Down the Frozen River

Tag: New York Islanders

  • Merkle’s Weekly Bumblings: Week 22

    Skater of the Week: Brad Marchand

    Yeah, I know, it hurts me to do it. But eight points in three games is a tough stat line to argue against.

    *leans away from microphone looking off to stage right* THAT’LL BE ENOUGH OUT OF YOU, @nlanciani53! WE KNOW HE’S GOOD, WE JUST REALLY HATE HIS FACE!

    Anyway, here’s how the ‘Little Ball of Hate’ earned the nod for the week.

    Marchand started the week by single-handedly ruining the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, racking up three goals and two assists (one of each on the power play) for a five-point night, and tacked on the game-winner for good measure. Then on Thursday he notched a single goal against Philadelphia, with it also being the game-winning tally. Then he capped the week with a pair of ‘apples’ on Saturday to finish off the week with a 50/50 split of four goals and four assists.

    Also he possibly tried to murder Anthony Duclair maybe.

    Brad Marchand, folks.

    Tendy of the Week: Cam Talbot

    The Oilers have suddenly remembered how to hockey. It’s a bit late, but hey, good on ’em.

    Talbot has, like basically everyone in Edmonton not wearing #97, had a bit of a forgettable year. Currently carrying a .906 save percentage and 3.03 GAA, but sporting a near-.500 record, Talbot’s stats are basically a microcosm of the year the Oilers are having. In fact, his three-straight wins this week directly followed three-straight losses.

    But for now we’re focusing on those three wins, as I’m sure all of Edmonton would like to do. Talbot carries a .949 and 1.61 out of the week with him, stopping 94-of-99 shots faced. He did start the week with three goals against on Monday when Arizona visited Rogers Place, but still managed a .914 save percentage on 35 shots. After that he basically completely shut down both the Islanders on Thursday (one goal on 31 shots) and Wild on Saturday (one goal on 33 shots).

    It’s definitely a case of too little too late in Edmonton, but a strong finish to the season could give the team, organization, and fans a much-needed morale boost heading into the offseason.

    Besides, regardless of where they finish in the standings, we know they’re winning the draft lottery…

    Game of the Week: Florida Panthers 4 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 5 (OT), Tuesday March 6th, 2018

    If you like hockey games that have a little bit of everything, go watch the condensed game highlights of this one.

    Nine goals on 82 shots, 56 hits (evenly split at 28 per team), a fight, a hat trick, and a beautiful overtime winner in a tilt between two in-state rivals. Definitely a candidate for game of the year.

    You’d have never guessed there would be nine goals scored if you just watched the first half of the first period. Both Andrei Vasilevskiy and Roberto Luongo were fully on their game, and both goaltenders made multiple standout saves just in the opening minutes alone. In particular, Vasi’s early denial of Nick Bjugstad on a two-on-one and Luongo’s breakaway glove snag on J.T. Miller stand out.

    Also early in the first period we had a scrap between the Lightning’s Braydon Coburn, who is 6’5″ and 223 lbs., and Michael Haley, who is neither of those things. Haley, the NHL’s penalty minutes leader this season, more than held his own in a fairly uneventful scrap, but it certainly got the crowd at Amalie Arena into the game.

    Finally first blood would be drawn at the 10:38 mark, when Yanni Gourde would pounce on an off-the-glass rebound at the side of the net before Luongo could locate the puck and put the Lightning on top. Vasilevskiy would make a pair of outstanding stops on consecutive shots from Aaron Ekblad and Aleksander Barkov to keep the score 1-0, eventually allowing Miller to take a Gourde centering pass from behind the goal line and roof a backhand over the glove of Luongo to extend the Tampa lead to 2-0 at the 12:51 mark. Although being outshot 15-8, the Lightning would nearly survive the first with their lead unblemished, but with just 1:37 to play it would be Bjugstad firing one from the goal line to Vasilevskiy’s left that ricocheted off the goaltender’s shoulder and into the net behind him, sending the two teams to the locker rooms with the score at 2-1.

