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Ken Campbell
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Ken Campbell was a senior writer for The Hockey News and is now a freelance feature writer for the magazine. He returned to the brand after an eight-year stint as a beat reporter for the Maple Leafs for the Toronto Star.
Joined at Feb 15, 2025Activity
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How Soon Will Ryan Leonard Boost The Washington Capitals?
As if the Washington Capitals aren't good enough, they're getting one of the top prospects outside of the NHL for the stretch run and the playoffs.
The No. 2 NHL prospect in The Hockey News' annual Future Watch edition signed an entry-level deal with the Capitals after his Boston College Eagles were eliminated from the NCAA playoffs Sunday night.
Leonard has the complete package - skill, size, competitiveness, toughness. He has the opportunity to make an immediate impact with a Stanley Cup contender.
Can he do what Cale Makar did in 2019? That might be a bit of stretch, considering he'll be eased into the Capitals' lineup on the bottom six, but don't be surprised if he proves very quickly that he can make a tangible contribution.
Today's video column has more.
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Surprise: The Capitals And Kings' Dubois Trade Has Worked Out Perfectly...So Far
There's no doubt that last June, when Los Angeles Kings GM Rob Blake and then-Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan swapped Pierre-Luc Dubois for Darcy Kuemper, both men did so crossing all their fingers and toes.
These trades, where one team trades a high-priced and ineffective player in exchange for another high-priced and ineffective player, rarely work out.
This one did. In a big way. Capitals center Dubois and Kings goaltender Kuemper have produced and are a big reason for their teams' success.
We'll see if they can keep it up in future years, but the early returns are encouraging.
Today's video column has more.
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Are The Boston Bruins Really This Awful?
Man, Jake DeBrusk must have been much better than we all thought. Ever since he's left the Boston Bruins, they've gone to the dogs.
Well, not really. When the calendar turned to 2025, the Bruins were in third place in the Atlantic Division, firmly in possession of a playoff spot. Since then, disaster. They've not only foundered, but they traded away franchise stalwarts Brad Marchand and Brandon Carlo for futures.
Yes, they have a ton of cap space this summer. But so do a lot of other teams. Yes, they have a decent core of players signed long-term, but that might just prompt them to continue chasing a contender status that just isn't there.
This is a team that looks destined to be in the mushy middle, which is kind of the worst place in the NHL, for a few years.
Today's video column has more.
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Maple Leafs' Bobby McMann Succeeded Where Many Undrafted College Free Agents Failed
Toronto Maple Leafs left winger Bobby McMann's accomplishments stand out at this time of year.
About this time every season, NHL teams spend a lot of money and devote a lot of resources to chasing and signing undrafted college free agents. In the vast majority of cases, those guys don't make much of a mark at the NHL level.
Then there are guys like McMann, who officially became a 20-goal NHL scorer with his marker Thursday night for the Maple Leafs in a 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Playing on the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander, McMann has provided the Leafs with some much-needed secondary offense. While it's been a long process for the 28-year-old, it's one he was confident would come to fruition.
"Every day of my entire life was trying to get to here," McMann told The Hockey News. "I realized that if I made it or not, I was going to know how hard it would be to make it. "I had three things - speed, physicality and being so competitive. And when I made it to the NHL, I was like, 'OK, those are my three things and that's what I have to do, not focus on scoring or anything else.' "
It's fair to say things have worked out for McMann. Today's video column has more.
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Opinion: Junior Hockey Is Big Business. Let's Treat It That Way
As we saw by the WHL's acceptance of the Penticton Vees as an expansion team this week, major junior hockey is big business. Really big.
The Vees paid a reported $15 million to join the WHL. Established teams go for much more money.
But somehow, these people who spend all this money on the product treat the players as 'student athletes' and are not paid like employees for their work. Edmonton Oilers left winger Zach Hyman, who at last check was making good coin, purchased the Brantford Bulldogs along with his very wealthy family. There's money in it.
It's time to share that wealth. Today's video column has more.
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Do The Leafs, Panthers Or Lightning Want To Win The Atlantic Division?
The first round of the playoffs is not going to be a spring walk in the park for anyone in the NHL, regardless of where they finish in the regular season.
