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Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily: The NHL postseason begins!
The NHL’s postseason is officially underway with the most unconventional Stanley Cup tournament in the trophy’s 127-year history. With five games staggered throughout Saturday between the hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta, we have a March Madness-style buffet of hockey. Here’s a primer of what to look for in this edition of ESPN Stanley […]
Continue reading2020 NHL postseason preview: Qualification-round matchups, series picks
Unlike the traditional playoff format, the league is running a 24-team tournament, with 12 teams from each conference playing in fan-less arenas in Toronto (for the East) and Edmonton, Alberta (for the West). The top four teams in each conference are in the round of 16, and seeds 5 through 12 will square off to […]
Continue readingFantasy hockey rankings: How to handle late season injuries
Steven Stamkos is definitely out for the remainder of the regular season, while Mark Stone and Chris Kreider sound like they’ll miss a good chunk of what’s left. These are all massive impacts to fantasy, as all three players have been top-50 fantasy assets thus far. While the replacements on their respective NHL clubs won’t […]
Continue readingHow the NHL trade deadline altered the playoff landscape
The NHL trade deadline came and went, and we were treated to a flurry of moves of varying degrees of importance to the playoff races. For the most part, it was a pretty sensible deadline, in that the teams currently contending for playoff spots were the ones that generally added to their rosters at the […]
Continue readingNHL Power Rankings: 1-31 poll, plus the worst trade deadline deal ever for every team
The best moves at the NHL trade deadline are usually the ones teams don’t make. Sure, there’s always a chance a team finds that perfect, Butch Goring-sized puzzle piece to complete a championship picture. But more often than not, the NHL trade deadline is like impulse-buying a poorly constructed boat: filled with overpayment, eventual regret […]
Continue readingNHL Power Rankings: 1-31 poll, plus the best nickname on every team
One of the time-tested clichés about hockey is the manner by which its pedestrian and lazy nicknames are doled out. Shortening and adding a “-y” or pluralizing a last name. “Sutter” becomes “Sutts” or “Suttsy.” Yawn. But it’s not always like this. The NHL boasts plenty of nicknames that are memorable, interesting or inventive. And […]
Continue readingThe most lopsided deadline trades in NHL history
Every season, there are teams that sacrifice the future through picks or prospects in an attempt to contend for a championship. Every season, there are teams that ship out players because of financial considerations, hoping to make the most of that monetary bind with some future assets. And then, in a few seasons, these moves […]
Continue readingNHL trade deadline preview: Possible moves, latest rumors, what to watch for all 31 teams
Now that the 2020 NHL All-Star Weekend is in the rearview mirror, the league’s trade season is underway in earnest. The next several games for each team will be pivotal, as general managers decide whether their teams should be buyers, improving their chances for the Stanley Cup playoffs, or sellers, perhaps accelerating rebuilds. Get caught […]
Continue readingNHL Power Rankings: 1-31 poll, plus every team’s best decision this season
The 2019-20 NHL season will take a pause this week as the league descends upon St. Louis for All-Star Weekend, a celebration of the league’s best. For this week’s edition of the Power Rankings, we identified the best decision each team has made since the end of the 2018-19 season. Note: Standings point pace is […]
Continue readingThe NHL’s All-Regression team: Bounce-back candidates, players due for decline
That’s why it’s particularly dangerous to put too much stock into wild shooting percentage swings over a short stretch of games. While there’s no doubt that a shot from Nikita Kucherov is more likely to go in than one off of a fourth-liner’s stick, those are two ends of the extreme. For the players in […]
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