Welcome to the Sound Of Hockey NHL Draft Live Blog. Assuming no trades, the Kraken will have eight draft picks today. We will continue to add information about their selections here throughout the day. The most recent updates will appear at the top, so scroll down to see earlier news. If you want to catch up on the Kraken’s first-round selection of Berkly Catton, check out Curtis Isacke’s breakdown here or Cameron Rigger’s profile on Catton from back in February.
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12:39 PM
That wraps up the 2024 NHL Draft. The Kraken ended up with eight picks in total. As a reminder, most of the players will be in Seattle this week as part of the Seattle Kraken Development Camp. Keep an eye on SoundOfHockey.com for deeper draft analysis and dev camp coverage.
Additionally, free agency opens Monday morning, and we anticipate some aggressive moves by the Kraken. We will cover it all right here.
12:22 PM
It appears the Seattle Kraken are done of the day. Here is how their picks shook out at the 2024 NHL Draft.
Here’s how Round 7 played out.
12:12 PM
Assuming no more trades, the Seattle Kraken use their last pick on defenseman Jakub Fibigr from the Mississauga Steelheads in the OHL. Fibigr is from Czechia but played his draft year in North America. Let’s let him give you his own scouting report and a bit more info on his background.
12:05 PM
Home stretch for the draft. Here are the results from Round 6.
11:55 AM
Everett Silvertips defenseman Eric Jamieson was selected by the Calgary Flames with their sixth-round pick. Jamieson is the third Silvertip to be selected so far.
11:35 AM
Round 5 is in the books. Lots of WHL players selected in this round.
11:19 AM
With that newly acquired selection, the Kraken have taken Clarke Caswell from the Swift Current Broncos. This was their fourth selection from the WHL this draft. This seems like a good value pick, as Caswell was ranked 79th on the SOH Big Board.
The #SeaKraken have acquired the 141st-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Seattle’s 169th and 201st picks in this year’s draft.
— Seattle Kraken PR (@SeattleKrakenPR) June 29, 2024
11:18 AM
The Kraken made a trade to move up in the draft. They traded their sixth-round pick (169) and seventh-round pick (201) for Florida’s fifth-round pick (141).
11:01 AM
With the addition of center Oliver Josephson, the Kraken have now selected 15 centers since they came into the league. This is the second-most centers selected by any team since 2021, behind only the Chicago Blackhawks, who have taken 17. Several of these players will be converted to wing should they make the NHL, but it is an interesting data point in the Kraken’s draft strategy.
10:58 AM
Here are the results from Round 4.
10:24 AM
The Seattle Kraken selected another center, Oliver Josephson, with their fourth-round selection. Josephson is another shutdown-type forward. He plays for Red Deer in the WHL, so there should be plenty of opportunities to see him roll through Washington State when Red Deer plays the US teams.
10:20 AM
Round 3 is a wrap.
10:05 AM
With the 88th overall pick, the Kraken selected goalie Kim Saarinen from the HPK U20 team. Saarinen was predicted by Curtis in his Seattle Kraken mock draft earlier this week. This is the third Finnish goalie the team has selected over the last three drafts.
9:45 AM
With their first selection in the third round, the Seattle Kraken select defenseman Alexis Bernier from Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the QMJHL. This is the first defenseman the Kraken have selected.
Ma révélation québécoise des dernières semaines chez les espoirs 2024: Alexis Bernier, du @DrakkarBAC.
Il vient d'inscrire son 4e de la saison sur cette magnifique séquence.
With their second selection of the second round and 63rd overall, the Seattle Kraken selected centerman Nathan Villeneuve from the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL. As you might recall, one of Seattle’s top prospects, David Goyette, also played with Sudbury this season.
“Villeneuve’s a feisty, high-pace attacker with a lockdown defensive game. When he’s not throwing hits and winning battles, he’s eliminating off-puck threats and pickpocketing the puck carrier. When the puck arrives on his stick, he instantly takes the middle or starts a give-and-go to attack the zone with speed.” – Elite Prospects
9:15 AM
Another trade. We identified Tanner Jeannot as a good trade target for the Seattle Kraken, and at this price, it seemed reasonable, but it was not meant to be.
