Wow! There’s a lot going on in and around the Hockey World currently. The NHL Trade Deadline is under 48 hours away. There continue to be more Olympic celebrations and stories. Some teams are gearing up for the playoffs and others are starting to calculate their potential lottery ball odds for the draft. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. 

People like Kevin Weekes, who is one of hockey’s best minds, are beyond busy working the phones and their sources, trying to find out who is getting traded and who isn’t by Friday at 3pm(ET). But Weekes also has much more on his plate. He has multiple on-camera roles across different networks and platforms. He runs a company, Speekes, alongside his wife, Megan. Oh, and he has two little kids at home. Last, but certainly not least, he’s also one of hockey’s best Insiders and Goalie Analysts. So let’s pick his brain and dive right in.

For starters, we know that, on average, scoring has slightly ticked up in 2025-26 compared to 2024-25. It’s not drastic. The average GAA across The NHL, as of early March 2026, is approximately 2.87, while the average SV% is roughly .897. That’s compared to an average GAA of 2.81 across The League for all of last season, along with an average SV% of .900. 

Again, not a drastic change, but still different. So, what does Weekes think about the overall performance of NHL goaltenders this year?

“I mean, there’s some goalies that have had amazing years,” Weekes began. “Obviously, (Andrei) Vasilevskiy looks like himself again. He’s a future Hall of Famer in my book already, with all he’s accomplished to date; he’s been great. His numbers reflect that. I think he’s like 14-2-1 in his last 17 starts. (Ilya) Sorokin on Long Island has also been amazing all year. He’s got six shutouts right now. He’s been great right from the early part of the season. 

“Those are probably my two Vezina guys. But there have been some other good stories around The League of goalies that have played well. But just off the top, I would go with those guys, just for the consistency that they’ve shown all year and the numbers that they’ve posted. 

“And then, yeah, in the Olympics, we saw some great performances from different goalies. I thought (Philipp) Grubauer had a really good Olympics and he’s played well in Seattle. It’s been a nice bounce back for him. Binner (Jordan Binnington) and Helli (Connor Hellebuyck) were great over there, too. The way they performed they were outstanding and led to that Gold Medal game, which was awesome. Epic in every way. 

“So, yeah, it’s been interesting. We’ve seen some great performances, we’ve seen some pretty good performances and we’ve seen some where it’s been a little bit disappointing. But, ultimately, it’s been a different year because it’s an Olympic year. And one thing I remember about playing in the Olympic years is it’s a compressed schedule. There are very limited windows for practice, very limited windows for recovery.”

Excellent points made by Weekes about the compressed schedule and lack of practice and recovery time. Personally, Sorokin is my pick for the Vezina, but that’s neither here nor there. But getting back to Weekes, he also made an interesting point about the rise in RVH (Reverse Vertical Horizontal) style among NHL goalies. 

“It’s often utilized and sometimes it’s utilized a little bit too much,” Weekes explained. “I think it’s become kind of a default setup on the post play for a lot of goalies and a lot of them are drilled that way. So, a lot of times, that’s what certain goalie coaches emphasize. It’s for them to be on the post for an RVH, getting an RVH and coming out of an RVH. 

“But, I think, like anything else, any save selection, you have to implement it at the right time and in the right situation. I think it’s become a little bit too default. That’s why we continue to see some short side goals from sharp angles, and listen, the odd time, the players are gonna hit those ’cause they’re so skilled. 

“But sometimes, you’re a 6-2 goalie, but you’re down on your knees looking for quarters maybe earlier than you need to be. Players’ eyes light up, they see that space, they’re gonna pick it and oftentimes, they do.”

Remember when everybody started overusing the butterfly? Well, now it’s the RVH that’s being overused. So what’s the next technique that goalies will slowly try and then overdo? Who knows, but it’ll happen. 

Next up on our brain-picking journey, let’s see what Weekes thinks will unfold as Friday’s Trade Deadline approaches. A lot of people are saying that the new CBA rules regarding the playoff salary cap and no more double retention on contracts within 75 days are depressing the market. 

“Well, I think it’s gonna be pretty active myself,” said Weekes. “It wouldn’t surprise me, talking to different teams and different agents and different players. I’m anticipating a lot of movement. I mean, even for this game here tonight, (Devils-Maple Leafs). The Leafs are withholding three players for roster purposes in this game that otherwise would’ve been in the lineup. 

