Hockeywiztalks Hockey Blog

 The first day of NHL Free Agency starts tomorrow, so I thought it would be fitting to do a preview the class of free agents and make some signing predictions. Top Free Agent Centers Claude Giroux Nazem Kadri Vincent Trocheck Ryan Strome Dylan Strome Paul Stastny Evan Rodrigues Chris Tierney Top Free Agent Left Wingers Johnny Gaudreau Ondrej Palat Evander Kane Max Domi Nino Niederreiter Andrew Copp Andre Burakovsky Ilya Mikheyev Dominik Kubalik Calle Jarnkrok Oskar Lindblom Sonny Milano Mattias Janmark Top Free Agent Right-Wingers David Perron Phil Kessel Reilly Smith Alexander Radulov Frank Vatrano Vladislav Namestnikov Danton Heinen Tyler Motte Top Free Agent Defenseman John Klingberg Nick Leddy Olli Maatta Josh Manson Justin Schultz Ben Chiarot PK Subban Dan DeKeyser Anton Stralman Calvin DeHaan Nikita Zadorov Ian Cole Brett Kulak Justin Braun Top Free Agent Goalies Darcy Kuemper Jack Campbell Ilya Samsonov Thomas Greiss Martin Jones Braden Holtby Jaroslav Halak Free Agent Signi...

The Florida Panthers have 10 free agents this offseason but only have 3 million in cap space left to re-sign those free agents. So if they are to re-sign any of those free agents, they will have to be clever and move around some big contracts. This is what the Florida Panthers should do in the offseason. Before the 2022 Draft, a few trades are made Florida Panthers trade Sergei Bobrovsky to the Edmonton Oilers for Jesse Puljujarvi, Carter Savoie, and a 2023 3rd-round pick . If the Oilers make the Conference Finals, the 3rd-round pick becomes a 1st-round pick. Florida retains 50% of Bobrovsky's contract. Even though Bobrovsky had a phenomenal season this year, it is best to trade him now because his contract will only get worse as he gets older. Claude Giroux is traded to the Ottawa Senators for 3rd round pick '22. If Giroux Signs with the Senators, the Panthers get a 2023 2nd-round pick. Claude Giroux has been linked with Ottawa for a while now, so Florida trades his rights to...

 The Ottawa Senators have been rebuilding for a few years now, and that trend will continue this offseason, as they try to build a contending team through the draft. In addition, they will also be adding some key free agents as well. This is what the Ottawa Senators should do in the offseason. Before the 2022 Draft, Ottawa Senators make a few trades are made Ottawa Senators trade Chris Tierney, Michael Del Zotto to the Seattle Kraken for 4th round pick '22, 5th round pick '23 Seattle get Chris Tierney and Michael Del Zotto from Ottawa in exchange for two draft picks The Senators also acquire Alex Killorn from Tampa Bay Lightning for Dylan Gambrell, Austin Watson, Lassi Thomson, 2nd round pick '22. The Lightning needs to move some salaries, and Alex Killorn is one of their cap casualties. For Ottawa, they will be getting a solid veteran forward who will help mentor their young players. Adam Gaudette and Victor Mete are traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for 5th round pick ...

 The Philadelphia Flyers currently sit in last place in the Metropolitan division, so it would make sense for them to be sellers at the deadline, and trade away some of their players on expiring contracts, so they can start rebuilding. This is what the Philadelphia Flyers should do at this years' Trade Deadline. Trades A three-team trade is made between the Philadelphia Flyers, Colorado Avalanche, Ottawa Senators Philadelphia Flyers get Alex Newhook, JT Compher, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Alex Formenton, 2023 1st round pick (from COL) Colorado Avalanche get Claude Giroux Ottawa Senators get Andre Burakovsky, Oskar Lindblom  This trade sends Claude Giroux to the Colorado Avalanche, where he will get a chance to win a Stanley Cup. In exchange for Giroux, the Flyers get Alex Newhook, JT Compher, and a 2023 1st round pick from Colorado as well as a Jacob Bernard-Docker and Alex Formenton from Ottawa. To make the trade work cap-wise, the Senators receive Andre Burakovsky from the Avalan...

 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 Philadelphia Flyers won back-to-back Stanley Cups in the 1970s, but since then they have yet to win the Stanley Cup again. The Flyers have some great players on the team, but I think they might need to make some adjustments to win it all. At the trade deadline, Philadelphia Flyers make one major trade: Philadelphia Flyers acquire Ryan Ellis, Erik Haula from the Nashville Predators for Oskar Lindblom, Phil Myers, German Rubtsov, and a 2021 1st round pick. The Flyers acquire Ryan Ellis, a top-pair defenseman to pair with Ivan Provorov. With the addition of Ryan Ellis, the Philadelphia Flyers make the playoffs but get eliminated in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Before the expansion draft, the Philadelphia Flyers trade Jakub Voracek to the Detroit Red Wings for a 2021 2nd round pick (from NYR), 2022 2nd round pick. The Flyers free up more than 8 million in cap space by unloading Voracek's contract, and at the same time add two 2nd round picks. Philadelphia Flyers lose Scott Laug...

