BUFFALO - It hit Ralph Krueger earlier this week in a KeyBank Arena hallway.

As the first-year Sabres head coach reflected on the early days of his tenure in Buffalo, he felt a chill. Krueger's group had exploded out of the gate to start the 2019-20 season, gelling behind closed doors while collecting 15 of a possible 18 points. His body was telling him to soak it all in for a quick moment.

"If somebody asked me, 'After 10 games, what would I like to know?' It's that we have a right to be part of the (playoff) race. That'd be the first thing," Krueger said in a conversation Monday afternoon. "And I feel that for sure we do, especially after that (2-1-0 California) road trip. I get a little bit of goosebumps when I think about it because this is the first time I've actually said it to anybody."

The next day, the Sabres won again, with Jack Eichel scoring on a jam play in overtime. That 4-3 victory over San Jose improved Buffalo's record to 8-1-1, its points percentage to .850, and its goal differential to plus-14 - all tops among NHL teams. Eichel, meanwhile, is playing at an MVP level.

"Ralph is a little bit unique, which really works for this group," center and alternate captain Marcus Johansson said. "It's fun to play for him. He's honest, he's positive, he lifts guys up. Hockey players with confidence are a lot better than hockey players without confidence."

Undeniable impact

The Sabres own the NHL's longest active playoff drought - eight seasons - and no other team has lost more games this decade, so October's been a boon for the organization and its rabid fan base. The Eichel era, which started in October 2015 when he made the jump from college, has been characterized by horrible records, bad body language, and fired coaches.

Krueger, the Eichel era's third bench boss following Dan Bylsma and Phil Housley, has been a breath of fresh air. Previous Sabres teams didn't play with this kind of pace or fluidity. There's a collective swagger brewing.

The coach and his staff have been preaching interchangeability between the forwards and defensemen, and the message isn't just aimed at certain players. "Five guys on offense, five guys on defense," is how Johansson described the mentality. "The big focus," winger Sam Reinhart added, "is trying to stay connected, with and without the puck. Supporting each other all the time."

This pack mentality has led to crisper breakouts, cleaner offensive-zone entries, and a ton of odd-man rushes. "Irrelevant of the score, irrelevant of where we play, we need to keep playing the same way," Krueger said of his system. "We stay on our toes. We keep playing offense. We don't sit back."

So far, the Sabres are averaging 3.7 goals per game, which ranks fourth in the league. Second-year captain Eichel, sniper Jeff Skinner, and power-play sensation Victor Olofsson have bagged six goals apiece, while 15 others have registered at least one point. Scoring four or more times in five of 10 games is an inspired start for a franchise that's finished bottom 10 in goals throughout the Eichel era.

It helps that Buffalo's forecheck is greatly improved this year, said Jake McCabe, one of six players remaining from the awful 2014-15 team that lost 59 games. "And as a defenseman," he added, "it's been a lot easier to keep my gap because our forwards are working to get back and pressuring the puck constantly." In short order, the Sabres are looking like a cohesive group.

The 60-year-old Krueger, a master communicator, has brought an optimist's vibe to the formerly downtrodden franchise. The guy literally wrote a book on leadership, and his glass is always three-quarters full. He's deeply thoughtful and willing to challenge institutional norms like the morning skate. Perhaps most important to his players, he's an inclusive, collaborative coach with an open-door policy.

"Our opinion matters to him, which is nice," center Casey Mittelstadt said. "Any time you're going (into his office or the video room), you know he's actually listening to you and actually taking what you have to say to heart."

The last time we saw Krueger behind a bench, he was leading Team Europe to a surprise second-place finish at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. That came in the middle of an unusual turn as chairman of Southampton FC, an English Premier League soccer team. An uneventful 48-game stint with the Edmonton Oilers seven years ago was Krueger's only prior NHL head coaching experience, and the game has changed dramatically since 2012.

"I had a lot of time to think about if I was going to be a coach, what I would do strategically," he said. "To actually bring it to life, then, is a completely different experience."

Cautious optimism

On Tuesday, Sabres general manager Jason Botterill praised Krueger for the team's impressive improvement. He added that the four players acquired over the summer - forwards Johansson and Jimmy Vesey, and defensemen Colin Miller and Henri Jokiharju - have been a "really calming influence."

But with most of the roster returning, Krueger said last season's dramatic second-half slide still "hangs in the air." Ten straight wins had vaulted the Sabres into first place in the Eastern Conference during November, but they lost an incredible 41 of 57 remaining contests to miss the playoffs by 22 points.

At the time, pundits warned about falling head over heels for those Sabres since the winning streak featured six overtime or shootout victories. Puck luck had skewed the results, and the crash was swift and painful. Inevitably, fans may wonder if this year's scorching start is also a mirage.

In one sense, it's not. A plus-14 goal differential suggests dominance, not luck, and contributions have been coming from all four forward lines, three defense pairings, and two goalies. In another sense, the underlying even-strength data suggests the Sabres are playing with fire:

Buffalo has capitalized on a high percentage of shots and is seeing red in three other important categories. That's not ideal. Nor is the team's early-season reliance on its power play (30.8%) and goaltending tandem. Journeyman starter Carter Hutton has posted a terrific .943 save percentage through six appearances. Is it illogical to expect so much of him, backup Linus Ullmark, and the power play over a full year?

"It's not lucky what's happening here," Krueger argued. "There is a method to what's going on and why we're where we're at right now."

Krueger used last week's 3-0 win in Los Angeles as an example. Outshot 47-24, Buffalo seemed to get away with murder. Yet the club mostly limited the Kings' second chances, Krueger said, allowing for the gritty victory.

"We're more of a possession team and pick our moments to shoot," he noted. "Others, like a Columbus, like an L.A., they're shooting teams. They shoot, they shoot, they shoot. So, the shot clock is a dangerous clock to track with us." Additionally, Krueger said his club leans on in-house data - namely scoring chances for and against - and that those numbers haven't been setting off alarms.

"You could argue about whether (percentages are) too high or it's too low, or whatever, but in the end, we feel like we're realistically capable of being part of the race," he said.

It's hard to disagree with Krueger because the Sabres are passing the eye test with flying colors. Mittelstadt and Vesey are playing some of the best hockey of their careers, much-maligned defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is happy with his suitable role on a well-balanced blue line, the Johansson-Skinner combo has made the second unit more dangerous, and both Eichel and Rasmus Dahlin - the organization's tentpole stars - are leading the charge on and off the ice.

The Sabres' 50th season is young, and their record could look wildly different in a month. Regardless, it feels like the tide is turning. The organization has found its leader.

"The most pleasing (development) is how much these players in Buffalo have embraced the plan that we as coaches drew up," Krueger said, "and the pathway that we've drawn up."

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Are you not entertained?

The first three weeks of the 2019-20 NHL season have given us plenty to think about and gawk at. Here are some of the many eye-catching developments from the first 21 days of action:

Scoring > fighting

The NHL has made a distinct move from decades past. Fighting's importance on the game is dwindling, while scoring continues to surge. Both trends have carried on through the first few weeks of the final season of the 2010s. There have been 21 fighting majors, according to HockeyFights.com, which is a 197-fight pace or a scrap roughly every two-and-a-half games, which would be a historic low. Meanwhile, the average 2019-20 game has featured 6.1 total goals, the highest rate since the lockout-shortened 2005-06 campaign.

Front offices acting fast

Nico Hischier's seven-year contract extension was a tidy piece of business for New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero. Hischier, who will make $7.25 million starting next season, has been lost in the shuffle in a league ruled by more flamboyant players. The two-way center is an integral part of what New Jersey is building, forming a one-two punch down the middle with Jack Hughes. He joins Chicago Blackhawks winger Alex DeBrincat, Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot, Winnipeg Jets rearguard Josh Morrissey, and Arizona Coyotes winger Clayton Keller on the list of 2020 restricted free agents who've inked an extension far in advance of July 1. The 2019 RFA crop taught GMs a lesson, apparently.

