9 early-season overreactions from around the NHL

Whenever hockey analysts, fans, and aficionados discuss what ever happened in the NHL, the qualifier is “early.” “This is a small sample.”

Certainly these things No mean anything. But in early November, I suddenly realized that teams that hadn’t already qualified for the playoffs rarely came back. Bad teams have turned out to be good teams by then, so after each team has played about five games, we zoom out and ask, “Do you have any clues about the direction of a particular team (or player) this season?” I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that. ?”

Because the answer is yes. I have some clues. And some of the early ones that have caught my attention…

Can Conor Bedard go to the Sharks?

Contrary to the beliefs of Real Kyper and Bourne producer Sam McKee, the NHL draft is certainly not or has never been manipulated. (It’s hard to believe the league believed for years that the brightest stars were in Pittsburgh and Edmonton.) I don’t think The Arizona Coyotes will definitely finish him in the top 30 overall in the league.^th and 32^nd.

But I’m intrigued by the idea of ​​him making it to another part of San Jose’s temperate climate. It’s hard to imagine getting to .500 on the fly (and still missing the playoffs by quite a distance). Their division is suddenly very good, with the Kings being a playoff team, Calgary and Edmonton with cup ambitions, and the Knights getting off to a hot start, which doesn’t sound like a San Jose year Are they dead in the end? Probably not. But before their season quietly begins in Prague, they may be closer than most people thought.

At least there are a handful of Buffalo Sabers.

They’re only 2-1-0, have a tough West Coast swing here, and may lose a game or two, but look like a challenging team to play against. Praise. They have big bodies, as we’ve seen from Tage Thompson’s incredible goals and Ilya Lyubuschkin’s latest blockbuster. They have young talent and they work hard. I don’t think there will always be a playoff team in the tough Atlantic, but I see a future with real opportunities. It was shocking, and I enjoyed watching it.

Is Bruce Boudreau Hot Seat’s first coach?

Like many people, I love Bruce Boudreau. I think his team mostly loves him too. But the way the Canucks lost early was that the lead was blown, comments about being “mentally weak” and players-only meetings, that he didn’t have a contract that extended until next season, And… boy.

The Canucks are good enough to have a two-goal lead on the team on a regular basis. That’s a good thing.^th and 24^th entire league. But if the winning portion of the season doesn’t happen soon, Boudreau may not see games 15-24 of the Canucks season.

Some of the teams that inspired the “oh my god, this is a very good team” idea and why:

Some of those teams: Hurricanes, Flames, Rangers, Golden Knights. And what do they have in common? good garrison.

With nearly every team against the salary cap to the point where they have to accept their roster’s flaws, many keep good forwards and, in some cases, prioritize goaltending. But it’s the teams that have built solid D Corps that now seem to have such an advantage, and the groups mentioned here fit that bill. Not holding onto it, but boy, it’s still a really good defensive group (and you wouldn’t know it, but the goalkeepers look great as a result).

Related: Early Concerns for Leafs, Lightning, and Oilers

Each of these teams that came out of the gate really liked their respective groups going into this year, but were a little worried about their defensive capabilities. Without them, suddenly you’re seeing so many Cal Foote and Haydn Fleury and Philippe Myers. The Leafs are missing Jake Mazin, lack Timothy Liljegren, and have questionable performances from participating defenders. It’s early days, but it’s worth keeping an eye on these teams’ defensive prowess.

How much does Bruins pasta cost?

David Pastrnak looks like the Boston Bruins’ Salary Storm. It has all the elements of a big ticket. He’s still young at 26. He’s UFA while he’s on hold. He scored 40 points in his sleep last year despite missing 10 games, and already has the Rocket Richard Trophy, which he did over the years, as did Nathan McKinnon. He earns only $6.6 million, which is very low wages and just above the cap. He’s been hanging like crazy so far and in 4 games he’s scored 8 points. The cap is rumored to be on the rise. Nathan MacKinnon made $12.6 million a year, which Pastrnak isn’t going to take on principle. But if you think he’s costing less than $10 million per season, you’re nuts.

Player of the Season: Gustav Forsling

They’ve only played three games, but Florida’s Forsling currently have an average TOI per game of 25:29, one second behind Victor Hedman’s average TOI. With MacKenzie Weegar gone (and his D-corp in general pretty average), Forsling has been elevated to a bigger role and looks like an effective player in the moment (he’s a good neutral zone player). defender). This is from a guy who was a waver pick-up and will only make $2.66 million this year and next year. All I know is Florida hopes he stays on track Aaron Ekblad attended the LTIR today so don’t expect Forsling’s minutes to go down anytime soon please give me.

Why is the fryer doing this?

Tanking sucks and every team should always go all out to win. But the Flyers start with his 3-0-0, not sure if this is the best for their future. But obviously they want to win, because they didn’t hire John Tortorella for a peaceful trip to the League’s basement.

And finally, speaking of the basement…

Does Habs have too many good players to finish last?

Habs have some lottery balls and I expect Connor Bedard to have a chance, but looking at this team, I know there are a lot of guys who can play and shoot pucks at the net. You can’t miss it. No, they don’t have a D Corp to speak of, but in the front group it doesn’t feel like you’re looking at a team like Arizona or the Sharks or even the aforementioned Flyers. Cole Corfield and Nick Suzuki, Kirby Duck and Mike Hoffman, Brendan Gallagher, Jonathan Druin, Josh Anderson and even Sean Monaghan and Evgeny Dadonov, they have players to play. Even if it doesn’t work out this year, it might at least be fun to watch.