The players who shine under the brightest lights in the biggest hockey towns.
What do Rick Nash, Brad Richards and Vincent Lecavalier have in common?
They all were reportedly afraid to play hockey in Toronto or Montreal.
The pressure and intense scrutiny that only comes from being under the microscope of apparently the toughest media markets in the NHL is supposedly also the reason why David Clarkson and Mike Komisarek while with the Leafs, and Daniel Briere and Alex Semin for the Canadiens, struggled.
So it’s refreshing to see John Tavares and Max Domi among the top-10 scoring leaders in the NHL.
Where others have shrunk under the scrutiny, Tavares and Domi are thriving. Both have 22 points in 18 games. Both are on pace for careerbest seasons. And both are putting an end to the notion that big-name players can’t find success where the spotlights shine the brightest.
Partly, it’s because they embrace it. Tavares had spent previous nine seasons of his career in the shadow of Manhattan, where the Islanders trail the Rangers and Devils as the top draw. Domi, whose father played for the Leafs, was toiling in obscurity in Arizona.
“It’s easy to play in a nonhockey market,” Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin said. “But it’s a little difficult in a market like Montreal or Toronto or Vancouver — a Canadian market. You’re more exposed. Max thrives on that. It shows in his play.”
What does this mean going forward?
Well, Toronto’s image as the centre of the hockey universe could be an advantage when it comes to free agency. We already saw this in the Tavares signing, in which he took less money to sign with the Leafs after seeing Patrick Marleau come out unscathed after signing with the Leafs a year earlier.
And with aging veterans such as Jason Spezza, Joe Thornton and Eric Staal potentially heading to market next year, don’t be surprised if they, too, are attracted to the big shiny lights.
Am I the only one upset that the next version of the World Cup won’t include another under-24 North America team?
If you thought the 2015 version was studded with stars, consider a roster that includes Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, Brock Boeser, Thomas Chabot, Zach Werenski and potential 2019 first-overall pick Jack Hughes.
They’d no longer have Nathan MacKinnon, Mark Scheifele, Johnny Gaudreau or Matt Murray. But as long as Carter Hart (Flyers draft pick from Alberta) develops into a No. 1 goalie, I’d put money on them beating what could be a somewhat over-the-hill Team Canada.
Of course, Tom Wilson scored in his first game back after having his suspension shortened. And of course, he ran Devan Dubnyk on the play and received a penalty for goalie interference (the puck was already on its way in when contact was made, so the goal counted). Now, that’s what you call insult to injury.
The Leafs have three players (Morgan Rielly, John Tavares and Mitch Marner) in the top-10 in scoring. They could have five if Auston Matthews was healthy and William Nylander wasn’t sitting out. The only team that comes close to that depth of star power is Washington, where Evgeny Kuznetsov, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom are among the top-25 scorers.
If Marc Bergevin doesn’t win general manager of the year for how he’s turned things around for the Montreal Canadiens this season, then the award has to go to Buffalo’s Jason Botterill.
It’s been a long time coming, but there’s finally hope at the end of the tunnel for the Sabres. And a lot of it has to do with the Sabres general manager, who has the team currently holding down a wild-card spot in the East.
We won’t give Botterill any credit for drafting Rasmus Dahlin with the No. 1 overall pick. But we will praise him for signing goalie Carter Hutton, acquiring Conor Sheary from Pittsburgh and prying Jeff Skinner out of Carolina. The latter might go down as the theft of the summer.
If the best line in hockey is Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, then the second-best is playing in Buffalo. And it’s a big reason why the Sabres have finally taken a step forward this year.