Carlson on fire

John Carlson finished fourth in Norris Trophy voting last year. In his previous nine seasons, he cracked the top five just once. It's safe to say he's the clubhouse leader now. Carlson tops all skaters - yes, that includes Connor McDavid - in points (five goals and 15 assists for 20 points in 11 games). If Carlson can remain healthy and average a point per game for the remainder of the season, he'll become the first defenseman since Ray Bourque in 1993-94 to crack the 90-point mark. Video game numbers for a 29-year-old in the second season of an eight-year deal. For the Capitals, it's $8 million well spent.

Sharks dress to impress

Bravo to the San Jose Sharks. Those Los Tiburones warmup jerseys hit all the right notes.

Oilers stars stretched thin

Hockey is infinitely more entertaining when McDavid is on the ice. Sprinkle in plenty of Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers become must-watch. Still, how long can coach Dave Tippett continue this insane early-season deployment? Through 10 games, Draisaitl (23:42 average ice time) and McDavid (22:43) are flirting with diminishing returns over the 82-game regular-season marathon. Tippett is in a tough spot. He must balance the daily motivation to win the next game with the short-, medium-, and long-term needs of the Oilers' greater picture.

Schedules gone wild

It's hard to recall an NHL season in which so many teams had scheduling glitches right off the hop. A few examples: the Minnesota Wild are on the road for 13 of their first 18 games; the Flyers played Game 1 in Prague, their second contest in Philadelphia five days later, and then the third in Vancouver three days after that; the Sharks and Buffalo Sabres, teams based in opposite parts of the continent, had a home-and-home over a four-day period; while all of that was going on, the New York Rangers had a week off between Games 2 and 3.

Hintz of a promising future

Unless you're a Dallas Stars fan or a prospect aficionado, you probably didn't know a single thing about Roope Hintz at this point last year. The big, speedy Finnish center broke out in March and has continued to demonstrate he is on the verge of stardom. Hintz, a second-round pick in the 2015 draft, has quietly bagged six goals in 11 games to lead Dallas' attack. Not groundbreaking stuff, but relative to team performance, he's doing quite well for himself.

Mighty Duck between the pipes

John Gibson can't do it all. Through his first seven starts, the perennial Vezina Trophy contender allowed just 13 goals on 214 shots for a sparkling save percentage of .939. In the eighth, he conceded four goals on 19 shots. Upcoming games against strong conference foes - the Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and Vegas Golden Knights - should reveal more about the dynamic between team and goalie. Overall, it's happy days for Ducks fans - unexpectedly, Anaheim is off to a 6-4-0 start - but is Gibson doing more harm than good in the long run? A club that could sorely use a high draft-lottery position is playing in front of a world-class goalie.

More thunder than Lightning

Since Brayden Point made his season debut on Oct. 10, the center has skated at even-strength with wingers Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos and defenseman Victor Hedman for roughly 23 minutes. That collection of talent is bordering on absurd. Four top-50 (top-30?) players on the ice at the same time. The hockey world should be talking about the Tampa Bay Lightning foursome ad nauseam, but the results haven't been ideal. The stat line through five games of experimentation: 23 shot attempts for, 29 shot attempts against, two goals for, two goals against.

'Canes still surgin' under Rod

After a deep playoff run, the Carolina Hurricanes have burst out of the gates in 2019-20. The catalyst in Raleigh always seems to be Rod Brind'Amour, the assistant coach for seven years before he was promoted to bench boss in May 2018. A longtime NHL coach once explained the difference between the two positions. The assistant is an uncle type for players (arm's length from discipline, a listening ear, etc.) while a head coach is closer to a father figure.

In the case of Carolina, stud defenseman Jaccob Slavin reports few hiccups in Brind'Amour's transition to team dad: "His personality and how he operates as a person, how he respects you as a player, did not change from assistant coach to head coach. That's rare to find. He genuinely cares about us as players, and as people too. It’s something special that we have with him."

Freshman struggles

Quite the early hiccup for rookies from the 2019 NHL Draft. Top picks Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko have combined for two goals and two assists in 15 games. Kirby Dach (third overall, Blackhawks), Ville Heinola (20th, Jets), and Tobias Bjornot (22nd, Los Angeles Kings) are the only other 2019 picks to appear in an NHL game. Heinola, a super-smart defenseman, leads the pack in production with five points in eight outings, getting scratched three times. What an odd group and strange early-season development.

Stone-cold stud

Mark Stone has been an absolute game-changer for the Vegas Golden Knights since arriving prior to last season's trade deadline. In 29 regular-season games, Stone has put up 25 points while guiding the team to a 54.5% share of the even-strength shot attempts when he's on the ice. When asked in September how the Golden Knights might benefit from a full year of Stone, fellow forward Jonathan Marchessault wasted no words: "You get a No. 1 forward, that's what you get. He's an unbelievable player. He does everything well on the ice."

Everything, indeed, including one-punching Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi and reacting appropriately to the roller coaster that is the NHL shootout.

Out with the old

Mike Sullivan's take on morning skates is perfect. The Pittsburgh Penguins coach used the power of storytelling to explain why the tradition is "overrated" and why slowly but surely it's being eliminated from a number of NHL programs, including his own.

"It's like, 'Why does the whole league have morning skates?' It reminds me of why my mother cut the side of the hams off before she cooked 'em," Sullivan told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I asked her, 'Why do you cut the sides of the hams off?' She said, 'I don't know. Because that's how my mother taught me.' So I asked my grandmother. I said, 'Why do you cut the side of the hams off before you put 'em in the oven?' She said, 'That was easy. I didn't have a pan that was big enough.' That's my analogy."

Bench boss update

From scorching to warm to lukewarm, a ranking of three head coaches believed to be on the hot seat:

1. Bruce Boudreau, Wild (3-6-0)
2. John Hynes, Devils (2-4-2)
3. Jim Montgomery, Stars (3-7-1)

And, from freezing-cold to chilly to brisk, here are three head coaches on the other end of the spectrum (the cold seat?):

1. Ralph Krueger, Sabres (8-1-1)
2. Dave Tippett, Oilers (7-1-1)
3. Bruce Cassidy, Bruins (6-1-2)

Another slow start for DeBrusk

Jake DeBrusk and October is not a match made in heaven. The Boston Bruins power forward has failed to hit the ground running in each October of his young NHL career. In 2017-18, he put up four points in 10 games. Last year, over a 12-game month, he pitched in just three goals. This season, through nine contests, he has three points, two of which came in Games 8 and 9.

"I don't know what it is," he said over the weekend, prior to scoring against Toronto. "I don't really necessarily like where my game's at right now overall, let alone statistic-wise, so I'm just trying to build and find my game."

DeBrusk tends to turn it on as the season progresses. In October, he's averaged 0.32 points per game, compared to 0.67 in the other combined months of the regular season.

Souperman is in the building

Mike Babcock is notoriously difficult to win over, but Russian rookie Ilya Mikheyev has quickly endeared himself to the Toronto Maple Leafs coach. Mikheyev, who has three goals and four assists in 11 games, has not once seen his nightly ice time dip below 13 minutes. This past Saturday, he played a career-high 18:22 as a second-line winger and first-unit penalty killer. Not bad for a 25-year-old who last year was a complete unknown to North Americans.

"Ilya's fast and he's strong, which are two important things on the penalty kill," Maple Leafs winger Trevor Moore said of his new, beloved teammate. "He reads the play well and he's got good instincts. He's been great."

Seattle's math movement

Shrewdly, Seattle's NHL team has chosen to build out the geek squad years ahead of its debut in 2021. In June, ownership tapped former Wild analytics guru Alexandra Mandrycky to be its director of hockey administration. Ron Francis, who was hired a month later, has always been considered a numbers-friendly GM. And, just last week, the club announced it's searching for a quantitative analyst, data engineer, and developer to help shape expansion-draft strategy and assist in player acquisition, roster construction, and in-game tactics.

Maurice joins exclusive group

Jets coach Paul Maurice is a member of the 700-win club. He's spent more than two decades running benches for three franchises - Hartford/Carolina (twice), Toronto, and Winnipeg - that have been filled with varying levels of talent. Here's a stab at an all-time lineup of Maurice-coached players:

Goal of the year?

