With about 20% of the season underway, we’ve seen a lot of excitement throughout the NHL so far this season. The drama amongst teams continues to rise and make up from a rather quiet offseason compared to seasons past. From fired coaches to overachieving teams and players, there have been a lot of fun storylines to follow so far this season.
Vancouver Trio Lead Respective Award Races
There are a lot of things going right up in British Columbia as the Vancouver Canucks have started the year 13-6-1. Three of the biggest contributors this season have been newly minted captain Quinn Hughes, the bounce back play of Thatcher Demko, and philosophy of coach Rick Tocchet. Elias Petterson has also been inaccurate so far this year, but I don’t think his case is as clear cut as the other three. Quinn Hughes leads all players in scoring with 31 points and second in the league in plus-minus with a +/- of 16. His leadership on the ice and consistent play this year has given life to a team that desperately lacked it last season. As great as guys like Cale Makar have been, With Hughes is the current favorite for the Norris Trophy. Backstopping this Canucks team is Thatcher Demko, who’s analytics look even better than his impressive base stats. Demko ranks fourth in the league in wins, third among starters in goals against average, and second among starters in save percentage. But when you take a deeper dive, the Boston College product is the league leader in goals saved above expected and GSAE per 60 minutes, and by a wide margin at that. He leads the league in goals saved above expected and is third in the league in goals saved per 60 minutes among all starters. He also leads all goalies in wins above replacement, save percentage above expected, and my personal poll for Vezina Trophy voting. But the cog in the machine that’s put everything together has been head coach Rick Tocchet. At the end of last season, Vancouver saw success last year in his short stint as head coach. He has three players pacing well over 100 points and brought a career resurgence to both Filip Hronek and Brock Boeser. With his first full season underway, he’s the runaway favorite for Jack Adams Award at the moment.
Young Stars Struggling Early
This year there has been a clear divide amongst the young stars of the league that have continued to flourish (like Mason McTavish, all three Hughes brothers, Tim Stutzle), and those that have fallen flat. I’m excluding any rookies here as it’s not fair to fully judge them after less than 20 games into their freshman season. But there’s nobody else I can start with other than Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks. I mentioned previously that I thought he was overrated, but I didn’t think he’d look this bad so far in the season. In his 12 games prior to injury, he has just two assists so far in the season. This may partly be due to a missed training camp as he has held out for a new contract, but he needs to pick it up when back from injury. Last year’s Calder Trophy runner up, Stuart Skinner, is also having a year to forget thus far. Where I already discussed Demko being the leader in goals saved above expected, Skinner is on the bottom of that list, having given up 10 goals more than expected in just 13 appearances. He also has the lowest save percentage on high danger shots, and lowest overall save percentage in the league. The Oilers goaltending may just be even worse than everybody thought. The final guy on this list, and it hurts to say this, is seeing how much Dawson Mercer has struggled to start the year. Coming off a campaign in which he scored 27 goals and 56 points, he started this year with just three goals and one assist through 17 games, including going pointless in his first ten games. For somebody who was so good as a depth scorer and providing a spark when needed, it took two injuries to centers to somewhat spark his game this year. Most of his possession metrics are down significantly from either of his first two seasons, and his per 60 numbers have also taken a nosedive. Of the three players I mentioned, Mercer is probably the last concerning of the three. But the Devils are going to need him to find his game if they intend on making any playoff run.
Thirty Year Anniversary?
In June of 1994, the Juice was loose, the Lion King hit theaters for the first time, Reggie Miller was breaking the hearts of Knicks fans, while the Rangers were restoring faith at the Garden by winning their first title in over fifty years. Thirty years have come and gone, as they’ve only appeared in one Stanley Cup Finals appearance since then, a 4-1 series loss to the Los Angeles Kings. However this year has started to look like the blue shirts are serious cup contenders rather than just perennial playoff fixtures. They are currently second in the league in points percentage behind just the Bruins with one of the best defensive and goaltender efforts in the league. Jonathan Quick has pulled a complete 180 from last year to this season and has provided a spark to the Rangers even the most diehard fans couldn’t have fathomed. Artemi Panarin started the season with a franchise record 15 game point streak and looks like a Hart Trophy favorite at the moment. The entire defense has stepped up in a huge way in the absence of star defenseman Adam Fox. Good teams find a way to win games, and great teams find a way to win games they probably shouldn’t, and that’s what the Rangers have done. They have yet to lose a one goal game in regulation, going 6-0-1 in those contests which has been a huge factor in their 13-1-1 record. The scariest thing about what the Rangers are doing is they aren’t doing anything that’s unsustainable as a team. They’re not winning games by scoring five goals a night, they’re not scoring at an absurd shooting percentage, and they don’t have any individual playing significantly over expectations. You could argue that the goaltending may come back down to a more realistic play, but this team has been consistently great and put the league on notice.
Connor Bedard is as Advertised
I’ve been following Connor Bedard since 2020 when he was being granted exceptional status into the Western Hockey League. He joined the likes of Connor McDavid and John Tavares in gaining this status, and it was well deserved, although some questioned if a fourteen year old should be granted said status. He was lauded as the greatest prospect since Sidney Crosby and so far this year, it’s easy to see why. This kid is so exciting to watch any time he gets the puck and he doesn’t need much room to cause defenders to make mistakes. His awareness in the offensive zone is years beyond where most 18 year olds should be, his ability to find the open man is uncanny, and the release on his shot is already one of the fastest in the league. Through 17 games he has 10 goals and 6 assists on a Blackhawks team that is devoid of offensive talent. He’s playing on a line with Philip Kurashev and Lukas Reichel who, although are young and have upside, are nowhere near his talent level. And yet he’s making everybody around him better as a rookie. As a veteran that’s a difficult task, but at 18 years old it’s downright impressive. Are the Blackhawks going to be an immediate wild card threat due to his presence? No. But will they be fun to watch simply because of the potential of seeing how great Connor Bedard can be? Absolutely.
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