Hockeywiztalks Hockey Blog

 The Minnesota Wild are currently sitting in first place in the Central Division now and are tied for 1st in the Western Conference. This is quite a surprise considering their team on paper is not that impressive, so there has to be something special about their play on the ice that makes them a powerhouse in the Western Conference under Head coach Dean Evason. In order for the Minnesota Wild to win the Stanley Cup this year, they will have to make a few moves to improve the team. These are some of the issues w/ Minnesota Wild: 1. Lack of a 3rd line center 2. Defensive Depth 3. Lack of offensive depth If there is one issue that the Minnesota Wild do have is that they lack a solid 3rd line center. The lack of center depth will be even more obvious with Joel Eriksson Ek out for an extended period of time. Eriksson EK is their best overall center, and without him in the lineup, they will struggle because he does so much for the team on both sides of the puck. To make up for the loss of Er

 The LA Kings are sitting just outside a playoff spot right now, with a 12-10-5 record (29 points) through 27 games this season. Although the Kings have some nice pieces, they aren't quite good enough to be a contender just yet. In this blog, I explain what is wrong with the LA Kings and what they can do to become a contending team. Issues w/ LA Kings: 1. Not enough Scoring 2. No Secondary scoring 3. Best Prospects are Not NHL ready 4. Don't have a successor for Jonathan Quick The LA Kings do not score enough; they have only scored 76 goals this season, which is the 8th least in the NHL. Anze Kopitar leads the team in points with 25 points in 27 games, Alex Iaffalo has 9 goals and 17 points in 27 games, Adrian Kempe leads the team in goals with 11 goals and 16 points in 27 games. Viktor Arvidsson has played in only 20 games, but he has 6 goals and 14 points in those games. Phillip Danault has 14 points in 27 games and is a +5; Drew Doughty leads defenseman in scoring, with 13 p

 The Philadelphia Flyers have had a brutal stretch recently, having lost 6 games in a row and not registering a win in 10 games. This has caused the Flyers' record to drop to 8-12-4 and has led to the firing of head coach Alain Vigneault. What are the issues with the Philadelphia Flyers, and what can be done to fix them? Issues w/ Philadelphia Flyers: 1. Lack of Goal Scoring 2. Too many wash up veterans 3. Poor Defense 4. Inconsistent Goaltending The Philadelphia Flyers are struggling to score goals this season; only the Arizona Coyotes and New York Islanders have scored fewer goals than the Flyers. Claude Giroux leads the team in scoring with 21 points, followed by Cam Atkinson and Sean Couturier, who both have 14 points apiece. Travis Konecny has 12 points, Derick Brassard has 11 points, Joel Farabee has 10 points. No other players have more than 10 points. Ivan Provorov, Justin Braun both have 8 points, and Keith Yandle has chipped in 7 points. Kevin Hayes and JVR are two import

 The Boston Bruins are having a subpar start to the season, but there is still tons of time to turn it around this year. This is what is wrong with the Boston Bruins and how can they fix those issues. Issues w/ Boston Bruins: 1. David Krejci's departure has left a massive hole in the lineup 2. Taylor Hall's slow start  3. Lack of Secondary scoring 4. No impact defenseman outside of McAvoy One of the major issues with the Boston Bruins this season is that they do not have a second-line center. The loss of David Krejci was huge, and they never really replaced him in the lineup. Boston signed Nick Foligno, Erik Haula, and Tomas Nosek to fill out the lineup but none of them were able to fill the void that the departure of David Krejci left. Charlie Coyle has been playing as the second-line center for most of the season, and the major issue with that is that he is very inconsistent and is not a reliable source of offense. Taylor Hall is having a slow start to the season, tallying 5

 The Tampa Bay Lightning are the defending Stanley Cup Champions but they haven't exactly had the best start to the season. While Tampa has a good 11-4-3 record; they currently sit in 3rd in the Atlantic Division. What's are some of the Issues with the Tampa Bay Lightning and how should they be fixed? Issues w/ Tampa Bay Lightning 1. Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point's Injuries 2. Not enough Scoring Depth 3. Defense Has Not been good at all 4. Young players have not developed well It's not a stretch to say that Nikita Kucherov is the focal point of the Lightning' offense, and his absence in the lineup is very noticeable especially on the powerplay since his presence requires other teams to pay special attention to him. Kucherov underwent surgery back in late October and was given a timeline of 8 to 10 weeks. The Lightning was able to play well enough without Nikita Kucherov because they still had Stamkos, Point, and Vasilevkiy, however, unfortunately, Brayden Point

 The New York Islanders have not gotten off to a great start to the season this year; for a team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, this is surely a disappointing start. What is Wrong with the New York Islanders? What can be done to fix their issues? Issues with New York Islanders: 1. Lack of Goal Scoring 2. Defense isn't as good  3. Team is too old 4. Injuries The New York Islanders are last in the Metropolitan division and have scored the second-fewest goals in the entire league. A big reason for this is the loss of Jordan Eberle to the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft. Eberle had been a major part of their team and was one of their more reliable offensive players last year. After losing Eberle, the Islanders re-sign Kyle Palmieri and signed Zach Parise to provide depth scoring. The Isles have only scored 29 goals this season, only the Arizona Coyotes have scored fewer goals this season. One of the strengths of the Islanders teams' under Barry Trotz

