How Will The Expansion Draft Impact Canadian Teams?
Continuing our look at different expansion draft angles, CBC’s Amy Cleveland examines how the draft will affect the seven teams in Canada. Laying out the rules for the draft, Cleveland looks further and prognosticates who she sees as “potentially protected” versus those players who would be “intriguing” in being exposed. She further writes that all seven Canadian teams will be able to protect the bulk of their important players. The Flames sit prettiest without any non-movement clauses in contracts while the Leafs and Senators have only one player with an NMC (Nathan Horton, and Dion Phaneuf respectively).
Below are Cleveland’s picks for each team. Going to CBC’s page with the story includes in depth reasoning behind each of Cleveland’s choices.
Calgary Flames
NMC protected players: None.
Potentially protected:
- Forwards Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Troy Brouwer, Michael Frolik, Mikael Backlund, Sam Bennett, Micheal Ferland
- Defencemen Dougie Hamilton, T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano
- Goalie Chad Johnson
Intriguing exposed:
- Matt Stajan (F), Lance Bouma (F), Brett Kulak (D)
Edmonton Oilers
NMC protected players: Milan Lucic (F), Andrej Sekera (D), Cam Talbot (G)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards: Lucic, Leon Draisaitl, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Patrick Maroon, Tyler Pitlick, Zack Kassian
- Defencemen: Sekera, Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson
- Goalie: Talbot
Intriguing exposed:
- Benoit Pouliot (F), Mark Letestu (F)
Montreal Canadiens
NMC protected players: Carey Price (G), Jeff Petry (D)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher, Alexander Radulov, Max Pacioretty, Paul Byron, Andrew Shaw, Phillip Danault
- Defencemen Petry, Shea Weber, Nathan Beaulieu
- Goalie: Price
Intriguing exposed:
- Tomas Plekanec (F), Jacob De la Rose (F- RFA), Alexei Emelin (D), Greg Pateryn (D)
Ottawa Senators
NMC protected players: Dion Phaneuf (D)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards: Kyle Turris, Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Derick Brassard, Ryan Dzingel, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Curtis Lazar
- Defencemen: Phaneuf, Erik Karlsson, Cody Ceci
- Goalie: Craig Anderson
Intriguing exposed:
- Bobby Ryan (F), Marc Methot (D)
Toronto Maple Leafs
NMC protected players: Nathan Horton (F)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov, Matt Martin, Connor Brown
- Defencemen Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Connor Carrick
- Goalie Frederik Andersen
Vancouver Canucks
NMC protected players: Loui Eriksson (F), Daniel Sedin (F), Henrik Sedin (F)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards: Eriksson, Sedin twins, Brandon Sutter, Bo Horvat, Markus Granlund, Jannik Hansen
- Defencemen Alexander Edler, Christopher Tanev, Erik Gudbranson
- Goalie Jacob Markstrom
Intriguing exposed:
- Sven Baertschi (F), Derek Dorsett (F), Luca Sbisa (D)
Winnipeg Jets
NMC protected players: Dustin Byfuglien (D), Toby Enstrom (D)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards: Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Adam Lowry
- Defencemen: Byfuglien, Enstrom, Tyler Myers, Jacob Trouba
- Goalie Connor Hellebuyck
Intriguing exposed:
- Mathieu Perreault (F), Marko Dano (F), Mark Stuart (D)
Pacific Division Snapshots: Brown, Strome, Russell
Dustin Brown spent eight seasons as the captain of the Los Angeles Kings, helping the team to two Stanley Cup championships during that time. He scored 54 points in 2011-12, the fifth consecutive campaign of at least 22 goals and 53 points, but since has seen his performance decline. Brown did tally 18 goals during the strike-shortened 2012-13 season but in the three full seasons since he’s averaged just 0.35 points-per-game. That performance regression in part prompted the Kings to remove the “C” from Brown’s sweater in order to give it to Anze Kopitar.
