In an Edmonton Oilers news and rumors update, Zack Kassian has found himself on the receiving end of a few humorous shots from his teammates and both Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid talk about what’s going on with their downtime and what they’d like to see going forward with the NHL season. In other news, […]

In the 53-year history of the Philadelphia Flyers franchise, nine different general managers have been responsible for an insane amount of trades. Although there have been plenty of trades involving low-level players or late draft picks, there have also been plenty of blockbuster deals that have drastically changed the franchise. Related: Revisiting the Brayden Schenn […]

The Ottawa Senators have made mistakes in the past and mismanaged their assets. One of their biggest errors was the trade involving Derick Brassard and Mika Zibanejad. On July 18, 2016, the Senators traded Zibanejad to the New York Rangers, as well as a 2018 second-round pick for Brassard and a 2018 seventh-round pick. While […]

Every now and then, I find myself sharing a story with my kids about the St. Louis Blues. In my bedroom, I have a pair of hockey gloves from Robby Fabbri that we purchased at a Blues equipment sale. One of my kids has a hockey puck signed by Vladimir Tarasenko. In the corner of […]

Rattling off two separate 13-game winning streaks, the Chicago Steel ran through opponents in 2019-20, going 41-7-1 and outscoring their opponents 242-136. Sam Colangelo had a fantastic year himself and says that perhaps the biggest accomplishment he felt the team had was when they were without five of their top players. Related: Chicago Steel Set […]

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news on the Tampa Bay Lightning likely unwillingness to re-sign Cory Conacher and where he’ll wind up as a result. The Minnesota Wild are interested in signing the KHL’s third-leading scorer, but they can’t do so quite yet. Finally, the Chicago Blackhawks are working on a deal with […]

Luke Evangelista 2019-20 Team: London Knights (OHL)Date of Birth: Feb. 21, 2002Place of Birth: Oakville, ON, CanadaHt: 5’11” Wt: 165 lbsShoots: RightPosition: RWNHL Draft Eligibility: 2020 first-year eligible Rankings NHL Central Scouting: 58th (among NA Skaters) Future Considerations: 66th HockeyProspect.com: 31st THW Josh Bell’s Rankings: 63rd THW Andrew Forbes’ March Rankings: 79th THW Larry Fisher’s […]

Fewer people were cheering as much for the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final as then-general manager George McPhee. Fewer still had as much riding on their opponents and eventual champions, the Washington Capitals, McPhee’s last team. Capitals vs. Golden Knights Obviously, McPhee, now the Golden Knights president of hockey operations, […]

The Metropolitan Riveters re-signed another key player on March 30 when they announced that All-Star defender and four-year veteran Rebecca Morse would be returning for her fifth season with the NWHL and team. The 28-year-old New Jersey native set career-highs in every statistical category and in addition to being named an All-Star for the first […]

There’s not a lot going on when it comes to the New Jersey Devils, as the NHL remains on pause due to the coronavirus. But we did get a bit of an update on the team’s search for a new general manager: Slap Shots has learned that New Jersey ownership has in fact looked elsewhere. League sources […]

March 30 is a very busy day in hockey history. There were various first in Stanley Cup playoff history that occurred on this date. The National Hockey added four new teams to the mix. Some Hall of Fame defensemen made their mark on history and an all-time great goaltender set the bar high. Stanley Cup […]

“We’re pretty much locked down,” says Minnesota Wild assistant general manager Tom Kurvers. “We basically said, go home and ride this out until we give you more direction, and so I’m trying to abide by those same rules. But, you know, it pulls you out of your life habits and so, I’m going to take […]

The 2009-10 hockey season marks the 30th anniversary of the merger between the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association. It was the last time that such a unification has taken place in a major North American sport...

Have you ever wondered who the top goalscorers are in Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise history? Wonder no more. The franchise has had an interesting history that boasts some Hall of Fame names. Here are the top-10 goalscorers for the franchise. 1.Joe Sakic – 625 Goals Joe Sakic sits atop the franchise-best goalscorers list. With 625 […]

When the Vegas Golden Knights had their expansion draft, they were not expecting this much success early on. A number of players are still on the team three seasons later, and they have turned a number of their assets into core pieces. Related: Top 10 Nicest Current NHL Jerseys With their franchise players locked up […]

On Feb. 13, 2013, the Columbus Blue Jackets announced Jarmo Kekalainen as their third general manager in franchise history.  Since taking over the role, he and his drafting team have been responsible for a total of seven drafts, all of which have had their expected ups and downs. Aside from the obvious first-round selections, his […]

