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The Los Angeles Kings fired head coach John Stevens on November 4^th and replaced him with former Vancouver Canucks’ bench boss Willie Desjardins. Assistant coach Don Nachbaur was also given his marching orders and his job will be taken over by Marco Sturm. Desjardins is being called an interim coach as he’s only been given until the end of the season to turn things around. In addition, Sturm is currently coaching in Germany and won’t head out to Los Angeles until mid-November. The move may have been a bit of a surprise to some fans, but it wasn’t a total shock considering the team is off to a 4-8-1 start and sits in the basement of the Pacific Division.

The Kings have been beaten in seven of their past nine outings, but the timing of the announcement was a little odd considering it came after they downed the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 at home just a few hours earlier. Desjardins will get his feet wet behind the Kings’ bench on November 6^th when they host the visiting Anaheim Ducks. Los Angeles GM Rob Blake said he believes the 61-year-old Desjardins can kick start the team and get some better results before the side falls too far out of the playoff race. Desjardins last NHL stint saw him go 109-110-27 with Vancouver between 2014 and 2017.

Blake hinted that more changes may be coming though if he doesn’t see an improvement in play soon. The 52-year-old Stevens was hired by the Kings in 2010/11 and worked as an assistant to former head coaches Terry Murray and Darryl Sutter, winning the Stanley Cup in 2011/12 and again in 2013/14. He then took over the reins from Sutter for the 2017/18 season. Stevens guided the Kings to a 45-29-8 mark last year, but the team was swept in four games in the first round of the playoffs by the Vegas Golden Knights. Stevens had previous NHL head coaching experience as he also guided the Philadelphia Flyers from 2006 to 2009 and his career record now stands at 171-148-43.

Blake said he felt terrible firing Stevens, but something had to be done to shake the team up and it seemed like the most sensible option. The squad has been under performing as the Kings have scored just 28 goals so far this season for an average of 2.15 per game, which is last in the NHL. This comes as a surprise since they signed free agent Russian sniper Ilya Kovalchuk in the offseason to a three-year deal worth $18.75 million. The team scored 2.89 goals per game last year to rank 16^th in the league, but instead of improving they’ve actually gone south. In addition, their chances of winning low-scoring games isn’t that good at the moment since number one goalie Jonathan Quick is on the sidelines due to recent knee surgery.

But according to Blake’s comments to the media, he believes the players simply haven’t been performing as well as expected and as well as they should be and that needs to be rectified as soon as possible. And that’s why the Kings’ players who don’t have no-trade or no-movement clauses in their contracts will need to pull up their socks under Desjardins. If they don’t they could find themselves shipped out of town as well. If there is a bright side to the coaching change in Los Angeles, it’s the fact that goaltending coach Bill Ranford and assistant coach Dave Lowry still have their jobs…at least for the time being.

One of the biggest and most one-sided NHL trades during the off season saw 26-year-old left-winger Jeff Skinner being dealt to the Buffalo Sabres from the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes originally drafted the Markham-born player in the first round with the seventh overall pick in 2010. He quickly proceeded to tear up the league as a rookie by winning the Calder Memorial Trophy with 31 goals and 32 assists in his first season in 2010/11 and it appeared Carolina had found an excellent franchise player.

In his debut season, Skinner became the youngest NHL’er to be named rookie of the year at the age of 18 and was also the youngest ever to play in an NHL All-Star Game. In addition, he became the youngest all-star in any of the four major sports leagues in North America. The former Kitchener Ranger missed 18 games the next season, but still managed 20 goals and 24 assists and then posted 13 goals and 11 assists in the shortened 42-game campaign of 2012/13. Following that, Skinner had seasons of 33, 18, 28, 37 and 24 goals for the Hurricanes and notched 204 goals and 185 assists for 379 points in 579 games with the struggling franchise.