The Kings did look to move Brown this summer but with six seasons remaining on a contract that calls for an AAV of just shy of $6MM, there wasn’t much interest. Brown was critical of the decision, particularly in how the situation was handled, but the 13-year veteran has handled his business like a pro this season. In fact, as Josh Cooper of Yahoo writes, not having the responsibilities of the position any longer allows Brown to focus on playing hockey and his play has improved this season as a result.
“I’m not taking the game home with me, which in years past was a difficult thing not to do, partly because I … just as a competitor you want to take everything personally. Now I’m kind of detached a little bit from it, which is a good thing. So I get to come to work every day and do my job. It has been much easier to leave it here, which has been much healthier.”
Brown has six points in 20 games, a per-game average of 0.45. That prorates to a full, 82-game total of about 37 points. Brown has been part of an effective third line with Devin Setoguchi and Nic Dowd and for the first time in a long while he says he is enjoying the game:
“This is probably the first time I’ve had fun playing hockey in a couple of years. I know in saying that we play a game for a living. But I always say no matter if you’re playing a game or whatever you’re doing in life if you’re not having fun it’s tough to do.”
Even with the uptick in production it’s unlikely Brown will ever again be worth his cap charge. But the Kings must nonetheless be pleased to see even a moderate improvement from their former captain.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:
- Dylan Strome has tons of skill and plenty of hockey instincts. But Arizona GM John Chayka and team bench boss Dave Tippett believe the one thing holding him back at this point in his young career is a lack of physical maturity, as Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports writes. Strome was recently returned to the Erie Otters of the OHL after a seven game spin at the NHL level. He tallied just a single assist and was a minus-5 while averaging 13:41 of ice time per game. Strome’s struggles represent one of the issues regarding Canadian junior players. His development won’t be helped by returning to the OHL as he’s simply too good for that level. But as we’ve seen, he isn’t physically ready for the challenges of the NHL and he can’t be sent to the AHL to play against other professionals due to the rules in place. However, as Morgan notes, Strome will be eligible to represent Canada at the upcoming Word Juniors, which as Chayka points out, will allow him to serve as a leader on the Canadian squad: “I think that’s important to be in Canada for him,” Chayka said. “He should be a big part of that team; a big part of that leadership group.”
- Kris Russell has his critics as a player, particularly among the analytical community. Yet the Edmonton Oilers, who signed the veteran defender late in the offseason, are pleased with what he has brought to the table, as Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Journal writes. The numbers that matter most to the Oilers is the team’s won-loss record when he is in the lineup versus when he is out. Edmonton is 9 – 3 – 1 with Russell playing and just 2 – 5 – 0 when he does not play. While he isn’t putting up big counting numbers, in the opinion of bench boss Todd McLellan, Russell has helped add stability to a unit that has been below-average over the last several seasons: “I don’t think it’s coincidence. I think he does bring enough stability back there that he has an impact on the outcome of games.” Russell had to wait through the summer before landing a deal with Edmonton but if he continues to impress Oilers management, the team could look to lock up the 10-year vet before he hits the free agency next July.
Looking Back At A Complicated Draft-Day Trade
On Saturday night, Oilers winger Anton Slepyshev notched two assists as the Oilers beat the Stars 5-2.
The Russian winger has looked very good so far this season. While he has just three points in nine games, he’s also been playing just 11 minutes per night. Slepyshev has cracked the NHL lineup out of training camp both years he’s been in North America. He was sent down after 11 games last season, and struggled a bit in the AHL. However, he appears to be one of those players who plays well against better competition and doesn’t bring his best against lower tiers of competition. Because coach Todd McLellan clearly likes his game, Slepyshev appears poised to be a future tough and versatile middle-six forward.
It’s fascinating to look back at the series of trades that lead to Slepyshev being drafted by Edmonton.
It was the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft. The Edmonton Oilers were set to pick 37th overall, and had their eye on prospect goalie Zachary Fucale. Unfortunately for new GM Craig MacTavish, the Montreal Canadiens selected Fucale one pick before.
Their player gone, the Oilers then made a series of trades to move down in the draft, and turned that one second round pick into a two third round picks and three fourth round picks.
