Tag: New Jersey Devils

The NHL trade deadline is less than two weeks away, and it’s time for teams to make the call: buy or sell? For some, the moves are already flying or the decision is a formality and the trades a matter of time. For others, every win, loss and injury on the way to March 3 will be a factor. Which teams fall in which category? To survey the field, The Athletic asked the writers who know each of the NHL’s 32 teams best two questions: 1) How confident are you in the…

The NHL trade market is slowly swinging into a higher gear, with the Rangers making their statement Thursday, acquiring right winger Vladimir Tarasenko in a deal with the Blues. All season, the Rangers have been short a right winger to play in their top six — and the two primary candidates were always going to be Tarasenko and the Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane. Both players have a history with Artemi Panarin, who is arguably the Rangers’ most dynamic forward and one player who could use some help at five-on-five. The case…

Welcome to the midseason update of the under-23 NHL player rankings for the 2022-23 season. This is an age-based ranking of the best young players overall on teams’ reserve lists, meaning within an NHL organization, in or outside the league. This is a ranking meant to show who I think will have the best pro careers, not who I would take in a game tomorrow. This is also a good exercise to show how the last five age groups compare to each other, as this largely spans the player pool…

Fifty goals for Connor McDavid? Seventy for Auston Matthews?? A playoff team in Ottawa??? Heading into the 2022-23 NHL season, The Athletic asked its hockey staff for bold predictions, and two months later, some are holding up better than others. Here’s a progress report on each prediction provided by the writer who made it, from those who need a mulligan to those already taking a victory lap. Preseason bold prediction: Mason McTavish will win the Calder Trophy Outlook two months in: Definitely still in play Analysis: McTavish has an uphill…

Let’s talk about injuries and goaltending because injuries and goaltending were the twin storylines that dominated the first week or so of the new NHL season. Injuries always, always, always undermine the best-laid plans of any hopeful NHL team. Last week, I was asked, on a podcast, previewing the NHL season to make a prediction for the Stanley Cup Final because that’s what you do in this business — make educated guesses to create fodder for conversation. But I always issue the same caveat too: That a championship contender in…