What’s trending
With the season a month old, here are some of the things we’re noticing, including a better rookie class than expected
This was not supposed to be a special year for rookies.
Scouts said there wouldn’t be another Auston Matthews or Patrik Laine or anything remotely close. Don’t expect someone to come in and score 40 goals. Don’t even expect someone to finish with 40 points.
In other words, we weren’t supposed to have a rookie ranked among the overall scoring leaders. And yet, that’s where Clayton Keller finds himself today, having scored nine goals and 15 points in his first 13 games.
The Calder Trophy favourite, who was named the NHL’s rookie of the month, is on pace for a 57-goal and 95-point season, which doesn’t mean a whole lot this early in the year. But as a comparison, it’s worth noting that Matthews had six goals and 11 points in his first 13 games (he finished with 40 goals and 69 points) and Laine had eight goals and 11 points (he finished with 36 goals and 64 points).
“It’s cool,” said Keller, the Arizona Coyotes’ seventhoverall pick in the 2016 draft. “It’s something that I’ve been working toward this summer. I kind of wanted to make an impact right away and help our team every single night and contribute. I’m an offensive player.”
Despite the offence, the Coyotes have been the worst team in the NHL, having managed just one win in the first month of the season. “It’s been a really tough start for us,” said Keller, even if it was expected.
With one month of the season in the books, here are some of the trends in the NHL.
Dynamic duo
Turns out Rob Base was right. It does take two to make a thing go right, as Steven Stamkos (18 assists and 24 points) and Nikita Kucherov (13 goals and 21 points) have been showing. The Tampa Bay linemates are 1-2 in league scoring, having combined for 19 goals and 45 points — 14 more points than the next-best duos of Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz in St. Louis (31 points) and Jakub Voracek and Sean Couturier in Philadelphia (31 before their game on Wednesday against Chicago).
Golden Knights goalies
No one has spontaneously combusted or missed a game because of a bizarre gardening accident, but Vegas is burning through goalies faster than Spinal Tap went through drummers. Marc-Andre Fleury suffered a concussion in the fourth game of the season. Three games later, Malcolm Subban suffered a lower-body injury. Three games after that, Oscar Dansk — last week’s NHL second star — landed awkwardly after allowing a goal and was replaced with minorleague back-up Maxim Lagace. If I’m Lagace, I’m re-upping the coverage on my life insurance.
Beard-O
Defence might win championships, but as Brent Burns showed last year, goalscoring often wins you the Norris Trophy. The San Jose Sharks defenceman tied for 27th in the NHL with a teamleading 29 goals — and led the league with 320 shots. This year, despite averaging 4.6 shots per game, he’s come up empty with no goals and seven assists in 11 games.
Let’s make a deal
When the Rangers’ scouting department showed up to Ottawa on Monday to watch the Senators play the Canadiens, alarm bells rang that a trade could be imminent. New York and Montreal are both out of the playoff picture, so it would make sense that the two underachieving teams would become trading partners. Could Mats Zuccarello or Rick Nash help Montreal’s anaemic offence? Would New York be interested in taking a chance on Alex Galchenyuk? It’s early, but the chatter is starting.
Winner and losers
One month into the season is probably not the time to declare a winner or loser when it comes to off-season trades. And yet, it’s hard not to think how much better the Oilers’ offence would be had they not sent Jordan Eberle to the New York Islanders for Ryan Strome. While Strome was acquired in part to play with Connor McDavid (allowing Leon Draisaitl to move to the centre spot), he’s found himself on the second line, where he has one goal and four points in 10 games. Eberle has two goals and nine points in 12 games — despite not playing with John Tavares.
Devils in the details
At the beginning of the season, gambling site Bodog put New Jersey’s and Arizona’s chances of winning the Stanley Cup at an NHL-worst 150/1. On Wednesday, the Coyotes’ odds decreased to 500/1. The Devils, however, improved to 33/1 — the same odds given to the Canadiens, Senators, Bruins and Rangers. It was a reflection of the team’s division-leading 8-2-0 start. Can it last? Maybe not. But with youngsters such as Will Butcher (22), Jesper Bratt (19) and No. 1 overall pick Nico Hischier (18) leading the way, it could be the start of something for years to come.
Price is wrong
Looking at the goalie standings these days is sort of like hanging by your ankles on the monkey bars: Everything seems upside down. Montreal’s Carey Price is ranked in the bottom-five with a ghastly .883 save percentage, while his 3.64 goals-against average is ranked 39th among the 45 goalies who have played at least four games. But it’s not just the Habs goalie who has been struggling. Matt Murray, Cam Talbot, Craig Anderson, Henrik Lundqvist, Cory Schneider and Frederik Andersen are all ranked in the bottom-15, which might explain why goals are up from 2.77 per game last season to 3.10 this year.