They traded pick 37 to Los Angeles for picks 57, 88, and 96. MacTavish turned around and traded pick 57 to St. Louis for picks 83, 94, and 113.
With those five picks acquired from trading down, the Oilers ended up with Bogdan Yakimov, Slepyshev, Jackson Houck, Kyle Platzer, and Aidan Muir.
Slepyshev was in his second year of eligibility, but was ranked 17th in his draft year and 45th in his second go-round by Corey Pronman. Pronman described him this way:
He is an above-average skater, with agility and free movement, as his shiftiness makes him hard to check. He has a plus shot and he knows it, as his mentality is often shoot-first, even from distance. He can still make plays, and he does not have tunnel vision, but his playmaking skills are not his best element. His physical game has progressed, and he has added strength since last season. He can protect pucks moderately well. He will display physical effort, although it could be better at times. He also needs to work on his defensive game.
It’s likely the “Russian Factor” lead to Slepyshev being passed over, in addition to the fact he had only scored 24 points in 101 KHL games before being drafted. He broke out the next year, however. He scored 25 points in 58 games and signed an entry-level contract with the Oilers shortly after Peter Chiarelli took over. TSN analyst and former NHLer Ray Ferraro called Slepyshev “a player… He’s not a 3 years in the AHL project.”
Yakimov is a 6’5 center who showed promise but also some inconsistency. He’s in the final year of his entry-level contract and currently on loan to the KHL. It seems unlikely he will return to North America; he returned to the KHL despite having a big chance to make the Oilers with their top three centers at the World Cup. Instead, rookie Drake Caggiula made the team and is playing out of position at center.
Platzer was drafted out of the London Knights, and was pigeon-holed as a checking center there. He was traded to Owen Sound for his last year-and-a-half of his OHL career, and exploded for 100 points in his 95 games with the Attack. He’s slowly gaining a foothold in the AHL and looks like he could turn out to be a solid bottom-six penalty killer and two-way forward.
As far as the other two players acquired: Houck never cracked the point-per-game level in junior, went unsigned by the Oilers, and is currently playing in the ECHL; Muir is playing Div. 1 college hockey. Neither man appears likely to make the NHL in any meaningful capacity.
The player Edmonton originally wanted, Fucale, has struggled mightily post-draft, and is looking more and more like a bust. Los Angeles selected Valentin Zykov at 37, and the Blues picked William Carrier at 57. The Blues traded Carrier at the 2014 trade deadline to Buffalo as part of a package for Ryan Miller, while Zykov was traded at the 2016 deadline with a 5th round pick for Kris Versteeg. Zykov has 23 points in 59 AHL games, and needs to have a bounce-back season this year to continue to be considered a legit NHL prospect. Carrier has 55 points over 126 AHL games and made his NHL debut this season.
MacTavish was widely panned for a variety of unsuccessful roster moves and poor asset management, but this trade, his first, can likely be considered a success.
Three-plus years after the trade, it’s interesting to look back at these kinds of trades and see how things work out. Most insiders agree that the NHL Draft is something of a crapshoot; just look at Pro Hockey Rumors’ re-draft of the 2005 NHL Draft where there are some tremendous players picked long after after some serious busts.
Oilers Notes: McLellan, Lander, Russell, Caggiula, Hendricks
Thursday night’s 4 – 2 loss to Los Angeles represented Todd McLellan’s 100th game behind the Edmonton bench. Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal felt that’s enough of a sample to determine whether McLellan has delivered on the promise of guiding the talented team back to the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
McCurdy compares McLellan’s performance to this point to the five other men who have guided the club since the 2009-10 campaign; a list that includes accomplished NHL coaches in Pat Quin and Tom Renney in addition to first-time NHL bench bosses like Ralph Krueger and Dallas Eakins.
It’s a relatively in-depth analysis using a number of categories including; the Oilers win rate, their share of goals and shots for and the team’s performance in the special teams department. A full read of the post is highly recommended but ultimately McCurdy concludes that the Oilers have improved only marginally under McLellan and despite a ton of high end talent – including Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Jordan Eberle – there is still much work to be done to turn Edmonton into a perennial playoff team.
