NHL midseason surprises, questions: Oilers, Eichel, COVID postponements

classybuzzJanuary 18, 2022

18 7 minutes read

As we strategy the midway level of the NHL season, there’s a lot to be shocked about across the league. Did anybody assume the Geese would sit this excessive within the Pacific, or that 26-year head-coaching veteran Paul Maurice would stroll out on Winnipeg? Going ahead, will the Oilers squander one other 12 months of Connor McDavid’s profession and may the Maple Leafs truly win a first-round sequence?

That’s a snippet of the season to this point and what else nonetheless lies forward. For now, although, right here’s a have a look at the most important surprises to date and the most important questions but to be answered.

Most stats by way of Pure Stat Trick.

Greatest Questions

What Lies in Edmonton’s future?

One phrase can describe Connor McDavid’s tenure in Edmonton: irritating. Annually, McDavid shows how he’s the most effective participant on the planet and, annually, the Oilers present how they’ll’t maintain a contending workforce round their famous person. Halfway by way of the 2021–22 season, Edmonton has reached one other low level. The workforce is three factors out of a wild-card spot, has misplaced 12 of its final 14 video games and coach Dave Tippett is operating out of time.

The Oilers will enter free company with the sixth-least quantity of cap house, leaving little room for roster reconstruction past a commerce. Something lower than a deep playoff run ends in stalemate. Edmonton’s final prayer appears to be discovering somebody aside from Mikko Koskinen to play in internet, and hope to seize postseason magic.

Even then, although, the Oilers’ structural issues will persist and McDavid and Draisaitl’s prime danger whole waste.

How will Jack Eichel slot in upon his return?

Eichel, who Vegas acquired in November, is slated to make his return from neck surgical procedure in February, according to TSN’s Chris Johnson. Earlier than he can go well with up, although, the Golden Knights need to clear greater than $5 million in cap house to make room for Eichel’s $10 million cap hit. That leaves Evgeni Dadanov, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith, who every have a $5 million cap hit, because the workforce’s likeliest commerce candidates.

If Eichel returns to type, he’ll assist alleviate the lack of Max Pacioretty (out indefinitely with a wrist harm) and supply the No. 1 heart that the Golden Knights have been trying to find. Proper now, Vegas already ranks fourth in targets per 60 minutes (3.43) and sixth in anticipated targets per 60 minutes (3.18). Eichel will help on Vegas’s Fifteenth-ranked energy play, making the Golden Knights extra dynamic than they already are.

Will the NHL play a full 82-game schedule?

It will’ve appeared like a shock that NHL gamers wouldn’t play within the Olympics when the season began, however the winter surge in COVID-19 instances slowly made it a actuality. Confronted with the extremely transmissible omicron variant, the league resumed each day testing and has needed to postpone nearly 100 games since Dec. 13. In flip, the NHL and the Participant’s Affiliation determined to not ship gamers to Beijing and as an alternative use the Olympic break to reschedule misplaced video games.

However will that be sufficient? The U.S. has been averaging greater than 500,000 instances per day since Jan. 4, and Canada has additionally been seeing its highest caseload of any level throughout the pandemic. Not like the NFL and NBA, the NHL hasn’t been in a position to cut back the variety of days gamers need to quarantine due to Canada’s stricter pointers. The postponements proceed to trickle by way of and, with that, extra scheduling hurdles are on the best way.

Is Alex Ovechkin solid with metal, a cyborg secretly unfastened on the NHL?

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Ovechkin’s profession arc defies expectations of the trendy athlete. A participant whose recreation is a mix of energy, pace and ability shouldn’t be having this a lot success this late in his profession. And but, Ovechkin is on tempo to develop into the primary participant aged 36-or-older to attain 50-plus targets in a season. The even scarier half? Ovi ranks prime 10 in assists, too.

He has already taken down the NHL’s all-time power-play targets file. The Nice One has no doubt that Ovechkin will move his all-time profession scoring mark (894). Will he or received’t he can solely be requested so many occasions, and the reply received’t come till 2024 on the earliest. For now, although, it may be greatest to marvel if Ovechkin is solely constructed with completely different materials than everybody else. It appears possible.

Will this 12 months be the 12 months for Toronto?

It’s a query that inevitably solutions itself by the tip of the primary spherical. Possibly, the higher query is “Why is that this 12 months completely different from each different 12 months?” The primary reply is apparent: Jack Campbell. After a powerful 2020–21 marketing campaign, the 30-year-old netminder has continued it this season, rating second in save proportion (.931), second in targets saved above common per 60 minutes (0.66) and fourth in goals-against common (2.13). Elite goaltending solves a myriad of issues, however unveils them when it disappears. (Campbell had a mediocre 0.892 save proportion in three consecutive first spherical losses to the Canadiens final 12 months.)

