NHL Metropolitan Division Sebastian Aho Sidney Crosby Alex Ovechkin

Carolina Hurricanes

Columbus Blue Jackets

Blue Jackets’ Tarasov Showing Signs of Being Number-One Goalie

The Columbus Blue Jackets face a multitude of questions as the 2023-24 season winds down. Most of these questions focus on what the future will look like. Perhaps at the top of the question’s list from an on-ice perspective is who will be the Blue Jackets’ number-one goalie in 2024-25 and beyond? There is no definitive answer to that question with just 18 games left to play this season. It is fair to consider the arms race for the Blue Jackets’ crease to be a wide-open one. But as of late, Daniil Tarasov is starting to show some signs that…

Blue Jackets Used Simple Approach For Effective Trade Deadline

The word around the Columbus Blue Jackets going into Trade Deadline week was they weren’t going to be too active. As it turned out, that was accurate. The Blue Jackets made three trades but none of which were considered anything major. The two players that went out were expected to varying degrees. The one player brought in was to help in a position of need. It was a simple yet effective approach for the Blue Jackets. They took care of much needed business while setting themselves up for what is shaping up to be an interesting offseason. Jack Roslovic The…

Bruins Acquire Andrew Peeke From The Blue Jackets

The Boston Bruins have acquired Andrew Peeke from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Jakub Zboril and a third-round pick. The Bruins have added some gritty defensive depth to their blueline, while the Blue Jackets have opened up some cap room and got a defencemen in return. Bruins Look For Defense First After acquiring Patrick Maroon from the Minnesota Wild to bolster the bottom six they will hope Peeke can strengthen the bottom pairing on the blue line. Peeke is only 25 years old and, on the season, has one goal and seven assists for eight points, which isn’t…

New Jersey Devils

New Jersey Devils 2024 Trade Deadline Recap

Heading into the 2024 NHL trade deadline, the New Jersey Devils found themselves in a bit of an awkward spot — they were neither in a playoff spot nor low enough in the standings to consider a full sell-off and re-tool. Naturally, general manager Tom Fitzgerald decided it would be beneficial to the team if he applied both schools of thought: trade away expiring unrestricted free agents (UFA) who garner interest while conservatively buying a complete revamp in net, which has been their biggest issue this season. By 3:00 PM Friday, the Devils had made a total of four trades….

Devils’ Timo Meier Has Awoken

With just 11 seconds left on Saturday, Timo Meier poked home a rebound and gave a subtle fist pump, trying to suppress his emotion after scoring a goal that had no impact on the final outcome. But he has every right to give himself a pat on the back – that goal marked his seventh in just the last five games.  There’s no denying it: his recent play has reminded us exactly why the New Jersey Devils inked him to a maximum eight-year, $70.4 million extension last offseason. Meier is back. Effective Power Forward In the Devils’ first round of…

Devils and Sharks Swap Goaltenders at Trade Deadline

On March 8, the San Jose Sharks dealt goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen to the New Jersey Devils in a one-for-one goalie swap to acquire Vitek Vanecek. It’s no secret that New Jersey has been struggling with goaltending all season long, so they went out and got another one on top of Jake Allen. In the final season of a $2.75 million contract, the Devils will have to extend Kahkonen to retain his rights next season. Otherwise, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent. As for Vanecek, he won’t expire until after the 2024-25 season and carries a cap hit of $3.4 million….

New York Islanders

Bridgeport Islanders Lose Critical Matchup With Phantoms

The Bridgeport Islanders took on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday (March 10) at home at Total Mortgage Arena. The Islanders were looking for their first five-game winning streak of the season in the matchup, which was a pivotal one as the Phantoms sit one spot ahead of them in the Atlantic Division of the American Hockey League (AHL). Despite erasing a two-goal deficit in the first period, the Islanders were unable to get the better of the Phantoms, who took the game by a score of 4-3. Exciting First Period The Islanders came out of the gate slowly, allowing…

