Right now, the two frontrunners for the NHL's Calder Trophy, given to the rookie of the year, are Blackhawks forward Alex DeBrincat and Coyotes forward Clayton Keller. Right now, Keller ranks third in points among rookies with 23, and DeBrincat ranks fourth with 21. Keller's points are good enough for the bottom-dwelling Coyotes, while DeBrincat's points rank second among the Blackhawks behind only superstar Patrick Kane, who has 27 points. When it comes to goals, DeBrincat ranks second and Keller ranks third. DeBrincat has 12 goals, while Keller has 11. "Kitty" began his season slowly towards the beginning of the season after winning the NHL's prospect tournament in overtime for the Blackhawks, but caught fire in the month of November and is showing no signs of slowing down. Keller is a great hockey player, but surrounded by the talent in Arizona there's simply no way Keller can keep up with DeBrincat, who's playing with players like Kane, Duncan ...
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Vinnie Hinostroza was called up from the Chicago Blackhawks’ minor-league team, the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. To clear up roster space, the Blackhawks sent down forward Tanner Kero, who was scratched for the past few games. Hinostroza lead the IceHogs in points, with 22, and assists, with 13. He also has nine goals, which ranks second on the team only to Matthew Highmore. Hinostroza has played in 56 games with the Blackhawks over his career, with six goals and eight assists for a total of fourteen points. Kero played in eight games for the Blackhawks this year before being scratched for the next ten games. He had one goal to go with his two assists for a total of three points. Kero generally played on the Blackhawks’ fourth line until he was squeezed off of the roster by Hawks forwards Tommy Wingels, Lance Bouma, and John Hayden. Kero is a talented player, but the Blackhawks didn’t have room for him on their roster filled with talented forwards. Kero was sent to waivers and cleared th...
The 2017-18 NHL season is upon us, and while there's still months of hockey left to play, we're going to look at Double Shifted's playoff predictions. Western Conference The Blackhawks finish the season as the first seed in the Central for the second year in a row. The Wild, coming off a great season led by Ryan Suter, Zach Parise, and Joel Eriksson Ek, but the biggest hero is Devan Dubnyk. Dallas grabs the third seed narrowly, and ends up avoiding a first-round matchup against Edmonton. St. Louis gets the first wild-card spot and heads to Canada to face the Oilers in the first round. The Predators ride a late-season win streak into the second wild-card spot, with Patrik Laine and Mark Schiefle 's Winnipeg Jets close behind. Nashville heads to Chicago for a first-round matchup for the second year in the row against Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks. Edmonton, led by Connor McDavid, wins the Pacific division narrowly over the Anaheim Ducks. Arizona squeaks ...
NHL AIRPORT GATE 6: NEW YORK PREVIOUSLY: The New York Islanders were 42 games into the season and had a record of 16-17-8. The next night, they played the Boston Bruins. They won. Then they kept winning. Even with captain John Tavares out with an injury, the Islanders kept winning and won six games in a row in the final stretch of the regular season, just missing out on the playoffs, when the Toronto Maple Leafs won in their 81st game, clinching a playoff spot. Interim coach Doug Weight lead the team to just missing out on the playoffs by one point. Anders Lee led the team in goals with 34, while Tavares lead the team in scoring with 66 points. Thomas Greiss won the most games for the Islanders out of any goalie, with 25 points. ARRIVING: Jordan Eberle: Eberle was acquired in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers for Ryan Strome. The Islanders have probably already won this trade while they acquire Eberle, who scored 20 goals and had 51 points last year. They'll add s...
NHL AIRPORT GATE 5: LAS VEGAS PREVIOUSLY: The Golden Knights had a pretty solid expansion draft, taking players like Jason Garrison, James Neal, Jonathan Marchessault, and Nate Schmidt. They also found the face of their franchise in Marc-Andre Fleury, and stockpiled draft picks from poor, defenseless teams like Winnipeg or the Islanders. Vegas had three first rounders (acquired from stealing Winnipeg's and New York's) and used them to take Cody Glass, Nick Suzuki, and Erik Brannstrom. ARRIVING: Vadim Shipachyov: Shipachyov played in the KHL on a line with Blue Jackets star Artemi Panarin and Florida Panther Evgeny Dadonov. He's also played with prestigious players like Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kolvachuk. Shipachyov is in a whole new world in the NHL, but the Golden Knights believe he can continue his offensive production. He is projected to be the Golden Knights' first-line center, playing with Neal and Marchessault. Literally Everyone Else Is New: It's a wh...
