Category: Ian Palmer

The NHL playoffs are ready to face off this Wednesday, April 10^th as 16 teams will be fighting it out for the Stanley Cup. Let’s take a quick look at who’s playing who and each club’s chances of moving on to the second round.

Eastern Conference

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Columbus Blue Jackets

The Lightning locked up their playoff spot long ago as the top team in the NHL and Atlantic Division champions. Their 62 wins tied a league record and forward Nikita Kucherov won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer with 128 points. In addition, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy led the league in wins with 39. Columbus made the playoffs on the last weekend of the season as the second wildcard team in the East. The club acquired pending free agent forwards Ryan Dzingel and Matt Duchene at the trade deadline and also hung onto their own pending free agent stars in forward Artemi Panarin and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who led the league with nine shutouts. Tampa Bay won all three games in the season series and should be able to take care of Columbus in the first round of the playoffs, but it won’t be a cakewalk.

Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs

The Bruins finished second in the Atlantic Division while the Leafs weren’t far behind in third. The teams have met twice in the postseason in recent years with Toronto blowing a lead in the third period of game seven on both occasions. When the teams met last season the Bruins’ line of David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand combined for 30 points in the series as the Leafs simply couldn’t contain them. However, defenceman Jake Muzzin and  forward John Tavares have been added to Toronto’s lineup over the past year and that could make a difference. The Leafs have plenty of offence, but struggle defensively and that’s why Boston won the season series three games to one. The Leafs haven’t played well down the stretch and Boston is favoured to advance in a relatively long series.

Washington Capitals vs Carolina Hurricanes

The Capitals won the Metropolitan Division again this season and are of course the defending Stanley Cup champions. Sniper Alexander Ovechkin led the league in goals for a record-setting eighth time with 51 and the Hurricanes finally ended a nine-year postseason drought this year. Carolina was one of the hottest teams in the league during the second half of the season with a record of 31-12-2 and locked up the conference’s first wildcard spot. Carolina has a good mix of veterans and youth, but they failed to beat Washington in four tries during the regular season. The Stanley Cup champions should advance, but Carolina will keep the games and series close.

New York Islanders vs Pittsburgh Penguins

The Islanders placed second in the Metropolitan Division with the Penguins coming in third. Barry Trotz took over as head coach of the Islanders this season and turned the league’s worst defensive team in 2078/18 into one of the best this year. Goaltender’s Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss each had remarkable campaigns to make up for the team’s lack of offence. The Penguins big guns include Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby and it will be interesting to see if the Islanders can contain them. The Islanders went 2-1-1 against Pittsburgh in the season series and if they can score enough goals may pull off a mild upset here.

Western Conference

Calgary Flames vs Colorado Avalanche

The Flames won the Western Conference for the first time since 1988-89, when they won their only Stanley Cup. Bill Peters took over as head coach and was fortunate enough to have an offensively-loaded squad led by Johnny Gaudreau’s 99 points. Captain Mark Giordano leads the defence and chipped in with 74 points. The big question mark is the team’s goaltending which consists of Mike Smith and David Rittich. Colorado had injuries to deal with late in the season, but clinched the West’s second wildcard spot in the last week. The status of forward Mikko Rantanen is unclear, but Colorado’s chances fade if he can’t play. Colorado also has their fair share of scorers with Nathan MacKinnon tying Gaudreau at 99 points. Colorado didn’t beat Calgary in their three regular-season games and won’t be able to beat them four times to win this series.

San Jose Sharks vs Vegas Golden Knights

The Sharks and Golden Knights finished in second and third place respectively in the Pacific Division. The Sharks have two Norris Trophy-winning blue liners in Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson with Burns leading the league in assists and points for defencemen this season with 67 and 83. However, Karlsson only returned to the lineup from injury in the last game of the season. Vegas added veteran forwards Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone and Paul Stastny over the past year and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury posted eight shutouts. Vegas eliminated San Jose in last year’s playoffs on their way to the Stanley Cup Final and went 2-1-1 in the regular season this year. The Sharks’ goaltending was sub par this season and that may see them knocked out once again by Vegas.