Utah acquired defenseman Mikhail Sergachev from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenseman JJ Moser, center Conor Geekie, a 2025 second-round pick, and their 2024 seventh-round pick (No. 199 overall).
Utah also acquired defenseman John Marino from New Jersey in exchange for their 49th overall pick of the 2024 Draft and a 2025 second-round pick.
8:45 AM
The Seattle Kraken selected Julius Miettinen from the Everett Silvertips. Miettinen, an import from Finland, is known as a strong two-way center. He really shined in the back half of the season with Everett.
We also got a few firsts in the 2024 Draft. The first Swedish player was selected 35th overall, and the first goalie of the draft, Ilya Nabokov, was taken 38th overall.
8:30 AM – Round 2
Let’s begin Day 2! The Kraken will be selecting 40th and 63rd in this round.
8:00 AM
The Kraken will start the day with eight picks remaining in the 2024 NHL draft.
A couple things from Round 1 that I wanted to call out from yesterday before we get going:
For the third time ever, NCAA players went first and second overall in the NHL Draft. The last time this happened was in 2021 when Owen Power and Matty Beniers were selected back-to-back. The only other time was in 2000 when Rick DiPietro and Dany Heatley went first and second, respectively.
The run on defensemen did not occur as early as many analysts predicted. Most people expected a group of blueliners to start hearing their names called around the fifth overall pick.
This is the first time since 2010 that no Swedes were taken in the first round. Last year, six Swedes were selected on Day 1 of the draft, including second overall Leo Carlsson.
The 19 Canadian players selected in the first round Friday tied a mark set in 2020 for the most Canadians selected in the first round.
Here are the full results of the first round:
On a personal note, Marshawn Lynch is probably my favorite athlete of all-time.
This is follow-up to a recent Sound Of Hockey article where we sat down with the Seattle Kraken Ice Breakers to better understand the role they play at Kraken games. There was one question around the science behind scraping the ice that got me wondering how much of an impact ice scrapes have on NHL games, so we are going to dig into the statistics of goals scored following ice scrapes to see if we can uncover anything interesting.
Here was the question:
Blaiz Grubic: Is there any science behind scraping the ice or a benefit to gameplay?
Kevin Ruuhela: If there is a science to it, I’m not aware of it, but from personal experience playing hockey since about the age of six, I know that the puck moves much more smoothly and consistently on ice without snow. When there are patches of snow, the puck can sometimes abruptly change speed on you and throw you off. I also know that goalies typically prefer less snow so there’s less material to get in their eyes from sticks and skates as players move around the crease.
To summarize Kevin’s answer and take it a bit farther, I came up with the following very simple theory:
Playing on smoother ice should increase scoring.
Let’s see how the statistics align with this theory.
Approach
For this data analysis, only even-strength goals (five-on-five) were reviewed. This removes any advantage a team might have and focuses on an even playing surface. Ice time was separated into two buckets:
Fresh Ice – I’m defining this as the 150 seconds following an ice scrape or period start. The period start is included, as the ice has been freshly resurfaced.
Rough Ice – Time accrued after the initial 150 seconds until the next fresh ice event.
150 seconds was chosen because, per Ruuhela, there are three planned ice scrapes during each period. Since each period starts with freshly Zambonied ice, there are a total of four fresh ice events. Two minutes and 30 seconds (or 150 seconds) multiplied by the four fresh ice events equals 10 minutes of fresh ice and 10 minutes of rough ice per period. Assuming there are no advantages given to teams during even-strength play, goals should be scored at a linear rate to the time on ice.
Here is a breakdown of how a period splits into the two buckets of ice:
In reality, ice scrapes are delayed or missed, so the actual percentages of time on fresh versus rough ice are not exactly 50 percent each. Actual percentages came out to 46.86 percent for fresh ice and 53.14 percent for rough ice.
Data was analyzed for the past three seasons for all NHL teams. In total, 3,936 games and 16,250 even-strength goals were reviewed.
Analysis
To prove the theory, there should be more fresh ice goals than rough ice goals. What the data shows is the opposite, and a reduction in goals is observed following a fresh ice event.
