Theperspectiveofpucks

Connor Bedard and Leo Carlsson are slowly but surely creating a new norm for superstar contracts around the league. With all the star studded talent coming into the league looking for new contracts off their entry level deals, it is very important that these two superstars took the money and term that they did. As both stars opted for the same amount of term of five years, this takes both respectively into free agency, avoiding further team control. To become a UFA in the NHL, a player must either be 27 years old or complete seven seasons in the NHL. In both circumstances, Carlsson and Bedard become UFAs on July 1st, 2031, making it an already stacked free agent class before anyone else decides to walk into free agency. This is important because if these contracts work out, don’t be surprised if they become the new normal around the league. When players like Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Schaefer eventually come off their entry level deals, I wouldn’t be surprised if they look at what ...

Coming into the 2020s, the Chicago Blackhawks were running ahead with a full head of steam after the tremendous dynasty led by Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, seemingly heading into another exceptional decade of hockey. Before I get into this outlook, I wanted to say thank you to my friend Jeremy for suggesting this topic. If you have a topic you’d like me to cover, let me know in the comments below. Having a promising young team and a positive outlook for the future, it seemed as though things were headed in the right direction. This was only further cemented when the Hawks won the draft lottery in 2023 and selected Canadian phenom Connor Bedard. Bedard was viewed as the player who could completely change the trajectory of the franchise for years to come. The issue was that Kyle Davidson and the Blackhawks organization simply could not surround this phenom with enough talent. With the second overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, the Hawks selected Artyom Levshunov. Whilst I wouldn’t go...

I am an avid Habs fan, that cannot be overstated. Since I was a little kid, seeing the Habs colours light up my screen made the game of hockey feel different for me. With this, I’ve seen this team go through its fair share of struggles, constantly battling an injury bug that simply does not want to leave Montreal alone, ravaging the team year after year. On the positive side, I genuinely cannot think of five young teams with a brighter future than the Montreal Canadiens. Because of that, some of our older veterans, like Josh Anderson and Alexandre Carrier, will eventually become replaceable by their younger and cheaper counterparts. More so the latter in Carrier. He’s a very good shutdown defenseman, but with David Reinbacher coming in on the right side, it seemingly doesn’t leave a lot of breathing room for the 29 year old. Whilst Carrier is by no means old, it feels like a youth movement is pulsing through Montreal, and it’s evident that the Canadiens are looking to take that next st...

  As the playoffs just recently finished with the Carolina Hurricanes hoisting the Stanley Cup, I wanted to go through and create my list of who I thought would be the contenders for the Stanley Cup next year. Now obviously this is way too early. Free agency has only just begun, trades are still happening, and teams still have months to shape their rosters. That being said, where’s the fun in waiting until October? For this list I will be including 4 teams in total, three teams that I believe to be relative locks based on how their teams are built and how they often step up to bat in the postseason, and one team that I personally think can get there if a couple changes are made. Carolina Hurricanes For the first team on my list, I have the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Carolina Hurricanes. For the Hurricanes, I really don’t see many deficiencies in their core group. They have a fantastic culture, one of the deepest defensive groups in the NHL, and a system that gets ...