jumping off a bridge into a river near Riga, while the offici...
As the Stanley Cup Finals reminds us that the shortened season of 2013 is coming to a close, thoughts turn to the draft in New Jersey. However, as Buffalo fans, we were looking towards the draft about halfway through the season when it was apparent that the Sabres just wasn’t that good.
Now, we sit a mere 2 weeks away from the 2013 NHL draft. This year promises to be...
Cause I have WAY too much time on my hands, here is my mock draft for picks 1-15
TEAM NAME POS
1. COL N. Mackinnon C
2. FLA S. Jones D
3. TB J. Drouin C/W
4. BUF* A. Barkov C
5. CAR V. Nichushkin W
6. CAL E. Lindholm C
7. NAS** S. Monahan C
8. EDM D. Nurse D
9. NJD M. Domi C
10. DAL H. Shinkaruk C/W
...
As we draw closer to the draft, more and more news and speculation leaks out about possible transactions that may occur this offseason. With the General Managers meetings going down in Boston this week, the gossip has hit a fever pitch. Here are some of the more juicy tidbits.
- Joe Sakic told the Denver Post that the Avalanche will NOT be selecting top rated prosp...
Yes as you can see its still June 20th... but close enough :lol: This is my 2nd last Mock draft, my last one will come the 29th or 30th... please refer to my last blog to see how many spots changed! (Link to June 14th mock: http://my.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=14944&user_id=51280)
[1][img]http://1.cdn.nhle.com/avalanche/images/logos/medium.png[/img] C Nate MacKi...
We are just a few weeks away from my favorite time during the year. NHL draft baby. As a kid I would always purchase my hockey news draft preview magazine and sit through the hours and hours of waiting and analysis from the boys at TSN. This year should be no different. Usually I prepare my own mock draft around this time and this year I wanted to share my thoughts with ...
We are just a few weeks away from my favorite time during the year. NHL draft baby. As a kid I would always purchase my hockey news draft preview magazine and sit through the hours and hours of waiting and analysis from the boys at TSN. This year should be no different. Usually I prepare my own mock draft around this time and this year I wanted to share my thoughts with ...
We are just a few weeks away from my favorite time during the year. NHL draft baby. As a kid I would always purchase my hockey news draft preview magazine and sit through the hours and hours of waiting and analysis from the boys at TSN. This year should be no different. Usually I prepare my own mock draft around this time and this year I wanted to share my thoughts with ...
With the NHL entry draft just around the corner and with all the controversy sorrounding it this year, I thought I should put in my two cents. With this being a deep draft year it will be interesting to see how it stacks up to the rest. So with no further ado, ladies and gentlemen, this is the Oilersrule66 2013 NHL mock draft.
____________________________________________...
Mock Draft 2013 By @Justinbeatty777:
#1 – Colorado – Seth Jones
Why: All-Star future number one defenseman who could pass him up.
Avs need a number one dmen for their future plans. But however Roy has a future with Nathan and has watched him a lot and loves his play so it could go either way.
#2 – Florida – Nathan MacKinnon
Why: A beauty to watch, a workh...
With one of the better Stanley Cup Finals of recent memory now in the rear view mirror, the attention of the hockey world now turns to the Draft, which is less than a week away. This year's crop is considered the deepest in a decade, and there is sure to be plenty of excitement when the picks are made June 30th in New Jersey. As hockey executives and enthusiasts prepare fo...
With one of the better Stanley Cup Finals of recent memory now in the rear view mirror, the attention of the hockey world now turns to the Draft, which is less than a week away. This year's crop is considered the deepest in a decade, and there is sure to be plenty of excitement when the picks are made June 30th in New Jersey. As hockey executives and enthusiasts prepare fo...
Like many others here, I really enjoy speculating about prospects and the draft and this year's draft seems to have the potential to be pretty exciting. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert or anything, because I'm not. The only players I know well is the three London knights slated to go in the first round from taking in quite a few knights games in the past two years...
CanesTR writes...
Deal or no deal? – Carolina Hurricanes 2013 Draft Preview
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Well, with the Stanley Cup Play-offs finally done, we can finally turn our attention to the upcoming draft. With the No.5 pick overall, rumors are rampant as to how the Carolina Hurricanes will play it this year. And, to quote TV game-show host, Howie Mandel, “Deal or no deal?” That is the question Jim Rutherford must be ruminating on as we head into this weekend...
The Leafs have started there off season retooling with the Johnathon Bernier, they still have some big moves and holes to fill.
Dave Nonis has to decide what to do with James Reimer now that Bernier is in the fold. There are a few teams that may be looking at adding a goalie. Philadelphia, Phoenix and the Islanders are for sure looking for a goalie. With Reports that Ki...
flamesfan1981 writes...
Flames: Rounds 1-7 on who the Flames should draft
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Follow me on Twitter @flamesfan1981
There have been plenty of 1st round mock drafts in which we all have ideas on what player will be drafted in what range.
In this blog I am going to break down all of the Flames picks, from rounds 1 through 7 and determine who should be drafted at that position based on the Flames strategy of "best player available".
Here are the...
For more on the Flyers draft/prospects, follow @FlyerProspects on twitter.[url]www.twitter.com/flyerprospects[/url]
With the 11th overall pick in the NHL draft, the Flyers will have a lot of top end talent to choose from. Here are some of the players that might hear their name called by Paul Holmgren come draft day
[b]Rasmus Ristolainen, D, TPS, SM-Liiga [/b]
Rist...
zontar writes...
2013 NHL Draft: Drafting for Need vs. Best Available Player
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
There seems to be some debate on whether it's a better draft strategy to draft for organizational need or draft the best available player.
If you look back to the 2010 NHL draft (Taylor vs. Tyler) the Oilers had to choose between the best available player (Taylor Hall) and the player who filled an organizational need (Tyler Seguin). Oiler fans were divided as both team ...
Welcome back!
In the 3rd installement of my series "Oilers Draft Possibilities" I'm going to discuss the possibility of the Oilers drafting Sean Monahan, the 2 way beast. Monahan could be the solution to our center crisis and could add the much needed size to our top 6.
Sean Monahan is projected to go 6th overall to Calgary by most analysts because Calgary has a ga...
This off season figures to be an exciting one for Leaf fans. With one significant trade already completed (Bernier) and an exciting draft and free agency ahead of us, there should be plenty to talk about in the weeks ahead.
First, I want to look at the goaltenders.
This appears to be set already, as Bernier and Reimer give us a good 1-2 punch where both have solids sta...
There's nothing I enjoy more than the days leading up to the NHL Draft. Last year was the first time in the past 3 years I didn't write my mock draft, and it just didn't feel right. So this year, I'm back again to share my thoughts on how the 2013 NHL Draft might go. This is a strong year in my eyes, with 5 players who could dramatically change the fortunes of a few lucky ...
There's nothing I enjoy more than the days leading up to the NHL Draft. Last year was the first time in the past 3 years I didn't write my mock draft, and it just didn't feel right. So this year, I'm back again to share my thoughts on how the 2013 NHL Draft might go. This is a strong year in my eyes, with 5 players who could dramatically change the fortunes of a few lucky ...
Welcome to the final installement of my series "Oilers Draft Possibilities". In this blog I'm going to discuss the possibility of Lindholm being drafted by the Oilers. He is a centerman that would be perfect on Edmonton's 2nd line with Yakupov. Even though he's small he's compared to Forsberg by a lot of scouts and it's hard to get a player of that calibur.
Lindholm ...
dal_johnson writes...
Carolina Wants to Trade the 5th? Flames should go after it.
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
If Carolina is looking to trade the 5th pick, as a Flames fan I think that they should go all out to try and get it.
For the Flames, the ideal is to get Nathan MacKinnon. But there is no way that is going to happen. At least not while completely crippling the roster. While MacKinnon will be a franchise somewhere, the steps needed to get to that pick will set the re...
Philadelphia Flyers are throwing Braydon Coburns name in trade talks teams that are believed interested are Edmonton Oilers, Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks and several more. The asking price is a young forward who can replace Danny Briere or a prospect with a pick.
Jay Feaster said today that Mike Cammalleri is available for trade Feaster said he still hasn't received any offers on Cammalleri but expects it to pick up closer to the Draft. A list of teams believed to be interested are Los angles, Vancouver , Detroit, Nashville, Toronto and Carolina
The NHL draft is coming up in a couple hours and there is a lot of controversy over who the Oilers should pick and if they should make any trades at the draft. I'm going to put in my two cents and talk about some rumors that are swirling about the Oilers.
Edmonton has the 7th overall pick this year and need to add some center prospects and if they can, get a 2nd line c...
Well. That was dissappointing.
Not only was it one of the most boring and least eventful drafts in NHL history, but MacTavish went complete Tambellini on us! All throughout the draft he picked useless players and longshot players that more than likely will NEVER make the AHL much less the NHL! And then the trades! Arghhhh. The 1st trade I almost threw a medicine b...
Craig MacTavish was a semi-decent coach who became disliked and disrespected by the Edmonton Oilers fan base. When he came back as the new General Manager he promised swift action to create an Oilers team that would start to compete. Unfortunatley putting yourself in the rumors to recieve players in Trades means nothing if you don't even follow through on a single one. Onc...
The Oilers traded down twice to collect 10 players in the draft. Some are questionable picks and others have some great upsides. Here is a list of all of them along with a professional scouting report.
18 year old Canadian D – 6’5 192 Lbs
Darnell Nurse GP 68 G 12 A 29 P 41 -15
Darnell Nurse is a big, mobile, gifted blueliner who has a lot of Chris Pronger in...
The St. Louis Blues entered the 2013 NHL Entry Draft with 6 picks. They left with 4 thanks to a couple moves by Doug Armstrong. Let's take a look at the prospects.
