Daily Faceoff’s most read stories of 2024: Oilers’ run, Utah relocation captured fans’ imaginations

What a year at Daily Faceoff. And we have you, our readers, to thank.

Not only do you continue to show up for us, but more of you show up with each passing year, by the literal millions. Seeing your enthusiasm for the sport we love only ignites ours even more – and motivates us to continue delivering the best, most in depth-hockey coverage we can.

As the year 2024 closes, let’s look back on what drew you to the DFO news site the most. These are the top stories of 2024.

THE FLAGSHIP CATEGORY

If we actually sort through our 2024 posts by biggest readership: our semi-evergreen stories, the kind you repeatedly come back to over a long period of time, populate most of the top spots. So we’ll tip our cap to these stories and thank you for your continued support!

#1: Trade Targets Boards – by Frank Seravalli
#2: Top 300 fantasy hockey player rankings – by Matt Larkin
#3: 2024 NHL Draft Lottery odds – by Steven Ellis
#4: 2024 NHL Draft Rankings – By Steven Ellis
#5: Top remaining free agents of 2024 – By Matt Larkin
#6: Fantasy Hockey Draft Kit – By Brock Seguin
#10 NHL Mock Drafts for 2024 – By Steven Ellis
#12. Daily Faceoff’s 2024-25 NHL team preview hub – By Matt Larkin

THE TOP FIVE STORIES OF 2024

Here are the most-read “one off” stories of the calendar year:

1. “32 Bold predictions: Oilers will finally end Canada’s Stanley Cup Drought”

By Frank Seravalli

Frank’s bold predictions always make for appointment reading – especially when he revisits them every April to roast himself for what he guessed wrong on. But he’s already gotten a lot right so far – including Matvei Michkov’s excellence, the success of Amazon Prime’s NHL Coast to Coast and the Washington Capitals’ continued success.

2. “Sources: NHL drafting 2024-25 schedule version with Coyotes relocated to Salt Lake City“

By Frank Seravalli

It’s easy to forget just how quickly the NHL pivoted from Arizona to Salt Lake City. It was barely in the public consciousness before Frank reported in April that the league was drafting an alternate schedule factoring in a relocation. By the middle of the month, the move was official.

3. “Oilers have big problem in the present and future with struggling Darnell Nurse”

By Frank Seravalli

Edmonton’s run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final captivated hockey fans, and that included plenty of ups and downs. Among them: Nurse’s struggles on defense. Little did we know, he’d be excelling in his own end this season. Just when you think you have a player figured out…

4. “Sounding the alarm on the state of hockey in North America”

By Frank Seravalli

On U.S. Thanksgiving, Frank dropped this column calling on Canada the U.S.’s junior hockey systems to stop thinking of each other as adversaries and start working together to form a unified league in the wake of the NCAA eligibility amendment. Judging by the huge response to the piece, he was not alone in his thinking.

5. “OHL’s Soo Greyhounds remove John Vanbiesbrouck’s banner from the rafters”

By Hunter Crowther

What goes around comes around. Vanbiesbrouck was a legend of the Greyhounds’ crease but, when he was coach and part owner of the team in 2003, he used a racial slur when speaking to then-future NHLer Trevor Daley and ended up resigning. It took more than two decades, but the Greyhounds decided to remove Vanbiesbrouck’s banner in hopes of promoting a more inclusive environment.

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