Nashville Predators vs Dallas Stars

Nashville won the Central Division on the last day of the season while Dallas took the first wildcard spot in the West in the last week. Nashville has one of the best blue lines in the league with rearguards Ryan Ellis, P.K. Subban, Mattias Ekhlom and Roman Josi while the offence is led by Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson. However, Dallas netminder Ben Bishop led the league in save percentage this year at 93.4. Dallas also has some offence in Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Nashville went 3-2 against Dallas in the regular season with just one win coming in regulation time. This should be another close series with Nashville winning it.

Winnipeg Jets vs St. Louis Blues

Winnipeg finished second in the Central Division with the Blues right behind them. The Jets are led offensively by Patrik Laine, Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele, but Connor Hellebuyck has struggled slightly in net. The Blues have offence in Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko and rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington’s 1.89 goals-against average led the league while posting a record of 24-5-1 and a save percentage of 92.7. The Blues were last in the league on January 1^st and then caught fire when Binnington was called up from the AHL. Winnipeg went 3-1 in the regular season against St. Louis with two wins coming in regulation time. The Jets have faltered lately while the Blues remained hot and St. Louis should win a tough series.

It was just a matter of time before the Tampa Bay Lightning were officially recognized as the NHL’s best regular-season team in 2018/19 and they did that with a 4-1 home win over the Arizona Coyotes on March 18^th. With their latest triumph, the Lightning clinched the NHL’s President’s Trophy as the top squad in the league. They also locked up the top spot in the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division at the same time. It’s the first time in the franchise’s history the team has won the President’s Trophy and they also have one Stanley Cup to their name which was won in 2003/04.

Another milestone was reached during the contest as forward Steven Stamkos notched the 384th goal of his NHL career and 36^th of the season to become the franchise’s all-time leading scorer ahead of Vincent Lecavalier. Tampa’s record for the season rose to 56-13-4 with the victory and they’ve now won five straight games. Winning the President’s Trophy means Tampa is guaranteed home ice advantage in each of their upcoming playoff series. They will kick off the postseason by playing the second wild-card team in the Eastern Conference.

Stamkos the Lightning captain, finished the game with 384 goals in 737 regular-season outings while Lecavalier managed to net 383 goals while playing 1,037 contests with the club. Tampa Bay clinched the President’s Trophy in their 73^rd game of the 82-game season to become the second-fastest franchise in league history to clinch the silverware. The Detroit Red Wings managed to achieve the feat after 71 games in the 1995/96 campaign. Tampa also leads the league in goals as of March 19^th with 287 while their 191 goals against is the fourth-lowest in the league.

The Lightning will be the favourite to win the Stanley Cup this spring with both the fans and oddsmakers. They will now attempt to become the ninth team in NHL history to win both the President’s Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season. However, the President’s Trophy wasn’t introduced until the 1985/86 season. Tampa Bay currently boasts five players on the roster with at least 20 goals this season as Brayden Point leads the way with 38. He’s followed by Stamkos at 36, Nikita Kucherov with 35, Tyler Johnson at 26 and Yanni Gourde with 20.

In addition, Kucherov leads the NHL in assists with 82 and in total points at 117. At the other end of the ice, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is tied for the league lead in wins with 36. Louis Domingue has also played well and has won 20 games himself as a backup goalie this season. Team-wise, Tampa Bay has been excelling on the power-play and penalty killing units as their success rate with the man advantage is 28.4 per cent and their penalty killing is rated at 85.7 per cent. There’s no doubt the Lightning deserves to be favoured once the playoffs face off, but as many former President’s Trophy winners can attest to, winning the regular season points race certainly doesn’t guarantee anything in the postseason.

There was a flurry of activity on NHL trade deadline day as usual as there were a total of 20 deals completed on Feb. 25^th. These trades saw 32 players and 16 draft picks swap teams.

Let’ take a look at the day’s major deals and see how each team fared.

The Philadelphia Flyers sent forward Wayne Simmonds to Nashville Predators and in return they received forward Ryan Hartman as well as a conditional fourth-round draft choice in 2020.

Nashville then made a deal with the Minnesota Wild as they swapped forward Kevin Fiala for forward Mikael Granlund. The Predators also received future considerations from the Toronto Maple Leafs for forward Nicholas Baptiste. Granlund is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1^st.

