The Hockey Writers Daily - September 28, 2023
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Welcome to The Hockey Writers Daily
In today’s edition, we have the latest news & rumors from New York City, two defenseman targets for the Maple Leafs, bold predictions for the 2023-24 Islanders, and much more.
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Here’s the good stuff…
Canucks’ 4 Best & 4 Worst Contracts Heading Into 2023-24
September 27, 2023 by Sartaaj Bhullar
With pre-season games underway, we are nearing the opening day of the 2023-24 regular season. Vancouver Canucks‘ general manager Patrik Allvin and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford have a goal of improving the team’s cap situation. After buying out Oliver Ekman-Larsson early in the offseason, the team had enough cap space to address most of their needs. With the changes to the roster, the Canucks have a few new contracts. Here are four of the team’s best and worst contracts heading into the season.
Rangers News & Rumors: Panarin, Chytil & Kakko
September 27, 2023 by Michael DeRosa
In this latest edition of New York Rangers News & Rumors, star forward Artemi Panarin is currently dealing with a lower-body injury, and an update on his recovery timeline has been provided. In other news, Filip Chytil left yesterday’s (Sept. 26) practice early due to an upper-body injury. Lastly, Kaapo Kakko is heading into a big 2023-24 season. Will this be the season where we see the former top prospect break out in a big way? Let’s discuss all of this and more in today’s (Sept. 27) Rangers News & Rumors column.
3 Bruins With the Biggest Expectations in 2023-24
September 27, 2023 by Michael DeRosa
In exactly two weeks, the Boston Bruins will kick off their Centennial season against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks. Although the Bruins had several offseason departures this summer, they still have high expectations for the 2023-24 campaign. However, if they hope to succeed, they will need certain players to step up big time. As a result, let’s go over three Bruins with the biggest expectations heading into the new season.
2 Defensemen Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Can Target
September 27, 2023 by Spencer Lazary
When Brad Treliving opened Toronto Maple Leafs training camp on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, he talked about the roster moves that he made the past offseason and the impact that they will have on the team. He was first asked if his defensive core was good enough to win a Stanley Cup, and he answered, “We’ll see. I like our defence, I think it’s underrated.”
He also talked about his defence core heading into this season and how it differs from his past defensive cores that he had with the Calgary Flames, saying, “Like all parts of our team, tomorrow we start watching, and you know, there’s going to be some areas we really like, there’s going to be some areas we got to improve upon, and that’s what I plan to do, watch and see where we can help ourselves, and that process starts tomorrow.”
5 Bold Islanders Predictions for the 2023-24 Season
September 27, 2023 by Mike Fink
Before every season, it’s always fun to make predictions which in all likelihood, will be inaccurate. One year ago, of the five bold New York Islanders predictions that were made, only two were close and the others weren’t even in the ballpark (Anthony Beauvillier playing on the top line aged poorly). The Islanders head into this season with a similar roster to last season’s but with one that has a few players with raised expectations.
With this in mind, here are the bold predictions for the Islanders’ 2023-24 season. Some of these picks will be a miracle if they happen while others can be anticipated by the fans, starting with one that isn’t considered too far off.
8 Best Flyers’ Contract Extensions of the Salary Cap Era
September 27, 2023 by Justin Giampietro
Since the salary cap era began following the 2004-05 lockout season, the Philadelphia Flyers have had to be extra cautious of handing out too much money to some of their players, as it could result in disaster if a contract doesn’t work out. Some of these contracts were a huge success. Based on the average annual value (AAV) and length of the deals, which eight are the best?
More stuff from THW and around the NHL:
Seattle Kraken - Kraken Should Start Shane Wright in the AHL This Season
Detroit Red Wings - 3 Takeaways From Red Wings’ Preseason Opening Win
NHL News & Rumors - Senators, Flames, Oilers, Maple Leafs
From TSN - Flames sign Backlund to two-year extension; name him 21st captain in franchise history
From Sportsnet - 32 Thoughts: RFA updates and training camp notes
From the NHL - Bedard 'can't wait' to make preseason debut for Blackhawks against Blues
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!