William Nylander was the star of the show during the Toronto Maple Leafs' two-game sojourn to Sweden, and he received nothing but praise from his head coach after scoring the overtime winner Sunday against the Minnesota Wild.
"He's got such confidence and swagger there now that he's just feeling like he can turn the game at any point in time," Sheldon Keefe said postgame, per David Alter of The Hockey News.
"I don’t think he'd look at these two games, but he stepped up in big moments. It was a huge part of why we got four points here."
Nylander also registered an assist in the contest and extended his season-opening point streak to 17 games. In Friday's game against the Detroit Red Wings, the Swedish winger recorded a goal and two helpers to engineer a Toronto comeback win.
As one of the biggest names to travel to his home country for the NHL's Global Series, Nylander faced several off-ice obligations on top of regular hockey duties. His ability to handle the added pressure impressed Keefe.
"I just think he’s unflappable, that’s really it," he said. "Whether it’s the spotlight of playing in Toronto and the media and all the different things that come with being a Maple Leaf, I don’t think that phases him. I think he loves it and enjoys it. He lives here in Sweden’s biggest city and you can see he's a bit of a rock star here and we learned that."
Nylander's performance in Stockholm brought him to 27 points this season, good for a second-place tie with Nikita Kucherov and David Pastrnak in the league's scoring race. The Leafs' forward is in the final year of his contract and is currently on pace to shatter the career highs in goals (40) and points (87) he set in 2022-23.
The Vancouver Canucks may be flying high during a stellar 12-5-1 start, but head coach Rick Tocchet wasn't about to give them a free pass after a second straight loss Saturday.
"Our changes were awful. Long shifts. That's .500 hockey," he told reporters following the Canucks' 4-3 defeat to the Seattle Kraken. "You can't win that way. It wasn't good enough. There's no excuses."
The Kraken's first goal of the game came off an uncontested bomb by Jamie Oleksiak after Seattle caught the Canucks in the midst of a shoddy line change.
"Changes lose you hockey games, they lose you playoff series," Tocchet emphasized. "You have to change properly. We didn't."
The contest was tied 2-2 heading into the third period, but Yanni Gourde and Matty Beniers scored just over two minutes apart to secure the win for the Kraken.
Canucks defenseman Ian Cole thought his team squandered a chance to get back into the win column.
"Regardless of how well I thought we played in the first and second, we should be mature enough to realize where we are and what the opportunity we have is and take advantage of it, and then we didn't," he said. "So that's a little disappointing for us. We want to be more aware and more mature than that."
Though it had been one month since the last time the Canucks lost back-to-back games, Cole wants to make sure Vancouver isn't forming any bad habits.
"Good teams don't go on losing skids, right? And, you know, good teams don't lose two games in a row," he said. "And we did that. We need to make sure that we stop this right away. We can't let this turn into three, four, five losses."
J.T. Miller offered a more relaxed take after conceding that the Canucks didn't perform up to their standards.
"I mean, it's all good," he said. “We know you're going to lose a couple in a row. Like, 82 games, even the guys at the top of the league lose games consecutively. It is what it is. But I think sometimes you can lose games in better fashion than others, and I thought tonight we had an opportunity to salvage something and we got outworked."
The Canucks' next chance at victory will come Monday against the floundering San Jose Sharks.
Jack Hughes gave an honest review of the state of his New Jersey Devils after they fell to the New York Rangers 5-3 on Saturday night.
"I think we're a good hockey team. We're in a rough stretch of hockey right now, including tonight, you know?" Hughes told reporters postgame. "That's a game really good teams win. And we're not there right now, so that’s something that we're going to have to get back to.
"We've done it before. We've just gotta sharpen up, our top guys all the way to the bottom."
The Devils' loss to their Metropolitan rivals dropped them to 8-7-1 on the season and fifth place in their division. New Jersey is now three points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for third place in the Metro and eight points behind the Rangers for the top spot.
Hughes made his return to the lineup on Saturday after missing the previous five contests with an upper-body injury. He found the back of the net less than 10 minutes into an eventful opening frame that saw the Devils and Rangers score two goals apiece.
