NHL

NHL and other hockey related posts.

Make it a Draft Week with “NHL Con”

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On a recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman floated the idea of the NHL putting on “NHL Con” or soe other form of convention as part of the draft celebration. The idea came as an offshoot of the discussion surrounding the league’s push to decentralize the draft.

It’s a terrific idea that the league should pursue with, or without, a shift in operations for the entry draft. The NHL Draft isn’t quite the fan extravaganza that the NFL Draft has become, but it’s certainly a draw for die-hards and there’s local interest as it moves from city to city. Tying in a massive, hockey-focused festival for the week of the draft would be an excellent way to draw more fan attention to the event, and to keep people engaged beyond the first round on Friday night.

The NHL’s version of Comic Con could become an offseason Mecca for various offshoots of the hockey community. Pulling in interests from equipment, collectibles, hockey history and kid-friendly events could provide days of relevant programming that builds up to the weekend’s draft. There could even be ancillary programming like a concert or two that the NHL could help put together as part of their arrival in the city that week. Maybe, if the city’s layout made sense for it, you could create an NHL Campus. Where you have the arena as ground zero as that is where the draft will occur, but other nearby venues (whether it be a convention center, park, college campus or concert hall) are all part of the programming that takes place during the week. That way if you were a fan hoping to see the Stanley Cup and get some autographs, you’d go to the Fan Fest space at the local convention center. But if you were there for a panel discussion, maybe you wind up at a smaller concert venue close to the arena. Regardless of the shape this would take, I’d hope that Elliotte’s initial suggestion was either an educated guess or that it has caught the ear of the special events people at the NHL and they’ve started to develop something. They won’t be short on options to include.

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The Instigator Podcast 12.3 – Prospect Challenge Prep

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The Prospect Challenge kicks off this week, which means there is (semi) meaningful Sabres hockey to discuss. We talk about some of the most notable players coming to face Buffalo’s prospects and run through the Sabres’ Prospects Challenge roster. We talk about which players we’re most interested in watching, who we expect to shine, who has a chance to improve their stock and which players might be most likely to surprise. We also touch on the situation unfolding between Paul Bissonnette and Mike Babcock after Bissonnette’s comments on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast.

Expanding and Realigning College Hockey

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Tyler Roeder contributed to this post.

The tumult of realignment has turned college football inside out in recent seasons and is the most talked about subject in the sport this side of NIL.

Photo courtesy Oregon Hockey Twitter

As this summer’s round of conference poaching wrapped up, the idea of what this sort of practice might look like in NCAA hockey sprang to mind. Conference realignment isn’t foreign to college hockey either, as the formation of the B1G Conference created a domino effect when plans for the conference were first announced in 2011. The ripple effect of the B1G creation is still being felt after the CCHA’s recent reformation and the subsequent folding of the WCHA. Unlike the TV-money fueled change in football, much of the reshuffling in hockey has been driven by the need for a more manageable geographic region of conference play. Even still, several programs have had to shut down over the last five years due to budgetary constraints, something not felt by revenue sports like football. Interestingly, that hasn’t prevented schools from adding DI hockey programs. In fact, despite the struggles faced by the likes of Alabama-Huntsville, Alaska-Anchorage and Robert Morris, there continue to be reports of schools conducting studies to add the sport to their offerings. 

With that in mind and in addition to the recent college football realignment in mind, we put our heads together to come up with ideas for not only conference realignment, but further expansion of college hockey’s footprint. What follows is a combination of the ideas floated on the most recent episode of The Instigator Podcast. It is a blue sky concept for reshaping or creating various conferences, adding schools which we feel would be strong supporters of hockey and creating an ecosystem where every program can thrive in their own right. 

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The Instigator Podcast 12.2 – NCAA Hockey Realignment Sandbox

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Given the game of musical chairs unfolding in college football, we felt it necessary to play our own version of the game with college hockey programs. This week’s show focuses on the different avenues that could be explored to realign and expand college hockey’s footprint. We discuss opportunities to further expand the Big Ten, to bring in new programs in the west and taking a deep dive into the machinations necessary for UB to add a D1 program.

