NHL Bits and Pieces Heading Into the Weekend
We’re not yet halfway into the NHL season. But lots to talk about with Christmas just around the corner:
—When you hear media folks trumpeting the latest change to the NHL all-star format, understand they have totally sold out. Or are working for a rights holder. Or the NHL. The only reasonable fix to the all-star farce is to get rid of it entirely. No independent media person would argue otherwise.
—When the Maple Leafs drafted Auston Matthews first overall in 2016, they already had elite, skilled players like Morgan Rielly, William Nylander and Mitch Marner. In other words, they had talent to go with Matthews’s talent. Now look at poor Connor Bedard. When he was drafted first overall by Chicago earlier this year, there was almost nothing left in the Hawks prospect cupboard except for Kevin Korchinski, taken seventh overall in 2022. It will be almost impossible for Bedard to participate in a playoff game until at least 2029, maybe later. There’s gonna be a lot of losing before that, and a lot of shifts with guys not even close to his talent level. Chicago is dead last right now and may not win 25 games. It’s going to be a long, hard ride for Bedard, and for those who imagined this would be a quick turnaround in the Windy City.
—You do wonder when something is going to happen in Ottawa. In what was supposed to be a breakthrough year, the Sens are last in the Eastern Conference and seemingly going nowhere. Sure, there’s young talent there, but it has to be surrounded by capable veterans and good goaltending while it is maturing. Having made many, many bad predictions myself over the years, I can’t help going back to the unfortunate, partisan-fueled prediction of former Ottawa defenceman Marc Methot back in March, 2021. “Ottawa will have a much better team than Toronto in two or three years,” Methot tweeted. “Won’t even be close.” Well, it could still happen, but he’s running out of time. Leafs currently have a .667 winning percentage, Sens are struggling along at .458.
—You do wonder how long Brady Tkachuk is going to want to hang around with all the losing in Ottawa before he demands a trade to play with his brother in Florida. Calgary fans can tell Senators fans how that works. At least Brady is signed for another four seasons.
—Seeing Patrik Laine go down with a broken collarbone after getting tied up with Toronto’s William Lagesson on Thursday night showed that NHL decisions have consequences. When Timothy Liljegren was injured in a similar play with Brad Marchand, NHL hanging judge Curious George Parros did nothing. Now it’s happened again and another player is out long-term.
—With Tampa looking life-and-death to be a playoff team this season, many are wondering about the potential availability of Steven Stamkos as a rental at the trade deadline. Even more intriguing would be if 32-year-old defenceman Viktor Hedman was put on the trading block. Tampa would get more for him, partly because he’s still got one more year on his deal after this season at a fairly reasonable $7.875 million cap hit.
—Connor McDavid, once again a finalist in the Northern Star Award voting this week, is suddenly fourth in the NHL scoring race. He might be first by the first day of 2024. And the Oilers might be in a playoff spot.
—Sure the Leafs were terrible for two periods on Thursday night against Columbus. But seriously, after they mounted a historic comeback from a 5-0 deficit to force overtime, who would choose to say “yeah, but” about that? It’s mid-December. Nobody cares about a game with Columbus. It’s entertainment. To sit there and say “Well, they can’t play like that in the playoffs” is to both state the obvious and ignore the firepower that allowed them to overcome such a huge deficit. Do you think anyone in Columbus was praising the Jax for how well they played in the first two periods? There are some so committed to this narrative of the Leafs not being tough enough and gritty enough that they’ll ignore even history in the making to make their point. It seemed particularly the case on a night when the point earned pushed the Leafs past Florida and into second place in the tough Atlantic Division.
—The Leafs have lost six games in regulation this season. Only Vancouver and Boston, with five apiece, have lost fewer.
—Can’t stand John Tortorella for many reasons. But you have to admire what’s happening in Philly with Torts, Keith Jones and Daniel Briere. The Flyers are sixth in the east. The return of Sean Couturier has made a huge difference. The club has started to invest in the draft, making two top 10 picks the last two years. The 2017 draft, sadly, remains one that really set Philly back. Nico Hischier, Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar and Elias Pettersen were four of the top five picks. All four are now big-time NHL stars. The Flyers, however, went with Nolan Patrick second overall. Patrick is out of the NHL right now after missing all last season with Vegas. A migraine disorder set his career back substantially. But that Ron Hextall pick is one that will haunt the Flyers for a long, long time.