The Hockey Writers Daily - 2023 NHL Draft Day
A daily Substack newsletter with all the best content from The Hockey Writers
Welcome to The Hockey Writers Daily and our Draft Day Special.
In today’s edition we have some of the latest news & rumors from around the NHL, and, of course, all of the NHL Draft content you’ll need for the next couple days. We’ve got multiple correspondents on the ground in Nashville, and a dedicated team of writers ready to bring you all the latest as it happens.
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Here’s the good stuff:.
Oilers’ McDavid Inexplicably Shafted During Hart Trophy Voting
In the world of the NHL, there are few players who possess the sheer skill and dominance of Connor McDavid. After unanimously claiming the Hart Trophy in the 2020-21 season, McDavid came remarkably close to achieving the same feat once again in 2022-23. After being awarded the Hart Trophy for the most valuable player the voting results were revealed and his near-unanimous victory was marred by one controversial vote that left McDavid just a single vote away from sweeping the field.
What’s more inexplicable, it isn’t so much that McDavid didn’t get all the first-place votes, it’s that the member of PHWA who didn’t give top spot honors to the Edmonton Oilers’ superstar, voted him fifth. It was a clear and direct shot at McDavid. Either that or it was a stand against the rest of the writers who didn’t vote for David Pastrnak.
Maple Leafs Can Benefit from Offseason UFA Market
The Toronto Maple Leafs have twenty-two players (ten on their roster and twelve in their system) who will become unrestricted free agents (UFAs) on July 1. While they have had discussions with some, notably Luke Schenn and Ryan O’Reilly, none of them have signed extensions. This has led some members of the media to speculate that all of their UFAs will walk on or after July 1.
Grading the Devils’ Trade for Toffoli from the Flames
With the 2023 NHL Draft less than 24 hours away, the league is heating up with significant trades coming out at a solid clip throughout the day. The next major deal sees Tyler Toffoli traded from the Calgary Flames to the New Jersey Devils for Yegor Sharangovich and a 2023 third-round pick.
Despite the Flames paying a hefty price for Toffoli at the 2022 Trade Deadline, his departure from the franchise should come as no surprise as it was stated that he wouldn’t re-sign once his contract expired during the 2024 offseason. This made him an easy trade target for incoming general manager Craig Conroy, who is likely eager to put his stamp on the franchise. So, let’s look at this trade in-depth and give out grades for both sides of this deal.
THW Wall-to-Wall Draft Coverage
When the 117th pick is named in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, you can be the one person among your friends to answer the question, “Who the heck is that guy?” Just bookmark our NHL Draft Guide, and you’ll have all the information at your fingertips.
150 Prospect Profiles…from Connor Bedard to Emil Pieniniemi
Draft Rankings for the Top 160 prospects
Mock Drafts
Team-specific targets, rankings, mocks and analysis
Everything you need in one place, and it’s always FREE.
THW 2023 Mock NHL Draft Round 1: Our Writers Make Their Picks
With the 2023 NHL Draft just a few days away, it’s time for one of our annual tradition here at The Hockey Writers where we get our writing team involved and take part in the writers’ mock draft. Similar to last year, we got together with our team and they made their selections through the first 32 picks. This post will cover the entire first-round and each selection will be followed by an explanation of the pick by the writer who made the pick.
Bruins Who Could Be Traded at the 2023 Draft
The first casualty of the Bruins’ lack of cap space came on Monday with a trade that sent Taylor Hall and the rights to unrestricted free agent (UFA) Nick Foligno, who the team was definitely not going to be able to afford to re-sign, to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for restricted free agent (RFA) defensemen Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. While Hall has had a pretty good tenure in Boston, the team simply cannot afford his salary. The trade created $6 million in cap space.
Don’t be surprised if more trades come about in the next few days as it is unlikely that the Bruins are done. As I’ve previously discussed, if David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron choose to retire this summer, the team is going to be desperate for top-six center talent that will most likely have to be overpaid for at the start of free agency or acquired via trade. General manager Don Sweeney certainly has some very important days ahead of him.
3 Red Wings Predictions for the 2023 NHL Draft
What will the Detroit Red Wings do at the 2023 NHL Draft?
No one knows for sure – the draft can play out in an infinite amount of ways. That said, we do have a few predictions.
We don’t have the Time Stone to view all possible outcomes à la Doctor Strange in Avengers: Infinity War, but we do have a good understanding of Detroit’s draft history and current prospect pipeline.
Here is what we think will take place during the 2023 draft in Nashville.
More THW stuff from around the NHL:
NHL News & Rumors - Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Senators, Bruins
NHL Offseason - Islanders & Flames Can Be Ideal Trade Partners
Philadelphia Flyers - News & Rumors: Hayes, DeAngelo, Sanheim, Hart
From Sportsnet - NHL, players unveil inclusion coalition, hopeful to make hockey more diverse
From TSN - Treliving bringing back Keefe, confident in signing Matthews and Nylander
We hope you enjoyed today’s THW Daily, and we hope to expand our daily offerings as we develop and experiment with this new platform. Cheers!
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