As we move further away from the 2022 NHL Draft, we inch closer to the beginning of free agency on Wednesday, July 13. And with that, teams are now working feverishly to get deals done with their own free agents before the market opens. So keep an eye on the real, verified social media account of other teams and insiders for the latest signing news and rumors.
Larry Brooks at The New York Post asked the most obvious question in hockey on Saturday: Why shouldn’t the Rangers work to reunite Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane?
“The question I am posing is this: If [Rangers GM Chris] Drury believes this team is close enough to winning a Cup in 2023 to pay big for a one-year rental, would it make more sense to go as far in as possible for Patrick Kane instead of J.T. Miller?”
Brooks has a good point. The only issue is the Rangers’ lack of cap space, but they have young pieces on their roster (Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafrenière) who are intriguing. They also own their first and second round picks in each of the next three drafts.
If you want to see the latest additions to the Blackhawks’ organization, this might be the week. The Chicago Blackhawks Development Camp begins on Monday morning and is free and open to the public at Fifth Third Arena each day this week. We’ll find out which prospects are expected to attend on Sunday.
Eddie Olczyk spoke with NBC Sports Chicago on Saturday and shared that he wasn’t surprised that the Blackhawks moved Alex DeBrincat and/or Kirby Dach.
“Blackhawks fans need to understand: this regime that is in charge now did not draft Kirby Dach. So they weren’t married to his particular player.” If there was an excuse to cut bait on the frustrating three years of Dach, it’s right there. As Edzo points out, Kyle Davidson may have been on the staff that drafted Dach but he didn’t call the name. So moving on wasn’t as hard even though the organization used the third overall pick on him just three short years ago.
“We certainly got a lot faster. We got very competitive.” That’s how Blackhawks director of amateur scouting Mike Doneghey described the Blackhawks’ draft class. Chicago clearly focused on speed and skating as the centerpieces of their 2022 draft class and were able to add a lot of that to the system in two days.
The first big keep in the Central Division was Nashville re-signing Filip Forsberg with an eight-year deal. It’s reportedly with $8.5 million per year.
Nashville already acquired a big piece to help their blue line in Ryan McDonagh from Tampa before the draft. They made the playoffs this year and are hoping to take a step forward again this coming year. Retaining Forsberg was a critical piece for them to retain and he’s now staying in Nashville for the long term.
And finally, since Blackhawks fans are prepping their booing for the coming season… this lovely reminder that El Mago is here for the hate.
NEWSLETTER
