#Alexander niemi

[beardedmrbean]

Ilta-Sanomat describes Sauli Niinistö's last week in the presidency as "a whirlwind of travel from country to country and city to city."

Niinistö has not been taking it easy, even though his term ends Friday when Alexander Stubb takes over as President of the Republic.

A week ago, on Thursday, Niinistö was still touring Finland. He visited his home town of Salo for the last time before the end of his second and final term in office.

From Salo, he headed for Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, where the funeral of President Hage Geingob took place over the weekend.

From Namibia, Niinistö flew back to Europe to Paris, the where he attended a meeting to reaffirm Western support for Ukraine, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Following that, Niinistö returned to Helsinki. On Wednesday he had his final formal meeting with the cabinet. On Thursday, Niinistö will hold his last press conference as president.

The week, and Niinistö's final term, will culminate on Friday in Parliament. At 11:50 am, Niinistö will inspect an honour guard in front of the Parliament for the last time. He and Stubb will then proceed to a plenary session of Parliament, where Niinistö will present an address to the house.

During that session, power will change hands and Stubb will become president.

Niinistö's legacy

The Uutissuomalainen news group asked three researchers what Niinistö's legacy will be and what issues from his time in office will go down in history.

Professor of Political Science Tapio Raunio from the University of Tampere, political scientist Johanna Vuorelma from the University of Helsinki and Associate Professor of Political History Johanna Rainio-Niemi from the University of Helsinki all believe that the last two years of Niinistö's presidency will define his legacy.

Rainio-Niemi said she believes that Niinistö will be remembered as a president who served during a time of upheaval, most remembered for Finland's quick ascension into Nato. Vuorelma also believes that Niinistö's legacy will be defined by Nato membership.

Vuorelma pointed out that Niinistö was not publicly in favour of Nato membership before Russia's attack on Ukraine. For example, in his New Year's speech before the Russian invasion, Niinistö said that Finland had a crisis-resistant foreign and security policy that did not need to be changed.

"Niinistö himself was not the one who dictated or persuaded the public to back this change," Vuorelma told USU.

According to Raunio, it would be wrong to say that Niinistö is the one who brought Finland into Nato. Raunio points out that during Niinistö's first ten years in office, practically nothing happened with regard to the western alliance.

"It was only when Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022 and public opinion changed that Niinistö and the rest of our political elite turned the corner and started moving towards Nato," Raunio noted.

Finnish arms in Russia

According to a report in Helsingin Sanomat weapons and ammunition produced by the Finnish arms industry companies Sako and Nammo Lapua have ended up in Russia despite the arms export ban.

In February, a report by the Russian online magazine IStories and the Italian newspaper Irpi Media claimed that Finnish arms and ammunition had ended up in Russia. HS says it has verified this information and obtained new information, for example on the routes of the weapons took from Finland to Russia.

According to some Russian war bloggers, these weapons and ammunition have also been used by Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

In total, reports HS, several million rounds of Finnish ammunition have ended up in Russia. Between 2022 and 2023, nearly 700 rifles made at the Sako factory in Riihimäki and about 67,000 boxes of Sako cartridges were registered in Russia. During the same period, about 174,000 boxes of Nammo Lapua cartridges were registered there.

Sako and Nammo Lapua denied to HS that they exported these products to Russia. According to the companies, the weapons and cartridges were exported to Russia without their permission and without their knowledge.

According to HS's investigation, the Sako rifles and parts entered Russia via Italy.

Lapua Sako is owned by the Beretta group, which is originally Italian. Nammo Lapua is part of the Nammo group, which is owned by Finland's Patria and the Norwegian state. The Finnish state owns 50.1 percent of Patria.

Household spending down

Karjalainen reports on a fresh survey showing that more than half of Finnish households have cut back on spending in order to balance their finances.

The survey, carried out by the pollster Taloustutkimus for the loan comparison service Sortter, asked households what measures they have used to offset rising interest rates and living costs over the past year. A majority, 54 percent of respondents said they had trimmed back on everyday spending on items such as food and medicine.

One in three said they had also spent less on energy. One in four has drawn on their savings.

Just over 40 percent of households reported having less money available to spend each month compared to a year ago.

English-only ban?

On Wednesday, MPs debated issues related to the use and status of Finnish, and what some members see as threats to the majority national language.

Ilta-Sanomat is among the papers reporting that Pekka Aittakumpu (Cen) issued a call for a tightening of language legislation along the lines of the French model. He believes that the Finnish language should be protected in particular from the dominance of English.

"The law could also require private sector operators to provide services in Finnish. In Estonia and France, for example, language law also applies to private service providers. In those countries, a café that provides service only in English is illegal," Aittakumpu was quoted as saying.

Aittakumpu also demanded that it should be possible to obtain degrees in Finnish at all educational levels.

"In many fields, it is no longer possible to continue studies in the national language after obtaining a bachelor's degree, as master's degree courses switch to teaching in English. This is not right. University funding must be more strictly linked to the opportunity of studying in Finnish," he argued.

Minister of Justice Leena Meri (Finns) told MPs that there are several government-initiated projects underway examining the status of the use of Finnish.

Minister of Education Anna-Maja Henriksson (SPP) pointed out that the national language strategy aims to ensure that the Finnish language does not become less widely used. She added, that on the other hand, speakers of Swedish, Finland's second official language, do not always receive even legally-mandated services in their mother tongue.

[liigainenglish]

TEAM CAPTAINS 2020-21

HIFK

C: Jere Sallinen

A: Ville Varakas, Anton Lundell, Juho Keränen

HPK

C: Markus Nenonen

A: Jere Innala, Jesse Mankinen, Ville Koistinen

ILVES

C: Eemeli Suomi

A: Panu Mieho, Niko Peltola, Kalle Maalahti

JUKURIT

C: Jesper Piitulainen

A: Ville Hyvärinen, Mikko Kokkonen, Anssi Löfman

JYP

C: Jani Tuppurainen

A: Miska Siikonen, Mikko Salmio, Aleksi Salonen

KALPA

C: Tommi Jokinen

A: Kai Kantola, Mikael Seppälä, Balazs Sebok

KOOKOO

C: Alexander Bonsaksen

A: Oskari Manninen, Toni Suuronen, Ahti Oksanen

KÄRPÄT

C: Mika Pyörälä

A: Jussi Jokinen, Jesse Puljujärvi

LUKKO

C: Heikki Liedes

A: Robin Press, Toni Koivisto

PELICANS

C: Hannes Björninen

A: Casimir Jürgens, Joonas Jalvanti

SAIPA

C: Jarno Koskiranta

A: Elmeri Kaksonen, Markus Kojo

SPORT

C: Erik Riska

A: Jonne Virtanen, Valtteri Viljane

TAPPARA

C: Jukka Peltola

A: Kristian Kuusela, Patrik Virta

TPS

C: Lauri Korpikoski 

A: Juhani Jasu, Juuso Pärssinen

ÄSSÄT

C: Niklas Appelgren

A: Peter Tiivola, Mika Niemi, Olli Vainio

[dilftraviskonecny]

i got really bored

like,,, really bored. and I figured out every virgo playing in the nhl right now. i hate myself. there's even a graph for amount of virgos per team:

every single virgo is below the cut

Anaheim Ducks

Ryan Kesler (8.31.1984)

Arizona Coyotes

Michael Bunting (9.17.1995)

Mario Kempe (9.19.1988)

Calgary Flames

Mark Jankowski (9.13.1994)

James Neal (9.3.1987)

Carolina Hurricanes

Nino Niederreiter (9.8.1992)

Jordan Staal (9.10.1988)

Teuvo Teravainen (9.11.1994)

 Lucas Wallmark (9.5.1995)

Colorado Avalanche

Nathan MacKinnon (9.1.1995)

Conor Timmins (9.18.1998)

Columbus Blue Jackets

Anthony Duclair (8.26.1995)

Alexander Wennberg (9.22.1994)

Sergei Bobrovsky (9.20.1988)

Dallas Stars

Landon Bow (8.24.1995)

Detroit Red Wings

Anthony Mantha (9.16.1994)

Gustav Nyquist (9.1.1989)

Nick Jensen (9.21.1990)

Florida Panthers

Aleksander Barkov (9.2.1995)

Derick Brassard (9.22.1987)

Keith Yandle (9.9.1986)

Los Angeles Kings

Carl Hagelin (8.23.1988)

Adrian Kempe (9.13.1996)

Anze Kopitar (8.24.1987)

Paul LaDue (9.6.1992)

Minnesota Wild

Eric Fehr (9.7.1985)

Brad Hunt (8.24.1988)

Montreal Canadiens

Antti Niemi (8.29.1983)

Nashville Predators

Ryan Hartman (9.20.1994)

Craig Smith (9.5.1989)

New Jersey Devils

Miles Wood (9.13.1995)

New York Rangers

Filip Chytil (9.5.1999)

Mats Zuccarello (9.1.1987)

Ottawa Senators

Brady Tkachuk (9.16.1999)

Philadelphia Flyers

Nolan Patrick (9.19.1998)

Wayne Simmonds (8.26.1988)

Andrew MacDonald (9.7.1986)

Pittsburgh Penguins

Brian Dumoulin (9.6.1991)

San Jose Sharks

Dylan Gambrell (8.26.1996)

Radim Simek (9.20.1992)

Tampa Bay Lightning

Alex Killorn (9.14.1989)

Toronto Maple Leafs

Patrick Marleau (9.15.1979)

Auston Matthews (9.17.1997)

John Tavares (9.20.1990)

Vegas Golden Knights

Tomas Nosek (9.1.1992)

Washington Capitals

Travis Boyd (9.14.1993)

Alex Ovechkin (9.17.1985)

Michal Kempny (9.8.1990)

Braden Holtby (9.16.1989)

Winnipeg Jets

Blake Wheeler (8.31.1986)

[goalhofer]

Last NHL Player To Wear Each Jersey Number: Dallas

1: Jhonas Enroth (13 games 2015)

2: Jamie Oleksiak (2019-present)

3: John Klingberg (2014-present)

4: Miro Heiskanen (2018-present)

5: Matt Niskanen (2007-11)

6: Julius Honka (2016-present)

7: Neal Broten (1996-97)(retired for Broten 1998)

8: Never issued (retired for Bill Goldsworthy 1992)

9: Mike Modano; Jr. (1993-2010)(retired for Modano 2014)

10: Patrick Sharp (2015-17)

11: Martin Hanzal (2017-present)

12: Radek Faksa (2015-present)

13: Mattias Janmark-Nylen (2015-present)

14: Jamie Benn (2009-present)

15: Blake Comeau (2018-present)

16: Jason Dickinson (2015-present)

17: Andrew Cogliano (2019-present)

18: Tyler Pitlick (2017-present)

19: Never issued (retired for Bill Masterson 1987)

20: Cody Eakin (2012-17)

21: Ben Lovejoy (2019-present)

22: Jiri Hudler (2016-17)

23: Esa Lindell (2015-present)

24: Roope Hintz (2018-present)

25: Brett Ritchie (2014-present)

26: Jere Lehtinen (1995-2010)(retired for Lehtinen 2017)

27: Adam Cracknell (2016-17)

28: Stephen Johns (2015-present)

29: Greg Pateryn (2016-18)

30: Ben Bishop III (2017-present)

31: Antti Niemi (2015-17)

32: Kari Lehtonen (2009-18)

33: Marc Methot (2017-present)

34: Denis Gurianov (2016-present)

35: Anton Khudobin (2018-present)

36: Mats Zuccarello (2019-present)

37: Justin Dowling (2016-present)

38: Mark McNeill (1 game 2017)

39: Travis Morin (2010-present)

40: Remi Elie (2016-18)

41: Landon Bow (2019-present)

42: Taylor Fedun (2018-present)

43: Valeri Nichushkin (2018-present)

44: Sheldon Souray (2011-12)

45: Roman Polak (2018-present)

46: Gemel Smith (2016-18)

47: Alexander Radulov (2017-present)

48: Dillon Heatherington (2017-present)

49: Jon Sim (1998-2003)

50: Never issued

51: John MacLean (2000-02)

52: Never issued

53: Vojtech Polak (3 games 2006)

54: Never issued

55: Sergei Gonchar (2013-14)

56: Sergei Zubov (1996-2009)

57: Never issued

58: Never issued

59: Never issued

60: Never issued

61: Never issued

62: Never issued

63: Mike Ribeiro (2006-12)

64: Brendan Ranford (1 game 2015)

65: Never issued

66: Never issued

67: Never issued

68: Jaromir Jagr (2012-13)

69: Never issued

70: Never issued

71: Never issued

72: Erik Cole (2012-15)

73: Michael Ryder (2011-13)

74: Never issued

75: Never issued

76: Never issued

77: Matthew Barnaby (2006-07)

78: Never issued

79: Never issued

80: Never issued

81: Tomas Vincour (2010-13)

82: Never issued

83: Ales Hemsky (2014-17)

84: Never issued

85: Never issued

86: Never issued

87: Never issued

88: Eric Lindros (2006-07)

89: Never issued

90: Jason Spezza (2014-present)

91: Tyler Seguin (2013-present)

92: Never issued

93: Never issued

94: Never issued

95: Never issued

96: Fabian Brunnstrom (2008-10)

97: Never issued

98: Never issued

99: Never issued (retired league wide for Wayne Gretzky 2000)

[kley-blog]

Well, nothing like channeling Christmas a little early . . .

Gets it all over and done with . . .

A frightfully post-post modern Christmas it is too . . .

So many twists and references . . .

I suppose I would have to watch it frequently for several decades and really do my homework to catch them all . . .

But . . .

That’s Hollywood . . .

Particularly during Christmas madness . . .

Enjoy . . .

[mywebsoftgo]

The pursuit of happiness speech

Registration is only required for the general public, before Sunday 4 March, 12:00 (noon) as there is a limited number of seats available.įor more information, please contact tuure-eerik.niemi (Tuure-Eerik NIEMI). He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, has published 18 books and is a self-professed sports fanatic. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2004-2008, a government minister from 2008-2016, a member of parliament from 2011-2017 and chairman of the National Coalition Party from 2014-2016. Yes, it is looking at happiness through your and my eyes. His background is in academia and civil service, with a focus on EU affairs. No, this is not a review of the film starring Will Smith as Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happiness. Alexander STUBB served as Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Trade and Europe Minister of Finland. Summary: A salesman tries to take custody of his son SECUENCE: min 41:10-43:52 ORIGINAL SUMMARY SECUENCE: Chris Gardner is looking for a job to feed his family.

His oversights include the Bank’s financing activities in the Nordics & Baltics, and Russia, Belarus and Moldova Funding & Treasury Urban Development Security & Defence Corporate Responsibility and Diversity. FILM:The Pursuit of happyness-Director: Gabriele Muccino.-Writer: Steve Conrad.-Characteres: Will Smith, Thandie Newton and Jaden Smith.

The speech is part of the College's Nordic National Week, organised by students from Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden.Īlexander STUBB is Vice-President of the European Investment Bank since August 2017. On 5 March 2018, Alexander STUBB, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank and a College of Europe alumnus (Ramon LLULL promotion), gives a speech entitled " Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness at the College of Europe" at the College of Europe Bruges campus.

[ao3feed-lokiangst]

The Fallen Ones

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/4lohwb0

by AnnalynRhys (anahrose)

Ex-Mythos student Annalyn Scott travels in one final chance to get her Doctorate Thesis believed. She has a friend, Aki Niemi, whom she met in High School when he was a foreign exchange student from Klaukala, Finland, and the two had remained friends throughout University. In the United States, Norse Mythology was known but as important as Greek or Roman Mythology or the beliefs of Alexander the Great. She had settled on Norse Mythology.

Here it was 2001, She had just burst out of the theater with Aki at her side and they were both chatting a mile a minute when the Volcano rumbled. It had been spewing rock and ash for months and you needed a special permit to even get over the river to get close. She looked at Aki. Both of them had written, submitted, and argued their Thesis's at the University in Klaukala and they would get their letters in the mail by summer's end. They had both applied for Doctorate's in Norse Mythology and had settled with cabins both on the outskirts of Klaukala d Fjord Sound. The place, if it was to be believed, was the final battle between Thor and Loki Odinson before only one returned to Asguard, Thor Odinson, and one stayed protected, Loki Fjord-Sound.

Words: 4574, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English

Fandoms: LotR~MCU~NorseMythos, Lord of the Rings - Fandom, Marvel Universe - Fandom, MCU, lotr - Fandom, Norse Mythology, Norse mythos

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Characters: Annalyn Valkyrie, Caitlyn O'Lorien, Henry Cavill, Loki FjordSound, Loki Odinson, Thor Odinson, Mariah Parker, Aki Neimi, The Crone, Helle, Fenrir, Slipnir, Annalyn Scott, Dr. Steven Strange, Laufey Mother, Odin, Frigga, Sif, Fandrel, Mrs. Cavill, Youngest Cavill

Relationships: Annalyn/Caitlyn O'Lorien, Annalyn/Henry Cavill, Annalyn/ Loki FjordSound, Loki FjordSound/Henry Cavill, Caitlyn O'Lorien/Loki Odinson, Mariah Parker/Henry Cavill, Annalyn Scott/Caitlyn O'Lorien, Annalyn Scott/Henry Cavill, AnnalynScott/Loki FjordSound

Additional Tags: asguard, Jotenheim, Valheim, Midgard, Earth, Middle Earth, Auckland New Zealand, Witcher Filming Site, Klaukula Finland, Fjord Sound, Filari Point New Zealand, London England

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/4lohwb0

[uncleleo16]

2016-17 NHL Season Team Review

The 2016-17 season wrapped up with the Pittsburgh Penguins winning their 5th Stanley Cup in team history and becoming the first team since 1998 to win back-to-back Championships. Each team had a different story during the regular season and for some during the playoffs and while the Penguins are pleased with their performance many teams need improvement heading into next season. The Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft will shake up things in the NHL and the offseason will be busier than ever with some key decisions. I will look at each teams individual season performance and grade them based on expectations. I will also give a brief outlook on Free Agents for each team and what players are exposed to the Expansion Draft.