    The second period would see a much faster start, as once again Yanni Gourde (recording his third point in three Tampa goals) put his entire heart and soul into a turnaround wrist shot from the right circle that beat Luongo high glove and put his Lightning up 3-1 just 1:27 into the second. A good chunk of the second would pass rather uneventfully (sans a great save by Luongo on Nikita Kucherov) before Bjugstand would walk out from the corner with Steven Stamkos all over him, drive to the crease and bang home his own rebound to bring the Panthers within one again at the 13:35 mark. But less than three minutes later the lead would stretch again as Alex Killorn picked up a juicy rebound off of a Stamkos one-timer and send the game to its final intermission with a 4-2 score in favor of the home team.

    The two-goal lead would last just 21 seconds into the third period, as Bjugstad would bury his third of the game to cut the deficit in half. After an Andrej Sustr tripping penalty a few minutes later, Vincent Trocheck would finally knot the score with a power play wrister from the right circle, beating Vasilevskiy just between the glove and left pad. 4-4 would remain the score through the end of regulation, despite the best efforts of the Panthers who would total 16 third period shots to Tampa’s 11, though a tipped Sustr point shot finding Luongo’s left goal post was probably the closest call of the rest of the third. But, alas, off to overtime we’d go.

    A fairly tame start to OT would give way to serious offensive zone pressure by Tampa right around the midway point of the frame. Anton Stralman nearly ended things with a one-timer fired at a gaping net, but it would hit the outside of the post and be collected in the corner by Tyler Johnson. Johnson would give it back to Stralman, who saw an open Brayden Point (waving every available limb and utensil frantically) waiting just inside the right circle. Point would receive the pass, absolutely dance a charging Evgeny Dadonov out of his skates, then roof a laserbeam over the glove of Luongo to rid Amalie Arena of its roof and send the Bolts faithful home happy.

    News, Notes, & Nonsense:

    The Carolina Hurricanes are accepting job applications for their next General Manager via Twitter. Obviously we here at DTFR are biased, but I think we’d all gladly throw our hats in the ring for our own @capncornelius to get the gig.

    Sidney Crosby reached 1,100 career points, which seems like a slightly obscure number to celebrate. But congrats, I guess.

    …this was a slow news week…umm, hey @connorzkeith, can you throw in some sort of funny cat photo or something for filler in the edit? Thanks, buddy.

    *Editor’s note: Don’t forget Alex Ovechkin‘s 600th career goal and Marc-Andre Fleury‘s 400th career win last night, @vanekatthedisco! Anyways, time to empty the cat folder. Here’s a few of my faves:*

  • March 11 – Day 151 – I’Monahan-d it to ya, today’s slate would be more interesting after a few glasses of Bailey’s.

    For those of you who expected less cringe-inducing puns with @connorzkeith on the IR, these past 3 days have surely been painful. My gracious cohorts have blessed me with the weekend’s slimmest pickings on this 4-game Sunday, so let’s just have a rundown of the games on the slate, shall we?

    At 12:30pm EST (so that’s 11:30am local, on the morning of the time change, so let’s see how well the legs get moving at a typical morning skate timeslot on short rest) we have the scorching-hot Boston Bruins taking on 2003’s Chicago Blackhawks (for those of us who can remember a time where they were a bad team). An Original 6 matchup at the Madhouse on Madison would normally get the nod for Game of the Day (NBC gave it to them) but the Hawks are a shell of their former selves and are limping home to lick their wounds in the offseason while Boston runs roughshod over nearly every opponent they come into contact with. I’m not expecting a barnburner here.

    At 7:30pm EST we have a tilt that could be fun, with two high-flying offenses squaring off in Pittsburgh as the Penguins host the Dallas Stars. The Penguins’ balanced attack will attempt to counter the OP Benn-Seguin-Radulov combo in a showdown that wouldn’t actually shock me if the final score was 9-8. But the possibility of a blowout snoozer (in either direction) definitely persists with a pair of teams that occasionally lay absolute eggs defensively, so I’m going to pass on this one for today’s honor.

    At 9:00pm EST we have the very, very bad Arizona Coyotes hosting the ‘so bad we traded Thomas Vanek for Jussi Jokinen and Tyler Motte‘ Vancouver Canucks in the ‘Duel for Dahlin’. I…I just cannot be bothered to care about this game.

    So then we are left with just one option, and the matchup that has earned the nomination for my first (and hopefully only) Game of the Day matchup:

    Yes the old bitter rivalry between the Islanders and Flames is well-documented, and this one should live up to all the hype! [/sarcasm]

    Alright, but really, this has the potential to actually be sort of fun.