With all due respect to Sidney Crosby's, Blake Coleman's, and David Pastrnak's wonderful tallies, the goal of the year front-runner is Columbus Blue Jackets winger Sonny Milano's between-the-legs snipe. Milano flashed both finesse and guts on the Oct. 16 play, pulling the puck back while two defenders chased him down before roofing it on goalie Ben Bishop.

In Crosby we trust

A basic hockey lesson: never, ever doubt Crosby. With Evgeni Malkin sidelined and Phil Kessel in Arizona, the 32-year-old has willed the Penguins to a 6-4-0 record to start the season. His performance this year, his 15th in the NHL, has underlined his ability to rise to the occasion. McDavid may be the best player in the world, but Crosby is the grand master. Interestingly, though, neither should be dominating the way-too-early Hart Trophy conversation. No, the MVP of the first few weeks is Jack Eichel, McDavid's old draft classmate.

West Coast rivalry

Please, give us a few more chapters of this Drew Doughty-Matthew Tkachuk rivalry. At this point, both guys seem genuinely into the WWE-style tiff. Let's hope they stay interested between now and Dec. 7, when the Kings and Calgary Flames meet for their third of four meetings this season.

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

As a kid, Josh Manson would dart out the door, hop on his bicycle, and pedal down a Saskatchewan dirt road to his grandparents' cabin. There, the future NHLer would often find his grandpa Harold fiddling around in the garage. The image, though simple, is forever etched onto Manson's brain.

The Anaheim Ducks defenseman couldn't help but think of Harold, an amputee, late last month as he welcomed sled hockey player Lera Doederlein into the organization's inner circle. Manson handed Doederlein a customized jersey to congratulate her on becoming the 21st Duck, an annual honor bestowed upon one fan "who embodies perseverance, character, courage, and inspiration."

Harold Manson, who died in 2012, lived an active life for 81 years. Doederlein, 16, is doing the same. Two amputees from different generations and with different stories; both unwilling to be defined by their challenges.

"When I knew him, it was never a limitation," Manson said recently, reflecting on how Harold coped with losing a leg during a railroad accident in the mid-1950s. "He was a very strong man. I don't think there was ever a point where we were feeling bad for him. That was not what he wanted.

"It's all about your mindset, and that's something Lera has as well. For her to have gone through (so much) and to have the attitude that she has - a nothing-you-can't-accomplish mindset - it's inspiring."

Lera Doederlein was born Chueva Valeria Valerivna in Russia on April 15, 2003.

Immediately, doctors in the southwestern city of Saratov identified a serious problem: she had joint contractures in both of her legs, and would later be diagnosed with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a rare, incurable condition that severely limits mobility.

Valeria was put up for adoption the next day. It was at a nearby orphanage where she took on the nickname of Lera and, about 15 months later, endeared herself to her future parents.

David and Fami Doederlein, devout Christians from Minnesota with three biological children, were a world away when they first laid eyes on her. In a video shared by a friend, Lera won them over instantly. "It was her bright eyes, inquisitive look, and the way that she was very attentive," David recalled.

The adoption process took about six months. Not yet two, Lera had gained a new family, a new country, and a culture willing to confront her medical condition.

"The attitude in Eastern Europe is very different than it is around here," David said. "I would say those attitudes are somewhat backward, knowing what we know about people with special needs being able to thrive in so many ways. When Lera was born - and her doctor and her mother saw she had these birth defects below the hip - the doctor encouraged her mother to give her up for adoption because they lived in a very poor area of Russia. He convinced her that, if she were adopted, she might have a better chance at a better life."

Lera was unable to do much physically growing up, confined by braces that would run from her ankles to her knees, and a set of complex crutches. Surgeries offered little relief. So, at age 14, Lera opted to undergo a double above-knee amputation.

"I just wanted to take control of my life," Lera said of her decision. "From there, I had no idea what would happen, but obviously it took a good turn."

The medical bill - which included the operation, physical therapy, prosthetics, and a wheelchair - was offset somewhat by insurance and a fundraising drive run by Lera's brother Isaac Doederlein, a professional Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor. The family covered a large sum out of pocket, but the payoff has been immeasurable.

Lera had so desperately wanted to be free, mobile in some way, and prosthetics granted her that freedom. Not long after the surgery, she took an interest in adaptive sports like surfing, hand cycling, and sled hockey. She was invigorated.

"Getting her legs gave her such a sense of freedom that she can do all of these things that she didn't think she could do before," said Sarah Bettencourt, Lera's teammate on the San Diego Ducks sled hockey team. "That's her mentality, her personality that we all love. She's willing to try anything, and give it a go, see what sticks and see what doesn't."

It was San Diego coach Nick Hurd who nominated Lera to become the 21st Duck, largely because she's blossomed into one of the top ambassadors for the adaptive sports community. Not only is she excelling in the sled hockey world, where only 2½ years into her career she's joined Bettencourt as a member of the U.S. national development team, but she's also a strong surfer and cyclist, competing in national events in those sports as well.

"A lot of people get into other sports in the offseason, dabble with it to stay in shape," Hurd said, "but she's really excelling in hand cycling and surfing, really anything that people are putting in front of her. She's taking the bull by the horns and going with it."

Lera, the fourth recipient of the 21st Duck honor, recently shared her story with Anaheim players before joining them on the Honda Center ice for practice. She then arrived at the home opener in a Lamborghini driven by team captain Ryan Getzlaf, walked the ceremonial orange carpet with him, and received a standing ovation under a spotlight during player introductions.

"It shows you there's a lot more important things in hockey out there," Manson said. "At the end of the day, we're very fortunate to go out and play a sport for a living."

Lera's perks as the 21st Duck include a season-long open invitation to join the team at practice, and she has her own stall inside Anaheim's dressing room. The Ducks opened the season with two home wins and on Monday wrapped up a four-game road trip. The club is now 4-2.

Manson is impressed by Lera’s resilience, maturity, disposition, and on-ice skills: "I’d love to get on a sled and try it one day," he said. "She'd skate circles around me, I'm sure. It doesn't look easy (overall), but she makes it look pretty effortless."

Lera, who's described as a quick, aggressive, cerebral forward with a scoring touch, has thought about studying biomedical engineering at university. Still in 10th grade, she's in no rush to pick a career path, though something involving prosthetics and orthotics is possible.

"Part of my motto is to always stay positive and to look at the brightest side possible," Lera said. "You should always surround yourself with good people who care about you and your life."

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

TORONTO - Anthony Cirelli has never met a hockey puck he didn't want.

The unassuming Tampa Bay Lightning center is inherently drawn to the little rubber disc and will do everything in his power to retrieve it: waving his left-handed stick in passing lanes, poking at feet and shin pads, mucking it up along the boards, and generally harassing puck carriers.

They are not acts of intimidation. Gaining possession is the sole focus.

"If I'm not skating, I'm pretty useless out there," Cirelli said Thursday afternoon from his stall at Scotiabank Arena, sweat-soaked after a workout ahead of Tampa's statement win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. "I don't know where it came from. I've just always had that 'go' mentality."

Cirelli, one of the NHL's top faceoff men last year, wasn't at his best in the circle during Thursday's game, winning just seven of 17 draws against the Leafs. Two of those wins, however, quickly resulted in goals for the Lightning. By night's end, he'd quietly collected three assists. Though Cirelli was on the ice for 20 even-strength shot attempts against and only nine attempts for in a season-low 17 minutes of action, he still found a way to make an impact.

He approaches each shift as if it's his last moment on Earth, grinding away until something positive materializes even when the opposition's best - in this case, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner - are staring back.

"His determination to get his job done, to get the puck and to battle, it's really something you admire," Lightning defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. "His compete level on 50-50 pucks is tremendous. He has a low center of gravity, seems to really drive in, so he's strong on his skates. For that reason, he comes out of a lot of those battles with the puck."

Cirelli's well-roundedness as a center legitimizes head coach Jon Cooper's willingness to load up his top line - which is exactly what he did against Toronto when top pivot Brayden Point made his season debut. On a star-studded crew featuring Point, super-sniper Steven Stamkos, and reigning MVP Nikita Kucherov, Cirelli is easily the Lightning's fourth-most important forward. There's plenty to like about his two-way game.

