The NHL’s best and worst this week: Who can pull off a St. Louis Blues-like run?
So which team has a chance of repeating that success this season? Here’s how teams currently not super secure in a playoff position stack up, in four different tiers.
Los Angeles Kings
Anaheim Ducks
New Jersey Devils
Detroit Red Wings
Ottawa Senators
Sure, three of these teams (Ottawa, New Jersey, Detroit) are where the Blues were last season: 11 points or more out of a playoff spot. But all of these teams have something in common: they’re embracing a youth movement, but also dreaming of a tank and the prospect of drafting Alexis Lafreniere No. 1 overall in June.
The Senators have outperformed expectations a bit and look much more competitive this season under DJ Smith. Ottawa has a few individual bright spots on a roster generally lacking talent (Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anthony Duclair are having career years, while Thomas Chabot is the new NHL ironman, leading the league by skating more than 26 minutes per game). The Devils, meanwhile, flopped after a summer of hoopla. The idea that Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban and Taylor Hall could team up for a Stanley Cup has quickly vanished, and in return, fans are hoping the rebuild doesn’t have to start from scratch again. The Red Wings, in Steve Yzerman’s first season as GM, look like they have no desire to be competitive, bracing for a long play. The Kings cut their losses on Ilya Kovalchuk, owning up to a lack of self-awareness when they signed him in summer 2018. The Ducks have shown some flashes under the guidance of new coach Dallas Eakins, but lack the consistency to go on a wild run.
None of these teams will make the playoffs.
New York Rangers
Montreal Canadiens
Chicago Blackhawks
Hey, it’s still possible for any of these teams to make the playoffs, but they have to get their act together fast.
The Canadiens are a perplexing team. They looked decent for a stretch this fall, but injuries piled up quickly. And once they said Brendan Gallagher (second on the team in goals) was out indefinitely with a concussion, GM Marc Bergevin was baited into signing Ilya Kovalchuk for the rest of the season. It’s a low-risk move considering that it’s a two-way deal for the league minimum, but Kovalchuk will have to show a lot more than he did in Los Angeles for it to be an impact signing.
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The Rangers are on the upswing, and are probably another year away from seriously pushing for a playoff spot. They have a lot of young players on the roster transitioning to the NHL (No. 2 pick Kaapo Kakko, especially, needs to find his way) and a hodgepodge defensive group, which at times has been hard to watch. However, the offseason signing of Artemi Panarin has been even better than imagined, and the bread man has sparked this team to several wins. The trade deadline will be telling, and if the Rangers ship Chris Kreider to one of many reported suitors, the door to the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs is likely shut.
As for the Blackhawks, they’ve proved they can play top-level hockey for stretches, and the goaltending tandem of Corey Crawford and (especially) Robin Lehner has compensated for their bad blue line. Patrick Kane is still a superstar. But the injuries to key players (Brandon Saad and Calvin de Haan among them) have prevented this team from finding a stride, and this is likely a transition season as plenty of young players get NHL reps.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Buffalo Sabres
Minnesota Wild
Philadelphia Flyers
Edmonton Oilers
Here’s where things get interesting. These teams have some components of playoff teams. For the Oilers and Sabres, they have elite superstars (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Jack Eichel) literally dragging their less-talented teammates to wins. Both teams are similar: they need goaltending to hold up to have any chance and they also might need to acquire scoring help at the deadline.
The Flyers and Blue Jackets have been hampered by injuries. But there are enough veteran players and ascending talent on both rosters to grind out wins when it matters down the stretch. If either team gets in, they might play spoiler to higher-seeded teams and have young goaltenders — Joonas Korpisalo, when he’s healthy again, and Carter Hart — who can get just as hot as Jordan Binnington did last spring.
As for the Wild? They’re staying afloat in the competitive Central Division and have made up significant ground after a horrid start. If they can close out the regular season with a playoff spot, they could make noise considering the veteran talent on this roster.
Florida Panthers
Calgary Flames
Nashville Predators
San Jose Sharks
Winnipeg Jets
Here are the teams that profile most similarly to last season’s Blues. Two (the Sharks and Flames) have already undergone a coaching change — and let’s note that two of the past four Stanley Cup champs switched coaches midseason.
San Jose is lowest in the standings of this group, but perhaps the most dangerous considering how we rated them entering the season. It feels like the loss of Joe Pavelski (and even Joonas Donskoi) was underestimated, and of course, goaltending has been the sore spot. The Sharks also haven’t looked much better since Bob Boughner took over for Peter DeBoer a month ago. But all it takes is one long winning streak and they’re right back in the mix. It helps that the Pacific Division isn’t as talented as the Central.
