Kent Johnson is going pro.

The Michigan forward signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets and is expected to join the team Monday.

Johnson will likely make his NHL debut Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.

"Kent Johnson is a remarkable young man both on and off the ice," Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. "He is a highly skilled and creative player who can bring you out of your seat whenever he's on the ice. We're thrilled that he is taking the next step in his career and look forward to his growth and contributions as a Blue Jacket for years to come."

The 19-year-old registered eight goals and tied for the team lead with 29 assists in 32 games for the Wolverines this season. Michigan fell to Denver in the Frozen Four semifinals Thursday.

The Blue Jackets drafted Johnson fifth overall in 2021. The youngster played for Canada at the 2022 Beijing Games and hopped on the scoresheet with five points in five contests.

He also represented Canada at the 2022 world juniors, which ended up being rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joining Johnson in Columbus is University of Michigan captain Nick Blankenburg. The 23-year-old defenseman signed a one-year, entry-level pact with the Blue Jackets and will also meet up with the team Monday.

Blankenburg sparkled for the Wolverines this season, putting up a career-best 14 goals and 15 assists in 38 games.

"We watched Michigan a lot this season and each time came away more and more impressed by Nick and the way he plays the game," Kekalainen said. "He is a talented, smart, really competitive player with great leadership qualities and we are thrilled to welcome him to our organization."

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Owen Power, the Buffalo Sabres' first overall pick in 2021, is headed to the NHL.

The 19-year-old defenseman signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Sabres on Friday.

The Sabres teased his arrival with a cheeky video of a phone regaining battery power moments before making the official announcement.

Power put up three goals and 29 assists in 33 games with Michigan this season. The Wolverines fell to Denver in the Frozen Four semifinals on Thursday.

More to come.

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After what'll be a busy weekend in the NHL, we'll have an opportunity to evaluate how our bets do Monday, with just one game on the slate. Most astute bettors track their wins and losses to see how they do over the long term, which isn't the same as evaluating bets.

The two Canadian franchises in the Original Six went on the road Thursday night and found victory, albeit in different ways.

The Toronto Maple Leafs went to Dallas and outshot the Stars 41-18. Social media buzzed about Auston Matthews having more shots on goal than the entire Dallas team at one point. The Stars forced overtime, which Matthews won during three-on-three play. If you didn't know any better - or if you still swear by 1990s "metrics" - you'd think the Leafs dominated and should have won handily.

An evaluation of the advanced metrics suggests that their narrow win was a fairer result based on expected goals.

Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens went to New Jersey and racked up a season-high seven goals in a 7-4 win. Regardless of whether you look at the old-school shots-on-goal tally or peek into the advanced metrics, the play on the ice suggests a different story.

Aside from a few goaltenders having career years, there isn't much separating most goalies on a game-to-game basis. Juuse Saros is seventh in the NHL with a save percentage of 92.07. Jake Allen is 29th with 90.6%. That 1.47% gap equates to less than half a goal per game.

Andrew Hammond got his second start for the Devils - against the team that gave him his first start in three years earlier this season. He's 98th in save percentage this season out of 107 goaltenders who've seen the crease.

The Devils' skaters and bettors deserved better, but when a team starts a goaltender who isn't NHL quality, this type of thing can happen. Coincidentally, the New Jersey heads to Dallas on Saturday. Who the Devils have between the pipes will matter more than usual.

The recipe

Before the 2021-22 campaign, we devised a three-part series on how to use the regular-season point-total market to create team ratings, how to interpret home-ice advantage, and then how to use those to create your own moneylines.

This season's on-ice predictive metrics make up 80% of our total rating. Basing 20% of the ratings on preseason "priors" allows us to emphasize team metrics without going all-in on what's happened during this campaign, which is still a relatively small sample size that includes some tainted results from when COVID-19 ravaged lineups.

I also have a 5% win probability consideration for a side playing in the second game of a back-to-back with travel and 3% without travel.