The St. Louis Blues added defensive depth by acquiring rearguard Michael Del Zotto from the Anaheim ducks. It cost the Blues just a  sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft.

Anaheim also traded forward Brian Gibbons as they shipped him to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for blue liner Patrick Sieloff. The Ducks also traded defenseman Brandon Montour as they received a first-round draft pick in 2019 from the Buffalo Sabres for him as well as defender Brendan Guhle.

The Winnipeg Jets were the busiest team on deadline day as they made half a dozen deals. They sent a seventh-round draft pick in 2020 to the Minnesota Wild for forward Matt Hendricks. They acquired forward Par Lindholm form the Toronto Maple Leafs for forward Nic Petan and traded future considerations to the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Alexander Broadhurst.

In addition, Winnipeg received defenceman Nathan Beaulieu from the Buffalo Sabres for a sixth-round draft choice this summer.  Defenceman Bogdan Kiselevich was acquired from the Florida Panthers for a seventh-rounder in 2021. Winnipeg’s biggest trade saw them land center Kevin Hayes, who’s an unrestricted free agent this summer. Hayes came over from the New York Rangers in exchange for Winnipeg’s first-round draft pick this year and a conditional fourth rounder in 2022. The Jets also gave up Brendan Lemieux in the deal.

The Rangers also traded another player who’s eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer as forward Mats Zuccarello was dealt to the Dallas Stars. In return, New York received a conditional 2019 second-round draft pick and a conditional third-round selection next year.

The Vegas Golden Knights landed forwards Tobias Lindberg and Mark Stone win a swap with the Ottawa Senators. Right-winger Stone is scheduled to become a free agent this summer and Vegas gave up defenceman Erik Brannstrom and forward Oscar Lindberg.

Ottawa also traded another pending free agent in forward Ryan Dzingel as he went to the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 2019 seventh-round draft choice. In return, the Senators picked up forward Anthony Duclair along with second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021.

The Vancouver Canucks shipped rearguard Erik Gudbrandon over to the Pittsburgh Penguins in return for forward Tanner Pearson. Pittsburgh also traded forward Tanner Pearson to the Florida Panthers for defender Chris Wideman.

The Canucks also made a deal with the San Jose Sharks by swapping Jonathan Dahlen for fellow forward Linus Karlsson. San Jose also added pending free agent Gustav Nyquist to their roster by sending a 2019 second-round draft pick to the Detroit Red Wins along with a conditional third-rounder next year.

The Colorado Avalanche received centre Derick Brassard for a third-rounder in 2020 from the Florida Panthers. If the Avalanche re-sign Brassard, who’s an unrestricted free agent in July, the Panthers will also send along a conditional sixth-rounder next season. Florida also sent forward Tomas Juco to the Carolina Hurricanes and received future considerations. They then made another deal with Carolina by giving future considerations for forward prospect Cliff Pu.

The New Jersey Devils sent forward Marcus Johansson to the Boston Bruins for a 2019 second-round draft selection and a 2020 fourth-round pick.

The Columbus Blue Jackets picked up defenceman Adam McQuaid in a trade with the New York Rangers and gave up blue line prospect Julius Bergman along with a 2019 fourth and seventh-rounder. Columbus also acquired goaltender Keith Kinkaid as they sent the New Jersey Devils a 2022 fifth-round draft pick for him.

The Montreal Canadiens dealt Michael Chaput to the Arizona Coyotes for fellow forward Jordan Weal and the Dallas Stars added defenseman Ben Lovejoy to the team from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for defender Connor Carrick and a 2019 third-round draft choice.

Once Cam Talbot sorts out his visa issues, the Philadelphia Flyers will soon set an unwanted and dubious NHL record of using eight different netminders in a season. The Flyers traded for the 31-year-old on Feb. 16^th when they sent fellow goaltender Anthony Stolarz to the Edmonton Oilers in return. Talbot is in the final year of his contract and is eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1^st. Stolarz is also playing out his contract and the 25-year-old is set to become a restricted free agent in the summer.

