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Playoff Special 2024
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
EDMONTON OILERS
POWER RANKING | 7TH ROSTER DEPTH has been a touchy subject in Edmonton since Connor McDavid was an 18-year-old rookie with facial peach fuzz in 2015. Nine years and almost 1,000 McPoints later, has it finally arrived? That’s been GM Ken Holland’s quest and Oilers fans’ hope once again this spring. Mattias Ekholm arrived a year ago to beef up the blueline. But a lack of salary-cap space meant Edmonton’s forward depth remained sparse once you got past kingpins McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and secondary soldiers Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman and Evander Kane. Solid regular seasons by Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod and late-season acquisitions of Corey Perry, Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick signalled the Oilers finally have a bottom six that can match or exceed what’s being thrown at them in…
WHAT’S INSIDE
TEAM PREVIEW The skinny on each club, written by Jared Clinton, Brian Costello and Ryan Kennedy. FANTASY ZONE Each team’s 10 best potential fantasy performers, ranked by Jason Chen. Players who might still be injured at the start of the playoffs are indicated with a +. Stats as of March 14. X-FACTOR Intangibles are difficult to quantify, but they can play a big part in teams getting hot and going on a playoff roll. DEPTH CHART Linemates and ‘D’ pairings can change on a coach’s whim, but here’s a starting look at team rosters. 1ST CUP PASS Which grizzled veteran or sentimental favorite deserves the captain’s initial handoff of Lord Stanley’s glorious mug?…
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
POWER RANKING | 10TH DESPITE ITS TREATMENT as a momentous occasion, the Maple Leafs exorcizing their first-round demons last spring was hardly cause for major celebration. It did serve a purpose, however, as the Leafs enter the playoffs with an understanding of what it takes to win a playoff round and, more importantly, without the specter of repeated one-and-dones hanging over their collective heads. How the Leafs will go about that is clear: they’ll score, and in bunches. That’s been true for years now, and Auston Matthews has arguably reached the pinnacle of his goal-scoring prowess. Meanwhile, William Nylander has tapered off slightly as the season has worn on, but he, Mitch Marner and John Tavares continue to provide enough firepower that keeping up when contests turn into track meets is of…
NOT SO FAST
IT WAS SHORTLY AFTER the Winnipeg Jets had lost in the first round to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Vegas Golden Knights when coach Rick Bowness started calling the players asking for their summer wish list. The answer he got back was universal. The players didn’t necessarily want a high-scoring winger. Or a puck-moving defenseman. No one asked for more grit or more skill or even more experience. Instead, they asked for loyalty. “Everyone told us, ‘We just want players here that want to be Winnipeg Jets,’” Bowness said. And with that request, Pierre-Luc Dubois was shipped to Los Angeles for a package that included Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari. A few days later, former captain Blake Wheeler – who had the ‘C’ removed from his jersey a year earlier – was bought…
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