Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

The Nashville Predators signed forward Colin Wilson to a four-year, $15.75 million contract, avoiding arbitration, the team announced today via press release.

Wilson was the last restricted free agent for the Predators this offseason, and his new deal caps off a solid offseason for general manager David Poile. The contract comes with an annual average value of $3.9375 million, which is just below the $4.25 million AAV that Craig Smith received in his new five-year deal last week.

Now that Wilson has been locked up, the Predators can finally turn their focus from their top-six forwards and try to figure out how to bring their bottom-six into shape. They have their bottom-line centers locked up in Cody Hodgson and Paul Gaustad. The wingers, however, are very much in flux. Calle Jarnkrok, Gabriel Bourque and Eric Nystrom will compete with new KHL signing Steve Moses and prospects Kevin Fiala, Viktor Arvidsson, Austin Watson and Miikka Salomaki for four wing spots.

Fiala and Arvidsson are future top-six forwards, so if they don’t make the roster now, it’s not the end of the world. Watson would fit well in those roles, and so would Moses, who played outstanding hockey at the 2015 IIHF World Championship. Salomaki was solid last season, especially in his limited time with the Predators, before he was sidelined with an injury.

Also, with Wilson now locked up, the only real hole in their lineup is a first-line center. Mike Ribeiro has played great hockey, but he is not a long-term superstar first-line center. All of the past few Stanley Cup champions have top-level talent at the first-line center slot (Jonathan Toews for the Chicago Blackhawks, Anze Kopitar for the Los Angeles Kings, and Patrice Bergeron for the Boston Bruins).

If the Predators legitimately want to win a Stanley Cup, they’ll need to acquire a legitimate top-six center. There’s a slim chance there could be a star available on the free agent market, but they’ll likely have to find that center through trading. It’s unfair to speculate on what forwards could be available, but Poile has made moves at the deadline for the past few years that have really helped the team, and is not afraid to deal to make the team better.

This season will be interesting for the Predators, as they try to follow up on a stellar 2014-15 campaign. Can they sustain their success, or will they fall into the “sophomore slump” like the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars did last season?

The post Nashville Predators Re-Sign Colin Wilson appeared first on Insider Sports Network.

Rendering from ArenaLasVegas.com

This doesn’t mean the league will necessarily expand, but it is the first step in the process. The league will be accepting bids this Summer, with expansion fees set at $500 million, a record number.

Three of the likely candidates for expansion will be Las Vegas, NV, Seattle, WA, and Quebec City, QC. 

However, there will probably only be two franchises added to the league. There are certain criteria to see if these cities can sustain an NHL franchise, including a viable arena, a solid fanbase, a good television market, and ownership group in place. 

Let’s take a look at all three markets and see what makes them good cities for a new NHL franchise:

Las Vegas, NV

It looks like this is the NHL’s top destination for expansion, and it has garnered the most attention over the past few months. Vegas has a lot of their ducks in a row to land a team.

First, they have a brand-new arena going up right on the Strip that would hold the team. The MGM-AEG Arena will hold 17,500 hockey fans when it opens in 2016. But, the big doubts about this market is the possibility of a solid, consistent fanbase. Those doubts were erased when the league gave prospective Vegas franchise owner Bill Foley an opportunity to run a season ticket drive. Foley raised 13,200 season ticket deposits, enough to fill most of the arena. The rest of the tickets will probably be filled by half-season plans, other fans, and perhaps some tourists.

Las Vegas is the 29th most populated city in the U.S., so they would be able to have a television viewing market. 

With Foley completely invested in a franchise, the league looks ready to add a Vegas franchise in this round of expansion.

Seattle, WA

This is perhaps the most intriguing market. While, according to StationIndex.com, the Seattle-Tacoma area is the 14th-biggest television market, 20th most populated city, and according to NHLtoSeattle.com, would have a solid hockey fanbase, they lack a reasonable arena.

Key Arena, former home of the Seattle SuperSonics, is not suitable for NHL play. Chris Hansen, a Seattle businessman, has a project to build an arena in the SoDo area of Seattle (the same area where the NFL’s Seahawks and MLB’s Mariners play). 

His Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Seattle states that the City government will help fund the arena if/when Hansen acquires an NBA franchise. The MOU has provisions for an NHL franchise, but not before the NBA franchise (you can read more at SonicsArena.com). 

The city could modify the MOU, but political red tape is preventing that. So, this project looks to be stalled as of now.

The more promising project is in Tukwila, a suburb of Seattle. According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the owners of a potential arena in the suburb will submit an expansion application to the NHL when the process opens on July 6th. 

While a downtown arena would probably be better, the Tukwila site sounds promising, and could be enough to get a team, if the prospective owners get their ducks in a row.

Quebec City, QC

The former home of the Nordiques doesn’t have to worry about an arena or ownership group. The Videotron Centre is set to open in September, and is a beautiful, modern arena. Quebecor, a large media conglomerate in Quebec, backed the arena and will likely back an NHL franchise.