But you have to wonder how badly the top three teams in the Atlantic Division – the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning – actually want to finish first, given their recent play.
It's not that they've been terrible, but anytime they've had an opportunity to separate from the other two, they come up short. All three are projected to finish with at least 100 points, and the Atlantic could very well have five playoff participants, but unless somebody among the Panthers, Leafs or Lightning decides to go on a run, it will come down to the last day of the season.
Today's video column has more.
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Re-Evaluating The All-Star Game, Draft Formats Is Great NHL News
Let's face it. The NHL proved with the 4 Nations Face-Off it can do so much better with a marquee mid-season event than the All-Star Game.
A Carrot Top marathon movie festival is more watchable than a traditional All-Star Weekend at this point.
Now, the draft, that's a different story. It's compelling, exciting and hopeful. And most people love watching the process, along with the real-time wheeling and dealing that transpires on the draft floor.
That's why it was such welcome news that the NHL is re-evaluating the traditional All-Star Game and is open to pivoting back to a traditional draft after the decentralized draft in Los Angeles this year if the clubs want.
There are lots of interesting events the NHL could hold in lieu of the traditional All-Star Weekend, where there's a skills competition and a 3-on-3 tournament that features some low-effort, meaningless hockey. Most of the potential alternatives revolve around international hockey – and one idea could include players from other leagues.
Today's video column shares that idea and more.
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'Team Asia' Rules Toronto Youth Hockey
The Don Mills Flyers Under-16 hockey team is good. Really good.
One of the best in the world, probably, seeing as it was ranked as the No. 1 team in Ontario for much of this season and on Tuesday night won the Greater Toronto Hockey League title. As they prepare for the OHL Cup next week, the Flyers are indeed flying high.
There's an interesting facet to this team. Seven of the players, almost half the roster, is made up of East Asian players. Some are descendants, others, including Tommy Kut, Andy Huang and Lincoln Cumming, actually started playing hockey in China and came to Canada as young players.
There is something of a hockey boom in Asia in general and in China in particular, and many of the players come from backgrounds where they have the financial means to move across the world and play in the biggest youth hockey association in the world. Most of the seven will likely find themselves in the OHL next season as they try to make their way to the NHL.
Today's video column has more.
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latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by
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Where Have All The NHL's 50-Goal Scorers Gone?
Eighty years ago today, Maurice 'Rocket' Richard set the gold standard for goals in an NHL season. He became the first player in history to record a 50-goal season.
Since then, 98 other players have done it a total of 209 times. Some players have scored more, in some cases a lot more, but 50 goals remains the standard.
When the Edmonton Oilers host the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday, Leon Draisaitl will try to do it for the 210th time in NHL history. And he'll almost certainly be alone in 2024-25, meaning we'll have to wait at least another season until we see the 100th different 50-goal-man ever.
Scoring by superstars, Draisaitl excluded, seems to have dried up this year. Auston Matthews, who led the league with 69 goals last season, will be lucky to get 30 this year. Sam Reinhart had 57 last season, just 33 to this point in 2024-25. Nathan MacKinnon, who had 51 last season, may win the Art Ross Trophy as the league's scoring champion, but it will be on the strength of a ton of assists. Even Draisaitl's teammates Zach Hyman (57 last year) and Connor McDavid are way down in their goal production.
In fact, it seems Draisaitl is the only player on the Oilers who can be counted on to score these days. It will result in him running away with the trophy that bears Richard's name, but it puts a lot of pressure on one guy.
Today's video column has more.
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latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by
subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below
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How Kraken Prospect Berkly Catton's Post-WJC 'Reset' Turned Into A Scoring Rampage
The World Junior Championship was “a real kick in the nuts” for Chris Catton’s son.
We know this, well, because we watched it and that’s exactly how he described it. So after the debacle came to an end, Chris Catton’s kid went home to Saskatoon for a few days and immediately headed to the place where he has always found refuge.
After the tournament, one of the first places Berkly Catton went was the Dr. John G. Egnatoff School Rink on Kenderdine Road, where he could be alone with his stick and puck and watch his breath fade into the prairie sky.
