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Tag Archives for " Mikko Koivu "

NHL Power Rankings: 1-31 poll, plus what we love about each team in 2021

We have reached the quarter mark of the 2021 NHL season — at least for the teams that haven’t had their schedules disrupted by COVID-19 yet. But we’re also coming up on another big holiday. So in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we identified something we love about every team in this week’s edition of […]

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With new contract in tow, veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon named Minnesota Wild captain

Spurgeon’s 6-year-old daughter, Colbie, was skeptical. “She asked if he was firing me,” Spurgeon said. No, dear, your dad is about the last player the Wild would get rid of. Guerin and Evason were there to formally name Spurgeon just the second full-time captain in team history. “From the day I got this job, Spurge […]

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NHL Power Rankings: Mid-offseason edition

For this week’s Power Rankings, we identified our favorite move each team made this offseason. How we rank: The ESPN hockey editorial staff submits selections ranking teams 1-31 — taking into account past results and offseason additions — and those results are tabulated in the list featured here. Stanley Cup odds are courtesy of William […]

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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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Minnesota Wild trade goalie Devan Dubnyk, forward Ryan Donato to San Jose Sharks for picks

For Donato, the Wild received a third-round pick in the 2021 draft. The Sharks parted with their fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft for Dubnyk and received Minnesota’s 2022 seventh-rounder in return. The 34-year-old Dubnyk was surpassed by Alex Stalock on the depth chart this season after taking more than a month off from mid-November […]

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The Tampa Bay Lightning will defeat Tom Brady on Sunday

I’m speaking as a lifelong New York Jets fan, of course. But I’m also speaking as a hockey fan who wants the greatest number of people to enjoy the greatest sport on the planet (sorry, marble racing) at its greatest time of the season: The Stanley Cup conference finals round. The Tampa Bay Lightning are […]

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NHL Playoffs Daily 2020: Reckoning Day

Friday’s NHL slate features the highest stakes we’ve seen yet, with six teams facing elimination. Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby could all potentially go home. Oh, and the teams ranked 22nd (Arizona Coyotes), 23rd (Chicago Blackhawks) and 24th (Montreal Canadiens) in regular-season points percentage can all clinch a playoff spot. Even for a […]

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2020 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 […]

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The best lines of the past 30 years for all 31 NHL teams: Top overall, cult classic and current

It’s created by a coach attempting to mesh three players together into a cohesive unit; it’ll stick around for anywhere from a few periods to a few games; and then it’s either broken up, with the spare parts added to different lines, or it passes the chemistry test, living on for months or perhaps for […]

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Winners and losers of the NHL trade deadline

The 2020 NHL trade deadline was going to go one of two ways: Either the lack of sellers due to the league’s tight playoff races was going to produce a snoozer, or the tight playoff races were going to produce a flurry of activity as teams load up for the stretch run. To the joy […]

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