It was natural to think the New York Rangers “got it” after they traded in the misguided clenched jaw ways of Gerrard Gallant behind the bench for the usually up-tempo ways of Peter Laviolette after the Devils essentially skated them out of the building last spring in the first round. The Devils were clearly faster, more skilled, and the Rangers were left chasing all over the ice from Game 3 on. All they could do was pull some normal Jacob Trouba assholery, and that didn’t really do much except hamstring the Devils in the next round. Choosing Laviolette as coach should have meant that the Rags were going to try to be better at even-strength, keep the puck more, try and play faster, and not rely on three cross-ice passes every time they wanted to enter the offensive zone with possession. – Sam Fels Read More
In the salary-cap era of the NHL, no team gets to go out on their shield, really. The Datsyuk-and-Zetterberg era of the Wings fled to the Eastern Conference, took a couple first-round beatdowns, and then slipped into the playoff-less ooze that the organization only might just be emerging from. Ovechkin’s Capitals have been spiky enough this season, but are unlikely to get back to the playoffs either and haven’t been anywhere near a parade since they won in 2018. The Hawks haven’t won a playoff game in eight years and had to turn the whole thing over for various reasons. – Sam Fels Read More
The NHL trade deadline has gotten into high gear a couple days before Friday afternoon’s deadline, so let’s roll through the highlights of what’s already gone down. – Sam Fels Read More
No, not that wall. Calm down, Jethro.
It’s an NHL tradition by now, the Las Vegas Golden Knights finding a way to acquire the biggest piece on the free agent or trade market, either in the summer or at the deadline. They usually do it by waiting for something to fall off Mark Stone or Jack Eichel and then using the LTIR space. Other teams can cry about it, and usually do, but them’s the rules. Mark Stone and Jack Eichel get hurt. Kind of their thing. – Sam Fels Read More
It was only slightly over a year ago that New Jersey Devils fans were apologizing en masse to Lindy Ruff. They had called for his head early last season, and then when the Devils caught fire they all were ready to admit they had egg on their face. New Jersey would go on to the second round of the playoffs with seemingly the most promising team in the league, poised to take another step or two this campaign. – Sam Fels Read More
