Nashville Predators News & Notes
Predators Ink Jeremy Lauzon to Four-Year Extension | On the Forecheck
Not the re-signing news we were all hoping for, but it is what it is. Lauzon is someone who showed some promise in his very brief stint with the Preds after last season’s deadline, thanks to John Hynes playing him a way that fits his skillset better than how he was being used in Seattle. The four years is a big commitment, but the AAV is cheap, and if Lauzon can grow into that consistent bottom-pair anchor the Preds have had trouble finding, this can turn out to be a solid deal.
Florida Everblades Win ECHL’s Kelly Cup | On the Forecheck
ICYMI, the Preds’ ECHL affiliate won the championship over the weekend! Here, Eric takes a deeper dive into the Florida Everblades’ season, and a few familiar faces that helped them earn the Kelly Cup.
Screen Shots: Kucherov, Nashville’s Off-Season and the Importance of the Ben Bishop Trade | The Hockey News
Adam Proteau advocates for the Preds making “bold moves” this offseason, and it’s hard to argue against that.
Why I waited 10 years before coming out | NHL.com
LNH.com writer Guillaume Lepage details how Luke Prokop coming out last summer helped him find the courage to do the same.
Other Hockey Happenings
There is no Cinderella in this Cup Final. Instead, it’s a battle between hockey’s best | Sportsnet
Just based on talent alone, this is probably the best Stanley Cup Finals matchup since…… 2016 maybe?
Blizzard of brilliance: How Colorado Avalanche were built | NBC Sports
Yes, sucking long enough to lock into some crucial Top Five picks certainly helped the Avs build. But as teams like Buffalo and New Jersey will tell you, it takes A LOT more to build a contender than just some lucky bounces of a ping pong ball. Joe Sakic has put a lot of work to getting Colorado back to contendership.
Don’t take this era of Lightning hockey for granted | Raw Charge
In an era where almost every aspect of hockey is over-analyzed, sometimes we all need to take a step back and appreciate the game for what it is — a fun game. What the Lightning have been able to accomplish the past handful of seasons is historic. Their fans deserve to be living in the moment.
Canada wins 2022 U18 World Championships, 3-2 | The Ice Garden
The two best programs in women’s hockey put on an absolute show in the first Women’s U18 tournament since the start of the pandemic.
Everything about the idea of trading Alex DeBrincat feels wrong | Second City Hockey
If you’re a rebuilding team, a 24-year-old with two 40-goal seasons who has yet to hit his prime seems like someone you should be hanging onto, but that’s just me. (Kirby Dach’s name has also come up in trade rumors as well.)
Report: John Gibson Open to Being Traded | The Hockey News
Gibson hasn’t quite looked like himself the past two seasons. But he’s still not far removed from being that “game-stealing” goaltender he was for the Ducks in the late 2010’s. With the right team, Gibson might be in for a revival.
That was not the end, that was the beginning | Blueshirt Banter
Despite the Rangers getting worked by the Tampa Bay Lightning towards the end of the Eastern Conference Finals, there’s plenty of evidence to show New York will be a force to be reckoned with over the next decade or so.
Beloved Jagr streak comes to an end after 42 years | Bardown
This will be the first Stanley Cup Finals since the 1979 series that hasn’t featured an NHL teammate of Jaromir Jagr’s. Although if you want to get frisky and damn technicalities, Ondrej Palat played with Jagr in the 2014 Olympics, so there’s that.