"I guess the better question would be, 'What don't I like?'" Cooper cracked. "When you ask players on our team who plays the game right, it's (rare) that Cirelli's name doesn't come up."

Stamkos agreed.

"As a rookie last year, it was his responsibility on this team to shoulder the workload of shutting down other team's top lines, taking big faceoffs, being out there at the end of games," the Lightning captain said. "It's rare to find someone that young (and responsible). ... He's a huge part of our team. Everywhere he's gone he's kind of been that player, and he's that for us as well."

Cirelli's path has been well documented. He was just another minor hockey player, unknown until the age of 17 when the OHL's Oshawa Generals discovered him. He's been on a rocket-fueled trajectory ever since, scoring multiple championship-winning goals in junior, going to the Lightning in the third round of the 2015 NHL Draft, representing Canada twice at high-profile tournaments, and finishing sixth in 2018-19 Calder Trophy voting.

Now established at the NHL level, Cirelli's ready to assert himself during his second full season. Cooper has mentioned numerous times that Cirelli has the potential to be the next Patrice Bergeron, the Boston Bruins' two-way leader who owns a record-tying four Selke Trophies. And the coach isn't the only one who thinks so.

"The sky's the limit for him, really. It seems like he's trending toward the Bergeron-type of player," Shattenkirk said, the comparison unprompted. "He's everywhere at all times, taking care of everyone's job for them while doing his own."

For his career, Cirelli has a cool 53% Corsi For rating - despite starting 57% of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone and typically shadowing opponents' best lines. What's more, he's drawn 15 more penalties than he's taken (32-17). As a key member of the first unit of a top-five penalty-killing team, he's already bagged five shorthanded goals in 104 regular-season games.

Thanks to his instincts and solid skating, Cirelli finds himself on breakaways or partial breaks fairly often for a player not known for his speed. He recorded a respectable 19 goals and 20 assists in 82 games last season, and he's been the driving force between veteran wingers Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn through four games this year. Though he's rarely used on the power play - an average of five seconds per game right now - two of Cirelli's four assists thus far have come with the man advantage. Promoted this season to second-line center, there's ample opportunity for Cirelli to produce more offense.

Cirelli has spent the past few offseasons tweaking his skating mechanics with Barb Underhill, Tampa Bay's skating guru. He's learned, for instance, to swing his arms in a more efficient manner. The Toronto-area native also spent hours refining his shot each day this past summer, first during on-ice sessions led by instructors and then alone at his family's home. After a rigorous day of workouts at the gym and rink, he'd shoot 150-200 pucks before bed.

Cirelli's trainer, Dan Noble of Noble Sport and Performance, considers the 6-foot, 193-pounder a unique player because he had limited exposure to specialized coaches as a youngster. Relying on smarts and hard work to climb the ranks, Cirelli can still improve drastically within a single summer. His no-quit mentality doesn't hurt, either.

"Anthony's got zero ego," Noble said. "The humility he has, the desire to get better, it's there."

Re-examining the 2015 draft, it's comical to see Cirelli's name way down in the third round, sandwiched between Jean-Christophe Beaudin and Vili Saarijarvi, neither of whom has played an NHL game. Of the 30 third-round picks that year, Cirelli is the only one to have appeared in more than 17 games. Despite going 72nd overall, he ranks 28th in his entire draft class in games played, trailing third overall pick Dylan Strome by just three contests.

Since the Lightning burned the first season of his three-year, entry-level deal in 2017-18 by giving him 18 regular-season appearances and 17 playoff games, Cirelli is a pending restricted free agent. Having only turned 22 in July, he's already playing a crucial role for his team while making just $728,333 this season.

That's especially important for the cap-strapped Lightning, whose other big-time contributors - namely Stamkos, Kucherov, Point, No. 1 defenseman Victor Hedman, workhorse blue-liner Ryan McDonagh, and starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy - combine to eat up a large portion of the club's payroll.

"That's what you need," Stamkos said of Cirelli's rise. "In a salary-cap world, you need young guys to come in and have an impact right away. And he's one of those guys."

Cirelli said there's been no talk of an extension between his agent and the team. Of course, there's plenty of time to work out a deal between now and next season. For what it's worth, Cirelli appears perfectly content with his place within the Lightning's "well-run, unbelievable organization."

Already playing second-line minutes and on the verge of a healthy raise, Cirelli is not done growing. History tells us he will reach for the next rung on the developmental ladder as feverishly as he hounds a loose puck.

"You always have to have a chip on your shoulder," Cirelli said. "You can never be comfortable with where you're at."

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

A trip to the visitors' dressing room at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena earlier this week revealed one undeniable truth about the Ottawa Senators: This team is content with being basic.

No frills. No grand expectations. No delusions. This is not an overnight rebuild, and revamping the team's culture is the top priority.

First-year head coach DJ Smith wants his players to adopt a mindset that's straightforward and simple. "Our identity is how hard we work," Smith said prior to his team's 5-3 season-opening loss to the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. Hard work? That's all you've got, DJ?

On the surface, the mantra sounds uninspired and, frankly, a little amateur. Shouldn't working hard come naturally to well-compensated professionals? When one begins to peel back the layers of this rebuilding franchise, however, the simplistic approach makes sense for the 2019-20 Senators.

After all, expectations couldn't be lower. Nearly everybody projects Ottawa to finish last overall for a second straight season. So, instead of lying to themselves - and the fans - the coaching staff and players have developed a mutual understanding. Building good habits throughout the season will be infinitely more productive than, say, defeating the upstart New York Rangers on Saturday night.

The Senators will obviously set out to win every game. But establishing a certain style - tenacious, simple hockey with sound defensive structure - will be more important than two points in the standings.

"We're all aware that we're not the most skilled team in the NHL. We know that going into games, we're not going to win the skill game," said Thomas Chabot, the franchise's 22-year-old cornerstone defenseman who signed an eight-year, $64-million contract extension at the start of training camp.

"We're a team that's got a lot of speed," he continued. "A team that has guys who can make plays, hit, and be in the other guy's face. That's something we've got to use to our advantage. For us to have success this year, we don't want to give them any time, don't want to give them any freebies."

Most everything associated with these Senators - from Smith's message to the marketing team's "The Kids are Alright" tagline - is geared towards incremental gains. But actions will speak louder than words. Minimizing controversies would be a solid start, though the fact Logan Brown's agent is already complaining about ice time is hardly ideal.

On the ice, the Senators can't afford to gloss over anything in this foundational stage. They lost 53 games last year and 54 in 2017-18, and the team's inability to limit opponents' scoring chances tops the list of contributing factors. The defensive straps must be tightened. It's hardly rocket science, but improvement isn't a linear process. And the players know that.

"We definitely gave up too many odd-man rushes. It starts in the neutral zone, and then in the D zone, there's just so many dangerous shots against," center Jean-Gabriel Pageau said of last year's struggles.

"We've got good goalies, but they can't stand on their head every night and save us. We're working on the little details so they're able to see more pucks - boxing out, being physical, being in the right spot, supporting each other, having our stick in the lanes, putting our sticks on pucks. Stuff like that."

The growing pains were evident in the loss to the Maple Leafs. Sophomore winger Brady Tkachuk gave his team life with a goal 25 seconds into the game, but then the second period rolled around. Engaging in a track meet with one of the NHL's fastest and most skilled clubs, the Senators were outshot 17-3 and outscored 4-1 in the middle frame. The third period was more of the same, as the Senators continued to get outclassed at 5-on-5 and on special teams.

The final tally: Eighty shot attempts for the Maple Leafs, 48 for the Senators. Craig Anderson, the oldest starting goalie in the league, had his hands full.

"We lost that urgency," defenseman Mark Borowiecki said postgame. "There's no pressure and no expectations, but that doesn't mean our pride and standards can go down."

Smith, who spent four years working under Mike Babcock in Toronto, will be tasked with keeping his players focused as the year chugs along. If their attention wandered in Game 1, what happens when the losses pile up in the dog days of an 82-game season?