But even though he arguably hadn’t hit his prime yet at the age of 26, Carolina decided to trade him to Buffalo for prospect Cliff Pu as well as a second-round pick in the 2019 draft, and a third and sixth-rounder in 2020. At the time of the trade, Skinner had one year remaining on his contract with a salary cap hit of $5.725 million. He may have started off relatively slowly with the Sabres with just two points in his first six outings this season, but he’s now started to roll with six goals and six assists in 11 games to lead the squad and is a plus-nine. He’s also helped the team get off to a fine 6-4-1 start.

If he can keep the pace up, Skinner will set new career highs in goals, assists and points and there’s no better time to do so since he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next July. Playing mainly on a line with centre Jack Eichel has certainly helped, but all of Skinner’s stats and possession numbers have been impressive so far. This bodes well for the winger when it comes time to sign his next contract and his stock should rise even higher if he can help the Sabres reach the playoffs this season. It wouldn’t be unrealistic to see Skinner get close to $8 million a year on his next deal.

As long as Skinner can stay healthy through the 2018/19 campaign he should be in a good bargaining position when it’s time to negotiate his next contract. However, it’s unclear if he’d rather test the free agency waters next year or re-sign with the Sabres. Of course, Buffalo doesn’t want to lose him for nothing, so they really need to feel him out to see how interested he is in remaining with the club after this season. If they get the feeling Skinner wants to shop his services around next summer they will need to deal him before the trade deadline to  recoup some of the assets they used to acquire him.

There’s no doubt the speedy goalscorer could bring in an attractive return at the trade deadline as playoff-bound teams try to strengthen their squads. This puts the onus on the Sabres to start negotiating with Skinner now to see just what his future plans are. If Buffalo continues to play well and Skinner can keep producing, he may very well be tempted to stay with the young squad since it could have a bright future. But wherever he ends up in 2019/20, you can bet Skinner’s next contract should contain a considerable hike in pay.

Alex DeBrincat of the Chicago Blackhawks isn’t the first 5-foot-7-inch, 165 lb. success story in the NHL and he won’t be the last, but he his the latest. The 20-year-old native of Farmington Hills, Michigan was selected by Chicago in the second round of the 2016 Entry Draft with the 39^th overall pick during a stellar junior career in the Ontario Hockey League. And considering the numbers he posted as a youngster it shouldn’t be too surprising that he’s found his feet in the NHL.

The young winger joined the Erie Otters of the OHL as an unsigned free agent in 2014/15 and racked up 51 goals and 53 assists for 104 points as a rookie in 68 games. He then scored 51 goals and 50 assists for 101 points in 60 games the following campaign and added 127 points on 65 goals and 62 assists in 63 contests in his final year of junior. However, DeBrincat wasn’t chosen in the first round during his draft year as some scouts believed he was too small as well as too slow.

The Blackhawks appeared to know better though and since they didn’t have a first round pick in 2016 they took DeBrincat as soon as they could when they drafted 39th overall. He had already played two seasons with Erie before his name was selected and it came as a blessing for Chicago when he enjoyed his finest junior campaign after the draft by averaging two points per game. The Otters captured the OHL crown that year and the Red Tilson Award went home with DeBrincat as the most outstanding player in the league. He also added 10 points in five Memorial Cup contests.

Looking back at DeBrincat’s junior career we see he was named the CHL Rookie of the Year in 2014/15 and led the league in rookie goals, assists, and points and was named to the OHL’s Second All-Star Team. In 2015/16 he played in the CHL Top Prospects Game, was named to the league’s Third All-Star Team and helped the USA capture the bronze medal at the World junior Championships. He finished with a bang in 2016/17 by leading the OHL in goals and points, being named to the league’s First All-Star Team and to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team. He also helped the Otters win the OHL, won the Red Tilson Trophy, and led the playoffs in both assists with 25 and points with 38.