Other items from Edmonton:
- The club announced via their official Twitter account today that they have activated forwards Matt Hendricks and rookie Drake Caggiula, along with blue liner Kris Russell from IR. Also, Anton Lander who cleared waivers, has been assigned to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL. Hendricks and Caggiula have yet to appear in a game for Edmonton this season while Russell, a late offseason free agent signing, has suited up for 11 contests and has three assists so far. Caggiula was a coveted college free agent last spring who capped off an impressive four-year career at the University of North Dakota with a 25-goal, 51-point senior season. He made the Oilers in training camp but a hip injury delayed his much anticipated debut. Now it appears as if he will get his chance in relatively short order.
- Lastly, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal took note of the rumored availability of Arizona Coyotes blue liner Michael Stone and wonders if the Edmonton Oilers would have an interest, assuming those rumors are in fact accurate. Stone has just three points in seven games this season but turned in a productive 2015-16 campaign with six goals and 30 helpers. Stone has had a positive affect on puck possession over the last three years while playing for a team that ranks 24th in Corsi For % during that time. It’s unclear what Edmonton would have to give up to pry Stone away from Arizona but Pierre Lebrun speculates that when and if the team elects to move center Martin Hanzal, the Coyotes would want a young roster player who can contribute right now as opposed to prospects and/or picks. It’s fair to guess then that Arizona would request the same in any hypothetical trade of Stone.
McKenzie’s Latest: Olympics, Escrow, And Star Treatment
In a pair of radio appearances in Montreal and Edmonton on Friday morning, TSN Insider Bob McKenzie spoke about two big issues in the NHL.
McKenzie spoke in Montreal about the brewing fight between the NHL and NHLPA over Olympic participation and CBA (transcribed by Chris Nichols from FanRag). The current perception is that the owners don’t want to go to the Olympics and are “holding the players hostage” over the issue. The owners are offering Olympic participation at the price of extending the CBA.
The Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta reports that it doesn’t seem likely that the NHLPA will accept the offer.
This is because the players’ biggest problem is with escrow. As Nichols puts it, “there may not be a more mind-numbingly awful subject to discuss for hockey fans than escrow.”
McKenzie says he empathizes with the players, because no one would want to lose an additional 15 percent off the top of their take-home salary. The players using the five percent salary cap escalator each season helps raise the salaries of free agents, but ends up hurting players by increasing escrow. While the players say they want a cap on escrow, the issue, according to McKenzie is that “you can’t put a cap on escrow in a hard cap system. I think some players – I’m not saying all players – some players don’t understand escrow.”
This is where McKenzie says the negotiations could get ugly now and when the CBA expires: “if the players actually think that the NHL is going to negotiate a cap on escrow, which would mean that the owners are getting less than 50 percent of the revenue – that’s going to be a motherhood issue on both sides of the fence.”
How will they come to an agreement? “Outside of shutting down the league and going back and fighting the battle over the salary cap and the share, I don’t know how you solve that… There’ll be blood on the tracks for escrow to come down in any meaningful way, other than by not putting the inflator in or the Canadian dollar getting stronger.”
Hopefully for hockey fans, the two sides can figure it out without costing fans the chance to see NHLers at the Olympics in 2018 and beyond, and avoid another season-long lockout.
Another hot button issue in the hockey world is the treatment of superstars. The Calgary Flames’ Johnny Gaudreau will miss six weeks with a broken finger after being slashed 21 times by the Minnesota Wild. Flames coach Glen Gulutzan spoke to the referees about Gaudreau’s treatment earlier in the game, but there was no change in the standard of calls. GM Brad Treliving said “it wasn’t a unicorn” that broke Gaudreau’s finger. Meanwhile, the Flames rivals in Edmonton also have an issue with the officiating: the Oilers super sophomore Connor McDavid has also been hooked and held with few or no calls.