[b]Tommy Vannelli D (2nd round, 47th overall)[/b]
An interesting pick to say the least. Almost every Blues fan was praying for Armstrong to snag a center at this position, someone like John Hayden, Jimmy Lod...
Hey all, I am back with another blog. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to follow me on
Twitter @NewfieMikey
The Oilers had an interesting day at the Draft, MacT was in on a lot of players but did something we Oiler fans are quite used to...Got close to but didn't land a number of
immediate roster players. Apparantly he was trying to get Cal Clutterbuck (who wen...
The 2013 NHL Draft on Saturday was eventful to say the least. From surprise picks to trades, we experienced everything. Last week, Matt Lee and I laid out our predictions. First, we’ll show you how we each fared in predicting the Top 10 selections in the draft. Second, we will break down EVERY pick of the 1st round. Third and last, we will tell you who we thought were wi...
I'm going to give you my thoughts on how I felt Montreal did in this years draft. I really felt Montreal had a strong draft I felt they really hit it home in the second round they had three second round picks. Another thing Montreal drafted big guys on the wing something they have lacked for years, and I had to mention them potentially getting the steal of the draft by dra...
Who is Myles Bell? I believe that was every New Jersey Devils fan's reaction when he was drafted in the sixth round, 160th overall, on Sunday. If you look up his stats from the past season, you will find that he was recently converted from defense to forward, he had 38 goals, 55 assists for a total of 93 points in just 69 games. That is A LOT of points for someone taken i...
flamesfan1981 writes...
Flames: Who they drafted versus who they should've drafted
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Follow me on Twitter: @flamesfan1981
The 2013 NHL Entry Draft was probably the single most important draft in the history of the Calgary Flames franchise. Flames brask has made it clear they intend to rebuild the team properly and made the promise to fans they would draft the 'Best Player Available' in order to fulfill the needs of the organization. Did Jay Feaster an...
The Avalanche kept their word and started the Draft by selecting Nathan MacKinnon of the Halifax Mooseheads first overall. Only time will tell if this was the right selection however, no one can deny the potential of MacKinnon which immediately helps the top 9.
After MacKinnon, the Avs mostly focused on selecting Defense. Although rated as a position of strength on hock...
It's the thought on most Oilers fans minds right now.
Going into draft day Oilers fans expected big things from MacT after the pre-draft day promises he made. But 2 days and a bunch of wasted picks later Oilers fans are full of dissappointement over MacT's empty promises.
Going into the draft there where multiple holes on Edmonton's roster and every single one of th...
[b]The Draft…[/b]
I guess you could blame the roof that is coming down and all the minding of whom to buyout for this years draft being kind of a boring one. Nothing to hype, the media try to make a hen out of an egg of the “Jones getting picked at nr 4”-kind of thing. That issue was really nothing to debate, teams seems to address their needs and so the shuffle jus...
andrewhitson writes...
Motown Musings: Wings Roll into Development Camp
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
Exciting times ahead in Motown. The Wings were active on FA Day bringing in much needed top six depth while staying away from costly trades or ill-timed signings.
I've seen a lot of fans chime in on line combinations lately, and without a doubt Mr. Babcock has plenty of options to play with. But, for the thrill of the guess, i'll post my idea of an ideal situation on op...
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[img]http://media.philly.com/images/063013-samuel-morin-600.jpg[/img]
[b]1st Round, Pick #11- D, Samuel Morin, Rimouski, QMJHL[/b]
With the 11th overall pick the Flyers selected Samuel Morin from Rimouski. Morin is a big defender at 6'6 205, who climbed hi...
[b]Twitter : @ProspectReport[/b]
I checked out the Calgary Flames' scrimmage today, and just felt it necessary to post a few thoughts, going over who impressed, and who didn't. It's going to be a quick blog. For those who don't follow me on twitter, I run my own scouting service, and cover the Flames for a few sites - just starting to post here as well.
Mark Jankowsk...
The Red Wing finished up a solid development camp. We've got some good players coming through Grand Rapids next year. But perhaps the most important thing that I noticed at Development Camp was the progression of goaltender and 3rd round pick Jake Paterson. (Not to be confused with Jake Patterson, who was also at camp on a tryout basis and looked decent)
I'll admit afte...
This past season in the KHL a format was introduced to non-playoff teams vying for top spot in the KHL Draft. The teams that failed to reach the post season would do battle in a consolation tournament, with the winner being awarded the first overall pick.
What if the NHL did that?
It would almost certainly increase competition and avoid “tanking” during the regul...
A lot of controversy erupted when the Flames chose Emil Poirier over hometown prospect Hunter Shinkaruk in the 2013 draft. But after watching the games at the US development camp, I think it became obvious why. Poirier is a more complete player with better size and speed.
But what about Morgan Klimchuk? What if the Flames would have taken Klimchuk ahead of Shinkaruk?
...
The Oilers lost another decisive game to Winnipeg tonight 7-2 in the Rookie tournament lending an answer to the question "Who Does the Oiler's Really have for Prospects?" Their defense are suppose to be some of the best non NHL players in any franchise and yet main stream media is picking them apart after the two losses in this meaningless tournament.
The truth is that...
Five days. FIVE DAYS. That is all the separates us die-hards from the start of the NHL regular season. It’s hard to believe that this time last year we were wondering if there would even be a hockey season for the 2012-13 campaign. However, it is quite a different story this year. Thank God. With the regular season starting soon many Fantasy Hockey League drafts will be ...
The Drury-Briere era Sabres team has long become folklore in hockey heaven. This extremely short period of Sabres history saw a team that never gave up and made a habit of tying games in the waning seconds of playoff games and going on to win it in overtime. Not only has the dominance and never-say-die attitude disappeared from Buffalo's beloved hockey team, but also has...
The Drury-Briere era Sabres team has long become folklore in hockey heaven. This extremely short period of Sabres history saw a team that never gave up and made a habit of tying games in the waning seconds of playoff games and going on to win it in overtime. Not only has the dominance and never-say-die attitude disappeared from Buffalo's beloved hockey team, but also has...
The Drury-Briere era Sabres team has long become folklore in hockey heaven. This extremely short period of Sabres history saw a team that never gave up and made a habit of tying games in the waning seconds of playoff games and going on to win it in overtime. Not only has the dominance and never-say-die attitude disappeared from Buffalo's beloved hockey team, but also has...
Although this season was somewhat predictable when it comes to how the Sabres would finish, last nights win against the Maple Leafs was a step moving forwards. The Sabres finally started playing with life and emotion. Ted Nolan has really changed the culture here, regardless of his record as Head Coach. He promised back at his first press conference that the culture in Buf...
We're approaching the new year and the Flyers sit at 11th in the Eastern Conference with a 14-15-3 record. The inconsistency issues - aside from the mostly stellar play between the pipes for Canadian Olympic hopeful, Steve Mason - continue to plague this team in a year where there are fewer excuses than last season.
They have been one of the healthier teams in the leag...
This year out all others years has the biggest question mark in terms of trades and values of players. With the Olympic break starting at the end of this week there are many teams considering this almost as good a time to move their players than the actual deadline.
The reason is that if they move players going to the games in the Sochi then the team won't have to be ...
The Hurricanes are going to miss the playoffs again.
This is less of a prediction and more of an inescapable reality at this point. One could spend days dissecting this team in an effort to understand why the Hurricanes have only made the playoffs once in the past 8 seasons but rather than sitting here and tossing blame about like the overzealous poo-flinging monkeys w...
It's trade deadline 2014 as you know.
And I've noticed something in all of the discussions here on HockeyBuzz about the fans and seemingly the GM's too.
Nobody wants to trade their prospects. When some fan suggests a potential trade with another team that involves any of their prospects (especially their top prospects), fans from the other team immediately reply bot...
Edmonton - Nail Yakupov (original pick) - Ryan Murray (updated pick) - The Oilers decide to take the best defenseman in defence first draft. In Murray they get a their first steady, top pairing defenseman since Chris Pronger left town. Yakupov slips because of his inconstancy combined with the team’s surplus of elite forwards and dearth on defence.
Columbus - Ryan Mur...
Craig MacTavish has made some interesting moves this past year. Some good (Perron, Scrivens, Fasth, Hendricks) and some meh but safe (Fraser). MacTavish knows we have to shore up the defense and change the top 6. But will he do anything about it?
Hemsky stated, as all Oiler fans have, we cannot keep playing merry-go-round in the bottom 6 and bottom pairing. If we do, he...
It is coming down to the wire in the NHL regular season. Many teams have already clinched playoff births, other teams are fighting for their lives in the playoff hunt.
With the end of the regular season coming, some teams are already looking ahead to June for the 2014 NHL Draft in Philadelphia. The Buffalo Sabres currently hold the number one pick in the draft followed ...
I know not everyone is an Oilers fan but few are fans of teams picking high this year. Now saying that Buffalo or Edmonton (who combined have a great chance on getting the first pick in the lottery) win. Does Edmonton trade down?
Ekblad is an amazing dman. He is huge and will be great one day. Many scouts put him as a number two guy that plays an amazing shut down role....
There is a lot of disagreement as to what the Oilers should do during the off season. There are some people that would like to see one of the young stars traded for so other star. Realistically, these trades are not that common.
Sometimes you will see a young prospect that is under performing (Paajarvi is an example) be traded for a player who had concussion problem...
Hey guys, to commemorate this crazy season I will be doing a few top lists. First addressing the obvious problems. I'm running them 10-1 but they aren't necessarily in that order. Just doing them as they come to mind.................[b]10[/b]. [b]The absence of Terry Pegula.[/b] We've become of accustom to Mr Pegula being absent when the team isn't playing well. But for a ...
The NHL Playoffs are back again! Wednesday night kicks off the start of the playoffs once again in the NHL. The new NHL format has created some very good match ups in the first round of the playoffs, and are likely to create more great match ups as the playoffs move on.