NHL AIRPORT GATE 4: COLORADO PREVIOUSLY: The 2016-17 Colorado Avalanche finished 21 points back from the second-worst team in the NHL (Vancouver), and that was the third-worst finish in NHL history. Trade rumors surrounded Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, and Nathan MacKinnon, but none of the trio left Colorado. The leading scorer was MacKinnon with just 53 points. Mikko Rantanen led the team with just 20 goals-87th in the league. MacKinnon's 53 ranked 73rd, but the next closest Av was Duchene in 157th. Coach Patrick Roy left the team for the second time, and it didn't get any better for Colorado. They didn't get the first pick in the draft, they fell to fourth, where they got a solid defenseman in Cale Makar. (However, he's no Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier ). ARRIVING: Colin Wilson: Colorado traded a 2019 fourth-rounder for Wilson, who holds the Predators franchise record for most goals in a series and had 35 points in 70 games with Nashville last season. He had ...
NHL AIRPORT GATE 3: NEW JERSEY PREVIOUSLY: To be fair, the New Jersey Devils are playing in a division with teams like the Penguins, Rangers, Capitals, and Blue Jackets, while teams like the Flyers and Islanders also are competitive teams. But also, that's the way the NHL works, and the Devils found out the hard way, posting a 70-point record and getting the first pick in the NHL draft. New Jersey was the worst team in the conference and missed the playoffs for the fifth year in a row. The leading scorers were Kyle Palmeri and Taylor Hall, who tied with 53 points each. ARRIVING: Nico Hischier: The Devils decided to take Hischier ahead of Nolan Patrick in the draft. Hischier had 86 points while playing for the Halifax Mooseheads in the CHL. Hischier could be the first-line center, playing alongside Hall and Palmeri. There won't be much pressure on him, Hall has said he wants to make life easier for the rookie, but if he doesn't outperform Patrick, there'll be p...
NHL AIRPORT GATE 2: DETROIT PREVIOUSLY: The Red Wings had made the playoffs for 26 straight seasons, but it all fell apart this year, as for the first time, Detroit missed out on playoff hockey. This year could be classified as the start of a rebuild, but with pieces such as Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha the Red Wings are not going to completely break apart the team. The Wings finished with 79 points last year, second-worst in their division (last place belonged to the Buffalo Sabres). Henrik Zetterberg lead the team in points with 68, while Thomas Tatar scored 25 goals to top his team in scoring. The biggest event for the Wings this season was the final game at Joe Louis Arena, the team will move into Little Caesars Arena for the upcoming season. ARRIVING: Trevor Daley: Daley is fresh off two Stanley Cup Championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins and should arrive hungry for more. He could become one of the Red Wings' top two defensemen, playing with either Danny DeKeyser ...
NHL AIRPORT GATE 1: VANCOUVER PREVIOUSLY: The 2016-17 Vancouver Canucks were absolutely horrible. The only team that was worse was the Colorado Avalanche, who finished with 48 points. The leading point-scorer on the team was Bo Horvat, also their team's only all-star, who had 52 points. That placed him 86th in the league. The next closest player was Henrik Sedin, with 50 points. The Canucks' goaltending was also terrible, Ryan Miller was the starter and had the worst GAA on the team, (2.80). ARRIVING: Sam Gagner: Gagner posted a career-best 50 points with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season, and should boost both the Canucks' power play, which was second-worst in the NHL at 14.1% last year, while Gagner had 18 power-play goals with the Blue Jackets. He should also kick up the Sedin twins' point production, which was already good for players of their age. Michael Del Zotto: Del Zotto had 18 points with the Philadelphia Flyers last year and once put up 41 points. H...