It didn’t take the youngster long to crack the Blackhawks’ lineup as DeBrincat made his NHL debut in 2016/17 and proceeded to score 28 goals and 24 assists for 52 points in his rookie season even though Chicago missed the playoffs by finishing deal last in the Central Division. DeBrincat stayed active though by playing for the USA at the World Championships in the spring and scored a goal and eight assists in 10 games to help the Americans win the bronze medal. When summer finally arrived he said he worked on his strength, speed and stick handling so he could become a more complete NHL’er.

His work ethic during the offseason has paid dividends so far as DeBrincat, who plays on a line with centre Jonathan Toews, came out of the gate this season with seven goals and four helpers in his first eight games. Since being drafted in 2016, just four NHL players have managed to score more points than DeBrincat and they are more or less household names as they are Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets, Matthew Tkachuk of the Calgary Flames and Clayton Keller of the Arizona Coyotes. They’ve also played more games than the Blackhawks’ sniper.

DeBrincat’s 28 goals and 24 assists as a rookie ranked him sixth in the NHL in rookie scoring and third in goals. He’s a small, but definitely skilled player who has a knack for putting the puck in the net and Toews believes it’s just a matter of time before he scored 40 goals in a season and he could even reach that plateau this year. There should be numerous scouts out there who are embarrassed by DeBrincat’s success considering he wasn’t drafted by the OHL and had to wait until the 39^th pick in the NHL Draft even though he was the fifth leading scorer in the CHL the season before.

Led by their young guns, the Toronto Maple Leafs got their 2018/19 NHL season off to a flying start by going 5-1 in their first six games including winning all four contests on a recent road trip. To keep things in perspective though, the Leafs’ first five contests came against non-playoff teams from last season. However, they did manage to double the reigning Stanley Cup champions the Washington Capitals 4-2 in Washington.

A quick look at the NHL scoring parade on October 15^th saw four Leafs in the top six. Centre Auston Matthews was leading the way with 10 goals and four assists in six games while defenceman Morgan Rielly was right behind him at three goals and 10 assists. Centre John Tavares was fifth in the league with six goals and four assists and winger Mitch Marner had three goals and seven helpers. All of this has been achieved while another Maple Leafs’ young sharpshooter William Nylander remains in Sweden during a contract dispute and Nazem Kadri and Patrick Marleau have yet to score a goal.

At 21 years old, Matthews’ quick start saw him become the youngest player in league history to score at least two points per game in his club’s first five games to start a season. He’s just the 12^th player ever to achieve the feat with Leafs’ teammate Patrick Marleau being the last to accomplish it in 2012/13 when he was with the San Jose Sharks. The youngest player before Matthews was a 22-year-old Wayne Gretzky when he scored six goals and 10 assists in five games back in 1983/84. Matthews has recorded five two-point games and one four-point encounter in his first six contests of the campaign.

He is also just the second player in the past 30 years and the fifth in the modern era to reach double digits in goals in his team’s first six games as Mario Lemieux had 11 for Pittsburgh in 1988/89. Bobby Hull scored 11 goals in his first half dozen games in 1965/66 while Dino Ciccarelli scored 10 in 1986/87 and Mike Bossy also netted 10 in 1984/85. In addition, Matthews became the third Maple Leaf in team history to score 10 times in the first six games with Babe Dye last achieving the feat in 1922/23.

As for Rielly, the last NHL defenceman to get off to such a quick start was Bobby Orr back in 1973/74 when he notched 11 points in his first five games while Rielly posted 12 in the Leafs first five this year. In fact, just one defenceman has gotten off to a better start than the 24-year-old Rielly and that came over 100 years ago when Harry Cameron scored 15 points in his first five outings with the old Toronto Arenas in 1917/18. Perhaps Rielly’s stats have surprised some fans, but he was one of the league’s top scoring blue liners last season with 52 points.