The Flyers have already dressed seven goalies so far this season as Michal Neuvirth, Brian Elliott, Mike McKenna, Alex Lyon, Dustin Tokarski, Carter Hart and Stolarz have all spent time between the posts for the team. Elliott and Neuvirth started the season as the top two goaltenders, but then ran into injury problems. They’re both still under contract to the team for the remainder of the season and will then become unrestricted free agents.

Twenty-year-old Carter Hart of Sherwood Park, Alberta has emerged as the team’s top goaltender this year and is expected to hang onto his job even with the addition of Talbot. Hart, who was drafted 48^th overall by the Flyers in 2016, had a 13-6-1 record after his first 20 games this season with a 2.55 goals-against average and a 92.4 save percentage. Talbot has appeared in 31 games with the Oilers with a mark of 10-15-3 with a 3.36 GAA and a save percentage of 89.3.

Talbot was expected to be dealt before the NHL’s trade deadline of Feb. 25^th as Edmonton recently inked goaltender Mikko Koskinen to a new $13.5 million, three-year contract. Talbot, of Caledonia, Ontario, went undrafted and signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent in 2010. He played for the club in 2013/14 and 2014/15 before being traded to Edmonton. Talbot led the league in games played by a goalie in 2016/17 and again in 2017/18 when he guarded the crease 73 and 67 times respectively.

He’s played 284 regular-season games in his career with a mark of 137-110-24, a GAA of 2.59, a 91.5 save percentage and 20 shutouts. Talbot’s also 7-7 in 15 career playoff games with a 2.48 GAA, 92.2 save percentage and two shutouts. He led the league in wins in 2016/17 with 42 and his 31 victories in 2017/17 were ranked 10^th. He also had a fine season in 2014/15 as he was ranked fourth in both goals-against average and save percentage at 2.21 and 92.6. However, he also led the NHL in losses in 2015/16 and 2017/18 with 27 and 31 respectively.

The 6-foot-6-inch Stolarz was drafted by the Flyers in 2012 with the 45^th overall pick. He played in seven games with the team in 2016/17 and in 12 this season. He went 6-4-4 in Philadelphia with a GAA of 2.86 and a save percentage of 91.1 along with two shutouts. He’s now expected to give Koskinen a good battle for the top job in Edmonton. As for the Flyers, they will have given up a good young prospect for a rental player if Talbot decides to leave the team as a free agent at the end of the season.

However, club management may feel it was worth if if the squad makes the playoffs this season. As of Feb. 18^th they had just won three games in a row and were 8-1-1 in their past 10 outings, but were still six points behind the final wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia also had three teams to overtake, but if they can extend their recent hot streak, anything’s possible.

For the second time in his NHL head coaching career, Randy Carlyle has been fired by the Anaheim Ducks and general manager Bob Murray. With just two victories in the last 21 outings since December 18^th and riding a seven-game losing skid, the move was inevitable. However, many fans and experts believe the axe should have fell long before it got to this point. The team is 2-15-4 over that time after they won 11 of their 13 previous games and occupied second place in the Pacific Division.

Despite the Ducks’ woeful record over the last 21 contests they are still somehow in the playoff race in the Western Conference. They have 51 points on the season and share last place in the conference with the Los Angeles Kings, but as of Feb. 10^th they were only half a dozen points out of the final playoff position. Murray has announced that he’ll be taking over Carlyle’s coaching duties even though he has no experience behind the bench. He added that a new head coach will be hired in the offseason. One potential candidate is Dallas Eakins, who’s currently the bench boss with the Ducks’ AHL farm team the San Diego Gulls.

Carlyle becomes the sixth NHL head coach to lose his job this season after no coaches were let go in 2017/18. The 62-year-old Sudbury, Ontario native first took over behind the Anaheim bench in 2005 and led the team to a Stanley Cup triumph in 2006/07. He was fired from the Ducks the first time during the 2010/11 campaign and was replaced by Bruce Boudreau. Carlyle was then hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs and led the team to the playoffs once in three-and-a-half years before being dismissed from his job in January, 2015.

