I’ll try to spare you (but I’ll inevitably fail to do so). Let’s ease into this by talking about players eligible at both wing and center. Should some of them be? No. Not at all. On one side of the coin, Leon Draisaitl and Elias Lindholm take way too many faceoffs to be considered even […]
Continue readingTo help get you ready for the game, we’ve put together a guide on all the key players to watch for each team, including in-depth statistical insights from ESPN Stats & Information, and more. This season, ESPN+ will broadcast 75 exclusive regular-season games, with ABC and ESPN airing a combined 28 exclusive regular-season games for […]
Continue readingFor this week’s Power Rankings, we identified a stat for every team that best exemplified their performance, from recent trends to season-long strengths or weaknesses. How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors rates teams against one another — taking into account game results, injuries and upcoming schedule — and […]
Continue readingThe NHL opted out of the 2018 Pyeongchang Games because of a funding dispute with the IOC. That upset the players, who negotiated participation in the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics in their latest collective bargaining agreement. But the league added a caveat to the Beijing Games decision: If there was a material interruption in […]
Continue readingSheary played for Buffalo and Pittsburgh last season, finishing with 10 goals and 13 assists in 63 games. He could start this season on Washington’s third line, replacing Ilya Kovalchuk. The 28-year-old Sheary has 72 goals and 78 assists in 325 career games. He also has made 61 playoff appearances, winning the Stanley Cup twice […]
Continue readingThe 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 […]
Continue reading“Elimination Wednesday” in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs was 75% as devastating as promised. Three teams (the Arizona Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets) are leaving the bubble. One (the Montreal Canadiens) gets to live another day. It was a wild day of hockey; five games brought 35 combined goals. With the first round […]
Continue readingFare thee well, Chicago Blackhawks. We’ll always have your qualification round upset of the Edmonton Oilers. Hence, the Vegas Golden Knights are the first team to advance to the conference semifinals. Four other teams have a chance to join them on Wednesday, with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche and Philadelphia Flyers all […]
Continue readingThe 2020 NHL playoffs officially begin on Tuesday, as the 24-team tournament — with five-game qualification round series and round-robin seeding matchups — has moved on to a more recognizable, 16-team version. This round includes several matchups where revenge will be on the mind of one team (or both, for separate reasons), and based on […]
Continue readingJones pulled one of the jerseys out of the box, poured lighter fluid on it and lit it on fire in his driveway. He continued to burn jerseys from the box, documenting the process in a series of Instagram videos posted Wednesday. “I opened up my mailbox today, and I had these jerseys in my […]
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