Sixteen teams have earned their spot in the playoffs with one goal in mind: to win the Stanley Cup. H...
Hello everyone, before I begin this blog I'd like to introduce myself before I start, as this is my first time blogging on the site. I'm Joey and I would consider myself a big fan of the Sabres and of hockey in general. I do have season tickets to Buffalo Sabres' games so I (should) know my stuff. Enough about me for now. I'd like to thank Eklund and all of the...
The Sabres have many roster questions going into the 2014-15 season. As a college student going to school out of state it was very tough to watch such a bad team play all season. I am proud to say though that I stuck with this team all year, and hopefully will be rewarded this year and next year with some electric prospects. The question of Reinhart or Bennett is one I can...
So the Oilers have another top 10 pick in the entry draft so here are players that the Oilers should look at drafting that arent named Ekblad.
[u]First Round[/u]
[b]Sam Bennett C (6' 180) 57GP 36G 55A 118PIM OHL Ranked 1st N.A.S[/b]
Everyone is calling him a clone of Doug Gilmore (even Doug Gilmore thinks so), Killer was a top line forward for most of his ...
Senate_Speaker writes...
Why the Ottawa Senators Should Not Trade Jason Spezza.
Posted Friday | Comments 0
NHL rumours are abound these days, particularly concerning questions as to whether or not the Ottawa Senators will trade captain Jason Spezza. Interestingly enough, the discussion here seems to be more geared toward when Ottawa might trade Spezza, with hardly any consideration of whether they even should trade him. Evidently the rationale behind this potential move is clea...
Hey all, I know it's been awhile since I last blogged here but I wanted to talk about some of the rumours linking the Oilers to trading for the 1st overall. A US newspaper posted comments about Edmonton and Florida either swapping picks or the Oilers downright trading for the 1st overall and keeping the 3rd as well. This has really brought out the armchair gms throwing th...
Is the 2014 offseason the biggest offseason for the Edmonton Oilers in recent memory? Sure, every oiler fan since 2007 has said this in April or May. But the challenges that face the rookie GM and coach are steep, and patience in Oil Country is running thinner then my hair. The challenges are plenty, but I would like to touch on a couple today.
1. Probably one of the ...
Hello to all who are reading, I'd like to introduce to you my series of Buffalo Sabres Report Cards for any prospects who have played int he 13-14 season. I won't just be covering players who played for the Sabres or Amerks but I'll also do it for juniors or college leagues etc. So, let's get started now... I figured I'd start with probably the best prospect in the orga...
We are officially less than one month away from the 2014 NHL Draft from Philadelphia. The NHL Combine has come to a close with some of the best draft prospects making some headlines. Tope prospects like Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, and Aaron Ekblad stood out from the other players at the Combine.
Now it is time to evaluate and prepare for the NHL Draft on June 27th. With ...
As a die hard Sabres fan I was disappointed that they lost the 1st over all pick to the Florida Panthers after having the worse record in the league. My conspiracy therorist beliefs smelled rotten fish in Denmark when the news was announced by the N.H.L. The bright spots being Ryan Miller played exceptionally well on a poor team, we got some good talent and picks through t...
Let me start off this blog by telling anyone who reads this that I have had [b]difficulties separating my blogs into paragraphs[/b]rnrnThe Stanley Cup finals is in its final stretch of games and I find myself wondering about the upcoming summer. As a Oiler fan I've thought about countless scenarios that I thought would change the fortunes of this lowly franchise. However, ...
I would believe that most Flames fans are hoping for a terrible season, sounds crazy doesn't it? With Connor McDavid going to be the #1 pick in 2015 it would be in the Flames best interest to finish last. How would they do this? First the two names we are hearing locally as players the Flames could use from the draft are Ritchie and Virtanen not Bennett and Draisatl. I wou...
The Stanley Cup playoffs are over, and the Los Angeles Kings have claimed their second Stanley Cup championship in three years.
With the playoffs now over, the buyout period has begun and is in full swing. Also, many teams will begin to talk up trades and other moves before the NHL Draft and the beginning of the free agency period.
These moves made before the NHL Dra...
[b]Yak is a bust and they should have taken Murray[/b]
Yakupov was the unanimous top prospect (ranked 1st by Central scouting, ISS, The Hockey News, everyone’s favourite Craig Button, etc.). When picking 1st, you simply don’t draft for need, you draft the best player available. In his first season in Edmonton, he showed why he was ranked 1st by most by leadin...
Okay so this I believe is my first blog and how this has come about is I was talking with a buddy of mine about the Leafs and what they should do this off-season (as I'm sure the majority of leafs fans are). So we were talking about trades and the recent rumours about O'Rielly, the 1st overall, and everything in between. Then we got talking about a series of trades that ...
With a little less than one week until the NHL draft, here are my current rankings of the Flyers prospects before Ron Hextall takes the stage in Philly:
[b]1. Scott Laughton (C, Oshawa Generals, OHL)
2012 1st round, 20th overall[/b]
Scott Laughton Highlights-[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YEoBOQEsvI[/url]
The choice between Laughton and Gostisbehere was p...
Hey all, I was bored tonight and I decided to throw together a blog on some ideas I think may help the Oilers next season as well as my draft prediction. I am only going to try and predict the first 10 picks and it's going to be a crapshoot at best.
1. Florida takes Aaron Ekblad 2. Buffalo takes Sam Reinhart 3. Edmonton takes Leon Draisaitl 4. Calgary takes Sam Bennett...
[b]The draft will be Ekblad or bust[/b]
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Edmonton’s defence looks AHL quality. When a guy like Justin Schultz leads your defence in ice time, you’re not going to win many hockey games. While this is a glaring problem that needs to be addressed, drafting an 18-year-old Dman isn’t the answer. Year after year it ...
Franklin Steele writes...
San Jose Sharks 2014 NHL Draft Targets - Forward Edition
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Almost all the chatter surrounding the San Jose Sharks lately has been about Joe Thornton and, to a lesser extent, Patrick Marleau. The former has expressed through his brother-agent that he *really* doesn't want to leave the Sharks, while Marleau doesn't believe that he'll be traded.rnrnUnless you're a fly on the wall of Doug Wilson's office, it's hard to know for sure wh...
Franklin Steele writes...
San Jose Sharks 2014 NHL Draft Targets - Forward Edition
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Almost all the chatter surrounding the San Jose Sharks lately has been about Joe Thornton and, to a lesser extent, Patrick Marleau. The former has expressed through his brother-agent that he *really* doesn't want to leave the Sharks, while Marleau doesn't believe that he'll be traded.
Unless you're a fly on the wall of Doug Wilson's office, it's hard to know for sure wh...
ZzHockey writes...
Will a trade benefit Colorado more than signing a UFA?
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
With the St. Louis Blues having huge interest in Paul Stastny what will Colorado do?
When it comes down to it, the loss of a Centre is not really that big a deal to Colorado, they have an unbelievable amount of depth that no other team in the NHL has. Stastny would be a huge blow speaking of chemistry between Landeskog, MacKinnon and himself, but not something that can...
DirtyPierre writes...
Nylander Over Ehlers?! Leafs Missed The Boat On This One
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Nikolaj Ehlers is a great young, proven skilled player who can play in the North American style of hockey. Ehlers aside from having proven independent skill, he's a great team player and a winger to boot and a left winger at that. He thrived on the Halifax Mooseheads playing with talent like Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin. He could easily fit in on a third or even se...
After a safe night at the draft table, gm Dave nonis did what most general managers would do. Take the best available player. William Nylander gives the leafs options going forward on the wing (with the likes of lupul gone soon)
Today he started off the day even better, by finally moving Carl gunnerson to St Louis for a large gritty Defenseman in Roman polak. Personally...
JAKUB VRANA LW/RW (13th), VITEK VANECEK G (39th), NATHAN WALKER LW (89th), SHANE GERSICH C/LW (134th), STEVEN SPINNER RW (159th), KEVIN ELGESTAL RW (194th). No Defense in the draft, but I do know the organization has Defense as a priority. So I assume they will be very active in the Free Agency market come July 1st.
The 2014 draft had Colorado walk home with 7 new prospects. I can honestly say I was shocked when the Avalanche did not talk Brendan Lemieux when he was available at #23, a natural wing, in which Colorado depth wise is in need of. He grew up around the Avalanche, was born in Denver Colorado his favorite player is Ryan O'Reilly. Instead Colorado takes CONNER BLEACKLEY a pla...
With the 2014 NHL draft in the books, and summer development camps at a conclusion as well, I thought I would share my thoughts on the teams that did well at the draft, how the Calgary Flames stacked up against other organizations, and what the Flames came away with, as 6 new prospects were added to the talent pool. I know it’s already been a few months, however I feel s...
stljam writes...
NHL to revamp the Draft Lottery. Let's hope it rewards wins
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Much has been written about the strength of the 2015 NHL draft class with Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel appearing to be the cream of the draft crop. You know the class or at least the cream of the crop must be something special when Sidney Crosby says that McDavid "reminds me of me". Is the strength of the 2015 draft class at least partially the cause of June's action b...
stljam writes...
NHL to revamp the Draft Lottery. Let's hope it rewards wins
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Much has been written about the strength of the 2015 NHL draft class with Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel appearing to be the cream of the draft crop. You know the class or at least the cream of the crop must be something special when Sidney Crosby says that McDavid "reminds me of me". Is the strength of the 2015 draft class at least partially the cause of June's action b...
Sam Reinheart was selected #1 overall in the 2014 NHL Draft this year, As the young man has given Buffalo some light headed into this early young NHL season entering November. Sam Reinheart has earned his first point in the NHL last night as the Buffalo Sabers beat the San Jose Sharks by a final score of 2-1. In his 9th game with the Sabers Sam finally found himself on the...
The NHL's next potential superstar could have a serious injury following a fight that took place on Tuesday night in Erie, Pennsylvania.
The Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters are the league's best teams this season with a 16-1-0-1 record after 18 games this season in the OHL. Their top player on the roster, and potentially the top overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, i...
Hello everyone, this is my first blog, so I am going start with an introduction. My name is Brendan, one of the owners of @WTPHockeyFacts on Twitter. I am a young, but very knowledgeable hockey fan (take a look at our Twitter account for proof, many of those facts are found by myself, through research and my extensive hockey knowledge). I have been a hardcore Edmonton Oile...
The Buffalo Sabres having won six out of their last seven games are now 9-14-2. This could mean two things. 1. the team if buying into Ted Nolans system and are playing with confidence and will continue to win games, and maybe, just maybe ( but probably not) playoffs are in sights. 2. this is just a phase and it will soon pass.
The question is which one is best for...
Just for fun. Here is my early season Sabres mock draft for the upcoming
1st pick (2nd overall)- [b]Jack Eichel[/b] (Center); The Sabres get their franchise centerman. Eichel will immediately step in and produce for one of the leagues worst offenses. The Sabres may be crowded at the center position but there is no doubt Eichel immediately jumps to the top of the dep...
I have managed many fantasy teams and though it makes little sense to share my secrets with those who play in my leagues, in a forum such as this, I am finally free to reveal some of the tips, tricks, and secrets that have netted me success in the world of fantasy hockey. As the season goes on, I will offer advice periodically on whom you should consider picking up, dropp...
To all the Leaf fans,rnrnThis is for all the true fans, the real fans, the fans that know and believe that sometimes taking one step back is the right step in the right direction to where we ultimately want to be; a team we can see excel year in and year out.rnrnWe need to take back what's rightfully ours. We can no longer allow a franchise which we so loyally love and fol...
[code]Welcome, I have been reading every blog about the end of this season and the beginning of hope, along with all of you and thought I would throw my own hat in the ring. I will start at the Trade Deadline. ...
CanesTR writes...
Trade Deadline Update - Hurricanes Ready to Pull the Trigger
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Amidst wild speculation that the Pittsburgh Penguins were in discussion with the Carolina Hurricanes about a possible deal to bring back Jordan Staal, Hurricanes GM Ron Francis moved quickly to deny any such thing was happening, pronouncing "We are not moving Jordan!" At the same time, Ronnie Franchise was quick to confirm that the disposition of the current UFAs, specifi...
So another trade deadline has come and gone, and Leaf fans have come to expect the outcome under Nonis' watch, which this time was predictably trading off pending ufa's and standing pat with the rest of the group. One entirely amazing, unpredictable, smart move that has shocked many in the hockey world has seen David Clarkson shipped to a money conscious Columbus Blue Jac...
So another trade deadline has come and gone, and Leaf fans have come to expect the outcome under Nonis' watch, which this time was predictably trading off pending ufa's and standing pat with the rest of the group. One entirely amazing, unpredictable, smart move that has shocked many in the hockey world has seen David Clarkson shipped to a money conscious Columbus Blue Jac...
Four years ago, I pondered the different draft lottery systems that could better distribute the first three overall picks every year so that the spread of talent in the lower tier teams doesn't fall to a team that just super-tanks for two years and then becomes one of the best teams in the league.
Should the Penguins have Malkin and Crosby? Should the Hawks have both ...
Well the games go by, and by, and... bye bye, another one gone! One game in the loss column is better than one for the win and jeepers who is ready for the end of this Maple Leafs season? Whomever else out there floating through purgatory, waiting for it to end, and get to some real action such as the playoffs... you know what I'm talking about here! Sure, it's fun to watc...
The Edmonton Oilers are set to draft Connor McDavid 1st overall after winning the lottery last Saturday. Now we're wondering who else completes the top 5 ? So many solid prospects to choose from. I'll do a mock draft of the first five picks.rnrn
[b]1. EDM: Connor McDavid,Center.[/b] A no brainer at this point. The Oilers will have amazing depth at center for years to co...
"Oh you're just saying that because you [finish defeatist statement here]." I'm over it--though take me at my word, won't you? Pleeeease? When milk spills, I get grumbly for a second, and then I go collect paper towel and clean it up before it ends up seeping into everything. Likewise, I was angry like pretty much 86% of the other fans were, but here I am, still writing,...
Well it's been quite the week in Oil Country. Exactly one week ago, morale was about as low as it's ever been at the end of a season. The Oilers finished 28th overall, and while in previous years fans had been dissapointed, the draft was still a chance to look optimistically at the future. This year, even though this draft has been called one of the deepest drafts of the l...
Since I love to innovate and work on broken systems, I have yet another method to help "fix" the draft.
What was the worst team in the league last year? Well... it depends... what stat are you looking at?
Enter the problem. I'm a big fan of the Devils, admittedly, so I would like the idea of the Devils drafting a breakout forward to help fix the offensive woes that ...
So, cause I have some time on my hands (cue the Styx references, LOL), here is one man's prediction on how the top 10 draft picks go:
1. Edmonton-Connor McDavid C
What? You're surprised? Yeah, didn't think so. Edmonton makes the obvious choice and likely looks to deal one of their other young forwards for some help on D.
2. Buffalo-Jack Eichel C
Some consolati...
As much as most fans have enjoyed the last few weeks and the changes being made to this organization, it is obvious this team has a long way to go before playoffs can be even considered. However there are also a few pieces of trade bait this organization can dangle to fulfil some of these needs, one key one being the second first round pick; 16th overall. With a draft that...
Back by popular demand, it's the conclusion of my 29 defensemen blog. Once again, this is a blog to talk about defensemen I feel could be acquired [b]for the right price[/b]. The second first round pick was a piece I chose to simply start the conversation. In no way was I suggesting that Kris Russell is worth the 16th pick; or that the pick alone could get Brent Seabrook. ...
The NHL Draft is quickly approaching (June 26th and 27th) as the Conference Final playoff round heats up. Who might your favorite team be selecting in rounds 1-3?
[u]Round 1[/u]
1) Edmonton Oilers – C [b]Connor McDavid[/b], Erie
- The Oilers having been getting pieces and more pieces to the puzzle and now they can finish it off with the biggest of them all. ...
The long rumoured signing of arguably the best coach in the NHL today, Mike Babcock, by the Leafs must not change what the plan has been for the team. Shanahan had leafs fans committed to a long rebuild, which includes stripping it down to bare bones.
They said a lot of the right things at the press conference that it will be a long process, that there is pain in store ...
This year's draft looks particularly strong; the free agent pool looks exactly the opposite of that. But next year's free agents will make you salivate. Now, more than ever, teams are starting to prevent their players from bolting for free, since it damages their franchise too much when it does happen. Nobody wants to have the forward core of the NJ Devils right now.
...
We are now officially less than one month away from the [b]NHL Draft.[/b]
As of right now, the [b]Flyers[/b] currently hold two first round picks, sitting at [b]#7 and #29/30[/b] depending on whether the Lightning win the Stanley Cup or not. While the front office may be looking to shop one of the two, this installment focuses on seven option the Flyers could take with...
rnI was pointed to this article not long ago: http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2013/4/25/4262594/nhl-draft-pick-value-trading-up rn rnBased on the article, below are some possible trades the leafs could make if they were interested in moving down. rnrnI've included both Market (equal value) and High (20% premium) as noted by the article to present a range of trade values t...
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a big bag of mess, but with the likes of Shanahan and Babcock guiding two out of three of the most important positions I feel pretty comfortable we are moving in the right direction. The trade talks swirl around the core of the leafs and rightfully so, they haven't meshed the way they should or performed to the best of their capabilities. For me...
ianmcnamara558 writes...
Leafs Looking for Quality, Volume of Prospects in Pipeline
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Since the departure of Mats Sundin, the Maple Leafs have lacked a true No. 1 centre. Looking at successful clubs like Chicago, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Tampa Bay might make management envious; they can count on Jonathan Toews, Anze Kopitar, Ryan Getzlaf and Steven Stamkos to hold down their top position year in and year out. Which is why they could understandably feel co...
Well, here I am hanging out at home and I am feeling bored so I thought "Hey, why not write a quick blog so I can read responses that say either 1. How stupid I am, 2. Good read or maybe some random 3rd option"
So let me start off this with a quick statement, Eichel is not a better prospect than McDavid. Thanks and now on to the blog.
I decided to write a quick blurb...
Every team is looking to trade up. I mean, I had a choice when I looked into my freezer this morning: plain Eggos or Cinnamon Toast Eggos. The longer you look at them, the more tempted you are. You have to think it's always an option and virtually every team (except Edmonton) is a candidate.
Also, teams always seem to covet picks that are slated to go three to five...
First of all, i want to introduce myself, that you have a feeling who is going to write :D My name is Tom, 30 years and a native of Bavaria, Germany so please be not so hard on me if there are gramatical mistakes.
There were irritating rumors that the Oil own 5 of the first 63 picks, but our own 3rd round pick was traded and we have the 79th and 86th pick instead from ...
I have no basis on these trades other than what I think should happen.
I also believe it would make a very fun draft day. I will explain the bigger trades, some just don't really need explaining.
Trade 1
Edmonton receives
3rd overall pick (Hanifin)
29th/30th pick (Chicago)
63rd overall pick (Arizona)
Arizona receives
Leon Draisaitl
16th overall pick (Pitts...
This entire blog will be split into three: Forward, Defense and Goaltending. This blog will be about Edmonton's forwards.
In this blog I will be keeping track of Edmonton's cap salary remaining. Without signing anyone this yet, Edmonton is at 18 million remaining. Last season Edmonton had one of worst centre depth. This season it looks like they may have on of the b...
[i]Bare with me on this blog. It was written quickly as it has been a long time since HB's actual Oilers Blogger has said anything. A week before the Oilers make 5 picks early in the draft and the best rumors are found on TSN and their website sucks. Like it or not, someone had to say something at all about the club as this is truly a momentous time for the Oilers club t...