The Nashville Predators reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in their history and lost to the repeat champion Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. Soon after, the Predators signed center Ryan Johansen to an eight-year, $64 million contract that will pay him an average of $8 million a year. To put his contract into perspective, that's only $700,000 less than Penguins captain Sidney Crosby gets paid on a yearly basis. The only player paid higher than him on the team is P.K. Subban , who gets an average of $9 million a year, and Filip Forsberg and Pekka Rinne aren't far behind, getting paid yearly averages of $6 million and $7 million. Johansen's contract is the largest ever paid in Predators history (Subban's was paid with the Montreal Canadiens). As of now, the Predators are the twelfth-most cap crunched team in the league. To compare, the 2010 Blackhawks, in their first run to the finals in 49 years (longer than the Predators had to wait), were also cap-c...
These three players should help the Coyotes reach the playoffs once again. GLENDALE, ARIZONA- The 2016-17 Arizona Coyotes finished fourth in the Pacific Division, but were still terrible. They finished with just a miserable 70 points, the third-worst record in the NHL. The Coyotes fell in the draft lottery, falling to the seventh overall pick to go with the 23rd overall pick (acquired in the trade that sent Martin Hanzal and Ryan White to Minnesota. Instead of taking the path that lead to drafting with the seventh pick and hoping that your prospect can become an elite player someday, GM John Chayka went for it, trading the seventh pick and several other pieces to the New York Rangers for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta. The Rangers wound up taking center Lias Andersson with the seventh pick. The Coyotes? They added a veteran scorer in Stepan. The Coyotes have a young group right now, and having Stepan on the roster is really going to help that group learn and begin to produce that o...
3:00-Fan Fest Opens (United Center-Lot C) The Fan Fest was a big attraction at draft weekend, featuring events such as a photo opportunity with the Stanley Cup and various booths to win prizes. People such as Eric Daze, Pat Foley, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews were present. The buzz was still all about the trade that sent Niklas Hjalmarsson to the Coyotes and Artemi Panarin to the Blue Jackets in exchange for two-time Stanley Cup Champion Brandon Saad. Saad jerseys were frequently seen being worn by fans throughout the Fan Fest. 6:00-Draft Begins (United Center) The 2017 NHL Entry Draft began with a speech from Blackhawks executive John McDoughnah. Then, for the first time in NHL history, the Canadian and American anthems were sung by Jim Cornelism before the New Jersey Devils were on the clock. 7:14-First Overall Pick (United Center) With the first pick in the draft, the Devils took Nico Hischier from the Halifax Mooseheads, ending speculation about who would be take...
The Predators lost Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1. The Penguins now have a 2-0 series lead with that win, putting pressure on the Predators to win the next game. After the game, P.K. Subban decided to guarantee a Predators win. Subban is supposed to be a superstar, yet the only category he ranks in the top ten in during the playoffs (even though his team is in the Final) is assists (he's got nine.) He inexplicably winked at a Penguins player during a stoppage when his team was losing badly. Subban has gone and made a rash decision that he now can't back out of. If this was supposed to intimidate the Penguins, he's wrong. Sidney Crosby said that his team has paid little attention, if any, to Subban's guarantee. What Crosby did say was that he "expects a desperate team" and that "Game 3 is all (The Penguins) have their minds on now". This remark will likely not change the Penguin's game at all and put pressure ...
Olympic organizing committee president Lee Hee-Beom said he "doesn't think (the NHL) has made the final decision" regarding the 2018 Olympics. Get it in your head. The NHL doesn't want to come, the NHL now has their own international competition hosted by NHL rinks, and the NHL said they weren't coming. What does "no" mean? When commissioner Gary Bettman makes a decision, it stays that way. (Lockout, anyone?) The IIHF and the Olympic Committee have both treated the NHL poorly and have brought nothing to the table. The NHL got out, and the IIHF now actually has the nerve to come crawling back and say that the NHL shouldn't be taken seriously. Why would they come back now? Look, people like Alex Ovechkin have said that they would play for their country rather than their NHL team, but none of that should be taken seriously. He would almost certainly be stripped of his captaincy and/or traded. No means no.
