THIS DATE IN NHL HISTORY, APRIL 16:1949: The Toronto Maple Leafs become the NHL's first modern-era dynasty by winning their third consecutive Stanley Cup. They complete a four-game sweep of the Detroit Red Wings in the Final with a 3-1 victory at Maple Leaf Gardens. Turk Broda allows five goals in four games against the NHL's top-scoring team during the regular season. The win is Toronto's ninth straight in the Final.
Since the beginning of the 2018-19 campaign, rankings have shown a strong class of talent up front worthy of single-digit selection, but one name has consistently stood out: defenceman Bowen Byram.
The Nashville Predators have traded P.K. Subban to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Steven Santini, Jeremy Davies and two second-round draft picks.
That day, two summers ago, when Patrick Marleau was pried away from California, everyone with their Grade 10 math credit circled his third year with the Maple Leafs as the tricky one.
The Vancouver Canucks have acquired forward J.T. Miller from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Marek Mazanec, a 2019 third-round draft pick and a 2020 conditional pick.
When he was running the Detroit Red Wings, Ken Holland used to kid about how having the best defenceman in the game — Nicklas Lidstrom — helped make him a smart general manager. It was one of the jokes that was really only funny because it was true.
The Vancouver Canucks haven't had the greatest history of drafting players out of Russia, but Vasily Podkolzin could end up being a steal a few years down the road. With Round 1 out of the way, all eyes now turn towards the trade market and the possibility of landing Tyson Barrie.