Islanders’ Quiet Deadline Highlights Lamoriello’s Mismanagement

The New York Islanders have been playing their best hockey of the season lately and are closing in on a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They entered the trade deadline as a team ready to add at least one more depth player to signal that they are ready to compete and make a push for the Stanley Cup. Their general manager (GM) Lou Lamoriello didn’t make any moves at the deadline. Related: Islanders’ Missed Opportunities at the 2024 Trade Deadline For those who have followed Lamoriello’s tenure with the Islanders and his career as a GM as a whole,…

Today in Hockey History: March 10

This date in National Hockey League history was pretty eventful in the state of New York. Plus, a whole slew of Hockey Hall of Famers added to their great resumes and some big names were traded, as well. The THW time machine is warmed up and ready to go. Let’s take our daily trip through the decades and relive all the best from March 10. New York Islanders’ Greats Have Quite a Day The Islanders may have added the final piece to their dynasty’s puzzle on March 10, 1980, when they acquired Butch Goring. They sent forward Billy Harris and…

New York Rangers

Rangers Almost Acquired Alex Barabanov on Deadline Day

The New York Rangers made some solid additions before the trade deadline this season, and have a strong team heading toward the postseason. According to a recent report, the Rangers had one more deal up their sleeves before it fell through because of events that occurred that were out of their control. The reported deal saw the Rangers almost acquire Alex Barabanov from the San Jose Sharks with retained money on the Sharks’ side, but the Sharks could no longer pull the trade off by the deadline. Related: Rangers Had Interest in Predators’ Novak Before Extension The reason the deal…

New York Rangers 2024 Trade Deadline Recap

The 2024 NHL Trade Deadline has now passed and the New York Rangers were one of the more active teams, making four total trades, but only three of them will have an impact on the NHL roster. While the Rangers were one of the final teams in on Jake Guentzel, the Pittsburgh Penguins ultimately decided to trade him to their division rival, the Carolina Hurricanes. They were not able to add a star-level player at the deadline, but they were able to bring in some depth pieces that will help the team moving forward, as the push to the playoffs…

Rangers Hoping 2024 Trade Deadline Is Encore to 2022 Moves

As the clock ticked down to 3 p.m. Eastern Time on March 8, it became clear that no big names were going to be walking through the door to the New York Rangers‘ locker room on trade deadline day. Available wingers, any of which would have filled the Blueshirts’ most glaring roster hole on the right side, kept coming off the board. Jake Guentzel, the best available option, had been dealt the day before. Then, as morning turned into afternoon: Tyler Toffoli. Anthony Duclair. Jason Zucker. Jordan Eberle signed an extension with the Seattle Kraken. Old friend Frank Vatrano, rumored…

Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers’ Reggie Leach: A Goal-Scoring Dynamo

Going back to the Broad Street Bullies era for our Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame series, we take a look at what Reggie Leach was able to do with the Orange and Black. Acquired from the California Golden Seals before the 1974-75 NHL season, it didn’t take long for him to cement himself as a franchise legend. Leach played with the Flyers for eight seasons and is one of the best goal-scorers in team history. What did he do for the Flyers? Why was he so special? Trading for Leach Less than a week after winning their first Stanley Cup…

NHL Suspends John Tortorella for 2 Games, Fined $50,000

The NHL has announced that Philadephia Flyers head coach John Tortorella has been suspended for two games and will receive a $50,000 fine after refusing to leave the game after being ejected on March 9. While the Flyers were trailing the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0 halfway through the first period, referees Wes McCauley and Brandon Schrader had enough of Tortorella’s verbal disagreements following Garnet Hathaway‘s game misconduct for leaving the bench and pushing Anthony Cirelli. Tortorella was given a minor penalty and ejected from the game. Tortorella told the referees multiple times that he wasn’t leaving the bench and would…

