It’s almost time for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs and there is a mountain of topics to talk about across the NHL.
Whether it’s the Connor Bedard lottery, first round contests, or front office firings, the hockey world is buzzing as it skates into spring.
With that, here is British Ice Hockey’s first NHL Mailbag, with insight from senior reporter Luke James.
NHL Mailbag: For the sake of hockey, which team should win the lottery and draft Connor Bedard?
Ideally, the Vancouver Canucks — but their lottery odds make that outcome highly unlikely.
Why Vancouver? Bedard is from the area and has spoken about his dream to play for the Canucks.
It’s also a club in desperate need of a rapid turnaround. The Canucks have fumbled the bag massively over the past decade, never bottoming out for a top pick or advancing to the latter stages of the playoffs.
NHL Mailbag: Connor Bedard, Regina Pats (Image: WHL)
Vancouver could do with some stardust and that is exactly what Bedard would provide for his hometown team.
If not the Canucks, then who?
The Anaheim Ducks would be a fantastic landing spot for the 18-year-old for three reasons:
- They were dreadful this season, ‘winning’ the tank race to secure the best odds of landing Bedard.
- Imagine, just for a second, Bedard sharing a line with Trevor Zegras.
- It never hurts to have a superstar player based in an emerging hockey market, California.
Ultimately, everyone at the bottom needs Bedard. But the Ducks probably need him the most.
NHL Mailbag: Will the Toronto Maple Leafs finally end their streak of playoff disappointment?
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been very impressive this season, with general manager Kyle Dubas retooling his roster in the summer to bounce back from a crushing postseason defeat to the Tamp Bay Lightning.
The Leafs allowed netminder Jack Campbell and forward Ilya Mikheyev to walk in free agency, which made space for them to add Ilya Samsonov and Zach Aston-Reese and retain Mark Giordano.
Those decisions were masterful.
Campbell has fallen by the wayside with the Edmonton Oilers, while Mikheyev saw his season ended by injury. Samsonov, Aston-Reese, and Giordano have all been handy contributors for Toronto, meanwhile.
Dubas also made a couple of unforced errors. Matt Murray’s time in Toronto has been defined by injuries, while Denis Malgin and Nicolas Aube-Kubel just fit in with the Leafs.
Toronto’s roster decisions from the summer have played out nicely. Sheldon Keefe has built a cohesive unit from behind the bench, with Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares firing the squad to second in the Atlantic Division with months to spare.
NHL Mailbag: Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs (Image: Azadeh Kashani)
With a first-round date with the Tampa Bay Lightning on the cards, Dubas doubled down before the trade deadline, replacing Rasmus Sandin and Pierre Engvall with Ryan O’Reilly, Noel Acciari, Luke Schenn, Sam Lafferty, and Erik Gustafsson.
Matthew Knies also arrived just in time for the playoffs, joining from the NCAA.
The Maple Leafs are therefore well-equipped for a deep playoff run, even with their cursed history of zero rounds won since 2004.
The Lightning, by contrast, are battered and bruised after three deep runs of their own.
Can they repeat the trick and eliminate the Maple Leafs? Sure.
Are they the favourites? No way.
Unless injuries strike, the Maple Leafs will have no excuses for falling in another first round series.
NHL Mailbag: Were the Pittsburgh Penguins right to fire Brian Burke and Ron Hextall?
Yes.
The Pittsburgh Penguins iced Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in every game and still didn’t have enough in the tank to secure a playoff place, snapping their 16-year streak of postseason appearances.
The Penguins, who were recently purchased by the Fenway Sports Group (FSG), should use the offseason to retool and inject new identity into their roster.
Crosby, while still an elite player, needs to be surrounded by dynamic offensive talents to thrive as he enters the final years of his career – which the previous regime of Brian Burke and Ron Hextal failed to achieve.
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