Patrick Kane made one of the lists, as did teammate Jonathan Toews. As of now, four teams remain in competition for the Stanley Cup: The Anaheim Ducks, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Ottawa Senators. What's one thing all these teams have in common? Superstars. In these two lists, we'll look at a team-by-team breakdown of superstars and secondary superstars. Teams without one on either list will not be featured. The superstar status will not record any past achievements, this list is purely for superstars of the 2016-17 season. SUPERSTARS CENTRAL DIVISION Blackhawks: Patrick Kane Blues: Vladmir Tarasenko Predators: P.K. Subban PACIFIC DIVISION Ducks: Ryan Getzlaf Flames: Johnny Gaudreau Oilers: Connor McDavid Sharks: Brent Burns ATLANTIC DIVISION Bruins: Brad Marchand Canadiens: Max Pacioretty, Carey Price Lightning: Nikita Kucherov Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews Senators: Erik Karlsson METROPOLITAN DIVISION Blue Jac...
Ryan Kesler looks up the ice during a game. Picture someone that can score big goals. Picture someone who can eat up minutes. Finally, add in the Brad Marchand style of being an pest, and you've got Ryan Kesler . Part of Kesler's job in the seven-game second round series against the Edmonton Oilers was to be a pest to Oilers star center Connor McDavid . Kesler ended up doing his job very well, and the Ducks ended up winning the series in seven. Now, Kesler's next assignment is to get under the skin of Predators forward Ryan Johansen. So far, he's risen to the task. Throughout Game 2 of the Ducks and Predators' Western Conference Final, Kesler and Johansen were headbutting, slashing, and elbowing each other. Johansen took a shot at Kesler after the game, saying that he "doesn't know how (Kesler's) family can cheer for a guy like that." Kelser responded in an interview, saying that "it's part of my game" and that Johansen "o...
Ryan's backhander lifted the Senators over the Penguins in Game 1, giving them the lead in the series. OTTAWA, APRIL 12. Bobby Ryan was just coming off of a 2016-17 season where he finished with a disappointing 25 points, with 13 goals and 12 assists. Last year, he finished with 56 points, 22 goals and 34 assists. Those were the kinds of totals he was used to putting up, and this year was well below average by his standards. Before the season began, his mother died of liver cancer. He published a moving article on the Player's Tribune addressed to his mother. It can be found here . Instead of letting the past affect him, he decided on a fresh start in the playoffs. So far, so good. Ryan has put up 11 points during the playoffs so far, including three game-winning goals. His new focus helped him immediately, as he scored the first goal of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the second period of the first-round series against the Boston Bruins. He then went on to score t...
The Calder Trophy is annually awarded to the NHL's rookie of the year. Sometimes, the rookie that receives the reward becomes a superstar. Sometimes the player proves to be a bust, and sometimes the NHL's greatest players are left off of the Calder Trophy. The list we are going to include will be divided into the categories of Superstars, Busts, and Best Not to Win. Superstars: The best players ever to win the Calder Trophy 10: Ken Dryden- A lifelong Montreal Canadien, Dryden posted a career 258-57 record and had a GAA of 1.65 in an undefeated 1970-71 season. 9: Ray Borque -A five-time Norris Trophy winner, Borque played in 21 seasons and scored a total of 1,579 points. 8: Alexander Ovechkin -In 12 NHL seasons Ovechkin has won the Rocket Richard trophy for most goals in the NHL six times. 7: Patrick Kane -A three-time Stanley Cup Champion, Kane piled up 72 points in his rookie season. He put up a career-best 106 points in 2015-16, the year he won the MVP trophy. 6: Mik...
Today, we're going to look at the potential roster for the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The Golden Knights are the NHL's latest team, which will begin play in the 2017-18 season. The projected roster will incorporate the players taken from other NHL teams during the expansion draft, and Reid Duke, the only current player. The draft will not be incorporated into the lineup due to the probability the Golden Knights will trade up to gain draft picks. Here is the projected roster for the Vegas Golden Knights. All cap hit amounts are according to Cap Friendly. TEAMS-EXPANSION DRAFT Anaheim Ducks- Jakob Silfverberg- $3,7500,000 Cap Hit Arizona Coyotes- Josh Jooris -$600,000 Cap Hit Boston Bruins- Malcolm Subban -$863,333 Cap Hit Buffalo Sabres- Josh Gorges -$3,900,000 Cap Hit Calgary Flames- Dennis Wideman -$5,250,000 Cap Hit Carolina Hurricanes- Lee Stempniak -$2,500,000 Cap Hit Chicago Blackhawks- Trevor Van Riemsdyk -$825,000 Cap Hit Colorado Avalanche- Carl Soderberg...