It may not be surprising that Tavares has already racked up up 10 points in six games since the 28-year-old veteran was the New York Islanders’ best player for the best part of a decade before signing in Toronto as a free agent this summer. However, some skeptics weren’t sure how long it would take him to fit with and adapt to the the Leafs’ system. The 21-year-old Marner has been keeping pace with his line mate Tavares and the crafty right-winger has now scored 70 points in his last 53 NHL games including the playoffs. Not bad for a player who was banished to the fourth line for a while last season.

As a team, the Leafs were leading the NHL in points with 10 as of October 15^th and in goals with 29 after six starts. However, they had also allowed 22 against, which was the second most in the league behind the Detroit Red Wings’ 23. It’s possible, but highly unlikely that Matthews, Rielly, Tavares and Marner remain on their torrid pace for the remainder of the season, but it’s also unlikely that Kadri and Marleau don’t start scoring soon. The Leafs have enjoyed fine regular seasons in the past couple of years, but have been knocked out of the playoffs in the first round each time. So unless they can replicate the scoring in the postseason, it may not mean much in the long run.

If it wasn’t for forward Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety might not have too much to do. Wilson was recently handed a 20-game suspension for his illegal blindside hit to the head on centre Oskar Sundqvist of the St. Louis Blues in the preseason and it’s his fourth suspension in his last 105 NHL contests. All of these bans have been handed down over the past 13 months and it looks like the repeat offender hasn’t learned his lesson yet. He’ll have to sit out close to a quarter of the 2018/19 regular season and will forfeit approximately $1.26 million in salary.

Last season the 24-year-old was suspended four games in the preseason, two games in the regular season and for three games in the playoffs. He arguably could have been suspended for his hit on the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Alexander Wennberg last season as well, but the league looked the other way and the same could be said for his hit against Brian Dumoulin of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs. But with NHL players receiving concussions at an alarming rate these days, there’s definitely no room in the game for illegal hits to the head area.

It’s possible that Wilson finally gets the hint and changes his ways, but not likely. He served 187 minutes in penalties last season, which was the second most in the NHL, but also saw a lot of ice time on his team’s first line with star players Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. And with Washington winning the Stanley Cup for the first time, Wilson may see no reason to alter his headhunting style, especially since he chipped in with a respectable and career-high of 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points in 78 games. He also racked up five goals and 10 assists in 21 postseason outings.

Wilson recently signed a new six-year contract in Washington worth just over $5 million a season so the suspension will hit him harder in the wallet this time around. It’s also the longest suspension for an on-ice hit since Raffi Torres was banned for 41 games back in 2015. Overall, Wilson has played 391 NHL contests since making his debut in 2012 and has spent 806 minutes in the penalty box. He’s scored a total of 35 goals and has been suspended for 29 games so far. Since entering the league, Wilson has led the NHL in penalty minutes and approximately 20 per cent (58) of his 255 regular-season penalty calls have been five-minute majors. He’s also receiver a match penalty and 11 misconducts.

Wilson and the NHL Players Association have announced they will be appealing the suspension to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and if they aren’t happy with the decision they can then appeal again to a neutral arbitrator. If the ban is upheld he won’t be eligible to play until Washington faces off against the Chicago Blackhawks on November 21^st. But at 6-feet-4-inches tall and weighing in at 218 lbs, Wilson can cause a lot of damage on the ice. The Capitals’ first-round draft pick and 16^th overall in 2012 has enough skill to survive in the league without crossing the line between clean and dirty hits. However, if the suspension is reduced he’s not likely to suddenly become a choir boy and play without reckless abandon. It’s also a good bet he’ll be suspended for a fifth time by the NHL before too long.

One of the NHL’s elder statesmen heading into the 2018/19 campaign is certainly winger Patrick Marleau as the 39 year old will be skating in his 21^st season this year. The native of Swift Current, Saskatchewan was originally drafted second overall by the San Jose Sharks in 1997 and made his NHL debut a few months later as an 18-year-old. Marleau stayed with the Sharks for 19 seasons before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in the summer of 2017.