Colorado Avalanche

Season Story: This was the first year for head coach Jared Bednar and are coming off a season where they finished 9th in the West. They did lose Mikkel Boedker in the offseason but added defenseman Patrick Wiercioch, Fedor Tyutin and forwards Joe Colborne and Rene Bourque. They signed Tyson Barrie and Nathan MacKinnon to big contracts and drafted Tyson Jost 10th overall. Things were looking okay for Colorado and they entered December with a respectable 9-11-1 record. They then finish the NHL season going 13-45-3, Semyon Varlamov is terrible before a season injury in January, their only 20 goal scorer is a rookie, their role players are awful and this team is arguably one of the worst teams in the past 10 seasons.

Record: 22-56-4, -112 Goal Differential, 30th in NHL, 14th in West

Best Month: October, 4-3-0

Worst Month: January, 1-9-1

Top Scorer (Points): Nathan MacKinnon, 16 Goals and 53 Points in 82 Games

Top Scorer (Goals): Mikko Rantanen (rookie), 20 Goals and 38 Points in 75 Games

Disappointing Performance: Carl Soderberg. The forward was coming off a season in Colorado where he had 12 Goals and 51 Points in 82 games. In 80 Games this season he had 6 goals and 14 Points. Remember, he makes 4.75 million dollars each year for the next three seasons!

Goaltender: Calvin Pickard, 15-31-2, 2.98 GAA and a .904 SV%. Once Varlamov went down with injury, Pickard was in charge of this runaway train. He is signed for one more year at 1 million dollars. Varlamov went 6-17 this season before injury with a 3.38 GAA and a .898 SV%. He is signed for the next two seasons at just under 6 million per year.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Rene Bourque (12 Goals, 18 Points in 65 Games), F- John Mitchell (3 Goals, 7 Points in 65 Games), D- Cody Goloubef (5 Points in 33 Games), D- Fedur Tyutin (-25, 13 Points in 69 Games), GK- Jeremy Smith (1-6-1, 3.54 GAA and a .888 SV%).

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Sven Andrighetto (5 Goals, 16 Points in 19 Games), F- Matt Nieto (4 Goals, 11 Points in 43 Games), F- Mikhail Grigorenko (10 Goals, 23 Points in 75 Games), D- Patrick Wiercioch (4 Goals, 12 Points in 57 Games), D- Nikita Zadorov (73 Penalty minutes, 10 Points in 56 Games).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: GK- Calvin Pickard

Team Season Grade: F  This team regressed it’s progress by posting such a terrible season and now head into the offseason with a lot of questions surrounding core players.

Vancouver Canucks

Season Story: The Canucks went into the season refusing to try a full out rebuilt by signing big free agent Loui Eriksson to a six year deal and trading to acquire defenseman Erik Gudbranson while only letting go of Radim Vrbata, Dan Hamhuis and Yannick Weber. The Canucks were having a decent season and headed into February 23-21-6 and within playoff reach. They than proceeded to have a terrible February and finally conceded at the deadline by trading away Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen for prospects Jonathan Dahlen and Nikolay Goldobin. They finished 13th in the West and 29th in the NHL but look to head towards a proper rebuild given their final few months of the season where they went 7-22-3.

Record: 30-43-9, 29th in NHL, 13th in West

Best Month: January, 6-3-3

Worst Month: April, 0-5-0

Top Scorer (Points and Goals): Bo Horvat, 20 Goals, 52 Points in 81 Games

Disappointing Performance: Loui Eriksson, 11 Goals and 24 Points in 65 Games for their big offseason acquisition. Eriksson is signed for 5 more years at 6 million dollars per season.

Goaltender: Ryan Miller, 18-29-6, 2.80 GAA and a .914 SV%. Very respectable numbers from the veteran goalie.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Jack Skille (5 Goals, 9 Points in 55 Games) and GK- Ryan Miller (36 years old).

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Brendan Gaunce (5 Points in 57 Games), F- Bo Horvat (star player, 22 years old), F- Reid Boucher (5 Goals, 7 Points in 27 Games), F- Michael Chaput (4 Goals, 9 Points in 68 Games)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: D- Luca Sbisa (13 points, 40 penalty minutes in 82 games)

Team Season Grade: D+ They weren’t that good but near the end of the season they realized they need a rebuilt. Slowly making the steps towards a better team

Arizona Coyotes

Season Story: The Coyotes were coming off a decent season where they finished 10th in the Conference. They went out and acquired some prospects, drafted two first round picks, added F- Radim Vrbata, D- Luke Schenn, F- Jamie McGinn and looked poised to possibly challenge for a playoff spot. They had a really rough October and December and headed into 2017 with a 11-21-5 record. The Coyotes then made trades involving Defenseman Michael Stone and Forward Martin Hanzel which brought in two picks in 2017 (including one first), one pick in 2018 and two conditional picks. They finished the season average but continue to stock pile young talent.

Record: 30-42-10, 27th in NHL, 12th in West

Best Month: November, 6-4-3

Worst Month: December, 3-11-2

Top Scorer (Points and Goals): Radim Vrbata, 20 Goals, 55 Points in 81 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Anthony Duclair, 5 Goals, 15 Points in 58 Games. The second year player was coming off a 20 goal, 44 point season but had a rought 2017 and even spent 16 games in the AHL. He is still only 21 and has plenty of room to grow.

Goaltender: Mike Smith, 19-26-9, 2.92 GAA and a .914 SV%. Not bad numbers for a team that was struggling at times

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Radim Vrbata (top scorer, 36 years old), F- Shane Doan (6 Goals, 27 Points in 74 Games, 40 years old), D- Zbynek Michalek (spent most of year in AHL) and GK- Chad Johnson (recently acquired in a trade will by a UFA).

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Jordan Martinook (11 Goals, 25 Points in 77 Games), F- Alexander Burmistrov (5 Goals, 14 Points in 26 Games), F- Peter Holland (5 Goals, 11 Points in 40 Games), Anthony Duclair (21 years old) and F- Josh Jooris (3 Goals, 10 Points in 42 Games).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- Teemu Pulkkinen (25 years old, spent most of season in AHL where he had 18 goals and 36 points in 47 games).

Team Season Grade: C+ They stayed the course, they made some good trades at the deadline and they are accepting the rebuild process.

Dallas Stars

Season Story: The Stars were coming off a 50 win season in which they lost in Game 7 of the second round to the Blues. The Stars lost Defenseman Alex Goligoski, Jason Demers, Kris Russell and Forwards Valeri Nichushkin, Colton Sceviour and Vernon Fiddler. They added Defenseman Dan Hamhuis and forwards Lauri Korpikoski and Jiri Hudler. This all while not addressing their goaltending problem. They proceeded to have a below average season and both goalies struggled year round. At the end of the season they traded for the rights to goaltender Ben Bishop and then signed him to a six year deal. But this year was a throw away.

Record: 34-37-11, 24th in the NHL, 11th in West

Best Month: December, 7-6-1

Worst Month: February, 4-8-0

Top Scorer (Points): Tyler Seguin, 72 Points and 26 Goals in 82 Games

Top Scorer (Goals): Jamie Benn, 26 Goals, 69 Points in 77 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Antti Niemi, 12-12-4, 3.30 GAA and a .892 SV. He is making 4.5 Million and has one year left on his deal. He was actually decent in 2015-16 but hasn’t been amazing since 2012.

Goaltender: Kari Lehtonen, 22-25-7, 2.85 GAA and a .902 SV%. This was likely Lehtonen’s last season as a starting goalie in the NHL. But he could be a good back-up.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Ales Hemsky (4 Goals, 7 Points in 15 Games), F- Patrick Sharp (8 Goals, 18 Points in 48 Games) and F- Jiri Hudler (3 Goals, 11 Points in 32 Games)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Radek Faksa (12 Goals, 33 Points in 80 Gams), F- Brett Ritchie (16 Goals, 24 Points in 78 Games), D- Patrick Nemeth (14 Penalty minutes, 3 Points in 40 Games), D- Jamie Oleksiak (37 Penalty minutes, 7 Points in 41 Games) and D- Esa Lindell (6 Goals, 18 Points in 73 Games).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- Cody Eakin (12 points, 49 penalty minutes in 60 games)

Team Season Grade: D- They wasted a year of the Benn and Seguin era by not acquiring better defensive help and goaltending.

Los Angeles Kings

Season Story: The kings have a reputation of sliding into the playoffs and then going on deep runs and after last seasons first round exit they looked to improve heading into this season. They lost forwards Kris Versteeg and Milan Lucic and defenseman Luke Schenn and Jamie McBain. They didn’t add any big pieces and relied on their core to help them reach the playoffs. After 17 games Jonathan Quick goes down with an injury and although back-up Peter Budaj plays fantastic, the goal scoring is lacking and the Kings miss the playoffs by 8 points.

Record: 39-35-8, 22nd in NHL, 10th in West

Best Month: November, 8-5-1

Worst Month: February, 5-6-2

Top Scorer (Points and Goals): Jeff Carter, 32 Goals and 66 Points in 82 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Jake Muzzin, the defenseman is making 4 million dollars and has been a key member of the Kings team but his 2016-17 season was sub-par. Dropping back from two 40 point seasons to a 28 point season in 82 games and a -21 plus minus.

Goaltender: Jonathan Quick, 8-5-2, 2.26 GAA and a .917 SV%. It should be mentioned that the Kings disrespected back-up Peter Budaj trading him away despite a 27-20-3 record with a 2.12 GAA and a .917 SV%.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Jarome Iginla (6 Goals, 9 Points in 19 Games), F- Teddy Purcell (0 Points in 12 Games, mostly AHL player).

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Andy Andreoff (2 Points, 72 Penalty minutes in 36 Games), F- Nick Shore (6 Goals, 17 Points in 70 Games), F- Tyler Toffoli (16 Goals, 34 Points in 63 Games) and D- Kevin Gravel (1 Goal, 7 Points in 49 Games).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: D- Brayden McNabb (4 points, 54 penalty minutes in 49 games).

Team Season Grade: C Injuries can be partially to blame for their performance, but it was still disappointing that they didn’t make the playoffs.

Winnipeg Jets

Season Story: The Jets were looking to improve on their 2015-16 season where they finished 11th in the West and the 2nd overall pick Patrik Laine looked to help. They entered the year with a very similar team and played decent for most of the year with terrific offensive power. Mark Scheifele was breaking out for a career year, Laine was a rookie sensation, Blake Wheeler continues to perform and Nikolaj Ehlers had a great sophomore year. The achilles heel was goaltending at times. The Jets however finished the year going 12-5-1 and missing the playoffs by only 7 points.

Record: 40-35-7, 20th in NHL, 9th in West

Best Month: April, 4-0-0

Worst Month: February, 4-5-2

Top Scorer (Points): Mark Scheifele, 32 Goals, 82 Points in 79 Games

Top Scorer (Goals): Patrik Laine, 36 Goals, 64 Points in 73 Games

Disappointing Performance: Michael Hutchinson, 9-12-3, 2.94 GAA and a .905 SV%. He needed to be more reliable at times as a back-up goalie.

Goaltender: Connor Hellebuyck, 26-19-4, 2.80 GAA and a .907 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: D- Paul Postma (14 Points, 15 Penalty minutes in 65 Games) and GK- Ondrej Pavelec (4-4, 3.55 GAA and a .888 SV%)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Brandon Tanev (2 Goals, 4 Points in 51 Games), F- Marko Dano (4 Goals, 11 Points in 38 Games), F- Andrew Copp (9 Goals, 17 Points in 64 Games), D- Ben Chiarot (12 Points, 33 Penalty minutes in 59 Games) and GK- Connor Hellebuyck (24 Years Old)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- Chris Thorburn (3 goals, 95 penalty minutes in 64 games) Winnipeg traded their first round pick and a third round pick in 2019 for the Vegas Golden Knights 24th overall pick

Team Season Grade: B Continual improvement throughout the year and the young offensive talent is scary with Ehlers, Scheifele and Laine.

Calgary Flames

Season Story: The Flames were trying to return to the postseason after a disappointing 2015-16 season. The Flames hired new coach Glen Gulutzan who previously coached in Dallas for two seasons. The Flames then signed Goaltender Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson. They also brought in veteran Troy Brouwer to help lead the team to the playoffs. The season started off pretty rough and the Flames were in danger of missing the playoffs but a strong final 2 months going 20-9-1 helped them finish 7th in the West with a first round match-up against Anaheim. The Flames lost all 4 games of the playoffs and despite a decent regular season, Brian Elliott was not good in the playoffs.

Record: 45-33-4 (Playoffs as 1st WildCard, Swept by Anaheim).

Best Month: February, 9-2-1

Worst Month: January, 5-7-1

Top Scorer (Points): Johnny Gaudreau, 61 Points, 18 Goals in 72 Games

Top Scorer (Goals): Sean Monahan, 27 Goals, 58 Points in 82 Games.

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Sean Monahan, 4 Goals, 5 Points in 4 Games

Disappointing Performance: Brian Elliott, 26-18-3, 2.55 GAA and a .910 SV%, 0-4 in the Playoffs with a 3.89 GAA and a .880 SV%

Goaltender: Chad Johnson (back-up), 18-15-1, 2.59 GAA and a .910 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Kris Versteeg (15 Goals, 37 Points in 69 Games), D- Michael Stone (2 Goals, 6 Points, 20 Penalty minutes in 19 Games), D- Dennis Wideman (18 Points, 32 Penalty minutes in 57 Games), GK- Brian Elliott

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Alex Chiasson (12 Goals, 24 Points in 81 Games), F- Curtis Lazar (1 Goal, 3 Points in 4 Games), F- Sam Bennett (13 Goals, 26 Points in 81 Games), F- Michael Ferland (15 Goals, 25 Points in 76 Games).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: D- Deryk Engelland (16 points, 85 penalty minutes in 81 games). Pending UFA

Team Season Grade: B They made moves to improve their team and made the playoffs. Unfortunately their playoff performance hurts their grade slightly.

Chicago Blackhawks

Season Story: The Blackhawks entered the season expected to do well again with their core still intact. They did lose however Andrew Ladd, Andrew Shaw, Teuvo Teravainen and Dale Weise in the offseason. The additions of Brian Campbell and fourth line forward Jordin Tootoo apparently helped as the Blackhawks finished 1st in the Western Conference with a 50 win season. This lead to a first round match-up against the 8th seeded Predators. Nashville outscored Chicago 13-3 in 4 games and shocked the hockey world with a sweep of the Blackhawks.

Record: 50-23-9 (Playoffs as 1st Seed, Lost against Nashville)

Best Month: February, 9-1-0

Worst Month: April, 0-2-2

Top Scorer (Goals and Points): Patrick Kane, 34 Goals, 89 Points in 82 Games

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews each with 1 Goal and 1 Assist.

Disappointing Performance: Andrew Desjardins, 1 assist, 22 penalty minutes in 46 Games. He obviously isn’t on the team for scoring but 1 point in 46 Games as a forward is pretty bad.

Goaltender: Corey Crawford, 32-18-4, 2.55 GAA and a .918 SV%. 0-4 in playoffs with a 2.83 GAA and a .902 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: D- Brian Campbell (5 Goals, 17 Points in 80 Games), D- Johnny Oduya (2 Points in 15 Games) and F- Andrew Desjardins

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Dennis Rasmussen (4 Goals, 8 Points in 68 Games), F- Tomas Jurco (1 Goal in 13 Games) and D- Ville Pokka (Spent year in AHL).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: D- Trevor Van Riemsdyk (16 points, 29 penalty minutes in 58 games).

Team Season Grade: A- Virtually unstoppable in the regular season but a very disappointing playoff effort.

Minnesota Wild

Season Story: The Wild entered the season as darkhorse contenders as they signed new head coach Bruce Boudreau, added forwards Eric Staal and Chris Stewart and maintained their strong defensive core. They were fantastic during the regular season, a rough march stretch of going 4-10-2 gave away their president trophy chances and set up a Divisional playoff match-up with St. Louis and former coach Mike Yeo. The Wild lost a defensive match-up in 5 games which included two overtime defeats.

Record: 49-25-8 (Lost in first round to St. Louis)

Best Month: December, 12-1-1

Worst Month: March, 4-10-2

Top Scorer (Goals): Eric Staal, 28 Goals, 65 Points in 82 Games

Top Scorer (Points): Mikael Granlund, 69 Points, 26 Goals in 81 Games.

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Zach Parise, 2 Goals, 3 Points in 5 Games

Disappointing Performance: Marco Scandella, 4 Goals, 13 Points in 71 Games. He really wasn’t that bad but the Wild didn’t have many disappointing performances.

