Hockeywiztalks Hockey Blog

 The Pittsburgh Penguins are far from being a contending team now, in fact they would be better off trading everyone except Crosby and going forward with a full rebuild. Two major trades are made by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2020 offseason: Evgeni Malkin is traded to the San Jose Sharks for Tomas Hertl, Ryan Merkley, Ryan Donato, 1st round pick '21. The Sharks get a superstar center in Evgeni Malkin to help propel the Sharks to new heights, while the Penguins get Tomas Hertl, a very good top 6 forward, Ryan Merkley, the Sharks top prospect, Ryan Donato and a 1st round pick. Kris Letang is traded to the Ottawa Senators for Erik Brannstrom, Josh Norris, Drake Batherson, 1st round pick '21. The Senators get an elite puck moving defenseman in Kris Letang, which makes them a legit contender; the Penguins get 3 very good young players in Brannstrom, Norris and Batherson as well as a 1st round pick. With Malkin and Letang gone, the Pittsburgh Penguins finish the 2020-21 season wi...

 After losing Taylor Hall in Free Agency, the Arizona Coyotes did little to nothing to fix the team due to the fact they are stuck with many bad contracts, so if the Coyotes want to build a legitimate contender, they must first move some salary and dump off some bad contracts. Arizona Coyotes make a few trades: Arizona Coyotes trade Alex Goligoski to the Carolina Hurricanes for Haydn Fleury, 2nd rd pick '21. The Hurricanes get a veteran two way defenseman in Alex Goligoski, while the Coyotes get a young top 6 defenseman in Haydn Fleury and a 2nd round pick. The Coyotes also trade Derek Stepan to the Ottawa Senators for Chris Tierney, Connor Brown, 2nd rd pick '21.  The Sens get a veteran 2nd line center in Derek Stepan, which will allow their young centers to develop at the right pace. The Coyotes get Chris Tierney, a top 6 center and Connor Brown, a top 9 winger as well as a 2nd round pick. Darcy Kuemper is traded to the Buffalo Sabres for Linus Ullmark, Tage Thompson, 2nd rd...

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 ...

 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...

The Jack Eichel trade rumors have been been constantly popping up, so I will look into what would happen if the Buffalo Sabres did indeed trade Jack Eichel. Trading Jack Eichel is the last resort for the Sabres but it would allow them to totally retool their team. Before the 2020 draft, Buffalo Sabres make a few trades: Buffalo Sabres trade Jack Eichel to the New York Rangers for Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Vitaly Kravtsov, Libor Hajek, 1st round pick 2020. The New York Rangers add a superstar in Jack Eichel to add to pair with either Panarin or Lafreniere; while the Sabres get Mika Zibanejad, a star center in his own right, Chris Kreider, top 6 winger, two prospects in Kravtsov and Hajek and a 1st round pick. The Sabres also trade Rasmus Ristolainen, Casey Mittelstadt to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Ilya Mikheyev, Timothy Liljegren, 2nd round pick 2020. The Maple Leafs need a top 4 defenseman and Ristolainen fills a need at a relatively low cost, Mittelstadt never quite fit with the...

 Taylor Hall is going to be one of the top free agents in 2020 and the Montreal Canadiens are one of the teams that are rumored to be after him. The Thing is that Montreal already has Tomas Tatar and Jonathan Drouin at LW, why would they need Taylor Hall? Well to put is simply, the Canadiens lack a star forward and Taylor Hall would provide that star power up front. If the Canadiens do end up signing Taylor Hall, the Canadiens would need to trade either one of those two players to address other needs on the roster. Before the 2020 draft, the Canadiens make a few trades: Montreal Canadiens trade Tomas Tatar, Max Domi to the Nashville Predators for Eeli Tolvanen, 1st round pick 2020. Nashville Needs skilled wingers with Mikael Granlund and Craig Smith leaving in Free Agency, so adding Tatar and Domi will more than fill that void. For Montreal, the get a young forward in Tolvanen and a 1st round pick. Montreal also trades Jeff Petry, Jonathan Drouin, Ryan Poehling, 1st round pick 2021...

Alex Pietrangelo is one of the top free agents in 2020 and the Toronto Maple Leafs would really love to add a defenseman of his caliber, especially because he would be the perfect defenseman to pair with Morgan Rielly on the 1st pair. However, if the Maple Leafs are to sign Alex Pietrangelo, they need to clear more cap space because the Leafs only have a little over 6 million in cap space this year. Before free agency, a few trades are made: Toronto Maple Leafs trade Andreas Johnsson, Travis Dermott to the Detroit Red Wings for Tiro Hirose, Joe Hicketts, 2nd round pick 2021. The Red Wings get a top 6 forward in Andreas Johnsson and a top 4 defenseman in Travis Dermott, while the Maple Leafs get a top 9 forward in Tiro Hirose, a top 6 defenseman in Joe Hicketts and a 2nd round pick. Maple Leafs also trade William Nylander, Timothy Liljegren to the Vancouver Canucks for Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson, 1st round pick 2021. Vancouver Canucks get a dynamic top 6 forward in William Nylander t...