You know what this is! Why give some long drawn out explanation with a thesis paragraph and other formulaic writing nonsense? (Not that I'm not guilty of using the odd trope here and there!). Cite me if I'm wrong and laugh in my face... go ahead, do it!
NOTES:
1. Some of the prices I put forth would be ridiculous in any other year, but because of the really strong cro...
KABOOM.
Many have speculated and this week starts the changing of the guard in the NHL. The LA’s, Chicago’s, and Boston have run into a huge obstacle… Namely the salary cap. With so many teams rebuilding, retooling and shifting gears this week promises to be the beginning of the most active off season in over a decade. So what can we expect?
Anaheim – One mu...
1. Edmonton Oilers: Connor McDavid, C. Not much to say here. The Oilers will pick the generational talent from the Erie Otters.
2. Buffalo Sabres: Jack Eichel, C. Barring a cognitive meltdown, it’s safe to say Sabres’ GM Tim Murray will be calling Mr. Eichel’s name with the No. 2 pick. Hard to be upset about missing out on McDavid when this guy is your consolatio...
Posted this in the Leafs thread a few days ago.
Edmonton: Connor McDavid. Yadda.. Yadda..
Buffalo: Jack Eichel. Yadda.
Arizona: Dylan Strome. Contending in that division will be difficult without a horse at centre to hitch your wagon to. Could end up being the best player available.
Toronto: Mitch Marner. Skill is important. Apparently.
Carolina: Noah Hani...
JoeyNarsa50 writes...
Marner, Strome could be Ontario talent for Babcock and Leafs
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
If Mike Babcock and the Toronto Maple Leafs are serious about bringing talented Ontario born players to the club, the upcoming NHL Draft could be their biggest opportunity.
Friday in Sunrise, Fla., comes Toronto’s next chance to draft the first key piece to the rebuild and some believe they will concentrate on local talent, a notion that the new Leafs’ bench boss ha...
I have a dream.... that the Oilers can get impact young d-men to help with their cause now...rnrnSeem like a bit of a stretch? Maybe, but there might be a few trade scenarios that could work well for both sides, therefor making it a viable deal, even in this cap-crazy world we call the NHL.rnrnFirst off, let me just say that I love all the Oilers young forwards. I believe ...
BALUCHA writes...
What If Draft Selections…. Toronto Maple Leafs Edition
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Many websites and groups conduct mock re-drafts for certain years to see how the draft could have been if we knew how these young men (at the time) would have turned out.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are always a hot topic when it comes to draft picks (or their lack of), and with having the 4th overall pick in 2016, let’s revisit some of the most notable draft years and th...
The Boston Bruins have seen a noticeable slump since their Stanley Cup victory back in 2010-11. Prior to that, they made a number of trades, picks and acquisitions. But what could they have done differently? Despite their roster, most of the picks in the last 15 years have yet to wear a Bruins jersey, or even an NHL jersey for that matter.
Surprisingly, Boston has ha...
BALUCHA writes...
What If Draft Selections... Washington Capitals Edition
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Over the last 15 years, the Washington Capitals have amassed 21 first-round draft picks. Count ‘em, 21. Most of which are still with the team, others traded for other picks and considerations.
They could have made some better moves, but it goes to show first round picks success is a numbers game. The more you have, the better chances you have of landing a star. De...
Sorry Detroit fans, but this one is quite sad. Since the year 2000, the Detroit Red Wings have made 7 first-round selections. All others were traded off for assets and players, but to have only 7 picks in 15 years, considering the abundance of talent that has emerged since, is the main reason why Detroit isn’t the Dynasty Team they were in the days of Steve Yzerman.
...
Oilers latest GM came with a lot of hype. Oilers Brass have changed everything from the President to the scouting staff. However the GM is the first one to show his stuff and he really was not amazing during the draft. Seems like the scouting staff did their job in terms of the 2 late picks he made but he mortgaged they Oilers future for magic beans.
The Oilers trade...
Draft McDavid - Check
Bring in Talbot without giving up too much - Check
Fix the Defense - Check?
Let's get right to it. It wasn't bad enough that Boston traded Hamilton to a team not named Edmonton, but it was Calgary, and they accepted less from them than what we supposedly offered. It was good to see that Chiarelli was right in the mix, obviously identifying what m...
I would like to preface this writing by stating I am by no means the best writer in the world. Having said that, here we go.
June 26, 2015. A day that will certainly be remarked as a memorable day for hockey history. The NHL got to see the selection of future franchise players who will undoubtedly change the face of their respective franchises. I would like to genuinely...
A topic that has been discussed more as of late with the owners meeting is the possible expansion. A huge road block being discussed is whether players with NTC's and NMC's will be made available for expansion teams. Another will likely be the salary cap as the last expansion was before it was implemented. As a whole, I think the expansion could benefit all parties involve...
This year has been exactly as described "painful" yet we are seeing the fruits budding from an eventful offseason. The question is with an almost certain top 5 pick and definitely top 10 who do go for. I will go one by one by the top 10 and see if he fits with the leafs mold and a good draft.
Austin Matthews - You can't say no to him he is a shoe in whoever drafts firs...
As a Canucks fan I've been looking forward to this years entry draft a fair amount and keep thinking how much better off the Canucks would be if Jared McCann and Jake Virtanen could be learning in the Ahl but alas they played junior hockey in the Chl and aren't allowed to make that jump yet. So they are stuck playing 8-10 min a night in the NHL because they aren't quite re...
Luke D
It is never to early to get excited about the draft, especially if
you are a Leafs fan.
In 2015, the new-look Maple Leafs clearly showed that they are good at drafting because they went for skill and speed instead of size and grit and traded one of their most overpaid players, (Phil Kessel) for future picks and prospects. The 2015 draft was clearly a success...
Trades:
Parenteau for 2nd rounder and prospect to Washington
Bozak to Nashville for 1st Rounder.
Bernier to Carolina for 3rd Rounder and Ward to clear space
Matthias to Hawks for 4th rounder
Grabner to Detroit for 4th rounder
Polak to Pittsburgh (Change conditional 1st to automatic, get 2nd rounder in 2017 and prospect)
Gardiner Edmonton for 2017 1st.
Offseason:...
As it sits today, the Leafs are in last place and with the greatest chance (20%) of landing the first overall pick for the first time since 1985 (Wendel Clark). Auston Matthews grew up playing in Scottsdale, AZ watching the then Phoenix Coyotes play. Currently the Coyotes are sitting in a position likely to get the 10th overall pick. My question to you is, would the Leafs ...
phaneuf4norris writes...
Drafting Method-Dave Hunter- Quantity over quality
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
Last years Maple Leaf approach to their upper level picks was to trade down to increase the amount of picks, to attain a higher total draft pick value. Basically, they traded the 24th overall pick for the 29th overall pick and 61st, then traded that 29th overall pick for the 34th and 68th. So, after a year, we can see how these prospects have developed, and get an initia...
Zak MacMillan writes...
CBJ- Which Guy is Right for Columbus in 2016 NHL Draft
Posted Saturday | Comments 0
The Blue Jackets will be looking forward to a long offseason, but for the upper management, it will be only the start of their work. Columbus has five draft picks in this year's draft- their first, second, third, sixth, and seventh. Their fourth round pick is in Chicago courtesy of the Brandon Saad blockbuster; their fifth is in St. Louis from the Jordan Leopold trade.
...
As Oilers reach the final few games of the season, it is again time to look at the draft. The Oilers look to have another high pick but unless they win the lottery, they will be a footnote in this draft. This is the first draft in a while where there might be some trades in the top 10.
I am not going to mock draft this as the lottery can change and the standings are...
The Oilers finished second last this season but how far off are they? There has never been a team like the Oilers in the history of the NHL. A team with incredibly talented forwards made up of some amazingly talented but very young players. Most have spent their NHL careers trying to use to new coaches and expectations each year. Combine this with many other factors an...
So the current format has had some very good teams play against each other in the first round, while some of the weaker playoff teams played each other. It appears there needs to be some sort of re-formatting necessary. We found an interesting article on line with a pretty good proposal, along with changes to the lottery draft. You can read it all here: http://franchis...
Tomorrow is Draft Lottery Day! That wonderful day when the fans of 14 teams gather in bars and in front of their televisions and watch as Bill Daley announces that the Oilers have won the draft lottery.
After that, we will go through the next three months of having to hear about articles from Toronto media sources about how the Leafs were entitled to the 1st overall pic...
Njuice writes...
Marner’s a Longshot to Make Leafs in 2016-2017: Here’s Why
Posted Friday | Comments 0
First off let me make one thing clear – Mitchell Marner is amazing! Marner Magic is real folks and he will be a superstar in the NHL. Let us take that to the bank today and profit from the dividends for the next 15 years.
People say “Oh he’s way too fancy he’ll get killed in the NHL.” To those people I say please watch the games. Watch the OHL final and ...
For hopefully the only time in history, the seven Canadian teams are all in the draft lottery. This also happens to be a year in which the NHL tries to make the draft position fair to all teams finishing poorly. This year still gives the last place team (Toronto) a 20% chance of getting first choice but it also allows the top 3 picks to potentially go to any of the botto...
I must say the NHL seems to be going the right way with the lottery. It is not must see TV yet but that was a lot more interesting with the top 3 all up for grabs. It is not like them to successfully market anything. I think the big Congratulations go to the Jets. They will get themselves a big Finnish player that will fit well on their team next season.
As for the ...
archromat writes...
Why not equal distribution of talent? I'll tell you...
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Suppose they ditched the lottery 1, 2, 3 system (which is even more erratic than the previous system), why wouldn't they just take the fourteen teams that missed the playoffs and lottery the whole list, replacing them all randomly?
"Chaos" says one GM, "Disaster" says another.