It should help that the roster is almost completely turned over. Just six Senators who played Wednesday dressed in last year's season opener. The bulk of the core from Ottawa's run to the 2017 Eastern Conference Final is long gone. Borowiecki, Pageau, Anderson, and winger Bobby Ryan remain, but the summer departure of polarizing defenseman Cody Ceci - shipped down the highway to Toronto - seemed to signal the end of that chapter in team history.

Young guns such as Chabot, Tkachuk, Brown, Colin White, and Erik Brannstrom are now insulated by an eclectic crew of veterans, some of whom are fringe players filling prominent roles in contract years. Like everything else about this Senators team, the dynamic is straightforward.

"For us and DJ, I think the best part about it is that there's no grey area. It's black or white," said defenseman Dylan DeMelo, who joined Ottawa from the San Jose Sharks in the blockbuster Erik Karlsson trade of September 2018. "He's very clear on his message and what he wants. It's on us now to do that, come through with the game plan, and play the way he wants us to play."

While Smith redefines the Senators' identity, general manager Pierre Dorion can continue overhauling the roster.

It took a while to clear the books, but Ottawa now has tremendous cap flexibility. The only albatross contract is Ryan's - $7.25 million a season through 2021-22. The club opened the campaign with $10.6 million in cap space, so it's possible Dorion adds to the team's vast collection of draft picks (20 in the next two years) by taking on unwanted contracts and/or shipping out more veterans throughout the season.

Belying Dorion and Smith's steady approach, however, is owner Eugene Melnyk's February promise that the Senators are headed toward "a five-year run of unparalleled success, where the team will plan to spend close to the NHL's salary cap every year from 2021 to 2025."

With a crop of exciting youngsters already making strides, Senators fans should be able to envision a future in which the franchise returns to relevancy sooner than later. But based on attendance, which has been trending in the wrong direction for four straight seasons, the organization needs to deliver something of substance - sooner than later.

The three-step process for doing so appears to be: work hard, spend, win. Simple enough, right?

If the first step goes according to plan.

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Humans are drawn to neatly packaged, occasionally false narratives.

For instance, some of us have convinced ourselves that in troubled times "everything happens for a reason," or that millennials are destroying the economy, or that if you swallow chewing gum it takes seven years to digest.

We've even convinced ourselves that the 2018-19 St. Louis Blues fell into a championship.

As you've heard repeatedly, the Blues were dead-last in the NHL standings on Jan. 3, before rallying to win the Stanley Cup. Enthralled by this worst-to-first plot, the general public has forgotten the full scope of the matter. St. Louis had been considered a fringe Cup contender heading into the year. All things considered, nobody should be blown away by their achievement.

"The big thing with the St. Louis story is that they were underperforming half the season and then they start playing as good as they can play. That's why they turned it around," Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said earlier this month at the NHL's annual preseason media event in Chicago.

"It's not like they came from nowhere. They had the team to play like that, and that's the difference between a really good team underperforming (and) maybe a bad team playing their best."

Keep Lundqvist's words in mind as the new NHL season opens. The Blues are icing a nearly identical lineup, should again be viewed as a Cup threat, and are one of four very strong clubs in the Central Division.

The Atlantic may ultimately produce the Cup winner - the Lightning are favored, with the Maple Leafs and Bruins on their heels - but it's the potency of the Central that will define the season. No other division has a higher concentration of talent, or as many intriguing storylines.

"There's so many things we learned from winning that we need to hold on to and find a way to channel. But also we know we're not going to surprise anyone," Blues center and reigning Conn Smythe winner Ryan O'Reilly said. "It's going to be a whole different feel for us. 'OK, how can we elevate our game?' We're not going to catch teams by surprise."

The Nashville Predators have made the playoffs five years in a row, the longest such streak among Central teams. They lost in the 2017 Cup final and haven't really been the same since. In the offseason, general manager David Poile removed defenseman P.K. Subban and his $9-million cap hit and added Matt Duchene and his $8-million cost for an upgrade at center, a seemingly eternal position of need for the franchise.

Duchene, a hot commodity on the free-agent market, cited Nashville's Cup window and the presence of incumbent top-line center Ryan Johansen as key reasons why he signed with the Predators.

"I think we have an opportunity to be a 1A-1B situation, where you have two top lines that … compete every night to be the best line," Duchene said of Johansen and the depth chart. "And when you have that internal competition, it pushes each other and it makes you better, and you root for each other within that competition."

Jim Nill, Poile's counterpart in Dallas, faced a similar offseason predicament. With goaltending and defense largely taken care of, it was time to upgrade the Stars' offense. The signings of 30-somethings Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry could do the trick for a forward group that in the past has relied on Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov, and not much else.

"You look at Perry's track record. He's pretty much won every trophy you can win in hockey," Dallas goalie Ben Bishop said.

"Pavelski is going to be huge for us," defenseman John Klingberg said, citing the former Sharks captain's leadership. "I think that's something we really thrived on last year. After we got going, I think more voices in the locker room started speaking. Getting him in there is going to help us even more."

The surging Colorado Avalanche, meanwhile, have no issues filling the leadership quota or scoresheet. Captain Gabriel Landeskog, superstar Nathan MacKinnon, and $9.25-million man Mikko Rantanen form arguably the league's best line. Nazem Kadri, a battle-tested soon-to-be 29-year-old, will take over the No. 2 center spot after an offseason trade with Toronto. Joonas Donskoi and Andre Burakovsky, added from San Jose and Washington, respectively, were quality free-agent depth acquisitions by GM Joe Sakic. His defense, while still a work in progress, is mobile and effective.

"I think we should have high expectations with the group that we have," Avs defenseman Cale Makar said. "It's a special time. It's such a young team that honestly the sky's the limit."

The division's pecking order dips a bit after the top four teams. The Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, and Chicago Blackhawks are all capable of making the playoffs this season. Each team is more talented than an average NHL group, but each also has major question marks, ranging from the Jets' depth issues on defense, the Hawks' troubles preventing goals, and the Wild's lack of game breakers.

"Everybody can win on any given night," Bishop said. "I'd like to see somebody trying to predict the standings of the Central Division."

Only five Central teams can qualify for the playoffs, if they claim both Western Conference wild-card spots. Maybe one of the Cup contenders falters, because sports can be unpredictable. Maybe a lower-end team sneaks up on the hockey world. The variety of outcomes is what makes this division such a murderer's row.

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The 2019 NHL playoffs were every official's nightmare - a horror show stuck on repeat.

On top of the usual debates over goalie interference and borderline hits, this past spring featured an abundance of officiating controversies. Everybody was frustrated.

There was the phantom major penalty in the opening round, the protective netting and bench-door offside fiascos in Round 2, the missed hand pass in the conference finals, and finally - the big kahuna - the missed tripping call in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman tried to keep his head from exploding. Perplexed players and coaches called the blunders "embarrassing" and a "black eye" on the league. ESPN proclaimed that officiating in the postseason was "maddeningly inconsistent. The Hockey News argued that referees had hijacked an otherwise entertaining Cup Final.

Everything that could go wrong went wrong, and the referees and linesmen shouldered the bulk of the blame. After the dust settled, one question kept percolating in my brain: Why, in this era, would somebody aspire to be an NHL official?

Officials are expected to be mistake-free, and when they aren't, they get booed mercilessly, chastised on social media, and picked apart behind closed doors.

Meanwhile, their influence on the game is eroding thanks to advancements in technology and the quest for perfection. They're constantly away from family, traveling upwards of 175 days a year to fulfill a dizzying schedule. Nobody, aside from their loved ones and those at ice level, gives a crap when an errant stick wounds them in the crotch or the mouth.

From afar, it's fair to suggest the cons of the profession definitely outweigh the pros. There are so many other careers to pursue. Why officiate?

The new path

On a sunny day in August in Western New York, the NHL staged its annual Officiating Exposure Combine at the Harborcenter, the same college hockey rink where the league holds its pre-draft scouting combine for players every April. The invitation-only event is mainly targeted at former players who are interested in a second career in hockey, making it both a semi-competitive tryout and an experimental leap of faith.

"Growing up, none of the people here wanted to be officials," NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkom said from his seat overlooking the ice. "They wanted to be players. Then they tried officiating - like some are today - and they fell in love with it."

