Hockey Analysis

It seems to be a recurring theme, but the Minnesota Wild simply do not score enough goals to be a playoff team (they averaged a league-low 2.02 goals per game). That was supposed to be fixed entering this season with the additions of Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi. But it is clear that the talent level up front is not up to par. Read more »

This summer is poised to have one of the shallowest pools of quality free agents in years, but the trade market is flush with opportunities to change the landscape of the NHL. Read more »

The top seed in the East has struggled through two seven game series against the eighth and seventh seeds, while the bottom seed in the West has dispatched the top two seeds in nine total games. Read more »

Regardless of what the actual trades look like, Toronto needs to make some. They now boast a stable of A and B rated prospects. What they do not boast is a fan-base and ownership capable of waiting any longer for a playoff appearance. Read more »

Tweaking little things like depth up front and the faceoff success, along with their stars regaining their form, should see Anaheim back in playoff contention next year. Read more »

After an extremely entertaining first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, here are ten things that have nothing to do with concussions, suspensions or brawls. Read more »

Alexander Ovechkin, Ryan Getzlaf, Ray Whitney, Scott Hartnell and Joffrey Lupul are some of the players that had surprising seasonsin 11-12. Read more »

The Isles have a plethora of young talent among their group of forwards, with two more A prospects in the pipeline, but have a big need at the back-end. Read more »

In the blink of an eye, the Montreal Canadiens went from a tough out in the playoffs to a dysfunctional mess. Read more »

It has already been decided that Evgeni Malkin will take home the Art Ross, Steven Stamkos the Rocket Richard and Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott will share the William Jennings Trophy. Read more »

Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson and Jonathan Quick were the top players at their position during the 2011-12 NHL season. Read more »

The Bruins, Red Wings, Canucks, Penguins and Blues round out the top-five. Read more »

Ottawa did not nab the best player in the draft at #1, though they did end up trading for him. Zdeno Chara is heads and shoulders above his contemporaries in this class. Read more »

Five members of the 1995 draft class have played 1000+ games in the NHL; the class features a handful of All-Stars, one sure-fire Hall of Famer, one borderline, and a Conn Smythe winner. Read more »

The Oilers do not struggle offensively, and are already a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of goals scored despite their youth. Their main problem is shot prevention (minus-3 this year, minus-5 the two years before) and goal prevention. Read more »

The Blue Jackets need to hit the restart button on the roster, and begin to build through the draft like Pittsburgh and Chicago had done before them, and Edmonton and the Islanders are trying to do now. Read more »

There is a new number one in the rookie rankings, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has missed too much time compared to the other freshmen. That said, he is still in the mix for the Calder Trophy, as there is no clear-cut favorite with one month to play. Read more »

No matter which way you cut it, Mikhail Grabovski is a good second-line center, but he is being overpaid by about $1M per season, which can be significant in the salary cap world. Read more »

At the top, the Detroit Red Wings kept their spot, edging out division rival St. Louis. Columbus, no surprise, remains in the basement; they have been the worst team in the NHL for the entire season. Read more »

Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson have continued their dominant seasons and run at the Hart Trophy. Read more »