Mock 1.0 Mock 2.0 Mock 3.0 Mock 4.0 Mock 5.0 Mock 6.0 Mock 7.0 In this series, I’ve been running the Tankathon simulator for the draft lottery on a daily basis and mocking the results for the top 10 leading up to the 2020 NHL draft — or until the actual lottery takes place to […]

What’s The Grind Line? Apart from the once-famous line of Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, and either Joe Kocur or Darren McCarty, The Grind Line is also The Hockey Writers’ weekly column about the Detroit Red Wings. This week, Rachel Anderson, Devin Little, Ben Banfield, and Tony Wolak are the muckers who make up THW’s forechecking […]

Welcome to the Weekly Prospect Report. Here, we’ll take a look at some key names over the past week that are a big part of the next wave of NHL stars. This column will dive into both NHL-affiliated and draft-eligible prospects, focusing mainly on those outside the NHL. Related: Weekly Prospect Report: Francis, Caufield, NHL Draft, […]

In the history of the St. Louis Blues, we’ve seen many fantastic goal scorers. Some have spent their entire careers in St. Louis, and some are Hall of Famers who just stopped by. The rich history of the Blues is impressive for a 1967 expansion team. Here are the top 20. 1. Brett Hull: 527 […]

Jack Quinn 2019-20 Team: Ottawa 67’s Date of Birth: Sept. 19, 2001 Place of Birth: Cobden, Ontario Ht: 6-foot Wt: 179 lbs Shoots: Right Position: Right wing NHL Draft Eligibility: 2020 first-year eligible Rankings NHL Central Scouting: 9th (Among NA skaters) Bob McKenzie, TSN: 19th HockeyProspect.com: 11th ISS: 10th McKeen’s Hockey: 16th Future Considerations: 23rd […]

In 1999, the Atlanta Thrashers began play as the NHL’s newest expansion team. After years of Ilya Kovalchuk scoring highlight-reel goals, the team relocated to Winnipeg in 2011 where the Winnipeg Jets 2.0 have played ever since. Related: Top 3 All-Time Jets Goalies Only being in the league for 20 years, players drafted in Winnipeg […]

Ruben Rafkin 2019-20 Team: Windsor Spitfires (#88)Date of Birth: Jan. 8, 2002Place of Birth: Turku, FinlandHt: 6-foot Wt: 190-pounds Position: DShoots: RNHL Draft Eligibility: 2020 first-year eligible. Rankings: Future Considerations: 52nd NHL Central Scouting: 72nd (mid-term rankings) Craig Button: 83rd (January) Andrew Forbes: 93rd (March) Larry Fisher: 94th (March) The Spitfires drafted Rafkin in the […]

Unless the NHL changes the draft lottery rules in the face of the ongoing season suspension, the Detroit Red Wings will pick in the top four of the NHL entry draft. By now, names like Alexis Lafrenière and Quinton Byfield are very familiar to Red Wings fans. However, the organization’s success in the 2020 draft […]

Hockey fans and players have been missing the game they love, and Zac Bell, a 19-year-old from Ontario, is spending his days sharing pieces of thegame in a special way.  Through AlwaysHockey — his hockey tricks platform — Bell creates hockey-related content for Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and even TikTok. Sporting 136,000 followers on Instagram (including […]

Mitch Marner’s new six-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, signed on Sept. 13, 2019, that was supposed to be the final distraction in the way of a team preparing for what was supposed to be a highly-successful 2019-20 season. Sure there were nagging questions about the team’s defense but people were anxious to see how the Tyson Barrie […]

The hockey world remains on pause. With no clear end in sight, we are left to wonder when we’ll see live games again. Nobody knows for sure at this time. So while we pass the time, I thought this was a good time to get the fans involved. We asked and Columbus Blue Jackets’ fans […]

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, the Edmonton Oilers have told one of their top defensive prospects to stay where he is and not join the team or its AHL club next season. The Toronto Maple Leafs are front-runners to land Alexander Barabanov and the Arizona Coyotes have begun the process of talking to Taylor Hall […]

The Vancouver Canucks will have a lot of decisions to make this offseason when they start looking at their roster for 2020-21. In total, they have six unrestricted free agents (UFAs) and five restricted free agents (RFAs) to deal with. To make matters worse, many of them are high-profile players that will command a significant […]

This date in hockey history saw the Great One break even more records, including one of his own. Also, one of the league’s “Original 6” franchises had plenty of success on March 29. There was also a good amount of goaltender history made on this date, including some by an accountant. More Records Shattered by […]

There are many trades that the Chicago Blackhawks have made. Some have made big noise around the league just by the magnitude of it. For every Artemi Panarin and Niklas Hjalmarsson-esque trade, there are some that are more covert. They go out the ear as fast as they come in but can be just as […]