The combine is a four-day crash course. On-ice instructors teach the fundamentals of calling a game, such as signaling an infraction, running a faceoff, and positioning. Off the ice, attendees move through various tests for fitness, vision, and decision-making. They learn about theory and social media. If you happen to be on the fence about seriously pursuing officiating, you'll either love it or hate it by the time you leave the combine.

It's clear after an hour or two of observation and conversation that the NHL covets a particular handful of core traits in prospective officials: great communication skills, a strong understanding of the rulebook, fluent and agile skating abilities, elite hockey sense, and certainly a thick skin.

Occasionally, a first-timer checks off all the boxes. "When you scout refs, you see a Sidney Crosby or a Connor McDavid," Al Kimmel, the NHL's top evaluator of officials, said. "Those people stand out from everybody else."

Walkom and Kimmel can identify a future star referee without having seen them call a meaningful game at any level. The ex-pro bypasses the traditional learning curve. "If you’ve been on the third or fourth line and sat on the bench a lot," Walkom explained, "you've been calling penalties, offsides, and icings for a long time."

Kyle Flemington, a former enforcer who retired from pro hockey in 2017 following a combined 152 games in the ECHL and the top league in the UK, has been on a fast track since his appearance at the 2018 combine. The 27-year-old will split the 2019-20 season between the NHL and AHL after just one year of officiating in the AHL and OHL.

Flemington, who's on the linesman track, is 6-foot-7, strong as an ox, skates well, and has shown he can develop a strong rapport with all kinds of players. He owns a diploma in police foundations but decided to give officiating a whirl - and is now hooked.

"You're there to help the game of hockey," Flemington said. "You're not there to try to screw it up. I think that's a misconception when people think of officials. We're not there to be the bad guy. We're there to run the game in a safe manner, and conduct it at a good pace."

There's also financial incentive to join the profession. Under the latest collective bargaining agreement between the league and its officials, NHL referees earn between $190,000 and $400,000 per year, while NHL linesmen pull in between $125,000 and $250,000. That's a significant pay bump for a former ECHL player.

Currently, 34 referees and 34 linesmen are on staff to exclusively work NHL games. Another 10 refs and four linesmen - up-and-comers such as Flemington - rotate between NHL and AHL assignments. In addition, Walkom said, the league monitors 20 to 25 prospects who call games at lower levels, like the ECHL and juniors, to keep the officiating pipeline fresh. In total, about 100 individuals are in the NHL system.

Four of them are women: referees Katie Guay and Kelly Cooke, as well as Kirsten Welsh and Kendall Hanley, who work the lines. All four attended the Buffalo combine, and they officiated NHL prospects at rookie tournaments earlier this month.

Guay, who played college hockey at Brown and now officiates men's Division I games, is on a trajectory that should one day land her a permanent NHL gig. She's a woman in a male-dominated field but reports no cases of mistreatment from NCAA players, coaches, or officials, which has liberated her to climb the ranks.

"Our goal as officials is like the players: to make it to that big game," Guay said. "We have great camaraderie in the locker room. It's fun to be with the crews and work together. We're the third team on the ice and, ultimately, we're just out there to have fun, service the game, and play our role."

And speaking generally, Walkom says, "It's just a matter of time" before the NHL follows the NBA and NFL by hiring its first full-time female official.

Lifestyle and flak

On game night, the average NHL fan is introduced to the officials when the broadcast flashes the crew's names and their faces before puck drop. Unless the final score is linked to a call, the striped skaters fade from our memories shortly after the last horn sounds.

Save for a handful who've hit the mainstream - the exuberant Wes McCauley, the polarizing Tim Peel, and pro golfer Garrett Rank top the list - most NHL officials are anonymous. The game is built on the players, not those who enforce the rulebook, but the anonymity leaves room for a lack of empathy from outsiders for the trials of the job.

"Fans see you on the screen for two hours and they don't see what happens before or after that," Tyson Baker, a 24-year-old linesman working in the NHL and AHL, said. "Maybe you had a flight delay and you're stuck in an airport for eight hours. Maybe you've got to hustle home after a trip because you have another plane to catch."

NHL officials fly commercial, often alone, covering 180,000 to 200,000 miles per season. A typical week features three games, usually in different cities. By year's end, officials who advance through the postseason will have slept in hotel beds about as often as they've slept at home. Road duties include doing your own laundry, eating healthy, working out, and studying the next game's players and coaches.

"You have to be dialed in for 60 minutes every night," Flemington replied when asked about the main takeaway from his first year of officiating. "You're the one running the game. You're blowing the whistle. The game stops when you want it to stop."

Booing is a peculiarity of the job that each newcomer must come to grips with in a hurry. Being loathed by a large group of people - 20,000 or so in a packed NHL arena - is a unique and lonely experience. Most people can't relate. The zen move is to disregard the noise, no matter how intimidating it may be. After all, it's out of your control.

"You have to laugh it off," NHL referee Corey Syvret said. "The fans are passionate; we're passionate. Everybody's out there trying to (call a solid game). You're never going to please everybody, so it's really something you have to embrace."

You may have noticed that NHL officials don't have social media accounts. In an effort to diminish the wrath of overzealous fans, the league has a line in its contracts with officials that bans the use of platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Syvret says NHL players, coaches, and executives respect the roles of referees and linesmen on the whole. It's impossible to avoid confrontation altogether - especially when emotions run hot after a missed, borderline, or incorrect call - but there's a blanket awareness that officials are human and humans make mistakes.

"Everyone is striving for perfection," said Syvret, a former defenseman who's viewed as a rising star in officiating circles. "I don't believe that'll ever happen in this business. It's so competitive, there's so much emotion and intensity out there. Things happen so fast."

However, the further a game is removed from the NHL, the more abuse players, coaches, and spectators seem to direct toward officials. Minor hockey - and youth sports in general - can be a cesspool for attacks that are mostly verbal but sometimes physical. USA Hockey loses 50% of its 9,000 new officials after their first year, in part because of the constant harassment they face.

"Society today tends to be a little bit different than it was 30 years ago," USA Hockey director of officiating Matt Leaf said by phone from the organization's headquarters in Colorado. "There's an expectation that officials - regardless of age, regardless of experience level, regardless of what level of hockey they're out there working - (should) be perfect and only get better from there. That's just not a realistic approach."

Leaf added: "Nobody's banging on the glass screaming at Little Johnny for missing the open net, right? Yet, if the official missed an offside, it's like the end of the world."

Future of officiating

As noted, the abilities of NHL officials were called into question far too often in the 2019 playoffs. Mistakes became a cringeworthy story on several occasions.

"Nobody wants to have that kind of effect on a hockey game, and we had some of our best guys on the ice," Walkom said. "Mistakes happen. Our job as officials is to recover. Last postseason wasn't easy. A lot of unfortunate incidents affected results. And, our team collectively, we know we need to be better. That's life, and we'll learn from it."

The league's Board of Governors and its general managers rallied to implement a series of rule changes for the 2019-20 campaign. Among them is an expansion of the video review and coach's challenge systems. This season, officials will be able to review certain penalty calls on video, while coaches can challenge missed stoppages of play in the offensive zone.

It remains to be seen if these alterations will make a sizable impact or just slow down the game. Either way, Walkom insists, the officials are on board and undeterred. "People think that officials are very anti-technology, that it's taking away their power," he said, "but if any official is in it for the power, they're in it for the wrong reasons."

"We'd ultimately like to do it on our own, in real time," Syvret said. "But sometimes you're blocked out and you don't see the whole play. Was the puck kicked in on the far side of the net? There's freaky things that happen, and that's when it become useful."

The NHL has been criticized in the past for not being as forthcoming as it could be with explanations and accountability regarding specific judgment calls made by officials. Videos prepared by the league's hockey operations department that explain rules and calls are released to the public, but the officials themselves never speak to the media. The league, a spokesperson says, is not considering a change in that stance.

So, why officiate? Well, there's the thrill of being in the thick of it, the healthy paycheck, the camaraderie, and the opportunity to push yourself. Players score and make saves; officials try their darndest to call a good game.

"There's excitement in being right down there in the action, feeling the breeze on your face, being in the middle of scrums," Kimmel said.

