THW Daily - Grading Rangers at the All-Star Break & How the Blues Can Have a Successful Trade Deadline
Also, looking at Canadian teams in on Flames defenseman Chris Tanev & more
Welcome to The Hockey Writers Daily
In today’s edition, we have grades for the New York Rangers at the All-Star break, how the Blues can have a successful trade deadline, and much more.
Don’t forget to check out all of our FREE team Substacks, and sign up for your favorites…or all of them if you want.
You can also upgrade your subscription to a paid THW account, and get access to ALL of our Premium content from ALL of our team Substacks for one low price.
Now, here’s the good stuff…
Check Out Some THW Premium Substack Content:
Columbus Blue Jackets: Blue Jackets' Writer Mark Scheig Discusses David Jiricek by William Espy
Hockey History: Winnipeg Jets 1.0 Rookie Rewind: Teemu Selanne by Matthew Zator
Prospects & Draft: AJHL Exodus Mirrors the Formation of the WHL by Dayton Reimer
Detroit Red Wings: Red Wings Prospect Check-In: Defensemen Lead the Way & Kasper Catches Fire by Jordan Orth
News & Rumours: First Look: How the Lindholm Deal Happened, The Delay, and Tanev Part of Trade Talk by Jim Parsons
Buffalo Sabres: Sabres' Prospect Update: Feb. 1 by JP Gambatese
Arizona Coyotes: Kachina Corner Weekly Audio Report: A Rough Trip Down South by Chase Beardsley
Tampa Bay Lightning: Time to Bolt Audio Report: Kucherov First Pick in All-Star Game Draft by Harrison Smajovits
Florida Panthers: 10 Thoughts on the Panthers: All-Star Break Edition by Joey Ganzi
New Jersey Devils: Devils Sunday Brunch - 10 Thoughts on the Second Half by Josh Reinitz
Check Out THW’s Professional Women’s Hockey League Coverage
Calgary Flames: 3 Canadian Teams in on Chris Tanev
February 4, 2024 by Derek Olsen
With just over a month until the NHL trade deadline, the Calgary Flames have finally begun wheeling and dealing. The club just sent star forward Elias Lindholm to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a package including Andrei Kuzmenko. Lindholm followed in the footsteps of Nikita Zadorov, another Flames unrestricted free agent (UFA) sent to the Canucks in late 2023.
That marks two of the ‘big four’ Flames UFAs: Zadorov, Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, and Chris Tanev. It makes sense for the team to re-sign Hanifin as he is an integral part of the team and is just 27. At 34 and without a Stanley Cup ring, Tanev is likely destined to follow in the footsteps of his departed teammates. Despite his age and cap hit, Tanev should be a highly sought-after commodity in the league; he is a coveted right-shot defender who posts some of the best defensive metrics in the NHL. Let’s have a look at three Canadian teams that may take a swing at acquiring Tanev’s services.
Grading the Rangers at the All-Star Break
February 4, 2024 by Sam Henes
This article will grade each of the New York Rangers players based on their performance so far this season, while considering the context of their performances. A player like Mika Zibanejad’s expectations differ from Jonny Brodzinski’s, so their grades will reflect those expectations. I will be using the scale: A = With Distinction, B = Solid Player, C = Bare Minimum, D = Disappointing, and F = Total Failure. To earn a grade a player has to have played at least 15 games this season.
Grading the Maple Leafs’ Top 8 Defensemen
February 4, 2024 by The Old Prof
In this post, I’m going to look at the eight Toronto Maple Leafs defensemen who have played for the team this season. I’ll leave out John Klingberg, whose season was cut short with an injury. To engage in these rankings, I’m relying on a system of analytics developed by The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn.
While I won’t go into the genesis of the system now, I’ll share just a note about how it works. It was developed in 2016 and has evolved to use what he calls a “Net Rating.” In this rating, existing data is crunched to create an “all-in-one player value stat” that’s based on each player’s Offensive and Defensive Rating. (from “NHL Player Cards: Atlantic Division, Dom Luszczyszyn and Shayna Goldman, The Athletic, 01/28/2024).
Kris Knoblauch’s 5 Best Moves During Oilers’ Winning Streak
February 4, 2024 by Sean Panganiban
Ever since Kris Knoblauch won his first game as the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 13, the team has posted a remarkable 26-6 record, the best in the league during that span. Knoblauch was recently critiqued on the “Oilers Now” show, where his work so far received a well-deserved ‘A’ grade.
Since becoming the boss behind the bench, the Oilers have boasted a plus-50 goal differential, leading the league, and their average of 3.84 goals for per game ranks third — a statistic unsurprising given their offensive talent. What’s even more impressive and almost out of character, however, is that they’ve only given up an average of 2.28 goals per game against in that span, ranking second in the NHL.
How the Blues Can Have a Successful Trade Deadline
February 4, 2024 by Ethan Carter
The NHL Trade Deadline is still over a month away (March 8) and the St. Louis Blues have several decisions to make between now and then. Last season, the club sold off rentals with Ryan O’Reilly heading to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers, and Ivan Barbashev to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Blues won’t go into full sell mode as they are near a playoff spot and don’t have many realistic valuable pieces to move on from right now. However, there are plenty of players that they can listen on in calls if the opportunity to trade them presents itself. I also wouldn’t rule them out of the low-tier trade market either if the deal makes sense. Here is how the club can have a successful trade deadline.
Bruins News & Rumors: Pastrnak, Swayman, Merkulov & More
February 4, 2024 by Scott Roche
In this edition of Boston Bruins News & Rumors, David Pastrnak, Jeremy Swayman, and Jim Montgomery return from All-Star Weekend as the Black and Gold’s 10-day break comes to an end, and a top Bruins center on the trade market was traded to a Western Conference team. Also, the Bruins begin a seven-game homestand following the break, Georgii Merkulov, who spent some time in Boston earlier this season receives an honor and more.
More stuff from THW and around the NHL:
Vancouver Canucks - Canucks’ 3 Up, 3 Down: Lindholm Trade, All-Star Weekend & More
Calgary Flames - Flames’ Recent Roster Changes Create Hope For Season
NHL All-Star Venues - 5 Arenas That Should Host an NHL Game
NHL News & Rumors - Penguins, Jets, Canadiens Oilers
From TSN - Penguins sign F Puljujarvi to two-year, $1.6M contract
From Sportsnet - 20 Fantasy Thoughts: Who benefits most from the Lindholm trade to Canucks?
From ESPN - Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson to miss rest of season
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.