The second reply, in contrast to pre-pandemic occasions, lies with the Maple Leafs’ 5-on-5 protection. In back-to-back seasons, Toronto has ranked inside the prime 13 in anticipated targets towards per 60 minutes. Whereas not distinctive, the Maple Leafs’ improved defensive play gives extra stability and implies that Toronto can face up to some offensive dips. After all, it doesn’t harm when Auston Matthews is enjoying among the greatest hockey of his profession.

The Leafs aren’t a radically completely different workforce. However, Toronto has sufficient going for it to stay a contender and win its first playoff sequence in 18 years.

Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports activities

Greatest Surprises

Flashes of hope in Anaheim and Detroit

Two groups⁠—each of which have had a top-10 decide in every of the final three drafts⁠—have evaded the rebuilding blues and supplied early returns on every group’s youth motion.

Of the Geese and Crimson Wings, Anaheim’s turnaround has been essentially the most surprising.

For the primary time since 2015, the Geese entered the New Yr with a .500 file. The latest enchancment has come from two key areas: aim scoring and backup goaltending. Anaheim, which scored the league’s second-fewest targets over the earlier three seasons, is as much as a league-average 2.92 targets per recreation, due to 24-year-old proper wing Troy Terry’s out-of-nowhere breakout. Whereas John Gibson has rebounded this season, subsequent to no backup has carried out higher than Anthony Stolarz. His save proportion (.919), targets towards common (2.66) and targets saved above common per 60 minutes (0.62) all rank second amongst eligible backups. Trevor Zegras’s Calder marketing campaign doesn’t harm, both.

All of that, collectively, has Anaheim third within the Pacific. Within the Atlantic, Detroit is the league’s greatest instance of a nascent youth motion beginning to come to fruition. Every of the workforce’s top-five leaders in factors are 26 years previous or youthful. The Crimson Wings’ prime blue-line pair is comprised of Filip Hronek, 24, and Moritz Seider, 20. And better of all: Detroit is enjoyable to observe.

The Geese and Crimson Wings are removed from contenders, however that isn’t the purpose. Early success in a rebuild helps reduce the sting from the eventual rising pains alongside the best way.

Paul Maurice resigns

After 9 seasons and 5 playoff appearances in Winnipeg, coach Paul Maurice abruptly resigned one week earlier than Christmas. He stated the workforce “wanted a brand new voice” and cited his personal dwindling passion for his determination. His exit surprised gamers, according to ESPN, however a 4-7-2 stretch within the lead as much as his resignation left Maurice feeling like he couldn’t convey the Jets to the subsequent stage.

That “subsequent stage” has at all times felt elusive for Winnipeg, although Maurice left behind a powerful tenure. The Jets went 315-224-62 below his management, which was adequate for the league’s Eleventh-best file throughout that stretch. Nevertheless, Winnipeg made the convention finals as soon as and by no means returned. The burden now falls on interim coach Dave Lowry⁠—or whoever comes subsequent⁠—to push the Jets again into playoff competition and towards the highest of the West as soon as once more.

Montreal’s fall

The Canadiens inconceivable run to the Stanley Cup was precisely that⁠—inconceivable. Montreal slipped into the playoffs with the fewest factors of any postseason workforce, got here again from a 3–1 deficit towards Toronto within the first spherical and rode goaltending magic from Carey Value till the Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy one-upped him within the finals. A dropoff from a spell of fine fortune was anticipated this season, however nobody anticipated the Canadiens to fall this exhausting.

Maybe the announcement that Shea Weber wouldn’t play in 2021–22 was an omen. By means of 36 video games, no team in the NHL has lost more players due to injury than the Canadiens. Montreal has the league’s worst file (7-24-5), is lifeless final in targets per recreation (2.08) and thirtieth in targets towards per recreation. Even worse, the Habs have been outscored 33–16 and outshot by 7.3 pictures per recreation in December. It might’t get a lot worse, proper?

Bouncebacks in Calgary, Nashville

Earlier than the season started, Calgary and Nashville have been trending within the unsuitable course. The Flames fired their coach 24 video games in and completed with the franchise’s worst factors proportion in 5 years. The Predators, in the meantime, suffered their third straight first-round exit and their contending window appeared all however closed.

However, each groups have rebounded. Earlier than enduring the league’s largest COVID-19 outbreak, the Flames sat in second place within the Western Convention. Second-year coach Darryl Sutter helped remodel Calgary right into a top-five defensive workforce, aided by Jacob Markstrom’s stalwart efficiency in internet. Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk all returned to type one of many NHL’s most harmful prime strains.