American-born players on top
For a third time in four seasons, it was an American-born player who led individual team scoring for a majority of the NHL’s 32 clubs. The Yanks edged the Canadians this season, 11-10.
The breakdown by country: US, 11; Canada, 10; Russia, 4; Czechia (including David Pastrnak), 3; Sweden, 2; German, 1; and Slovenia, 1.
Americans led the scoring charts of a half-dozen of the 16 teams that made the postseason cut line, including:
Kyle Connor (Winnipeg), Shelby Township, Mich.: 31-49—80
Jack Eichel (Vegas), North Chelmsford: 27-39—66
Jack Hughes (New Jersey), Orlando: 43-56—99
Brock Nelson (Islanders), Warroad, Minn.: 36-39—75
Jason Robertson (Dallas), Arcadia, Calif.: 46-63—109
Matthew Tkachuk (Florida), Scottsdale, Ariz.: 40-69—109
Loose pucks
As expected, Connor Bedard (a.k.a. The Franchise Maker) topped all North American skaters in the Central Scouting Bureau’s end-of-year rankings, followed by Michigan’s Adam Fantilli, the slick Canadian-born center who became only the third freshman chosen as the Hobey Baker winner as the NCAA’s top performer. Lexington’s Will Smith, headed to BC this fall after his tour with the US NTDP, ranks No. 3 on the CSB’s North American rankings . . . Bedard, who played junior at Regina, will be the first No. 1 pick out of the WHL since Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Red Deer) went first to Edmonton in 2011. The best pick in that draft came much later, Nikita Kucherov still sitting there at No. 58 for the Lightning to pluck . . . The only other frosh chosen as the Hobey winner: Paul Kariya (Maine), 1993 and Eichel (BU), 2015 . . . Kvartalnov spent the season leading up to the ‘92 draft with IHL San Diego (a moment of silence here, please, for the IHL). Don Waddell, whose long exec career now continues as GM of the Hurricanes, was the Gulls head coach. One of his assistants was Charlie Simmer, ex- of the Triple Crown Kings, who had three productive seasons here at the tail end of his career . . . The Flames, who keep losing key assets, are looking for a new GM after parting ways with Brad Treliving, who scrambled last offseason to grab solid assets (Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar and a first-rounder in ‘25) before Matthew Tkachuk bolted as a free agent. They also saw Johnny Gaudreau
pack up for Columbus, after initially believing they had a deal done to keep Johnny Hockey. The read here: Tkachuk preferred Florida’s favorable taxes over Alberta, while Gaudreau found Ohio a far better fit for his family. Treliving and old school coach Darryl Sutter became, let’s say, an increasingly curious/difficult fit. The Penguins and Flames will be interviewing many of the same candidates, possibly including ex-Bruins boss Peter Chiarelli —a touch ironic in Pittsburgh because one of Chiarelli’s first moves as Bruins GM was to can Sullivan as coach and hire Dave Lewis ... Jay O’Brien, ex-of Thayer Academy and now a BU grad, recently informed the Flyers that he’ll opt for free agency this summer (Aug. 15) rather than sign into the Broad Streeter’s rebuild whack-a-mole. O’Brien, who posted 32 points in 39 games with Jay Pandolfo’s Terriers this season, went in the first round (No. 19) to the Flyers in the ‘18 draft . . . Yet another painful reminder that playoff hockey is different: the ghastly hit the Wild’s Matt Dumba delivered to aging star Joe Pavelski on opening night of the Minnesota-Dallas series. Pavelski was curling in from the left wing, outpaced his check, only to get clobbered to never-never land by Dumba. Though borderline, it was not an illegal check, and the tumbling Pavelski, age 38 with 1,001 career points, slammed the back of his head on the ice. Some hits, though not illegal, are predatory. This was one of them. Not as blatant or as illegal as the Matt Cooke blindside smack that effectively ended Marc Savard’s career, but of the same DNA . . . Aging Beauty Award: LA’s Anze Kopitar going 1-3—4, including second apple on Alex Iafallo’s
GWG at 9:19 of OT in Game 1 of the LA-Edmonton series. Kopitar, 35, wrapped up 2022-23 with 1,141 career points. Like a couple of greats we’ve watched here (Ray Bourque, Patrice Bergeron), he reached the 1,000 plateau without having a 100-point season. Kopitar, Bergeron and Pavelski are the only three active NHLers to be over 1,000 for a career but never with a Cnote on their résumé. That all-time list, by the way, includes 31 names, including a certain Monsieur Beliveau of the legendary Canadiens.