The above chart is a bit hard to interpret, so let me try to provide some context. It is showing that 34.36 percent of the game, the ice is fresh following an ice scrape, but only 31.10 percent of goals are scored during this time. On the other hand, the ice is rough 53.14 percent of the time, and 56.52 percent of the goals are scored in these periods. Goal scoring on freshly Zambonied ice is almost linearly equal with 12.50 percent of the time accounting for 12.38 percent of the goals.
The total for fresh ice time is 46.86 percent of games, and 43.48 percent of 5-on-5 goals are scored during these periods.
Overall, there was a 6.76 percent swing between fresh ice scoring and rough ice scoring over the past three seasons. This means offense is up when the ice is rough and down after a fresh ice event.
Here are the raw data:
5v5 Goals
Time in Minutes
Delta
Fresh Ice – Period start
2,012 (12.38%)
29,520 (12.50%)
-0.12%
Fresh Ice – After Scrape
5,054 (31.10%)
81,151.67 (34.36%)
-3.26%
Rough Ice
9,184 (56.52%)
125,488.33 (53.14%)
+3.38%
Totals
16,250
236,160
Goaltending
Remember, this is only looking at 5-on-5 goals, so no empty netters or power-play goals are included. Seeing that goal scoring is down following a fresh ice event got me thinking about goalie save percentage. Following similar logic, I analyzed the shot data for the 2023-24 NHL season to calculate league-wide goalie save percentage for even-strength play on rough and fresh ice.
Sure enough, the goaltenders see a boost in save percentage following a fresh ice event. I am speculating here, but for similar reasons we theorized that scoring would be up due to smoother ice. The goaltenders could be even more of a benefactor of smooth ice, as puck movement is more predictable.
Conclusion
This was a fun project, and I was surprised by the results. There is probably more to dig into here, because one thing I thought of is that even after a scrape by the ice crew, the playing surface is certainly smoother at the beginning of a period and following resurfacing than it is at the end. So, perhaps all “fresh” and “rough” ice is not created equal.
Still, in all my years of watching and playing hockey, I have always thought the opposite to be true, that when the ice had received some sort of attention either from the ice crew or from the Zamboni, teams would score more. There was a lot more data collected than presented here, but to quickly summarize it, shots, turnovers, various fresh ice time intervals, and regulation goals in all situations were factored in and showed the same result. There is a reduction in scoring and a boost to goaltending save percentage following an ice scrape.
If you have any questions or thoughts please comment below. You can follow @blaizg on x.com.
The NHL free agency period will open on July 1, and NHL teams will be tempted to sign blue-chip free agents who become available. The allure of acquiring top-tier talent through a big-money contract can be irresistible, and while the Kraken’s options might be limited this offseason, they will still need to weigh the risks and future contributions of signing one of these top available players. The critical question remains: is spending a substantial portion of the salary cap on one superstar truly worth it?
In this post, we will delve into the intricacies of high-value contracts in NHL free agency, examining the criteria that define such deals, evaluating the pre- and post-signing performance of marquee players, and analyzing whether these investments typically yield the desired returns.
Definition for “spending big” on a blue-chip free agent
To evaluate the performance of blue-chip free agents, we need to define and isolate players who signed big contracts in free agency. For this exercise, we are going to exclude restricted free agents and contract extensions. Because the salary cap upper limit changes from year to year, we are focusing on any contracts that account for over eight percent of a team’s salary cap for the following season. Eight percent is somewhat arbitrary, but we need to cut it off somewhere, and when evaluating the details, this seemed about right.
Contract term length is a very important aspect of evaluating the risk, value, and success of a contract, but to keep it simple, we are excluding it from our analysis.
The blue-chip cohort
Since 2011, there have been 40 contracts signed for 8 percent or more of the subsequent season’s upper limit of the salary cap. The position breakdown is 26 forwards, 12 defensemen, and two goalies. With only two goalies in the sample, we are going to exclude them from the analysis. The two goalies were Ryan Miller ($6M/year in 2015) and Sergei Bobrovsky ($10M/year in 2020).
Pre- and post-contract signing
Evaluating player performance goes well beyond goals and assists, but the big-ticket free agents, particularly the forwards, tend to be the highest scorers. For the sake of simplicity, we are just going to look at points and goals by position over a three-year period before and after the contract is signed.