    Calgary is returning home after winning two straight on the road (a 5-1 thumping of Buffalo and a 2-1 victory over the Sens) for the start of a brief homestand, and are currently neck-deep in an absolute knock-down, drag-out, bare-knuckle brawl for the Western Conference wild card spots (5 points seperate 5 teams) and also trail San Jose and Anaheim by just 3 and 2 points respectively for 2nd and 3rd in the Pacific division.

    Meanwhile, in Long Island (Brooklyn), the Isles are clinging desperately to their playoff dreams, as they haven’t won a game since February 16th, but have managed to snag pity points in 4 of the 8 losses. They’re a solid distance off of the final wild card spot, but the Devils team they’re chasing has been a bit shaky recently, and with their next 4 games against divisional opponents, with 3 coming on home ice (in fact they play 7 of 10 at Barclays to close out March), they desperately need to use this game to grab some momentum if they hope to mount any sort of a charge at sneaking into the postseason.

    In the ‘fun-to-watch’ department, both of these squads give you no shortage of reasons to tune into this tilt. Calgary boasts a trio of 20-goal men in Michael Ferlund, Johnny Gaudreau, and Matthew Tkachuk, along with 30-goal scorer Sean Monahan. The latter is probably the most underrated pure sniper in the league today, possessing the kind of shot that leaves jaws agape and goaltenders waving hopelessly at thin air. Gaudreau is as shifty and entertaining as anyone, and routinely makes plays that make you question his relationship with physics. Throw in the young trio of offensively talented spark plugs in Ferlund, Tkachuk, and Sam Bennett (55 goals, 111 points, and 134 penalty minutes between them), and you have a fun group up front.

    Even on defense the Flames have no shortage of entertainers. Captain Mark Giordano continues to make his case for the best defenseman in the league that no one has heard of, joining the flashy TJ Brodie and power play specialist Dougie Hamilton as Calgary’s trio of 30+ point d-men. Plus you can always count on some bone-jarring hits from Travis Hamonic to liven things up.

    For the Islanders, the offense borders on the overpowering. New York has 3 players at point-per-game paces (okay, fine, Tavares has 67 in 68 games, whatever) and a host of others scoring more than their fair share. Captain John Tavares and linemate Anders Lee are both sitting on 31 goals this year, with Tavares’ aforementioned 67 points slightly overshadowing Lee’s 51. Josh Bailey continues his breakout campaign posting 65 points in 64 games, while new addition Jordan Eberle has posted 47 points so far, himself. But the biggest story is without a doubt rookie sensation Mathew Barzal. The diminutive youngster has posted 69 points in 68 games and is the hands-down favorite for the Calder Trophy this year.

    The Isles can’t boast the same defensive firepower as Calgary, but Nick Leddy‘s 38 points outdo any single member of the Flames’ big three (although his Mike Commodore ‘Green Jacket’-worthy -33 rating beggars belief). Ryan Pulock and his 105mm Howitzer of a point shot come 2nd on the team at 21 points, but possibly most impressive has been young Thomas Hickey, who’s 20 points are accompanied by a +15 rating. On a team with a -24 goal differential, that’s immensely impressive.

    The biggest divider between the two squads comes in net.

    Mike Smith has been everything the Flames and their flashy-but-risky style of play could have hoped for. Posting a .921 save percentage and 2.53 GAA on the year, he has been just the steadying influence the Flames have asked him to be.

    Now…for the Islanders…basically the entirety of their problems can be traced to their goaltending situation. As I wrote in my season preview article many months ago, for New York it was going to come down to either Jaroslav Halak takes over the net and leads them to success, or they’re going to have a bad time.

    They’re having a bad time.

    Halak has managed just a .908 save percentage with a 3.23 GAA in 47 contests this year, and while backup Thomas Greiss does possess a seemingly-fine 11-7-2 record, many of his appearances have been in relief and his numbers are even more abysmal at .891 and 3.84. If the Islanders had even average goaltending, that offense would have them firmly in the playoff picture. Instead, they’re clinging to hopes and dreams.

    Two hungry teams with flashy offenses and risky styles of play should make for a fun game, so I’ll put my stamp on Islanders @ Flames for today’s DTFR Game of the Day.

