The top hockey news for July 14, 2024.
Igor Shesterkin was named the main contender for Vezina
The authors of the popular publication The Athletic predicted who will receive the Vezina Trophy in the 2024/2025 season. This award is given to the best goalkeeper of the regular season.
Russian goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin took first place. The New York Rangers goalie received 37.5% of the votes.
Second place went to Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators, 12.5% of the votes). Third place was shared by Andrei Vasilevsky (Tampa Bay Lightning), Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets) and Thatcher Demko (Vancouver Canucks), with 9.4% each.
Also on the list of contenders are Ilya Sorokin (New York Islanders, 6.3%), Jake Ettinger (Dallas Stars, 6.3%), Jeremy Swayman (Boston Bruins, 6.3%) and Jacob Markstrom (New Jersey Devils, 3.1%).
We remind you that the winner is determined by a vote of the general managers of the NHL clubs. At the end of last season, the winner of the award was American goaltender Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.
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Barabanov became one of the NHL’s top free agents
Russian forward Alexander Barabanov has been included in the list of the top 18 free agents on the NHL market according to Daily Faceoff. The Russian remains unsigned after having played the last two seasons with San Jose.
The top 18 remaining free agents on the NHL market, according to Daily Faceoff:
goalkeeper: Kevin Lankinen (last club – Nashville);
Defenders: Tyson Barry (Nashville), Tony DeAngelo (Carolina), Oliver Chulington (Calgary), Justin Schultz (Seattle), John Klingberg (Toronto);
Forwards: James van Riemsdyk (Boston), Daniel Sprong (Seattle), Tyler Johnson (Chicago), Kevin Labanc (San Jose), Mike Hoffman (San Jose), Max Pacioretty (Washington, Jakub Vrana (St. Louis), Nick Cousins (Florida), Alexander Nylander (Columbus), Cal Clutterbuck (Islanders), Alexander Barabanov (San Jose), Philip Zadina (San Jose).
Last season, the Russian forward played 46 games in the NHL for the San Jose Sharks, in which he scored four goals and provided nine assists, scoring a total of 13 points with a utility rating of -24.
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Michkov is the second among the main contenders for the Calder Trophy
The Athletic has published its ranking of candidates for the 2024/2025 NHL Rookie of the Year award. Philadelphia’s Russian forward Matvey Michkov took second place in this ranking.
The top spot was taken by 18-year-old San Jose forward McLean Celebrini. The first pick in the last draft received 50 percent of the vote and is considered the leading contender for the Calder Trophy next season.
Michkov, 19, received 34.4% of the vote. The Russian signed a three-year rookie contract with Philadelphia on July 1. Michkov was selected by the Flyers in the first round, seventh overall, in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
Third place went to Dallas forward Logan Stankoven, who already has experience playing in the NHL. The 23-year-old forward received only 3.1% of the votes.
In the full KHL season, Michkov played on loan in Sochi, played 47 games in the regular season and scored 41 (19+22) points.
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Truba refused to continue his career in Detroit.
Former Rangers general manager Neil Smith has spoken out about Blueshirts captain Jacob Trouba’s current conflict with the New York club. The defender was previously close to being traded to Detroit, but family circumstances prevented the deal from going through.
“What surprises me about this situation is that the club’s management allowed this to happen publicly. And then they went to Trouba and asked him for a list of 15 teams to which they couldn’t trade him. And what happened? Of course, he included Detroit on this list because the rumors had already become public.
Unfortunately, all of this could lead to a deterioration in the relationship between Trouba and the team and negatively affect the defenseman’s play on the ice. They’re going to have to deal with that,” Smith said on the Hockey Night NY podcast.
Edmonton, favourite for the 2025 Stanley Cup
The Edmonton Oilers hockey club is the leading contender to win the Stanley Cup in the upcoming 2024/2025 season, according to The Athletic. It received 46.9% of the votes, but Florida, the current winner of the tournament, failed to make it into the ranking of contenders.
Edmonton’s main rival in the final, according to the ratings, next season could be the New Jersey Devils, with 31.3% of the votes, or the New York Rangers (25.0%), who last season finished in first place in the Eastern Conference regular season, but lost in the conference playoff finals.
The biggest disappointment next season may be the Carolina Hurricanes. Those who voted believe that the greatest hopes will be placed on this team, but they will be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
The reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers were not the first club in any of the issues, but voters are 100% confident that the team will make the playoffs. Note that this was the second consecutive final for Florida, but in the 2022/2023 season they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights.
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