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Good morning, hockey folks. I know some of you have tired eyes from staying up for the MLB playoffs lately, but remember to mix in a few NHL games, too. It’s important to consume a balanced sports diet. Here’s this week’s puckage.
NHL’s top 4 stories (so far)
It’s been only two weeks, but there have been a ton of surprises throughout the league already, from the standings to the stat leaders list to, well – how about three hat tricks just last night?
Nineteen-year-old Sharks star Macklin Celebrini started the fun with three straight goals for the Sharks at MSG in what turned into a wild 6-5 overtime win against the Rangers, who had their own three-goal night from fourth-liner Taylor Raddysh. (Celebrini finished with five points, including a helper on Will Smith’s OT winner.)
Mere minutes later, over in St. Louis, 21-year-old Utah center Logan Cooley piled up a natural hat trick — three consecutive goals without anyone else scoring — in just under five minutes in the first period as the Mammoth downed the Blues 7-4. The highlight, which I’ve slowed down for you:
There was something in the water last night as the Islanders and Ducks both piled up seven goals in their wins, and the Oilers outlasted the Canadiens in a 6-5 comeback win to end the night.
Who needs baseball when you have baseball-ish hockey scores, amirite?
The rise of the NHL’s youth movement is one fun storyline we’ve been tracking, but there are a lot of others, too. Here are four interesting angles to keep an eye on so far, as teams start to hit the 10-game mark this weekend:
1. Schaefer’s superlative start
Do you want to feel old? Unfortunately, if you’re a hockey fan, you don’t have much of a choice. That’s because No. 1 draft pick Matthew Schaefer – who was not only born in 2007 (?!) but turned 18 only just last month – has been incredible on the Islanders blue line in the early going.
How incredible? Well, the youngest player in the league (by a decent margin) has a point per game, is averaging 22:33 ice time per game, and is somehow statistically the 18th-best defenseman in the entire NHL through his first seven games.
No offense to Montreal fans, but he’s easily the Calder Trophy favorite right now, and the hype train is understandably building on Long Island. If he keeps this going, it’ll be one of the more remarkable seasons for a young D-man – ever. (More on that in the trivia section.)
2. A Mammoth moment in Utah
I mentioned Cooley’s big game already, but his team deserves its own shoutout. When I surveyed some of The Athletic’s staff about the best early story in the league yesterday, both Chris Johnston and Shayna Goldman immediately pointed to the Mammoth, who have blazed out to 6-2-0 start after an underwhelming 89-point season a year ago.
After adding J.J. Peterka in the offseason in a big trade with the Sabres, Utah has become one of the more exciting teams to watch so far, with some of the fastest young players in the league finding ways to run teams out of the rink. And their underlying numbers are fantastic, if you’re into that sort of thing.
It sure feels like the playoffs are coming to Salt Lake City in the spring.
3. What is going on in Pittsburgh?
Most had the rebuilding Penguins as a bottom-five team coming into this year and a candidate to be part of the Gavin McKenna lottery sweepstakes. Many figured the big storyline would be whether Sidney Crosby was going to be dealt or not.
Instead, they’re … an unbeatable juggernaut?
The Penguins dusted off the struggling Panthers 5-3 last night to improve to 6-2-0, tying them with Utah for the NHL’s fifth-best record. Evgeni Malkin is piling up points, Justin Brazeau is on fire, and Tristan Jarry and Arturs Silovs have been great in goal.
Let’s be honest: None of it makes a lick of sense.
But if they can keep this up, Pittsburgh will be the talk of the league, as no one saw this coming. Beat writer Josh Yohe has more on an incredible start for the Pens.
4. The wacky goalie games no one saw coming
Yes, we’re dealing with small sample sizes. But even so, did anyone predict results like this in the crease?
Jet Greaves has been excellent in Columbus and leads all goalies in goals saved above expected per 60 minutes played. Jakub Dobeš in Montreal is second, followed by Spencer Knight in Chicago, as the three 24-year-old netminders excel early on, propelling their young teams to strong starts.
Other surprising standouts include Alex Lyon in Buffalo, Jake Allen in New Jersey and Scott Wedgewood in Colorado.
