THW Daily - Blue Line Trade Target for Oilers & Calder Race Wide Open With Connor Bedard Injury
Also, why the Red Wings should try to make Zegras trade, the process in Montreal & more
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In today’s edition, we have a blue line trade target for the Oilers, the Calder race being wide open with the Bedard injury, why the Red Wings should try to make a trade for Trevor Zegras, and much more.
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Yesterday’s Scores…
Red Wings & Ducks Should Discuss Zegras Deal
January 14, 2024 by Devin Little
The Anaheim Ducks have sent shockwaves across the NHL over the last week. It started on Jan. 8 when they acquired prospect Cutter Gauthier from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a 2024 second round pick and defenseman Jamie Drysdale. This was a swap of young, still-developing players as Drysdale was the sixth pick of the 2020 draft and Gauthier was the fifth pick of the 2022 draft.
As the dust began to settle following that shocking transaction, different outlets began reporting that Trevor Zegras, the ninth pick of the 2019 draft and runner-up to Moritz Seider for the Calder Trophy in 2022, has been made available by Ducks general manager (GM) Pat Verbeek. Assuming that is true, a number of teams – including the Detroit Red Wings – should have interest. Although the cost to acquire the young forward would be pretty high, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman should definitely call his former assistant GM to see if there’s a way their two teams can come together on a deal.
Oilers Should Acquire Senators Defenceman Artem Zub
January 14, 2024 by Jesse Courville-Lynch
The Edmonton Oilers have been on top of the hockey world as of late, having broken their franchise record of wins in a row when they defeated the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (Jan. 13) night. They are on pace to make the playoffs after a troubling start to the 2023-24 season had fans wondering if they would be a draft lottery team after starting 3-9-1. With Kris Knoblauch having replaced Jay Woodcroft and Paul Coffey having replaced Dave Manson within the coaching staff, the team has turned their season around and has turned themselves back into serious contenders.
The Oilers will likely be buying at the trade deadline as they look to bolster their depth to make a deep playoff run, and one player they could look at acquiring is Ottawa Senators’ defenceman Artem Zub.
Ottawa Senators’ 2024 Trade Deadline Targets
January 14, 2024 by Paul Quinney
A joke going around Ottawa these days starts off with, “What do the Ottawa Senators and the Titanic have in common? The punch line is that they’re both at the bottom of the Atlantic. Not all Senators fans find that funny and many are demanding major changes in their team’s roster. Yet that’s unlikely to happen any time soon judging by what Senators’ president of hockey operations and general manager (GM) Steve Staios says.
Speaking to The Jason Gregor Show (Staios interview starts at 1:07:50) on Edmonton’s Sports 1440 on Jan. 5, Staios said he’d “like to add a veteran player if he could” before the NHL’s trade deadline on March 8. But that’s probably as far as Ottawa’s trades will go, at least until the off-season. Still, Staios says he and his team “will be out (looking) and we’re being aggressive.” Let’s take a look at who he could be looking at acquiring leading up to the trade deadline.
Canadiens at Halfway Mark: Focus on the Process
January 14, 2024 by Blain Potvin
The Montreal Canadiens’ season is more than half over, and to mark the midway point of the campaign, general manager (GM) Kent Hughes provided an update on the team. As a team below .500 and with one of the worst records when it comes to wins in regulation time, it’s no secret they have done more losing than winning this season, but the team remains on track with the rebuild.
It is no secret that the Canadiens are in desperate need of some elite offensive skill at forward. Hughes could be in the market to fill that need and has the assets to find the missing piece either via trade, the draft table or even unrestricted free agency. That being said, they have taken a step forward in their rebuild, albeit a small one as they sit in that “mushy middle” between a playoff spot and a bottom-five draft pick. Now at the midway point of the season, we can see if the rebuild is trending in the right direction.
Connor Bedard’s Injury Leaves Calder Race Wide Open
January 13, 2024 by Alex Chauvancy
For a while, it seemed the Calder Trophy was Connor Bedard’s to lose. But the race got a little more wide open after he suffered a broken jaw in a loss to the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 5, keeping him out of game action for the next six to eight weeks.
With Bedard out for the foreseeable future, that opens the door for other rookies to make their cases for the Calder Trophy. Brock Faber may be the leading candidate to win it now, but he’s not the only rookie with a shot at strengthening his Calder case. Let’s look at whose chances just got significantly better.
Oilers’ 5 Best Players Much Better Than Maple Leafs’ 5 Best
January 14, 2024 by Rob Couch
The top players are expected to carry their team, especially if they are eating up over 50 percent of their team’s cap space. Five players on the Toronto Maple Leafs will take up over $54 million average annual value (AAV) of their salary cap next season, including Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly and William Nylander, after Nylander signed an eight-year deal worth $11.5 million AAV.
Meanwhile, the top five players on the Edmonton Oilers have proven time and time again that they are more productive, on better contracts, and can help push their team to victories when games matter the most in the playoffs. The Oilers’ top five include almost every member of their top power-play unit: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. These aren’t the top-five paid players on the team, but they are the best.
More stuff from THW and around the NHL:
Toronto Maple Leafs - Maple Leafs News & Rumors: Tavares, Bertuzzi, Keefe & Jones
Carolina Hurricanes - Stefan Noesen Is Earning an Extension with Hurricanes
Columbus Blue Jackets - Blue Jackets’ Peeke Handling Tough Season with Class
NHL News & Rumors - Bruins, Flyers, Avalanche, Red Wings, Flames
From TSN - Canada routs Finland to win bronze at U-18 World Championship
From Sportsnet - Keefe unimpressed as Avalanche outclass Maple Leafs in battle of the stars
From ESPN - Peter Laviolette earns fourth NHL All-Star coaching nod
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