9:00 AM ET The NHL trade deadline on April 12 is the first of the COVID-19 era. Dealers, rebuilders, reloaders and those with legit Stanley Cup aspirations will all come to the virtual bargaining table to talk trades. But the subtext to these conversations is inherently different in 2021 than in previous editions. There are
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6:19 PM ET The Vancouver Canucks will not play for at least a week after three members of the team were placed in the NHL’s COVID protocols, the league announced Thursday. The NHL said in a statement that Canucks games have been postponed until April 8. Two players — Adam Gaudette and Travis Hamonic —
3:00 PM ET As comprehensively and expertly examined by ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, this year’s trade deadline is shaping up to be the most unusual in league history: “… There are unique challenges, like quarantines and immigration issues. There’s the seismic shift in the league’s economic landscape. There are the struggles teams have had in evaluating
2:03 AM ET Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon hit Arizona Coyotes forward Conor Garland with his own helmet, earning a misconduct penalty in the Avs’ 9-3 home win on Wednesday night. Late in the third period, MacKinnon and Garland battled into the corner of the Coyotes’ zone. MacKinnon threw Garland to the ice and in
7:00 AM ET Evaluating the top 10 defensemen in ESPN’s 2021 NHL position-by-position rankings is a study in competing philosophies on how to properly evaluate the position. What metrics best define value for scoring defensemen or “defensive” defensemen? Do the elite have to do both well, or can one aspect compensate for the other? I
10:32 PM ET The nightmare is over for the Buffalo Sabres, who snapped their 18-game winless streak with a 6-1 victory at home over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night. Sam Reinhart and Curtis Lazar scored in the first period to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead. Steven Fogarty and Casey Mittelstadt added goals in the
8:06 PM ET ESPN News Services BUFFALO, N.Y. — Cam York is foregoing his final two years at Michigan after the defenseman signed a three-year entry level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. The contract comes into effect this season, the team said in announcing the move shortly before the Flyers played at Buffalo.
2:55 PM ET Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman was named GM for the U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team for the 2022 Beijing Games. Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin will serve as Bowman’s assistant GM. “The combination of a Stanley Cup-winning GM [Bowman] and a Hall of Fame player [Guerin] who has competed
7:00 AM ET The Buffalo Sabres are 0-15-3 since Feb. 25. They own the record for the longest winless streak of the shootout era (since 2005-06) and have tied the 2003-04 Pittsburgh Penguins for the most consecutive losses — including overtime and shootout losses — in the 21st century. How did they get here and
11:27 PM ET ESPN News Services MONTREAL — The wait was worth it for the Canadiens. Brendan Gallagher and Artturi Lehkonen each had a goal and an assist as Montreal returned from a lengthy break, due to COVID-19 protocols, and blanked the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 on Tuesday night. Montreal was playing for the first time