"Even that intensity of making a correct decision in the moment - in a split second - it's just challenging yourself to be the best that you can be. Athletes, in whatever sport and whatever angle they pursue, they want to be the best."

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

In anticipation of the new season, theScore surveyed a dozen players about a variety of topics recently at the BioSteel camp in Toronto and the NHL/NHLPA media tour in Chicago.

The All-Star panel includes Matt Duchene of the Predators; Mat Barzal of the Islanders; Matt Dumba of the Wild; Derek Stepan of the Coyotes; John Gibson of the Ducks; John Klingberg of the Stars; Tom Wilson of the Capitals; Jaccob Slavin of the Hurricanes; Jonathan Huberdeau and Brett Connolly of the Panthers; and Ryan O'Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko of the Blues.

The interviews, lightly edited for brevity and clarity, were held individually and compiled to form the discussion below.

The NHL offseason brought a ton of activity. So many GMs, coaches, and players changed addresses. Which division is now the toughest?

Dumba: "You asked this because you know I'm going to say the Central (laughs) … It is the Central, man. Put some respect on it. It's been ridiculous, right? And the whole Central acquired guys for this year, dominant players from other divisions. It's going to be fun. Those are good matchups. It pushes you to be on your game every night, and it definitely helps you with other matchups when you do play teams from the East or the Pacific. Those Central games, they're tough."

Duchene: "Geez, you know what, you never know until the season is over. Every year it looks like, 'Oh, this division, that division, whatever,' and then you come out of the year, and it’s like, 'Oh, geez, that one was pretty good this year.' I definitely know our division (the Central) is very tough. That's confirmed. I've played in three of the four (divisions) now and they all have their different attributes and challenges. I don't think there's a toughest or least tough. They're all just different."

Slavin: "Toughest division? I don't say this just because I play in the Metro, but you've got so many talented players in the Metro. ... You've got two of the best players in the game (in Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin), and now Jack Hughes to the Devils, where they have (Nico) Hischier and (Taylor) Hall already. They're going to be a pretty dangerous forward lineup this year."

Stepan: "I mean, it's hard not to say the Central with the Blues being in it. But the Atlantic is really stacked up nicely, too, this year. I think I'm going to go with the Stanley Cup champions (and the Central), just because I feel like that's the safe bet."

After a hectic postseason, the NHL has revamped its video review process. Is that good? Do you have the patience for more reviews and coach's challenges?

Wilson: "It's a slippery slope for a lot of those calls (in the playoffs). In one of them, there's a hand pass. How far do you go back? If there's a hand pass two minutes ago and there hasn't been a whistle yet, do they (review)? If it directly leads to a goal, that's different, but if there hasn't been a whistle for five minutes since the hand pass, are they going to go play it back and disallow the goal? That's really not the way the sport was meant to be played.

"Every sport's (officials are) in the same place - umpires in baseball - where they have split seconds to make decisions and then there's a video. And if they make the wrong call, they're scrutinized. I think refs probably have some of the toughest jobs in any sport."

Barzal: "I don't mind it at all. If you're going to (try) to get it right, you might as well get it right (through review). I do feel like the game has certain aspects where not everything's going to be perfect.

"We had a tough bounce against Carolina in Game 1 (of the playoffs last year). I had the goal disallowed with Anders Lee in front of the net. ... On the goal I'm talking about, Carolina's goalie is out of the crease. I don't know what Anders Lee is supposed to do there. He's being pushed in. ... There is a fine line there, where if a goalie is out of the crease, it doesn't make sense to me why a player has to move around himself to accommodate him."

Tarasenko: "I (like) the idea of (when a team requests) an offside challenge and (gets) it wrong you get a two-minute penalty. Goalie interference is important, too. But, I think (all the reviews), just a little bit, kill the dynamics of the game.

"Sometimes there's a break (for review) and we'll follow it with a TV timeout. And if there is no TV timeout by (the 10-minute mark), we get another TV timeout. There's a couple of games where you just sit down for so long."

Huberdeau: "It's still hockey. It's gotta still be a human sport. It can't be all cameras and reviewing everything. Mistakes happen. It was just tough. I feel (last) year everything that was happening was on the refs (in the playoffs). They're human, they make mistakes, it was unfortunate, but they're trying to make a fair deal on the reviews.

"I think for five-minute majors you should have reviews for that. It was not good to see (Joe) Pavelski get hurt like that, but I don't think it was (worthy of) five minutes either. If they were to review it for a bit, I think they would have maybe called two minutes. But, anyway, it's in the past. I think, yeah, there's some plays they should review, but not everything. It slows the game down, and (at some point) it's not going to be hockey anymore."

NFL quarterback Andrew Luck recently retired at 29 years old in part because he feels "mentally worn down." As a pro athlete, can you relate at all?

O'Reilly: "I don't think I'm retiring anytime soon (laughs) ... Oh gosh, that's a completely different sport. The amount of pressure that's on those guys - what they go through, and what they put their bodies through - is a whole other level. That's tough, but he's an incredible player that gave everything he had. It's a completely different situation. If I'm playing good hockey, I'm not going to get hit too much. I'm not a very physical guy, so you're not taking that abuse as much. And it can be tough, yeah, being a professional athlete. There's so much that goes into it, so many different things that you have to deal with, and that's one of the beautiful things about sports. It's never easy."

Wilson: "I can relate to that, for sure. At 29, he's probably got a fair amount of miles on the body and on the mind. It's not like he's 22. He had a career, he's (dealt with) a lot of pressure, especially for someone at his position. Pretty much every game he plays the outcome rides completely on him. I think a lot of people see athletes, see the money they make, the life that they live, but a lot of times there's other stuff going on. It's a grind. You're working extremely hard, there's a lot of pressure. You hope the best for him for his next chapter."

Connolly: "Everyone deals with dark days (in) their career, there's no question. I think it takes a lot of courage for him to do that. That's not an easy thing. He's obviously thought about it for a long time. When you're not happy doing something, it's (difficult) like any job. I think it just gets amplified because he's a professional athlete, star quarterback. There's so much money around it, so many people that are watching, and so many people that are depending on you to bring a Super Bowl (to the city)."

Gibson: "Honestly, everybody has their own stuff going on. … You've got a life to live after. He made what he thought was the best decision for his health, and his family, and his future. And you can't blame a guy for doing that.

"I think people think that (athletes are) immune to everyday problems, or problems in general. People can criticize, but you don't know what's going on in his life or his health or his family. ... We're human beings too, just like everybody else."

Teammate or opponent, who's your pick for breakout player in 2019-20?

Connolly: "This is going to be probably not the answer a lot of people are expecting but: Tom Wilson. He got suspended last year. You look at his numbers, and he had (22 goals in 63 games). That's not easy to do. He's had a great summer. He’s been playing with the same linemates. He's going to play a little power play. He's a very hungry guy. I would say that he would be a guy whose numbers are going to jump out at you."

Dumba: "I skated with him in Florida (in late August, early September), and he's already established, he's a really good player, but I think he could do some real damage this year. That's Matty Barzal."

Gibson: "I keep referring to our young guys, but I think one of them's going to break out. Whether it's Troy Terry, or Max Jones, or (Maxime) Comtois. … With the more games they played (last year), it looked like they got more comfortable. You look at those three, in particular, (and) two of them are going to get a chance to play probably with some good players. I think one of them's going to take the ball and run with it."

Klingberg: "I think Roope Hintz is going to be really good. We saw just a glimpse of him in the playoffs. But the guy is a helluva player. He's fast, he's strong, he's got a good sense of the game as well. I think that guy is going to be really huge for us in the top six. With guys like (Tyler Seguin), (Jamie) Benn, Pavelski, (Corey) Perry, and those guys maybe getting shut down some games, I think you're going to see Roope Hintz take off as well."

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Exhale, Leafs Nation; the great standoff has ended.

Mitch Marner is a very rich young man and the Toronto Maple Leafs have a long-term commitment from one of the best hockey players on the planet. That’s the stripped-down, unemotional truth of Friday evening’s $65.4-million news dump.