    In yesterday’s Game of the Day segment, @nlanciani53 told you that you should watch the Washington Capitals attempt to right the ship on their west coast swing against the San Jose Sharks.

    I assume he’d like me to apologize for that.

    On a day full of fun games, the Sharks and Caps played to a bit of a snoozer, with Washington eventually winning 2-0 in the Shark Tank.

    Philipp Grubauer managed a 23-save shutout, but teammate Alex Ovechkin was also shutout once again in his pursuit of 600 career goals. In fact, aside from Nick Backstrom tally in the final 2 minutes of the 2nd period, nobody managed to beat a goaltender the entire game, as Lars Eller‘s 2-0 dagger was scored into an empty net in the 3rd.

  • Down the Frozen River Podcast #96- Hart to Hart Talk

    Down the Frozen River Podcast #96- Hart to Hart Talk

    Nick and Connor ponder whether or not Taylor Hall is a legitimate Hart Trophy candidate, which Western Conference team (NSH, WPG or VGK) will make the Stanley Cup Final and dive into the odds of the Florida Panthers making the playoffs and/or fielding a competitive team. Also, thoughts on the Detroit Red Wings and goaltender interference.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and/or on Stitcher.

  • Down the Frozen River Podcast #95- Call The Ex-Sturm-inator

    Down the Frozen River Podcast #95- Call The Ex-Sturm-inator

    Nick and Connor recap the 2018 trade deadline, 2018 Winter Games and 2018 overall even though it’s only March. Marco Sturm is worthy of an NHL coaching job, but will anyone take the risk? Hint: They should. Also, more thoughts on the Erik Karlsson saga.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and/or on Stitcher.

  • Numbers Game: March to the Playoffs

    First of all, it’s March, which means it’s officially the best month of the year, but not for any of the reasons you’re thinking. College basketball can stay on the back burner– especially when there’s playoff hockey to look forward to next month when, oh yeah, that NCAA championship game actually occurs.

    Save your “March is the worst month of the year” takes for the next person in line, thanks.

    Anyway, at this point in the season it’s worth noting that the trade deadline has come and passed. While acquisitions like Rick Nash for the Boston Bruins, Derick Brassard for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tomas Tatar for the Vegas Golden Knights and Paul Stastny for the Winnipeg Jets will certainly impact their teams, the following projected standings are merely an educated guess at how things should pan out.

    There are simply too many variables that Microsoft Excel cannot account for, namely injuries, roster changes and well, whether or not a player woke up on the right side of the bed that day.

    To that end, some projected points totals had a little Gut Feeling 2.0 added to them. In other words, the Toronto Maple Leafs are not going to end up with 130 or 131 points like a couple of models showed– there’s simply not enough games remaining for them to almost match an NHL record.

    Therefore, more realistic measures have been added for some teams to account for “reality”.

    Some teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, for instance, had a little win-percentage on the season taken into account for their 19 remaining games on the season– and then reflected in the total number of points they should earn.

    As with all stats and analytics, try not to get too bogged down on one or another. A holistic viewpoint goes much further than trying to survive on heart and grit alone.

    Especially in today’s NHL, where speed and skill are more present than ever before.

    With that, here’s a glance at how the standings should shake out for all 31 NHL clubs based on their performances through February 28, 2018.

    As always, my degree is in communication, not math. In other words, throw everything mentioned above out the window, strap yourself in and good luck surviving the adrenaline rush that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Oh, your team’s not going to make it, you say?

    My condolences, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes fans. Next year is totally your year.

    Maybe.

    2017-2018 Projected Standings after Five Months

    Eastern Conference

    Atlantic Division

    1. y-Tampa Bay Lightning, 106 points (64 GP so far)
    2. x-Boston Bruins, 105 points (61 GP so far)
    3. x-Toronto Maple Leafs, 105 points (66 GP so far)
    4. Montreal Canadiens, 78 points (63 GP so far)
    5. Detroit Red Wings, 75 points (63 GP so far)
    6. Florida Panthers, 75 points (60 GP so far)
    7. Buffalo Sabres, 68 points (64 GP so far)
    8. Ottawa Senators, 65 points (62 GP so far)

    The Atlantic Division was already determined in December. Nothing should surprise anyone, except for how close it should be coming down the wire for first place in the division.