The market has shown it can support hockey, as it did for years before the Quebec Nordiques moved to Colorado due to financial pitfalls. However, it is a very small market. The metropolitan area is smaller than Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The big questions re: Quebec City expansion. 1) Ownership? 2) The metropolitan area there is smaller than Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

— Travis Hughes (@TravisSBN) June 24, 2015

Overall, if Seattle doesn’t work out, Quebec City could be a solid option for a second team.

The post NHL Expansion: Analyzing the Top Potential Destinations appeared first on Insider Sports Network.

Brian Donogh/Winnipeg Sun/QMI Agency

The NHL season is barely a month old, and there are certain teams that have shined bright in the early going. Two of them happen to be in the Central Division. Here’s what’s been going on in Nashville and Winnipeg:

Nashville Predators

After a very busy offseason for the Preds, they are showing the world that they are relevant again. They hired a new head coach in Peter Laviolette and acquired some new offensive talent in James Neal, Mike Ribeiro, Derek Roy, and Olli Jokinen. This Predators team looks entirely different than last year’s. They are scoring goals at an unprecedented rate. The players are playing faster than ever, and shooting more than ever.

One of the biggest difference-makers has been James Neal. He is shooting at an incredible pace. He is third in the NHL in average individual Corsi per 60 minutes (average shots attempted per game) in close gameplay (tied or within one goal) with 22.82. Last season, the Predators’ leader in the same stat was Patric Hornqvist, finishing 28th in the league with 17.70. Neal is providing an offensive boost not found in Nashville in years.

Another player making an impact is rookie Filip Forsberg. He played less than 25 games with the Predators last season, so he is still considered a rookie. Under former head coach Barry Trotz, it looked as if Forsberg was restricted in a way. He wasn’t in a system that fit his play, and the stats showed it. Last season, when Forsberg was on the ice, the Predators registered a Fenwick for percent (shots attempted-shots blocked for vs. against) of 42.2% (zone start adjusted), while opponents had a FF% of 50.1% (zone start adjusted). This means that Forsberg did not make his team better while he was on the ice; in fact, he made his team worse. This season, the numbers tell a different story. While he is on the ice, the Predators’ FF% is 53.1% (zone start adjusted) while opponents had a FF% of 49.8% (zone start adjusted). In Laviolette’s system, Forsberg is making the Predators even better.

Winnipeg Jets

For a few years, the Thrashers/Jets franchise has been consistently mediocre. Not good enough to make the playoffs, but not bad enough to get a top pick and develop a superstar. This season, they may have a chance to turn it around. They got off to a bit of a slow start, losing five out of their first seven games. But, as the calendar turned to November, they began to string some wins together. They beat talented teams like the Islanders, Rangers, and Blackhawks.

The biggest problem with the Jets is that they don’t have a true stud scorer like many teams in the league. The Blackhawks have Patrick Kane, the Predators have James Neal, but the Jets have no true scorer. They have a handful of skilled forwards, like Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, and Evander Kane. Many of their wins have been very low-scoring, even against offensively-inclined teams like the Blackhawks. As a result, their stats are low. Winnipeg ranks 18th in team FF% in close games with 50.1%. They are outshooting their opponents, but barely.

However, winning erases the need for all of these stats. If they can find a way to continue winning tight games, they will be an unexpected force come April. They probably won’t make the playoffs, but they’ll make life difficult for teams contending for a spot.

STATS COURTESY OF STATS.HOCKEYANALYSIS.COM

The post Two Shocking NHL Starts: Nashville and Winnipeg appeared first on Insider Sports Network.

Bob Krist/Corbis

Over the Summer, the hockey world was abuzz over the potential for NHL expansion. At some points, it looked like a sure thing. The NHL was quick to deny rumors that they would be expanding by four teams in Las Vegas, Seattle, Quebec City, and Toronto. Three of those could be pretty viable options. Seattle has the passion for hockey and the proximity to Vancouver to make hockey work. Once they get an arena, it should happen. Quebec City has supported hockey in the past, and could easily do it again. Toronto, or the surrounding area, has the hockey fans required to eat into the Leafs’ stranglehold on the region.

The location that won’t work: Las Vegas.

Sin City is a fantastic town with so many different activities. But, consistent NHL hockey should not be one of them. There are occasionally preseason games in Vegas, which are fun events. The new MGM-AEG arena is currently under construction and would be located between the Monte Carlo and New York-New York casinos, a prime location. It would have the capacity for NHL hockey.

Think about what the arena will be like. Most likely, it will have suites galore. Those suites will be bought by all the big Vegas casinos, who will sell individual game experiences to their guests, much like they do for attractions like the Blue Man Group or Cirque Du Soleil. Essentially, it would be a crowd of tourists every night. Season ticket revenues will probably be nonexistent, as the Vegas locals may not be able to afford the rising ticket prices. Much like New York Rangers games feel like a corporate showcase with all the suites and luxury, Vegas hockey games will feel like a tourist attraction. A true fanbase would be almost negligible.

