The News in New Media

Month: July 2022

Stanley Cup Final, Entry Draft Mark Busy Few Weeks for NHL

July 10, 2022

With the playoffs wrapped up and the Colorado Avalanche the new Stanley Cup champions, the 2022 Entry Draft completed, and free agency on the doorstep, the NHL offseason is kicking off with a bang.

The Stanley Cup Final finished up on June 26, with the Avalanche nabbing the crown from the back-to-back reigning champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in six games. The juggernaut Avalanche were consistently one of the strongest teams throughout the regular season and made easy work of their opponents throughout the playoffs, sweeping two of their four adversaries. 23-year-old Colorado defenseman Cale Makar earned the Conn Smythe trophy for the most valuable player of the postseason.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs took place throughout the months of May and June, and consequently the NHL racked up 2.35 million mentions across platforms. The phrase “NHL Playoffs” accounted for nearly 320K mentions over the same span, while the hashtag #BecauseItsTheCup earned 5.22K mentions, most of which came at the start of the postseason as the official channels worked to drive traffic and viewership.

Meanwhile, both the Avalanche and Lightning had compelling – and lengthy – narrative arcs as they worked their way toward the Final. The Western Conference-champion Avalanche pulled in nearly 576K mentions, spiking at the start of the Final. As more fans’ teams fell out of the running, more honed in on the remaining games – and indeed, most were cheering on Colorado, which hadn’t won a Cup since 2001 and would be a much-needed change from a third-straight Lightning win. The #GoAvsGo hashtag was used more than 533K times, especially following their Cup win as content streamed in of the team and their fans celebrating.

On the other hand, Tampa’s fans are well-accustomed to winning – not only in 2020 and 2021 with the Lightning, but also with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays. For many fans outside of the Tampa area, regardless of sport, their championships are getting a little old. Of the nearly 647K mentions of the Lightning, more sentiment was negative than positive.

While Colorado celebrated, Tampa immediately got down to business with some moves, trading defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators and re-signing forward Nick Paul to a major seven-year contract extension. Assistant coach Derek Lalonde also left the team for a position in Detroit, all moves taking place within a few days of their elimination.

Proving there’s no real offseason, the 2022 NHL Entry Draft took place just a few days after the coordinated Cup celebrations in Denver concluded. Over July 7-8, the League’s 32 teams drafted 225 players over seven rounds, beginning with first overall pick Juraj Slafkofsky, taken by the Montreal Canadiens, and concluding with Ivan Zhigalov.

The Slovakian Slafkovsky and Canadian Shane Wright were originally neck-and-neck in expert polls about who would be selected first or second. Wright ultimately dropped to the fourth overall pick and joined the NHL’s newest team, the Seattle Kraken, in a shocking move. Slafkovsky’s mentions spiked on July 7th, the night of the first round of the Draft, as most fans’ focus had been exclusively on Wright until shortly before the first round began. Wright’s mentions also spiked that night, for opposite reasons.

Of course, Wright has also had to clear the air in the days since, once again overshadowing Slafkovsky in North American media. Viewers and media picked up on his response following his drop to fourth overall, and while he acknowledged the “chip on his shoulder” Wright has also had to maintain he was not “star[ing] down” the Canadiens’ draft table in anger. Certainly this is not the coverage any of these young players would hope for surrounding the biggest event of their lives so far.

As many teams open up their prospect development camps this week and their new draftees get an opportunity to see their new cities and meet new teammates, eyes around the NHL and the players’ junior or amateur leagues will remain on these young athletes to see how they handle their first shot at the big stage. In just a few days, free agency will open as players are able to sign with new teams, and surely more blockbuster trades and shocking contracts will arise. Even as the NHL, like several other major North American sports leagues, settles officially into the offseason, there really is no rest for its teams, coaches, players, agents, media – and fans.

Author: Kayleigh Jackson