He returned to the Ducks in 2016/17 after Boudreau was let go. As for Murray, he’s been with the Ducks organization since 2005 in various capacities. He pulled the trigger on several trades earlier in the season in an attempt to change the team’s struggling fortunes, but they failed to make a positive impact. Anaheim missed the playoffs just once previously under Carlyle and he posted a record of 384-256-96 with the club  in 736 regular-season games, going 46-37 in the playoffs. He is ranked number one all-time for franchise coaching wins in Anaheim, but was just 21-26-9 this season.

Carlyle was relieved of his duties on Feb. 10^th after the Ducks were beaten 6-2 in Philadelphia. It was their seventh consecutive defeat and they had been outscored 29-7 in the past five games as well as 14-0 during the first periods of that stretch. The Ducks endured a 12-game losing skid in January, but at the time Murray announced to the press that he wasn’t going to change head coaches. The Ducks then won a pair of games, but entered another extended losing streak immediately after.

The Ducks lost several key players to injuries at times during the current season and that definitely didn’t help their cause. However, some of them have returned, including high-scoring-winger Corey Perry, but they still haven’t been to snap their losing streak. Goaltender John Gibson has also been struggling and a coaching move certainly made sense. Murray may decide to shake up the roster with more moves between now and the February 25^th NHL trade deadline, but the Ducks still have to pass seven teams in the standings to reach the last wild card playoff spot.

Going two NHL games without registering a point isn’t typically considered a slump for an NHL defenceman unless your name happens to be Erik Karlsson that is. Heading into the San Jose Sharks’ game on Jan. 15^th the 28-year-old Swedish blue liner had gone pointless in his two previous outings. But considering he posted 25 points in his 14 appearance before that, yes he’s in a bit of a drought.

It took the two-time Norris Trophy winner several weeks to get rolling this season after his blockbuster trade to San Jose from the Ottawa Senators shortly before campaign faced off. Karlsson was well known around the league for his scoring exploits and that’s one of the reasons the Sharks took a risk on him. San Jose gave up a multitude of draft picks and young prospects to acquire the Ottawa captain even though he’s scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1^st.

Some fans also felt the club didn’t really need more point production from the blue line since the Sharks already have one of the top-scoring defenders in the league in Brent Burns. There’s no guarantee Karlsson will re-sign with San Jose, so the club could be left out in the cold when the summer arrives. Still, they’re hoping he inks a new deal and will help the squad challenge for the Stanley Cup this spring. If he doesn’t, they’ll definitely live to regret it considering what the return for him might be before next month’s trade deadline.

While Karlsson hasn’t exactly been igniting the opposition goal light on a regular basis this season with just three markers, he’s definitely been an elite playmaker with 38 assists in 45 games and has been scoring at a rate of 0.91 points-per contest. He hasn’t been a liability in his own end either as he was a plus-eight. Karlsson wasn’t acquired for his defensive prowess though as offense comes first with him. As of Jan. 13^th he had scored 129 goals in 672 regular-season games and added 430 assists for 559 points and was a minus-28. He’d also added six goals and 37 points in 48 playoff outings.

During the first quarter of 2018/19 Karlsson notched just 10 points and it seemed he wasn’t really happy or comfortable in San Jose. However, it turns out he was just getting used to his new teammates and surroundings and is now feeling quite at home on the west coast. Karlsson recently set a San Jose franchise record by recording at least one point in 14 straight appearances and became the fifth NHL blue liner to notch an assist in 14 consecutive appearances. However, his streak was then snapped as he attempted to equal Paul Coffey’s league milestone of an assist in 17 straight games.

Karlsson’s name was rarely mentioned earlier this season when the topic of the Norris Trophy and league’s best defenceman came up, but he’s now on the tip of everybody’s tongue following his recent spurt. He’s being counted on by head coach Peter DeBoer in all types of game situations as he’s been averaging 25 minutes of ice time per night. Karlsson’s play of late has helped the Sharks in their challenge for top spot in the Western Conference and the Pacific Division. The team has gone 15-3-2 since early December and would have to completely come off the tracks to miss the postseason.