Save percentages are down around .900 – their lowest point since the mid-1990s – which should create some high-scoring games and some chaos in the crease this season. So far, it’s played out that way to the benefit of a few unheralded ’tenders, and Connor Hellebuyck could have some unlikely challengers for the Vezina Trophy.
💡 MirTrivia Question
A teenage defenseman producing a point per game in the NHL, as Schaefer is right now, is almost unheard of. I say “almost” because it’s only happened once in NHL history that I can find.
So, which wunderkind blueliner put up 31 goals and 77 points in 75 games back in the early 1980s as a 19-year-old?
Hint: He also had, by far, the best offensive season ever for an 18-year-old defenseman (66 points), has been a longtime assistant coach in the NHL and is in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Answer at the end.
Rumor roundup 🤠🐑
Nazem Kadri. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
Bring on the trade talk
Sure, the season has just started, with most teams playing only seven or eight games. And the trade deadline is 4.5 months away. But is anyone going to complain if we talk about trade scuttlebutt in this outstanding newsletter?
I think not.
Pierre LeBrun reports that a whole pile of teams are kicking tires on disgruntled Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakov, including some spicy options.
Also: The fading Flames, who have scored just nine goals in their last seven games, could soon become sellers if things keep trending the wrong way. Is it time for the Nazem Kadri sweepstakes?
And could the Hurricanes hit the trade market to try and fortify their crease, or is the undefeated Brandon Bussi the answer?
Chris Johnston, meanwhile, has his list of 10 early trade targets, including interesting names like Buffalo’s Alex Tuch and Seattle’s Jaden Schwartz and Jamie Oleksiak.
(Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
Coast to Coast
🔌 You know that player you like for reasons you can’t quite explain? Our NHL Power Rankings duo, Sean Gentille and Dom Luszczyszyn, honored those players who are good (but not too good) by drafting Their Guy from each team. Oh, they also ranked all 32 NHL teams from best to worst. Good read as always.
🏒 Three of our intrepid writers surveyed 37 NHL executives to pull together an interesting list of the best front offices in the NHL. Unsurprisingly, the two-time defending champion Panthers received a lot of love, but some less heralded teams like the Jets earned some kudos, too.
🎁 The Ducks went a step above in giving their fans a Wild Wing mask at their home opener last week, ensuring half of Orange County would have the same Halloween costume this year. But was that even the best NHL fan giveaway this season?
🤔 Dom delivers his regular analytical deep dive column “16 Stats,” with interesting breakdowns on the Rangers, Elias Pettersson, Noah Dobson and … the Blue Jays? We’ll allow it.
🤯 The Maple Leafs are struggling to start the year. You know what that means: Time to play all the guys making more than $10 million together again! Jonas Siegel has that story.
🍁 Brendan Shanahan has landed back in a hockey ops role at the NHL head office after his 11-year tenure as Leafs president came to an end in the spring. Could he be a candidate for league commissioner one day?
⚖️ Is your favorite team too old? Too young? Too fat? Too thin? Too, uh … Canadian? Find out here in our annual demographic look at all 726 players in the NHL.
🎤 “The Athletic Hockey Show” welcomes Flyers beat writer Kevin Kurz to the program on the latest episode to dig into what life has been like under new head coach Rich Tocchet. The Athletic has tons of great new pods every week and they’re now on YouTube, so subscribe on your favorite app.
Your MirTrivia Answer
If you answered Phil Housley, you are so wise. Like a miniature Buddha, covered in hair.
Housley’s early career statistics are basically unmatched in NHL history, as most defensemen typically take time to get acclimatized and produce points. It’s no wonder he ended up as the fourth-highest-scoring D-man ever.
No teenager has broken the 50-point barrier since Housley in 1984, but Schaefer looks poised to do it right now, given he’s playing huge minutes, is on the top power play and has a power-play goal.
One of the only recent players to come close? Bryan Berard, who had 48 points as the No. 1 pick with the Islanders back in 1997 – although he did turn 20 at the tail end of that season.
I recommend catching some Islanders games right now, as you might be watching history play out.
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