Since the Atlanta Flames relocated to Calgary in 1980, the team has taken part in 30 NHL Entry Drafts. In the 1980s, they drafted numerous top-tier NHL stars – including Al MacInnis, Mike Vernon, Gary Roberts, Brett Hull, Theoren Fleury, and Joe Nieuwendyk. Some of these players played key roles in the team’s 1989 Stanley […]

Throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s, the Flyers had quite an offensive core on their roster. They had many key players who made a difference in their lineups, such as James van Riemsdyk, Scott Hartnell, Simon Gagne, and Jeff Carter among others. Related: Worst Free Agent Signings in NHL History One guy who always […]

The New York Rangers have one of the most storied franchises in all professional sports. Being an Original Six team with a long history of winning in the most famous city in the world is a lot to live up to. These five defensive stalwarts held up their end of the bargain and more. 5. […]

Mock 1.0 Mock 2.0 Mock 3.0 Mock 4.0 Mock 5.0 Mock 6.0 In this series, I’ve been running the Tankathon simulator for the draft lottery on a daily basis and mocking the results for the top 10 leading up to the 2020 NHL draft — or until the actual lottery takes place to determine the […]

With the NHL play suspended for the foreseeable future, it seemed as if it might be time to look at some of the news that’s emerging from the Vancouver Canucks organization and review where the season stands just in case it will be officially over sometime in the near future. Related: Vancouver Canucks News & […]

The Boston Bruins have had numerous prolific goalscorers in the team’s storied history, which dates back to 1924. Here are the best of the best: the top 20 Bruins’ scorers of all-time. 1. Johnny Bucyk, 545 Goals Nicknamed “Chief,” Bucyk scored a single-season high 51 goals in the 1970-71 campaign, the only year he’d hit […]

The Ontario Hockey League is one of the premier leagues where players have tons of talent and skill. It gives them a great opportunity to pave their way toward the National Hockey League. Names like John Tavares, Steven Stamkos, Patrick Kane, Connor McDavid and Mitch Marner have all built themselves up in the OHL to […]

Jaromir Pytlik 2019-20 Team: Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (#26)Date of Birth: September 25, 2001Place of Birth: Dacice, Czech RepublicHt: 6’3” Wt: 196 lbsShoots: RightPosition: CenterNHL Draft Eligibility: 2020 first-year eligible Rankings NHL Central Scouting: 38th (among NA Skaters) Future Considerations: 29th THW Josh Bell’s Rankings: 42nd THW Andrew Forbes’ March Rankings: 45th THW Larry Fisher’s March Rankings: 57th Elite Prospects: […]

Not every player that has donned the Toronto Maple Leafs’ blue and white is recognized for their time with the team. Some are remembered for their tenure with other NHL franchises while others are barely even remembered. With this series, we look back at some of the players who’ve suited up for the Maple Leafs […]

The Vancouver Canucks have had their share of unsung heroes throughout history. From Jannik Hansen to Alex Burrows to Derek Dorsett, it’s often complementary players who have a major impact. They are also the reason why some teams are always in the playoff race, like the Pittsburgh Penguins or Washington Capitals. Sure, stars like Sidney […]

In today’s NHL rumors rundown, another player has tested positive for COVID-19 from the Colorado Avalanche, the Edmonton Oilers are looking to sign a couple of international prospects and one NHL scribe notes that this year’s crop of free agents might have hit free agency at the worst possible time. Another Avalanche Player Tests Positive […]

Originally written back in 2012, this chat with one of the game’s greats will be a very nice trip down memory lane for some of our older readers – we also hope younger ones will appreciate how good and how much of a gentleman Bobby Smith was (and still is). The 1977-78 season for the […]

Before the ‘pause,’ the sports world was consumed with the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal. So, when Los Angeles Kings’ head coach Todd McLellan said, “we’re not cheating a lot to win,” it raised a few eyebrows. Just saying the word “cheat” gets attention, but during this hyper-sensitive time in the same city as the Dodgers, […]

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on March 27 that the New York Islanders’ Belmont Arena construction, slated to be opened for the 2021-22 season, has been stopped due to Coronavirus concerns. Initially, development continued as the rest of the state was virtually shut down with all construction deemed necessary. Now, only vital construction […]

March 28 is a significant date in National Hockey League history with some of the biggest names and greatest players to ever take the ice having historic moments. Between some of the top goal-scorers and the best netminders hitting major milestones, this date belongs in the Hall of Fame. Gretzky Sets the All-Time Mark & […]

Mock 1.0 Mock 2.0 Mock 3.0 Mock 4.0 Mock 5.0 In this series, I’ve been running the Tankathon simulator for the draft lottery on a daily basis and mocking the results for the top 10 leading up to the 2020 NHL draft — or until the actual lottery takes place to determine the official draft […]