“So, if that’s any indication and just again, from speaking to people around the game, there will be some movement for sure. You always have to factor in the salary cap ’cause that dictates the parameters that you can work within. 

“So the playoffs, it’s gonna be a bit of a different model this year. Not as far as the games or the seeding, but rather how teams navigate the trade deadline based on some of the new rules around that and the retention and other stuff. What type of roster you can ice during the playoffs based on salaries, etc. So yeah, you just have to play within those things. But ultimately, I still think we’ll see a lot of movement.”

Staying in the realm of the Trade Deadline, we know Weekes isn’t going to spill the beans on any potential trades, but he does have another nugget of knowledge to share. As one of hockey’s most prominent Insiders, there has to be some trick to the trade (no pun intended), right?

“For me, it was very different,” Weekes began, “’cause I’m the only former player that’s an Insider in any pro sport, really in any of the major sports. So, I wasn’t trained as a journalist as such. I didn’t go to a journalistic university, say Syracuse, with the broadcast journalism program, or Arizona State, or one of those. I just learned everything on the go and I learned on the fly. I’m not a writer. I never wrote for the Canadian Press or anything. This is just all for me. 

“It was just, I wanted to add another blade to my Swiss army knife, so to speak. I wanted to add a different layer, a different dimension. I’ve done a lot of different roles. I do between the benches, I do the studio, I do color. I’ve done one-on-ones. I’ve done the animated games. You name it. I’ve hosted. I’ve done a lot of different roles on camera and this was another one. So I figured, ‘Hey, look, I have a ton of relationships. I’ve played in this league for a long time. I’ve been around this league a long time. I’ve been around the game for 42 years.’ 

“So, to me, you have a lot of those relationships and a lot of it is more even about what I don’t say or what I can’t share or what I won’t share, but the things that I can share at times and if it moves me and I get the information on time, I like to do it. I like to showcase the fact that I’m that well-connected. 

“As I said, I take a lot of pride…there aren’t any former players, I think in golf sometimes, but very rarely do you hear former players, in any major sport, that are Insiders. So it’s just a challenge and something that I wanted to do and mix in. Some people do that full-time, but I can’t do that full-time ’cause I do all the other different roles for multiple networks. So it’s just something that I enjoy doing when I can. And it’s been fun. 

“You can always get better. I mean there’s always things to learn, too. That’s why I told you I really like doing different roles on camera. That’s been very helpful, ’cause it’s helped my development as a broadcaster. If you say go there, I’ll go there. If you say do this, I’ll do that. I’ve never done it before. It doesn’t matter. I’ll go do it. So I’ve been very humble that way in wanting to learn the craft and master the craft.”

Forget the saying “jack-of-all-trades, master of none.” Weekes is a “jack-of-all trades, Master of the (Hockey) Universe” and we haven’t even gotten into his business venture yet. 

Roughly a-year-and-a-half ago, Weekes and his wife, Megan, started their own business named “Speekes,” which is a media branding and advertisement company. So, for our final piece of brain picking, let’s find out how that venture is going.

“We’ve had a great time,” Weekes said about him and his wife running their own company. “We still have a lot of really good clients. It’s been a little different with having one and then adding the second kid. We have some really blue-chip clients that we’ve been working with, from some of the big broadcast networks to some other firms, to big ad agencies, you name it, to pharma clients. It’s been a lot to individual clients, to broadcasters, to different C-suite people as well. 

“My wife’s very brilliant. It’s been very cool to work with a lot of very talented people and people who are hungry, who want to advance their careers and kind of improve their career arc, if you will. And sometimes, for them, it’s internal communications. Sometimes it’s their own communications. It’s external. It’s their presentation. It’s how to operate in the C-suite for some people, for some of our broadcast clients, for some of the big networks. So it has been really interesting. It’s been a nice mix.”

We don’t see how Weekes has the time to do all of this, but he has clearly found a way. So, to summarize: we learned about the state of NHL goaltending; analyzed a goaltender technique that maybe doesn’t get the attention it should; checked in on the Trade Deadline; learned how Weekes became an Insider and gleaned a little bit about an interesting business venture. And all in under 2,000 words! How’s that for efficiency? 

Oh, and by the way, the New Jersey Devils beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in a shootout. So, next up is Friday’s Trade Deadline. You may want to study what Kevin Weekes said, because there will be a test.