The matchup remained knotted at 2-2 heading into the third period, but Erik Haula broke the tie in the Devils' favor less than two minutes into the stanza.
It was all Rangers the rest of the way, though, with Artemi Panarin, Jimmy Vesey, and Blake Wheeler each scoring in the last nine minutes of the game to lift New York to its fourth victory in a row.
Devils forward Jesper Bratt said he agreed with Hughes' assessment of their squad.
"Last game versus (the Pittsburgh Penguins), we were in the exact same situation and playing against a team that had won a lot of games in a row," Bratt said, referencing Thursday's 5-2 win against Sidney Crosby and Co. "Last time, we found a way to play a really solid road game and come out with a win. Today, we did the opposite."
He added, "This is kind of a must-win game for us, come out here at home and play against this team and get some momentum - especially a Metro game. These are the games we've got to come out winning in. It sucks."
Saturday's outing was the Devils' first game against the Rangers since the opening round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where New Jersey prevailed in seven games.
Despite wanting more out of his team, Hughes acknowledged that it's still relatively early in a long season.
"What are we, 16 games in? We've got a lot of runway," he said. "This isn't our final product."
Next up for New Jersey is a clash against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
In their search for a new goalie, the Edmonton Oilers are looking at all three of the Montreal Canadiens' netminders, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
However, no deal is imminent and the Oilers want to avoid making a panic trade they'll regret, Friedman added.
Poor goaltending is a prime reason for Edmonton's 5-10-1 start to the campaign. Stuart Skinner and Jack Campbell each own an abysmal .873 save percentage on the season. Campbell was sent to the AHL and Calvin Pickard was recalled in a corresponding move, though the latter has yet to appear in an NHL game this season.
The rebuilding Canadiens, meanwhile, have been carrying three goalies on their roster this season with Jake Allen, Sam Montembeault, and Cayden Primeau all requiring waivers to be sent to the AHL. Allen and Montembeault, in particular, are off to strong starts.
Skinner and Campbell, meanwhile, entered Saturday with a combined GSAx of minus-6.21.
Even though only $3.85 million of Campbell's $5-million cap hit counts against the Oilers while he's in the minors, Edmonton is still right up against the cap. Getting a goalie on the cheap would likely be preferable.
Goalie
Age
Cap hit
Years left
Expiry status
Allen
33
$3.85M
2
UFA
Montembeault
27
$1M
1
UFA
Primeau
24
$890K
2
RFA
Allen's salary would require Edmonton to move some money out, but the team could afford both Montembeault and Primeau without significant changes to the Oilers' active roster.
With 403 NHL games and a Stanley Cup under his belt, Allen is the most experienced of the three. Montembeault has made 111 career appearances, while Primeau has played in just 24 contests.
Weeks after the initial shock and public outpouring following the tragic death of former NHL player Adam Johnson, the debate over how to get athletes to meaningfully protect their necks hasn't subsided.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said a neck guard mandate is a complex issue that would have to be negotiated with the players' association, and only a handful of players have adopted the added protection, but the Western Hockey League got in line with Canada's other two major junior leagues by issuing an immediate provision this month. Meanwhile, conversations are happening at every level of the game.
"My oldest son, Luke, plays professional hockey in Germany, and he played with Adam (Johnson)," said Mary-Kay Messier, Bauer Hockey's vice president of marketing. "He talked to me about how the players got together and discussed how they felt about it. It really impacted them."
The players decided they would try wearing neck guards.
"I was really shocked that my son and a bunch of players on the team came back afterwards and said it wasn't bad at all," said Messier, whose company is a leading supplier of neck guards. "He started texting me saying, 'What can we do about getting neck guards? The team wants to try it.' We have a distributor in Germany, so that came together."
It's an example of organic adoption that Messier and industry leaders hope will become the norm following Johnson's death. With an increasing number of hockey leagues mandating neck guards' use, it's logical to believe that as players advance up the ranks, they'll naturally continue to use them - even when they reach a level where they're optional. The same evolution introduced helmets and visors into the NHL. Bauer estimates a roughly 40% increase in neck guard demand in the weeks since Johnson's death.
"If we start to mandate this at the youth level, then all the kids are used to it. Young kids that graduated from junior went into the NHL wearing a visor, there was no issue - zero issue. So attack it at the youth level," Messier said.