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The Flames, who had the best record in the Western Conference last season, picked things up since their coaching change, going 11-5-1 with Geoff Ward behind the bench. (Sounds similar to last season’s Blues). Calgary has been buoyed by a surprisingly good David Rittich in net, though the team might need to manage his workload down the stretch. The Flames really need more out of their best offensive players, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. If either (or both) of those guys get hot, the Flames could be a true threat.
The Panthers did everything they could this offseason to improve their chances at a playoff berth. Besides hiring multiple Cup winner Joel Quenneville as coach, they splurged on Sergei Bobrovsky and added veterans with playoff experience for depth: Noel Acciari, Brett Connolly and Anton Stralman. Everyone is waiting for Bobrovksy to turn a corner, and it’s really not too late (either for this season, or the entirety of his contract). It all could come together for Florida.
In the Central Division, the Jets have outperformed expectations (especially with the turnover on the blue line) and the Predators have underperformed (Nashville’s goaltending has been surprisingly undependable). But there’s enough foundational talent on either team to really go on a run, a la the Blues.
Calder Trophy favorite Cale Makar returned from his first injury as a pro, an eight-game absence due to an upper-body injury, believed to be his left shoulder. And something unusual happened in his second game back: he committed a penalty. It was Makar’s first penalty as an NHL player; he made it to Game 31 without one. “It was a dumb one, too,” Samuel Girard said. “Delay of game, just puck over the glass. That sucks when it happens like that.”
I have a feature coming soon on Makar, and it’s clear just how beloved he is by his teammates. “He’s a clean player, but what I love about Cale is he’s not afraid to get his nose dirty, too,” Nazem Kadri said. “He can lay a big hit or have some physical confrontation. He’s not cheap; he’ll play by the rules. But he’s tougher out there than you think.”
Canada won the gold medal in the IIHF World Junior Championships, coming back to stun Russia, 4-3. All eyes were on the likely No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, Alexis Lafreniere. I asked Chris Peters, who was onsite in Ostrava, to recap Lafreniere’s tournament and what it means for the youngster’s NHL future:
“Alexis Lafreniere has been dominant all season in QMJHL play, but that was expected. All eyes were on him for this World Juniors event, and he delivered in the biggest way possible. Despite only playing in five games, missing two entirely and most of the preliminary-round matchup against Russia due to an apparent knee injury, Lafreniere finished second on Canada with 10 points. He was named the tournament’s best forward, All-Star and the MVP as selected by the media, capping his performance with two assists in the gold-medal game. There were about a half dozen other top draft-eligible players in the tournament, including three on Lafreniere’s own team, but he stood head-and-shoulders above the rest.
“From the moment the tournament started, with Lafreniere recording four points in Canada’s comeback win over the United States, including the late, game-winning goal, the 18-year-old wing took charge and never looked back. His skill, physicality and hockey IQ were all NHL-caliber as he led Canada to its first gold on European soil since 2008. It was one heck of a signature moment in the biggest season of his young life.”
Make sure you check out Chris’ piece later in the week, where he compares Lafreniere and Quinton Byfield, who are competing for that top spot.
This April, history will be made as a hockey game will be played on the North Pole for the first time. It’s being billed as “The Last Game,” and organizers are hoping it will bring attention to glacial melting. Former NHL defenseman Slava Fetisov has been a big part of it. On Jan. 11 at Madison Square Garden, during the second intermission of Harvard-Yale, there will be a 20-minute scrimmage raising awareness for the event.
Besides former NHL players, organizers asked four women’s hockey players from the PWHPA to participate, including goalies Kimberly Sass and Sarah Bryant. “It’s a really unique opportunity for us,” Sass said. “I commend them for trying to use their audience and voice and power that they have to include the PWHPA and women in this event.”
For Bryant, the issue is personal. She’s a high school science educator and also worked for state parks as a naturalist. “We need to get serious about making a change,” she said. “A lot of people don’t realize, as I didn’t before, how serious it is and what impact it will have on them in the future, just because they can’t see it now.”
I love this video from the Blue Jackets for a couple reasons. One, it’s nice to see the softer side of John Tortorella (especially after a week in which he again became a meme for a press conference tirade). This is who Torts is behind closed doors. Two, it was really special to see Austin look for each of the players he announced in the lineup (including his beloved Vladislav Gavrikov) as if he can’t believe they’re actually right there in front of him.
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