Forwards
Here is a look at the 26 forwards who signed big free-agency deals and their average points per game in the three years prior to and after signing the contract.
As the chart shows, there is a drop of 12 percent in the first and second seasons, and a drop of 24 percent in the third season after signing the contract. We see a similar drop when looking at average goals per game.
We are starting to see a theme, but surely some of these contracts work out, don’t they? Here is a breakout of the details by player.
Yikes. Only three of the 26 contracts signed by forwards saw an increase in points per game in the three years after the contract was signed.
Defensemen
Now let’s turn our attention to the defense. Here is a look at the points per game of the 12 defensemen who signed big free-agency deals since 2011.
Interestingly, there is an increase in production in the second and third seasons after signing the contract. My theory is that a defenseman jumping to a new team will play more conservatively in the first year with that new team as he learns to play in a different system with new teammates. In seasons two and three, he starts to get more comfortable, and the coach might also give him more responsibility and playing time.
Regardless of the reason for the increase in years two and three, defensemen still see declines in the three years after signing their free agent contract.
Note: Because defensive goal scoring is more rare, we won’t be looking at the goals-per-game comparison.
Evaluation considerations
Depending on the expectations of the team signing the big-ticket player, going after the top free agents on the market can be a decision with diminishing returns. The simple analysis only evaluates the three years after signing, but most big free-agent signings end up being for longer terms of six or seven years. The average term length of the signings I looked at was 5.6 years. It is probably stating the obvious, but the data doesn’t look any better if I widen the period of analysis.
As mentioned above, points and goals per game are not the only metrics to consider when evaluating the impact of a free-agent signing. It should also be noted that any time a player changes teams, there is an adjustment period of adapting to new teammates and coaching styles that might result in a slight drop in production.
As challenging as the outlook might be for signing big free agents, many of the signings still add something to their new team that was probably missing from their roster. For example, the Kraken need to add goals to their lineup. In a scenario where the Kraken sign Sam Reinhart this offseason, even if he sees a drop of 20 percent in goal production over the prior three seasons, that still adds 32 goals to the roster.
What are your thoughts? Should the Kraken throw caution to the wind and go for one of the big free agents that will hit the market this offseason?
As the Stanley Cup Playoffs wind down, our focus has started to turn to the offseason. We already spent a week looking at the Seattle Kraken prospect pool, and now we are dedicating this week to free agency, which is just three weeks away. Free agency is always a tricky time.
Current state
Defining the current Seattle Kraken roster that is officially under contract is a bit nuanced, but I am going to do my best. As a starting point, from the returning players from last season’s team, the Seattle Kraken have eight forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies signed for next season.
Currently not under contract but under “team control” are Eeli Tolvanen and Matty Beniers, who are restricted free agents. We expect both players to be qualified and eventually signed before the season starts, so we will pencil them in without an eraser. Additionally, barring any unforeseen circumstances, we think Shane Wright is a lock to make the team next season. Shane is on his entry-level contract (ELC), so we have a number we can punch in for him.
That leaves the Kraken with 11 forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies slated for the roster in October. There are exceptions, but most teams carry the league roster maximum of 23 players by having 14 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies. Assuming no trades or other roster changes (e.g., buyouts, offseason injuries), this leaves the Kraken needing three forwards and one defenseman to fill the roster.
Restricted free agents
In a perfect world, the Seattle Kraken would sign their restricted free agents, Beniers and Tolvanen, before free agency opens on July 1 so they know how much money they can spend without going over the salary cap. But we know the world is not perfect, and these types of negotiations tend to linger all offseason, so for the purposes of this exercise, we will use placeholders. For any contract projections, I use Evolving-Hockey.com, which tends to provide the most accurate estimates for short- and long-term deals. The contract projections are behind their subscription model, but if you are interested in more detail and intel, check it out. It is a great site with a ton of information well beyond the contract projections.