Do you know why? Because the first overall pick is worth six times as much as the fourteent...
The hockey world breathed a collective sigh of relief Saturday night when it was revealed that Edmonton would not be taking the 1st overall pick once again. I had mentioned in my previous blog that it was good for the game of hockey to spread out talent and I meant it.
Despite my own personal feelings regarding Toronto, the fact remains that they are in desperate need o...
Travis Yost posted an article on TSN's webpage trying to answer a question many of us have... What is the value of a top pick these days?
For those that missed it is here:
[url]http://www.tsn.ca/examining-the-true-value-of-toronto-s-first-overall-pick-1.491169[/url]
The article is by Travis Yost and he is not as bad as many when it comes to these things. I thi...
Matt Henderson wrote a great blog on how the Oilers should offer sheet Seth Jones. While there were many different opinions on the logistics of such a deal, the fact remains that there are going to be some teams with cap issues... which for the NHL really isn't anything new. In the salary cap world, every summer there are teams who have to make tough choices; and teams tha...
Zak MacMillan writes...
Detailed History of the 3rd Overall Pick- 2010-2015
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Looking around at summer ideas for blogging, Peter Tessier's idea of reviewing the history of top draft picks is one that got. Besides being a hockey fan, history is something I enjoy almost as much.
Since the Columbus Blue Jackets draft third in the 2016 NHL Draft, I will be looking back in the past to see who was draft in this spot in previous drafts.
Today, it w...
This is my first ever blog, and I welcome any feedback!
This is my opinion on what the leafs 2016/2017 line up will look like as of today. So because this lineup is done as if the season started today it does not include any potential trades that could happen in the offseason. By the way I would like to note that giving Jonathan Bernier one more season as the starting ...
We are less than four weeks away from the 2016 NHL Entry Draft...and the rumours are starting to fly!
There is a refreshing air of mystery around what Tim Murray and the Buffalo Sabres are going to do at this year's draft. The past two seasons saw the team, despite back-to-back last place finishes, drop to the number 2 spot. Last season, the Sabres surprised no one ...
With the Leafs year one game plan working out as perfect as possible, its time to turn to year 2 of the plan. Now will be the tough part. Fans expected the tough season in rebuilding. We got rewarded with the first overall pick and a bunch of extra picks added in from shrewd trades.
Now is the time to continue being patience. The prospect cupboard is growing but still ...
nylander39 writes...
2016 NHL draft from the perspective of a crazy Leafs fan
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
This is blog number 2. I got a few good comments so I decided to write again. Like before I welcome your comments and feedback.
When the leafs won the NHL draft lottery I went crazy, so crazy that I accidentally woke up my roommate. ( Whoops ) But really, what guy in his early 20s is asleep at like 8pm on a Saturday.
This draft has the ability to give the leafs the...
Zak MacMillan writes...
No. 1 CBJ Draft Target: RW Jesse Puljujarvi (Finland)
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Jared Crozier, the Ottawa Senators of Hockeybuzz, started the idea of coming up with ideas of looking at who the Senators could target in the upcoming draft. Now, it's my turn to do so with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
It's already a forgone conclusion that Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine are the top two draft picks. Columbus at the third pick has options on the table...
We are just over a week until the NHL draft when hopefully things will happen so bloggers have new material to work with again. Until that point here are a few thoughts from around the NHL.
Gordie Howe... man 2016 has not been a kind year. When Muhammad Ali passed I thought it couldn't get any worse. I was very wrong. While I am far too young to share any personal stori...
We are just over a week until the NHL draft when hopefully things will happen so bloggers have new material to work with again. Until that point here are a few thoughts from around the NHL.
Gordie Howe... man 2016 has not been a kind year. When Muhammad Ali passed I thought it couldn't get any worse. I was very wrong. While I am far too young to share any personal stori...
Hamonic, Vatanen, Faulk, Barrie. All defensemen who's names have been associated with the Oilers in the trade mill. All of whom are apparently now off the market. The most reason of which was this morning when the Ducks announced they had re-signed Sami Vatanen to a 4 year deal with 19.5 million dollars. While I do think that's an overpay he is a top powerplay option and p...
The job Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray has done since taking over the reins has, in my opinion, been largely underappreciated. Rebuilds aren’t easy. They often times can take a long time, with many wrong turns…ill-advised attempts to short-cut the process.
But just two years in…Murray’s got the Sabres flying back into contention. The roster is young, fast, a...
According to @RumorBreak, a Twitter page run by Michael Grosso, the Columbus Blue Jackets made an an offer to the Toronto Maple Leafs to acquire the first overall pick of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
The deal apparently involved the third overall pick, other draft picks, and prospects.
If Columbus is giving up forward prospects, the deal makes more sense as the Blue J...
Zak MacMillan writes...
#2 CBJ Draft Target: C Logan Brown (Windsor Spitfires OHL)
Posted Sunday | Comments 0
With plenty of options on the board for Columbus, they have the room to do what they want.
One guy that has been on the ride is center Logan Brown, an underrated guy that could become a number one center.
At 6' 4" and coming out of the Ontario Hockey League, he has a chance to be a successful guy.
However, the Jackets seem to be high on him according to sev...
'Twas the night before Draftmas and through the NHL,
Was a group of GM's that were stuck in cap hell;
The scouts prepared all their draft pick selections,
A steal in round 6? Cue the erections;
The fans were crowded around phones and computers,
Hoping to hear their team has acquired a new shooter;
And Oiler fans everywhere were getting the sense,
That this might b...
With Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine going one and two respectively, Columbus had the rest of the deck to draft whoever they wanted. The best player available according to many was Jesse Puljujarvi. Jarmo Kekalainen went with his list, which was a major off the grid move to acquire a center.
On his 18th birthday, a life changing move happened to Pierre-Luc Dubois by b...
The draft has come and gone. As usual there was plenty of speculation beforehand. Twitter exploded in the days leading up to the draft that the Oilers were pursuing Subban. Shattenkirk's agent stated he expected his client to be gone by the weekend. Once again there was plenty of hype, and once again the Oilers left the draft without a top defenseman.
Having said that, ...
The 2016 NHL Draft was filled with interest and intrigue. In my review, I will provide who was selected by Columbus, and will let you, the reader, learn a little more about them. I will also be reviewing the whole draft as well, and letting you guys in on who I think were winners and losers of the draft.
Listed Players Selected
#3- C Pierre-Luc Dubois (Cape Breton...
dizzleskill writes...
The Trade That Almost Changed The Draft And 3 Teams Futures
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
So i was talking to someone with direct knowledge of the situation that there was almost a 3 way trade done on day 1 of the draft just before it began.
They had mentioned that there was a trade in the works that would have sent the 3rd overall pick (clb) to calgary for the 6th overall pick + but that the blue jackets did not want to move to the 6th spot.
Enter the oi...
RealNHLCritic writes...
Judging the controversial offseason moves by the Leafs
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
Many Toronto Maple Leaf fans have flocked to the internet to voice their displeasure with the moves that have been made this offseason, which includes many pondering draft decisions as well. With so many fans losing faith in well-seasoned GM Lou Lamoriello, I’ve decided to breakdown the moves and shed light on it from a more well-rounded view which combines analytics as ...
07/19/2016
Welcome to my first ever blog, I hope you enjoy.
I remember a sense of relief coming over me when the Leafs won the draft lottery. Excitement and anticipation have taken over since, but at that time it was simply relief. Relief in sports is the worst; it usually means even though you can always sink lower, rock bottom is so very close!
Hockey fans l...
Trade-able Assets of Value. That is what this blog will be about. Please read on, it'll be worth it.
Okay. August is lame for us hockey fans(not me, I'm reffing AAA and Junior B tryouts). Every A-hole with a typewriter is forced to talk about a college UFA who may or may not become an NHL player that is better than a replaceable 3rd or 4th liner. If said player is ...
mochoson writes...
Mock Expansion Part 1: 4th line, Depth Forwards, & Goalies
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
We still have an entire NHL season to play before next summer’s coming expansion draft. Unfortunately, we also still have quite a few weeks until even the World Cup preliminaries begin, let alone NHL hockey. At this point, you’ve more than likely read at least a handful of mock expansion drafts already. Well, guess what? Here’s another. Yes, I realize NHL rosters are...
There is a lot of talk going on about how much the Oilers should pay if the player is possibly only a rental. Especially after the Flames just set the bar with Michael Stone. Flames gave up a third rounder and if Stone resigns they give up a 5th as well, both 2 years from now (according to TSN). Lets ignore the 5th rounder as that is a normal asking price for anyone's r...
archromat writes...
Is it time to alter the draft in the case of elite talent?
Posted Friday | Comments 0
I have long enjoyed the managerial aspects of the game (certainly more than the game itself). To be able to try to construct your team by trading and managing assets, by developing talent, by installing the best guys behind the bench additionally to the best guys on the ice. They keep sites like this alive and energetic, whether we're making fun of absurd trade proposals...
The weeks leading up to the draft are an exciting time for the hardcore hockey fan. While the average fan probably knows who Nolan and Hischier are, it takes a particular type of person to know the details about Noel Hoefenmayer (probably a late 2nd-3rd round pick).
Scouting reports and a player's stats card paint a picture for what kind of NHL player a prospect [i]migh...
At the bottom of this blog I will have the answers for "Would You Draft Me" original blog can be found here [url]http://my.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?user_id=103583&post_id=17880[/url]
We are one day closer to the draft and one day closer to the horrifying realization that Chiarelli has no intention of "improving" the roster anymore than he has. To recap he has replac...
Happy Fourth of July everyone! As Canada’s neighbors from the south celebrate our independence over the next few days, plenty of the NHL’s elite are celebrating new contracts and new places that they will call home.
In the last 24 hours alone, the Dallas Stars have signed Alexander Rudulox to a 5 year contract, Joe Thorton re-upped to the Sharks for one more year a...