“It was therapeutic,” Berkly Catton said. “Instead of 20,000 people screaming, it was not a sound, except for the puck hitting the boards. It felt like it reset me.”
It was the same place Berkly went almost three years ago after the Saskatoon Contacts under-18 team was eliminated in three straight games in the playoffs by the Saskatoon Blazers, who were led by Roger McQueen, a top-five candidate for the 2025 NHL draft. Chris got worried when his son didn’t come home after the game. In the wee hours of the morning, he decided to check the only place he thought his son would be.
“Sure enough, he was out there at 1:30 in the morning in the dark,” Chris said. “As he’s gotten older, he’s gotten a little better, but he’s always been a kid who has had a hard time letting go when things didn’t go his way.”
That borderline unhealthy obsession has served Catton well on his way to becoming the Seattle Kraken’s top prospect.
Chris said his son would stickhandle with a ball and mini-sticks for hours on end in the family’s kitchen from the time he was four. Berkly credits the 36-by-24-foot backyard rink that Chris built as a big contributor to his abilities to stickhandle and create offense in tight quarters. That rink has since been replaced by a shooting area in the backyard where Catton and Chicago Blackhawks prospect Kevin Korchinski spend hours in the summer perfecting their shots.
“We’d go out in the backyard, and he’d specifically ask me to pass pucks into his feet,” said Chris, a Grade 7 science and math teacher. “He always wanted me to give him bad passes, and I’d ask why, and he’d say, ‘Because those are the passes you have to learn to take. The good ones are easy.’ ”
But his persistence has also caused him a few problems over the years.
At the NHL draft last summer, Catton had a series of photos embossed on the inside of his suit jacket that saluted the people who helped him get to that day, along with hockey photos from his childhood. On the bottom left is a photo of a very young Catton with cheeks that are dangerously red. Turns out there was a day when the temperature dipped to about minus-34 – Celsius, Fahrenheit, they’re almost the same when it’s that cold out – and he refused to come off the ice into the house. It ended up that Catton had a serious case of frostbite, an affliction of which he’s reminded pretty much every time he feels the cold weather on his face these days.
That wasn’t as bad as the time when he was 14 and an extended outdoor stint at the Egnatoff Rink led to a trip to the emergency room after his foot got so cold that his big toe turned purple. Coincidentally, he was out there with Caden Price, his boyhood friend who the Kraken drafted 84th overall in 2023.
“They almost had to chop my toe off,” Catton said. “Thank God it never came to that. It’s not smart, but those are some of my fondest memories. When I look back at it, I don’t remember the cold toes. All I remember was how much fun I had.”
It’s a good thing Catton has retained all his foot digits, since all 10 of them help make up two feet that need to move quickly. Among Catton’s best attributes is his edge work, which allows him to make plays at top speed. He is definitely not a huge player, especially for a center, but he’s the same height and only 10 pounds lighter than Connor Bedard. Catton idolized Sidney Crosby as a youngster, but he has since come to appreciate another dangerous, undersized center who can take over a game.
“A guy like Jack Hughes is so elite, and he’s so fun to watch,” Catton said. “There are a lot of times I’ll watch his game on a Friday night and come Saturday, I’m trying to do some of that stuff myself. Just how fast he is through the middle of the ice and how much he demands the puck, I think are some similarities to my game.”
We know he can create offense. After leading Canada in scoring at the 2023 U-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Catton posted 116 points and 1.71 points per game for the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs, which led all draft-eligible players last season. His 1.87 points per game is third-best in the WHL this season, and, as disappointing as his experience was at the world juniors, Catton returned to the WHL – after his brief stay in Saskatoon – like a man possessed. In his first 10 games after the WJC, Catton posted 24 points, including a one-goal, six-assist effort in his second game back. In one game in mid-January, he registered 10 shots on goal, then followed up with nine more shots two nights later.
"Instead of 20,000 people screaming, it was not a sound, except for the puck hitting the boards. It felt like it reset me." - Berkly Catton
There are scouts who doubt whether he’ll be as prolific in the NHL, and the fact is there are a rare few who can put up those kinds of numbers in the best league in the world. But Catton is projected as a productive top-six forward, which is encouraging to the Kraken, who have built up an impressive stockpile of young and talented forwards.
