Brady Tkachuk and Nikita Kucherov lead the 2026 NHL playoffs all-bust team

The NHL playoffs have been going on for over a month now, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we’re very disappointed.

Not over everything, because a lot of this year’s postseason has been pretty fun. But we’re hockey fans, and we like to be cranky. And like every season, the playoffs give us plenty of opportunity to single out individual players for a disapproving head-shake or two.

Today, we’re making a team out of those guys. We’ll be building a full 21-man roster, which is to say 12 forwards, six blueliners and three goalies, because bad teams always need an extra option in net. As always, we’ll work with two key rules. First, no team can have more than three players, because we want to spread the love resentment. And second, all 16 playoff teams need to have at least one rep.

And yes, that rule also applies to the four teams that are still alive, meaning we’re virtually guaranteed to pick at least one player who immediately blows up and causes a flood of “this aged well” comments to come our way. That’s the risk we’re willing to take, because we do not learn from past mistakes around here.

Like all great teams, we’ll build from the net out.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

Making a case for why every team should trade their first-round pick this week

With the draft now just hours away, most GMs are no doubt working the phones to see if there’s a trade to be made. After all, this is the time of the year when most of them have a valuable asset burning a hole in their pocket: Their first-round pick.

Draft-week trades involving firsts are rare, but maybe not as rare as you think. Last year, we saw six trades involving first-round picks get made on the draft floor or in the days before, including deals involving Alex DeBrincat, Kirby Dach and Alexander Romanov. Whether it’s flipping picks, dumping bad contracts or adding a big name to the roster, the first-round pick is the coin of the realm once the draft draws near.

So who should trade their first-round pick this year? Well, everyone.

At least, that’s the premise of today’s piece. I’m going to try to make the case for each and every team to trade away their first. Admittedly, this will be easier for some teams than for others. For a few, it might seem completely ridiculous, no doubt leading to many very serious people being angry in the comments about a fake trade their team will not make. That’s fine, it’s almost July and my brain hasn’t been working since early March, do your worst.

We’ll work in tiers. (As opposed to working in tears, which is how I cover the playoffs.) Let’s make a deal, starting with the easiest cases to make and building up to the tougher ones. We can do this.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

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Puck Soup: Hall of Fame before and after

On this week's episode of the Puck Soup podcast:
- Ryan and I discuss who should get the HHOF call, then reconvene and react after the announcement is made
- The OEL buyout, Bratt signing, Karlsson trade maybe coming
- What's the deal with Matvei Michkov?
- We try the Immaculate Grid game, NHL style
- And more...

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