NHL Rumors: Bruins, Maple Leafs, Flyers, Senators

In today’s NHL rumors rundown, the Boston Bruins did have conversations about trading Linus Ullmark and while nothing ultimately happened, this could be a deal that is moved to this coming offseason. Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs knew they couldn’t get everything done at the deadline they wanted to. Flyers’ head coach John Tortorella refused to leave the bench after being ejected on Saturday. What will the fallout be? Finally, the Ottawa Senators tried to make moves on deadline day. What’s next for that team? Bruins Had Multiple Conversations About Ullmark Trade According to Elliotte Friedman, the Boston Bruins did…

Pittsburgh Penguins

Sidney Crosby vs. Connor McDavid Head-to-Head History

It’s a special treat for hockey fans whenever generational talents face off in an NHL game. No two players in the NHL fit that description better than Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby. McDavid is in his ninth season, but because they are in different conferences, we’ve only had the pleasure of watching him compete against Crosby 13 times. They would need to play more frequently to develop a genuine rivalry, but looking at the all-time history of Crosby versus McDavid, a few fascinating narratives emerge. Penguins Dominate in McDavid’s Early Years From the beginning, McDavid found a way to find…

Oilers’ McDavid Looks to Continue Dominance of Crosby, Penguins

Today (Mar. 10), Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers visit Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. This will be only the 13th time the two superstars have faced off in an NHL regular-season game. Since their first time playing against each other, on Nov. 8, 2016, every meeting of Crosby and McDavid has always generated tremendous excitement. Watching two first-overall picks, separated by a decade, each considered the greatest player of their generation, go head-to-head? That’s the kind of thing you tell the grandkids about. But the Edmonton-Pittsburgh series has proven lopsided recently, while the friendly…

Penguins’ 2024 Trade Deadline Headlined by Jake Guentzel Deal

With the Pittsburgh Penguins in an unfamiliar position heading into the trade deadline this season, general manager Kyle Dubas found himself trying to balance selling off some assets while also keeping the roster intact and skilled enough to possibly try and make a push for a playoff spot (albeit an outside chance at this point). There were plenty of murmurs around the hockey world of players that Dubas could look to trade and what kind of return he could get for certain players, but when the clock struck 3 PM EST on March 8, the first-year Penguin GM only made…

Washington Capitals

NHL Rumors: Sharks, Bruins, Capitals, Canucks, Ducks, Kings

In today’s NHL rumors rundown, Tomas Hertl was the big trade of the day on Friday, which came a surprise to many. That said, some behind-the-scenes details are emerging detailing how that massive trade came about. In other news, Boston Bruins’ goaltender Linus Ullmark reportedly squashed a trade, while Max Pacioretty said no to a few of options. The Anaheim Ducks were not shopping Trevor Zegras at the deadline, and the Vancouver Canucks ultimately chose not to sign Phil Kessel. Tomas Hertl Took Time to Think About His Future in San Jose Vegas Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon put the…

Hurricanes Take Low-Risk, High-Reward Gamble on Kuznetsov

After a huge trade on Thursday, the Carolina Hurricanes again made headlines on Friday. Around 10:37 am Eastern, Pierre LeBrun of TSN broke the news that the Hurricanes acquired Russian forward Evgeny Kuznetsov from the Washington Capitals for a 2025 3rd-round pick. No one saw this coming after the Hurricanes made the blockbuster deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins to acquire Jake Guentzel and Ty Smith for Michael Bunting, prospects, and draft picks. Related: Hurricanes Finally Get Their Guy With Big Guentzel Trade The 31-year-old was the 26th overall pick by the Capitals in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. He has…

Grading Hurricanes’ Surprising Trade for Evgeny Kuznetsov

The Carolina Hurricanes went big last night, acquiring Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins for three prospects, two draft picks, and Michael Bunting. It appears they’re not done, as early this morning, Elliotte Friedman and Pierre LeBrun reported they were acquiring Evgeny Kuznetsov from the Washington Capitals. Here are the full details: This is a bit of a surprising move for Carolina. The Hurricanes’ center depth is solid, but they seem to think they could use a boost down the middle heading into the playoffs. Was Kuznetsov the right move, especially since he has a year and a half left on his…