If Karlsson can manage to keep up his current scoring rate he’s on pace to finish the season with five goals and 68 assists for 73 points, which would be the fourth-highest point total of his NHL career. Ottawa missed the playoffs in four of the nine seasons Karlsson played in Canada’s capital, so he’s obviously looking forward to playing this April. However, he also needs to decide on his future plans. If he hasn’t given the Sharks any hint of staying with the club, it’s possible he’s shipped out as a rental player before or at the trade deadline. With the Sharks looking like a legitimate cup contender though, that’s a scenario the club hopes doesn’t happen.

Scoring in the NHL reached a new level in 2018 as the puck was deposited in the net 7,662 times in 1,282 regular-season games. This broke the previous record for a 12-month span which was 7,410 goals scored in the 2006 calendar year. The playing field was a little unbalanced though since there were 31 teams in the league in 2018 and just 30 in 2006.

The top scorer in the 2018 calendar year was Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers as the team captain posted 121 points in 81 games from 48 goals along with 73 assists. Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche was second on the scoring list with 113 points from 34 goals and 79 assists. Fellow Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon was next with 110 points and Russian forward Nikita Kucherov followed with 109 points. Evgeni Malkin and his Pittsburgh Penguin teammate Sidney Crosby each scored 102 points and Philadelphia Flyers’ forward Claude Giroux reached 100 points.

It was the first time since 1996 that seven NHL players scored at least 100 points in the same season, when eight players managed to do it. When last year’s playoff totals are added, Kucherov jumps to number one overall with 126 points in his total of 101 games played with 40 goals along with 86 assists. The top goal scorer in the 365 days of 2018 was Washington Capitals’ sharpshooter Alexander Ovechkin with 54 goals in 80 contests while Winnipeg Jets’ youngster Patrik Laine was the runner up with 50 in his 81 contests.

It was the sixth time Ovechkin led the league in scoring for a calendar year to tie Phil Esposito for second place all-time while Montreal Canadiens’ legend Rocket Richard led the league seven times during his career. Ovechkin, who’s now 33 years old, became the fourth player to lead the regular-season goal-scoring parade in the NHL after turning 33. He also topped the list in total goals for 2018 as he scored 15 times in the postseason for 69 goals in a total of 104 games. To top things off, the veteran was named the Conn Smythe Trophy for the playoffs as he led Washington to the Stanley Cup for the first time in club history.

Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks led all defencemen in regular-season scoring last year when he notched 82 points from a dozen goals and 70 assists. Matt Dumba of the Minnesota Wild ranked number one in goals though with 19. Even though the goals came fast and furious last year, NHL goalies still performed well. Veteran Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights posted the most wins in the regular-season with 44 in a total of 73 appearances. Fleury has now won at least 40 games in three different seasons as he registered 46 victories in 2009 and 45 more in 2013.

The highest-scoring team in 2018 was the Tampa Bay Lightning with 313 goals. They also registered the most victories in the regular season as well as points with 57 and 119 respectively. When looking at the current NHL season it’s obvious scoring hasn’t slowed down and last year’s record may be smashed in the 2019 calendar year. As of January 7^th there were 13 players on pace to score over 100 points in the 2018/19 campaign with several others just off the mark. In comparison, just three players reached the 100-point plateau in 2017/18 as Giroux, Kucherov and McDavid achieved the milestone.

In the previous seven years only five players in total netted 100 points in a season and there was never more than one player per season to reach the mark. We have to go back to 1995/96 to find the last time the league had 10 or more players with at least 100 points. Team-wise, Tampa Bay was scoring at a rate of 4.17 goals each game at the halfway mark of 2018/19 with 171 goals in their first 41 contests. For the 10th-highest total in the last 28 years.

With two consecutive hat tricks last week, Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals jumped into the NHL goal scoring lead with 29 goals in 32 games and also set a new career-best point streak of 14 straight contests. The Russian sniper has 17 goals and six assists during his hot stretch and is three games away from tying the franchise record of 17 straight outings with a point set by fellow winger Mike Gartner. With just one more tally this season Ovechkin will hit the 30-goal plateau for the 14^th straight season since breaking into the league.