After getting eliminated in the 2nd round of the Playoffs by the New York Islanders, the Philadelphia Flyers might look to retool their team. The two players that get talked about the most in trade talks are Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek;' although it's not likely they get trade, i'm going to explore what would happen if they did decide to trade them. In the 2020 offseason, a few trades are made: Philadelphia Flyers trade Claude Giroux to the Detroit Red Wings for Anthony Mantha, Filip Zadina, 1st round pick 2022. The Detroit Red Wings need a star player to pair with Dylan Larkin and Claude Giroux would certainly fit that criteria; on the other hand, the Flyers would get Anthony Mantha and Filip Zadina, two very good forwards and a 1st round pick. The Flyers also trade Jakub Voracek, Nolan Patrick to the Buffalo Sabres for Victor Olofsson, Tage Thompson, 1st round pick 2021. The Sabres would love to add another highly skilled winger to play in the top 6 along with Taylor ...

  The New York Rangers struggled to draft during the mid 2000s and into the 2010s, which might be a reason why they never were thought of as a legit contender at the time. If the Rangers had drafted correctly, they might have been able to build a championship caliber team. In this blog, I will be redrafting the New York Rangers for a decade in hopes of turning them into a contending team. 2003: 12-Brent Burns over Hugh Jessiman 50-Corey Crawford over Ivan Baranka 209-Dustin Byfuglien over Dylan Reese 243-Matt Moulson over Jan Marek In the 2003 redraft, the Rangers fare much better than they did originally; they get two star players in Brent Burns and Dustin Byfuglien, they also get a good goalie in Corey Crawford and decent complementary goal scorer in Matt Moulson. 2004: 19-Travis Zajac over Loui Korpikoski 36-Brandon Dubinsky over Darin Olver 48-Alex Goligoski over Dane Byers 73-Alexander Edler over Zdenek Bahensky The Rangers add two very good defenseman in Alex Goligoski and Al...

 The Los Angeles Kings had some miserable drafts from in the 2000s and because of that they missed out on building a potential dynasty. If the LA Kings were redrafted for a decade, they could have potentially won more than 2 stanley cups. 2002: 18-Cam Ward over Denis Grebeshkov 50-Johnny Boychuk over Sergei Anshakov 66-Frans Nielsen over Petr Kanko 152-James Wisniewski over Gregory Hogeboom The LA Kings draft a franchise goalie in Cam Ward, two solid defenseman in Johnny Boychuk and James Wisniewski and a good two way center in Frans Nielsen. 2003: 13-Zach Parise over Dustin Brown 26-Corey Perry over Brian Boyle 27-Patrice Bergeron over Jeff Tambellini 44-Shea Weber over Konstantin Pushkaryov LA Kings strike gold this time around, drafting 4 future all stars which include a perennial selke Candidate in Patrice Bergeron, a Norris candidate in Shea Weber, a future MVP in Corey Perry and a clutch goal scorer in Zach Parise. 2004: 11-Travis Zajac over Lauri Tukonen 94-Johan Franzen ove...

The Florida Panthers were an absolute disaster during 2000s because they failed at drafting good players despite having high picks nearly every year. If the Florida Panthers drafted well during those years, they could have perhaps build a playoff caliber team or even a contendening team. In this blog, i will redraft the Florida Panthers from 2000-2010s. Rules for the redraft: Must select a player in every round Must draft 4 players in every draft 2000: 58-Paul Martin over Vladimir Sapozhnikov 77-Lubomir Visnovsky over Robert Fried 115-John Michael Liles over Chris Eade 120-Henrik Lundqvist over David Parley This draft wasn't very good but the Florida Panthers still manage to draft by far the best player in the draft in Henrik Lundqvist as well as 3 good defenseman in Paul Martin, Lubomir Visnovsky and John Michael Liles. 2001: 4-Mikko Koivu over Stephen Weiss 34-Mike Cammalleri over Greg Watson 68-Tomas Pleckanec over Grant McNeill 169-Jussi Jokinen ove...

There were many all stars taken in the 2006 NHL draft, such as Jonathan Toews, Nicklas Backstrom, Phil Kessel, Claude Giroux, Brad Marchand but the Erik Johnson of all people was taken 1st overall by the St.Louis Blues. If the 2006 draft was redrafted, the landscape of the NHL would be very different. *Check out previous NHL redrafts on my blog* 1. St.Louis Blues-(C) Jonathan Toews Original pick: Erik Johnson Rather than selecting Erik Johnson with the first overall pick, the St.Louis Blues should have selected Jonathan Toews, one of the 100 Greatest NHL players. Jonathan Toews is a member of the triple gold club and captained the Chicago Blackhawks to 3 stanley cups from 2010-2015. Toews is also considered one of the best two way centers in the game as well. With Jonathan Toews on board, the St.Louis Blues make their team much better and their rival Blackhawks much worse. 2. Pittsburgh Penguins-(C) Nicklas Backstrom Original pick: Jordan Staal This pick could po...