He proved to be an efficient scorer on the west coast with 508 goals and 574 assists with the Sharks for 1,072 points in 1,493 regular-season games and added 68 goals and 52 assists in 177 playoff contests. He signed a three-year, $18.75 million contract in Toronto and chipped in with 47 points in 82 games last year with 27 goals and 20 assists playing mainly on a line with centre Nazem Kadri and rookie right-winger Mitch Marner. He also netted four goals and an assist in seven postseason outings. Marleau has now scored at least 20 goals in 15 of his 20 seasons and has scored 30 or more on seven occasions with 44 being his peak.

As well as his scoring prowess, Marleau is well known for his leadership, fitness, and skating ability. This allows him to keep up with the young stars in Toronto and also offer them some much-needed advice during the season. It appears Marleau will be faced with another new challenge this year as he’ll likely start the season on a line with 21-year-old centre Auston Matthews and veteran right-winger Tyler Ennis, who was signed this summer. Ennis will be filling in for unrestricted free agent William Nylander who still hasn’t come to terms with the Leafs on a new contract yet.

Matthews and Marleau enjoy an excellent off-ice relationship and the Leafs are hoping they can also turn it into a productive on-ice partnership. Like every NHL player, Marleau’s goal is to win a Stanley Cup before retiring and realizes time is running out at his age. He reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2015/16 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the Sharks came away empty handed. He now has two years left on his contract in Toronto to get his name engraved on Lord Stanley’s trophy. The Leafs have suddenly become one of the betting favourites to win the cup this year following the addition of all-star centre John Tavares.

Marleau realizes the odds don’t mean a thing though if the team doesn’t put in the hard work needed to succeed. He’s optimistic about the Leafs’ chances, but hopes the squad doesn’t get carried away with all the hype surrounding the them. As for personal achievements, Marleau enters the season with 535 goals and 594 assists for 1,129 points in 1,575 games and 125 points in 184 playoff games. He needs another 65 goals to reach 600 and is just six assists short of 600. He’s climbing the games-played ladder with each outing and is currently 11^th on the all-time list at 1,575 and is seventh all-time in game-winning goals with 103.

There’s a good chance Marleau will keep adding to those numbers until he’s in his forties due to his skating ability and conditioning. It’s quite possible that he signs another contract in Toronto after his current deal runs out or he tries his luck elsewhere. He’s played in 706 straight regular season games since being sidelined in April of 2009 and he’s hoping to play at least another 164 consecutive contests in Toronto before considering his next move.

NHL training camps got underway a week ago, but not all players have shown up. There are still three notable restricted free agents who have yet to sign with their respective clubs and there’s no telling when the impasses will end. The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t come to terms with winger William Nylander on a new contract and the same goes for defenceman Shea Theodore of the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks’ winger Nick Ritchie. All three of them have played out their entry-level contracts and they aren’t eligible to qualify for salary arbitration.

The 22-year-old Nylander reportedly wants to sign a long-term deal with the Leafs for approximately $8 million per season while the club doesn’t really want to go over $6.5 million or would rather sign him to a shorter bridge contract. While the Leafs don’t have any issues staying under the salary cap in 2018/19, things will change drastically next year when core players such as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Jake Gardiner will need to be re-signed or moved. And let’s mot forget Toronto signed free agent centre John Tavares this summer to a seven-year deal worth $77 million.

Of course, even if Toronto plans on trading one of their young stars they will still need to sign them first to get the return the club would be looking for. Nylander was the eighth overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft and has posted  48 goals and 87 assists for 135 points in 185 regular-season games up to now. This includes two consecutive 61-point seasons along with campaigns of 22 and 20 goals. He’s also chipped in with 15 power play markers and 11 game winners. But while he remains unsigned, the Leafs appear to be happy with newcomer Tyler Ennis playing on the squad’s top line with Matthews.

