Search for your favorite player or team
© The Hockey News. All rights reserved. Any and all material on this website cannot be used, reproduced, or distributed without prior written permission from Roustan Media Ltd. For more information, please see our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Yearbook 2023-24
Our annual Yearbook is packed with previews, predictions and features for the upcoming NHL season. We have four pages of analysis on each team, plus our yearly Top 50 NHLers list and in-depth features on Jason Robertson, Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Hughes, Jacob Markstrom, and many more.
SAN JOSE SHARKS
PREDICTION | 8TH IN PACIFIC SAN JOSE FINISHED LAST season with a 22-44-16 record for a .366 points percentage – the franchise’s worst since 1995-96. So, have the Sharks totally bottomed out, or is there yet another long, losing season looming on the horizon? At the very least, it will be difficult for the Sharks to end a playoff drought that’s now reached four years as GM Mike Grier keeps his eye on the long term. Still, he and coach David Quinn – both in their second seasons with the team – want to see progress from one year to the next. Grier says “there’s more work to come,” and while the post-season is unrealistic this year, the goal is for the Sharks to play a fast-paced, in-your-face style while laying the…
MONTREAL CANADIENS
PREDICTION | 8TH IN ATLANTIC MORE THAN ANYTHING, THE Canadiens want to stay healthy this season. They set an NHL record last season with 751 man-games lost to injury, breaking the record of 720 man-games lost they’d set the previous season. In June, GM Kent Hughes fired Graham Rynbend, who had been the head athletic therapist for 19 years, replacing him with Jim Ramsay, who’d been with the New York Rangers for nearly three decades. Donald Balmforth was also fired after two seasons as head physiotherapist, replaced by Maxime Gauthier. Despite all the injuries, Montreal still made a 13-point improvement in the standings after finishing last overall in 2021-22. This will be the second full season of a rebuild, and another 13-point improvement in the standings (or more) wouldn’t be a surprise.…
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
PREDICTION | 8TH IN CENTRAL THE VIBE AROUND THE downtrodden Blackhawks changed with the flip of a card on May 8. That’s the day we learned Chicago had won the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL draft. GM Kyle Davidson didn’t mention generational talent Connor Bedard for the next seven weeks, but that’s whose name he called at the draft in Nashville on June 28. Bedard, who led the CHL in scoring last season, walked to the stage and pulled on a red, No. 98 Blackhawks jersey. Then, at Chicago’s development camp, the center stressed he just wanted to “make the team” and “be one of the guys” come September. The kid from North Vancouver, B.C., should do just that. Bedard provides a foundation for – and hastens – Chicago’s rebuild.…
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
PREDICTION | 6TH IN METROPOLITAN LAST SEASON, THE CAPITALS missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013-14. Injuries mounted, with headliners Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson and John Carlson each missing more than half the season. The Caps’ 441 man-games lost were their most since 1998-99. First-time NHL head coach Spencer Carbery replaces Peter Laviolette behind the bench and arrives with a track record of player development. Carbery wants the Capitals to play quicker both with and without the puck. Management believes last year was an isolated blip and that with fewer trips to the infirmary, Washington can return to the post-season. With three years left on Alex Ovechkin’s contract – and a certain goal-scoring record within reach – there remains incentive to ice a contender. Despite an appetite to also get…
Made possible with the support of