    It might seem crazy considering the Tampa Bay Lightning really bolstered their defense with Ryan McDonagh at the trade deadline, but Boston and Toronto have as much speed and offense to remain in the hunt for that little “Y” next to their names down the stretch. Plus it helps that the Lightning, Bruins and Maple Leafs aren’t playing each other every night, so that has to factor in their somehow.

    Between 4th and 6th in the division it’s anyone’s game. The Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers are all teetering on the edge of either a rebuild or just a few steps away from a re-tool-on-the-fly.

    Neither of them are inherently “ideal”, but they can’t do anything else to compete with Tampa, Boston and Toronto.

    It’s worth noting that the Buffalo Sabres will barely climb out of the basement of the division this year. And that’s without Jack Eichel (fractured ankle).

    Simply put, the Ottawa Senators are beyond bad.

    Metropolitan Division

    1. z-Pittsburgh Penguins, 108 points (64 GP so far)
    2. x-Philadelphia Flyers, 99 points (63 GP so far)
    3. x-New Jersey Devils, 97 points (63 GP so far)
    4. wc1-Columbus Blue Jackets, 96 points (63 GP so far)
    5. wc2-Washington Capitals, 94 points (64 GP so far)
    6. New York Islanders, 87 points (64 GP so far)
    7. Carolina Hurricanes, 75 points (63 GP so far)
    8. New York Rangers, 72 points (64 GP so far)

    After much turbulence leading up to this month in the Metropolitan Division, it seems by the end of the month, we’ll have a clear picture of who’s really a contender, who’s making a Second Round exit and who’s just pretending to be on the ice when they’re actually sending out some pretty high-tech holograms on the ice.

    In other words, the Pittsburgh Penguins are suited for a three-peat as long as Matt Murray can stay healthy. Even still, they’re beginning to peak at the right time as they have done every year with Mike Sullivan behind the bench.

    But who’s that neighbor of theirs in Pennsylvania? They might have to re-grease some poles in Philadelphia, because the Flyers are surging right now and it should carry them into decent playoff position.

    The New Jersey Devils, Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals all remain competitive, but sadly fall victim to First or Second Round exits simply because have you seen the rest of the Eastern Conference? Yeah, I thought so too.

    One of these years if the Carolina Hurricanes look to actually spend a little more money they’ll be able to take their money-puck approach back to the postseason for the first time since 2009, but this year is not that year. They didn’t do anything at the deadline and it shows.

    Western Conference

    Central Division

    1. p-Winnipeg Jets, 116 points (63 GP so far)
    2. x-Minnesota Wild, 104 points (63 GP so far)
    3. x-Nashville Predators, 100 points (62 GP so far)
    4. wc2-St. Louis Blues, 92 points (65 GP so far)
    5. Dallas Stars, 92 points (63 GP so far)
    6. Colorado Avalanche, 85 points (63 GP so far)
    7. Chicago Blackhawks, 70 points (63 GP so far)

    Your President’s Trophy winners, ladies and gentlemen, entering March 2018 should be the Winnipeg Jets.

    That’s right, the team in Winnipeg, Manitoba with a seating capacity of a little more than 15,000 fans at Bell MTS Place. That one. Winnipeg. The Western Conference’s Carolina Hurricanes. They aren’t big spenders, yet they bought exactly what they needed at the trade deadline in Paul Stastny.

    Meanwhile, apparently Eric Staal‘s first hat trick in a little over five years is enough to catapult the Minnesota Wild on a surprising run down the stretch. Though they are currently 3rd in the Central Division, Minnesota is coming alive.

    It’s hard to knock the Nashville Predators off of their game– especially while they’re in command of the division– but something just doesn’t go exactly as planned this month for the Preds.

    They’ll still beat Minnesota in the First Round and set themselves up for quite a matchup with Winnipeg in the Second Round though. Obviously the winner of that is going to battle the Vegas Golden Knights for the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl.

    A warning to the St. Louis Blues– keep up this downward trend and the Dallas Stars will replace you in the wild card.

    Whatever upper body injury is plaguing Corey Crawford is only making things worse for the Chicago Blackhawks.

    In some models, they should be a lot better than they are right now, but that’s due to their impressive streak of success from 2010-17. Now, in 2018, the wheels fell off and the floor fell out from under them– on top of the Crawford injury.

