From Oct. 7-Dec. 31, Savoie managed just 13 points in 41 games. He had 20 in the final 40, but, more importantly, 15 in the final 24. That shows some serious progress for an offensive forward who seemed extremely unlucky early on in the season. These days, he\u2019s a legitimate top-six forward, playing some solid hockey alongside Connor McDavid. <\/p>\n
This is exactly what the Oilers were hoping for after promoting him from the AHL to full-time NHL duty. Savoie is an excellent skater and plays at a high pace. He can be a bit streaky, but he\u2019s clearly playing with confidence right now. Savoie is on the smaller side, but he makes up for it with his creative playmaking. His tenacious play style allows him to get into high-danger scoring situations, and while he has never been much of a goal-scorer at any level, he\u2019s still quite dangerous around the crease.<\/p>\n
Demidov finished the season fifth in scoring for Montreal with numbers that would have put him at the top during the early days of the team\u2019s rebuild. Registering more than 60 points as a rookie is one thing \u2013 but with an average of 2.48 points per 60 at 5-on-5, he has been one of the NHL\u2019s most efficient forwards this season. In most other years, Demidov would have a strong argument for the Calder.<\/a> Schaefer had other plans this season, though.<\/p>\n Demidov already has a bit of playoff experience. After a strong (yet short) showing in his first KHL post-season run, the Canadiens brought him over last spring and thrust him into middle-six duty. He registered two points in five games, which was all they could have asked for, given he joined the team just days before the playoffs. Now, with a full season under his belt in North America, he\u2019s much more comfortable and ready to play a big scoring role on the team\u2019s second line.<\/p>\n Jakub Dobe\u0161\/Jacob Fowler, G (Montreal Canadiens)<\/p>\n It\u2019s one thing for a team to have a rookie goaltender. It\u2019s another to have a goalie duo comprised of two guys with limited experience. But after it became clear early on that Samuel Montembeault was not the answer in net, Montreal\u2019s two youngsters have come alive to become one of the more intriguing pairs in the league. Dobe\u0161, in particular, has a 29-9-4 record with a 23.71 5-on-5 goals saved above expected (good for sixth in the NHL). Dobe\u0161 should be the Game 1 starter \u2013 and he does have NHL playoff experience after playing three games against the Washington Capitals<\/a> a year ago.<\/p>\n Fowler, 21, was fantastic in the AHL, and once he got his first taste of big-league hockey, it became clear he wasn\u2019t heading back to Laval. Fowler has been one of the more impressive backup goalies this season, forcing the Canadiens to completely re-evaluate their crease situation a little earlier than they probably expected. Many believe Fowler is Montreal\u2019s No. 1 of the future, but there\u2019s no reason to rush that right away. <\/p>\n It\u2019s not crazy to think a rookie goaltender could get the job done. Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy were two notable examples. Jordan Binnington, Matt Murray (twice!) and Cam Ward have all done it since the start of the salary cap era. It might be asking a lot of Dobe\u0161 and Fowler to steal a few games, but they\u2019ve done that already during the regular season. Why not now?<\/p>\n Oliver Kapanen, C\/LW (Montreal Canadiens)<\/p>\n Kapanen is one of just a handful of rookie forwards to crack the 20-goal mark this season. He has always been a goal-scorer (that scoreless 18-game run with Montreal last year was more of a blip than anything). Kapanen has had excellent chemistry with Demidov, often on the receiving end of Demidov\u2019s passes. Michael Hage\u2019s eventual arrival will push Kapanen down Montreal\u2019s lineup, but it\u2019s been good seeing the 22-year-old stand out in Montreal\u2019s middle six this year after a bit of a false start in 2024-25.<\/p>\n The Canadiens need their secondary scoring to step up if they\u2019re going to go deep. The Finnish forward has struggled as of late with just two points since March 26 (both coming in a 4-1 victory over Nashville on March 28). His ice time started to fall a bit, with him even getting separated from Demidov and being moved to the wing on the third line. Having him as the No. 2 center always felt a bit forced \u2013 he projects more as a solid bottom-sixer. We\u2019ll see if he can find his mojo again this spring.<\/p>\n Martone was one of the most productive forwards in the NCAA, and he has carried that over to the NHL. He registered 10 points in his first nine NHL games, which, frankly, is absurd. He jumped into the top six and wasted no time generating quality chances for the Flyers, with Martone\u2019s play being a big reason why the Flyers advanced to the playoffs in the first place. Martone already has three multi-point efforts to his credit, which is crazy for a guy coming out of college.<\/p>\n Martone is a competitive dude. He has played in a lot of high-stress situations over the past two years, especially internationally. He\u2019s a guy teammates love to play for, and has been a captain at various levels. At this point, it\u2019s hard not to fall in love with the way he\u2019s playing in Philadelphia. He\u2019s a star in the making, and he\u2019s ready for the playoff spotlight.<\/p>\n At some point, someone will take over as the No. 1 center in Pittsburgh. Kindel might not be that guy, but he\u2019s going to be a highly impactful forward, no question about it. He has played everywhere in the lineup, from serving on the wing alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, to handling the middle-man duties on the third line.<\/p>\n Kindel fell just short of 20 goals and 40 points during the regular season, but he always felt like a long shot to make the NHL this year anyway. So all things considered, it\u2019s been one heck of an opening campaign for the smart, skilled and crafty forward. The Penguins are definitely better with Kindel in the lineup than without him. He missed a bit of time with an upper-body injury but should be good to go as Pittsburgh looks to give its veteran core one last kick at the Cup.<\/p>\n Also considered: Colten Ellis, G (Buffalo Sabres<\/a>); Jesper Wallstedt, G (Minnesota Wild<\/a>); Arturs Silovs, G (Pittsburgh Penguins)<\/p>\n CHECK OUT OFF THE ROSTER \u2013 NEW EPISODES EVERY WEEKDAY<\/p>\n Off The Roster is Toronto sports. Hosted by Cabbie Richards, Lindsay Dunn, and Dan Riccio, this is the go-to morning conversation for everything happening in the 6ix \u2013 Hockey, Baseball, Basketball and everything in between. From breakout performances and questionable trades to throwback jerseys, viral moments, and the stories fans are actually talking about \u2013 it\u2019s smart, sharp, and never scripted. Live weekday mornings on the Nation Network YouTube channel<\/a> and available wherever you stream podcasts, the show delivers real opinions, real chemistry, and real Toronto energy. Missed an episode? Catch up anytime. Off The Roster\u2014The new sound of the 6ix.<\/a><\/p>\n Recent Articles by Steven Ellis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Stanley Cup playoffs are upon us \u2013 and thus, the pressure is really on. It\u2019s hard enough…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-608059","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776346331_37_image.webp\"\/)
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