Catton’s 200-foot game is improving and will serve him well at the next level. And if he finds he can’t produce in the NHL the way he has at lower levels, he is versatile enough to still be an effective player. The thing about Catton is he makes up for average top speed with incredible edge work, and even though his tools are not elite, his hockey sense is.
Catton had just one assist in five games at the world juniors, but he has managed to find the positives in the experience and knows he’ll have the opportunity to be an impactful offensive player next year on a team that should be much better.
“There was a lot to learn from it,” Catton said. “If you asked all of the guys on that team, we’re probably stronger people and better hockey players from it, even though it wasn’t what we wanted. Now we know how awful it feels to lose out of the tournament that early, and that experience alone will drive us to a way better position.”
Catton is hoping that if he gets a chance to go back to the Dr. John G. Egnatoff School Rink on Kenderdine Road in Saskatoon after the world juniors next year, he’ll be in a much better frame of mind, preferably with a gold medal in his collection. And he’ll be sure to guard against frostbite.
This article appeared in our 2025 Future Watch issue. Our cover story focuses on Ducks prospect Beckett Sennecke, who is tearing it up with the OHL's Oshawa Generals this season. We also include features on other exceptional NHL prospects, including: Zayne Parekh, Porter Martone, Gavin McKenna and more. In addition, we look at the top 10 prospects in the pipeline for each of the 32 NHL clubs.
You can get it in print for free when you subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/Free today. All subscriptions include complete access to more than 76 years of articles at The Hockey News Archive.
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Be The Guy: Could Canadiens Prospect Ivan Demidov Be The Next Lafleur?
One hundred and ten years ago, Lt.-Col. John McCrae wrote In Flanders Fields
after the funeral of a close friend who had died in battle in the First
World War. More than 30 years later, Montreal Canadiens GM Frank Selke
absconded the famous line, “To you from failing hands we throw the
torch. Be yours to hold it high.” And for almost 75 years, that line has
greeted Canadiens players as they’ve entered the team’s dressing room,
either in the Forum or the Bell Centre. It’s there to remind them of the
greatness that has preceded them and their responsibility to uphold the
standard that was established by the franchise’s icons.
Generations
of players have done their parts, but woo-boy there have been some
rough years lately. With a few notable exceptions, young Canadiens
players have spent the better part of the past 20 years or so handling
the torch like it was a book of matches from a Crescent Street strip
club that someone had inadvertently set on fire. There have been some
hits, lots of misses and a team that has been among the top 20 in the
NHL only once in the past five years. Of course, they finished 18th that
year and made it to the Stanley Cup final, so there’s that.
Canadiens
GM Kent Hughes remembers the glory days. Larry Robinson’s son played
minor hockey with him in Beaconsfield, and Jacques Lemaire’s kid played
with Hughes’ younger brother, Ryan. And what the Canadiens are building
right now is not the 1970s dynasty that Hughes and his brother idolized,
but it’s something. Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle and David Reinbacher will
never be confused with Robinson, Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe, but
they’re really good. Nick Suzuki probably isn’t Lemaire, but work with
us. Cole Caufield could stand in for Steve Shutt and Juraj Slafkovsky or
Michael Hage for Pete Mahovlich. Nobody is saying Owen Beck and Oliver
Kapanen are the next Bob Gainey and Doug Jarvis, but let’s use our
imaginations here. Arber Xhekaj as Pierre Bouchard? Sure. (Just keep him
away from the modern-day Stan Jonathan.) People are saying great things
about Jacob Fowler, the same way they did about Cayden Primeau at the
same age, but the kid is putting up Ken Dryden-like numbers at Boston
College.
And then there’s Ivan Demidov, star of YouTube and the
single-season under-20 scoring leader in KHL history. He plays right
wing. So did Guy Lafleur. So, let’s imagine the possibilities. The thing
that sports sells better than anything is hope, so let’s give this a
go. What if Demidov becomes the dynamic, lift-you-out-of-your-seat
scoring star the Canadiens have lacked for decades? And what if the rest
of them come together and hit their career peaks simultaneously? Hey,
even a poor man’s 1970s dynasty could win the Stanley Cup in today’s
parity-ravaged NHL. “I can tell you that if you made those comparisons
and you were right,” Hughes said, “you’d be talking to the happiest man
in the world.”
