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Tag Archives for " Erik Cernak "

Fantasy hockey: Way too early rankings for 2021-22

No, there’s no reason to suspect a further spiralling of the planet into some Lovecraftian horror. It’s the Seattle Kraken that will wrap their tentacles around players and pull them into the Northwest. The Vegas Golden Knights get to skip this expansion draft, being relatively new to the league themselves. But that also offers a […]

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Fantasy hockey rankings Week 14 update: Schedule effects and Tyler Seguin’s return

The poor fantasy managers invested in the Calgary Flames can’t be pleased with the remaining schedule. The Flames only have five more games to count for fantasy. The Los Angeles Kings, Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche, for example, have 10. Vince Dunn is more appealing than Mark Giordano under these circumstances, and it’s […]

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Fantasy hockey rankings Week 13 update: Is it time to drop Logan Couture or Tyler Toffoli?

Default head-to-head leagues are into the second week of the playoffs, with the championship all that remains after this week. Points and rotisserie leagues don’t have to sweat the nuances of that schedule, but the pressure created by minimal games really puts a strain on the value. While season-long success can still inform decision-making, the […]

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Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov to have surgery, out for regular season

Though Kucherov’s designation to long-term injury reserve will give initial relief to cap-strapped Tampa Bay, it’s a significant blow for the defending Stanley Cup champions. The 27-year-old Kucherov, the 2019 MVP, has scored 398 points over the last four seasons, which trails only Connor McDavid for most in the league. “Those are the cards that […]

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What we know right now about the NHL and COVID-19

(Especially during a championship celebration, it turns out …) Months later, we clearly don’t know enough about COVID-19 in aggregate, but professional sports leagues have learned plenty, using various methodologies to start, restart and complete their seasons. “At this point, we know how the virus is transmitted. We know how to create safe environments to […]

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Tampa Bay Lightning re-sign Patrick Maroon, Luke Schenn

Maroon signed a two-year deal worth $1.8 million, while Schenn gets $900,000 for next season. Maroon and Schenn were among the newcomers who helped put the Lightning over the top after several years of playoff heartbreak. Maroon became the only back-to-back Cup champion in 2019 and 2020 after winning it with his hometown St. Louis […]

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NHL free agency 2020: Winners, losers and other big takeaways

The NHL free-agent frenzy was unprecedented this offseason — and not just because it took place when the regular season is usually scheduled to start. The new collective bargaining agreement kept the salary cap flat at $81.5 million. Otherwise, it would have plummeted, just as team revenues have during the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial landscape […]

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Why Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois’ job only gets harder after Stanley Cup win

The 1980 Team USA hockey “Miracle on Ice” is folklore. Cinderella teams are more compelling than No. 1 seeds in March Madness. Unless it’s part of a dynasty, hearing an absurdly talented team talk about how hard it is to win a championship is like hearing a billionaire complain about a dearth of island vacation […]

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NHL free agency 2020 preview: Team needs, trade targets, cap space, key dates

The word that typically defines free agency in the NHL is “uncertainty.” Players with expiring contracts enter a marketplace unsure of what their next deals will look like or where they’ll next call home. But in the 2020 free-agent frenzy, that uncertainty has reached previously unseen levels for players and teams. There’s a flat salary […]

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2020 NHL playoffs preview: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Islanders matchup, series pick

The Isles won 2 of 3 regular-season contests between the teams, outscoring the Lightning 11-4 in the aggregate. But all of that was months ago. Who will win the series this September? Note: Advanced stats are from Hockey Reference, Natural Stat Trick and Evolving Hockey More: Check out the full NHL postseason schedule here. What […]

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