ATLANTIC DIVISION
SURPRISE STAR
The Bruins have struggled to replace Torey Krug’s production on the left side of their blueline since he left after the 2019-20 season, but
MATT GRZELCYK has done underrated work when healthy. Through 70 ganadmtehseaBcrrousinsstwouotssecoarseodnsfoseinsc6e1-K3r6ugatd5e-poanr-te5dw, iGthrzheilmcykonhathde3i4cep.oIninats, Jan. 10 game, he exploded for a career-high five points. The last B’s blueliner to do that was Hall of Famer Ray Bourque on Jan. 2, 1994, three days before Grzelcyk was born.
The 2018 Ryan O’Reilly trade is an all-time fleecing, but 6-foot-7 right winger TAGE THOMPSON, one of the players Bualo got from St. Louis in that deal, has begun to balance the scale ever so slightly. He led the Sabres in points through mid-January and was scoring at a 29-goal pace. He ranked in the 87th percentile of all NHL forwards in 5-on-5 shots per 60 and the 96th percentile in shot attempts per 60 (min. 300 minutes). He’s only 24, so perhaps he just needed time to grow into his mammoth frame.
TYLER BERTUZZI’S season is one of the strangest in recent memory. He’s been so steadfast in his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine that he can’t travel with the Red Wings to play road games in Canada, and he unsurprisingly tested positive for the virus in December. But when he’s been healthy and allowed to play, he’s been sensational. By mid-January, he had 17 goals and 28 points in 29 games, good for a 48-goal pace in an 82-game schedule. Only two players in the NHL averaged more goals per 60 minutes.
SAM BENNETT went gangbusters last season after the Panthers acquired him at the trade deadline from Calgary. Given the best opportunity of his career as Florida’s No. 2 center, he ripped o 15 points in 10 games. Was it a fluke or was 2014’s No. 4 overall pick finally realizing his potential? His 2021-22 suggests the latter. He’d played roughly half an NHL season as a Panther from the 2021 trade through mid-January 2022, during which he’d scored at better than a 40-goal pace.
Following its surprise run to the Stanley Cup final, Montreal has endured a non-stop nightmare in 2021-22, sitting dead last in the NHL by mid-January. The only player doing positive things was the one who sat out the 2021 playos: JONATHAN DROUIN. In a better headspace after coming forward about his anxiety issues, he was scoring at a 50-point pace. With one more year left on his deal, might he become an intriguing buy-low trade candidate? He could spread his wings in a more obscure market with less pressure.
Brady Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot got more lucrative deals, and Josh Norris was the breakout star last year, but DRAKE BATHERSON, 23, enjoyed the best start to 2021-22 among all Ottawa youngsters. Skating on the top line with Tkachuk and Norris, Batherson flirted with a 100-point pace while utilizing his 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame. He signed a six-year pact at a $5-million AAV in September, which looks like a bargain. Only a January ankle injury, which will keep him out months, could slow him down.
How good are the Lightning at maximizing players’ potential? They’re no longer just turning late-round or undrafted players into key pieces. They’re now reviving careers. COREY PERRY is 36, an age at which most players are retired or prepping for it, yet he’s on pace for his first 20-goal season in six years and averaging his most shots per game in four years. Eorts like his helped the Bolts remain a juggernaut despite losing their third line of Blake Coleman, Yanni Gourde and Barclay Goodrow from last season’s Cup team.
How did the Leafs hold a high spot in the standings despite losing heart-and-soul left winger Zach Hyman to free agency? Right winger
ONDREJ KASE, dubbed “a buzzsaw” by coach Sheldon Keefe, has brought the heart and soul in all situations. On track for career bests with eight goals and 17 points through 30 games, he was playing on both the PP and PK and graded in the 91st percentile among all NHL forwards in takeaways per 60 (min. 300 minutes). Not bad for a one-year, $1.25-million commitment.