The Hockey Writers Daily - August 4, 2023
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Welcome to The Hockey Writers Daily
In today’s edition we have the direction of the Oilers, Palat’s hope for a rebound season with the Devils, a Norris Trophy candidate in Buffalo, the best contracts in Ottawa, and much more.
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Here’s the good stuff:.
Oilers’ Direction Will be Determined by Bouchard’s Contract
Evan Bouchard is the last member of the Edmonton Oilers without a contract for this season yet, but it should be coming soon. Bob Stauffer recently spoke about the contracts of the two young Oilers, Bouchard and Ryan McLeod, on Oilers Now, saying, “I think they’re close on Bouchard. Within $100k is my guess.” Seeing as Stauffer also mentioned McLeod would have a contract by Friday, his information seems to be nearly spot on.
The contract the Oilers and Bouchard settle on will determine one of three ways the Oilers will be going into the season. The first and most ideal way is that he gets a $3.5 million average annual value (AAV) or less on his next contract so that the Oilers can run a 22-man roster with Raphael Lavoie in the NHL (without the risk of losing him on waivers).The second way is Bouchard accepts a deal at $3.6 million AAV so that the Oilers can run a 22-man roster with a league-minimum 13th forward on the roster.
Devils’ Palat Aims to Rebound After Rough Season
When the New Jersey Devils acquired Ondrej Palat via free agency in 2022, they knew exactly what they were getting themselves into: a solid veteran presence who is by no means a superstar, yet can play a major role on a successful team.
There’s a reason Palat has two Stanley Cup championships to his name. When the lights get brighter, he rises to the occasion. He was trusted to be on the Tampa Bay Lightning’s top line during the 2022 Playoffs, notching 21 points in 23 games en route to hoisting Lord Stanley. He led the entire league with 11 even-strength goals during that run.
Senators’ 3 Best Contracts for the 2023-24 Season
The Ottawa Senators’ struggles in recent seasons might finally be coming to an end following a series of solid trades and signings. To help them accomplish their goal of making the postseason, they’ll have help from good-valued players on the team who are worth every penny if they continue in their past footsteps. In this article, I will focus on what I think are the best-valued contracts for the Senators going into this season.
Washington Capitals Top 10 Prospects for 2023-24
The Washington Capitals are coming off a weak season that they’re quickly looking to put in the past and move on from in hopes of finding success in 2023-24. With the eighth overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and some solid selections throughout the entire draft, the Capitals were able to strengthen their prospect pool after coming out of last season as one of the weakest.
With Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas making their way into the NHL and having graduated from “prospect” status, they are looking to maintain a strong pipeline without the two. With the draft now over, it’s time to take a look at the top prospects within the Capitals organization.
Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin Can Win Norris Trophy in 2023-24
With the label of being a franchise player comes high expectations, and this is the case for Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Since being selected by the Sabres first overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, he’s made massive improvements to his game, living up to the hype surrounding him. The 23-year-old blueliner has made strides in each of his five NHL seasons, with the 2022-23 campaign being his best yet.
In 2022-23, the Swedish blueliner finished ninth among all defensemen in goals with 15 and fifth from the position in points with 73. With career-high numbers across the stat sheet, he also finished eighth in the James Norris Memorial Trophy race.At just 23 years old, there’s still room for improvement from Dahlin, who could be a legitimate candidate to take home the Norris Trophy in the upcoming NHL season if he continues to make strides in his game.
Montreal Canadiens’ Best Trades With the Toronto Maple Leafs
Welcome to the Montreal Canadiens‘ best trades series. In this series, we at The Hockey Writers look back at the Canadiens’ trading history with every NHL team and pick what we believe to be the best transaction between them and the other 31 organizations. This article focuses on their trade history with one of their biggest rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
More stuff from THW and around the NHL:
Chicago Blackhawks - Blackhawks Roundtable: 2023 Summer Hot Topics
New York Islanders - Islanders’ 3 Most Important Players This Season
NHL News & Rumors - NHL Rumors: Oilers, Penguins, Golden Knights
From TSN - Dubas continues role of Penguins general manager
From Sportsnet - Blue Jackets coach Mike Babcock: ‘Did I think I did anything wrong? Absolutely’
From the NHL - Augustine, Muszelik among U.S. goalies hoping for shot at 2024 WJC
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!
Also, there are 5 articles on the Devils for every 1 about any other Metro team.
Are you aware that there are hockey teams on the west coast??????? Your coverage is 99% east coast. Terrible coverage.