How to use the guide

What follows is my fair price on the matchups (true moneyline) and the moneyline price I would need to bet on each side. I just need a 1% edge for a favorite if we're getting better than a fair price on the team more likely to win. For the underdog, I'll need 4% or better to make it a bet. You can establish your own threshold - you may decide on a higher cutoff for bigger underdogs, like 6%-7%. On games I've projected could be a near coin flip, a 2.5% edge is enough to make a wager worthwhile.

Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.

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For New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, the best way to break out of a frustrating stretch was to pitch a 30-save shutout against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.

"Obviously, the last few games didn't go as planned, and I was really trying to get my grasp on the game," he told reporters via a translator after the Rangers' 3-0 victory. "But we'll keep moving forward from there. I'll work with the coaches, and we'll try to move on."

Heading into Thursday's contest, Shesterkin went 5-4-1 in his previous 10 appearances while logging a .902 save percentage and 2.88 goals above average. Both metrics were far below his overall season averages of .935 and 2.10, respectively. During that run, his save percentage dipped below .900 on five different occasions.

However, Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant wasn't fazed by the star netminder's dip in performance.

"People were worried about him. I wasn't. He played real well tonight, made some real key saves at key times," he said postgame.

Gallant added, "He's had a so-called 'tough stretch' a little bit lately - more the team for me than it was him. Tonight, he made three or four outstanding saves."

Teammate and fellow Russian Artemi Panarin has had a front-row seat to Shesterkin's greatness this season, but he joked that he wants to see even more from the Vezina Trophy contender.

"If he learned how to score as well, I think he'd really be there, but right now, we'll keep him at the salary he's got," Panarin said through a translator.

Shesterkin was quick to reply.

"(Panarin) promised that if I started scoring, he'd share a little bit of his contract," Shesterkin said.

The 26-year-old leads all NHL goaltenders with 36.88 goals saved above average and 34.87 goals saved above expected at all strengths this campaign, according to Evolving-Hockey.

The Rangers have 10 games left in the regular season for Shesterkin to cement his case as the league's top goalie.

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The Hart Trophy race has featured a crowded field for much of this NHL campaign. But as the league nears the end of the regular season, the MVP chase is now more competitive than it's been throughout 2021-22.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Cale Makar warrant some consideration. However, they haven't been as critical to their ultra-deep teams' success as the players on this list. Alex Ovechkin was in the mix all season long until recently, as his contributions have diminished along with his ice time in the second half.

Here are our top five Hart candidates as we approach the playoffs, with a pair of American dynamos at the forefront:

5. Roman Josi

Makar is the Norris Trophy favorite over Josi, but - as noted in our Norris rankings - the Nashville Predators defenseman deserves more Hart consideration because he's provided superior value. His team would be lost without him.

Josi is on a ridiculous tear from a production standpoint, and he has a legitimate shot at cracking 100 points this season. A blue-liner's done that only 14 times in NHL history and a rearguard hasn't completed the feat since 1991-92. Even if he's not a front-runner, it'll be difficult to exclude Nashville's captain from the MVP discussion if he hits that benchmark.

The 31-year-old is doing more than just piling up points, too. He's among the league leaders in average ice time. Josi has done a good chunk of his damage on the power play, but his five-on-five numbers are commendable considering his heavy workload. The Swiss veteran boasts favorable expected goals for, scoring chances for, and expected goals against percentages.

Josi has notched a point on more than one-third of the Predators' goals in 2021-22 (37.7%), and he leads all Nashville skaters in assists and points by wide margins. All of these numbers illustrate how important Josi has been to his team's success. The Preds wouldn't be battling for a playoff spot if not for his performance, especially lately.

4. Igor Shesterkin

Shesterkin declined a bit since our last edition, but the New York Rangers goaltender still deserves consideration for more than just the Vezina Trophy.

We've previously talked at length about why he belongs in the MVP conversation, and those reasons still apply. He's excelling despite the Rangers' inability to control the share of scoring chances and expected goals at five-on-five and their reliance on an elite power play.