As for Shea Theodore, the 23-year-old blue liner was originally drafted 26^th overall by the Anaheim Ducks back in 2013. He was one of the Vegas Golden Knights’ best defencemen in their inaugural season with six goals and 23 assists. He now has 114 regular-season games under his belt and has accumulated 11 goals and 34 assists for 45 points with his first two seasons coming in Anaheim. Theodore averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time in the desert last season and will be sorely missed in Vegas, especially since fellow defender Nate Schmidt is suspended for the first 20 games this season.

Out in Anaheim, 22-year-old Nick Ritchie was drafted 10^th overall by the club in 2014 and has produced a total of 26 goals and 33 assists for 59 points in 186 regular-season contests. He scored 10 goals and 17 assists in 76 games last season and had 14 goals and 14 assists the year before. Ritchie hasn’t been a big point producer in Anaheim and hasn’t really had a breakout season as of yet. Therefore, the club may not be in any rush to ink him to a new deal. Still, he’s not going to take a step forward as an NHL’er if the Ducks don’t re-sign him.

In the meantime, Nylander, Theodore and Ritchie need to stay in shape while the rest of their teammates play preseason games and continue their training camps. Nobody wants to miss any of the actual season, but so far neither the players’ agents or their clubs have budged when it comes to new contracts.

There was enough off-ice action during the past week to keep headline writers busy before the NHL’s preseason officially faced off with games between the Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames in China. The most intriguing stories involved the trading of two team captains, the resignation of one of the league’s best young general managers and the retirement of a well-respected veteran.

Both the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators sent their captains packing as Habs’ forward Max Pacioretty was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights and the Senators shipped blue liner Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks. The 29-year-old Pacioretty was traded to Vegas in return for 27-year-old forward Tomas Tatar as well as 19-year-old forward prospect Nick Suzuki and a second-round draft pick in 2019. Pacioretty was entering the last season of a six-year contract with Montreal that was worth $4.5 million a campaign.

When arriving in Las Vegas, the Golden Knights promptly signed Pacioretty to a four-year extension worth $7 million a season. Pacioretty was originally drafted 22nd overall by Montreal in 2007. He appeared in 626 regular-season games and notched 226 goals and 222 assists for 448 points, including 17 goals and 20 assists last season. He also added 10 goals and nine assists in 38 playoff outings. Tatar was drafted 60th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2009 and was acquired by Vegas at last season’s trade deadline.

He scored 20 goals and 14 assists last year, but managed just four goals and two assists in 20 games with Vegas. Tatar was also a minus-11 and and appeared in only eight playoff games in the Golden Knights’ run to the Stanley Cup Final with a goal and assist to his name. He’s an accomplished scorer though with four straight 20-goal seasons under his belt while scoring 19 in his other full year. Tatar’s totals read 119 goals and 109 assists for 228 points in 427 games with four goals and five assists in 25 postseason outings.

As for the Senators, the dealt all-star defenceman Karlsson and prospect Francis Perron for defenceman Dylan DeMelo and forward Chris Tierney from San Jose along with and forward prospects Rudolfs Balcers and Josh Norris. They also acquired a first-round draft pick in 2019 or 2020 and a second-round draft pick in 2019. If San Jose misses the playoffs this season then the first-round pick will be in 2019. If they make the playoffs the pick will be in 2020. The deal also involves conditional draft picks which involve the Sharks re-signing Karlsson and reaching this season’s Stanley Cup Final.

The 28-year-old Karlsson was originally drafted 15th overall by Ottawa in 2008. He won a pair of Norris Trophies as the NHL’s top defenceman and was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Karlsson chipped in with nine goals and 53 assists last season for 62 points in 71 games and had 126 goals and 518 points in 627 regular-season games in Ottawa and added six goals and 31 assists in 48 playoff games. The 24-year-old Tierney scored 17 goals and 23 assists for 40 points last season and has 41 goals, 63 assists and 104 points in his 284 regular-season games after being drafted 55th overall by the Sharks in 2012.