"His ability to move laterally suddenly is one of his calling cards."
Which
brings us back to Demidov, who fell to the Canadiens when they were
picking fifth overall in the 2024 NHL draft and who has since emerged as
the world’s No. 1 NHL-affiliated prospect. There’s a video going around
in which Canadiens executive VP of hockey operations Jeff Gorton asks
Demidov in his draft interview if the team would be crazy to pass on him
at their position, and Demidov confirms they would be. Demidov is
making them look pretty good, which is probably why the Canadiens
allowed the video to surface.
Demidov doesn’t have Lafleur’s
shirt-flapping speed – he probably doesn’t spark up a heater between
periods, either – but he’s deadly in the scoring areas. His sense of
deception is sublime, and he can make a puck find the net while
negotiating its way past multiple sets of shin pads. Nobody in KHL
history – not Kirill Kaprizov, not Matvei Michkov – has as many points
in a teenage season as Demidov has so far in 2024-25. All that is great,
but Hughes is most impressed with how Demidov has handled the situation
with his KHL team in St. Petersburg, being sat out of the lineup by
coach Roman Rotenberg, then playing sparingly early in the season. He
has figured it out, which means the Canadiens have been handed a bit of a
development gift in the tough love that Rotenberg has shown Demidov.
In
December, Hughes accompanied Canadiens head amateur scout Nick Bobrov
and special consultant Vincent Lecavalier (along with Demidov’s agent,
Dan Milstein) on a multi-pronged mission to assure Demidov that his
early-season struggles were not a concern to them and to find out from
Rotenberg what Demidov had to improve upon to get more playing time.
“To
be honest, some of the stuff they were asking him to do, as much as it
made for some frustrating times for him, it’s probably going to help his
transition to North America,” Hughes said. “With any young prospect,
before you have complete control over their development, you want them
in an environment where the things being asked of them are productive in
terms of making them better future NHL players. The ice time was not
ideal, and he couldn’t do what they were asking of him if he wasn’t
playing.”
So, fans of the Canadiens – and there are apparently a
few of them – watch the regular postings of Demidov’s most recent
exploits in a league where Josh Leivo is the leading scorer and they
wonder whether the parade is going to go the usual route down Rue
Ste-Catherine. Since Demidov’s contract with SKA expires on May 31, it’s
assumed that he’ll be in the Habs’ lineup next season. And there’s a
good chance he will be. The Laval Rocket had the best points percentage
in the AHL at the all-star break, and, hey, it’s not out of the question
that Demidov could sign with the Canadiens and join the Rocket for
their playoff run. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Both Hughes and
Milstein are loath to talk about when the NHL might see Demidov
because, well, Russia. Both will breathe a huge sigh of relief when the
young man sets foot in Montreal.
But for now, the Canadiens are
thrilled he’s turned his season around, and good things are on the
horizon. When Hughes watches Demidov play, both in person and on video,
he sees a player with a unique set of skills and the ability to control
his edges like few other players. “His ability to move laterally
suddenly is one of his calling cards,” Hughes said. “It makes him so
elusive. Ivan doesn’t skate at the high speeds Connor McDavid does, but
he cuts and moves from right to left, and the amount he covers is
significant. He can score, but he also has the ability to see plays and
make plays. He has a lot of qualities that we think are going to allow
him to be successful in the NHL.”
Hughes
waits a second or two, then adds, “And very different. Not the kind of
player you see every day.” That makes the Canadiens excited for the time
when they can start seeing him every day.
This article
appeared in our 2025 Future Watch issue. Our cover story focuses on
Ducks prospect Beckett Sennecke, who is tearing it up with the OHL's
Oshawa Generals this season. We also include features on other
exceptional NHL prospects, including: Zayne Parekh, Porter Martone,
Gavin McKenna and more. In addition, we
look at the top 10 prospects in the pipeline for each of the 32 NHL
clubs.