    Pacific Division

    1. y-Vegas Golden Knights, 113 points (63 GP so far)
    2. x-Los Angeles Kings, 105 points (64 GP so far)
    3. x-Anaheim Ducks, 100 points (64 GP so far)
    4. wc1-San Jose Sharks, 94 points (64 GP so far)
    5. Calgary Flames, 78 points (65 GP so far)
    6. Edmonton Oilers, 78 points (63 GP so far)
    7. Vancouver Canucks, 77 points (64 GP so far)
    8. Arizona Coyotes, 63 points (62 GP so far)

    The Vegas Golden Knights, in their inaugural season, come up three points shy of winning the 2017-18 President’s Trophy as the team with the best regular season record. The Vegas Golden Knights.

    Despite the push from all of the California clubs, this is Vegas’s division title to lose. Not just in the regular season, but in the playoffs too.

    No amount of onslaught from the Los Angeles Kings or Anaheim Ducks should be able to stand a seven-game series with Ryan Reaves and the rest of the Golden Knights. Having said that though, it’s a shame the San Jose Sharks will likely pair-up with the Jets, because we’ll never get to know if Vegas could single handedly defeat all three California teams en route to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.

    That’s assuming a lot, but let’s roll with it.

    All season long the Calgary Flames have been a lovable underdog. Unfortunately, their time is cut short. All good things must come to an end and again, if you’re going to do nothing at the deadline as a fringe competitor, you can’t expect to improve.

    At least you shouldn’t, otherwise well, you know the definition of insanity (doing the same thing and expecting a different result).

    Better luck next year, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks and Arizona Coyotes.

  • Merkle’s Weekly Bumblings: Week 20

    Skater of the Week: Evgeni Malkin

    Two games. Two games is all Geno played this entire week, and he still scored six points.

    Currently riding a six-game point streak with 13 total points in that time, Malkin is just torching everything in his path. In his two contests this past week he tallied a goal and two assists in Carolina before reversing the numbers in Florida. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that only one of those six points was on the power play. In fact, just two of the 13 points he’s scored in this streak were away from even strength.

    The Penguins were already stacked and red-hot before adding Derick Brassard, so as of this writing, there’s no solid reason not to bet on the three-peat.

    Tendy of the Week: Frederik Andersen

    Possibly the quietest Vezina candidate of all time, Freddie has been stellar for basically the entire season, and is a huge reason the Leafs are where they’re at in the standings. But playing behind that offense doesn’t leave a lot of spotlight left for the Danish netminder. Not that he seems to mind.

    Downing the Panthers, Islanders, and closest rival Boston during the week, Andersen posted a .939 save percentage and 1.96 GAA on the week, stopping 92 of 98 shots faced. If not for an .870 result against Boston (a game that was still a regulation win for his Leafs, mind you) where he allowed three goals on only 23 shots, Andersen’s numbers could have been even more spectacular. Still, that 3-0-0 record is probably the most important thing to him and his team.

    Currently carrying a .922 save percentage and 2.67 GAA on the season to accompany a 32-16-4 record, Freddie has firmly placed his name in the category of ‘Legit #1 goaltender’, and his Toronto squad looks poised to potentially do some postseason damage.

    Game of the Week: Germany 3, Artists Formerly Known as Russia 4 (OT)

    International officiating is somehow actually worse than NHL officiating, believe it or not.

    News, Notes, & Nonsense:

    *Disclaimer: Nick and Connor have been doing a great job of recapping all the trade deadline madness, so rather than repeat all the trades that they’ve already written about, I’ll simply direct you to their articles*

    Mike Fisher is now o-fish-ully back with the Predators, having signed a $1 million contract for the remainder of the 2017-’18 season. The Preds definitely seem to be all-in for a Cup run this year, convincing former captain Fisher to unretire, and acquiring wrecking ball winger Ryan Hartman from division rival Chicago at the deadline.

    Erik Karlsson is still an Ottawa Senator, which I suppose is great news to anyone not named Erik Karlsson.

    Jack Johnson is still a Blue Jacket, and I can only assume our good friend Cap’n Cornelius can actually feel me typing those words as they dig into his soul. Oh well, at least we got to see Aaron Portzline be wrong about something again.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy made another save by reaching his glove behind his back, confirming that the original was not a fluke and that he is not actually a human but rather some sort of crazy Russian android, and I feel like we’re not as concerned about that as we should be.

