Maple Leafs Currently Inside Ideal Window to Make Trade

The San Jose Sharks are in limbo entering the 2022 offseason. The team is nowhere near ready to compete, and with issues present in the forward, defensive, and goaltending core, there does not seem to be much hope for the squad entering the 2022-23 season. The draft should allow the team to add a few more talented players to the prospect pool, but no one drafted will be ready to slot in the lineup right off the bat. Additionally, without a general manager selected, the Sharks’ options are relatively limited until a decision is made.

Elliotte Friedman wondered if this summer will be the “Summer of Kawhi” for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Suggesting he sees this offseason as the time when GM Kyle Dubas might make a big move and send one of his top players off the roster for a top player from another roster, he made a comparison to the Toronto Raptors when they moved a shocked Demar DeRozan, then added Kawhi Leonard. That was the season the Raptors wound up winning the NBA Championship.

The St. Louis Blues came back from down 3-0 to win Game 5 in overtime over the Colorado Avalanche. It was an unbelievable game, capped off by a Tyler Bozak goal to send the series to a Game 6. As far as the result of this game, it was fairly...

Darryl Sutter, the head coach of the Calgary Flames, said a lot with little words as he normally does. This time it was after Game 3 of the second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers. He spoke on the use of the forwards for the Oilers and how there aren’t line matchups.

The “Summer of Kawhi?” Seriously, this is an idea the Toronto Maple Leafs should avoid like the plague. It is so perfectly ridiculous, and I wish I would have thought of it. To be direct, the idea is simplistic, ignores reality, and I believe the Maple Leafs shouldn’t...

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager (GM) Kyle Dubas continues to work through the beginning of the offseason, and quite frankly, he’s off to a hot start. He was able to secure veteran defenseman Mark Giordano for two more seasons at a fantastic $800,000 average annual value. The former Norris Trophy winner is a Toronto, ON native and was happy to accept less money to stay close to family and friends. The way Giordano’s extension played out has caught the attention of many across the hockey world. Hockey insider Elliotte Friedman confirmed via 32 Thoughts podcast said the Leafs were willing to pay $1 million per season. Meanwhile, Giordano called back and said he’ll take less instead and offered to sign for $800,000. If only it was always this easy.

It happens like clockwork before very NHL Entry Draft: Doubt seeps into the identity of the player who will go first overall, with Shane Wright supposedly set to drop at the 2022 edition of the event July 7-8. This time around there shouldn’t be any question, though. Montreal Canadiens general...

In this edition of Toronto Maple Leafs News & Rumors, I’ll report that Jim Paliafito is no longer with the organization. He’s been an incredibly important figure in player development for the team and was important in setting up the Maple Leafs’ Russian connection. Second, I’ll talk...

The Calgary Flames are in a massive hole after falling 5-3 to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 on Tuesday night. The hope was that after back-to-back losses they would be able to regroup and come out with a better effort for an entire 60 minutes, but that was not the case.

Toronto is a tough market to play in. More times than not, there will be criticism and blame put on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ players for having a tough game, stretch, or season. Many players leave in free agency because the team can’t afford them or because they want less of a spotlight.

Although the Boston Bruins won 51 games during the 2021-22 regular season, their first-round postseason loss to the Carolina Hurricanes showed that they are not true contenders. Due to this, it seems time for general manager (GM) Don Sweeney to make a major addition to their roster. The Winnipeg Jets would be the perfect trade partner if he’s aiming to complete a blockbuster this summer. Let’s now take a look at why this is the case.

While the Tampa Bay Lightning wait to see who their opponents will be in the Eastern Conference Final, there are some former Lightning that are still alive in the playoffs and are playing significant roles for their teams. There are two fewer former players that they will have to worry...

After failing to make the postseason for the fourth straight season, the Anaheim Ducks are officially in offseason mode. With the 2021-22 season in the rearview mirror, we can look back at some of the individual seasons that Ducks’ players had and how they fit moving forward. Max Comtois...

It’s no secret that the duo of Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin will be looking to improve their team this offseason. Whether it be through trade or free agency, the Vancouver Canucks will have some additions to its roster before the puck drops on the 2022-23 season. It’s a strong class of talent with the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and others potentially hitting the market for what could be astronomical contracts. Fortunately, Rutherford and company don’t have the cap space (right now at least) to pursue them. Rutherford has gone on record saying that he wants to add youngsters to the roster, not 35-year-old veterans, so it’s likely he won’t try to go after them. Having said that, they are former players of his, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened either.

The 2022 Draft isn’t seen as one with any potential generational talent, but the strength of this draft will be in the quality of players available later into the second or even third round. Despite the success of the 2019 Draft class out of the United States, there is still less emphasis placed on scouting American junior leagues, as the United States Hockey League (USHL) is considered a weaker cousin to the Canadian-based Canadian Hockey League members.

We are back with another edition of the Seattle Kraken Report Cards. We’ll be looking at a trio of defensemen who, barring a trade or buyout, will be part of the organization for next season. This group is composed of a player who few would’ve expected to lead defensemen in goals, a player who some thought needed to have a bounce-back year, and one who some didn’t even have penciled in for a roster spot to start the season.

In society, we attach certain meanings to numbers. For example, some call the number seven lucky, while the number 13 is considered unlucky for most. So far in the 2022 NHL Playoffs, it is safe to call the number 91 the former, not the latter. Eight players have worn the...

The Vancouver Canucks currently own the 79th selection in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, but this exact pick has actually been traded on three separate occasions. First, it went to Vegas for Nate Schmidt. Then Vegas sent it to Ottawa in the Evgeni Dadonov trade before making its way back to Vancouver from Ottawa in exchange for Travis Hamonic.

Antti Raanta has been a very pleasant surprise in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Raanta, who had limited expectations as a career backup, put on some of the best goaltending performances in the playoffs thus far. Since the Hurricanes lost their starter in April, the defensively stout Canes haven’t missed a beat with him in net.

Toronto Maple Leafs’ fans got great news on Sunday when it was announced that the team had extended defenseman Mark Giordano two years for a percentage of what he is worth. At this point, it gives the Maple Leafs five defensemen signed for the 2022/23 season. They are Morgan Rielly (at $7.5 million), Jake Muzzin ($5.625 million), T.J. Brodie ($5 million), Justin Holl ($2 million), and Mark Giordano (for the bargain sum of $800,000).