You can get it in print for free when you subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/Free today. All subscriptions include complete access to more than 76 years of articles at The Hockey News Archive.
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The NHL Is Not Out To Get Rangers' Matt Rempe
In each of the last two New York Rangers' games, Matt Rempe has been the subject of questionable penalties. And the Rangers have every right to be upset about that.
The first came Tuesday night when Rempe was called for goalie interference, despite being pushed into Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck by defenseman Morgan Barron. The second came two nights later when an incidental collision between Rempe and Devin Shore of the Minnesota Wild resulted in an interference call.
What's worse, the Jets and Wild scored on the ensuing power plays in games the Rangers are absolutely desperate to win. Every goal, every point, every play matters at this point in the season.
But to suggest anyone has an axe to grind with Rempe and the Rangers is absurd. Fans in every market love to complain about how the league has it in for them, and it just isn't the case.
Today's video column has more.
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Maple Leafs And Panthers' Clash Is A Sign Things Are Getting Real
Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice has noticed something interesting of late ahead of Thursday's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
When he pre-scouts his opponents, he sees a far different team than the one that ends up stepping on the ice against his team.
"When we look at the games teams play two or three prior to us, they don't look like the game they play against us," Maurice said after the morning skate prior to his team visiting the Maple Leafs. "There's high-end energy. We're always prepared for their best, which we need to do to stay sharp."
Such is life when you've won the Stanley Cup and done so largely with smash mouth hockey.
It would seem that the three games the Maple Leafs and Panthers play down the stretch going into the playoffs will be no different – high-octane, high-energy. It should provide an interesting glimpse into what should be an outstanding playoffs.
Today's video column has more.
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latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by
subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below
the article on THN.com.
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Is Oilers' Leon Draisaitl The Runaway Hart Trophy Winner? (What About The Selke?)
Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch doesn't have a say in the matter, but if he did he knows which player would receive his vote for the Hart Trophy this season.
It would be Leon Draisaitl. And if it were based strictly on 5-on-5 play, Knoblauch also thinks his star center would be in the Selke Trophy conversation.
"His penalty-kill time isn't there with the defensive forwards who garner that award," Knoblauch said after the Oilers' morning skate in Buffalo on Monday. "If it were just 5-on-5, I say that hands-down he'd deserve to win that award."
Draisaitl entered Monday night's game with points in each of his past 14 games and in 22 of 23. He has been remarkably consistent in his production this season, and he scores when it matters the most.
Knoblauch noted that Draisaitl's power-play goal production is actually down this season from 2023-24, so his 5-on-5 contributions have also been significant. And with a quarter of the season remaining, he's already got the Rocket Richard Trophy wrapped up.
Today's video column has more.
Get the
latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by
subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below
the article on THN.com.
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If Dylan Cozens Finds His Game With Senators, He'll Extend Brady TKachuk's Career By A Couple Of Years
You could certainly make the case that Dylan Cozens has not been the same player since he was destroyed in a fight with Garnet Hathaway early in the 2023-24 season. So to expect him to come in and drop the gloves on a regular basis is probably a little unrealistic.
But what Cozens should and must do for his new team is take some of those hard, heavy, grinding, down-in-the-ditch minutes away from his new teammate, Brady Tkachuk. If he does that, Tkachuk will be sending Cozens thank you cards for years because he'll have a huge hand in extending Tkachuk's career.
If Cozens can find the form he displayed two seasons ago and Josh Norris can stay healthy, both the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres will be very, very happy.
Here's more in today's video column:
Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below
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The Maple Leafs Did Very Maple Leaf Things At The NHL Trade Deadline
Brock Nelson was out there. Mikko Rantanen was out there. Brad Marchand was out there.
But in the end, the Toronto Maple Leafs made none of those bold moves, instead getting two very steady and safe additions in center Scott Laughton and defenseman Brandon Carlo at the trade deadline.
That is so, so on-brand for the Leafs, who seem to never be able to quite do enough to put their team over the top. And after watching what the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning did with their rosters, well, you do the math.
