THE LATEST NHL NEWS

What The Puck?!

Written by Chase Howard

1st Branch

Another difficult week for the Canucks as a first they were set to return on Friday and then their games were delayed indefinitely. The decision was made after a joint consultation between the NHLPA, NHL doctors, and the Canucks team doctor; Dr. Jim Bovard. The NHL has now announced that the Canucks will return to play this Sunday, they have not played since March 24th. The Canucks were primarily afflicted with a covid-19 variant; Dr. Bovard after consulting with doctors around the league noticed differences in the experience of his players. Canucks Captain Bo Horvat said the symptoms were unlike any flu or cold he had experienced before. However, this did not stop the Canucks as Horvat said, “We're ready to go, we want to win. People can say what they want and think that we're going to get steamrolled, and I think that's more fuel to the fire to prove them wrong”. I don't know about you but I'm finding it pretty hard not to root for the Canucks right now.

Vancouver Canucks | Photo from 247 News

2nd Branch

Unfortunately the Canucks are not the only team struggling with the current covid-19 pandemic. The NHL has announced that the Colorado Avalanches' next three games will be postponed. This comes on the heels of a third Avalanche player entering covid-19 protocol. Pending further results and monitoring the league is hoping that the Avalanche facilities can reopen on April 21st, The Avalanche would then play the St Louis Blues the following night. After 43 games played (remember there are only 56 this year), the Avalanche are atop the west division with 63 points, 4 more than the second-place Vegas Golden Knights. In a corresponding statement, the league has advised all teams to continue following guidelines. The NHL also announced a series of changes to the league schedule, shifting the end of the regular season to May 16th; it was previously extended to 11th from the 8th. A list of the changes to the NHL regular season schedule can be found HERE.

3rd Branch - Trade deadline Winners N Losers

Finally, after much buzz this season's trade deadline has passed, as always there were some interesting deals. Let's get into the winners and losers of this year's trade deadline.

Winner - Boston Bruins

Acquiring a quality top-six Winger like Taylor Hall would be good enough. Add in a solid bottom 6-piece in Curtis Lazar for merely Anders Bjork and a second-rounder; that's definitely what I call a win. In this blog we suspected Taylor Hall would fetch more than this at least a first-round pick in the prospect, that was by himself. Great move here by Bruins GM Don (Sweetie) Sweeney. Need some evidence this was a good move look no further than Taylor Hall scoring two goals in his first two games with the Bruins, just so you know that's the same as what he had in 37 with the Buffalo Sabres

Loser - Buffalo Sabres

This is a team that in the offseason many thought would be competitive this year that is clearly not in the case. Then to trade likely your best asset in Taylor Hall along with a solid piece in Curtis Lazar for only Anders Bjork and a second-rounder, not a good look. The team failed to make any other moves of note and failed to acquire valuable assets in the only trade they did make. For a team likely facing a rebuild not good to hear. Worse yet the hockey Gods decide to kick the Sabers while they are down. It looks like both Jack Eichel and possibly Linus Ullmark are done for the year, not a trade but still hurts.

Winner - Detroit Red Wings

If you thought Steve Yzerman was clever on the ice or behind the bench you got to hear this guy on the phone. Unfortunately will likely never know what he whispered in the year of Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan, but it must have been good stuff. Not only did the Red Wings pick up a quality player and Jakub Vrana (52 points in 69 games last year) Yzerman then got MacLellan to throw in a first and second-round pick just for Anthony Mantha. This was my favourite deal of the day, here's hoping Stevie Y bought him dinner first.

Loser - Edmonton Oilers

For a few years now this team seems to fail to grasp what it has in Leon Draslatil and especially Connor McDavid. It was a shame to see them stay passive at the deadline, only adding Dmitry Kulikov for a conditional fourth-rounder. This team still has big needs such as a goaltender, a score-first top-six Winger, and the responsible third-line center, none of which were addressed. The Oilers sit in third place in the North Division and could have certainly used some reinforcements for a playoff run.

Winner - Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs did what the Oilers failed to do; aggressively pursue upgrades to their young team at the deadline. The least big moves were acquiring two-way spark plug Nick Foligno of the Columbus Blue Jackets (who narrowly missed this spot) and forward Stefan Noesen from the San Jose Sharks in a three-team deal. The Leafs sent Columbus a 2021 1st and 2022 fourth-round pick, lastly a 2021 4th round to San Jose. Then they acquired goaltender David Rittich from the Calgary Flames for a 2021 3rd round pick to shore up the crease. This and a few other movies made in the interest of character and depth leave the Leafs as one of the League's premier teams, let's see if they can prove it come playoff time.

Loser - Florida Panthers

The Panthers (who just “beat” out the Devils for this spot) actually have a top-notch team this year led by Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau (who are on very reasonable contracts). However this a team that is seemingly overperforming and could use some help, the Panthers seemed to know this and moved Brett Connolly to create cap room. So when you see their only deadline acquisitions were a disgruntled Sam Bennet and Brandon Montour it is ok to be underwhelmed. The prices for them seemed a tad high, forward Emil Heineman and 2022 second-round draft pick for Bennet/ 2022 sixth-rounder and a 2021 3rd rounder for Montour. Like the Oilers, I would not be surprised if this team regrets not trying to sharpen their claws.

Quick Hits

• What's up with the Toronto Maple Leafs' power play earlier in the year they were one of if not the League's best unit. Fast-forward to now, The Maple Leafs' power play has only scored on two of their last 47 opportunities. For those keeping track at home that's a success rate of 4.3%, which by far would be the worst in the league. Worse yet the Maple Leafs and the League's leading goal scorer Auston Matthews are again missing time due to injury. At least John Tavares is hot (three goals and eight points in his last six games).

• For the time being it looks like the OHL’s return-to-play will remain on hold, Ontario Sports minister Lisa Macleod said it would be irresponsible to approve return-to-play right now. Worse yet she confirmed that the province was likely days away from approving the OHL return-to-play plan in late March when the third wave took hold of Ontario. Unfortunately given the concern about covid-19 and the variance in particular it looks like the OHL is unlikely to return to play in 2021.

• During this week’s NHL action one of the deadliest guys on the ice ran into a problem even he couldn't solve alone. Sidney Crosby found himself skating up ice without the stick, lo and behold here comes associate team manager Jon Taglianetti to give him a fresh stick which of course Crosby then immediately used to score a goal. According to the Pittsburgh Penguins Twitter account, Taglianetti will get an assist for the goal. Well, I somewhat doubt that I honestly hope it's true. Even if it's unlikely to be recorded in the stats book let's take a minute to shout out the great equipment managers whether it's guys like Jon or it's our parents packing up and washing our gear when we were kids; we appreciate you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-i1zenxwb8