Ottawa's Claude Giroux started wearing a neck guard earlier this month. Chris Tanouye / Freestyle Photo / Getty Images
The Ontario Hockey League mandated the use of neck guards 15 years ago after a player survived a jugular laceration in 2008.
"It, in my view, required immediate consideration. We convened a conference call of our owners, and they all supported it," OHL commissioner David Branch said. "You develop a culture of understanding, where you go, 'Hey, we have to do the right thing here.' Right away, we introduced it, and it was interesting because there was pushback from players."
The players might have been vocal in the media, but behind the scenes, Branch got calls from families that had a completely different sentiment. "They'd say, 'Mr. Branch, don't back down. Listen, it's so important for the safety of our son.'"
In the WHL, which mandated neck guards in early November, one coach believes their adoption will proceed without too much fuss.
"You see this throughout society. Something will come in that's good for us, but we don't like doing it - maybe it's seatbelts or whatever," said Willie Desjardins, head coach and general manager of the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers. "But, once it's mandatory, then you have to do it. When referees enforce it, then you don't have any choice but to do it. This is a rule, and this is what we need to do."
For leagues and governing bodies hesitant to issue a mandate, part of the reluctance comes down to questions about the efficacy of neck guards.
"We want to make sure the material of the equipment that's available actually does what it's supposed to do. So players don't have a false sense of security out there," said Marty Walsh, head of the National Hockey League Players' Association.
Dr. Michael J. Stuart, professor of orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic and USA Hockey's chief medical officer, told CNN he believes more players will adopt neck guards with better education.
Before Johnson's death, Stuart and his team received survey responses from 26,589 registered USA Hockey athletes to assess their neck laceration experiences. It found that 45% of athletes were voluntarily wearing neck guards despite no USA Hockey mandate. More than 60% of players under the age of 12 reported wearing them, but usage starts to drop off quickly after that; only 22% of players 19 and older reported wearing a neck guard.
A total of 1.8% of respondents (485 athletes) experienced some form of neck laceration from a skate blade, but most were minor injuries. As many as 27% of those athletes were wearing a neck protector at the time of the laceration.
However, survey results didn't indicate if neck guards played a role in reducing or adding to the severity of sustained injuries. Stuart believes the effectiveness of neck guards often comes down to their material and how they're worn.
"The protective device should literally go from the ear down to the collarbone because it needs to protect the area underneath the angle of the mandible (the lower jaw) and the area right above the collarbone where there’s also neurovascular structures," he told CNN.
A detail of a neck guard worn by the Blackhawks' Wyatt Kaiser. Michael Reaves / Getty Images
Messier draws a parallel between this reasoning and the former conversation around helmets.
"We saw this with helmets in two ways. One argument was: helmets aren't always worn properly. And two: there was a discussion at one point about, 'Can helmets really prevent concussions?' But, the story kind of falls apart. Are you more protected with the helmet? I think we can absolutely say yes. And then you can make the same connection with neck guards. Would it eliminate any type of injury? Cut-resistant neck guards are probably not there. There might be some freak accidents. Will it really cut down on the number and the severity? Could it be life saving? If you have that opportunity, why wouldn't we at least go there?"
Branch backs her up here. After learning of Johnson's death, his immediate thought wasn't to question neck guards altogether but rather how to optimize their effectiveness. "My mind went to: We've got to revisit the proper wearing of neck guards by our players," he said. "We've got to make sure we've got the leading supplier, with Kevlar and other such things."
Kevlar may be the answer to the other major factor causing reluctance to wear neck guards: they can be uncomfortable and aren't breathable. "I'm satisfied that our current supplier is (using) Kevlar. There's nothing better on the market right now. We've got to keep challenging ourselves in that area," Branch said.
Bauer, which supplies the OHL's neck guards, has been consulting with elite athletes about ways it can elevate its product for enhanced wearability.
"We've been working with Kevlar for years, and we've been manufacturing a product that works: integrated base layers and cut-resistant neck protection," Messier said.
