More Teams. More Games. Take a look back at some of the NHL’s greatest rookie debuts as we await Connor Bedard‘s first game with the Blackhawks. (1:33) Opening night of the 2023-24 NHL season is Tuesday, with a tripleheader of games on ESPN and ESPN+: Nashville Predators-Tampa Bay Lightning (5:30 p.m. ET), Chicago Blackhawks-Pittsburgh Penguins […]
Continue readingDumba played 10 seasons with Minnesota after the Wild selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2012 NHL draft. He served as an alternate captain for the Wild the past two seasons, playing more of a shutdown role after being one of the league’s better two-way defensemen. The 29-year-old had a 50-point season […]
Continue readingAnd now, their title defense begins. As we await the 2023 NHL draft, along with free agency and trade season, it’s time for the Way-Too-Early edition of the 2023-24 NHL Power Rankings, voted on by the extended ESPN hockey family. Along with the ranking, we present the big things we’re watching this summer for each […]
Continue readingThere isn’t anything special about the rankings here compared to every week, but that’s because these rest-of-season rankings aim to capture a snapshot of what a draft might be like every single week of the season. With that in mind, we are going to highlight some of the biggest swings in value since the puck […]
Continue readingElsewhere, the Islanders are hoping to rebound off this week’s uncharacteristic 7-4 loss to the Blues. A big ask, considering they’re facing the red-hot Devils in New Jersey. The Isles are better at home than on the road. A later-night highlight features Connor McDavid and the Oilers hosting the Wild after losing in Minnesota 5-3, […]
Continue readingA little later, bench boss Paul Maurice visits his former club for the first time as Florida’s coach, and Stars stellar forward Jason Robertson endeavors to extend his point-streak to 19 games when sibling Nicholas and the Maple Leafs visit. Remember, the younger Robertson – a part-timer in Toronto thus far this season – scored […]
Continue readingInjuries don’t count, so Zach Werenski and Josh Norris get a pass. Rookies don’t count either, so we aren’t bothering with Marco Rossi and Shane Wright. This is about established NHLers with a reliable baseline coming well short of expectations. They are arranged by how much they are missing the preseason projections I assigned to […]
Continue readingSince the change, the Bolts advantage has gone six-for-19 on the advantage (31.6%). On the surface and certainly by the statistics, Sergachev is beating Hedman when it comes to fantasy value. But don’t be so hasty now. Sergachev deserves to push up these rankings. His offense off the power play has leveled up, with 10 […]
Continue readingI’ll dig into why I don’t like the particular matchups for Thursday below, but with news hitting Wednesday that Marc-Andre Fleury was hitting the injured reserve and that Frederik Andersen wasn’t close to returning, the goaltender market opened up a bit. Firstly, no the Wild will not be recalling prospect Jesper Wallstedt — not for […]
Continue readingThere are more than a few situations that are still evolving and worth more than a cursory look at. Take the Edmonton Oilers as a fantastic example of combinations. The Oilers played the first five games of the season with Connor McDavid, Evander Kane and Kailer Yamamoto as the top line, with Leon Draisaitl, Ryan […]
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