The netminder allowed at least four goals in a game three times in March after not letting that happen once since Dec. 29. However, he still holds a .918 save percentage in the 12 contests since our last edition, and his season-long numbers speak for themselves.

Shesterkin leads the entire NHL - including skaters - in wins above replacement and tops every netminder in GSAA in all situations (36.88) by a ridiculous margin of 12.36. Aside from Chris Kreider's unexpected offensive explosion, Shesterkin's rock-solid play is why the Rangers are a surprise contender.

3. Connor McDavid

McDavid is still a prime candidate to claim the Hart for several reasons. The Edmonton Oilers captain sits on top of the league in the Art Ross Trophy race and leads all skaters in points per contest. He also boasts a 15-game point streak in which he's racked up 29 since March 9.

The 25-year-old has registered at least a point on 43.2% of the Oilers' goals, exceeding the other three skaters on this list. McDavid also has a superior primary points per game rate (1.169) than two of those three counterparts, and he ranks among the NHL leaders in both even-strength goals and even-strength points.

Production isn't everything, and the 25-year-old continues to prove his worth in other areas. As usual, McDavid possesses excellent underlying numbers with superb xGF% and SCF% figures. The reigning MVP also ranks among the game's best skaters in both WAR and GAR. Those trends reinforce his overall value.

Leon Draisaitl's gaudy offensive numbers could dissuade some voters from taking McDavid, but the two-time winner deserves to remain firmly in contention regardless of his teammate's output.

2. Johnny Gaudreau

Gaudreau's line has been one of the NHL's best, but the Calgary Flames star is providing ample evidence that he deserves MVP buzz for his personal exploits.

The 28-year-old American is among the league's points leaders, but his contributions go far beyond that. Gaudreau leads the NHL in even-strength points by nine, and his total in those situations (78) accounts for a remarkable 78.8% of his output.

While McDavid's performance and workload are impressive, Gaudreau's production is even more notable considering he gets far less ice time - an average that ranks 80th among forwards.

The gifted Flames winger's underlying numbers are also stellar. In addition to his favorable possession figures, Gaudreau sits second in the NHL in both WAR and GAR.

1. Auston Matthews

Matthews is dominating at both ends of the ice to a greater degree than any other NHL player this season, leaving no doubt that he remains the most valuable. The Toronto Maple Leafs superstar is on track to repeat as the "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner, and he's amassed his impressive goal total in fewer games than any of the others in the hunt.

Matthews became the first player since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 to net 46 goals over 47 regular-season contests. He's also averaging the most goals per game (0.85) by anyone since Lemieux's pristine mark of 0.99 in that same campaign, and he set two other records Thursday night.

Matthews leads the NHL in even-strength goals by eight and ranks second in even-strength points. And the 24-year-old has more primary points per game (1.227) than any skater on this list.

His underlying numbers show he's far more than just an ultra-potent scorer in 2021-22. Matthews leads all NHL skaters in WAR, GAR, expected wins above replacement, and expected goals above replacement. Only Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand hold higher xGF% rates at five-on-five among those who've played at least 700 minutes in those situations, and Matthews has logged nearly 300 more minutes than both of them.

The Toronto center sits second only to Bergeron in SCF% with that same criteria. Matthews has also been a puck-stealing machine. He ranks first among NHL forwards and second overall in total takeaways, as well as second in takeaways per 60 minutes among skaters who've played at least 50 games.

(Analytics sources: Natural Stat Trick, Evolving Hockey)

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Auston Matthews scored his 55th goal of this season Thursday night against the Dallas Stars, setting a new Toronto Maple Leafs record for markers in a single campaign.

Matthews accomplished the feat in his 400th career game and his 66th of 2021-22.

The 24-year-old entered the contest tied with Rick Vaive, who notched 54 with Toronto in 1981-82.

Matthews' 2021-22 total leads the NHL. The defending "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner is also this season's Hart Trophy favorite.

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