The contract projections for Beniers vary dramatically based on the term length of the contract. Beniers could sign a “bridge deal” that will end with him still being a restricted free agent, or he could sign a long-term deal of seven or eight years. We have seen a lot of speculation about a bridge deal being likely, but I don’t think any of that is based on insider information on the negotiations and expectations. For our placeholder, we will conservatively take the most likely estimate from Evolving Hockey, which is $7 million for seven years.
Tolvanen is clearer cut, with EvolvingHockey estimating the most likely scenario as a four-year deal at $4.3 million per year. Let’s punch those numbers in.
What’s left and how could they spend it?
On Saturday, the NHL and NHLPA announced the upper limit of the salary cap for the 2024-25 season will be $88 million. With some basic arithmetic, we can estimate that the Kraken will have roughly $10 million in cap space to fill the remaining four spots. That is roughly $2.5 million per player, but of course, the team is not required or expected to spread that money evenly.
It is unlikely, but the Kraken could allocate most of that money to one player and then sign three players close to a minimum amount. For simplicity, let’s call the “close to” league minimum a $1 million cap hit per player. That would leave $7 million for one player. That would not be enough to sign the likes of top goal scorers Sam Reinhart or Jake Guentzel, but it is in the ballpark for Jonathan Marchessault and Matt Duchene. Both players are 33 years old, and even if they would want to come to Seattle, I think it is more likely that general manager Ron Francis will look elsewhere.
A more likely scenario is that Francis signs two players close to the league minimum and then spreads the additional dollars across two players. The top six defensemen seem set, with Ryker Evans slotting into the regular spot taken by Justin Schultz last season. It also appears likely that the team signs a player close to the league minimum to take the seventh-defenseman role.
Technically, Cale Fleury is already signed for next season but spent most of this last season in Coachella Valley and therefore off the Seattle Kraken’s books. He is a likely candidate to compete for that seventh spot that can step in when injuries arise. Even if Fleury is slotted into that spot, I expect Francis to sign one or two defensemen to compete for that position and to provide some insurance in case of multiple injuries.
The forward roster spots are much more challenging to forecast. There could be a situation where one of the spots is filled by a prospect in the pipeline. Ryan Winterton, Logan Morrison, Jani Nyman, or even Carson Rehkopf could fit that profile. If one of the prospects doesn’t snag a place on the team, the Kraken could try to bring back Devin Shore or someone similar to fill that “close to” league minimum spot. That would leave roughly $8 million to spend on the remaining two forward spots.
I have been mentioning the possibility of targeting Jake DeBrusk over the second half of the season and still think he is a candidate. Evolving Hockey forecasts around a $5.8 million AAV for DeBrusk, which would leave only $2.2 million for that final forward position. There might be decent hockey players available for $2.2 million a year, but not many of them put up the goals the Kraken need to add this offseason.
Other variables and considerations
Any variance to the actual AAV for Tolvanen and Beniers will impact the cap spend available in free agency for the Kraken.
Outside of the Expansion Draft and trade deadlines, the Kraken have not made a lot of trades. Based on comments from Ron Francis in postseason availabilities, this offseason feels different. More than a couple of times, Francis mentioned leveraging the prospect pool to make this team better. Obviously, dollars going in and/or going out will impact the cap space available in free agency.
Although there does not appear to be any obvious buyout candidates coming up for the Seattle Kraken, any potential buyouts would open up some cap space.
I have implied that the Kraken will spend up to the cap this offseason, but the team might keep some dry powder available going into the season to create more flexibility. The dry powder could be used if other teams need to clear cap space to do their own wheeling and dealing.
It should be clear by now that there are a lot of moving parts to manage the cap space between now and the start to the 2024-25 regular season, but hopefully this gives you a good primer into how the Kraken will approach free agency and any offseason moves related to the cap space. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to use the comments section and we can continue the dialogue there.
The Moose Jaw Warriors are headed to the Memorial Cup for the first time in franchise history, and one of the Seattle Kraken’s highly touted prospects is going with them. Moose Jaw took down the Portland Winterhawks in Game 4 of the WHL Championship Series 4-2 on Wednesday night, sweeping aside the Winterhawks in four games. Junior phenom Jagger Firkus helped the Warriors to lift the Ed Chynoweth Cup on home ice.