The 25-year-old DeMelo played 63 games with San Jose last year and notched 20 assists. Norris was drafted 19th overall by San Jose in 2017 while the 21-year-old Balcers taken with the 142nd pick in 2015. He scored 23 goals and 25 assists last season for the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL to lead the team in goals and points as a rookie. It’s hard to tell how the prospects and draft picks will turn out for Senators, but the Sharks added a future hall of fame defenceman to their roster and now have two of the best blue liners in the league in Karlsson and Brent Burns.

In a bit of a surprise move, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman resigned from his position. He’ll now see out the last year of of his contract as a senior adviser with the club while former assistant GM Julien Brisebois takes over Yzerman’s job. Yzerman, a hall of fame player with the Detroit Red Wings, joined Tampa Bay in 2010 as the franchises GM and vice president. The former centre was named the NHL general manager of the year for 2014/15 when he lead his team to the Stanley Cup Final, only to be ousted by the Chicago Blackhawks. It’s unclear if the 53-year-old will remain with Tampa after this season, but it’s believed he wants to spend more time with his family.

In other news, Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, who was drafted 210th overall by the club in 1999, announced his retirement due to a back injury. The 37-year-old Swedish forward came in second in team scoring last season with 11 goals and 45 assists for 56 points. He appeared in 1,082 regular-season games and racked up 960 points on 337 goals and 623 assists. He also played in 137 playoff contests and added another 57 goals and 63 helpers for 120 points. Zetterberg led the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup in 2007/08 and was rewarded for his excellent performance by winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the postseason.

The biggest NHL free agent signing this summer was centre John Tavares heading to the Toronto Maple Leafs for seven years at $77 million, but fans shouldn’t overlook James van Riemsdyk’s return to the Philadelphia Flyers. The 29-year-old winger began his career in the City of Brotherly Love after being drafted by the Flyers with the second overall pick in 2007. He played three seasons with the club before being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he’s back where it all began now after inking a five year contract for $35 million.

The native of nearby Middletown, New Jersey, racked up 99 points in 196 games for the Flyers with 47 goals and 52 assists between 2009 and 2012 before heading to Toronto for defenceman Luke Schenn. It turned out to be one of the Leafs’ best ever trades as JVR contributed 154 goals and 140 assists for 294 points in 413 games in Toronto, including a team and career-high 36 goals and 18 assists in 81 outings last season. His career totals now read 393 points in 609 regular-season contests on 201 goals and 192 assists with 18 goals and 11 assists in 59 playoff games.

He will definitely boost Philadelphia’s chances at challenging for a Stanley Cup as he joins a lineup which contains fellow forwards Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Sean Couturier, Nolan Patrick, Jakub Voracek and Travis Konecny. And let’s not forget the team went 42-26-14 last year for 98 points and finished third in the Metropolitan Division. However, their lack of scoring depth hurt them in the playoffs as they were ousted in six games by the Pittsburgh Penguins and were outscored 28-15.

JVR is one of the finest scorers in the league around the crease area as he has a knack for finding the roof of the net from close quarters. He ranked 23rd in the NHL in shots on net in 2017/18 with 248 and owned a shooting percentage of 14.5. He netted 25 even-strength goals last year and added 11 on the power play. The Flyers will definitely be a stronger team with Van Riemsdyk skating on the wing and he’s the third-highest player on the squad behind Giroux and Voracek.

Critics note Van Riemsdyk will be 34 years old by the time his new contract runs out, but he’s been improving each year. His goals-per-game ratio increased in each of the last four campaigns from 0.33 to 0.35 to 0.353 to 0.44. Van Riemsdyk played with Voracek, Giroux, Simmonds and Couturier during his first stint in Philadelphia so should be comfortable on his return. There’s a good chance he will skate on the left wing with centre Nolan Patrick though. Patrick was the second overall pick in the 2017 draft and notched 13 goals and 17 assists last year in 73 games as a rookie.