Most fans believe he’ll eventually slow down, but if he doesn’t he’s on pace to score 75 times in 2018/19. This is even more remarkable considering he’s 33 years old, which is more than a decade older than the current crop of young stars such as Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Patrik Laine. Ovechkin’s previous best in goals was 65. He’s scored fewer than 40 in just three of his 13 full seasons which includes 32 goals in the 48-game campaign of 2012/13. He’s hit the 50-goal mark seven times and is also tied with Bobby Hull for leading the league in goals on seven occasions.

The two hat tricks last week give him 23 for his career which ranks 10^th on the all time list. He’s also number nine in history for multi-goal games with 127. Wayne Gretzky leads the way in both categories with 50 career hat tricks and 189 multi-goal outings. Gretzky is also the all-time leader in goals scored with 894, followed by Gordie Howe at 801 and Jaromir Jagr with 766. As of December 17^th Ovechkin had notched 636 regular-season goals to rank 15^th and could realistically finish his career in third place all time. One record he should break in the next couple of years is Dave Andreychuk’s mark for 274 power-play goals as Ovechkin is just 37 behind with 237.

In addition, if The Great Eight manages to reach 50 goals again this season he’ll become the third-oldest NHL’er to achieve the feat behind Jaromir Jagr and Johnny Bucyk. But even though Ovechkin is lethal on the power-play with his patented one-timer from the left faceoff circle, he’s scored 21 of his 29 goals this season at even strength while his shooting percentage stands at 22.5. Scoring goals just comes naturally to the Capitals’ captain though as he banged in 52 as a rookie back in 2005/06 and took home the Calder Trophy and was named to the All-Rookie Team.

Ovechkin is simply one of the greatest players to ever skate on a hockey rink. He’s an 11-time All-Star and has been recognized for his greatness with 16 individual NHL awards. This included three Hart Trophies along with his seven Rocket Richard Awards. He enjoyed his finest season in 2007/08 when he took home the Art Ross, Hart, Lady Byng and Richard Trophies after scoring 65 goals and 47 helpers for 112 points. And let’s not forget he was last season’s Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the MVP of the playoffs for leading the Capitals to their first ever Stanley Cup.

Goaltenders simply have a difficult time stopping Ovechkin’s shot even though they know exactly when and where it’s coming from. This is probably because his shot has been clocked at more than 101 miles per hour in the past and it hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. He’s a very accurate shooter and if there are bodies in front of the net when he lets it go it’s almost for a goaltender to react quickly enough to stop it. Ovechkin isn’t slowing down either when it comes to his overall play. He’s still just as physical as he always was and his enthusiasm for the game hasn’t waned.

Even though he plays a reckless style, Ovechkin has been lucky enough to remain relatively healthy during his career due to his pure strength. It’s hard to predict how much longer he can keep it up, but don’t be surprised if he’s still filling the net five years from now and challenging Gretzky for the number one spot on the all-time goals list.

When the Ottawa Senators traded former Norris Trophy-winner Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks during the offseason many fans believed the club’s blue line would struggle offensively this season. That hasn’t been the case though. Yes, the defence corps may have a hard time in their own end most nights, but they’ve found an excellent replacement for Karlsson’s offensive skills in 21-year-old Thomas Chabot of Sainte-Marie, Quebec. As of December 10^th, Chabot was leading all NHL defencemen in scoring with eight goals and 25 assists for 33 points in 31 games.

He’s on pace for over 20 goals and 85 points this season if he can keep it up and he’s also even in the plus/minus stats on a struggling team which was minus-17 overall. He’s been a huge surprise for the Senators and their fans considering he had played just 64 big league games prior to this season. He did show signs of things to come in those 64 games however with nine goals and 25 points in them. If Chabot should happen to reach the 90-point mark this season he’d become the first blue liner since 1993/94 to reach the milestone when hall of famer Ray Bourque achieved it.

Chabot was drafted by the Senators in 2015 with the 18^th overall pick from Saint John of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He played junior hockey until the end of the 2016/17 campaign and posted 34 goals and 119 assists for 154 points in 202 regular-season contests with Saint John. He also chipped in with eight goals and 45 points in 40 playoff games, was a two-time All-Star, a playoff MVP and winner of the Defenceman of the Year Award in both the QMJHL and CHL as a youngster. He helped Saint John win a league championship in 2016/17 and earned an appearance in the Memorial Cup.