There's more urgency now on the Maple Leafs to win the regular-season crown in the Atlantic Division. That would see the Lightning and Panthers beat the living daylights out of each other, probably for seven long and excruciating games. And the Leafs will have to hope that will leave them with not enough in the tank to get through the next round.
But nobody should be surprised the Leafs went the safe way, because that's pretty much what they always do.
Here's more in today's video column:
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Avalanche Finally Replace Kadri, Leave Other NHL Teams Scrambling With Nelson Trade
Former Islanders center Brock Nelson is a perfect fit in Colorado, which is why the Avalanche paid so much to get him at the NHL trade deadline before other Cup contenders could, says Ken Campbell.
When Brock Nelson reacted so emotionally while being interviewed after scoring what turned out to be his last goal and assist for the New York Islanders Tuesday night, you had to know this trade was coming.
Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello couldn't convince Nelson to commit to the organization, so he moved Nelson for futures that were simply too good to pass up.
And now the Avs move on in the quest for another Stanley Cup, pushing in all their chips and overpaying for a player they feel that, in the short term at least, can replace Nazem Kadri at their No. 2 C spot.
And now the others who had zeroed in on Nelson are left scrambling.
Today's video reaction to the trade has more.
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Did Lightning And Panthers GMs Win The NHL Trade Deadline Again?
The Lightning and Panthers GMs never complain about salary cap constraints. They don't worry about how difficult it seems to be to make trades in the NHL. They just make them, says Ken Campbell.
A couple of years ago, I told Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito that I thought he was a cowboy when it came to making trades in the NHL.
He took exception to the label, saying that every move he makes is dissected and examined from every angle before it's made.
So much for paralysis by analysis. The difficulties and obstacles in making deals in the NHL simply don't pose that much of a challenge to Zito and his cross-state counterpart, Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois. (Gawd, why didn't the Montreal Canadiens work harder to keep this guy back in the day?)
Both GM's deals in the leadup to the NHL trade deadline are perfect examples of bold moves that prioritize the present over the future.
The Lightning traded two first-round draft picks, a second-rounder and Mikey Eyssimont for forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand from the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday. The Panthers traded their goalie of the future, Spencer Knight, and a first-round pick for defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks last Saturday.
It's no coincidence either the Lightning or the Panthers have been in each of the past five Stanley Cup finals. Success starts at the top and to have guys as decisive and bold as Zito and BriseBois at the helm, there's a good chance one of them will be back there in 2025.
Today's video column has more.
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Edmonton Oilers Get Oomph For A Long Playoff Run. Who Cares What Happens Afterward?
For all we know, Trent Frederic might not even play one regular-season game for the Edmonton Oilers after Tuesday's trade with the Boston Bruins.
And after the playoffs this summer, he might sign somewhere else as a UFA.
None of that matters to the Oilers. All they care about is the 20-something games they count on playing between late April and mid-June.
If Frederic can recover from his lower-body injury and help the Oilers reach the pinnacle, the slight overpay for his services will be worthwhile.
A second-rounder in 2025, a fourth-rounder in 2026 and mid-level prospect Shane Lachance might be a high price to pay, but the Oilers are focused on doing what they came within one game of doing in 2024, winning the Stanley Cup. And they think a guy such as Frederic can make them a more difficult opponent and a guy who can thrive when games get dragged down into the alley.
The New Jersey Devils, the third team in the trade, may even come out looking the best from the deal in the long run in Lachance. But Edmonton is only worried about the playoffs.
Today's video column breaks down the deal.
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Will Rangers' Matt Rempe Ever Get It? Probably Not
A Matt Rempe hit leads to a fight, which he doesn't win. Wash, rinse, repeat.
The New York Rangers' behemoth just seems like he doesn't get it on so many levels. The NHL has already suspended him twice for a total of 12 games during his one year in the league.
His elbow on Nick Blankenburg of the Nashville Predators on Sunday afternoon looked like another suspension, but he only received a minor penalty for it and no supplementary discipline.
Rempe can't seem to hit properly, and when he fights, he almost always comes out on the wrong side of the equation.
The only way he's going to learn is for the NHL to keep suspending and fining him until he gets it.
Today's video column has more on Rempe.
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