    Brian Gionta and Cody Goloubef managed to earn the attention of NHL teams during their respective Olympic tournaments, with Goloubef getting a contract from the Flames, and Gionta (admittedly surprisingly) signing with the Bruins.

    Johnny Oduya was waived by Ottawa and claimed by Philadelphia, and I can only assume he did not need transportation to make the trip from Ontario to Pennsylvania.

  • TRADE: Chimera swapping in his blue-and-orange for Orange County

    With approximately 45 minutes remaining until the 3 p.m. Eastern trade deadline, the Anaheim Ducks acquired veteran F Jason Chimera from the New York Islanders in exchange for F Chris Wagner.

    Chimera comes to Orange County in the middle of the worst season of his NHL career. At 38-years-old, the Edmonton, Alberta native has managed only 2-9-11 totals in 58 games played with one of the NHL’s top offenses.

    An unrestricted free agent following this season, Chimera enjoyed the pinnacle of his career while playing with Washington from 2009-’16. He achieved three 20-goal campaigns with the Caps, as well as posted a career-high 42 points in 82 games in 2013-’14.

    Chimera will likely slide into the fourth line’s left wing position for what seems to be one last stab at a Stanley Cup.

    In return, New York is receiving 26-year-old Wagner, a native of Walpole, Mass. – a suburb approximately 30 miles southwest of Boston. A fifth-round pick in the 2010 Entry Draft, Wagner made his NHL debut with the Ducks in 2014-’15. Since then, he’s played at least half an NHL season for both of the last two campaigns, as well as 64 games this season.

    Given his previous performance, Wagner is experiencing a breakout season this year. In 64 games this year, he’s posted 6-9-15 totals to elevate his career marks to 16-12-28.

    If you’ve heard Wagner’s name before, it was likely during the Ducks’ recent run to the Western Conference Finals. He provided one goal in Game 3 against the Oilers, as well as a goal apiece in Games 5 and 6 against the Predators.

    With the Isles only two points behind Columbus for the second wild card, that playoff experience could prove valuable should New York qualify for the postseason for the third time in four seasons.

    Just like Chimera, Wagner is also a pending unrestricted free agent come this offseason, but his $637.5 thousand cap hit is well below Chimera’s $2.25 million.

  • 2018 NHL Trade Deadline Recap

    2018 NHL Trade Deadline Recap

    Today– Monday, February 26, 2018 for those of you who have yet to look at a calendar– is the annual NHL Trade Deadline. All 31 NHL teams have until 3:00p ET to get their trade calls into the league office before they can get approved (or rejected).

    @connorzkeith and I are tackling the challenge of updating this here DTFR Trade Deadline Live Blog while also writing quick recaps and analysis for every trade that occurs.

    So gather around your TVs, phones, laptops, tablets or whatever let’s you refresh Twitter all day and chill with us as we all try to survive the inevitable Ottawa Senators-Erik Karlsson debacle madness that is the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline.

    DTFR Top-10 Best Available Players to Acquire

    1. D Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators (27)
    2. D Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers (28) TRADED TO TB
    3. LW Evander Kane, Buffalo Sabres (26) TRADED TO SJ
    4. LW Patrick Maroon, Edmonton Oilers (29) TRADED TO NJ
    5. C/LW Max Domi, Arizona Coyotes (22)
    6. LW Max Pacioretty, Montreal Canadiens (29)
    7. LW Jeff Skinner, Carolina Hurricanes (25)
    8. C/LW Zack Smith, Ottawa Senators (29)
    9. RW Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers (30)
    10. D Mike Green, Detroit Red Wings (32)

    In the first deal of the day, the Columbus Blue Jackets acquired D Ian Cole from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 3rd round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and F Nick Moutrey. MORE

    The Chicago Blackhawks traded F Ryan Hartman and a 5th round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft to the Nashville Predators in exchange for F Victor Edjsell, a 1st round pick and a 4th round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. MORE

    F Paul Stastny was traded by the St. Louis Blues to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for F Erik Foley, a 2018 1st round pick and a conditional 4th round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. MORE

