NHL

7:00 AM ET We’re past the midseason mark of this abridged 56-game 2021 NHL season, and the April 12 trade deadline is just around the corner. For this week’s NHL Power Rankings, we offer up bold predictions for all 31 teams. How we rank: The ESPN hockey editorial staff submits selections ranking teams 1 to

7:00 AM ET Francesco Pinelli had been looking forward to the 2020-21 hockey season his entire life. Pinelli, a 17-year-old from Hamilton, Ontario, is a top prospect for the 2021 NHL draft. In October, NHL Central Scouting named Pinelli to its preliminary players to watch list; the Kitchener Rangers (Ontario Hockey League) center was one

1:06 AM ET The NHL is investigating an incident in which one of its referees was caught saying he “wanted to give” the Predators a penalty in their win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night in Nashville, Tennessee. With 15:04 left in the second period, Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson was called for tripping

7:29 PM ET Associated Press MONTREAL — The NHL announced Tuesday that the Montreal Canadiens have had their games through Sunday postponed. The league made the announcement a day after the Canadiens’ game against the visiting Edmonton Oilers was postponed following the addition of Montreal forwards Joel Armia and Jesperi Kotkaniemi to the NHL’s COVID

7:00 AM ET The coach on the other end of the phone scanned ESPN’s 2021 NHL position-by-position ranking player pools, his stress level increasing. “We’re talking about the best of the best,” he said, sighing. “Now you’re asking me to vote for the best of ‘the best of the best.'” Well, yeah, that’s sort of

10:39 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Rasmus Asplund, Dylan Cozens and Jeff Skinner scored for Buffalo, on a rare night where the Sabres showed some offensive skill, but it wasn’t enough in a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers Monday. The defeat dropped Buffalo to a miserable 0-12-2 in their last

6:43 PM ET Monday night’s scheduled game between the Edmonton Oilers and Canadiens in Montreal has been postponed due to COVID-19-related reasons. The NHL made the announcement less than an hour before the 7 p.m. ET start time at Bell Centre. In its statement, the league said two Canadiens players entered the NHL’s COVID protocols

7:00 AM ET Joe Pavelski is having one of the best seasons of his 15-year NHL career. Though the Dallas Stars are off to a slower-than-expected start after making it to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, Pavelski is carrying the load — especially as the team weathers early injury-related absences of Tyler Seguin, Ben Bishop

2:06 PM ET Associated Press DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche acquired Jonas Johansson from the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday in a bid to shore up their shaky backup goaltending. The Sabres received Colorado’s sixth-round draft pick in a trade agreed to a day earlier. The Sabres had to wait for COVID-19 testing results after the

3:41 PM ET Associated Press PITTSBURGH — The Penguins say center Evgeni Malkin is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. The team placed the Russian star on injured reserve Thursday, two days after Malkin appeared to hurt his right knee in a loss to the Boston Bruins. Head coach Mike Sullivan described Malkin as “week

2:28 PM ET Associated Press The NHL has paused the Boston Bruins after four more players entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol. Bruins games Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres and Tuesday against the New York Islanders were postponed and team facilities closed until at least Wednesday. They’re the 36th and 37th games to be postponed this

1:45 PM ET When looking at a particular type of fantasy production, there are a few ways to parse the data. While taking a look at power-play fantasy points, I was torn between looking at the statistics raw, as a rate or as a percentage. So I settled on a little bit of all three.

7:00 AM ET Handing out midseason grades in a 56-game season presents its own sample-size challenges. Handing them out in a season in which some teams have yet to actually hit the midpoint, due to postponed and rescheduled games, only complicates things. That established, here are the 2021 NHL midseason report cards for all 31

2:01 PM ET Associated Press The Buffalo Sabres‘ home game against the Boston Bruins will go on as scheduled “as of now.” The teams issued the same announcement Thursday based on the results of COVID-19 tests and contact tracing. The Sabres canceled their pregame practice after a member of their staff was placed in the

9:00 AM ET Hockey fans always approach the NHL trade deadline hoping for exhilaration but end up with several hours of inertia. High prices scare away otherwise thirsty general managers. The rumors of what could happen are ultimately more entertaining than what actually does. That’s a shame, because a great deadline can lead to great

7:00 AM ET For the first two and a half years of the Vegas Golden Knights‘ existence, Malcolm Subban was Marc-Andre Fleury‘s backup, with plenty of ups and downs, and a not-so-great .397 quality start percentage. Vegas wanted to fortify its tandem, and traded for Chicago Blackhawks netminder Robin Lehner in February, 2020. Subban came

11:51 PM ET The Philadelphia Flyers, scuffling for most of March, knew they already had an uphill battle to reclaim their early-season form and get back into playoff position. The hill seems even larger now. The New York Rangers, inconsistent themselves most of the season, woke up in a major way Wednesday night, trouncing the

5:34 PM ET The entire New York Rangers coaching staff is unavailable for Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers due to COVID-19 protocols. The team’s AHL coach, Kris Knoblauch, will fill in for Rangers coach David Quinn. Associate GM Chris Drury and Hartford Wolf Pack associate head coach Gord Miller will also be on the