On Monday evening, seven new individuals were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The 2024 class saw players Jeremy Roenick, Pavel Datsyuk, Shea Weber, Krissy Wendell, and Natalie Darwitz. Moreover, David Poile and Colin Campbell also entered the HHoF as builders.
Poile served as the Nashville Predators first general manager, hired in 1997. It wasn’t until the end of the 2022-23 season that he retired from that specific role, going out on his terms. While he never won a Stanley Cup, he drafted Hall of Fame defender Weber with the 49th overall pick in 2003.
Weber had a terrific career, scoring 224 goals and 589 points in 1,038 games. With the Predators, he scored 166 goals and 443 points in 763 games, becoming the team’s captain in 2010 until he was traded to the Montréal Canadiens in 2016. Although he was traded before the Predators’ Stanley Cup Final run in 2017, Weber made the Stanley Cup Finals with the Canadiens in 2021.
My most distinct Weber memory is when he decided to pull a professional wrestling move on Detroit Red Wings forward, Henrik Zetterberg, at the end of Game 1 of the 2012 opening round. Losing that faceoff was Datsyuk, who also had a terrific career.
The Red Wings drafted Datsyuk in the sixth round of the 1998 draft and spent his entire career with the Wings. Overall, Datsyuk had 314 goals and 918 points in 953 games, along with 42 goals and 113 points in 157 postseason games. On top of some of the best dekes the league has seen, Datsyuk is arguably the best two-way centre in the history of the game, winning three Frank J. Selke Trophies and four Lady Byng Memorial Trophies.
Winning is something Datsyuk knew a lot about, as he won two Stanley Cups with the Red Wings in 2002 and 2008, as well as the Kontinental Hockey League’s Gagarin Cup with SKA St. Petersburg in 2017. Another player who knows something about winning is Darwitz.
The 41-year-old served as PWHL Minnesota (now Minnesota Frost)’s first general manager, building the team that won the inaugural Walter Cup in 2024. She also won Gold medals at the 2005, 2008, and 2009 World Championships, as well as the 2003 and 2008 4 Nations Cup. On top of that, she won three medals at the Olympics, two Silver medals (2002 and 2010), as well as a Bronze medal in 2006.
Wendell was her teammate for the 2002 and 2006 Olympics, while also winning the Gold medal in the 2005 World Championship. She was the third woman to be named an NHL scout and was interestingly the fifth girl to play in the Little League World Series.

Blue Jackets claim Dante Fabbro

Another player drafted by Dave Poile was Dante Fabbro, as the Nashville Predators picked him 17th overall in the 2016 draft. On Saturday, they waived the right-shot defenceman, who was picked up by the Columbus Blue Jackets the next day.
Fabbro only played six games for the Predators in 2024-25, being held pointless while being -3. He had a much better 2023-24 season, scoring three goals and 13 points in 56 games. His career-high in points came in 2021-22, when he had three goals and 24 points in 66 games, while his career-high in goals came in 2019-20 when he had five goals in 64 games.
Fabbro fits the rebuilding Blue Jackets quite well, as he’s only making $2.5 million this season. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, meaning that the Blue Jackets could get assets at the trade deadline as a ton of teams need a right-shot defenceman who can move the puck. Looking at you, Edmonton Oilers.

Max Pacioretty placed on Injured Reserve

On Monday, the Toronto Maple Leafs placed veteran forward Max Pacioretty on the Injured Reserve with a lower-body injury. He is week-to-week.
At one point in his career, Pacioretty was the perfect top-six scoring winger, as he had three consecutive 30-goal seasons from 2013-14 until 2016-17. Pacioretty was drafted 22nd overall in the 2007 draft and spent 10 seasons with the Montréal Canadiens, where he scored 226 goals and 448 points in 626 games.
Pacioretty spent four seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights but has bounced around the league the past three seasons. He played five games with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2022-23 but missed most of it due to injury, and 47 games with the Washington Capitals in 2023-24, before landing with the Leafs on a professional tryout.
In 13 games this season, the 35-year-old has two goals and six points.
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