Goaltender: Devan Dubnyk, 40-19-5, 2.25 GAA and a .923 SV%. In the Playoffs was still terrific going 1-4 with a 1.86 GAA and a .925 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Martin Hanzal (4 Goals, 13 Points in 20 Games), F- Ryan White (3 Points in 19 Games), D- Nate Prosser (2 Goals, 7 Points in 39 Games) and GK- Darcy Kuemper (8-5-3, 3.13 GAA and a .902 SV%)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Jordan Schroeder (6 Goals, 13 Points in 37 Games), F- Mikael Granlund (25 Years old), F- Nino Niederreiter (25 Goals, 57 Points in 82 Games), D- Christian Folin (8 Points, +10 in 51 Games) and D- Mike Reilly (1 Goal in 17 Games).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- Erik Haula (15 goals, 26 points in 72 games). Pending RFA

Team Season Grade: A Despite the month of March and an early exit, this was a very good year for the Wild. Expect them to be contenders next season.

San Jose Sharks

Season Story: After losing in the Cup Finals the Sharks were looking to make it back to the Finals this season. They added forward Mikkel Boedker and Defenseman David Schlemko after losing Goaltender James Reimer and Defenseman Roman Polak to free agency. The Sharks started the year good and had a clear goal of making a deep run this year. They entered the playoffs as 6th in the Conference but faced the young Oilers in a true Veteran vs. rookie battle. The Sharks lost in 6 Games and might have just seen their Cup window leave them.

Record: 46-29-7 (Lost in first round to Edmonton)

Best Month: December, 9-4-0

Worst Month: March 6-10-0

Top Scorer (Goals and Points): Brent Burns, 29 Goals, 76 Points in 82 Games

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Joel Ward, Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau each with 4 Points in 6 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Mikkel Boedker, the big offseason splash for the Sharks had 10 Goals and 26 Points in 82 Games. He is signed for three more years at 4 million dollars.

Goaltender: Martin Jones, 35-23-6, 2.40 GAA and a .912 SV%. 2-4 in the playoffs with a 1.75 GAA and a .935 SV%.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Joe Thornton (7 Goals, 50 Points in 79 Games), F- Patrick Marleau (27 Goals, 46 Points in 82 Games) and F- Michael Haley (12 Points, 128 Penalty minutes in 58 Games)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Chris Tierney (11 Goals, 23 Points in 80 Games) and a bunch of AHL players.

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: D- David Schlemko (18 points, 14 penalty minutes in 62 games)

Team Season Grade: B- This was probably the last opportunity for San Jose during the Thornton and Marleau Era and they didn’t reach that next level of play.

St. Louis Blues:

Season Story: The Blues entered the season with big expectations after losing in the West Finals the previous season. They had a character change losing forwards David Backes, Troy Brouwer, Steve Ott and Goaltender Brian Elliott. They added forwards Nail Yakupov, David Perron, Landon Ferraro and Goaltender Carter Hutton. The Blues had a rough start to the season and after a disappointing first half they fired head coach Ken Hitchcock and hired Mike Yeo as their new coach. The Blues then went 22-8-2 under their new head coach and headed into the playoffs as a dark horse. They also traded away star defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk at the deadline for a first round pick and two minor league forwards. They beat the Wild in a 5 game defensive series, which set up a match-up against the Nashville Predators. They lost in a 6 game close series.

Record: 46-29-7, 3rd in Central, Lost to Nashville in Second Round.

Best Month: March, 11-2-2

Worst Month: January, 5-8-0

Top Scorer (Goals and Points): Vladimir Tarasenko, 39 Goals, 75 Points in 82 Games.

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Jaden Schwartz, 4 Goals, 9 Points in 11 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Nail Yakupov, the former 1st overall pick has seen his production drop ever since his rookie year. The Blues took a small risk acquiring him and he had 3 Goals and 9 Points in 40 Games with the club. He is still only 23 years old and can improve.

Goaltender: Jake Allen, 33-20-5, 2.42 GAA and a .915 SV%. He was 6-5 in the playoffs with a 1.96 GAA and a .935 SV%.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Scottie Upshall (10 Goals, 18 Points in 73 Games)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Nail Yakupov (23 Years Old), F- Magnus Paajarvi (8 Goals, 13 Points in 32 Games) and D- Colton Parayko (4 Goals, 35 Points in 81 Games).

Player Lost in the Expansion Draft: F- David Perron (46 points, 54 penalty minutes in 82 games).

Team Season Grade: A- The Blues seem to have a good future under new head coach Mike Yeo, Goalie Jake Allen and superstar Vladimir Tarasenko.

Edmonton Oilers

Season Story: The Oilers were coming off another bad season but they had a new superstar exposed in Connor McDavid. During the offseason, they made some noise trading away forward Taylor Hall for Defenseman Adam Larsson. They also added forward Milan Lucic and Defenseman Kris Russell while parting ways with forwards Nail Yakupov, Lauri Korpikoski and defenseman Adam Clendening. The Oilers opened with a strong October before sliding in November and having a strong rest of the season. Sophomore Players Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and Goaltender Cam Talbot lead the way all season to a playoff birth. They upset the Sharks in 6 games during the first round and lost a close 7 game series against Anaheim in the second round. This was major improvement for a franchise that hadn’t made the postseason since 2006.

Record: 47-26-9, 2nd in Pacific, Lost in Second Round of Playoffs.

Best Month: October, 7-2-0

Worst Month: November, 5-8-2

Top Scorer (Goals and Points): Connor McDavid, 30 Goals, 100 Points in 82 Games.

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Leon Draisaitl, 6 Goals, 16 Points in 12 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Benoit Pouliot, 8 Goals, 14 Points in 67 Games. This after recording two 30 point seasons in a row where he only played 60 games or less.

Goaltender: Cam Talbot, 42-22-8, 2.39 GAA and a .919 SV%.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- David Desharnais (2 Goals, 4 Points in 18 Games), F- Matt Hendricks (4 Goals, 7 Points in 42 Games), F- Tyler Pitlick (8 Goals, 11 Points in 31 Games), D- Kris Russell (13 Points, 23 Penalty minutes in 68 Games) and D- Eric Gryba (6 Points, 65 Penalty minutes in 40 Games).

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Leon Draisaitl (29 Goals, 77 Points in 82 Games) and F- Zach Kassian (24 Points, 101 Penalty minutes in 79 Games)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: D- Griffin Reinhart (Spent year in AHL, who was called up for one playoff game). Pending RFA

Team Season Grade: A+, First Playoff appearance in 11 seasons, almost made it to the Conference Finals. McDavid has 100 Points, Draisaitl is amazing, Talbot stands tall all season and the Oilers players have yet to reach their potential.

Anaheim Ducks

Season Story: After a first round exit in 2016, the Ducks were looking to add to their game and become a contender. They signed forwards Antoine Vermette and Jared Boll for more grit to the organization. The ducks cruised through the regular season to finish 1st in the Pacific. They swept the Flames in the opening round, beat the young star Oilers in a 7 game battle that involved a lot of old style hockey and fans began to look down on the Ducks. They embraced the villains role in the Conference Finals against the Predators but couldn’t get the job done and lost in a 6 game series. It should be noted that Randy Carlyle was hired as their new head coach prior to this season and he changed the atmosphere in Anaheim.

Record: 46-23-13, 1st in Pacific. Lost in Conference Finals.

Best Month: March, 10-2-2

Worst Month: February, 4-6-1

Top Scorer (Goals): Rickard Rakell, 33 Goals, 51 Points in 71 Games.

Top Scorer (Points): Ryan Getzlaf, 73 Points, 15 Goals in 74 Games.

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Ryan Getzlaf, 8 Goals, 19 Points in 17 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Sami Vatanen, the defenseman who is largely known for his offense only managed 3 goals and 24 Points in 71 Games. This is a poor performance considering he is coming off of back to back near 40 point seasons.

Goaltender: John Gibson, 25-16-9, 2.22 GAA and a .924 SV%. In the playoffs he had a 2.59 GAA and a .918 SV%.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Patrick Eaves (11 Goals, 14 Points in 20 Games), F- Nate Thompson (2 Points, 14 Penalty minutes in 30 Games), D- Korbinian Holzer (7 Points, 23 Penalty minutes in 32 Games), GK- Jhonas Enroth (28 years old) and GK- Jonathan Bernier (21-7-4, 2.50 GAA and a .915 SV%)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Emerson Etem (Spent most of year in the AHL).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: D- Clayton Stoner (3 points, 28 penalty minutes in 14 games) and F- Shea Theodore (9 points, 28 penalty minutes in 34 games).

Team Season Grade: A-, A lot of fans disliked this team but they were effective and almost made the Cup Finals. Easily one of the best Center depth in the NHL with Getzlaf, Kesler and Vermette.

Nashville Predators

Season Story: The Predators entered the offseason with a strong team but not one to contend for a Stanley Cup. They traded away star defenseman Shea Weber for Defenseman P.K. Subban in one of the biggest blockbuster trades in recent history. They also added forward Harry Zolnierczyk and defenseman Yannick Weber and Matt Irwin. During the season they acquired forwards Cody McLeod, Vernon Fiddler and P.A. Paranteau. The Predators snuck into the playoffs as an 8th seed and weren’t expected to do much but they proved the league wrong. The beat the Blackhawks, Blues and Ducks on root to the Stanley Cup Final and a match-up against Pittsburgh. The Penguins won the first 2 games but the Predators rebounded winning both home games by a combined score of 9-2. The Penguins then dismantled the Predators 6-0 in Game 5 and then in Game 6 a 2-0 shutout victory to eliminate Nashville and win the Stanley Cup.

Record: 41-29-12, 4th in Central, Lost in Stanley Cup Final

Best Month: November, 9-3-2

Worst Month: December, 5-6-2

Top Scorer (Goals and Points): Viktor Arvidsson, 31 Goals, 61 Points in 80 Games.

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Filip Forsberg, 9 Goals, 16 Points in 22 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Mike Ribeiro, the 37 year old Veteran was demoted to the AHL after his poor performance in 46 Games with only 4 Goals and 25 Points. He was point per game in the AHL but he struggled in the NHL. Regardless, Ribeiro is a fantastic hockey player and person and should have been called up during the Predators playoff run.

Goaltender: Pekka Rinne, 31-18-8, 2.44 GAA and a .917 SV%. He was 14-8 in the playoffs with a 1.96 GAA and a .930 SV%. He was the main reason they went so far in the playoffs despite a poor finals performance. He is almost 35 years old and his Stanley Cup window as a starting goalie is closing.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Mike Fisher (18 Goals, 42 Points in 72 Games), F- Vernon Fiddler (1 Goal, 37 Penalty minutes in 20 Games), F- P.A. Paranteau (1 Point in 8 Games), F- Harry Zolnierczyk (2 Goals, 4 Points in 20 Games), F- Mike Ribeiro (4 Goals, 25 Points in 46 Games) and D- Brad Hunt (1 Point in 3 Games).

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Viktor Arvidsson (24 Years Old), F- Ryan Johansen (14 Goals, 61 Points in 82 Games), F- Austin Watson (17 Points, 99 penalty minutes in 77 Games), F- Frederick Gaudreau (1 Point in 9 Games), F- Pontus Aberg (2 Points in 15 Games) and GK- Marek Mazanec (0-2, 4.72 GAA and a .839 SV%)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- James Neal (23 goals, 41 points in 70 games). 29 years old

Team Season Grade: A+ The Ribeiro situation makes me mad but the Predators made the Stanley Cup Final. That only is a great season and for a team not expected to make it to the Finals this season, it was fantastic to see.

New Jersey Devils

Season Story: The Devils were trying to improve from a disappointing 2015-16 season. They added forward Taylor Hall and defenseman Ben Lovejoy and Kyle Quincey while losing David Schlemko and Jordin Tootoo. The Devils were having a decent season but when March was coming around, they relized they probably won’t make the playoffs. They traded away forwards Vernon Fiddler, Sergei Kalinin, P.A. Paranteau and other pieces for draft picks and AHL players. The Devils then ended the season going 3-15-2. They were actually rewarded with this tank attempt and recieved the 2017 first overall pick in this years draft. So not a complete waste of a season for New Jersey.

Record: 28-40-14, 16th in East, 28th in NHL

Best Month: January, 7-5-2

Worst Month: March, 2-11-2

Top Scorer (Points): Taylor Hall, 53 Points, 20 Goals in 72 Games.

Top Scorer (Goals): Kyle Palmieri, 26 Goals and 53 Points in 80 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Michael Cammalleri, usually a good bet to get 40 points despite only playing 60 games or so but this year he didn’t perform. He had 10 goals and 31 points in 61 games and for some reason I drafted him in fantasy hockey.

Goaltender: Cory Schneider, 19-18-10, 2.67 GAA and a .913 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: GK- Keith Kinkaid (6-7-2, 2.81 GAA and a .913 SV%)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Beau Bennett (8 Goals, 19 Points in 65 Games), F- Jacob Josefson (10 Points in 38 Games), F- Stefan Noesen (8 Points in 32 Games), D- Damon Severson (31 Points, 58 Penalty minutes in 80 Games) and others.

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: D- Jon Merrill (6 points, 24 penalty minutes in 51 games, 25 years old )

Team Season Grade: C, The Devils understanding the need for a rebuild is a good start but they still have a lot of questions to answer about their future.

Buffalo Sabres

Season Story: The Sabres entered the season looking for gradual improvement from last year with this young club. They acquired defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, Taylor Fedun, Justin Falk and Goaltender Anders Nilsson. They also made a free agent splash by signing Kyle Okposo. They lost Goaltender Chad Johnson and defenseman Mark Pysyk. The Sabres started the season without Jack Eichel and they never truly found that extra step. They finished the season 15th in their conference and will draft 8th at the 2017 Entry Draft.

Record: 33-37-12, 26th in NHL, 15th in East

Best Month: January, 7-5-1

Worst Month: April, 1-4-0

Top Scorer (Goals): Evander Kane, 28 Goals, 43 Points in 70 Games.

Top Scorer (Points): Jack Eichel, 24 Goals, 57 Points in 61 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Tyler Ennis, 5 Goals and 13 Points in 51 Games. He was a consistent 20 Goal scorer for the beginning of his career and after missing most of last year with a concussion, he hasn’t fully got his game back. Not really his fault, but hopefully Ennis can improve next season.

Goaltender: Robin Lehner, 23-26-8, 2.68 GAA and a .920 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Brian Gionta (15 Goals, 35 Points in 82 Games), D- Cody Franson (19 Points, 34 Penalty minutes in 68 Games), D- Dmitry Kulikov (5 Points, 26 Penalty minutes, -26 in 47 Games),  D- Taylor Fedun (7 Points, 16 Penalty minutes in 27 Games) and GK- Anders Nilsson (10-10-4, 2.67 GAA and a .923 SV%)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Marcus Foligno (23 Points, 73 Penalty minutes in 80 Games), F- Zemgus Girgensons (16 Points, 18 Penalty minutes in 75 Games), D- Nathan Beaulieu (Spent last season in Montreal) and GK- Robin Lehner (23-26-8, 2.68 GAA and a .920 SV%)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- William Carrier (8 points, 21 penalty minutes in 41 games) and 2017 6th round pick

Team Season Grade: B-, They had a decent season and injuries played a factor in their result but the Sabres still have a lot of work to do.

Detroit Red Wings

Season Story: The Red Wings entered the season hoping to make another consecutive trip to the playoffs. They lost star veteran Pavel Datsyuk to the KHL and added forwards Frans Nielsen, Thomas Vanek and Steve Ott to help propel this team to the postseason. The Wings never really got going once the season started though and struggled their way to a 14th in the East finish. Starting goalie Petr Mrazek had a awful season, Danny DeKeyser struggled, Riley Sheahan really struggled and Thomas Vanek was fantastic but got injured and was then traded away at the deadline once Ken Holland realized the season was over. This season was a wake up call for Detroit that it is time to rebuild and develop young talent once again.  

Record: 33-36-13, 14th in East, 25th in NHL

Best Month: October, 6-4-0

Worst Month: January, 4-5-5

Top Scorer (Points): Henrik Zetterberg, 17 Goals, 68 Points in 82 Games.

Top Scorer (Goals): Tomas Tatar, 25 Goals, 46 Points in 82 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Riley Sheahan, 2 Goals, 13 Points in 80 Games. The 25 year old had back to back seasons of 13 goals. He didn’t score a single goal until the final game of the season when he got 2. He went 79 straight games without scoring, and he was playing top 3 line minutes.

Goaltender: Petr Mrazek, 18-21-9, 3.04 GAA and a .901 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Joe Vitale (0 Games Played) and F- Drew Miller (5 Goals, 7 Points in 55 Games)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Andreas Athanasiou (18 Goals, 29 Points in 64 Games), F- Tomas Tatar (25 Goals, 46 Points in 82 Games) and D- Xavier Ouellet (12 Points, 51 Penalty minutes in 66 Games).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- Tomas Nosek (Spent season in AHL where he had 15 goals, 41 points in 51 games)

Team Season Grade: C- A combination of bad luck, injuries and reality hit this season to eliminate the Red Wings from the playoffs but this offseason is going to be big for Ken Holland to truly prove himself as a high calibre GM.

