Hockeywiztalks Hockey Blog

Nicklas Backstrom is expected to miss the 2022-23 season after undergoing hip surgery, so if the Washington Capitals are to make the playoffs, they might need to do more than they have already done in the offseason to improve their team. This is what I would to ensure the Washington Capitals remain contenders without Nicklas Backstrom. With Backstrom, Tom Wilson, and Carl Hagelin on LTIR, they can spend 17.11 million over the cap; they already have a payroll of 88.82 million, which is already 6.32 million over the cap. Wilson and Hagelin are expected to be back this season, so they really only have 2.88 million to spend, if Backstrom is remaining on the LTIR the whole season. Washington added a bunch of rental players to replace their injured offensive players, but they haven't done much to improve their defense. The Offense of the Capitals is fine, but Washington really needs to improve their defense, if they are to contend in their division. Washington Capitals Make the following...

The New York Islanders missed the playoffs last season, and they didn't really do anything in the offseason to improve the team. In order for the Islanders to be a contender this season, they will need to make some moves to improve the team. This is how the New York Islanders can become a Contender this season. Before the season, the Islanders make two trades New York Islanders trade Josh Bailey, Kieffer Bellows, 2023 2nd round pick to the Arizona Coyotes for Shayne Gostisbehere, Nick Ritchie and a 2023 3rd round pick. The Islanders and Coyotes basically swap Bailey and a 2nd round pick for Gostisbehere and 3rd round pick, as well as Kieffer Bellows for Nick Ritchie. The Islanders also trade Semyon Varlamov to the Vegas Golden Knights for Laurent Brossoit, 2024 2nd round pick. The Golden Knights acquire a proven veteran goalie, who can help them while Robin Lehner is out this season. At the Trade Deadline, One major trade is made New York Islanders trade Simon Holmstrom, Nick Ritch...

The Columbus Blue Jackets have quietly put together a dangerous team and depending on the development of their young players and what other moves they make, they could make a push to be contenders this season. This is how the Columbus Blue jackets can be a contender this season. At the Trade Deadline, a few trades are made Columbus Blue Jackets trade Gustav Nyquist, Liam Foudy, Vladislav Gavrikov, 2023 2nd round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Mike Hoffman, and Joel Edmundson. This trade works out for both teams, as both Nyquist and Hoffman could use a change in scenery, and Edmundson would be an upgrade on the blueline over Gavrikov. Montreal also gets Liam Foudy for taking on Nyquist's bad contract. Columbus Blue Jacket acquire Derek Grant from the Anaheim Ducks for 5th round pick '24. Derek Grant is a great depth piece to have on the team for a contending team. Joonas Korpisalo is dealt to the Montreal Canadiens for Sam Montembeault, conditional 4th round pick '23.   ...

The Vancouver Canucks are a borderline contending team right now and are unlikely to make the playoffs if they don't make any significant changes. This is what the Vancouver Canucks should do to improve the team. Vancouver Canucks make a few trades: Vancouver Canucks trade Tyler Myers and Tanner Pearson to the Buffalo Sabres for Casey Mittelstadt, Jacob Bryson, 2023 2nd round pick. This trade helps both teams address their needs but most importantly, Vancouver adds a young center with top 6 potential. JT Miller is traded to the New York Rangers for Nils Lundkvist, Vitali Kravtsov, 2023 1st round pick.  The Rangers get JT Miller to bolster their top 6, while the Canucks get two top prospects and a 1st round pick for a pending UFA. Vancouver Canucks sign the Following Free Agents: Tyler Motte-3yrs/1.8M per This is how the lineup looks like this season 2022-23 Vancouver Canucks N.Hoglander-E.Pettersson-B.Boeser C.Garland-B.Horvat-A.Kuzmenko I.Mikheyev-C.Mittelstadt-V.Podkolzin T.Motte...