There's a chance that product could be put to the ultimate test early next year, with the NHL set to resume discussing neck guard mandates at the All-Star Game in Toronto. "A lot of companies now, I'm assuming, they'd be smart to come up with something," Walsh said. "I don't know if they'll have it ready by February, but the conversation is going to happen in February."
The Canadian Press reports the NHL is working on clearing 12 to 14 new neck guards from eight different manufacturers.
While the debate around neck guards remains ongoing, the conversation itself is a sign athletes are taking neck protection more seriously than ever before.
"I think if guys enjoyed wearing them, they would have been wearing them before," Desjardins said. "But they didn't realize the significance of them either. And so you know, if something tragic happens, then you realize maybe I should look at this a little different."
Sat Shah and Bik Nizzar breakdown the Canucks 4-3 loss to the Seattle Kraken. Hear from Head Coach Rick Tocchet (30:41), JT Miller (53:29), Ian Cole (1:02:45) and Quinn Hughes (1:14:39) post game. Brett Festerling and Iain McIntyre (1:24:35) provide their post game analysis.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
The New Jersey Devils have their brightest star back.
Jack Hughes is in the lineup for Saturday's game against the New York Rangers.
His status was a game-time decision after he returned to practice Friday as a full participant.
Hughes missed the last five games. He left a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 3 with what the Devils called an upper-body injury after crashing into the boards on a scoring chance. Hughes was considered week-to-week.
The 22-year-old entered Saturday maintaining a lead over all other NHL skaters in points per contest. He piled up 15 assists and 20 points in 10 games before the injury and was leading the NHL in both of those offensive categories when he got hurt.
Hughes is coming off a campaign in which he set a Devils single-season record with 99 points.
The Devils are still without captain Nico Hischier, who's been out since Oct. 27. He left a victory over the Buffalo Sabres after opposing defenseman Connor Clifton caught him with a headshot. Clifton was suspended two games for the incident.
The Vancouver Canucks are the breakout team of the NHL season - and it isn't close. Projected by credible observers to either miss the playoffs or barely squeak in, they've blown away expectations.
The 12-4-1 Canucks woke up Saturday with the league's best goal differential (plus-31), third-most points (25), and fifth-highest points percentage (.735). They're on pace for 121 points, or four more than the stacked 2010-11 Canucks team that lost a seven-game Stanley Cup Final.
Surely, Vancouver can't keep this up. Or can it?
Let's put the Canucks through a stress test.
First of all, why and how is this team winning so much?
Star power.
Three players sit atop the NHL scoring leaderboard with 27 points and all three are Canucks: centers Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller, and defenseman Quinn Hughes. One goalie has a save percentage higher than .930 through 500 minutes: Vancouver's Thatcher Demko.
Derek Cain / Getty Images
Hughes, the most dominant, is flat-out controlling the pace, flow, and score of games, which is why he's an early front-runner for the Norris and Hart trophies. Pettersson and Miller are driving play at superstar levels, as well, while Demko would probably win the Vezina if the season ended today.
Those are stretches half the league would kill to have from one player.
Right, and four of them simultaneously have put the Canucks in elite company: first in goals for (4.2 per game) and fourth in goals against (2.4).
The roster's second tier, headlined by active blue-liner Filip Hronek (plus-10 at five-on-five) and sniping winger Brock Boeser (tied for the NHL lead with 13 goals), also deserves credit. The same goes for Rick Tocchet and his coaching staff. Vancouver is organized, disciplined, and decisive with the puck.
Jeff Vinnick / Getty Images
But this wasn't supposed to happen? What gives?
The Canucks own the highest team shooting percentage and second-highest team save percentage, suggesting they're benefiting from good puck luck.
The eye test bears that out, and so does a deeper dive into the numbers. The gap between Vancouver's shooting percentage (14.4) and No. 2 Ottawa's (12) is roughly the same as the jump from Ottawa to No. 23 St. Louis (9.5).
The Canucks also lead the league in goals scored above expected and rank second in goals saved above expected, according to Sportlogiq. Translation: the results (number of goals scored and allowed, wins and losses) aren't aligned with the process (quality and quantity of scoring chances generated and allowed).
Yikes. Sounds … unsustainable. Is that the appropriate word?