Voracek will likely play on the right wing with Patrick and Van Riemsdyk on the second line while Couturier, Giroux and Konecny will make up the first line. If there is a weak spot on the Flyers’ roster it will likely come in net where Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth will share the goaltending duties. Elliot posted a goals-against average of 2.66 last year along with a 90.9 save percentage, but underwent abdominal surgery in February and a minor hip operation during the offseason. Neuvirth posted a 2.60 goals-against average and a 91.5 save percentage, but has so far been injury prone in his NHL career.

There will be high expectations on JVR’s shoulders this season considering how well he played in Toronto. He’ll be expected to score consistently in five-on-five and power play situations. At 6-foot-three and 217 Lbs, he’s a force to be dealt with in front of the net and it will be interesting to see if he can match last season’s scoring totals. Much has been made of Tavares joining Toronto, but Leafs’ fans need to realize they lost Van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak in the offseason and those moves may balance each other out. They certainly would have loved to see JVR skating on Tavares’ wing, but in the salary-cap era it means Toronto lost last year’s top goalscorer for nothing.

Some of the lustre has been taken off the Vegas Golden Knights’ successful inaugural NHL season as defenceman Nate Schmidt has been banned for the first 20 games of the upcoming 2018/19 campaign. The 27-year-old found out the news on September 2nd when the league announced he had failed a drug test and violated the current NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. However, Schmidt doesn’t appear to be very happy with the news and stressed to the media that he isn’t a cheater.

The blue-liner released a statement which said he’s very disappointed with the ban. He stated that he’s been tested several times during his career and twice in the 2017/18 season and this is the first time he’s failed. Schmidt said he was shocked to hear of the result, but said only a microscopic amount of the unnamed banned substance was found in his system. He added that the small amount of the substance found in his body could have no way enhanced his performance on the ice.

Schmidt went on to say he didn’t intentionally place anything in his body and this should be taken into consideration due to the minuscule amount of the substance that showed up on the test. The defenceman remarked that just seven billionths of a milligram of the substance was found in his system and that could be compared to a grain of sand on Miami Beach. However, since the NHL’s policy states that any amount of a performance-enhancing drug in a player’s bloodstream is against the rules he was handed the suspension.

Most NHL players have abided by the program as Schmidt is just the first player to be suspended for testing positive since the 2015/16 season. The last players to be banned were Shawn Horcoff of the Anaheim Ducks and Jarred Tinordi of the Arizona Coyotes when they were both nailed with 20-game bans. Also, two former Toronto Marlies players, Carter Ashton and Brad Ross, were suspended for 20 games by the American Hockey League a year earlier.

Schmidt, who scored a career-high five goals and 31 assists for 36 points last season, said he supports the NHL’s drug program, but still doesn’t agree with the ruling as he never knowingly or intentionally tried to gain an advantage. Predictably, the Golden Knights support Schmidt’s position and also released a statement which said he’s honest and possesses great integrity and moral character. The club said Schmidt may have failed his test, but he knew nothing about the substance found in his system.

No matter how the drug entered his system though, the fact is it was found in his bloodstream and the league had no choice but to suspend him. Schmidt will be allowed to attend the Golden Knights’ training camp in September, but won’t be able to participate in any preseason games. His absence will definitely be felt by the team as Schmidt was the second highest-scoring blue-liner on the squad last season and was generally considered the team’s number-one defenceman. He led the team in minutes per game at 22:14 and was a key part of the penalty-killing and power play units.

He also led the club in ice time during the playoffs and scored three goals and four assists in 20 postseason outings to lead Vegas to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they fell in five games to the Washington Capitals. Schmidt, who’s entering the final season of a two-year contract, will have to forfeit his pay during the suspension and since he’s making $2.3 million in 2018/19 it’s estimated it will cost him approximately $450,000. Schmidt will be eligible return to the Golden Knights’ lineup on November 18th when the team plays in Edmonton against the Oilers.