 There's are a lot of off the ice controversy surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks, but I wanted to focus on the team on the ice. The 2021-22 Chicago Blackhawks have gotten off to a terrible Start to the season, with a 3-9-2 record; only Arizona has a worse record. This bad start has caused the Blackhawks to fire head coach Jeremy Colliton, and Derek King was named the Interim coach. In this blog, I discuss what is wrong with Chicago Blackhawks and how to fix them. Major Issues w/ Chicago Blackhawks: 1. Offseason acquisitions haven't panned out 2. Defense is flat out bad 3. Dylan Strome's poor play 4. Lack of Depth Scoring The Chicago Blackhawks make a few major offseason moves to improve the team, including acquiring Seth Jones, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Tyler Johnson. They also went out and signed Jake McCabe, Jujhar Khaira, Erik Gustafsson in Free Agency.  The only move that is looking good so far is the Seth Jones move, he has 12 points in his first 14 games, while logging o

 The Colorado Avalanche haven't had a great start to the season, due to a combination of injuries and because they lost a few key players in the offseason. Let's discuss the issues with the Colorado Avalanche and how to fix them. Issues with the Colorado Avalanche: 1. Loss of Philipp Grubauer, Brandon Saad, Ryan Graves 2. Injuries early in the season 3. Darcy Kuemper's slow start 4. Lack of Scoring Depth 5. Defense is too soft The Colorado Avalanche lost a couple key players in the offseason, which is a major reason why they have gotten off to a mediocre start to the season. Philipp Grubauer signed with the Seattle Kraken and Brandon Saad signed with the St.Louis Blues in Free Agency. Ryan Graves was traded to the New Jersey Devils for a 2021 2nd round pick. To replace Philipp Grubauer, the Avs went out and acquired Darcy Kuemper; Jack Johnson and Darren Helm were added in Free Agency. Injuries played a big part in why Colorado has had a .500 record out of the gate, and whi

 The Detroit Red Wings have had a terrific start to the season with a 4-2 record, thanks to the arrival of young studs such as Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, who have added lots of skill and talent to the lineup.   Detroit Red Wings Offseason Moves: 1. Traded for and Re-signed Alex Nedeljkovic 2. Traded for Nick Leddy 3. Signed Pius Suter, Jordan Oesterle 4. Re-signed Jakub Vrana, Filip Hronek 5. Re-signed Marc Staal, Michael Rasmussen, Adam Erne Offseason Review: The biggest weakness for the Detroit Red Wings was goaltending, so they went out and traded for Alex Nedeljkovic, who was in a contract dispute with the Carolina Hurricanes. Then subsequently, re-signed Nedeljkovic to a 2 yr deal worth 3.5 million per season. Nedeljkovic will tandem with Thomas Greiss and should form a solid tandem in net. The Red Wings also acquired Nick Leddy from the New York Islanders. This trade helps the Red Wings take that next step forward, as Leddy is an veteran defenseman, with playoff experience,

The Vancouver Canucks had some lofty expectations heading into this season, but so far they have not lived up to those expectations. It is still early in the season, but by looking at the roster, they don't seem like a contending team. Key Offseason Moves:  1. Bought out Braden Holtby and Jake Virtanen 2. Acquiring OEL and Conor Garland 3. Trade for Jason Dickinson 4. Traded Nate Schmidt; signed Tucker Poolman, Luke Schenn 5. Signed Jaroslav Halak to replace Braden Holtby 6. Locked up Pettersson and Hughes Offseason Review: Vancouver Canucks retooled their lineup quite a bit in the offseason to the point where the team looks quite different than last year. The Cancuks started off the offseason by buying out Braden Holtby and Jake Virtanen, both these players never really worked out on the team. The Biggest splash the Canucks made was acquiring Oliver Ekman Larsson and Conor Garland from the Arizona Coyotes; although the price tag was hefty, the move improves the team drastically fo

 The Minnesota Wild had a great season last year, but a major reason for that is the cause of the division they played in. Minnesota will be back in the Central Division this season, and will be fighting for a playoff spot with the likes of Chicago, St.Louis, Nashville, Dallas, and Winnipeg. Because of this, the Wild may struggle to make the playoffs this season. Key moves made in the Offseason: Bought out Zach Parise + Ryan Suter. lost Carson Soucy to Seattle Kraken in Expansion Draft. lost Marcus Johansson, Ian Cole to Free Agency. signed Alex Goligoski, Dmitry Kulikov, Jordie Benn, Jon Merrill in Free Agency. Re-signed Joel Eriksson to a long term deal. Locked up Kirill Kaprizov to a 5 yr deal. Re-signed Kevin Fiala for 1yr Offseason Review: Coming into this offseason, it was no secret that the Minnesota Wild need to create cap room in order to sign some of their key RFAs like Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Kevin Fiala. To nobody's surprise, the Wild bought out Zach Paris

