Hockeywiztalks Hockey Blog

 The St. Louis Blues just missed out on the playoffs again in the 2023-24 season, and finished the season with a total of 92 points, a 43-33-6 record; St. Louis is one of those teams that has no direction, as they are stuck with a lot of aging players with bad contracts and are stuck in mediocracy unless they can find a way to move some of those contracts. Moving forward the Blues' primary goals should be trying to unload their bad contracts to gain picks and cap space and retool through the draft.  St. Louis has 8 draft picks in the 2024 NHL draft, this is who they should select. 2024 NHL Draft: 16-Michael Hage (C) 48-Spencer Gill (D) 56-Carson Wetsch (RW) 81-Timur Kol (D) 94-Hagen Burrows (LW) 113-Felix Lacerte (C) 145-Dawson Cowan (G) 209-Jan Golcic (D) 211-Maxim Velikov (RW) Though no big names jump out at you, this group of prospects is pretty solid and could play a vital role on the team a few years down the road. Retooling the Prospect pool is a long process, but the cr...

 I'm doing something a little different this week, because tomorrow July 28th is the first day of NHL Free Agency, I thought it would be fitting to make Free Agent Signing Predictions. Side note: I will only making predictions on the UFA signings. Key Free Agents: Dougie Hamilton-NJ (7yrs/63M) The signing of Dougie Hamilton gives the Devils a true number 1 defenseman and gives them great depth on the right side with Hamilton, Subban, and Severson. Jaden Schwartz-SEA (7yrs/45.5M) Jaden Schwartz is a great veteran presence in the locker room and is a really good all-around player. Adding Schwartz would be a huge boost to a new expansion team like the Seattle Kraken. Philipp Grubauer-EDM (6yrs/39M) Signing Philipp Grubauer would give the Edmonton Oilers a legit number 1 goalie, something they are in dire need of. A tandem of Grubauer and Mike Smith would give the Oilers a terrific goalie tandem in goal. Philip Danault-NYR (7yrs/42M) Philip Danault has proven over the last couple of y...

 Patrik Laine has been popping up on rumor mills a lot recently and the Winnipeg Jets haven't turned them down, so lets how the Winnipeg Jets would look like if they trade Patrik Laine and how it affects the team down the road. Winnipeg Jets trade Patrik Laine to the Philadelphia Flyers for Travis Konecny, Morgan Frost, Shayne Gostisbehere, 1st round pick 2021. The Flyers get a elite young goal scorer in Patrik Laine, who would look great on a line with Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier; On the flip side, the Jets get a very good top 6 forward in Travis Konecny, solid puck moving defenseman in Shayne Gostisbehere, a prospect in Morgan Frost and a 1st round pick. Winnipeg Jets sign Cole Perfetti, Daniel Torgersson to Entry Level Contracts. All other RFAs are re-signed by the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg Jets sign TJ Brodie to a 6 year deal worth 5 million per season, Mattias Janmark to a 3 year deal worth 2.75 million per season. The Jets add a top 4 defenseman in TJ Brodie as well as a b...