Hockeywiztalks Hockey Blog

With the NHL season winding down, I wanted to take a look at the current NHL Playoff picture and how the First round matchups would look like, if the playoffs were to start today. Eastern Conference Atlantic 1. Boston Bruins-121 pts 2. Toronto Maple Leafs-98 3. Tampa Bay Lightning-94 Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs have already clinched a playoff spot, and the Tampa Bay Lightning are close to clinching. Metropolitan 1. Carolina Hurricanes-103  2. New Jersey Devils-102  3. New York Rangers-98  All of the top 3 seeds in the Metropolitan Division have already clinched a playoff spot. Wildcard 1. NY Islanders-87 2. Pittsburgh Penguins-84  Florida Panthers-83  Ottawa Senators-79 Buffalo Sabres-77 Washington Capitals-77 Detroit Red WIngs-75 The NY Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins currently hold the two wildcard spots in the Eastern Conference, with the Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals, and Detroit Red Wings on their tail. Western Conference Centra

The NHL and NHL Players' Association announced in November of last year that the World Cup of Hockey will not be played in February 2024. This is an absolute travesty that the NHL and NHLPA can't see the value of having the NHLs best players playing against each other. It has been 7 years since the last World Cup of Hockey has been played and if there is no World Cup of Hockey tournament in 2024, it will be 8 years since this tournament hasn't been played. Now some articles are saying that the NHL and NHLPA are trying to work out something so that there is a World Cup of Hockey in 2025, but that is still two years away and by that point, some of the legendary players playing now might not even make the team for the respective countries. After the conclusion of the World Baseball Classic, in which Japan beat the USA to win the Championship, Superstar Connor McDavid praised the baseball because of the Ohtani vs Trout showdown, and stated that "It's what we've bee

The Fantasy Hockey Playoffs are underway already, but sometimes a player you pick off free agency can end up winning you your entire league. Here are some players to pickup for the playoffs. Jack McBain Jack McBain has been stellar for the Arizona Coyotes in the last few weeks of the season and is a player who fills out all the categories in fantasy. McBain has 3 goals, 4 assists, 12 SOG, 54 FW, 32 hits, 8 blocks and a +5 rating in the last two weeks, but is somehow only owned in 5% of leagues. If you add McBain, you will be adding an all-category beast who just might win you the championship. Jesperi Kotkaniemi Jesperi Kotkaniemi started off the year with the Carolina Hurricanes not so great, but he has really come into the zone,, down the stretch of the season. Kotkaniemi has 3 goals, 6 assists, 4 PPP, 12 SOG, 37 FW, 11 hits in the last two weeks of the season, playing on the second line of Carolina. Without Andrei Svechnikov, Kotkaniemi will be relied upon more to play a bigger role

The NHL's regular season starting to wind down, so I thought it would be fitting to track the race for various awards. Hart: C.McDavid D.Pastrnak L.Draisaitl T.Thompson J.Robetson Connor McDavid is the favorite to win the Hart Trophy this season, after losing out on the Hart Trophy last season, despite a 122-point season. McDavid is on track to set new career highs in goals, PPP, and points. If there is anyone that has a shot at challenging McDavid, it is David Pastrnak, because not only is he having a great individual season, he is helping lead the Bruins to the best record in the NHL. Leon Draisaitl is constantly overlooked because he plays with McDavid, but few players in the league are more consistent than him. Tage Thompson and Jason Robertson have cooled off a bit lately, so they most likely will not be the Hart winner. Art Ross: C.McDavid-124 L.Draisaitl-97 N.Kucherov-94 D.Pastrnak-86 T.Thompson-85 Connor McDavid is running away with this award right now; he has 27 more poin

 Here are the major trades that occurred before the trade Deadline on March 2: Jan 30:  New York Islanders acquire forward Bo Horvat from Vancouver Canucks in exchange for forwards Anthony Beauvillier and Aatu Raty and conditional 1st-round pick in 2023 NHL Draft. Feb 5:  Seattle Kraken acquire defenseman Jaycob Megna from San Jose Sharks in exchange for 4th-round pick in 2023 NHL Draft. Feb 9:  New York Rangers acquire forward Vladimir Tarasenko, defenseman Niko Mikkola from St. Louis Blues in exchange for forward Sammy Blais, defenseman Hunter Skinner, conditional draft picks.  Feb 17:  Maple Leafs acquire forwards Ryan O'Reilly, Noel Acciari in 3-team deal with St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild; Blues acquire Mikhail Abramov, Adam Gaudette, 1st-round pick in 2023 NHL Draft (from Toronto),  3rd-round pick in 2023 NHL Draft (from Ottawa), 2nd-round pick in 2024 NHL Draft (from Toronto) and Wild acquire 4th-round pick in 2025 NHL Draft (from Toronto)  Feb 19: New York Rangers acqu