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 Buffalo Sabres showed steps of improvement this season, but they are still far from being a playoff team especially in a tough Atlantic division. If Buffalo wants to be competitive in their division, they will need to improve their roster drastically in both the draft and in free agency. This is what I would do if I were GM of the Buffalo Sabres. Before the 2022 Draft, two trades are made Buffalo Sabres trade Victor Olofsson, Dustin Tokarski to the Vegas Golden Knights for Evgeni Dadonov, Laurent Brossoit, Brendan Brisson, 2022 2nd round pick. The Golden Knights are in win-now mode but they don't have much cap left and they need to dump both Dadonov and Brossoit's contracts, so for them to be able to get Olofsson in this deal is an added bonus. For Buffalo, they are banking on Dadonov having a bounceback season, Brendan Brisson to be a solid prospect down the road, and the scouts to draft someone to help the team in the 2nd round. The Sabres also trade Colin Miller, Vinnie ...

The Calgary Flames have gotten off to a terrific start to the season, but have cooled off since getting off to a red hot start. In order for Calgary to have a legitimate shot at winning the Stanley Cup this year, they need to add some pieces to the team. This is how the Calgary Flames could improve their chances to win the Stanley Cup this year. Needs for the Calgary Flames: 1. Top 4 LD 2. Top 6 Winger 3. Goal Scoring Depth The biggest weakness of the Calgary Flames is the left side of their defense. Noah Hanifin, Oliver Kylington, and Nikita Zadorov may be good enough for the regular season, but if the Flames are to make a deep playoff run, they need to really improve the left side of their defense and their defense in general.  Although the Flames have enough goal-scoring from their top 6, it is always a good idea to add a proven veteran player with playoff experience to their top 6. In addition, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan have not had great performances in past playoff ser...

 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.   C...

The Calgary Flames are a solid team in the regular season but can't seem to make it far in the playoffs. If the Flames want to make a deep run, they will need to retool the team to build a team more suitable for the playoffs. At the trade deadline, the Calgary Flames make one major trade: Calgary Flames trade Josh Leivo, Dominik Simon, and a 2021 2nd round pick to the Detroit Red Wings for Vladislav Namestnikov, Robby Fabbri. The Flames add Namestnikov and Fabrri to bolster the roster for the playoffs. The Calgary Flames make the playoffs in the 2020-21 season but get eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. The Calgary Flames buyout Milan Lucic ; the buyout will cost them 583k annually until 2025. The Calgary Flames lose Andrew Mangiapane to the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft. Before the 2021 draft, two major trades are made: Calgary Flames trade Johnny Gaudreau to the Buffalo Sabres for Taylor Hall. This is a one-for-one swap of Hall for Gaudreau; both need a chan...

 The Calgary Flames are a borderline playoff team right now but if they don't make any changes to their core they won't be making it far in the playoffs. Two core players that have been brought up the most in trade talks are Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Trading Gaudreau and Monahan would allow the Calgary Flames to begin a new chapter and hopefully have more playoffs success in the long run. Calgary Flames trade Johnny Gaudreau to the New Jersey Devils for Nikita Gusev, Michael McLeod, Jesper Bratt, Jesper Boqvist, 1st round pick '22. The New Jersey Devils get Johnny Gaudreau, a dynamic playmaking winger, who will be a tremendous fit on a line with Hischier and Palmieri. Calgary Flames also get a top 6 forward in Nikita Gusev and a top 9 forward in Jesper Bratt, as well as two very good prospects in McLeod and Boqvist. The Flames will also the the Devils first round pick in 2022. Calgary Flames also trade Sean Monahan to the Ottawa Senators for Josh Norris, Drake Bathe...

The 2011 NHL Draft was quite strange because the 1st round was faily underwelming and there were still some great star talent in the draft like Nikita Kucherov, Johnny Gaudreau, Jonathan Huberdeau, Gabriel Landeskog, Mark Scheifele, Mika Zibanejad, Dougie Hamilton. *Check out my previous blogs for other Redrafs* 1. Edmonton Oilers-(RW) Nikita Kucherov Original pick: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins The Best player in this draft is Nikita Kucherov, there isn't another player in this draft that has even come close to hitting the 100 point mark, and Kucherov has done in twice and in back to back years. On top of his regular season accolades, Kucherov also has 29 goals and 61 points in 65 playoff games. The Edmonton Oilers will soon have one of the best powerplays in the league that features Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Seguin and Logan Couture. 2. Colorado Avalanche-(LW) Johnny Gaudreau Original pick: Gabriel Landeskog As great as Gabriel Landeskog has been for the Colorado Avalanche...