Florida Panthers

Season Story: The Panthers entered the season with high hopes after finishing the 2015-16 season 1st in the Atlantic. They acquired Goaltender James Reimer, defenseman Jason Demers and Mark Pysyk. They also added forwards Jonathan Marchessault and Colton Sceviour. The Panthers did however lose defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, Brian Campbell, Goaltender Al Montoya and forwards Jiri Hudler and Teddy Purcell. The Panthers started the season struggling before firing head coach Gerard Gallant at the end of November and hiring Tom Rowe. The Panthers remained average and were without Jonathan Huberdeau for for 51 games this season, Aaron Ekblad missed 14 games this year and Aleksander Barkov missed 21 games this year. With these injuries to three of their stars, it was very difficult for the Panthers to advance to the postseason. They added Thomas Vanek late in the season for an extra boost but ended up finishing 13th in the East.

Record: 35-36-11, 23rd in NHL, 13th in East

Best Month: February, 7-4-0

Worst Month: March, 4-10-1

Top Scorer (Points): Vincent Trocheck, 23 Goals, 54 Points in 82 Games.

Top Scorer (Goals): Jonathan Marchessault, 30 Goals, 51 Points in 75 Games.

Disappointing Performance: Jussi Jokinen, 28 Points, 11 Goals in 69 Games. Last season Jokinen had 18 Goals and 60 Points in 82 Games. The 34 year old is still under contract for one more season.

Goaltending: James Reimer, 18-16-5, 2.53 GAA and a .920 SV% while Roberto Luongo was 17-15-6 with a 2.68 GAA and a .915 SV%.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Thomas Vanek (10 Points in 20 Games with the Panthers), F- Jaromir Jagr (16 Goals, 46 Points in 82 Games) and D- Jakub Kindl (4 Points, 28 Penalty minutes in 39 games).

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Michael Sgarbossa (7 Points, 9 penalty minutes in 29 games), D- Alex Petrovic (14 Points, 79 Penalty minutes in 49 games) and D- Mark Pysyk (17 Points, 10 penalty minutes in 82 Games)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- Jonathan Marchessault (30 Goal Scorer is under contract for 750,000 next season) and the Panthers acquired a 4th round pick in 2018 for F- Reilly Smith (Smith is 26 years old, had 37 Points last season in 80 Games, 50 Points in 2015-16 season but is signed for five more years at 5 Million Dollars per season, so the Panthers just wanted to get rid of his contract).

Team Season Grade: C Barkov and Huberdeau were largely hurt all season but the Panthers need some rebranding this offseason in order to return to the playoffs.

Carolina Hurricanes

Season Story: The Hurricanes made a playoff push last season finishing 10th in the East and were hoping to reach the playoffs in 2017. They added forwards Viktor Stalberg and Lee Stempniak while they lost forward Riley Nash to the Boston Bruins. The Hurricanes had a roller coaster season that started off slow, went downhill in January and February before they went up to a 10-2-5 record in March and then cooled down in April going 1-4-1. Their goaltending struggled immensely during the season but their young talent had a really good season. They also traded away veteran defenseman Ron Hainsey at the trade deadline and witnessed the 36 year old win his first Stanley Cup during his first postseason appearance (Hainsey played for the Blue Jackets, Thrashers, Jets and Hurricanes prior to this postseason).

Record: 36-31-15, 12th in East, 21st in NHL

Best Month: March, 10-2-5

Worst Month: February, 3-5-2

Top Scorer (Points and Goals): Jeff Skinner, 37 Goals, 63 Points in 79 games.

Disappointing Performance: Philipp Di Giuseppe, The 23 year old forward wasn’t very good in his sophomore campaign with 1 goal and 7 Points in 36 Games before spending the season in the AHL where he had 28 points in 40 games. Last season in his rookie year, Di Giuseppe had 7 goals and 17 points in 41 games. The second round pick hopes to improve next season.

Goaltending: Cam Ward, 26-22-12, 2.69 GAA and a .905 SV%. Yes he is still their starting goaltender.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Derek Ryan (11 Goals, 29 Points in 67 Games), F- Jay McClement (8 Points, 18 Penalty minutes in 65 games) and D- Matt Tennyson (6 Points, 6 penalty minutes in 45 games).

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Brock McGinn (7 Goals, 16 Points in 57 games) and F- Philipp Di Giuseppe

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- Connor Brickley (Spent all of 2016-17 in AHL is an UFA during this offseason). The hurricanes also gave the Golden Knights a 2017 5th round pick to possibly protect other exposed players.

Team Season Grade: B Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm all had good seasons and are all under the age of 23. This is still a rebuilding year in Carolina but they are making good progress.

Philadelphia Flyers

Season Story: The Flyers were entering the second season of the Dave Hakstol coaching term and were coming off a playoff appearance in 2015-16. Philadelphia added forwards Dale Weise and Boyd Gordon. They lost forwards Sam Gagner and Ryan White and defenseman Evgeny Medvedev. The Flyers had a strong start to the season but faded in January and February going 9-12-3 over those two months. They went 10-7-3 over their last 2 months but couldn’t reach the playoffs finishing 7 points behind the 8 seed. The Flyers somehow managed to get the 2nd overall selection in the draft which will be huge in getting either Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier as Franchise players.

Record: 39-33-10, 11th in East, 19th in NHL.

Best Month: December, 9-4-1

Worst Month: February, 4-6-1

Top Scorer (Points): Jakub Voracek, 20 Goals, 61 Points in 82 Games.

Top Scorer (Goals): Wayne Simmonds, 31 Goals, 54 Points in 82 games.

Disappointing Performance: Michael Neuvirth, 11-11-1, 2.82 GAA and a .891 SV%. He had such a strong season in 2015-16 but this season really puts his future as an NHL goalie in question.

Goaltending: Steve Mason, 26-21-8, 2.66 GAA and a .908 SV%. This was not his strongest season but Steve Mason has seemed to find his rhythm since arriving in Philadelphia in 2013.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Jordan Weal (8 Goals, 12 Points in 23 games), F- Chris VandeVelde (6 Goals, 15 Points in 81 games), D- Michael Del Zotto (6 Goals, 18 Points in 51 games), D- Nick Schultz (4 Points, 10 Penalty minutes in 28 games) and GK- Steve Mason (29 years old)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Roman Lyubimov (4 Goals, 6 Points in 47 games).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (4 Goals, 8 Points, 20 penalty minutes in 82 games). Bellemare is a coaches dream, he skates hard, hits hard and is a great depth winger.

Team Season Grade: C- Philadelphia fans saw their rivals Pittsburgh lift a another Stanley Cup while the Flyers couldn’t even make the playoffs. Giroux struggled, goaltending struggled but the positive aspect is that the Flyers have a good prospect pool that just gets a lot better with the 2nd overall pick this season.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Season Story: The Lightning were looking ahead to another deep playoff run after losing in Game 7 of the Conference Finals to Pittsburgh in 2015-16 and in 2014-15 they lost in the Cup Finals. They went through the motions in the first half of the season going a comfortable 19-15-4. The Lightning were awful in January going 3-8-2, and although they finished the season 20-7-4 and only missed the playoffs by 1 point in an incredible effort, the Lightning fell short. They also traded away forwards Brian Boyle, Valterri Filpulla and goaltender Ben Bishop around the trade deadline when things looked bad. Steven Stamkos only played 17 games this season and Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman had to carry this team on their back to have a chance at the playoffs. The Lightning will be disappointed in this performance but they should be back and strong next season.

Record: 42-30-10, 18th in NHL, 10th in East

Best Month: March, 10-4-1

Worst Month: January, 3-8-2

Top Scorer (Goals and Points): Nikita Kucherov, 40 Goals, 85 Points in 74 games

Disappointing Performance: Jason Garrison, 1 Goal, 9 Points, -8 in 70 games. He wasn’t awful but the team really needed more offence from a former 30 point defenseman.

Goaltending: Andrei Vasilevskiy, 23-17-7, 2.61 GAA and a .917 SV%. The 22 year old Russian goaltender had his first full year as an NHL starter this season.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Greg McKegg (1 point, 11 penalty minutes in 15 games) and D- Luke Witkowski (4 points, 39 penalty minutes in 34 games).

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Tyler Johnson (19 goals, 45 Points in 66 games),  F- Ondrej Palat (17 goals, 52 Points in 75 games) and D- Andrej Sustr (14 points, 43 penalty minutes in 80 games)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: D- Jason Garrison (32 years old) The Golden Knights also acquired F- Nikita Gusev, 2017 2nd round pick and a 2018 4th round pick in Tampa Bay protecting certain players.

Team Season Grade: D This was a bad year for the Lightning who went from back to back conference Finals to not even making the playoffs.

New York Islanders

Season Story: The Islanders entereed the season hoping to continue their regular season success of making the playoffs for the third straight year. They added forwards Andrew Ladd, Jason Chimera and P.A. Paranteau. They also added defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. They did however lose key forwards Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Matt Martin in free agency. The Islanders struggled early in the season going 8-10-4 in the first two months before picking things up in December, January and February. They had a rough March going only 7-7-2 and although they ended the season going 5-0-0 in April, they missed the playoffs by 1 point. They also traded away their first round draft pick for this upcoming draft.

Record: 41-29-12, 9th in East, 17th in NHL

Best Month: April, 5-0-0

Worst Month: November, 4-5-4

Top Scorer (Goals): Anders Lee, 34 Goals, 52 points in 81 games

Top Scorer (Points): John Tavares, 28 Goals, 66 Points in 77 games

Disappointing Performance: Andrew Ladd, 23 Goals, 31 Points in 78 games. Yes Ladd had 23 goals, but he only had 31 points which was his lowest point total since 2008. Ladd was also the big free agency signing that the Islanders are paying 5.5 million dollars per season over the next 6 years.

Goaltending: Thomas Greiss, 25-16-5, 2.67 GAA and a .914 SV%. The german goaltender is now 31 years old and has 3 years left on his reasonable contract at 3.33 million per season.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Stephen Gionta (1 goal, 6 points in 26 games)

Upcoming important RFA’s: D- Calvin De Haan (25 points, 36 penalty minutes in 82 games)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: GK- J.R. Berube (3-2-2, 3.42 GAA and a .889 SV%). They also acquired F- Mikhail Grabovski and a 1st round pick in this years draft as well as a second round pick in 2019. These trades were meant to protect Calvin De Haan and other exposed players.

Team Season Grade: C- Really not the season the Islanders were hoping for as they only have one more season with John Tavares under contract before he becomes an Unrestricted free agent.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Season Story: This was the Blue Jackets second full season under head coach John Tortorella and expectations weren’t particularly high but the Jackets wanted to make some noise. They lost defenseman Fedor Tyutin and Justin Falk in the offseason while forwards Rene Bourque and Jared Boll also signed with new clubs. The big addition the Blue Jackets made was signing former first round pick Sam Gagner. The Blue Jackets then surprised everyone. They ran out the gates fast and entered 2017 with a 26-5-4 record including going 14-0-0 in the month of December. While they would cool down over the rest of the season, they were still tremendous and entered the playoffs 3rd in the East which because of the awful playoff format matched them up against Pittsburgh. They lost the series in 5 games but Columbus proved to the league that they are no laughing stock anymore.

Record: 50-24-8, 3rd Seed in Metro, Lost to Pittsburgh in 5 games

Best Month: December, 14-0-0

Worst Month: April, 1-4-0

Top Scorer (Goals and Points): Cam Atkinson, 35 Goals, 62 points in 82 games.

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Cam Atkinson, Boone Jenner and William Karlsson each had 2 goals and 1 assist in 5 games.

Disappointing Performance: Boone Jenner, 18 goals, 33 points in 82 games. Jenner stepped up in the playoffs but his regular season numbers dropped significantly after a 30 goal season in 2015-16.

Goaltending: Sergei Bobrovsky, 41-17-5, 2.06 GAA and a .931 SV%. Bobrovsky was amazing this season and won the Vezina Trophy for best goaltender.

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Sam Gagner (18 goals and 50 points in 81 games), F- Lauri Korpikoski (0 Points in 9 games) and D- Kyle Quincey (3 points, 12 penalty minutes in 20 games)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Alexander Wennberg (13 goals, 59 points in 80 games) and F- Josh Anderson (17 goals, 29 points and 89 penalty minutes in 78 games)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- William Karlsson (24 years old, 25 points in 81 games). The Jackets also traded F- David Clarkson and his contract to Vegas Golden Knights with a 2017 1st round pick and a 2019 second round pick.

Team Season Grade: A This team was a pleasant surprise and it was important for the Blue Jackets franchise to finally see some success after years of misery.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Season Story: The Leafs were coming off a bad year in which they finished dead last in the NHL with only 29 wins. The rebuilding plan was still in process entering 2016-17 with the Leafs acquiring veterans Matt Martin and Roman Polak to help the young team. The Leafs parted ways with forwards P.A. Parenteau, Michael Grabner and Ben Smith entering the season to open up room for their young talent. The Maple Leafs had 7 rookies on their roster for this season and not much was expected of the young team. The Leafs started with a rough October going 2-4-3 but then picked it up in November and December going 14-8-4 over the two months. After a strong January and an average February the Leafs decided to take a chance by trading for veteran forward Brian Boyle at the deadline to add some leadership in a surprising playoff push. They finished the season going 12-6-2 and sneaking into the playoffs by 1 point. They faced the top seeded Capitals in an uphill battle, but made a series of it although they eventually lost in 6 games despite the series containing 5 overtime games. This season was an amazing experience as a Leafs fan to witness the rookies put on a show.

Record: 40-27-15, 2nd wildcard in East, Lost in 6 games against Washington

Best Month: March, 9-3-2

Worst Month: October, 2-4-3

Top Scorer (Goals and Points): Auston Matthews, 40 Goals and 69 points in 82 games.

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Auston Matthews, 4 Goals and 5 Points in 6 games

Disappointing Performance: Ben Smith, 2 goals, 4 points in 36 games. Smith was given another opportunity in Toronto on the 4th line but struggled in face-offs, production and overall impact. The Leafs then traded for Brian Boyle to replace him.

Goaltender: Frederik Andersen, 33-16-14, 2.67 GAA and a .918 SV%. Andersen was 2-4 in the playoffs with a 2.68 GAA and a .915 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Brian Boyle (3 points, 18 penalty minutes in 21 games), D- Matt Hunwick (19 points, 18 penalty minutes in 72 games), D- Roman Polak (11 points, 65 penalty minutes in 75 games), GK- Curtis McElhinney (6-7-0, 2.85 GAA and a .914 SV%) and Colin Greening, Milan Michalek, Brooks Laich, Steve Oleksy and Andrew Campbell.

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Connor Brown (20 goals, 36 points in 82 games), F- Zach Hyman (10 goals, 28 points in 82 games) and both AHL Goalies (Bibeau and Sparks) plus Seth Griffith, Justin Holl and Sergei Kalinin.

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- Brandon Leipsic (a solid AHL forward prospect that will get his opportunity in the NHL)

Team Season Grade: A This was basically the perfect season for the Maple Leafs, the rapid development of their young players with playoff experience already will go a long way.

Boston Bruins

Season Story:  The Bruins were coming off of back to back seasons where they finished 9th in the East and were hoping to finally get over the hump and back in the playoffs. Although they lost forward Loui Eriksson in free agency, they added forward David Backes for additional scoring help. The Bruins season saw them hang around a playoff spot for most of the season and after a strong February going 7-3-0 and an average March they closed out April going 3-1-1 to reach the postseason with the same amount of points as the Maple Leafs. They faced Ottawa in the first round and although they won game 1, they lost 3 games in overtime over the course of the series and were eliminated in 6 games.

Record: 44-31-7, 3rd in Atlantic, Lost in 6 games against Ottawa

Best Month: February, 7-3-0

Worst Month: January, 6-6-2

Top Scorer (Goals and Points): Brad Marchand, 39 goals, 85 points in 80 games.

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak with 2 goals and 4 points in 6 games.

Disappointing Performance: Jimmy Hayes, 2 goals and 5 points in 58 games. Hayes had back to back season where he scored more than 10 goals and 25 points but couldn’t come close to either marker this season.

Goaltender: Tuukka Rask, 37-20-5, 2.23 GAA and a .915 SV%. In the playoffs Rask was 2-4 with a 2.24 GAA and a .920 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Dominic Moore (11 goals, 25 points in 82 games), F- Drew Stafford (4 goals, 8 points in 18 games) and D- John Michael Liles (5 points in 36 games)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- David Pastrnak (34 goals, 70 points in 75 games), F- Tim Schaller (7 goals, 14 points in 59 games), F- Ryan Spooner (11 goals, 39 points in 78 games), F- Noel Acciari (5 points, 16 penalty minutes in 29 games) and D- Joe Morrow (1 point, 8 penalty minutes in 17 games)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: Defenseman Colin Miller, 6 goals, 13 points in 61 games with 55 penalty minutes. The 24 year old is coming off his second season in the NHL.

Team Season Grade: B Boston expects so much of their teams so this season maybe wasn’t special compared to the Celtics or Patriots but the Bruins still made the playoffs for the first time in a couple seasons.

Montreal Canadiens

Season Story: The Canadiens are coming off a Carey Price absent 2015-16 season and were hoping to make the playoffs again. They made a lot of noise in the offseason, trading Lars Eller and P.K. Subban away, while acquiring Shea Weber  and Andrew Shaw. They also signed Russian forward Alexander Radulov from the KHL in a risky move. They also added Al Montoya to their goaltending team to back up superstar Carey Price. The Canadiens were fantastic, they started the season going 8-0-1 and although they cooled down later in the season, even having a bad month in February where they went 5-7-1, the playoffs were locked in their under performing division. They matched up with the Rangers in the first round and despite a tremendous effort from Alexander Radulov and Carey Price they lost in 6 games.