Neither McDavid nor coach Todd McLellan have been vocal about McDavid’s treatment. McKenzie believes that is the right choice, telling TSN 1260‘s morning show that complaining to the media won’t lead to the results they want. The TSN Insider suggested the Oilers organization will gather video of the missed calls and “lobby behind the scenes and if [Stephen Walkom’s office] thinks you have a valid point then they’ll send out a memo.”
McKenzie said, “one of the things I used to love about the NHL was it was really hard on the star players” but when that happened, “mayhem was going to follow” and that “often leads to serious injuries or criminal behaviour.”
With most enforcers out of the league, NHL teams don’t have the means they used to police the game themselves. If anyone got in Wayne Gretzky‘s face, they could count on a visit from Oilers tough guy Dave Semenko. But now, McKenzie says “it’s up to the referees to make sure that Brandon Dubinsky doesn’t get away with murder on Sidney Crosby.”
Even if there are changes implemented, McKenzie wisely points out that “at the end of the day it’s officiating and no one is ever going to be happy about it.”
Oilers Place Anton Lander On Waivers
The Edmonton Oilers have placed forward Anton Lander on waivers for purpose of assignment to the Bakersfield Condors.
Sportsnet’s John Shannon reports that Matt Hendricks and Drake Caggiula are coming off IR. Hendricks was injured in a pre-season game at the beginning of October, while Caggiula suffered a hip injury while taking a penalty shot. Lander, a second round pick in 2009, has already cleared waivers once this year. He was not assigned to Bakersfield, in part because of injuries to Hendricks and Caggiula.
Lander has proven to be a legit number one center in the AHL, but has never been able to have sustained success at the NHL level. His best stretch was in the 2014-15 season, where he scored 20 points in 38 games as the Oilers third line center. He was expected to be the Oilers third line center the next season, and actually tied Alex Ovechkin for pre-season goal scoring. Unfortunately for Lander and the Oilers, he only scored one goal in 61 regular season games and lost his spot as an NHL regular. This season, he’s played 16 games on the Oilers fourth line. He’s a great face-off man and a good penalty killer, but the Oilers have enough slow-to-average speed players in the bottom six, and Lander’s skill-set is replaced by Hendricks.
One wonders if the Detroit Red Wings take a look at Lander. They’ve suffered some injuries at the forward position, and Lander’s only NHL success came under the Red Wings current AHL coach Todd Nelson. Nelson coached Lander in Oklahoma City, where he ended up being a 1.1 PPG player at that level.
Lander will be a restricted free agent at season’s end, and makes $990K.
- The Oilers have also assigned defenseman Dillon Simpson to the Condors. Simpson was recalled on November 5, but did not appear in an NHL game. The son of former Oiler and Hockey Night in Canada commentator Craig Simpson was called up because of an injury to Kris Russell, but Russell and Brandon Davidson are both close to returning.
Oilers Notes: Early Goals, Eberle, Depth
It’s been a tale of two seasons so far for the Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers were 7-1-0 on October 30. That night, they lost an emotional game versus Craig Anderson and the Ottawa Senators. Since then, it’s been tough sledding for the Oilers. Including the Senators game, Edmonton has gone 2-5-1 in the last eight games.
Their recent losing streak has shown a tough tendency: the Oilers have been scored on in the first two minutes eight times so far this season. Six of those early goals have been scored in the last eight games, including the last three games straight.
It’s not clear why the Oilers keep surrendering early goals, but they do seem to be able to score their way back into games. Despite being down so early in half their games, they’ve only trailed at the first intermission twice in those eight games.
Perhaps no player embodies the Oilers recent struggles as much as Jordan Eberle. The longest-serving Oiler has five points in his last five games, but besides a two-goal outburst in last week’s loss against the Penguins, he hasn’t scored a goal since October 18. He spent his summer working on his shot and one-timer to help him playing with Connor McDavid, but Eberle’s shot hasn’t looked any better or helped him score on the power-play.
