The Week In Review is a weekly compilation of hand-picked NHL stories selected by members of WinColumnSports deemed important or impactful from the week that was. Additionally, there is also a running pool amongst the contributors based on our picks for Saturday’s match-ups.
Stories From the Past Week
Spencer Love
I spoke about it earlier this week, but my patience is up with Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli. In my opinion, it’s been three years of consistently lost trades involving our bigger name players; say what you will about the players that Patrick Maroon played with, but he’s still scored more goals than both Tomas Tatar and Rick Nash over the last two seasons.
However, that could all change if a move is made involving Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Arizona Coyotes. With the defender rumoured to be unhappy, is there the potential for a move? There’s the obvious joke that the Oilers are just as bad as the Coyotes, but a defenceman of that caliber would solve a lot of problems in Edmonton.
One would have to think that any conversation involving OEL would have to start with either Oscar Klefbom or Darnell Nurse; the Oilers already are chock-full of left-handed defenceman, and the two are likely the most valuable on Edmonton’s roster. Klefbom’s contract makes him additionally valuable to a team like the Coyotes; regardless of his down year, he holds one of the best contracts in the NHL for the next five years, coming in just under 4.2 million per year. Would Klefbom, Nugent Hopkins and a draft pick be enough to entice Coyotes GM John Chayka? Not saying the trade should be made at those conditions, but definitely food for thought.
I don’t see RNH contract as big negative. OEL likely wants $9 mill. Klef/RNH total $10.1 for next three years.
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) March 2, 2021
Arik Krause
Seattle is happening.
Whether or not you think the NHL is ready for another expansion team so soon, or whether or not you think that Seattle is the correct fit, it doesn’t matter. The Seattle (enter name here) will be joining the NHL make them the NHL’s 32nd franchise. The move is supposed to happen in 2020-2021
Seattle launched their inagural season ticket drive on Thursday and the results were..quite shocking.
720 seconds.
That’s how long it took to hit our goal of 10,000 deposits.
We’re now at 25,000 and counting.
Thank you, Seattle.#NHLSeattle
— NHL Seattle (@NHLSeattle_) March 1, 2021
What does this mean for the current NHL landscape?
- General managers will be tasked with the difficult task of making expansion draft lists as Commissioner Bettman has already stated that Seattle’s expansion process will look quite similar to Vegas.
- NHL rosters will yet again be watered down as 60+ players in 3 years will be taken away from current NHL rosters.
- Seattle coming into the league finally brings back balance to the NHL conferences. Currently the East has 16 teams while the West only has 15.
- Under the current format Seattle will be playing inside the Pacific division, which means most likely Colorado or Arizona will move to the Central.
Finally, a question for you.
Will the NHL stay with 2 conferences of 16 or will they change to the more conveinent 8 divisions of 4?
Ben Ferguson
Even if New Jersey loses, the biggest headline will continue to be Taylor Hall related. The Hurricanes handed the Devils a loss on Friday evening but Taylor Hall found a way to keep his streak going. Taylor Hall found the back of the net Friday night, the Devils only marker in a 3-1 loss to a divisional rival. This goal extends Hall’s streak to an incredible 23 games. However, Hall’s streak is officially 16 as Hall missed 3 games in January due to a hand injury. Hall has easily been hottest player since the new calendar year, as Hall has found the score-sheet in every single one of his games as of January 1st.
Seeing how Hall has had such a prominent role in New Jersey’s success this season, there is no reason to believe Hall won’t be in the Hart Memorial Trophy conversation once the regular season finally winds down.
WinColumnSport’s Saturday Picks
| Games | Spencer Love | Arik Krause | Doug Lakusta | Ben Ferguson |
| Flyers @ Lightning | Lightning | Lightning | Flyers | Lightning |
| Blues @ Stars | Blues | Stars | Stars | Blues |
| Blackhawks @ Kings | Kings | Kings | Blackhawks | Kings |
| Canadiens @ Bruins | Bruins | Bruins | Canadiens | Bruins |
| Islanders @ Penguins | Penguins | Islanders | Islanders | Penguins |
| Senators @ Coyotes | Senators | Coyotes | Coyotes | Senators |
| Maple Leafs @ Capitals | Captials | Capitals | Maple Leafs | Capitals |
| Rangers @ Oilers | Oilers | Oilers | Rangers | Oilers |
| Last Week’s Record | 6-6 | 6-6 | 3-9 | |
| Record to Date | 62-37 (63%) | 57-42 (58%) | 13-9 (56%) | 56-43 (57%) |
This running pool is open to readers and WinColumnSport contributors. If you are interested in joining you can contact me on twitter (@WCS_BFerg). Ultimately, if you join the pool, you must be willing to contribute a developing story from the week that was.
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