He also shone internationally in the 2016/17 World Junior Championships where he was named to the All-Star Team as well as being honoured with the MVP and Best Player Awards. He scored four goals and 10 points in seven outings as Canada finished fourth. The 6-foot-2-inch 195 lb rearguard then opened the 2017/18 campaign in the American Hockey League season with the Belleville Senators and posted two goals and seven points in 13 games before being called up by Ottawa for the remainder of the year.

But while Chabot has more or less been leading NHL defenceman in scoring for most of the current season, he may be an outsider when it comes to winning the James Norris Trophy as the league’s best blue liner. If he keeps the scoring pace up he should at least be one of the three finalists for the award, but he’s unlikely to win it. The main reason for this is the fact the Senators are likely to finish quite low in the league standings and miss the playoffs. If we look at the history of the Norris Trophy, which was first handed out for the 1953/54 season, we find not a single blue liner has won it while playing for a non-playoff squad.

The Senators started the season well, but have now fallen in the standings and also have to deal with injuries to two of their top forwards in Bobby Ryan and Matt Duchene. There’s also a possibility Duchene could be traded before the deadline since he’s a pending free agent at the end of the season. Of course, if Chabot is the top-scoring defenceman at the end of the season it’ll be almost impossible not to name him as a finalist for the Norris. He could also buck the trend and become the first rearguard in NHL history to win the award while not making the postseason. But the odds are he’ll have to reach break the 90-point barrier to do so.

Toronto Maple Leafs fans can finally relax after the club and forward William Nylander reached a deal on December 1^st just before the 5 pm deadline arrived. The 22-year-old put his signature on a new six-year contract that will pay him a total of $41.77 million over six years. If the two sides didn’t come to an agreement by the deadline Nylander would have been ineligible to play for any NHL team this season. The deal will take up just over $6.9 million a year in salary cap space. There’s no guarantee he’ll remain with the club though since the Leafs still have the option of trading him if they run into salary cap problems in the future.

That’s a possibility since general manager Kyle Dubas has several players who will become free agents at the end of the current season. These include two of the squad’s top performers in Mitchell Marner and Auston Matthews as well as promising youngsters Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen as well as high-scoring veteran defenseman Jake Gardiner. Everybody, but Gardiner will be a restricted free agent while the blue liner will be an unrestricted free agent. With Marner and Matthews likely looking for somewhere close to $10 or $11 million each and Gardiner being worth $6 or $7 million on the open market it’s going to be tough for Dubas to keep everybody happy, especially with John Tavares already making $11 million a year.

Nylander’s contract may be front loaded and filled with bonuses, but it’s still going to take up just over $6.9 million in cap space each year. With Nylander rejoining the team the Leafs appear to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender as they were sitting second in the league standings as of Dec. 3^rd without him with a record of 19-8. Dubas had to shuffle the roster to make room for the youngster and instead of putting somebody on waivers or sending them the minors he traded winger Josh Leivo to the Vancouver Canucks for forward Michael Carcone on December 3rd.

The 25-year-old Leivo had four goals and two assists in 27 games this year with 14 goals and 14 assists in 84 career regular-season contests. The 22-year-old Carcone has been playing with the AHL’s Utica Comets and has six goals and 11 assists in 20 games this season with 26 goals and 36 assists in 149 career AHL outings. The debate over whether Nylander is worth $6.96 million dollars a year will still rage on though. He posted 61 points in both the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons and after 185 regular season games has 135 points. It’s true that Nylander played much of this time with Matthews as his centre, but it’s still Nylander who has to put the puck in the net.

He was one of the top-20 NHL players in five-on-five scoring last season and he averaged more points per minute played than star players such as Tavares, Vladimir Tarasenko and Sidney Crosby. Nylander has already missed 27 games this season, but should soon be ready for action as he’s been skating and working out in Sweden. Nylander will need to produce at the same pace though or he could still be traded. The Leafs have shown they can win without him and would still like some help on the blue line. If Nylander is shipped out it would also free up some cap space for Gardiner or another top-two defenceman.