The Hockey Writers Daily - August 18, 2023
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Welcome to The Hockey Writers Daily
In today’s edition, we have the Coyotes’ core playing a key role in the rebuild, possible optimism in Calgary, roster spot theft that could take place for the Canadiens, and much more.
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Here’s the good stuff:.
2 Worrying Wrinkles in Maple Leafs’ Push to Sign Nylander
August 17, 2023 by Jim Parsons
In the midst of the summer lull, the Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves still navigating crucial contract negotiations with two of their star players, Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Both players are of paramount importance to the organization, either as potential contract extensions or, in worst-case scenarios, trade assets. However, progress has been sluggish on both fronts, leaving fans and analysts alike in a state of anticipation.
Adding to the complexities of the situation, Shayna Goldman of The Athletic points out that there are a couple of wrinkles worth noting when it comes to the Nylander negotiations.
Coyotes Core Playing Paramount Role in Rebuild
August 17, 2023 by Cooper Krigbaum
The Arizona Coyotes tore the team down to the roots when general manager Bill Armstrong was hired. After the trades of Oliver Ekman Larsson, Darcy Kuemper, Christian Dvorak, and many more, the hope was to accumulate draft capital for the future. While they sure did that, and some, not every draft pick will pan out, and sometimes they’ll have to rely on their core players. These are the players who the organization will build around to eventually bring a Stanley Cup to the desert. Today we’ll look at the core of players who have impacted the rebuild and will continue to do so as the team becomes more competitive.
2023-24 Flames Providing Fans with Reasons for Optimism
August 17, 2023 by Ben Hockley
I took to my Instagram the other day, which is built around and for NHL fans of all teams, and asked for people’s opinions on why they think the Calgary Flames will be good or bad this upcoming season and to declare whether they were a Flames fan or not. I received 40 or so responses from all sorts of fans giving some very good reasons as to why they believe the Flames will be good or bad this season. In this article, I will go over the reasons to be optimistic about the 2023-24 season based on the responses I received. Another article based on reasons to be concerned will follow in the near future.
The majority of responses I received were unsurprisingly from non-Flames fans, however, what was somewhat surprising was the fact that the majority of the responses were outlining reasons why they believed the Flames will do well this season. The 2022-23 season was not kind to Flames fans and the early portion of the 2023 offseason was not too kind either, leading to many non-Flames fans having fun at their expense. Due to this, I wondered if the responses from non-Flames fans would be largely negative, however, they were not. So without further ado, here are the main reasons to be optimistic about the 2023-24 Flames, as submitted by NHL fans.
3 Canadiens Prospects that Could Steal a Roster Spot
August 17, 2023 by Trege Wilson
The Montreal Canadiens find themselves in a position where they have too many NHL-ready bodies and insufficient spaces to put them in. Currently, they have three goalies, nine defencemen and 13 forwards; if you do the math, that’s 25 players for a 23-man roster. For the Habs to make room, two players either need to be moved or will have to start the season in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Laval Rocket.
To top it off, we are still weeks before training camp, and we all know that some other players could surprise everyone and make an impact in the preseason to challenge for a spot in Montreal. Here is a look at three potential prospects that could challenge for a roster spot this season.
Predators: Revisiting the Mikael Granlund/Kevin Fiala Trade
August 17, 2023 by Alex Wauthy
When winger Mikael Granlund was traded to the Nashville Predators from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Kevin Fiala at the 2018-19 trade deadline, there was a clear winner in the trade: the Predators. They secured a 27-year-old, top-line winger in Granlund, who still had another season remaining under contract at $5.75 million. In return, they traded away Fiala, a young and promising winger who was selected 11th overall in 2014 by the Predators and was in the last season of his entry-level contract.
Fast-forward more than a year, and observed reality completely flipped expectations on their head. Granlund has failed to produce for the Predators as a top-line winger. At the same time, Fiala flourished for the Wild, immediately capitalizing on his pedigree by becoming the team’s leading scorer in the shortened 2019-20 season.
Flyers’ 5 Most Impressive Player Seasons in Franchise History
August 17, 2023 by Justin Giampietro
Over the 55-year history of the Philadelphia Flyers, there have been countless incredible individual efforts from players. Let’s take at the five objective best seasons in the team’s history.
More stuff from THW and around the NHL:
New York Rangers - Rangers’ Panarin Needs to Prove Doubters Wrong
Buffalo Sabres - Sabres’ 5 Most Underrated Goaltenders
NHL News & Rumors - Avalanche, Hurricanes, Oilers, Canadiens
From TSN - Sabres' legendary play-by-play announcer Jeanneret dead at 81
From Sportsnet - Jonathan Toews announces he is 'taking time away' from hockey
From the NHL - Gordie Howe, 4-time Stanley Cup winner, 'reunites' with trophy
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!
Thanks for the article mentioning the Preds. Would love to hear your thoughts on their future with the near rebuild from top to bottom this year.