Double Shifted

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...