The Vegas Golden Knights are in trouble now with Robin Lehner expected to be out the entire season and with Laurent Brossoit also out with injury. With their goaltending situation uncertain, Vegas will need to make some moves to improve their goaltending in order to be a contender this season. These are the moves that the Vegas Golden Knights should make: Vegas Golden Knights acquire Semyon Varlamov from the New York Islanders for a 2023 3rd round pick, and a 2024 5th round pick. This trade benefits both teams because the Islanders don't really need a $5 million backup with Ilya Sorokin primed to be the workhorse next season, while the Golden Knights really could use a veteran goalie to tandem with Logan Thompson in the absence of Robin Lehner. Vegas Golden Knights acquire Mike Hoffman from the Montreal Canadiens for Sakari Manninen, a 2025 3rd round pick. If Vegas Makes the playoffs, the 3rd round pick becomes a 2nd round pick. Mike Hoffman adds some scoring punch to their top 6 ...

 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 ex...

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 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 Minnesota Wild are a mediocre team that is stuck in no man's land; they aren't good enough to be a contender, but at the same time, they aren't bad enough to be a lottery team. So the most logical thing to do is to trade their veteran players and rebuild for the future. At the trade deadline, the Minnesota Wild make two blockbuster trades. Minnesota Wild trade Jonas Brodin, Nick Bonino to the New Jersey Devils for Will Butcher, Andreas Johnsson, and a 2021 2nd rd pick.  The Devils get a top 4 defenseman in Jonas Brodin and a top 9 forward in Nick Bonino, while the Wild get Will Butcher, Andreas Johnsson, and a 2nd round pick. The Wild also trade Marcus Johansson, Victor Rask, 1st round pick '21 to the Detroit Red Wings for Vladislav Namestnikov, and a 2021 2nd round pick. This is a good trade for both sides because the Wild gain cap space, while the Red Wings get Marcus Johansson and a 1st round pick. The Minnesota Wild finish the 2020-21 season with the 10th worst...

 The Anaheim Ducks are a rebuilding team right now, so they won't likely make the playoffs this season, so they should trade their veteran players to stack up on prospects and picks for the future. Doing this would enable the Anaheim Ducks to build a legit contending team. At the trade deadline, the Anaheim Ducks make one major trade: Ryan Getzlaf is traded to the Calgary Flames for Sam Bennett, a 2021 1st round pick. The Calgary Flames a great veteran center in Ryan Getzlaf to help bolster the depth at center, while the Ducks get Sam Bennett, as well as a 1st round pick. The Anaheim Ducks finish the 2020-21 season with the 5th worst record; However, the Ducks slide to the 7th pick as two teams jump them in the 2021 draft lottery. Before the Expansion draft, the Anaheim Ducks make one major trades: Anaheim Ducks trade Cam Fowler to the New Jersey Devils for Sami Vatanen, Nick Merkley, Michael McLeod, 2022 2nd round pick. The Devils get Cam Fowler, a top 4 defenseman, while the Duck...

 The New Jersey Devils will likely be one of the worst teams in the NHL this season, but if they rebuild their team correctly, they could be a Stanley Cup contender. To stack up on more picks and prospects, the Devils should trade away some of their veteran players on expiring contracts. New Jersey Devils trade Kyle Palmieri to the Colorado Avalanche for Andre Burakovsky and a 2021 1st round pick.  Colorado Avalanche adds Kyle Palmieri in hopes of winning the Stanley Cup, while the Devils get Andre Burakovsky and a 1st round pick. The New Jersey Devils also trade Nikita Gusev to the Detroit Red Wings for Tiro Hirose, a 2021 2nd round pick. The Red Wings add Nikita Gusev from the Devils for Tiro Hirose and a 2nd round pick. Travis Zajac is traded to the Florida Panthers for a 2021 2nd round pick.  The Panthers add Travis Zajac, a solid veteran center from the Devils. Jesper Bratt is re-signed to a 4 yr deal worth 3.25 million per season. The New Jersey Devils finish the 20...