CarterHud

   In the second edition of a day in hockey, there was 3 NHL games. Here are the scores:
 Blackhawks 2, Predators 3; Oilers 5, Flames 3; Flyers 4, Kings 2.
 Here are the 3 stars of the day:
3. Ryan Johansen. To start his first full season with the Preds, Johansen recorded an assist on all 3 of the Predators goals to lead them to a 3-2 win.
 2. Sean Couturier. To open up the Flyers\’ season, Couturier\’s 2 goals were the difference in a 4-2 win.
 1. Connor McDavid. The Oilers\’ captain scored 2 goals and had an assist on Wednesday\’s game against the Flames. This time against the Flames, McDavid had a goal and 2 assists and now has a total of 3 goals and 3 assists (6 points) in 2 games.

 And those were your 3 stars of the day.

 There wasn\’t much news coming out of the day but P.K. Subban, who was acquired in the biggest trade of the off-season, scored in his Predators debut.
 And that\’s going to conclude the second edition of
a day in hockey

 In the first edition of a day in hockey, we had 9 NHL games. Here are the scores: Islanders 3, Rangers 5; Bruins 6, Blue Jackets 3; Canadians 4, Sabres 1; Panthers 2, Devils 1; Lightning 6, Red Wings 4; Jets 5, Hurricanes 4; Blues 3, Wild 2; Penguins 3, Capitals 2; Stars 4, Ducks 2.
 Here are the 3 stars of the day:
 3. Patrik Laine. In his NHL debut, on the powerplay, Laine from Alex Ovechkin\’s powerplay spot, shot one top shelf for his first of his career, like Ovechkin. He than registered his first NHL assists with 89 seconds to go on a game tier.
 2. Andrew Cogliano. In the Ducks\’ season opener, Cogliano scored both his teams goals but in the losing effort.
 1. Thomas Vanek. In his Red Wings debut, Vanek scored twice to show the Wings organization/fans what he brings to the team.

 So there are your three stars of the day.

 In the day\’s NHL news, C Rickard Rakell signed a 6 year deal with an average annual value of $3.8 million. Plus, LW Evander Kane out weeks with cracked ribs. Also, C Bryan Little out indefinitely with lower-body injury.
 So that\’s the end of the first edition of \”a day in hockey\”

 

     The Washington Capitals are coming off a presidents trophy win last season but once again they flopped in the second round and didn\’t make the conference finals. Besides the playoffs, the year was amazing for them. As I already said, the Capitals won the presidents trophy for best team in the NHL for the regular season. Also, LW and captain Alex Ovechkin won the Maurice Richard trophy (most goals) again. Goalie Braden Holtby won the Vezina trophy (best goalie). Plus center Evgeny Kuznetsov had a breakout year leading the team in points with 77. In the off-season, their main loss was when forward Jason Chimera signed with the Islanders. They signed RW Brett Connolly and traded for C Lars Eller.
     Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, C Niklas Backstrom and RW T.J Oshie lead an amazing offense. John Carlson, Matt Niskanen and Karl Alzner lead a nice defensive core. Holtby is a top 3 goalie in the league but Philipp Grubauer isn\’t the greatest backup to have but he\’s okay.
     In the first round of the 2016 NHL draft, the Capitals selected D Lucas Johansen with the 28th overall pick. With Karl Alzner\’s contract up this year, the Capitals went out and drafted another defenseman. Johansen will most likely be a top 4 defenseman in the future.
  The Capitals\’ projected lines look like this:

 Alex Ovechkin- Evgeny Kuznetsov- T.J. Oshie
 Marcus Johansson- Niklas Backstrom- Justin Williams
 Andre Burakovsky- Lars Eller- Zachary Sanford
 Daniel Winnik- Jay Beagle- Tom Wilson

 On defense is:
 Nate Schmidt- John Carlson
 Karl Alzner- Matt Niskanen
 Dmitry Orlov- Brooks Orpik

 In net is Braden Holtby and Philipp Grubauer.
 RW Brett Connolly and D Taylor Chorney are scratched.
 Finally, for my prediction, the Washington Capitals will make the playoffs in 2016-17.

 The Winnipeg Jets\’ season last year was not a good one. They were the only non-competitive team in the Central division but in the end, the Jets won the draft lottery and had the 2nd overall pick in the draft. Their only notable acquisition in the off-season besides the draft was the signing of C/LW Shawn Matthias. Matthias will help on their bottom 6. Drafting RW Patrik Laine with the second pick can change their franchise around but not 100%.
     C Mark Scheifele, RW Blake Wheeler and C Bryan Little lead a solid offensive core. Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers lead a solid defensive core. Surprisingly, goalie Ondrej Pavelec was sent down meaning that Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson will be the goalies
     In the 2016 NHL draft, the Jets selected RW Patrik Laine with the 2nd overall pick and D Logan Stanley with the 19th overall pick. Laine can be a franchise right winger for the Jets and Stanley can be a top 4 defenseman.
  The Jets\’ projected lines look like this:

 Nikolaj Ehlers- Mark Scheifele- Blake Wheeler
 Kyle Connor- Bryan Little- Patrik Laine
 Shawn Matthias- Mathieu Perreault- Drew Stafford
 Brandon Tanev- Adam Lowry- Joel Armia

 On defense is:
 Toby Enstrom- Dustin Byfuglien
 Josh Morrissey- Tyler Myers
 Mark Stuart- Ben Chiarot

 In net is Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson.
 C Alexander Burmistrov, RW Chris Thorburn and D Paul Postma are scratched.
 Finally, for my prediction, the Winnipeg Jets, a team on the rise, will not make the playoffs in 2016-17.
 

    The Vancouver Canucks were winners in the Loui Eriksson sweepstakes but the question is: did that really help them? Their 2 best players, Henrik and Daniel Sedin are both 36 and not getting younger. They traded away their top prospect (Jared McCann) and that\’s not helping a rebuilding team. Goalie Ryan Miller is also 36 and aging so 26 year old Jacob Markstrom is their future goalie.
      Defensemen Alex Edler, Chris Tanev and Erik Gudbranson lead a solid defensive core. Behind Eriksson and the Sedin\’s isn\’t much. Jake Virtanen is the only member with a super bright future on the team. Miller and Markstrom shouldn\’t be terrible but are not as good as some other tandems teams have.
     In the first round of the 2016 NHL draft, the Canucks selected D Olli Juolevi with the 5th overall pick. Juolevi should be a solid d-man for Vancouver but they already have some good defensemen and passing up on LW Matthew Tkachuk is something they will come to regret.

 The Canucks\’ projected lines look like this:
   Daniel Sedin- Henrik Sedin- Loui Eriksson
   Markus Granlund- Brandon Sutter- Jannik Hansen
   Sven Baertsci- Bo Horvat- Jake Virtanen 
   Alexandre Burrows- Brendon Gaunce- Emerson Etem

 On defense is:
     Alexander Edler- Chris Tanev
     Ben Hutton- Erik Gudbranson
     Luca Sbisa- Phillip Larson

 In net is Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom.
 D Alex Biega, LW Derek Dorsett and Nikita Tryamkin are scratched.
  
     Finally, for my prediction, the Vancouver Canucks, a team on the decline, will not make the playoffs in 2016-17.