Record: 47-26-9, 1st in Atlantic, Lost in 6 games to New York

Best Month: October, 8-0-1

Worst Month: February, 5-7-1

Top Scorer (Goals and Points): Max Pacioretty, 35 goals, 67 points in 81 games

Top Scorer  (Playoffs): Alexander Radulov, 2 goals, 7 points in 6 games

Disappointing Performance: Tomas Plekanec, the Canadiens veteran forward had a underachieving season with only 10 goals and 28 points in 78 games after having 54 points a year ago. The fans really started calling out Plekanec which is really awful considering he has given Montreal 12 years of service.

Goaltender: Carey Price, 37-20-5, 2.23 GAA and a .923 SV%. In the playoffs Price was 2-4 with a 1.86 GAA and a .933 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Alexander Radulov (18 goals, 54 points in 76 games), F- Dwight King (1 point in 17 games), F- Brian Flynn (6 goals, 10 points in 51 games), D- Andrei Markov (36 points, 16 penalty minutes in 62 games) and D- Nikita Nesterov (5 points, 4 penalty minutes in 13 games)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Alex Galchenyuk (17 goals, 44 points in 61 games) and other AHL players

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: Defenseman Alexei Emelin. The big hitting defenseman had 71 penalty minutes and 10 points in 76 games.

Team Season Grade: A- Yes they lost in the first round of the playoffs but this season was a successful one for Montreal and Radulov really paid off big time for the club.

New York Rangers

Season Story: The Rangers entered the season with high hopes of another playoff appearance and General Manager Jeff Gorton did his best to make sure the Rangers would succeed. They added forwards Mika Zibanejad, Michael Grabner, Jimmy Vesey and Brandon Pirri with defenseman Nick Holden and Adam Clendening. The Rangers began the season very strong finishing the year of 2016 with a 26-12-1 record. They slowed down in the second half of the season but still finished 4th in the Metro and with the 1st wildcard spot. They faced Montreal in a defensive and goaltending battle which the Rangers narrowly won in 6 games. They then faced the Ottawa Senators and were shocked when the new look Sens beat them out in 6 games.

Record: 48-28-6, 4th in Metro, Lost in Second Round against Ottawa

Best Month: February, 9-3-1

Worst Month: January, 5-6-0

Top Scorer (Points): Mats Zuccarello, 15 Goals, 59 points in 80 games

Top Scorer (Goals): Chris Kreider, 28 Goals, 53 Points in 75 games

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Mika Zibanejad, 2 Goals, 9 points in 12 games

Disappointing Performance: Kevin Klein, 3 goals and 14 points in 60 games. The 32 year old defenseman really struggled this year after two strong seasons in New York with 9 goals and 26 points in under 70 games in both seasons.

Goaltender: Henrik Lundqvist, 31-20-4, 2.74 GAA and a .910 SV%, Lundqvist was 6-6 in the playoffs with a 2.25 GAA and a .927 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Tanner Glass (2 points, 17 penalty minutes in 11 games) and D- Brendan Smith (4 points, 29 penalty minutes in 18 games)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Mika Zibanejad (14 Goals, 37 points in 56 games), F- Brandon Pirri (18 points, 25 penalty minutes in 60 games), F- Jesper Fast (6 goals, 21 points in 68 games) and D- Adam Clendening (11 points, 17 penalty minutes in 31 games).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: F- Oscar Lindberg (the 25 year old forward had 8 goals and 20 points in 65 games last season)

Team Season Grade: B+, The Rangers had a good season but probably could have hoped for a better result against the Ottawa Senators.

Washington Capitals

Season Story: The Capitals are regular season juggernauts looking for their second consecutive President’s Trophy. They were consistently good all season, never really had a bad stretch and entered the playoffs with a favourable match-up against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs however gave them a series and the Capitals had to battle for a 6 game series victory. They then faced their rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The series was competitive and went to a Game 7. Marc-Andre Fleury made a 29 save shutout and the Penguins won in Washington 2-0. The Capitals once again couldn’t reach the Stanley Cup Finals despite an amazing regular season.

Record: 55-19-8, 1st in NHL, lost in second round to Pittsburgh

Best Month: January, 12-2-1

Worst Month: March, 9-5-1

Top Scorer (Points): Nicklas Backstrom, 23 goals, 86 points in 82 games

Top Scorer (Goals): T.J. Oshie, 33 goals, 56 points in 68 games

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Nicklas Backstrom, 6 goals, 13 points in 13 games.

Disappointing Performance: Alexander Ovechkin, yes he was still second on the team in scoring with 69 points in 82 games but Ovechkin really under performed this season. He scored 33 goals which ended his three year streak of scoring at least 50 goals in a season. This was also his lowest point total since 2012 and he didn’t register a single point in the Pittsburgh series.

Goaltender: Braden Holtby, 42-13-6, 2.07 GAA and a .925 SV% and Holtby was 7-6 in the playoffs with a 2.46 GAA and a .909 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Justin Williams (24 goals, 48 points in 80 games), F- Daniel Winnik (12 goals, 25 points in 72 games), D- Kevin Shattenkirk (14 points in 19 games) and D- Karl Alzner (13 points, 28 penalty minutes in 82 games).

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Evgeny Kuznetsov (19 goals, 59 points in 82 games), F- Andre Burakovsky (12 goals, 35 points in 64 games), F- Brett Connolly (15 goals, 23 points in 66 games), D- Dmitry Orlov (33 points, 51 penalty minutes in 82 games) and GK- Philipp Grubauer (13-6-2, 2.05 GAA and a .927 SV%)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: Defenseman Nate Schmidt (17 points, +22 in 60 games last season). He is only 25 years old

Team Season Grade: C The Capitals grade will not be higher than a C until they can prove themselves in the postseason, they have all the talent in the world but can never get over the hump.

Ottawa Senators

Season Story: The Senators were looking to return to the postseason with former Lightning coach Guy Boucher as the new man in charge. They acquired forwards Derick Brassard and Chris Kelly with Goaltender Mike Condon coming over from Pittsburgh. They lost defenseman Patrick Wiercioch in free agency. The Senators had a good regular season and even made some deals at the deadline to improve their team. They acquired forwards Tommy Wingels, Alex Burrows and Viktor Stalberg. The Senators opened up their playoffs with a challenging six game win against Boston. They then eliminated the Rangers in six games setting up a Conference Finals match-up against Pittsburgh. Heavy underdogs the Senators gave the Penguins a tough series forcing game 7 and forcing overtime in game 7. Chris Kunitz scores in double overtime to eliminate the Senators. This was Ottawa’s best postseason run since 2007 when they went all the way to the Cup Finals.

Record: 44-28-10, 2nd in Atlantic. Lost in Conference Finals

Best Month: November, 9-5-1

Worst Month: February, 7-6-0

Top Scorer (Points): Erik Karlsson, 17 Goals, 71 Points in 77 games.

Top Scorer (Goals): Kyle Turris, 27 Goals, 55 Points in 78 games.

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Erik Karlsson, 2 Goals, 18 Points in 19 games.

Disappointing Performance: Bobby Ryan, this is a weird pick because although he had 6 goals and 15 points in 19 playoff games his regular season wasn’t very good. Ryan had 13 goals and 25 points in 62 games. He makes 7.25 million dollars per season for the next 5 years. He was even exposed to the Vegas Golden Knights who elected not to pick him. So while the playoffs were nice his contract doesn’t equal his production.

Goaltender: Craig Anderson, 25-11-4, 2.28 GAA and a .926 SV%, in the playoffs he went 11-8 with a 2.34 GAA and a .922 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Chris Kelly (12 points, 23 penalty minutes in 82 games), F- Viktor Stalberg (4 points, 8 penalty minutes in 18 games), F-Tommy Wingels (4 points, 12 penalty minutes in 36 games), F- Tom Pyatt (23 points, 14 penalty minutes in 82 games), F- Chris Neil (4 points, 63 penalty minutes in 53 games), D- Jyrki Jokipakka (0 points in 3 games), GK- Mike Condon (19-14-6, 2.50 GAA and a .914 SV%) and GK- Matt O’Connor (Spent season in AHL)

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Jean-Gabriel Pageau (12 goals, 33 points in 82 games) and F- Ryan Dzingel (14 goals, 32 points in 82 games)

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: defenseman Marc Methot (12 points, 24 penalty minutes in 68 games). The 32 year old defenseman was an absolute beast in the playoffs.

Team Season Grade: A- Yes this team was criticized for their style of play but you can’t argue with the results. The Senators look to be a dangerous team under new coach Guy Boucher.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Season Story: They are trying to repeat as Cup Champions. They breezed through the season finishing 2nd in a tough Metro division that set up a match-up against the Blue Jackets. The Penguins walked through them in 5 games, the next two series against Washington and Ottawa were tough and both went to 7 games but the Penguins prevailed again. This set up a match-up against the Nashville Predators. The Penguins took a quick 2-0 series lead before Nashville tied it up 2-2. The Penguins won big in game 5 on home ice and then finished the job in game 6, winning 2-0. They become the first team of the post 2004 lockout to win back-to-back Stanley Cups. Sidney Crosby also wins back-to-back Conn Smythe Trophies for best player of the playoffs. This is the true hockey dynasty of this generation

Record: 50-21-11

Best Month: December, 12-1-2

Worst Month: January, 6-5-0

Top Scorer (Points and Goals): Sidney Crosby, 44 Goals, 89 Points in 75 games.

Top Scorer (Playoffs): Evgeni Malkin, 10 Goals, 28 points in 25 games.

Disappointing Performance: Carl Hagelin, the Swedish forward had 6 goals and 22 points in 61 games and only 2 goals in 15 playoff games. Last season in Pittsburgh Hagelin had 10 goals and 27 points in 37 games and 6 goals and 16 points in 24 playoff games.

Goaltender: Matt Murray, 32-10-4, 2.41 GAA and a .923 SV%. In the playoffs he was 7-3-0 with a 1.70 GAA and a .937 SV%

Upcoming important UFA’s: F- Matt Cullen (13 goals, 31 points in 72 games. 40 years old), F- Chris Kunitz (9 goals, 29 points in 71 games. 37 years old). F- Nick Bonino (18 goals, 37 points in 80 games), D- Trevor Daley (19 points, 37 penalty minutes in 55 games), D- Ron Hainsey (3 points, 4 penalty minutes in 18 games) and D- Mark Streit (6 points and 6 penalty minutes in 19 games).

Upcoming important RFA’s: F- Connor Sheary (23 goals, 53 points in 61 games), F- Josh Archibald (3 goals, 4 penalty minutes in 10 games), D- Justin Schultz (12 goals, 51 points in 78 games) and D- Brian Dumoulin (15 points, 14 penalty minutes in 70 games).

Player Lost in Expansion Draft: GK- Marc-Andre Fleury (18-10-7, 3.02 GAA and a .909 SV%) Fleury was the obvious choice for the Knights as they get a good starting goalie.

Team Season Grade: A+ They won the Stanley Cup.

[hockey-finns]

WHICH NHL TEAM HAS THE BEST GOALIES PART 2 // Feb 4th 2019

Based on GAA, I picked two goalies with most games played that are currently on the team’s roster. If there was a tie, the team with better Sv% is placed first.

1. New York Islanders

Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss - 2.205

2. Dallas Stars

Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin- 2.320

3. Boston Bruins

Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak - 2.420

4. St. Louis Blues

Jake Allen and Jordan Binnington - 2.450

5. Winnipeg Jets

Connor Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit - 2.475

6. Nashville Predators

Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros - 2.495

7. Los Angles Kings

Jack Campbell and Jonathan Quick - 2.580

8. Philadelphia Flyers

Carter Hart and Brian Elliott - 2.585

9. Carolina Hurricanes

Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney - 2.660

10. Toronto Maple Leafs

Frederik Andersen and Garret Sparks - 2.700

11. Tampa Bay Lightning

Andrei Vasilevskiy and Louis Domingue - 2.705

12. Vegas Golden Knights

Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban - 2.715

13. Arizona Coyotes

Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta - 2.760

14. Minnesota Wild

Devan Dubnyk and Alex Stalock - 2.775

15. Calgary Flames

David Rittich and Mike Smith - 2.785

16. Anaheim Ducks

John Gibson and Ryan Miller - 2.790

17. Pittsburgh Penguins

Casey DeSmith and Matt Murray - 2.825

18. Buffalo Sabres

Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark - 2.875

19. Vancouver Canucks

Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson - 2.940

20. Columbus Blue Jackets

Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo - 2.985

21. Washington Capitals

Braden Holtby and Phoenix Copley - 3.010

22. Ottawa Senators

Anders Nilsson and Craig Anderson - 3.020

23. San Jose Sharks

Martin Jones and Aaron Dell - 3.030

24. Detroit Red Wings

Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Bernier - 3.035

25. Montreal Canadiens

Carey Price and Antti Niemi - 3.090

26. Edmonton Oilers

Mikko Koskinen and Cam Talbot - 3.090

27. Florida Panthers

James Reimer and Roberto Luongo - 3.115

28. Colorado Avalanche

Semyon Varlamov and Philipp Grubauer - 3.135

29. New York Rangers

Henrik Lundqvist and Alexander Georgiev - 3.150

30. Chicago Blackhawks

Corey Crawford and Cam Ward - 3.555

31. New Jersey Devils

Keith Kinkaid and Cory Schneider - 3.895

I know this doesn’t tell everything because there are huge differences in GAA and the amount of games played between the goalies in the same team but I think this was an interesting ranking to make!

Tell me if you’d like me to do more rankings in the future!

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Harsh Words in Big D, Goalie Overuse, World Juniors (Dec 29)

  Hey, why not preorder your Midseason Guide here? DobberHockey staff are working on this feverishly so it’ll be available for you on January 11. You’ll find second-half projections, sleepers, advanced stats, historical trends, prospects, and more.

I’m currently working on the goaltending piece. As I do with any large assignment (writing or otherwise), I tend to start with the easy and work my way out to the more difficult. So when projecting the goaltending situations for 31 teams, I’m starting with the more predictable situations and working my way out to the more difficult. That means I’m getting the workhorse starters like Craig Anderson, John Gibson, and Carey Price out of the way.

Wait, what… all three are dealing with injuries?* Now I’m not trying to suggest that all three goalies’ injuries are due to overuse, but goalies who are overused become more susceptible to injuries. Whenever a goalie who starts a ton of games is injured, I tend to wonder when teams will start managing goaltending minutes the same way major league baseball teams now manage their pitchers’ pitch counts.

So who could be in danger of overuse? Marc-Andre Fleury is your league leader with 35 games played. As much as his fantasy owners have been able to count on him for starts and wins, he’s one of the league’s older goalies at 34. He missed two months with a concussion last season and also suffered two concussions in 2015-16, which is something for you to keep in the back of your mind.

I’m also looking at Frederik Andersen, who is only one win behind Fleury and among the top 5 in games played. Andersen has started 66 games in each of the previous two seasons, so he has a track record of durability. But what concerns me is the high volume of shots that the Leafs face on a nightly basis. If you’re a Fleury or Andersen owner and Malcolm Subban or Garret Sparks happens to start, don’t be dismayed. Consider it necessary rest for your goalie.

*Gibson and Price are on my 9-year-old son’s fantasy team, his very first team and a team he drafted only a few days ago. Welcome to fantasy hockey, son.

*

I don’t read about these types of comments in hockey as often as in other professional sports – maybe because of the more polite nature of hockey culture. Yet on Friday, Stars’ CEO Jim Lites ripped into Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin with a few choice words (Dallas News). Benn’s $9.5 million cap hit is within the league’s top 10 at the moment; while Seguin will move into that group starting next season, which is when his new contract with a $9.85 million cap hit kicks in. Although neither Benn nor Seguin are having terrible seasons, the article mentions some interesting names with whom the two Stars are currently tied with in points – most of whom would have been drafted below Benn or Seguin.

Seguin is tied for 57th in the league with players like Alex DeBrincat, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kevin Hayes and Gustav Nyquist. Benn is tied for 67th in the league with players like Zach Parise, Patrik Laine, Tomas Hertl and Jonathan Drouin.

It’s all well and good for ownership to say that the team’s star players are underperforming. After all, ownership is paying a truckload of cash for these two players and has a right not to be happy if the investment is underperforming. But his choice of words – particularly with those words being expressed publicly – is inappropriate and completely over the top. I do acknowledge this is entertaining for those of us watching from afar, though.

The simple fact is that while the team has been built around Benn and Seguin (and Alexander Radulov and John Klingberg), the Stars have not possessed enough secondary scoring to push them to among the NHL’s elite. How this affects Benn’s or Seguin’s production remains to be seen, but the contract amounts, terms, and no-movement clauses will not make them easy players to trade if it turns out they are not happy with Lites’ criticism and want to get the H-E-double hockey sticks out of Big D.

Something else to consider about Benn:  

Jamie Benn is going to be 30 in the summer. The Stars can't get 25 year old Jamie Benn back again. I wonder if they know that.

— Draglikepull (@draglikepull) December 28, 2018

Benn’s PTS/GP rate since the 2015-16 season: 1.09, 0.90, 0.96, 0.79 this season (65-point pace). Still very good this season, but not elite and obviously not good enough for Stars’ ownership.

*

Tomas Tatar scored two goals, his 13th and 14th of the season, in the Canadiens’ 5-3 win over Florida. Tatar has now recorded multiple points in consecutive games after being held without a point in his previous six games. Despite the recent slump, Tatar has exceeded expectations in Montreal and is on pace for 30 goals and 60 points.