Eberle was pulled off McDavid’s wing during Sunday night’s loss to the Rangers., and coach Todd McLellan told reporters post-game that “based on tonight, Ebs wouldn’t get a passing grade in my books. Or else he would have stayed [on McDavid’s wing]. You earn your keep, and Ebs didn’t earn it tonight in my mind.”
Having a $6MM sniper like Eberle struggle like this is tough for any team, let alone one with little depth behind him. Beyond Eberle, the Oilers have Jesse Puljujärvi, Zack Kassian, and Tyler Pitlick.
Kassian has looked solid this season, but isn’t suited to playing above a third line checking/ depth scoring role. Pitlick has been a pleasant surprise for the Oilers, making the team in his sixth pro season and working his way up the lineup. His five goals tie him with McDavid, Milan Lucic, and Eberle for second-most on the Oilers behind Patrick Maroon. Pitlick was the one to replace Eberle on McDavid’s line during Sunday night’s loss.
Puljujärvi appeared to be getting the hang of the NHL game before missing a game with a Charley horse. He’s been held pointless since and looks like he could use a stint in the AHL to get his confidence back. That may not happen, unless the Oilers move Leon Draisaitl to the wing or add a veteran NHLer. TSN Edmonton radio host Allan Mitchell (aka Lowetide online) wrote that the Oilers “problems are identifiable, but the solutions will cost assets — and I wonder if Peter Chiarelli is willing to make those sacrifices at this point in the season.”
The Oilers appeared to be counting on college rookie Drake Caggiula to play third line center and move Draisaitl to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins‘ wing, but Caggiula suffered a hip injury in pre-season action and has been out since. It will be interesting to see how Chiarelli handles the Oilers season: despite a tough stretch, they’re still tops in the Pacific Division and are probably two or three pieces away from being a contender. If Chiarelli can add a veteran right winger and an offensive-minded defenseman to help the power-play, then Oilers fans can be confident that the team’s first eight games are more indicative of their real ability than the last eight games.
Snapshots: Larsson, Sabres, Minor Moves
It was one of the most controversial moves of the summer, but so far the Adam Larsson–Taylor Hall trade isn’t looking as bad as many in Edmonton expected, writes David Staples of the Edmonton Journal.
Staples notes Devils GM Ray Shero is one of the strongest proponents of the trade, and why wouldn’t he be? His Devils are in a playoff spot and Hall is tied for the Devils scoring lead. But he also believes the Oilers got what they needed, according to Kevin Allen of USA Today.
“The Oilers have taken a lot of grief over this, but has anybody sat down and watched Larsson? He’s actually pretty good.”
Shero pointed to Edmonton’s desperate need for a good, young defenseman to go with their young offensive forwards, while the Devils desperately needed an offensive catalyst like Hall.
“You have to make a team, and that is challenging in a salary cap world… They are off to a great start this season. That says something.”
Staples take on the trade is that he likes Larsson’s game, but doesn’t love it yet. He’s had the occasional struggle, but he’s also playing incredibly tough minutes with a skilled but inexperienced parter in Oscar Klefbom. Staples gives the trade a passing grade, with the note that Hall is clearly the better player but the Oilers got what they needed.
- Meanwhile, only one defense core in the NHL has yet to score a goal this season. Despite having weapons like Rasmus Ristolainen and Cody Franson, none of the Buffalo Sabres defensemen have scored. They have contributed 14 assists, however eight of those belong to Ristolainen. Franson told Bill Hoppe that he couldn’t “care less if I scored one goal in a season,” saying he prefers to get assists. Coach Dan Bylsma isn’t concerned with the lack of production, but would like his defensemen to be more aggressive.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled LW Markus Hannikainen from the Cleveland Monsters. The undrafted Hannikainen has seven points in 11 games for the Monsters so far.
- The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled LW Roman Lyubimov from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He was sent down to the AHL on Wednesday; Sam Carchidi reported it was simply a paper transaction made for salary cap reasons. Lyubimov has one goal in 11 NHL games so far this season. Carchidi also noted that it appears Chris Vande Velde will be a healthy scratch, despite scoring twice in the last four games.
