The trade deadline has come and gone with a sequence of moves that have given some teams a boost for the stretch run. Now, the focus shifts to either the playoff race or the race to the bottom as some rebuilding teams will be looking to help their odds heading into next month’s draft lottery. With that in mind, it’s a good time to open up the mailbag once again.
Our last call for questions had enough queries for three columns. Among the topics in the first were Artemi Panarin’s situation before his eventual trade to Los Angeles, what a possible extension for Nikita Kucherov, and the new rule about players playing in the minors before being recall-eligible. The second went over the potential extent of the Rangers’ rebuild this season, predicting which rental Blackhawks would have the most value, and if the time was right for the Flyers to go into a bigger rebuild. Lastly, topics in the third included how Dallas could reach the Stanley Cup Final, if an off-ice shakeup is needed in Winnipeg, and top forward prospects for the upcoming draft.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter/X or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend.
I know what he said in his after trade deadline presser but what are the odds that Tom Fitzgerald is fired as the GM of the NJ Devils this offseason?? 2nd part who would be the top 3 choices to replace him???
With the addition of Weegar, could you see the Mammoth possibly upsetting whoever the pacific division champ is in the 1st round? Assuming Utah continues to hold a firm grip on the WC1
I already asked about Nikita Kucherov’s extension. Now, I must ask about Darren Raddysh. How do you think Tampa will approach the intriguing Raddysh conundrum? GM Julien BriseBois had recently stated he wants to keep Raddysh wearing a Bolts’ jersey after this season and Tampa will have an admirable amount of cap space this offseason ranging around $15 to $16 million. I feel Tampa will keep him, it’s just what is the final price and term going to be?
Also, Tampa didn’t get an extra RD at the trade deadline, so do you think they’ll search for an additional RD in the offseason of FA even with Raddysh, Cernak, and Crozier and if so, who might those prospects potentially be?
I want to add one more question here. I think Tampa should look for a new backup goaltender this offseason as Jonas Johansson is just way too hot and cold. I think if they bring in competition this offseason like a UFA in Matt Murray for example, would be an improvement. Also, Tampa may need an AHL goaltender for Syracuse if they don’t bring back Brandon Halverson (which would be surprising) but they could have Jonas Johansson for that if so. What do you think of the whole situation?
What fixes do you see for the Capitals? Top 3 scoring winger but 20 teams want that too.
The Powerplay demise and the lowly shooting percentage are fatal. What would be your fix?
Who needs to move in that is getable and who needs to be traded to do so?
The Hawks lead the league in blown leads. It’s great that they have Boisvert and Frondell on the verge of joining the big club. But if they don’t find a way to keep the puck out of their own net , they won’t being going anywhere for a long time. Where does the defense come from?
How much are NHL players paid for playing in the Olympics and WC’s?
Can you describe how NHL players’ insurance against injury works using specific examples of long-term and short-term injuries, and whatever cap implications are involved?
Crosby and Fiala got injured at the Olympics. Are their teams receiving any compensation?
When players are traded, do they receive any compensation for moving costs, or any other type of compensation?
When a player gets traded to a team that has played a different number of games, does his salary get adjusted? For example, if someone has to play 84 games instead of 82?
Does the CBA impose any restrictions on what coaches, trainers and other personnel get paid?
When Cap Friendly went bye bye, it was mentioned that this site was considering filling the void. Has there been anymore thought on that? Puckpedia is ok but IMO there could be more info.
Oh yeah the CapFriendly site was something.
Hi @Gmm8811 — we’re always open to adding more features, but don’t have the resources at the moment to build out something that expansive.
Do the Blues have a new captain next season or do they wait until 27-28 to name the next captain?
Assuming Thomas and/or Parayko aren’t traded, could one of them be in line to be the next captain or someone outside the box like Buchnevich, etc?
My choice would be Cam Fowler.
Buch is a enigma. Not Captain material
What 1C or 2C options between the age of 24 and 28 could be had in the off-season for picks or prospects to round out the devils top 6?
EP40!!!
With 50% retained might fit in our cap structure lol
How do folks around the league view what Kevyn Adams built? Obviously, the Sabres are pretty strong, but they didn’t turn it around until he was fired. But that team was undeniably constructed by him. Does he, and should he, get any credit?
In the same breath, it seems like the Wings have begun to show cracks as they seem to do annually in March–losing Larkin for any amount of time exposes their reliance on his leadership. Do the Wings need to move on from Steven Yzerman to excise their own curse?
Do you think this recent hot streak with Gabe Perrault and more specifically Alexis Lafreneire is legit and something Rangers fans should be seriously optimistic about or just assume it’s laffy just going on a short streak then back to his old ways?
It’s just one game, but it was a glorious game. Laf seems to like playing with people closer to his age or younger haha.
Well he’s got multiple points in 3 of last 4, and is T2 in the league in goals since return from break. Not saying he’s fixed, but def more than just a game.
This line has chemistry, hopefully he gains enough confidence during their stretch against non-playoff teams to carry through the rest of season
Feels to me that Utah missed a chance at the deadline to add a top 6 winger (the whole Thomas thing from the Blues was a non-starter) and really give themselves a chance to win a round or two. Keller deserved that chance. Thoughts?
Pacific Lightning Round:
1. Do the Sharks make the playoffs, and if not, what’s the missing piece?
2. How long is Seattle going to keep playing “loves me, loves me not” with Shane Wright?
3. Anaheim is having one hell of a year, what’s their X factor?
4. Between Cooley and Wolf, Calgary has had a couple of years of stellar goaltending, but they struggle to score. Is there a scenario where they retain at least one good goalie and finally get some reliable scoring?
5. How vulnerable is Vegas to the likes of San Jose and LA pushing them out with their 14 OT loser points(!) barely keeping them in a playoff spot?
6. Vancouver’s future is looking dire, do the upcoming draft years have enough to pull them out of the dregs?
7. Edmonton had a long string of #1 overall picks for a while there, and not even Nail Yakupov was enough to get them to a Cup. This year they’re barely hanging on to a playoff spot, and had they been in the East, they wouldn’t even be in the picture. At what point does management look at the situation and decide it’s time to rework the model?
8. I honestly don’t know a damn thing about LA this year, they just kind of exist in the background. Tell me something nice about the City of Los Angeles.
Brief addendum – I actually looked up Nail Yakupov out of sheer curiosity, and he actually had a solid year in the K last year. 38 points in 43 games. Bit of a lame duck otherwise, even in Russia.
dunno about you, but did Edmonton miss the boat by not significantly upgrading either/both of thier D corps and goalie at the trade deadline? with Florida almost assuredly not making the playoffs (injury bug), it seems like a missed opportunity – especially since McDavid is on that only 2 year extension.
Does Ken Holland have any clue what he’s doing? Rob Blake was bad and Holland’s moves have been puzzling at best.
Can the Flyers please just lose… the win enough games to be close but just out of the playoffs does nothing but hurt their draft order. They have stumbled into finding a #1 goalie in Vladar… what’s next? Can they sign Vitali Pinchuk and finally just end the rebuild. They have to be able to do better than picking players like Nesbitt R1-#12 and Luchanko R1-#13 the past two years!
So, how about those Sabres, huh? Umm… Do we need to apologize for all the mean things we said about Kevyn Adams?
Mackinnons major penalty was rescinded by the league. I understand the significance as related to the potential suspension if another incident were to occur withing however many games, and I understand that colorado didnt lose the game as a direct result of the call, but isn’t it a bad look for the league?
What’s Phil Kessel up to these days? Seems like he’s disappeared. Was always a player I wanted on the Blues.