Firkus, with an assist on the opening goal in Game 4, continued to be on his game during the finals, finishing with two goals and three assists. His single-game high of the series was a two-goal, three-point night during Game 2 in Portland.
The second-round pick of the Kraken in the 2022 NHL Draft concluded his dominant run during the WHL playoffs with 14 goals and 18 assists, averaging out to 1.60 points per game. In addition, this week he was named the recipient of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Player of the Year during the regular season, as he led the CHL with 126 points in 63 regular-season games.
Firkus will become the third current Kraken prospect to play in the Memorial Cup, joining Ryan Winterton in 2022 and Tucker Robertson in 2023. He will look to become the first to win it all.
Don’t be fooled by the sweep, the Winterhawks skated stride for stride with the Warriors for much of the series, as shown by three of the four games ending with the teams within two goals of each other. The Warriors just had more of a will to finish, taking the series while backed by some outstanding defensive efforts, as well as timely goaltending performances.
Warriors netminder Jackson Unger finished the series with an astounding .938 save percentage, only allowing eight goals to squeak by him all series. The series was a microcosm of his overall WHL-leading 15 wins during the playoffs, in which he posted an overall save percentage of .910 and a goals-against average at 2.91.
While Firkus was a huge contributor, Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Denton Mateychuk was named the WHL’s Most Valuable Player during the playoffs. The nimble first-round defender finished second behind Firkus for total points with 30, leading the league in assists at 19.
All the while, forward Brayden Schuurman was arguably the most clutch player for Moose Jaw this series, as he had the game-winning goals in both Games 3 and 4.
Fellow Kraken prospect Tyson Jugnauth had just one assist during the finals for the Winterhawks.
Memorial Cup
Firkus and the Warriors will now head to Saginaw, Mich., for the Memorial Cup, where they will match up with the OHL champion London Knights, QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs, and the host team, the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit.
It’s safe to say this tournament is getting the best of the best teams from across the CHL, as for the first time in CHL history all three league title winners won their respective championship series by sweeping their opponents.
The Memorial Cup is set for May 24-June 2 at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw. Moose Jaw will open the tournament against the host Spirit on Friday, May 24.
The Dallas Stars have punched their ticket to the second round after winning a decisive Game 7 on Sunday night, making them the last of eight teams to advance through the opening series. We reviewed the Eastern Conference here, and in this article we will preview the two upcoming Western Conference series. As with the Eastern Conference preview, we will call out potential unrestricted free agents that have some offensive upside. This can give Kraken fans some players to keep an eye on while watching the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Out of all first-round series there was only one “upset,” and that was the Colorado Avalanche over the Winnipeg Jets. The Vegas Golden Knights had Dallas on the ropes but ultimately took a first-round exit, guaranteeing a new Stanley Cup champion will be crowned this year. Meanwhile, there are only two Canadian teams remaining, and since they are playing each other, there will be one in the Western Conference Finals and one hitting the golf course.
Dallas Stars vs Colorado Avalanche
Former Dallas Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Season series between Colorado and Dallas
Nov. 18 – Colorado won 6-3
Jan. 1 – Colorado won 5-4 in overtime
Feb. 27 – Colorado won 5-1
Apr. 7 – Dallas won 7-4
The Colorado Avalanche won the season series 3-1. More impressively, Colorado scored four or more goals in each game.
The Avs stumbled into the playoffs, losing seven of their last 11 games. Their offense woke up in their first-round matchup with the Winnipeg Jets, though, and scored five or more goals in every game. That came against a Winnipeg team whose save percentage and goals-against average were the best in the NHL during the regular season.
The Dallas Stars are coming off a hard-fought seven-game series with the defending Stanley Cup champions. Dallas showed resilience in coming back from a 0-2 start in the series. Wyatt Johnston has had an amazing sophomore season, leading the Stars in goals with 32 during the regular season. His skill has been on full display in the playoffs, and he has scored some big timely goals and led the team with four goals and seven points in Round 1.
Jake Oettinger was also strong in the first round, posting an impressive 1.95 GAA and .925 save percentage while playing all seven games of the series.
