11:30 AM ET Greg WyshynskiESPN The Wysh List publishes every Friday. One of the best trends in the NHL over the past decade or so are the waves of popularity created by the resurgence of the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins during their championship runs. Their championship contention felt like a national movement:
NHL
7:00 AM ET When it comes to making important decisions on upcoming restricted and unrestricted free agents, teams have a number of factors to weigh when deciding whether to begin negotiating a top-dollar deal, make a trade or slow-play the situation. Organizations will ask themselves: What is their timeline to compete? Is the player’s current
8:49 PM ET ESPN News Services Rick Middleton, whose slick moves en route to 448 career goals earned him the nickname “Nifty,” saw his No. 16 raised to the rafters by the Boston Bruins before Thursday night’s game against the New York Islanders at TD Garden. Middleton, who played the final 12 of his 14
7:00 AM ET Greg WyshynskiESPN NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Pekka Rinne is thinking about Miikka Kiprusoff. With career win No. 320 on Nov. 22, the Nashville Predators star passed the former Calgary Flames netminder for the most NHL victories by a goalie born in Finland. “He was a different kind of guy,” Rinne recalled, which was
3:55 PM ET Nearly two months since the first puck dropped, we’re already more than one-quarter of the way through the regular season. The NHL’s Christmas break, though still a few weeks off, is definitely within sight. Fantasy success through the dozen or so games scheduled for each team between now and Dec. 23 could
11:54 AM ET The Carolina Hurricanes will place goaltender Scott Darling on waivers Thursday, according to general manager Don Waddell. Darling was 2-4-1 with a 3.14 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage this season. In his last game with Carolina, he allowed four goals on 19 shots in Saturday’s loss to the New York
8:32 AM ET Associated Press STOCKHOLM — A Swedish prosecutor has charged British-born Italian hockey player Thomas Larkin with assault for blindsiding an opponent during a game last year. Larkin hit Daniel Paille on the ice and left the Canadian with a severe concussion. Prosecutor Joakim Johansson didn’t name the players but said the incident
9:20 AM ET Greg WyshynskiESPN Leveling up is always satisfying, whether it’s unlocking new options on a video game, getting the next generation of an appliance or gaining enough miles to get on the plane before everyone else. Every team in the NHL, even the terrible ones, have players that appear to have leveled up
12:14 PM ET Boston Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller is expected to be out until at least January after he was struck in the throat by a puck during Monday’s game. The Bruins said a CT scan revealed a cartilage injury to the larynx after he was hit by a John Tavares shot in the first
9:30 AM ET The Washington Capitals are situated atop the Metropolitan Division, which isn’t entirely surprising. What is surprising? The New York Rangers are in playoff position, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are not. We debate which of those three trends will continue, and make some creative trades to get the fast-starting Carolina Hurricanes back into