The Instigator Podcast 11.39 – Landing Spots for Olofsson

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The Stanley Cup Final has wrapped up and we go deep on the series betwen the Golden Knights and the Panthers. We touch on the dominance Vegas exerted in the series and dig into Jonathan Marchessault’s Conn Smythe winning performance.

We also tackle the report that Victor Olofsson expects to be traded this offseason. We discuss the significance of the report and select a few teams which we feel would be good fits for him in a trade.

The Instigator Podcast 11.38 – The First Trade of the Offseason

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This week, we take listener questions and offer up some reactions on topics such as the Bills stadium project, arena renovations, choices in goal and Buffalo’s front office outlook. We kick things off with a breakdown of the three-team trade that sent Ivan Provorov to the Blue Jackets and a bucket of players and picks to the Flyers.

Hellebuyck is the Rare Goalie Worth the Acquisition Cost

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Finding an upgrade in goal is perhaps the most pressing need of the offseason for Kevyn Adams and the Buffalo Sabres. The sting of missing the playoffs by such a narrow margin is only that much more frustrating when you think of the number of games that slipped away due to leaky goals and below average goaltending.

Devon Levi certainly didn’t wilt under the spotlight after making his NHL debut, and he’ll have the inside track at one of the NHL roster spots come training camp. Who the team chooses to play in tandem with him will be an extremely important decision. It seems unfair to expect Levi to take the bulk of the starts at just 21. Not only would it be unfair to him to add that much more pressure to the situation, but the team would be asking him to take on a workload (45-plus starts) he was ever asked to handle between college or junior.

The incumbents, Eric Comrie and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, provide some insurance for the club, though neither truly impressed last year. At even strength, the pair finished with a -5.6 and -7.1 goals saved above expected, respectively. To expect either to share any notable level of workload with Levi – let alone starter’s duties – would be a significant gamble for a team with playoff aspirations in 2023-24.

Assuming the team agrees that neither Luukkonen or Comrie have the ability to provide Levi with a stable partner, they’ll need to mine free agency or the trade market for a suitable option. Perhaps the most notable name that has been floated is Connor Hellebuyck, the perennial Vezina candidate with one more year left on his contract at $6.16 million cap hit. Hellebuyck’s rumored availability has sparked a fair bit of debate over his contract status, workload and acquisition cost.

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The Instigator Podcast 11.37 – Catching Up on the Amerks and the Cup Final

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We couldn’t catch up on the latest exploits for the Rochester Americans last week, so we devoted time this week to their impressive run in the Calder Cup playoffs. The Amerks have reached the Eastern Conference Final and are in a tough battle with the Hershey Bears. We run though some of the most notable contributors for the team and even look ahead to how the likes of Ryan Johnson and Nikita Novikov will make an impact in Rochester in 2023-24.

This week also includes a brief preview of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers. We offer up our thoughts on some of the most notable storylines of the series and provide our predictions for this year’s Final.

The Instigator Podcast 11.36 – Big Change in Toronto

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A BIG week of news saw the Toronto Maple Leafs move on from Kyle Dubas, rumors of move upheaval in the Leafs front office, more movement on the ownership bids for the Senators and continued trdouble in Arizona. We break down each of those stories, speak on the new entry level contract for Nikita Novikov, Matthew Savoie’s assignment to Rochester and more on this week’s episode. 

The Instigator Podcast 11.35 – Sniffing Out the Hellebuyck Smoke

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The Conference Finals are set to begin and we run through the matchups in the East and West, giving our outlook on both series. We transition to a discussion about Connor Hellebuyck and the fresh rumors connecting him to the Sabres.

The Instigator Podcast is sponsored by Betstamp. Download the Betstamp app by visiting betstamp.app/instigator