Trade Deadline acquisitions
The Trade Deadline was a busy time for the Avalanche, who added Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Duhaime, Yakov Trenin, and Sean Walker. They also moved on from Ryan Johansen, but had to part ways with Bowen Byram to shore up the second-line center role with Mittelstadt. Mittelstadt had a bit of a slow start but has blossomed in the playoffs with six points in five games.
Trenin and Duhaime have retooled Colorado’s fourth line. Walker is playing a depth role and helping out on the third defensive pairing.
The Dallas Stars added to their defensive corps at the deadline by trading for Chris Tanev. Former Kamloops Blazer, Logan Stankoven, also cracked the Stars lineup and has definitely turned some heads while chipping in 14 points in 24 games.
Key UFA’s to watch during this series
Series outcome
This series has two Stanley Cup favorites going toe-to-toe, and fans should sit back and enjoy the ride. With the recency bias of Colorado handling Winnipeg, we think they have the slight edge going into the series.
Prediction: Colorado wins in seven games (though I will be pulling for Dallas to win)
Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers
Former Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy, now with the Vancouver Canucks. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Season series between Vancouver and Edmonton
Oct. 11 – Vancouver won 8-1
Oct. 14 – Vancouver won 4-3
Nov. 6 – Vancouver won 6-3
Apr. 13 – Vancouver won 3-1
The Vancouver Canucks swept the season series winning all four games. However, three of those games took place during the first month of the season when Edmonton could do nothing right.
Canucks goaltending
The Canucks all-star goaltender, Thatcher Demko, sustained a knee injury in Game 1 of Vancouver’s first-round matchup with the Nashville Predators. He is listed as week-to-week and has yet to participate in practice, but has been seen skating. Coach Rick Tocchet has ruled Demko out for at least Game 1 of the series.
Furthermore, Vancouver’s backup goaltender Casey DeSmith was also injured in Game 3 in the first round series. Arturs Silovs was thrust into action and has thrived with a 1.70 GAA and .938 save percentage in three games. He seems to have taken the de facto starting job for now, even as DeSmith has recovered from injury. Silovs is set to start game one vs Edmonton.
Having uncertainty in your goaltending is not something you want as you set to start a playoff series against the top two NHL point leaders over the past nine year. Connor McDavid has scored 982 points and Leon Draisaitl has scored 841. Nobody else in the NHL has scored even 800 points in the last nine years
Edmonton on a roll
The Edmonton Oilers’ standings points from the regular season are a bit misleading. On Nov. 6, after the Oilers lost to Vancouver, they had five total points and were in 31st place. They fired Jay Woodcroft, hired Kris Knoblauch, and since then, they have have been on a tear, earning 99 points to finish the season, best in the NHL over that span. The Oilers continued on that pace into the first round of the playoffs, disposing of the Los Angeles Kings in five games.
Trade Deadline
To prepare for the playoffs, Vancouver swung for the fences and traded for center Elias Lindholm. However, he has not panned out as well as the Canucks front office imagined. His 0.46 points per game (12 in 26 games) is well below his career average of 0.68 points per game.
The Edmonton Oilers acquired Adam Henrique to help round out their top six. Henrique has landed a dream role of playing with Connor McDavid, but his point totals have declined from his time with the Anaheim Ducks.
Series outcome
Although neither team hit home runs with their deadline acquisitions, they are still excellent teams that had success in the regular season. Edmonton has the edge in goals scored per game, power play percentage, and penalty kill percentage.
It should not be overlooked that Vancouver was 4-0 versus Edmonton. The Canucks have the ability to win on any night. Ultimately, though, the carousel in goal is what will cause the Canucks to lose this series.
Key UFA’s to watch during this series
Prediction: Edmonton Oilers win in six games
Second round wrap-up
As with the Eastern Conference, a case could be made for all four teams remaining to be able to hoist the Stanley Cup. It has been speculated all year that a team will have to run the gauntlet to make it out of the East, but the West is no easier. The team that emerges will have gone through battle.
There is not a clear-cut favorite in any of the remaining series, and as a hockey fan, I am here for it. Crack a college soda (or your favorite beverage) and enjoy the playoff hockey as much as you can. If you need more beyond the NHL, the Coachella Valley Firebirds best-of-five series is tied 1-1.