“The Buffalo Sabres are a dumpster fire! How can you cheer for that team?” Says the guy who is currently a “die-hard” Tampa Bay Lightning fan…fresh off his two-year run as hardcore Penguins backer. We all know those guys. And while they are seemingly basking in championship glory year-after-year. Johnny Bandwagon will never get to experience the highs and th...
Seems to be a popular title around the web. It seems rather obvious but many people go near the correct answer. It is three steps much easier said than done. I will go hardest to easiest.
1. Dump the players Chiarelli has signed as UFA's
2. Grab key UFA's
3. Dump Chiarelli (McLellan should go to if they want a cup but he can get them to the playoffs)
The first o...
I've written about this a few times because I hate the one thing that improves your team the most comes down to lottery balls without rhyme or reason except for teams improving their odds through something that can be about 50% arbitrary (see the Avs from last year to this year, who doubled their points with basically one less player).
This year, some of those perennial...
The most proven way for building a quality NHL roster while managing cap space effectively is through the draft. Drafted players are controlled for the longest period of time. A team's ability to draft NHL players through multiple rounds of the draft directly correlates to long term success.
For this endeavor I took a look at every roster in the Pacific Division from t...
INSIDEEDGEHOCKE writes...
THE DEBATE – Hockey Podcast | Episode 26 Off to Round 2
Posted Wednesday | Comments 0
THE DEBATE – Hockey Podcast | Episode 26
Off to Round 2 of Stanley Cup Playoffs and Draft Lottery
Debate 1 |Draft Lottery System
Debate 2 |Eastern Conference Divisional Finals
Debate 3 |Western Conference Divisional Finals
It is off to round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Brad Burud and Blake Friars breakdown all four series. The good, the bad and the...
INSIDEEDGEHOCKE writes...
The Instigator - Draft Lottery a Missed Opportunity
Posted Friday | Comments 0
The Instigator |Episode 14
Draft Lottery a Missed Opportunity
I really like the NHL Draft Lottery process, but I have a huge problem with how it was presented to the public this year. This is a made for television opportunity that the NHL wasted. So what should they have done, and how could they capitalize on this opportunity? Give a listen!
[https://www.spreaker....
freelancer writes...
On Chiarelli Shopping The Pick And Potential Scenarios
Posted Friday | Comments 0
Plenty of rumblings lately around the interwebs in regards to Chiarelli trading the Oilers 10th overall pick. Considering things didn't go so well the last time Chiarelli traded a first round pick (Griffin Reinhart had 12 points in 60 games in the AHL this year for those wondering) fans are reasonably concerned.
Here are a few facts about the Oilers organization.
1. ...
As of now the Oilers are set to pick 10th overall in the 2018 Draft. The most debated subject right now in Oil Country is what should be done with the pick. Many trade suggestions have been given, the most recent coming from Ryan Rishaug being Klefbom and the 10th for Ristolainen... which would be a gross overpayment.
For many, the best option seems to be to hold on to ...
Plenty going on in the NHL right now but nothing that I can't comment on in a few sentences or less. So in no particular order let's get to it.
Keegan Lowe signed a 2 year two way contract with the Oilers worth 675,000. At first glance it's easy to see the name Lowe and start seething however Lowe had a good showing with the Condors last season and certainly deserves an...
My intent in writing this list is to test the effectiveness of a predictive, statistical model that I value and- in doing so- confirm or deny the stances I've taken on these players. In conjunction with some limited viewings of these players (mostly through OHL Live and WHL Live), I want to put to the test the assumption that one needs to spend egregious amounts of time ph...
SeanyCanuck writes...
Caps win! Caps win! First blog for a fanatic Canuck fan.
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Hello all, my name is Sean Desjardins and I currently live in Fort St John, BC after moving from Vancouver three years ago. My favourite teams are the Canucks and the Lightning and I love aggressive, puck control, pinching teams like the Lightning and Nashville. I love hockey at all times of the season, but fully understand the draw of the playoffs as the effort and stak...
MaximumBone writes...
Oilers at the Entry Draft: Drafting a Forward 10th
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
As was stated in the first of this series of draft blogs, I'll be operating under this template (though it seems as though it might have shifted a tad the last few days):
[quote][i]Depending on who you ask, there's about a 10 player "top-tier" that generally goes as follows:
Dahlin #1
Svechnikov #2
Zadina, Tkachuk and Dobson #3-5
Hughes, Wahlstrom, Bouchard, Boqvist...
MaximumBone writes...
Oilers at the Entry Draft: Later Round Draft Targets
Posted Friday | Comments 0
To conclude my draft series, the following is list of a number of players I'd be pushing for the Oilers to pick. Last year's version of this list included names like Henri Jokiharju (CHI), Kole Lind (VAN), Kirill Maksimov (EDM) and Benjamin Jones (VGK).
[b][u]2nd round targets:[/u][/b]
Aside from my aforementioned targets in Hillis and Olofsson, a few other names I...
INSIDEEDGEHOCKE writes...
THE DEBATE – Hockey Podcast - NHL Draft Shuffle,
Posted Monday | Comments 0
THE DEBATE – Hockey Podcast | Episode 29
NHL Draft Shuffle, Flames/Canes Trade and Top Targets
Debate 1 |NHL Draft – Winners and Losers
Debate 2 |Flames/Canes Blockbuster Trade
Debate 3 |NHL Free-Agents and Trade Targets
Its NHL Draft time and Brad Burud and Blake Friars breakdown the winners and losers, and what players moved up and what players fell in...
29 August, 2018
Hello Hockeyverse. I know it has been so long since I have last blogged, but now I have come back, with more rest and focus on getting the best work to you guys possible.
However, I am looking this year to continue my work with more than just the Blue Jackets, focusing on the entire league, and the other minor and developmental leagues.
Today, I will...
Training camps for all 31 teams have opened up, with tryouts signed; players dealt; extensions handed out; and new faces coming aboard across
the entire league. For the Blue Jackets. The Jackets have one of the youngest rosters in the entire league, with plenty of open spots.
One big spot to look up front is third/fourth line center. The Jackets have three centers figh...
Wh Keep Panarin is a Bad Idea
It was announced earlier today by TSN's Darren Dreger that the Blue Jackets have no interest in trading winger Artemi Panarin. Dreger added they were working to continue convincing him to stay with the team for the long haul. Panarin is a pending free agent, and is making $6 million dollars this season, and will seek a bigger raise on a new...
Peter Chiarelli left the Oilers in terrible shape when he was fired as GM however the team is not far off of a playoff spot this year. I don't like the Oilers odds of making the playoffs but they are still competing with really only 3 good players and some filler. Still we know this and I will get to the point. The future might not be as dark as it looks for the Oilers ...
The draft can not get here soon enough. Mostly as it should be the start of Holland fixing the Oilers. I can say this with certainty because they can't get anymore broken. Also the draft's arrival will stop sites like TSN.ca claiming that Kakko is "closing the gap" on Hughes. There is no actual gap. NJ is picking one player and that is going to be Hughes. Are they lo...
archromat writes...
A Trade is Like a Storm - On Marner, Subban, Trouba, etc.
Posted Monday | Comments 0
Storms are born near the equator of the planet and flow outwards. They are born from water currents in the oceans. They are born when low pressure systems get pinched by high pressure systems. They are born when accumulated water vapour creates conduction between two positive spheres in the planet, causing electrical exchange we know as lightning. (See Electric Univers...
1. Cancel the NHL draft (picks would just all move back a year, so if you have 3 1sts this year, you get them next year instead).
There was an opportunity in 2005 absolutely wasted. They could have simply cancelled the draft and changed the minimum draft age to 19*
*Every year, up to three to five players at 18 are NHL ready. Sometimes none are ready. Perhaps if y...
Nine years.
If you think where you were nine years ago...how much your life has changed...and how much you know now, that you didn’t know then...it really brings into question the [i]actual[/i] sanity of those who have called themselves a fan of the Buffalo Sabres since before that time.
- 691 games
- 431 ending in defeat
- 7 different coaches
- 4 different ...
The NHL playoffs are in full swing and with no set date for the NHL Draft here is my Mock Draft and how I see things playing out.
1. New York Rangers: Alexis Lafrenière
This may be the easiest pick in the draft. The Rangers get a top line left wing who can blossom under Artemi Panarin’s tutelage.
2. Los Angeles Kings: Tim Stützle
The Kings are rebuilding and ne...
Part two of my NHL Mock Draft.
9. Minnesota Wild: Cole Perfetti
The Wild luck out with Perfetti dropping a few spots. Perfetti was second in OHL scoring with 111 points.
10. Winnipeg Jets: Anton Lundell
Winnipeg has issues on the backend with the loss of Byfuglien, Trouba and Myers but they go with Lundell. Lundell plays similarly to Mikko Koivu. A solid ...
The Columbus Blue Jackets fired the cannon on the draft day trades with the addition of center Max Domi and a 2020 3rd round pick (78th overall) in exchange for winger Josh Anderson.
Both players moved are pending restricted free agents. Both teams come out of this trade getting what they need. Montreal gets a middle six winger that can jump into the rush, be extremely...
hockeyaddict89 writes...
5 pause worthy moments of the 2020 NHL Offseason
Posted Thursday | Comments 0
Stud of a year for movement. A lot of excitement for tons of teams. I can't tell you how many times I full on stopped what I was doing to tune in to what was happening. Here are a few of them:
1) [b]THE HABS EXTENDING JOSH ANDERSON FOR A BAZILLION YEARS DESPITE NOT PLAYING A GAME. [/b] It's the sign of a risk taker to give a long term deal to a player who had a good yea...
The Columbus Blue Jackets have had a busy offseason for themselves thus far, and it is yet to be over. The surrounding teams in their division were also extremely active as well. With that out of the way, lets focus on what was done within before going externally with reviews by team and where I think they will finish. Let's start at home...
