Coffey talk: Blue-liners with a nose for the net make the game more fun
John Carlson scored twice in a 4-3 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night to increase his end-of-month totals to seven goals and 23 points in 14 games.
Those are Paul Coffey-like numbers. Actually, they might be better.
In 1988-89, Coffey had 21 points in 11 games. He ended up finishing the season with 30 goals and 113 points, numbers that Coffey said are attainable as long as the Washington Capitals defenceman wants to get them.
“Why not? Carlson’s a good player,” Coffey said Tuesday. “Bobby (Orr) got 139 (in 197071). I got 138 (in 1985-86). I hope he keeps rocking. He should expect to get 100.
“People used to ask me: How did Gretzky score 200 points? My answer is simple. He was trying to score 300.”
Like Coffey, who scored 113 points while passing the puck up to Mario Lemieux and earlier in his career scored 138 points while playing with Wayne Gretzky, Carlson is benefiting from teammates who can put the puck in the back of the net.
Alex Ovechkin, who already has 11 goals in 14 games this season, is scoring at a 64-goal pace. Meanwhile, T.J. Oshie (seven goals) is off to the best start of his career. Not that it should matter.
“A guy like Carlson, he’s playing with great players. But everyone plays with great players,” said Coffey. “People used to say to me, ‘How did you get so many points?’ I had two guys in front of me with (great) numbers. I wasn’t stupid. I got them the puck.
“He’s complementing them, too. He’s another weapon on the power play.”
It’s not just Carlson who has impressed Coffey. The league is awash with offensive-minded defencemen who are treating their position as though they’re a fourth forward. And Coffey loves it. The game is about winning. But it’s also entertainment, he said.
So it’s refreshing to see defencemen, whether it’s Carlson or rookies like Colorado’s Cale Makar and Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes, going out of their way to put on a show.
“Here’s my take on it: it’s one thing to have a player that way, but it’s another to have a coach that allows it. You need a coach who’s coaching not to lose. You have to let them play,” said Coffey.
“I like Carlson. I like Makar. I like Hughes. I like all these guys who aren’t afraid to make plays.
“The players are incredible. But it’s a different game.
“There’s no hitting. To play defence right now, you have to make plays, not dump the puck off the glass. If you’re a gifted guy back there, you can have some fun.”
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
What does Coffey, who was briefly brought on as the Oilers’ skills consultant in 2018, make of the team’s 8-4-1 start?
“It’s fantastic,” he said.
“Ken Holland has come in and brought in some stability and allowed people to have a voice. (Head coach Dave Tippett) has been great, too. Edmonton is one of those teams that has to play tight, but they need to score too. There’s a lot to be happy about.” … Coffey said the “sky is the limit” for Darnell Nurse, but he’s an even bigger fan of 22-year-old Ethan Bear, who has two goals and four points. “I’ve always loved Ethan Bear,” he said. “This is a guy you can grow with.” … Brent Seabrook said he doesn’t understand why he was made a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game this season. But the fact he’s a minus-5, while Chicago’s top five defencemen are a combined plus-4, could have something to do with it … David Krejci scored a goal and an assist in his return to the Bruins’ lineup. Don’t know how they survived without him … Scoring is up. At this point last year, Mikko Rantanen was the only player with 21 points. So far, five in the NHL have that many.
HERE’S ONE FOR YOU
Pending free agent Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis
Blues has to be happy that Roman Josi re-signed to become the third-highest-paid defenceman with a $9.059-million cap hit this week. But Toronto’s Morgan Rielly, who outscored Josi by 16 points last year, has to be even happier. It should mean that by the time Rielly’s contract expires two years from now, he’ll be worth well over $9 million. The only question is whether the Leafs can fit a fourth player earning more than $10 million a season under the cap … The 4-8-1 Sharks have lost five of their past six games. How in the world does Pete Deboer still have a job? … They say you can’t win a Stanley Cup without building out from the back end. That is, unless your back end consists of Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns, who are combined minus-20 after 13 games … You don’t always get what you pay for with goalies. Of the 10 worst goals-against averages so far this season, seven are earning $5.75 million or more. Of the top five, only Tuukka Rask and Pekka Rinne are being paid more than $3.33 million.