- Rookie center Noel Acciari did not take part in Boston Bruins practice on Thursday morning, according to Joe Haggerty. He hasn’t skated since suffering a lower-body injury on Monday night versus the Sabres.
U20 Notes: McDavid, Laine, Matthews
“I think he’s the best 19-year-old hockey player I’ve ever seen.”
Wayne Gretzky had some high praise for Connor McDavid on Tuesday night. In an appearance on the NHL Network (transcribed by Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot), Gretzky called McDavid the “catalyst” of the Oilers. Edmonton is off to a 9-4-1 start, tied with Chicago for tops in the Western Conference, and McDavid is a major part of that. He is tied for second in the NHL with 17 points.
Tuesday night marked the first time McDavid, the future face of the NHL, took on Sidney Crosby, the current face of the NHL. The Oilers captain posted three assists while Crosby was held pointless for the first time this season. McDavid won the battle, but his team lost the war on a Benoit Pouliot own-goal with less than two minutes remaining.
Despite his high praise for McDavid, Gretzky still believes Crosby is the best player in the NHL, until “somebody knocks him off that mantle.”
McDavid leads the way for several highly-skilled young players like the top two selections from last June’s draft: Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine. Laine is leading the NHL with 11 goals in 14 games; he already has two hat-tricks in his young career, earning him the nickname “Hat-trick Laine”.
ESPN’s Joe McDonald relayed a story from the World Cup, where Laine represented the Finns. During a team practice, Laine ripped a shot past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. Rask admitted he never even saw the puck go past him. Laine’s 11 goals in 14 games ties former Winnipeg Jets sniper Teemu Selanne‘s record for goals in his first 14 NHL games. While Laine may not reach Selanne’s mark of 76 goals this season, he will certainly be among the NHL rookie leaders.
In Toronto, Matthews set an NHL record with a four goal outburst in his debut, but has slowed down slightly since then. He has six goals and 11 points in 13 games on a rebuilding Maple Leafs squad.
On the NHL Network, Gretzky complimented a few young players, including McDavid and Matthews for accepting “a responsibility of being that person for their city.”
Still in their prime, Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin are two of the best player in the NHL. With McDavid, Matthews, and Laine now in the picture, the future appears to be in very skilled hands.
Snapshots: Scandella, Benson, Sabres
The Minnesota Wild will be without defenseman Marco Scandella for the foreseeable future. Scandella suffered a high ankle sprain in his right ankle back on October 27 versus the Buffalo Sabres, according to a team release.
Scandella had previously been listed as week-to-week, before the Wild placed him on Long Term Injured Reserve. According to Cap Friendly, his entire $4MM cap hit is now available for the Wild to use until he returns. While Minnesota hasn’t given an indication other than week-to-week and now LTIR, generally high ankle sprains take 4-6 weeks at minimum to recover from. The Wild have recalled defenseman Mike Reilly from Iowa to take his place, as well as forwards Christoph Bertschy and Zack Mitchell.
- The WHL All-Stars and Russian Juniors are even at one game apiece in the CIBC Canada Russia Series. One of the WHL’s best players in their game two win was Vancouver Giants left winger Tyler Benson, with a goal and two assists in a 4-1 win. Benson was playing in his hometown of Edmonton, who also drafted him 32nd overall back in June. Benson has dealt with injuries for much of his junior career, but told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector that he’s “starting to get [his] game back” after dealing with a shoulder injury in training camp. Benson was expected to be a top pick before injuries contributed to his slide down the rankings. Back in 2013, Benson was widely predicted to be the first CHL Exceptional Status Player from the WHL, before he decided to play at a prep school in B.C. In 2012-13, Benson scored an astounding 57 goals and 146 points in 33 games in Bantam AAA hockey (doubling his next highest-scoring teammate), breaking that league’s record for points.
- The Buffalo Sabres received some news on the injury front, with winger Evander Kane expected to return tonight, according to Dan Bylsma (quoted by Amy Moritz). However, Ryan O’Reilly is questionable for tonight with an unspecified injury and Tyler Ennis is out with a “mid-body injury.”