The Columbus Blue Jackets ha...
Tanking for the first-overall pick has cursed the Buffalo Sabres, which landed them with second-overall. Sabres fans have seen great talent come and go because of Buffalo's player system, draft, destroy, tank. Players like; Nikita Zadorov, Brendan Lemieux, Tyler Myers, Ryan O'Reilly, Robin Lehner, Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian, have found themselves in the Sabres organizatio...
The rumors are beginning to swirl around the franchise that for the first time since the 2015-16 season that the postseason is not in their plans. In the surprising Central Division, they sit outside of the playoffs with the struggling Nashville and Detroit clubs. With their performance thus far, who could be moved?
Pierre-Luc Dubois. Kidding. That already happened.
...
Zak MacMillan writes...
What's Kraken - Who Makes Sense for Seattle on Columbus
Posted Tuesday | Comments 0
With Columbus' rough stretch going on, let's venture into the expansion draft in July 2021. The Blue Jackets are in a much better predicament than 2017 came. Let's rewind:
The Columbus Blue Jackets dealt:
2017 1st Round Draft Pick (#24 -> LW Kristian Vesalainen)
2019 2nd Round Draft Pick (#50 -> LW Samuel Fageno)
RW David Clarkson (LTIR)
To Vegas Golden Knights
D...
Last week, the Columbus Blue Jackets acquired defenseman Mikko Lethonen from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for goalie Venni Vehivalinen. VV was stuck in a prospective netjame between himself, Danil Tasarov, and Matias Kivelinkins. VV now gets the change to compete and learn from the Maple Leaf veteran netminders of Andersen, Campbell, and Hutchinson.
Mikko adds t...
As the 2021 regular season comes to a close, the Columbus Blue Jackets are missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-2016 season. John Tortorella has been at the center of attention in Columbus since his rough skid in Vancouver with the Canucks organization, having the reputation of being an American-born leader and loudmouth in the same breath. Tortorella is ...
Before the turn of the calendar, the Columbus Blue Jackets announced the return of President John Davidson to the fold, after a two year stint in the Big Apple with the New York Rangers. JD and Jarmo Kekalainen are both now on new multi-year deals with the organization to bring this team back to the glory. Just like the first contracr for Kekalainen, he is back on the draf...
It’s time to be realistic and focus on the present. The Blue Jackets are in another dilemma with another star with another expansion draft looming ahead.
The Blue Jackets retained the fifth overall selection for the upcoming draft, with two other first round picks to follow later this summer.
Patrick Laine is on an expiring deal with little update on the contract f...
Welcome to the second edition of the changes happening in Columbus this summer, and we are only halfway through the month of June. This series covers the coaching changes in the Metropolitan Division; the Final Four; Expansion and Entry Drafts; Currency; NHL Fan Choice Awards; trade rumors; changes in the hockey operations; and contract signings.
Staffing Changes
B...
Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 Draftkings Preview
Puck drops Monday night at 8pm eastern for game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, the Lightning look to repeat as champions against the team nobody thought would be here and trying to complete a dream playoff run with their first cup in 28 years, the Montreal Canadiens. This is basically hockey’s version of Rocky 1, the Lightnin...
Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 DFS Review
Game 1 didn’t go exactly as planned, but that’s the way it goes in DFS. Hopefully some of you fared better than I did. Let’s review the strategies and plan to make some adjustments for game 2 tonight.
What did we want to happen: After going through all the games for both the Canadiens and the Lightning we determined that thi...
Stanley Cup Finals Game 2 Draftkings Preview
Game 1 is over, the Lightning won 5-1 and the guys who were supposed to handle their business, handled their business. Nikita Kucherov had 2 goals and 1 assist, Brayden Point had 3 assists and Adrei Vasilevski only allowed 1 goal on 19 shots. Meanwhile Carey Price had his worst outing of the post season allowing 5 goals on 27...
Stanley Cup Finals Game 2 Draftkings Review
The Lightning survived an early onslaught from the Canadiens and made the most of their opportunities to go up 2-0 in the series with a 3-1 win in Game 2. Tampa got goals from their not so usual suspects, Cirelli, Coleman and Palat tallied a goal a piece. Suzuki scored a power play goal for the Canadiens. Vasilevskiy was pheno...
Stanley Cup Game 3 Draftkings Preview
So far we’ve been middle of the road with our strategies but that’s how GPP strategies go, with a need to balance optimal production with slight differential in our lineups because when we win we want to get paid out and not split the top prize 10 ways. Also just to touch on some contest selection decisions, make sure whatever c...
Stanley Cup Finals Game 5 Draftkings Preview
All right everyone I hope you can forgive my absence for game 4, a very hectic pre-planned family vacation had me very busy. I hope all of you enjoyed the holiday weekend and got to spend time with friends and family. Well the Habs showed up desperate and determined not to let the Lightning celebrate with Lord Stanley’s C...
Bank Roll Management
Part 1 of my Daily Fantasy Sports Strategy Series
Starting in August I’m going to be putting out articles touching on some strategies to use while playing daily fantasy sports (DFS). We’ll cover bank roll management, contest selection, correlation techniques and how to approach chalk plays and contrarian plays. This first part will address ba...
Part 2 Contest Selection
This is part two of my series of daily fantasy sports strategies for an entire season. Earlier we covered bank roll management, establishing a budget and high percentage plays to build your bank roll. This week we’re going over contest selections. We’ll discuss the differences between contests, Mass Multi Entry (MME) vs Single Entry and Thre...
The NHL season starts tonight with the Pittsburgh Penguins taking on the back to back defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning followed by the Seattle Kraken making their NHL debut against a team who’s early success they’d love to replicate the Vegas Golden Knights. Throughout the season I’ll use this space to highlight the best games on the slate for fanta...
Night two of this NHL season brings us five games on the slate and plenty of questions. Alexander Ovechkin is a game-time decision, Nathan MacKinnon is in the COVID-19 protocol and Nicklas Backstrom is opening the season on long term injured reserve, Austin Mathews isn’t ready to return, so there’s going to be plenty of opportunities for other players to step up. We’...
Last night was a good example of our thought process of chasing volume and opportunities being correct but not delivering the desired results. We targeted the Montreal, Toronto game and the Vancouver, Edmonton game, despite the lackluster scores for both of those games I still believe they were the correct games to target. The Oilers and Canucks combined for 73 shots on th...
Last night’s slate was an absolute eruption in offensive game play, every game on the slate totaled at least five goals and five teams scored six or more goals on their own. For myself specifically it was a tale of two games, The New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes game probably couldn’t have gone any better. The four players I highlighted here in the breakdown ...
I wanted to start doing a second daily post to hold myself accountable, this one is just to run down what I said in my breakdown posts and see how things played out. Today I covered the game environments of all three games on the slate and highlighted some of the players I liked in each game.
Chicago Blackhawks @ New Jersey Devils
Players highlighted:
Jane Koukkan...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
Tonight’s main slate featured 12 games, in my breakdown I highlighted the games I thought would be most conducive to fantasy scoring and some players I thought would be good plays. In the After Action Review I go back over the games and players I highlighted to hold myself accountable and see what adjustments I can make going forward.
Calgary Flames @ Edmonton Oilers
...
NHL Single Game Slate 1 Breakdown
There’s only one game on the slate tonight so that means it’s a single game breakdown. Now with single game slates individual plays are what we focus on as well as correlation of line mates and power play partners and what we believe the game script will be. Also with captains/MVPs scoring at the elevated point rate makes them the m...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
The After Action Review is my way of holding myself accountable and identifying adjustments going forward. Tonight’s slate only had four games and I picked out two that I believed would deliver potent fantasy environments.
New York Rangers @ Toronto Maple Leafs
Players Highlighted:
Nick Ritchie ($3,400 DK, $4,200 FD)
All Ritchie managed to do was record a shot ...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
After every slate I hold myself accountable and take a look at how my Breakdown takes panned out over the course of the slate. With 11 games on this slate I chose 3 games that I believed would set themselves apart and deliver fantasy ecstasy.
Dallas Stars @ Pittsburgh Penguins
Players Highlighted:
Evan Rodrigues ($3,500 DK, $4,600 FD)
I had high hopes for Rodrigu...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
Here in the breakdown we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities against (PPOA...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
The Crease Report finds the best goaltending values on a given slate by looking at a goalie’s own metrics and the quality of team defense played in front of them. Team shot maps, shots against (SA), scoring chances against (SCA) and high danger chances against (HDA) are all weighed and considered to determine the best matchups. In addition to the individual goaltenders a...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
In the Shot Attempts-Thru Percentage Model we’ll examine players that are getting a higher amount of shot attempts (SA) and their thru percentage (Thru%) to identify those players getting shot attempts to the net but aren’t scoring goals at a level consistent with with the number of attempts they’re taking. Shooting percentage (Shoot%) and shots on goal (S) will also...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
Here in the environmental study we’re going to identify the games with the best fantasy scoring environments for everyday of the NHL season. To do this we’re going to look at teams’ scoring chances for (SCF), scoring chances against (SCA), high danger chances for (HDF), high danger chances against (HDA), power play opportunities (PPO) and power play opportunities aga...
1. Chicago Blackhawks: C Connor Bedard Regina Pats (WHL)
Bedard is the no brainer pick here. Generational talent that will jump start the Hawks rebuild in the post Kane and Toews era. Comparable: Auston Matthews
2. Anaheim Ducks: C Adam Fantilli University of Michigan (NCAA)
Fantilli absolutely blew away the competition in the NCAA with 65 points in 36 game...
SanJose Sharks: C Macklin Celebrini ( Boston University)
Celebrini has long been projected as the top pick in this draft. The BU Terrier had a freshman year for the ages. Ending the season with 64 points in 38 games and becoming the youngest player to ever win the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey.
Player Comparable: Jason Robertson
Chicago ...