With the aforementioned Price on IR and not on the Canadiens’ three-game road trip, Antti Niemi stopped 23 of 26 shots to earn his first win in over a month. Despite earning the win, his 4.01 GAA and .877 SV% on the season still won’t inspire much confidence among Habs’ faithful. Avoid reaching for any Montreal goalie on Saturday, as they will be visiting the high-scoring Lightning.

*

Mathew Barzal scored two goals and added an assist in the Islanders’ 6-3 win over the Senators. This was Barzal’s first three-point game of the season, although he recorded nine of them last season. He now has points in three consecutive games.

Here’s one of Barzal’s goals:  

Down 3-1 at one point.

This @Barzal_97 snipe has made it 4-3 for the @NYIslanders. pic.twitter.com/26lCBAcwnB

— NHL (@NHL) December 29, 2018

Barzal, Tavares, and the rest of the Islanders head into Toronto tomorrow to face the Leafs. What’s that you say? Tavares is now a Leaf? Oh, that means Tavares will be facing his former team for the first time. I’m sure we’ll talk about that tomorrow. Do we call that a revenge game for the Islanders?

Thomas Chabot left Friday’s game with an upper-body injury. He is expected to miss Saturday’s game against Washington. With Saturday such a busy day for games (Columbus is the only team not playing), you won’t have a difficult time finding a replacement.  

*

Speaking of John Tavares, he wasn’t looking ahead to Saturday’s game and was clearly focused on the task at hand on Friday.  JT scored two goals in the Leafs’ 4-2 win over Columbus, giving him multiple points in five consecutive games and seven goals over his last six games. He’s now pushed his way up to 26 goals, which ties him for second with Jeff Skinner in that category. Not that there was much concern, but the Tavares signing has so far been everything the Leafs hoped it would be.

Not to be outdone, Tavares’ linemate Mitch Marner scored a goal and added two assists. Marner has now posted three points in three of his last four games with points in five of his last six games. Marner has now moved into the top 5 in scoring with 53 points (13g-40a) in 38 games.

*

The Bruins will be without three of their regulars on Saturday, as Brad Marchand will be sidelined with an upper-body injury, Charlie McAvoy is sidelined with a lower-body injury, and David Backes has been suspended for three games. Despite the injuries, Marchand and McAvoy still remain possibilities for the Winter Classic on January 1.

*

I just returned from the Russia/Czech Republic World Junior game, which the Russians took by a score of 2-1. Strange scoring anomaly, as both of Russia’s goals were shorthanded. Nikolai Kovalenko, a sixth-round pick of Colorado, scored one of Russia’s goals and was named Russia’s game MVP. Goalie Lukas Dostal, a third-round pick of Anaheim, was named the Czech game MVP, stopping 26 of 28 shots.

Although he did not score a point, Klim Kostin had the look and feel of Russia’s most dominant offensive player. He’s not exactly taking the AHL by storm (11 points in 28 games), but keeper leaguers should stay patient as he is at least another season or two away, particularly since he is a power forward (6-3, 215). The Blues might be headed for a rebuild, so he should be in their plans regardless. Alexander Romanov, a second-round pick of Montreal, grabbed my attention as well with an effective two-way game from the blueline.

Not exactly a huge game for Czech first-round picks Filip Zadina, Martin Necas, or Martin Kaut, all of whom were held without a point. I could see the talent there, particularly from Zadina.

Although this game wasn’t filled with scoring, it was a unique experience for me personally, as it was my first-ever World Junior game. It was a mostly nonpartisan crowd, although there were pockets who were cheering for either the Czech Republic or Russia and got louder as the game went on. I’m looking forward to the rest of this tournament, although I’m not sure I’ll be able to attend any more games in person.

In the other World Junior game on Friday, the US had its way with Kazakhstan, firing 68 shots en route to an 8-2 win. Flyers’ first-round pick Joel Farabee posted a hat trick, while Jason Robertson (2017 2nd round pick, Dallas) recorded four assists and was named player of the game. Projected 2019 first overall pick Jack Hughes was held out of the game for precautionary reasons, but it’s not like the US needed him for this one.

For more on the World Juniors, you’ll want to check out the Dobber Prospects Ramblings, which provide a number of interesting and unique perspectives on the tournament.

*

For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-harsh-words-in-big-d-goalie-overuse-world-juniors-dec-29/

[hockeyholidays2024]

Sign-up data update

As of 8:00 PM Eastern time on November 10, there are 57 sign-ups. 

If you want the list of all available ships, go here.

If you want to know what is requested and offered as of now, I got you covered under the read more!

Requests, sorted by frequency:

Jamie Benn/Tyler Seguin        8

Tyson Barrie/Gabriel Landeskog        7

Danny Briere/Claude Giroux  6

Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews       6

Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin        6

Mathew Barzal/Anthony Beauvillier  5

Nico Hischier/Nolan Patrick   5

Alex Galchenyuk/Brendan Gallagher4

Carter Hart/Philippe Myers    4

Dante Fabbro/Tyson Jost        4

Sidney Crosby/Claude Giroux4

Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin4

Sidney Crosby/Marc-Andre Fleury     4

Alexander Radulov/Anton Khudobin/Valeri Nichushkin        3

Alexandre Fortin/Jeremy Lauzon/Philippe Myers      3

Anthony Beauvillier/Pierre-Luc Dubois          3

Frederik Andersen/Connor Brown     3

Jack Eichel/Noah Hanifin        3

Jeremy Lauzon/Philippe Myers          3

Leon Draisaitl/Connor McDavid         3

Mathew Barzal/Dante Fabbro            3

Mathew Barzal/Jordan Eberle            3

Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews/William Nylander3

Mitch Marner/Connor McDavid/Dylan Strome         3

Mitch Marner/Dylan Strome  3

Nikolaj Ehlers/Patrik Laine     3

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare/Marc-Andre Fleury          3

Ryanne Breton/Danny Briere/Claude Giroux3

Sebastian Aho/Teuvo Teravainen      3

Sidney Crosby/Connor McDavid        3

Sidney Crosby/Kris Letang      3

Travis Konecny/Nolan Patrick3

Andre Burakovsky/Christian Djoos     2

Anthony Beauvillier/Mathew Barzal/Jordan Eberle  2

Anthony Cirelli/Mathieu Joseph         2

Anton Khudobin/Alexander Radulov2

Auston Matthews/William Nylander2

Braydon Coburn/Slater Koekkoek      2

Brett Ritchie/Devin Shore       2

Brian Dumoulin/Kris Letang   2

Chris Kreider/Mika Zibanejad2

Christian Djoos/Jakub Vrana  2

Claude Giroux/Wayne Simmonds      2

Connor McDavid/Dylan Strome         2

Connor McDavid/Ryan Nugent-Hopkins        2

Connor McDavid/Ryan Strome          2

Evgeni Malkin/Matt Murray   2

Frederik Andersen/Auston Matthews            2

Frederik Andersen/Lars Eller  2

Frederik Andersen/Mitch Marner      2

Hilary Knight/Marie-Philip Poulin       2

Jack Eichel/Sam Reinhart       2

Jamie Benn/Tyson Barrie        2

Jesper Bratt/Nico Hischier      2

Johnny Gaudreau/Sean Monahan      2

Jordan Eberle/Taylor Hall       2

Julie Chu/Caroline Ouellette  2

Lawson Crouse/Travis Konecny          2

Leon Draisaitl/Connor McDavid/Dylan Strome          2

Marc-Andre Fleury/Claude Giroux     2

Marc-Andre Fleury/Claude Giroux/Kris Letang          2

Marc-Andre Fleury/Malcolm Subban2

Marc-Andre Fleury/Matt Murray       2

Marcus Johansson/Evgeny Kuznetsov           2

Matt Grzelcyk/Charlie McAvoy          2

Miro Heiskanen/Patrik Laine  2

Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews/Dylan Strome       2

Mitch Marner/John Tavares   2

Nicklas Backstrom/Andre Burakovsky            2

Nolan Patrick/Ivan Provorov  2

Oscar Klefbom/Adam Larsson            2

Patrik Laine/Blake Wheeler    2

Patrik Laine/Esa Lindell           2

Pekka Rinne/Juuse Saros        2

Rasmus Dahlin/Casey Mittelstadt      2

Sidney Crosby/Alexander Ovechkin   2

Sidney Crosby/Phil Kessel       2

Sidney Crosby/Tyler Seguin    2

Taylor Hall/Nico Hischier        2

Tyson Barrie/Nathan MacKinnon       2

Valeri Nichushkin/Alexander Radulov            2

Valtteri Filppula/Brayden Point          2

Zach Hyman/William Nylander          2

Alex DeBrincat/Patrick Sharp1

Alex Galchenyuk/Carey Price1

Alex Galchenyuk/Carey Price/P. K. Subban    1

Alex Galchenyuk/Nail Yakupov           1

Alex Galchenyuk/P. K. Subban           1

Alex Killorn/Andrej Sustr        1

Alexander Ovechkin/Alexander Semin           1

Alexander Radulov/Tyler Seguin        1

Alexander Semin/Eric Staal    1

Amanda Kessel/Hilary Knight1

Anders Bjork/Charlie McAvoy1

Anders Bjork/Jake DeBrusk    1

Anders Bjork/Jake DeBrusk/Charlie McAvoy1

Andre Burakovsky/Braden Holtby      1

Andre Burakovsky/Gina Carlson/John Carlson          1

Andre Burakovsky/Jakub Vrana         1

Anthony Beauvillier/Joshua Ho-Sang1

Anthony Cirelli/Taylor Raddysh/Mitchell Stephens   1

Auston Matthews/Matthew Tkachuk1

Brady Skjei/Jimmy Vesey        1

Brayden Point/Brett Howden1

Brent Burns/Joe Thornton      1

Brian Boyle/Hilary Knight       1

Calvin Pickard/Garret Sparks  1

Carey Price/P. K. Subban        1

Casey Cizikas/Matt Martin     1

Claude Giroux/Evgeni Malkin1

Claude Giroux/Jaromír Jágr    1

Claude Giroux/Kris Letang      1

Claude Giroux/Nolan Patrick  1

Claude Giroux/Travis Konecny           1

Connor McDavid/Nail Yakupov          1

Conor Sheary/Sidney Crosby/Jamie Oleksiak1

Daniel Briere/Claude Giroux/Jaromir Jagr     1

Denis Gurianov/Valeri Nichushkin     1

Devan Dubnyk/Alex Stalock   1

Duncan Keith/Brent Seabrook            1

Dylan Strome/Ryan Strome    1

Erik Johnson/Nathan MacKinnon       1

Evgeni Malkin/Alexander Ovechkin   1

Evgeni Malkin/Bryan Rust      1

Frederik Andersen/Auston Matthews/William Nylander      1

Frederik Andersen/Frans Nielsen       1

Frederik Andersen/William Nylander1

J. T. Compher/Tyson Jost        1

Jack Eichel/Connor McDavid  1

Jack Eichel/Jeff Skinner           1

Jack Eichel/Rasmus Dahlin     1

Jake DeBrusk/Charlie McAvoy            1

Jake Dotchin/Yanni Gourde    1

Jake McCabe/Rasmus Ristolainen      1

Jamie Benn/Alexander Radulov/Tyler Seguin1

Jamie Benn/Jordie Benn/Tyler Seguin           1

Jamie Oleksiak/Penny Oleksiak          1

Jeff Skinner/Eric Staal1

John Klingberg/Esa Lindell      1

Jonathan Drouin/Nathan MacKinnon1

Jonathan Marchessault/Colin Miller  1

Jordan Eberle/Taylor Hall/Ryan Nugent-Hopkins      1

Jordie Benn/Jason Demers     1

Julius Honka/Miro Heiskanen1

Kasperi Kapanen/William Nylander   1

Kevin Labanc/Timo Meier      1

Kyle Dubas/William Nylander1

Lars Eller/Michal Kempny       1

Lawson Crouse/Dylan Strome1

Lawson Crouse/Nick Merkley/Dylan Strome1

Logan Couture/Tomas Hertl   1

Madison Bowey/Christian Djoos/Jakub Vrana           1

Marc-Andre Fleury/Kris Letang          1

Marc-Andre Fleury/Ryan Reaves        1

Marc-Andre Fleury/Vegas Golden Knights     1

Marc-Andre Fleury/Veronique Fleury/Catherine Laflamme/Kris Letang      1

Mark Scheifele/Blake Wheeler           1

Mark Scheifele/Jacob Trouba1

Martin Nečas/Andrei Svechnikov       1

Matt Benning/Drake Caggiula1

Matt Duchene/Gabriel Landeskog     1

Matt Murray/Bryan Rust        1

Mattias Janmark/Jason Spezza           1

Meghan Duggan/Marie-Philip Poulin1

Michal Kempny/Jakub Vrana  1

Mikael Granlund/Mikko Koivu           1

Mikko Koivu/Alex Stalock       1

Mikko Koivu/Zach Parise        1

Miro Heiskanen/Roope Hintz/Esa Lindell      1

Mitch Marner/Connor McDavid         1

Nathan MacKinnon/Tyson Jost          1

Nazem Kadri/John Tavares     1

Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin/Alexander Semin    1

Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Semin  1

Nicklas Backstrom/Evgeni Malkin      1

Nicklas Backstrom/Mike Green          1

Nicklas Backstrom/William Nylander1

Nikolaj Ehlers/Patrik Laine/Blake Wheeler    1

P. K. Subban/John Tavares     1

Patrice Bergeron/Brad Marchand      1

Pavel Bure/Sergei Fedorov     1

Phil Kessel/Evgeni Malkin       1

Phil Kessel/Jack Johnson        1

Phil Kessel/Kris Letang            1

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare/Marc-Andre Fleury/Claude Giroux         1

Pierre-Luc Dubois/Anthony Duclair    1

Roman Josi/Shea Weber        1

Roope Hintz/Miro Heiskanen1

Sam Gagner/John Tavares      1

Sergei Bobrovsky/Nick Foligno           1

Seth Jones/Zach Werenski     1

Shayne Gostisbehere/Ivan Provorov  1

Shayne Gostisbehere/Travis Konecny            1

Sidney Crosby/Anna Kasterova/Evgeni Malkin          1

Sidney Crosby/Brad Marchand           1

Sidney Crosby/Catherine Laflamme/Kris Letang        1

Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin/Alexander Ovechkin   1

Sidney Crosby/Jack Johnson   1

Sidney Crosby/Jaromir Jagr    1

Sidney Crosby/Matt Cullen     1

Sidney Crosby/Matt Murray   1

Sidney Crosby/Nathan MacKinnon    1

Sidney Crosby/Taylor Crosby  1

Sidney Crosby/Taylor Hall      1

Tanner Kaspick/Nolan Patrick1

Taylor Crosby/Amanda Kessel            1

Tyler Johnson/Nikita Kucherov/Ondrej Palat1

Tyler Johnson/Ondrej Palat    1

Tyson Barrie/Gabriel Landeskog/Nathan MacKinnon            1

William Karlsson/Alexander Wennberg         1

Zach Hyman/Connor Brown   1

Zach Hyman/Mitch Marner    1

Zach Hyman/Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews         1

Offers, sorted by frequency:

Jamie Benn/Tyler Seguin        12

Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews       12

Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin8

Tyson Barrie/Gabriel Landeskog        8

Mathew Barzal/Anthony Beauvillier  7

Travis Konecny/Nolan Patrick7

Connor McDavid/Dylan Strome         6

Danny Briere/Claude Giroux  6

Mitch Marner/Dylan Strome  6

J. T. Compher/Tyson Jost        5

Mitch Marner/Connor McDavid/Dylan Strome         5

Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin        5

Sidney Crosby/Claude Giroux5

Alex Galchenyuk/Brendan Gallagher4

Auston Matthews/William Nylander4

Carter Hart/Philippe Myers    4

Dante Fabbro/Tyson Jost        4

Jeff Carter/Mike Richards       4

Jordan Eberle/Taylor Hall       4

Nico Hischier/Nolan Patrick   4

Ryanne Breton/Danny Briere/Claude Giroux4

Sidney Crosby/Marc-Andre Fleury     4

Sidney Crosby/Tyler Seguin    4

Taylor Hall/Nico Hischier        4

Tyson Barrie/Nathan MacKinnon       4

Zach Hyman/William Nylander          4

Andre Burakovsky/Christian Djoos     3

Anthony Beauvillier/Pierre-Luc Dubois          3

Brett Ritchie/Devin Shore       3

Carey Price/P. K. Subban        3

Claude Giroux/Nolan Patrick  3

Frederik Andersen/Auston Matthews            3

Frederik Andersen/Connor Brown     3

Jack Eichel/Connor McDavid  3

Jeremy Lauzon/Philippe Myers          3

John Klingberg/Esa Lindell      3

Jonathan Drouin/Nathan MacKinnon3

Lawson Crouse/Travis Konecny          3

Leon Draisaitl/Connor McDavid         3

Marc-Andre Fleury/Claude Giroux/Kris Letang          3

Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews/Dylan Strome       3

Nolan Patrick/Ivan Provorov  3

Pekka Rinne/Juuse Saros        3

Sebastian Aho/Teuvo Teravainen      3

Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin/Alexander Ovechkin   3

Sidney Crosby/Kris Letang      3

Tyler Johnson/Nikita Kucherov/Ondrej Palat3

Tyler Johnson/Ondrej Palat    3

Alexandre Fortin/Jeremy Lauzon/Philippe Myers      2

Andre Burakovsky/Braden Holtby      2

Andre Burakovsky/Jakub Vrana         2

Anthony Cirelli/Mathieu Joseph         2

Anthony Cirelli/Taylor Raddysh/Mitchell Stephens   2

Brady Skjei/Jimmy Vesey        2

Braydon Coburn/Slater Koekkoek      2

Chris Kreider/Mika Zibanejad2

Claude Giroux/Kris Letang      2

Connor McDavid/Ryan Nugent-Hopkins        2

Devan Dubnyk/Alex Stalock   2

Duncan Keith/Brent Seabrook            2

Evgeni Malkin/Matt Murray   2

Jack Eichel/Casey Mittelstadt2

Jack Eichel/Noah Hanifin        2

Jack Eichel/Rasmus Dahlin     2

Jack Eichel/Sam Reinhart       2

Jake McCabe/Rasmus Ristolainen      2

Jesper Bratt/Nico Hischier      2

Jordan Eberle/Taylor Hall/Ryan Nugent-Hopkins      2

Jordie Benn/Tyler Seguin        2

Kari Lehtonen/Antti Niemi     2

Kasperi Kapanen/William Nylander   2

Kris Letang/Matt Murray        2

Lawson Crouse/Dylan Strome2

Lawson Crouse/Nick Merkley/Dylan Strome2

Marc-Andre Fleury/Kris Letang          2

Marcus Johansson/Evgeny Kuznetsov           2

Mathew Barzal/Dante Fabbro            2

Mathew Barzal/Jordan Eberle            2

Michal Kempny/Jakub Vrana  2

Mikael Granlund/Mikko Koivu           2

Mikko Koivu/Alex Stalock       2

Mikko Koivu/Zach Parise        2

Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews/William Nylander2

Nick Merkley/Dylan Strome   2

Nicklas Backstrom/Andre Burakovsky            2

Nicklas Backstrom/William Nylander2

Nikolaj Ehlers/Patrik Laine     2

Patrik Laine/Esa Lindell           2

Paul Kariya/Teemu Selanne    2

Sergei Bobrovsky/Nick Foligno           2

Sidney Crosby/Nathan MacKinnon    2

Sidney Crosby/Taylor Crosby  2

Taylor Hall/Adam Henrique    2

Travis Konecny/Ivan Provorov            2

Valtteri Filppula/Brayden Point          2

Victor Hedman/Steven Stamkos        2

Victor Hedman/Tyler Johnson            2

William Nylander/David Pastrnak      2

Alex Galchenyuk/Dylan Strome          1

Alex Galchenyuk/P. K. Subban           1

Alexander Ovechkin/Alexander Semin           1

Alexander Radulov/Tyler Seguin        1

Alexander Semin/Eric Staal    1

Amanda Kessel/Hilary Knight1

André Burakovsky/Connor McDavid  1

Andre Burakovsky/Gina Carlson/John Carlson          1

Anthony Beauvillier/Joshua Ho-Sang1

Anthony Beauvillier/Mathew Barzal/Jordan Eberle  1

Auston Matthews/John Tavares        1

Auston Matthews/Morgan Rielly       1

Ben Scrivens/Jenny Scrivens  1

Brayden Point/Brett Howden1

Brian Boyle/Hilary Knight       1

Calvin Pickard/Garret Sparks  1

Carl Hagelin/Patric Hornqvist1

Casey Cizikas/Matt Martin     1

Charlie Coyle/Jason Zucker    1

Christian Djoos/Jakub Vrana  1

Claude Giroux/Ivan Provorov1

Claude Giroux/Travis Konecny           1

Claude Giroux/Wayne Simmonds      1

Connor McDavid/Nail Yakupov          1

Connor McDavid/Ryan Strome          1

Daniel Briere/Claude Giroux/Jaromir Jagr     1

Danny Briere/Sean Couturier/Claude Giroux1

Denis Gurianov/Valeri Nichushkin     1

Dylan Strome/Ryan Strome    1

Eddie Lack/Roberto Luongo   1

Erik Haula/Nate Schmidt        1

Erik Johnson/Nathan MacKinnon       1

Frederik Andersen/Auston Matthews/William Nylander      1

Frederik Andersen/Hilary Knight/Auston Matthews1

Frederik Andersen/Mitch Marner      1

Frederik Andersen/William Nylander1

Gabriel Landeskog/Jeff Skinner          1

Hilary Knight/Marie-Philip Poulin       1

Jack Eichel/Auston Matthews1

Jack Eichel/Jeff Skinner           1

Jake DeBrusk/Charlie McAvoy            1

Jake Dotchin/Yanni Gourde    1

Jake Gardiner/Morgan Rielly  1

Jamie Benn/Jordie Benn/Tyler Seguin           1

Jamie Benn/Tyson Barrie        1

Jaromír Jágr/Mario Lemieux   1

Jeff Skinner/Eric Staal1

Jonas Brodin/Mathew Dumba           1

Jordie Benn/Jason Demers     1

Julie Chu/Caroline Ouellette  1

Julius Honka/Miro Heiskanen1

Kari Lehtonen/Esa Lindell       1

Kevin Labanc/Timo Meier      1

Kyle Dubas/William Nylander/John Tavares  1

Lars Eller/Michal Kempny       1

Leon Draisaitl/Adam Larsson  1

Leon Draisaitl/Connor McDavid/Dylan Strome          1

Logan Couture/Tomas Hertl   1

Madison Bowey/Christian Djoos        1

Madison Bowey/Christian Djoos/Jakub Vrana           1

Marc-Andre Fleury/Claude Giroux     1

Marc-Andre Fleury/Malcolm Subban1

Marc-Andre Fleury/Matt Murray       1

Marc-Andre Fleury/Matt Murray/Malcolm Subban  1

Marc-Andre Fleury/Veronique Fleury/Catherine Laflamme/Kris Letang      1

Mark Scheifele/Blake Wheeler           1

Martin Nečas/Andrei Svechnikov       1

Matt Benning/Drake Caggiula1

Matt Cullen/Matt Murray      1

Matt Grzelcyk/Charlie McAvoy          1

Meghan Duggan/Marie-Philip Poulin1

Michael Latta/Tom Wilson     1

Miro Heiskanen/Roope Hintz/Esa Lindell      1

Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews/John Tavares        1

Mitch Marner/Connor McDavid         1

Mitch Marner/John Tavares   1

Nathan Bastian/Michael McLeod       1

Nazem Kadri/John Tavares     1

Nicklas Backstrom/Christian Djoos    1

Nicklas Backstrom/Evgeni Malkin      1

Oscar Klefbom/Adam Larsson            1

P. K. Subban/John Tavares     1

Patrice Bergeron/Brad Marchand      1

Pavel Bure/Sergei Fedorov     1

Pavel Bure/Sergei Fedorov/Anna Kournikova            1

Phil Kessel/Kris Letang            1

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare/Marc-Andre Fleury          1

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare/Marc-Andre Fleury/Claude Giroux         1

Rasmus Dahlin/Casey Mittelstadt      1

Roman Josi/Shea Weber        1

Roope Hintz/Kasperi Kapanen            1

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins/Ryan Strome  1

Ryan Strome/John Tavares     1

Ryanne Breton/Claude Giroux            1

Seth Jones/Zach Werenski     1

Shayne Gostisbehere/Ivan Provorov  1

Shayne Gostisbehere/Travis Konecny            1

Sidney Crosby/Alexander Ovechkin   1

Sidney Crosby/Anna Kasterova/Evgeni Malkin          1

Sidney Crosby/Brad Marchand           1

Sidney Crosby/Connor McDavid        1

Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin/Alexander Semin        1

Sidney Crosby/Jack Johnson   1

Sidney Crosby/Jamie Oleksiak            1

Sidney Crosby/Marc-Andre Fleury/Veronique Fleury            1

Sidney Crosby/Matt Cullen     1

Tanner Kaspick/Nolan Patrick1

Taylor Crosby/Amanda Kessel            1

Travis Dermott/Justin Holl      1

Valeri Nichushkin/Alexander Radulov            1

Vitek Vanecek/Jakub Vrana    1

Zach Hyman/Connor Brown   1

Zach Hyman/Mitch Marner    1

[thegloober]

The Hockey News’ 2018-19 Season Preview: Dallas Stars

An ill-timed losing streak is all that came between the Stars and the playoffs last season. Dallas has all the pieces necessary to ensure they’re not missing out again.

The Hockey News’ 2018-19 Season Preview series dives into off-season transactions, best- and worst-case scenarios and one burning question for each team in reverse order of Stanley Cup odds.

Stanley Cup odds: 30-1

Key Additions: Blake Comeau, LW; Anton Khudobin, G; Roman Polak, D

Key Departures: Kari Lehtonen, G; Dan Hamhuis, D; Antoine Roussel, LW; Greg Pateryn, D; Curtis McKenzie, LW

BEST-CASE SCENARIO Dallas dominated the 2017 off-season with several high-profile acquisitions, and while the Stars didn’t make the playoffs as a result, they climbed from 79 to 92 points. In theory, Dallas is on an upward trajectory. Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov form a dynamite top line. Radek Faksa has emerged as one of the game’s better two-way centers. Ben Bishop is a competent if slightly brittle No. 1 goalie. And John Klingberg belongs on the short list of the NHL’s best pure scoring defensemen.

The Stars were relatively quiet this summer but are hoping for improvement from youngsters within the organization. Young D-man Esa Lindell matured significantly last year, Julius Honka still possesses potential and Miro Heiskanen has the makings of a franchise blueliner. Look for him to make the Stars and challenge for the Calder Trophy. Even at 19, he has the skill and smarts to elevate Dallas’ defense corps from average to very good. Valeri Nichushkin, a 2013 first-rounder, returns after a couple years in the KHL hoping to be better in his second try at the NHL. He’s still just 23 and has a big power-forward body. He’s a sleeper to make a difference in Dallas’ top-six.

WORST-CASE SCENARIO Even with their elite top line, the Stars had the NHL’s 18th-ranked offense in 2017-18 and they didn’t add any scoring help over the summer. Blake Comeau gives Dallas more of what it already had: third-line types shoehorned into second-line duty. New coach Jim Montgomery vows to push a much quicker pace than retired Ken Hitchcock did, but does he have the horses to do so? The Stars have one of the NHL’s weaker groups on the wing after Benn and Radulov.

Center looked like a strength entering last season, and while Seguin and Faksa are excellent, big UFA signing Martin Hanzal was an immense bust. He required season-ending spinal-fusion surgery and may never be the same player he was before the injury. Jason Spezza, meanwhile, had his role reduced, and, at 35 and entering the final year of his contract, he’s not guaranteed to regain it.

The Stars’ defense, like its forward group, lacks veteran depth to back up the kids. Marc Methot and Roman Polak are stop-gap options who aren’t suited for significant minutes. Lindell, Honka and Heiskanen have zero career playoff games between them, while Klingberg and Stephen Johns have played in one post-season apiece.

BURNING QUESTION Are we about to see a return to the run-and-gun Stars? Throughout Lindy Ruff’s tenure in Dallas, one that spanned four campaigns and ended ahead of last season, the Stars ran the Greatest Show on Ice. The offense made Dallas one of the few must-watch teams. It also didn’t hurt that the defense and goaltending all but ensured that most nights would be high scoring when it came to the Stars. But Dallas, under the watch of veteran coach Ken Hitchcock, got away from that style last season. The Stars finished 18th in goals for while vastly improving defensively, allowing the seventh-fewest goals against.

Montgomery, however, wants Dallas to return to the up-tempo style of play. He wants them to get up and down the ice in a hurry. And that sounds like a blast when you have high-scoring options such as Seguin, Benn, Radulov and Klingberg. It also could mean we see a far better performance out of Spezza and real breakouts from the likes of Nichushkin, Janmark and Faksa. There should also be faith that this version of the Stars can handle the back-and-forth, high-pace style better than past iterations. Bishop and backup Anton Khudobin are far better goaltenders than Ruff’s tandom of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi. The defense has more depth, albeit younger players. So, let’s see the Stars open it up again.

THE HOCKEY NEWS’ PREDICTION: 4th in the Central Division. The Stars would have been a playoff team last season if not for an awfully timed eight-game losing streak. Once they got back on track, it was too little, too late. Dallas has all the pieces in place for success, and this season they’ll take the first step towards it.

Want more Season Previews? The Hockey News has you covered. Click here.

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2018-19 season preview dallas stars

Source: https://bloghyped.com/the-hockey-news-2018-19-season-preview-dallas-stars/

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

Waiver wire: Time is running out to improve your Fantasy Hockey team

Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ fantasy arrow is pointing up. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

By Neil Parker, RotoWire Hockey Writer Special to Yahoo Sports

Only three weeks remain in the regular season, so leaving no stone unturned is all the more important at this stage of the game.

It’s an interesting time of year because a number of teams have their postseason seeding all but locked up, and ensuring their key players are healthy for the playoffs trumps all.

This currently appears to be particularly relevant for workhorse goaltenders, as Braden Holtby, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ben Bishop (knee) and Frederik Andersen (upper body) are all either playing poorly or nursing injuries. Add Carey Price (concussion), Matt Murray (concussion), Corey Crawford (concussion), Brian Elliott (lower body) and Carter Hutton (neck) to the injured list, and there is a lot of uncertainty at the position.

Those chasing in the goaltending categories should be aggressive and try to pinpoint favorable matchups two or three days in advance to stay ahead of the competition. Additionally, owners who handcuffed their top goalies well in advance deserve a hat tip.

Here’s the schedule for the next scoring period, March 19-25:

Four games: Coyotes, Bruins, Sabres, Blue Jackets, Oilers, Panthers, Kings, Canadiens, Predators, Penguins, Canucks

All other teams play three games.

Remember to keep an eye on who is cut in your leagues because potential upgrades come in all forms. Also, note the players previously covered in this space listed below this week’s recommendations.

(Yahoo ownership rates as of March 15.)

FORWARD

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM (27 percent): With three goals and two assists through six games since returning from a rib injury, Nugent-Hopkins’ fantasy arrow is pointing up. His current assignment alongside Connor McDavid skyrockets him to top billing, and he should be added in all settings. Nugent-Hopkins might not last on McDavid’s flank through the end of the year, but if the duo sticks, there’s tremendous offensive upside.

J.T. Miller, TB (51 percent): Following Tuesday’s hat trick, Miller now has five goals and four assists through seven games with the Bolts. He’s also found himself skating alongside Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov in all situations, which is an ideal setup, as the duo has connected for an elite 5.91 goals per 60 minutes this season. Miller has fit in seamlessly so far, too.

Nick Bjugstad, FLA (38 percent): Still skating with Aleksander Barkov and Evgenii Dadonov atop the Florida depth chart, Bjugstad continues to score regularly. The Minnesota native has collected 18 points — six goals — through 19 games dating back to Feb. 1, and he’s also helped in the peripheral categories with 63 shots, 23 PIM, 22 hits and a plus-8 rating during that stretch.

Derek Stepan, ARI (30 percent): While his fantasy ceiling is low, Stepan has provided serviceable numbers for a long stretch. The veteran has collected 20 points, 68 shots and a plus-6 rating through 28 games since the calendar flipped to 2018, and he’s also locked in as the top offensive center for the Coyotes.

Charlie Coyle, MIN (12 percent): Things are beginning to turn around for Coyle, as he’s collected nine points through his past 12 contests, including two goals and two assists during an active three-game point streak. His 34 shots during that stretch are another encouraging sign. The 26-year-old forward could be a solid contributor over the final weeks with positive regression ahead of his 2.12 points per 60 minutes after posting a 2.45 mark last season.

Mikkel Boedker, SAN (4 percent): The Dane has scored his way into a top-six role with six goals and seven assists through his past 14 games. Boedker has also seen his ice time climb to 15:13 per contest (1:53 on the power play) through his latest seven outings, and he’s found the scoresheet in five of those games. While he’s probably still best viewed as a low-floor, low-ceiling asset, Boedker is currently providing serviceable numbers for most settings.

DEFENSE

Sami Vatanen, NJD (44 percent): While his ownership percentages continue to creep up, Vatanen remains available in far too many leagues. The 26-year-old Finn has collected two goals, 13 assists and 38 shots through his past 16 contests, and he’s also solidified his role as the power-play quarterback on the No. 1 unit. Vatanen also tilts the scales in the hit and blocked shot columns.

Oscar Klefbom, EDM (38 percent): There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Swede’s health, and it’s likely he’s been playing hurt for a prolonged stretch. Still, he’s sandwiched a two-game absence with a three-game point streak consisting of two goals, two assists, 12 shots and six blocked shots. There’s obvious risk, but Klefbom also offers a level of upside most waiver-wire options don’t.

Erik Gustafsson, CHI (4 percent): With five points through his latest two games, Gustafsson is worth a look. He was promoted to the No. 1 power-play unit against Boston on Sunday, and with Chicago searching for answers, the 26-year-old defenseman could be given a long look in a meaningful role before his one-way contract kicks in next season.

Dylan DeMelo, SAN (1 percent): Piling up seven assists through six games has DeMelo on the fantasy radar, and especially considering his respectable offensive track record at the lower levels. However, he’s recorded just four shots while logging only 14:56 of ice time with limited power-play looks during the six-game stretch, so DeMelo is likely still best left to deep formats.