    D Philip Holm was traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for F Brendan Leipsic. MORE

    Columbus acquired F Ryan Kujawinski from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for F Jordan Maletta. MORE

    The San Jose Sharks acquired F Evander Kane from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for F Danny O’Regan, a conditional 2019 1st round pick and a conditional 2019 4th round pick. MORE

    F Jason Chimera was traded to the Anaheim Ducks by the New York Islanders in exchange for F Chris Wagner. MORE

    The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired F Thomas Vanek from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for F Tyler Motte and F Jussi Jokinen. MORE

    The Carolina Hurricanes traded F Josh Jooris to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for F Greg McKegg. MORE

    F Tomas Tatar was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights by the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a 2018 1st round pick, a 2019 2nd round pick and a 2021 3rd round pick. MORE

    The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired D Ryan McDonagh and F J.T. Miller from the New York Rangers in exchange for F Vladislav Namestnikov, F Brett Howden, D Libor Hajek, a 2018 1st round pick and a conditional 2nd round pick in 2019. MORE

    The Ottawa Senators traded F Nick Shore to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a 2019 7th round pick. MORE

    Winnipeg acquired D Joe Morrow from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a 2018 4th round pick. MORE

    F Patrick Maroon was traded by the Edmonton Oilers to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for F J.D. Dudek and a 2019 3rd round pick. MORE

    Montreal acquired D Mike Reilly from the Minnesota Wild in exchanged for a 5th round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft (via Washington). MORE

    Columbus sent F Carter Camper to Arizona for future considerations. MORE

    The Boston Bruins acquired F Tommy Wingels from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a conditional 5th round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. MORE

    The Colorado Avalanche traded D Chris Bigras to the New York Rangers in exchange for D Ryan Graves. MORE

    Arizona acquired F Pierre-Cedric Labrie, D Trevor Murphy and F Derek Army from Nashville for F Tyler Gaudet and D John Ramage. MORE

  • TRADE: Islanders acquire Davidson from Oilers

    The Edmonton Oilers have made it known that they want a defenseman– yet they traded away a defenseman.

    220px-Logo_Edmonton_Oilers.svg.png

    On Saturday afternoon the Oilers traded D Brandon Davidson to the New York Islanders in exchange for a 3rd round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

    downloadDavidson, 26, has three goals and two assists (five points) in 36 games for the Oilers and Montreal Canadiens this season.

    Edmonton previously claimed him off waivers from Montreal on December 3, 2017 after having traded him to Montreal in exchange for F David Desharnais on February 28, 2017.

    The 6’2″, 208-pound native of Taber, Alberta made his NHL debut with the Oilers in 2014-15 and has 8-12–20 totals in 137 career games. Davidson was originally drafted by Edmonton in the 6th round (162nd overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

  • TRADE: Rangers send Grabner to the Devils

    It’s the first time the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils have ever made a trade with each other and, well, it’s a pretty big one, all things considered in this deadline market.

    The Rangers traded forward, Michael Grabner, to New Jersey in exchange for a 2nd round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and Yegor Rykov on Thursday.

    New Jersey Devils LogoGrabner, 30, has 25 goals and six assists (31 points) in 59 games this season for New York and was a healthy scratch on Thursday night.

    The 6’1″, 188-pound, native of Villach, Austria has 156-88–244 totals in 532 career NHL games with the Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks.

    He was originally drafted by Vancouver in the 1st round (14th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

    A gifted scorer, Grabner emerged in his 2nd NHL season, notching 52 points in 76 games with the Islanders in 2010-11. Grabner’s production dropped to just 32 points in 78 games in 2011-12.

    He bounced back with 27 goals and 13 assists (40 points) in 76 games last season for the Rangers after a forgettable season with the Maple Leafs in 2015-16 in which he amassed nine goals and nine assists (18 points) in 80 games.

    Grabner is a pending-UFA this July.

    downloadRykov, 20, is a 6’2″, 205-pound left-shot defenseman currently playing with SKA St. Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In 51 games with SKA St. Petersburg this season, Rykov has 2-12–14 totals.

    He was originally drafted by New Jersey in the 5th round (132nd overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

    With the acquisition of a 2nd round pick in 2018 from the Devils, the Rangers now have eight picks in the 2018 draft– including five picks in the first three rounds.