Other expansion franchises in nontraditional hockey markets have succeeded because they have grown the game at the grassroots level. More rinks are popping up everywhere in the Sun Belt and the South. The Nashville Predators just opened up a beautiful new hockey center right outside of Nashville. More kids are picking up hockey sticks and lacing up their skates. This wouldn’t happen in Vegas. With the team’s tourist clientele, there will hardly be any kids coming to the games and being inspired to play hockey.

If this Vegas team becomes a tourist attraction, then the local population won’t buy into the team as well. You don’t see Vegas residents seeing Blue Man Group every night, do you? The team will certainly thrive, as revenues from the casinos and their wealthy clientele will make the ownership a lot of money. But, it won’t be the right atmosphere for a team. Do we want to degrade the wonderful game of hockey into a tourist attraction?

All of this is true hockey and all other professional sports. Las Vegas is a tourist mecca, and will always be that way. It simply won’t work as a “hockey town,” or a “sports town” in general.

The post Why Hockey Won’t Work In Las Vegas appeared first on Insider Sports Network.

Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

It’s no secret that the NHL Western Conference is far better than the Eastern Conference. Just look at the past three Stanley Cup Champions.

Now, it’s the Central Division that is dominating the West, and the league as a whole for that matter.

This offseason, almost every team in the Central bulked up big-time. There is no really bad team in the Central. Sure, the Winnipeg Jets have been mediocre for awhile, but they haven’t been particularly bad. Let’s examine each Central team to see why it will be so tough to win in the West this year.

Colorado Avalanche

This is the youngest and fastest team in the NHL. Head Coach Patrick Roy has rejuvenated this franchise, along with his young superstar Nathan Mackinnon. Despite losing Paul Stastny to division rival St. Louis, the Avalanche still have a wealth of offensive talent. Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene can fill the void left by Stastny. Ryan O’Reilly’s contract situation is complex, but even if they trade O’Reilly, they’ll still perform well. This is one of the up-and-coming teams in the league. Watch out.

Chicago Blackhawks

There is not much to say about this team other than that they are hands down the best team in the NHL. They just locked down Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane for the next eight years. These two superstars have lit it up over the past few years, bringing two Stanley Cups to the Windy City. One thing that the Hawks lacked was a second-line center. They found one this offseason in Brad Richards. The former Ranger is primed to be a performer for Chicago this year. Could they re-capture the Stanley Cup and cement their status as a “dynasty?”

Dallas Stars

The Stars probably improved the most this offseason. As free agency began, they made a bold move by acquiring Jason Spezza in a trade with the Ottawa Senators. This team is overflowing with offensive talent. Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Jason Spezza will all be playing on the same team. That is a terrifying thought. The Stars barely made the playoffs last year, giving the Ducks a run for their money in the first round. They’ll certainly do better this year.

Minnesota Wild

The Wild revamped their franchise when they signed Ryan Suter and Zach Parise back in 2012. Now, they’ve picked up an additional offensive stud. Thomas Vanek made good on his intentions when he signed with Minnesota earlier in July. The Wild have consistently made the playoffs for the past few seasons, but have had limited success. They managed to get past an inexperienced Avalanche squad in the first round last year. Can they make a run for the Finals this year?

Nashville Predators

The Predators were dormant on July 1, but have been very active since. They did not get their one prized free agent, but they got a number of players to support newly-acquired winger James Neal, who was brought over from Pittsburgh on draft day. Nashville signed Olli Jokinen, Mike Ribeiro, and Derek Roy, as well as Anton Volchenkov on defense. All of those players were brought in on one-year deals. General manager David Poile made short-term investments on risky players. If they don’t pay off, they are gone next year. But, Poile may have struck gold.

St. Louis Blues 

The Blues made the biggest splash in the NHL when they signed former Avalanche Paul Stastny. He is an offensive juggernaut that will provide a great offensive spark to a team that already produces plenty of offense. Olympic hero T.J. Oshie, along with David Backes, returned to lead the Blues back to the Playoffs. Their biggest issue is goaltending. St. Louis acquired acquired Ryan Miller from Buffalo at the deadline, but he ended up bolting for Vancouver in July. Unless they can secure solid goaltending, this team will continue to strike out in the Playoffs.

Winnipeg Jets

This is the lone exception. Winnipeg did nothing to improve their already-mediocre squad. They have a stud that is unhappy with his situation in Evander Kane (he’ll probably get traded this year). They have a decent goaltender in Ondrej Pavelec and have a lot of talented players. But, the same mediocre team that didn’t produce in Atlanta is not producing in Winnipeg. They did nothing to improve their team and will probably fall behind in the super-competitive Central Division.

FEATURED IMAGE: BRAD LOPER/THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

The post NHL’s Central Division: The Most Terrifying Division in Sports appeared first on Insider Sports Network.