[Batter up: Join a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for free today]

GOALIE

Philipp Grubauer, WAS (41 percent): Braden Holtby has only won one of his past eight starts and owns a disastrous .854 save percentage and 4.82 GAA during the skid. As a result, Grubauer has been receiving more starts, and he’s allowed two goals or fewer in each of his past 10 outings (seven starts) for a 6-1-0 record, .951 save percentage and 1.40 GAA. Holtby might resume No. 1 duties at some point, but until then, Grubauer is a must-own netminder in all settings.

Kari Lehtonen, DAL (25 percent): Ben Bishop (lower body) is still out and without a firm return timeline, so Lehtonen projects to continue receiving the bulk of starts for the Stars. The Finn has struggled with a 1-3-2 record, .904 save percentage and 2.81 GAA with Bishop out, but Lehtonen should still be viewed as a serviceable matchup-based option. Dallas will right the ship in front of him sooner than later.

Curtis McElhinney, TOR (17 percent): A speculative grab after Frederik Andersen left Wednesday’s win with an upper-body injury, McElhinney projects to handle the majority of work until the Dane is fully healthy. McElhinney has recorded an 8-4-1 record, .929 save percentage and 2.27 GAA with two shutouts in backup duty, so there’s potential for him to hold down the fort for the immediate future.

Alexandar Georgiev, NYR (4 percent): With nothing to lose, the Rangers could continue to give Georgiev an opportunity to prove himself at the highest level. The 22-year-old Russian has won three consecutive starts and owns a .929 save percentage and 2.75 GAA through six appearances. It’s a small sample size, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Georgiev continued to help in the save-percentage column with the Rangers yielding the second most shots per game (38.0) since the All-Star break.

Peter Budaj, TAM (3 percent): There are goalie concerns in Tampa Bay with No. 1 Andre Vasilevskiy sporting an .874 save percentage through his past four outings and also speaking out about feeling fatigued. Budaj was activated off injured reserve Tuesday after missing approximately two months with a leg injury, so he’ll probably be rusty. Still, the veteran should at least be a decent source of wins starting behind the best team in the Eastern Conference.

Players to consider from past columns: Matt Duchene, Kevin Fiala, Kyle Connor, Sam Reinhart, Tom Wilson, Zach Parise, Travis Konecny, Alexander Wennberg, Riley Nash, Timo Meier, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Anthony Mantha, Kevin Hayes, Zach Parise, Jeff Petry, Dion Phaneuf, Brandon Montour, Nikita Zadorov, Alexander Edler, Mike Reilly, Casey DeSmith, Juuse Saros, Tristan Jarry, Antti Niemi, Charlie Lindgren.

[dtdhqs-blog]

Hello tags! there are so many unappreciated fcs i’d love to see in our rp! 

for females: Charli XCX, Lorde, Hayley Kiyoko, Dua Lipa, CupcakKe, Jade Thirwall, Leigh-Ann Pinnock, Jessie Nelson, Dinah Jane, Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, Amanda Arcuri, Madelaine Petsch, Camila Mendes, Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer and Kesha!!

for males: KJ Apa, Trevor Wentworth, Khalid, Olly Alexander, Shane Niemi, Blake Anthony, bryanbby, Logic, Tyler Joseph, Josh Dun, Jack Falahee, Ansel Elgort, Jesse Rutherford and Matthew Daddario!!

[megadarkbouquettidalwavethings]

Highlights of Saturday’s NHL games

(The Sports Xchange) – Highlights of National Hockey League games on Saturday:

Golden Knights 3, Capitals 0

Marc-Andre Fluery stopped 26 shots to pick up his first shutout of the season and lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-0 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

It was the eighth win in nine games (8-0-1) for the Golden Knights, who are tied with Tampa Bay for the most home wins in the NHL (15). Alex Tuch, Oscar Lindberg and William Karlsson all scored first-period goals for Vegas. That was all Fluery needed en route to the 45th career shutout of his career.

Braden Holtby had 25 saves for Washington, which fell out of first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Lightning 3, Wild 0

Dan Girardi, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov scored in the final 2:42 to lift Tampa Bay.

Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 22 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and eighth of his career. The NHL-best Lightning enter the three-day break for Christmas with nine wins in the past 10 games and seven consecutive victories on home ice.

Alex Stalock, starting in net on consecutive nights, stopped 28 shots for the Wild.

Ducks 4, Penguins 0

John Gibson made 29 saves for his 13th career shutout, leading Anaheim to victory over his hometown team.

Ondrej Kase, Rickard Rakell, Andrew Cogliano and Cam Fowler staked the Ducks to a 4-0 lead through two periods. Anaheim finished a six-game road trip 3-2-1. Gibson improved to 2-3-0 versus the Penguins.

Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray gave up three goals on 13 shots before he was pulled for rookie Tristan Jarry, who stopped nine of 10 shots. The Penguins lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Islanders 5, Jets 2

Mathew Barzal collected his first NHL hat trick as New York cruised past Winnipeg.

Barzal (20 years, 211 days) scored twice in the first and once in the third to become the youngest Islanders player to record a hat trick since John Tavares did so at 20 years and 117 days on Jan. 15, 2011. Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for New York and Jaroslav Halak recorded 38 saves.

Tucker Poolman and Adam Lowry scored for the Jets, who ended a four-game road trip with three straight losses (0-2-1). Steve Mason made 24 saves.

Maple Leafs 3, Rangers 2

Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist in his first game back from a concussion as Toronto defeated New York.

William Nylander also had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs. Ron Hainsey had a goal and Morgan Rielly had two assists for Toronto. Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots to halt the Maple Leafs’ four-game road losing streak.

Jimmy Vesey and J.T. Miller had the Rangers’ goals. Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves for New York.

Bruins 3, Red Wings 1

Patrice Bergeron scored twice as Boston won its fourth straight game.

Brad Marchand scored one goal and set up Bergeron’s winner 6:11 into the third, and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for the Bruins. Bergeron scored an empty-net goal in the closing seconds for his 10th goal of the season.

Frans Nielsen scored a short-handed goal and Jimmy Howard made 22 saves for the Red Wings, who haven’t won at TD Garden since April 14, 2014.

Oilers 4, Canadiens 1

Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist to lead Edmonton to its fourth straight victory.

Jujhar Khaira also had a goal and an assist for the Oilers. Ryan Strome and Milan Lucic also scored, Leon Draisaitl had three assists and Cam Talbot made 29 saves for Edmonton.

Antti Niemi made 31 saves for the Canadiens, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. Andrew Shaw scored for Montreal.

Devils 4, Blackhawks 1

Dec 23, 2017; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning center Vladislav Namestnikov (90) is chased by Minnesota Wild left wing Jason Zucker (16) during the third period at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Cory Schneider made 39 saves, and Brian Boyle sparked a three-goal first period as New Jersey won its fourth straight game.

Schneider made 21 saves in the second period and withstood a flurry in the opening half of the period. He made five stops on Patrick Kane before allowing the Blackhawks wing’s 300th career goal late in the second.

The Devils scored three times in the first 13:22 to chase Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford for the second time this season. Kyle Palmieri scored a power-play goal and Pavel Zacha capped the three-goal outburst.

Sharks 2, Kings 0

Goalie Martin Jones stopped 28 shots for his 100th career victory while defeating his former team as San Jose topped Los Angeles.

Jones improved to 8-3-2 in his career against the Kings, the team he broke in with and for which he played two seasons, including 2014 when the Kings won the Stanley Cup. Jones collected his third shutout of the season and 18th of his career.

Marcus Sorensen scored his third goal in four games and Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks.

Stars 4, Predators 3 (SO)

Alexander Radulov and Tyler Seguin scored in the shootout, and Dallas killed off two penalties in overtime — including 31 seconds of a 5-on-3 — in defeating Nashville.

Ben Bishop made 29 saves to help the Stars win back-to-back games and extend a four-game point streak. Bishop stopped Filip Forsberg and Kevin Fiala in the shootout before Seguin scored in the third round.

Dec 23, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) shields the puck from Anaheim Ducks right wing Ondrej Kase (25) during the first period at PPG PAINTS Arena. The Ducks won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Juuse Saaros made 25 saves for the Predators, who lost their third straight game.

Blues 3, Canucks 1

Kyle Brodziak’s goal with 1:30 left in the second period stood up as the winner as St. Louis defeated Vancouver.

Brodziak gave the Blues a 2-1 lead as he squeezed a shot from a sharp angle between Jacob Markstrom and the post — while the crowd groaned. St. Louis ended a three game-losing streak, while the Canucks suffered their fourth straight loss.

Patrik Berglund and Alex Steen (empty-netter) also scored for the Blues. Rookie Brock Boeser tallied for Vancouver.

Blue Jackets 2, Flyers 1 (SO)

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the only goal in the shootout on his first NHL attempt as Columbus defeated Philadelphia.

Seth Jones scored in the opening period for the Blue Jackets, and Ivan Provorov answered with the tying goal in the second period for the Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 stops for Columbus and Brian Elliott finished with 35 saves for Philadelphia.

The Flyers’ Sean Couturier nearly won the game with 17 seconds remaining in the third period, but his shot bounced off the goal post.

Panthers 1, Senators 0

James Reimer made 38 saves to lead Florida over Ottawa.

The shutout was the 18th of Reimer’s career and fourth against Ottawa. The victory gave the Panthers a three-game winning streak for the first time this season. Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Florida.

Mike Condon, playing in place of No. 1 goaltender Craig Anderson (illness), made 37 saves for the Senators.

Hurricanes 4, Sabres 2

Defenseman Justin Faulk scored twice to snap a two-month scoring drought and Teuvo Teravainen matched a career high with three assists as Carolina defeated Buffalo.

The Hurricanes won for the fifth time in its last six games. Cam Ward also improved to 7-0-1 in his last nine appearances in net for Carolina. Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes.

The Sabres got second-period goals from Nathan Beaulieu — his first of the season — and Zemgus Girgensons.

Avalanche 6, Coyotes 2

Matt Nieto had a goal and an assist, and Colorado scored four goals in less than four minutes following a series of nasty mid-ice fights in its victory over Arizona.

Carl Soderberg began the flurry and J.T. Compher and Nail Yakupov followed by scoring on the same power play resulting from Coyotes center Zac Rinaldo’s match penalty as the Avalanche needed only 3:46 to turn a scoreless game into a 4-0 lead.

Soderberg finished with two goals and Alexander Kerfoot had a pair of assists. Semyon Varlamov turned aside 32 shots despite allowing two short-handed goals to Derek Stepan.

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The post Highlights of Saturday’s NHL games appeared first on dailygate.

[melindarowens]

Highlights of Saturday’s NHL games

Dec 23, 2017; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson (71) controls the puck ahead of Washington Capitals right wing Brett Connolly (10) during the third period of play at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

December 24, 2017

(The Sports Xchange) – Highlights of National Hockey League games on Saturday:

Golden Knights 3, Capitals 0

Marc-Andre Fluery stopped 26 shots to pick up his first shutout of the season and lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-0 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

It was the eighth win in nine games (8-0-1) for the Golden Knights, who are tied with Tampa Bay for the most home wins in the NHL (15). Alex Tuch, Oscar Lindberg and William Karlsson all scored first-period goals for Vegas. That was all Fluery needed en route to the 45th career shutout of his career.

Braden Holtby had 25 saves for Washington, which fell out of first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Lightning 3, Wild 0

Dan Girardi, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov scored in the final 2:42 to lift Tampa Bay.

Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 22 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and eighth of his career. The NHL-best Lightning enter the three-day break for Christmas with nine wins in the past 10 games and seven consecutive victories on home ice.

Alex Stalock, starting in net on consecutive nights, stopped 28 shots for the Wild.

Ducks 4, Penguins 0

John Gibson made 29 saves for his 13th career shutout, leading Anaheim to victory over his hometown team.

Ondrej Kase, Rickard Rakell, Andrew Cogliano and Cam Fowler staked the Ducks to a 4-0 lead through two periods. Anaheim finished a six-game road trip 3-2-1. Gibson improved to 2-3-0 versus the Penguins.

Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray gave up three goals on 13 shots before he was pulled for rookie Tristan Jarry, who stopped nine of 10 shots. The Penguins lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Islanders 5, Jets 2

Mathew Barzal collected his first NHL hat trick as New York cruised past Winnipeg.

Barzal (20 years, 211 days) scored twice in the first and once in the third to become the youngest Islanders player to record a hat trick since John Tavares did so at 20 years and 117 days on Jan. 15, 2011. Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for New York and Jaroslav Halak recorded 38 saves.

Tucker Poolman and Adam Lowry scored for the Jets, who ended a four-game road trip with three straight losses (0-2-1). Steve Mason made 24 saves.

Maple Leafs 3, Rangers 2

Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist in his first game back from a concussion as Toronto defeated New York.

William Nylander also had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs. Ron Hainsey had a goal and Morgan Rielly had two assists for Toronto. Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots to halt the Maple Leafs’ four-game road losing streak.

Jimmy Vesey and J.T. Miller had the Rangers’ goals. Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves for New York.

Bruins 3, Red Wings 1

Patrice Bergeron scored twice as Boston won its fourth straight game.

Brad Marchand scored one goal and set up Bergeron’s winner 6:11 into the third, and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for the Bruins. Bergeron scored an empty-net goal in the closing seconds for his 10th goal of the season.

Frans Nielsen scored a short-handed goal and Jimmy Howard made 22 saves for the Red Wings, who haven’t won at TD Garden since April 14, 2014.

Oilers 4, Canadiens 1

Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist to lead Edmonton to its fourth straight victory.

Jujhar Khaira also had a goal and an assist for the Oilers. Ryan Strome and Milan Lucic also scored, Leon Draisaitl had three assists and Cam Talbot made 29 saves for Edmonton.

Antti Niemi made 31 saves for the Canadiens, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. Andrew Shaw scored for Montreal.

Devils 4, Blackhawks 1

Cory Schneider made 39 saves, and Brian Boyle sparked a three-goal first period as New Jersey won its fourth straight game.

Schneider made 21 saves in the second period and withstood a flurry in the opening half of the period. He made five stops on Patrick Kane before allowing the Blackhawks wing’s 300th career goal late in the second.

The Devils scored three times in the first 13:22 to chase Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford for the second time this season. Kyle Palmieri scored a power-play goal and Pavel Zacha capped the three-goal outburst.

Sharks 2, Kings 0

Goalie Martin Jones stopped 28 shots for his 100th career victory while defeating his former team as San Jose topped Los Angeles.

Jones improved to 8-3-2 in his career against the Kings, the team he broke in with and for which he played two seasons, including 2014 when the Kings won the Stanley Cup. Jones collected his third shutout of the season and 18th of his career.

Marcus Sorensen scored his third goal in four games and Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks.

Stars 4, Predators 3 (SO)

Alexander Radulov and Tyler Seguin scored in the shootout, and Dallas killed off two penalties in overtime — including 31 seconds of a 5-on-3 — in defeating Nashville.

Ben Bishop made 29 saves to help the Stars win back-to-back games and extend a four-game point streak. Bishop stopped Filip Forsberg and Kevin Fiala in the shootout before Seguin scored in the third round.

Juuse Saaros made 25 saves for the Predators, who lost their third straight game.

Blues 3, Canucks 1

Kyle Brodziak’s goal with 1:30 left in the second period stood up as the winner as St. Louis defeated Vancouver.

Brodziak gave the Blues a 2-1 lead as he squeezed a shot from a sharp angle between Jacob Markstrom and the post — while the crowd groaned. St. Louis ended a three game-losing streak, while the Canucks suffered their fourth straight loss.

Patrik Berglund and Alex Steen (empty-netter) also scored for the Blues. Rookie Brock Boeser tallied for Vancouver.

Blue Jackets 2, Flyers 1 (SO)

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the only goal in the shootout on his first NHL attempt as Columbus defeated Philadelphia.

Seth Jones scored in the opening period for the Blue Jackets, and Ivan Provorov answered with the tying goal in the second period for the Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 stops for Columbus and Brian Elliott finished with 35 saves for Philadelphia.

The Flyers’ Sean Couturier nearly won the game with 17 seconds remaining in the third period, but his shot bounced off the goal post.

Panthers 1, Senators 0

James Reimer made 38 saves to lead Florida over Ottawa.

The shutout was the 18th of Reimer’s career and fourth against Ottawa. The victory gave the Panthers a three-game winning streak for the first time this season. Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Florida.

Mike Condon, playing in place of No. 1 goaltender Craig Anderson (illness), made 37 saves for the Senators.

Hurricanes 4, Sabres 2

Defenseman Justin Faulk scored twice to snap a two-month scoring drought and Teuvo Teravainen matched a career high with three assists as Carolina defeated Buffalo.

The Hurricanes won for the fifth time in its last six games. Cam Ward also improved to 7-0-1 in his last nine appearances in net for Carolina. Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes.

The Sabres got second-period goals from Nathan Beaulieu — his first of the season — and Zemgus Girgensons.

Avalanche 6, Coyotes 2

Matt Nieto had a goal and an assist, and Colorado scored four goals in less than four minutes following a series of nasty mid-ice fights in its victory over Arizona.

Carl Soderberg began the flurry and J.T. Compher and Nail Yakupov followed by scoring on the same power play resulting from Coyotes center Zac Rinaldo’s match penalty as the Avalanche needed only 3:46 to turn a scoreless game into a 4-0 lead.

Soderberg finished with two goals and Alexander Kerfoot had a pair of assists. Semyon Varlamov turned aside 32 shots despite allowing two short-handed goals to Derek Stepan.

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