The Sharks made a sportswriter out of John Watson, albeit indirectly. Here's how and why they still matter to him no matter where he is. Read more »

It should be an entertaining and tight series but the Sharks' ability to be the better and more consistent checking team will decide the final outcome. Read more »

The Penguins, Lightning, Sharks and Blues are one series away from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. Read more »

After going just 4-4 in our first-round predictions, here are RealGM’s picks for the Conference Semifinals. Read more »

With the Stanley Cup Playoffs beginning, here are our predictions for the first round. Read more »

The problems the Rangers have are fixable but unlikely to happen with Dan Girardi most likely not being traded. The team can return to the playoffs and even make a push towards the Stanley Cup again, but it will take some big changes. Read more »

The Ducks are this year's trendy pick for the Stanley Cup, but the Rangers are our selection while the Blue Jackets are a solid dark horse. Read more »

The NHL's more elite free agents have either moved on or re-signed with their home team, trades have been made and the draft has come and gone. Read more »

The Stanley Cup finals will have plenty of star quality that will produce an exciting match-up between the young Lightning and the veteran Blackhawks. Read more »

The Ducks, Blackhawks, Rangers and Lightning comprise the NHL Conference Finals. Read more »

After going a respectable 6-2 predicting the first-round winners, RealGM takes a look at the Conference semifinals. Read more »

Here are RealGM's predictions for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Read more »

As the trade deadline passed, we got a sense of the teams that are trying to fill whatever depth holes that they had. There wasn't a ton of action on deadline day itself, but the weeks preceding it were filled with big trades that have major implications as we progress towards the playoffs. Read more »

Buffalo is trying to be the absolute worst team in the league and is trying to solidify the best odds at Connor McDavid while also collecting great assets for the future. Winnipeg is attempting to solidify a playoff spot and add to an already stacked defensive core, while also collecting future assets. Read more »

It’s been a disastrous year for the Oilers considering all the moves they made in the offseason to finally get out of the bottom half of the standings and they face a lot of questions as they approach the trade deadline. Read more »

With struggles dating back to 2008, it was time for the Islanders to stop waiting and make a move to establish themselves as a legitimate contending team over the offseason and that is exactly what they did. Read more »

The Predators, Blackhawks, Ducks, Lightning, Rangers and Islanders have all been banking wins of late to reach the top-tier of our NHL Power Rankings. Read more »

There are 11 NHL teams all within five points of each other at the top of the standings, but the Blackhawks, Ducks, Red Wings, Penguins and Blues headline our rankings. Read more »

The Leafs signed Jake Gardiner to a five-year extension worth $20.25 million, which is a fair value for a defenseman of his ability even though a two-year bridge deal would have been less risky. Read more »

With Nashville being a small market team, the franchise has financially strict parameters. David Poile has always done his best to work around that, often resorting to short-term solutions to try to keep the team in the playoff hunt. Read more »