The National Hockey League boasts the most skilled hockey players in the entire world. Often, these superstars achieve success proportionate to their immense talent: Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Kane, and Drew Doughty. Then there are the players that individually thrive but have yet to taste playoff success with their respective teams, or their teams’ […]

Defensemen played a huge role in the New Jersey Devils’ first three Stanley Cup wins. The most legendary Devils blueliners are from that era (1995–2003) but many others have played their way into fans’ hearts. Let’s start with honorable mentions. A member of the original Devils – the Colorado Rockies relocated to New Jersey in […]

Founded in 1967, the Philadelphia Flyers have been one of hockey’s most successful franchises over the last half-century. They have the third-highest all-time points percentage among NHL teams, trailing only the Montreal Canadiens and the Vegas Golden Knights, a team that has yet to play three full seasons. This is the Flyers’ 52nd season. Unless […]

Lukas Reichel 2019-20 Team: Eisbären Berlin (#44)Date of Birth: May 17, 2002Place of Birth: Nuremberg, GermanyHt: 6-foot-0 Wt: 172 lbs.Shoots: LeftPosition: Left WingNHL Draft Eligibility: 2019 first-year eligible NHL Central Scouting: 14th (among EU skaters) Bob McKenzie, TSN: 29th Craig Button, TSN: 37th HockeyProspects.com: 20th ISS: 31st Future Considerations: 48th Andrew Forbes (The Hockey Writers): […]

Because the 2019-20 NHL regular season was suspended on March 12 due to health concerns in the wake of the coronavirus, I thought it might be a good time to review the Toronto Maple Leafs season. Here goes. Maple Leafs’ Down & Up Season In Review If the regular season ends where the team currently […]

While the NHL, the players, and the fans await the fate of the 2019-20 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, here’s a look at the best moments from the season for the Montreal Canadiens. With their team sitting 24th in the overall standings when play was paused, the loyal Habs’ faithful probably aren’t in the mood […]

Shakir Mukhamadullin 2019-20 Team: Tolpar Ufa (MHL)Date of Birth: Jan. 10, 2002Place of Birth: Ufa, RussiaHt: 6’2” Wt: 170 lbsShoots: LeftPosition: DefenseNHL Draft Eligibility: 2020 first-year eligible Rankings NHL Central Scouting: 18th (among EU Skaters) THW Josh Bell’s Rankings: 106th THW Andrew Forbes’ March Rankings: 50th THW Larry Fisher’s March Rankings: 63rd ISS: 22nd Dobber […]

Now that we’re all confined to our homes with little to do, our thoughts tend to wander. Without the Anaheim Ducks to watch, some of you may have found yourselves thinking about the one that got away. Just like you with your ex, the Ducks have had their fair share of beauties get away. Here’s […]

It was a tough season for New Jersey Devils’ defenseman, Will Butcher. After finishing with 44 points in 81 games and being named to NHL All-Rookie team in 2017-18, his production has declined in each of the last two seasons. Not only have his point totals fallen off, but his play took a noticeable step back this […]

Connor McDavid took part in an NHL Conference call with captains from four Pacific Division teams on Friday and among the many number of topics discussed, he noted that a “fair season is a full season”, even if that’s not what works best for the Edmonton Oilers. The host went around the horn and asked […]

The Minnesota Wild have a prospect problem. It’s on the verge of being fixed, but it’s up to current general manager, Bill Guerin, to continue fixing it. In order to keep the franchise moving forward towards becoming a contender in the Western Conference, Guerin will have to be smart, shrewd and downright devious. He’s also […]

Marco Rossi 2019-20 Team: Ottawa 67s (#23)Date of Birth: September 23, 2001Place of Birth: Feldkirch, AUTHt: 5’9” Wt: 179 lbsShoots: LeftPosition: Center/WingNHL Draft Eligibility: 2020 first-year eligible Rankings NHL Central Scouting: 5th (among NA Skaters) Future Considerations: 8th THW Josh Bell’s Rankings: 5th THW Andrew Forbes’ March Rankings: 7th THW Larry Fisher’s March Rankings: 8th ISS: 7th Hockey Prospect: 8th […]

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news on the New York Rangers potentially having trouble signing Tony DeAngelo, there is interest by a few NHL teams in a KHL goaltender and P.K. Subban has floated the idea of an NHL game show to the league who is thinking about it. Finally, there is talk […]

There have been many a memorable goalie mask to draw attention in the NHL. Some of them far more iconic than the netminders who donned them, while others were an extension of the goaltender’s persona. 2011 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and Stanley Cup champion Eddie “The Eagle” Belfour comes to mind in particular, as […]