Confirmed: "Unsustainable" is the word being used to describe the Canucks' play so far. And it's hard to argue with that characterization, given the extreme percentages. Further, only two clubs have enjoyed easier schedules, according to Hockey Reference's strength of schedule metric.
Chris Tanouye / Getty Images
Here are some more granular data points:
The 2022-23 Canucks scored on 14.7% of scoring chances they generated off the rush, per Sportlogiq. Pretty good. This year? They've scored on 23.9% of rush chances, an unsustainably good rate, considering NHL teams this season are at about 11%.
Demko's save percentage on shots from the inner slot (the most dangerous area of the ice) is .920. That's outstanding, especially considering Boston's Jeremy Swayman ranks second at .905. What isn't outstanding: The Canucks are allowing the fifth-most inner-slot shots per game. Demko, as good as he is, can't hold down the fort forever.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you saying the Canucks suck?
Nope. The opposite, actually.
All those red flags are balanced by reasons for optimism.
Vancouver's rarely stumbled into a victory this season. On average, the Canucks have been leading for roughly 35 minutes, tied for 15 minutes, and trailing for 10.
They've outscored the opposition by three goals or more in seven of their 12 wins, and the abundance of blowouts suggests they aren't relying solely on one clutch moment. Andrei Kuzmenko, Ilya Mikheyev, Conor Garland, and Carson Soucy are among many effective depth pieces raising Vancouver's floor. (Soucy is currently sidelined with a lower-body injury.)
The power play is humming at 33.3%, which is tied for the second-best rate in the NHL. It'll likely cool off soon, but Vancouver has the personnel to stay in the top 10 all season.
The five-on-five shot maps look drastically different in Tocchet's first full season behind the bench. On offense, Vancouver is firing shots far more frequently from in tight, especially in and around the left faceoff dot. On defense, as noted above, the opposition is also firing more often from in tight - specifically the inner slot. You can take the bad with the good for now.
Hockeyviz.com
That's fair. There's still plenty of time to tighten up defensively.
Yep, and there's continued work to do: the club ranks 22nd in penalty kill percentage (75.9) and 25th in shorthanded goals against per 60 minutes (9.6). Those rates are mediocre, in general, but to the Canucks, they're actually a step in the right direction. Last season's team finished 32nd in PK% (71.6) and 31st in shorthanded GA/60 (10.5).
Overall, the Canucks' success has a foundation. They're highly competitive. They play with connectivity and swagger that matches their record. And they rank first in generating scoring chances off the forecheck and second in limiting forecheck chances against - a recipe for success come playoff time.
What are the markers of a Cup contender? Do the Canucks have them?
Go through the rosters of the salary-cap era Cup champions and finalists and nearly all of them have at least one star forward, at least one star defenseman, (usually) a star goalie, and a top-tier coach. Pettersson, Hughes, Demko, and Tocchet check those key boxes.
Cup contenders also tend to have strong underlying numbers. At the moment, Vancouver's underlying numbers lean closer to the concerning end of the spectrum than the hopeful end. The regular season's one-fifth over, so there's ample runway for those trends to get significantly better (or worse).
Depth is another contender staple. The Canucks boast a capable second tier, but the bottom of the lineup - specifically on the back end - simply isn't good enough. Perhaps if the wins keep piling up, the front office will reward the team with a defensive upgrade before the new year.
Jeff Vinnick / Getty Images
So, what's the verdict: are the Canucks legit or not?
Before answering that question, some quick playoff-related intel.
Hockey analytics websites HockeyViz and MoneyPuck are giving Vancouver 79.9% and 74.1% chances of making the playoffs, respectively. Those are promising odds 17 games into the season, and the Canucks can elevate them over the next two weeks. The club's next six games are against Seattle (twice), San Jose (twice), Colorado, and Anaheim.
As for the verdict: Vancouver's definitely a playoff-caliber team, and one that can potentially win a series in a top-heavy Western Conference. The Canucks' star power is real, and their year-over-year improvement isn't a complete fluke. However, to crown them a Cup contender at this point would be foolish - I won't do it, and you can't make me. The sample size is strong but too small, and the warning signs strongly hint at regression and a return to Earth.
The question is: how hard will they fall?
John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).