 The Carolina Hurricanes may no longer be legitimate contenders this year after a rough offseason. This should not be a surprise when you lose your top defenseman, trade away an up-and-coming young defenseman, and then overpay for Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Here are the major moves the Carolina Hurricanes made in the offseason: Traded Alex Nedeljkovic to the Detroit Red Wings for Jonathan Bernier, who left in Free Agency to sign w/ NJ and a 3rd round pick Traded Jake Bean to Columbus Blue Jackets for 2021 2nd round pick (Aleksi Heimosalmi) Acquired Ethan Bear from the Edmonton Oilers for Warren Foegele. Let Dougie Hamilton, Petr Mrazek, Brock McGinn walk in Free Agency. Signed Fredrik Andersen, Antti Raanta in Free Agency. Brought in Derek Stepan, Tony DeAngelo, Ian Cole, Brandan Smith for 1 year. Re-signed Andrei Svechnikov to an 8yr/$62 million contract. Signed Jesperi Kotkaniemi to a 1yr/$6M offer sheet. Offseason Review: While the Hurricane didn't have a terrible offseason, they lost

 The Montreal Canadiens are a borderline playoff team with an aging core and many overpaid veterans, so the best thing for them to do is rebuild through the draft to build a contending team again. This is how I would rebuild the Montreal Canadiens At the 2022 Trade Deadline, two trades are made: Montreal Canadiens trade Jonathan Drouin to the Florida Panthers for Grigori Denisenko, Noel Acciari, 2023 2nd round pick. If the Panthers make the playoffs, the Canadiens get the Panthers 2023 1st round pick. Jonathan Drouin improves the scoring for the Panthers, while the Canadiens add more depth to the lineup with Denisenko and Acciari. The Canadiens also trade Ben Chiarot to the Minnesota Wild for 2022 2nd round pick. The Minnesota Wild beef up their defense for the playoff run, while the Canadiens add an additional 2nd round pick. The Montreal Canadiens miss the playoffs in the 2021-22 season and end up with the 14th pick in the draft. Before the 2022 draft, one major trade is made: Montr

 The St.Louis Blues are a team that is stuck in no man's land; they aren't nearly good enough to be legit contenders, yet they aren't entirely bad enough to be a lottery team. So the most logical thing to do is to move a couple of veteran players and build from the draft. This is how I would rebuild the St.Louis Blues. At the 2022 Trade Deadline, two major trades are made: St.Louis Blues trade Vladimir Tarasenko to the Carolina Hurricanes for Nino Niederreiter, Ryan Suzuki, 2023 2nd round pick. If the Hurricanes make the playoffs, the 2nd round pick becomes a 1st round pick. This is a great team for both teams; Carolina gets a top 6 scorer to play on the first line with Aho and Svechnikov, while the Blues get a top 6 forward in Nino Niederreiter, a solid prospect in Ryan Suzuki, and a draft pick. The Blues also trade David Perron to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Nick Ritchie, Joseph Duszak, 1st round pick '22. St.Louis retains 1 million of David Perron's contract. Si

The Nashville Predators are a team that is stuck in no man's land, because they aren't good enough to make the playoffs, yet aren't bad enough to tank. So the best thing for them to do is trade away the players with value and rebuilding the team through the draft. This is how I would rebuild the Nashville Predators. At the 2022 Trade deadline, two major trades are made: Nashville Predators trade Mattias Ekholm to the New York Islanders for Kieffer Bellows, Simon Holmstrom, and a 1st round pick in 2022. The Islanders need to improve their left defense after trading away Nick Leddy, and Mattias Ekholm would make their defense even more potent. For the Predators, they get two top prospects and a 1st round pick, which helps to accelerate the rebuild. The Predators also trade Filip Forsberg to the New Jersey Devils for Jesper Bratt, Kevin Bahl, 2022 1st round pick.  The Devils need to add another top 6 wingers if they are making a playoff push, and Filip Forsberg has been consis

 The Calgary Flames are a team that is stuck in mediocracy right now because they aren't quite good enough to make the playoffs,  yet they also aren't bad enough to be to completely tank the season, as their team is one of the better ones in their weak division.  So what the Calgary Flames should do is rebuild the team, and try to turn the team into a contender that way.  This is how I would rebuild the Calgary Flames. At the 2022 trade deadline, two trades are made: Calgary Flames trade Johnny Gaudreau to the Philadelphia Flyers for Travis Konecny, Morgan Frost, 2022 1st round pick.  This is a win-win trade for both teams because the Flyers get an elite top 6 forward in Johnny Gaudreau,  while the Flames get Travis Konecny, who has been misused at times by the Flyers, Morgan Frost, one of their top prospects and a 1st round pick. The Flames also trade Nikita Zadorov, Andrew Mangiapane to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Ilya Mikheyev, 2023 2nd rd pick.   Calgary retains 50% of Zado