The Marner-Leafs soap opera is over and both sides, generally speaking, got what they wanted without causing too much damage to egos involved, the on-ice product, or the fan base. It's now go time for the franchise. As the preseason ramps up, the business of hockey can finally be set aside for another day.

Marner's six-year extension worth $10.9 million annually is front-loaded. And, in signing on through the 2024-25 season, the 22-year-old forward is now scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at 28.

Here’s the breakdown of Marner’s earnings - base salary and signing bonus paid out on July 1 - for each year of the pact, according to PuckPedia.

The extension makes Marner the NHL’s seventh-highest-paid player for the 2019-20 season. In terms of cap hit, he now lives between $11-million teammate John Tavares and a trio of stars - Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Carey Price - making $10.5 million. In short, the 94-point forward who grew up in the sprawling Toronto suburb of Markham is in good company.

Now, although Marner’s a terrific, dynamic winger who plays in all situations, he’s probably being overpaid by $1 million to 2 million in the short term. (This is what happens when a team’s brass pushes for more years, and a player’s camp digs its heels in on more money). If Marner can become a 100-point driving force on a consistent Stanley Cup-contending squad, that annual hit will look beyond reasonable by the second or third year.

All in all, based on Marner's skill set and resume, the deal is a fairly safe bet.

The cap hit works for the Leafs because the books have been carefully constructed for it to work. General manager Kyle Dubas proclaimed last July that he would sign Auston Matthews, Marner, and William Nylander, and after countless discussions, he's done just that. It wasn’t easy - two of three deals were partially negotiated in public, Nylander’s shortened 2018-19 season proved fruitless, and Matthews has one of the most player-friendly contracts in hockey - but everything is now in place. Dubas, for all intents and purposes, accomplished what he set out to do.

Head coach Mike Babcock has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal, which, although not a new development, is amplified now. The Leafs’ nucleus is firmly six players deep - forwards Matthews, Tavares, Marner, and Nylander, defenseman Morgan Rielly, and goaltender Frederik Andersen - and all six are under contract for at least the next two seasons.

With that stability, the pressure’s on Marner and Nylander to perform to their paychecks, Matthews to stay healthy and keep scoring at a near-historic rate, Babcock to make the right coaching decisions, and Dubas to work his magic around the fringes of the roster in order to support the expensive core.

In more ways than one, Toronto will act as an interesting case study moving forward. For starters, how will paying a select few mass amounts of money affect roster construction? Will there be enough dough to go around to make everyone happy in the chase for a Cup?

Toronto’s four highest-paid players will account for roughly 50% of the $81.5-million cap in ‘19-20. Eleven players on the current 23-man roster are earning $925,000 or less. That's an incredibly top-heavy payroll.

The Leafs have now locked up not one, not two, but three high-end players coming off entry-level deals. Just about every NHL team has one high-end kid - maybe two. But three - and to commit so much cash and so much term to each of them - is rare and, frankly, an excellent problem to have. The Leafs should consider themselves lucky.

Then there’s the staggering of expiration dates. The contracts for Matthews and Nylander are up following the 2023-24 season, while Tavares and Marner can test free agency a year later. Ideally, the Leafs likely would have wanted all four attached to a different free-agent class. Dubas did OK, since spreading these future issues over two years is not the worst-case scenario.

All of this would be cause for concern if the four players being handed the keys weren’t all under 30, ultra-talented, tailor-made for the modern NHL, and extremely motivated to win the franchise’s first Cup in 50-plus years. Overall, the Leafs are in tremendous shape relative to the past few decades.

On Friday, they got some distracting business out of the way prior to the opening game of the exhibition schedule. That should be celebrated, regardless of the financial commitment.

The Leafs also finalized something else. Their Cup window is officially set at four years. It could prove to be longer, but that’s the baseline right now. Now, onto the hockey.

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

TORONTO - Mike Babcock is tired of being slapped around.

The Maple Leafs bench boss is proud of his squad's transformation over the past four seasons but could most definitely do without a fourth opening-round playoff exit. Three times is plenty, thank you very much.

"Let's be honest: We're a really good team in the National Hockey League," Babcock said during his first official media availability of the 2019-20 season. "It's taken us some time to get here, but now we're a team where we feel like we have an opportunity (to go on a deep playoff run) each year.

"All of those little slappings help you grow," he added, referring specifically to the Leafs' consecutive series losses to the Boston Bruins. "All you gotta do is look at teams that win."

Babcock's sentiment was shared by several Leafs personnel Thursday, as the coach, general manager Kyle Dubas, and select players met with the media ahead of the preseason. Evidently, a group of this caliber, with its abundance of star power, has no excuses in Year 5 of the Babcock era.

The weird thing is, for how good the Leafs look on paper, so much is up in the air. Understandably, Mitch Marner's contract standoff has been sucking up all the preseason oxygen. (For what it's worth, Dubas said Thursday that he's hopeful team and player can find common ground on an extension before Toronto's regular-season opener Oct. 2.) Yet, there's a slew of other question marks swirling around the Leafs.

Who will the powers that be tap for the captaincy? How much will Babcock rely on his backup goalies to keep starter Frederik Andersen fresh? What kind of impact will incoming assistant coaches Paul McFarland and Dave Hakstol have? Will William Nylander rebound from a tumultuous 2018-19 and play to his potential?

While the above questions are legitimate, there are actually more timely matters to ponder over the next few weeks. (Yes, there's plenty of intrigue with this team.) After Marner, here are the four biggest questions facing the Leafs:

How improved are the top 2 pairings?

Of the six defensemen Babcock dressed for last year's final game, only two - Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin - are scheduled to line up opposite the Ottawa Senators on opening night.

Nikita Zaitsev and Ron Hainsey play for the Senators now, Jake Gardiner is a Carolina Hurricane, and Travis Dermott is expected to miss the first 12-14 games with a shoulder injury.

Helping to replace the departed blue-liners are 28-year-old Tyson Barrie and 25-year-old Cody Ceci, both of whom were acquired via trade and are set to become free agents next summer. To start camp, the top two pairings are left-handed Rielly with righty Ceci, and lefty Muzzin with right-handed Barrie.

Babcock mentioned the benefit of matching handedness, and how well the offensive minds of Rielly and Barrie should blend with the defensive sensibilities of their respective partners. On the surface, it's a nice mix.

The changes, of course, don't guarantee better goal suppression.

"One of the things we've got to improve most is playing in our own zone," Babcock said. "When you look at it, and where we are strength-wise in the league, offensively, we're better than we are defensively."

Barrie, a puck-mover capable of putting up 50-60 points a year, is certainly an upgrade on Zaitsev and Hainsey. He'll be a treat to watch. Ceci, who was much maligned by Ottawa fans, will benefit from Hakstol's tutelage, Babcock says, and "is just scratching the surface" as an NHL defenseman.

It's fair to say this top four, which isn't the league's best but absolutely above average, is better suited for the modern game than last year's iteration.

"I don't know if we're improved yet. I guess we'll find out during the season," Rielly said, before tacking on a more definitive opinion: "I think the way that those guys can move, the way that they can move the puck, it's a step in the right direction, for sure."

What's happening with the wingers?

Auston Matthews' wingers will likely be Andreas Johnsson and William Nylander to start the season. After that, all bets are off, with the Leafs' forward group in a state of flux.

John Tavares is missing both of his regular linemates. Marner - Tavares' playmaking partner in crime who helped him hit a career-high 88 points last season - is unavailable until further notice, and puck-retriever Zach Hyman is nursing a knee injury and probably won’t be ready for the opener.

Babcock had Kasperi Kapanen penciled in as a winger on the third line now centered by Alexander Kerfoot. However, the Finnish speedster has been elevated all the way up to the top line beside Tavares. Meanwhile, the departures of Connor Brown and Tyler Ennis have left the fourth line bare of wingers.

Former KHLers Ilya Mikheyev and Nick Shore, AHL grads Trevor Moore and Jeremy Bracco, former Minnesota Wild wingers Matt Read and Pontus Aberg, former Winnipeg Jet Nic Petan, and former New Jersey Devil Kenny Agostino form an eclectic group of pros jockeying for attention and a full-time NHL gig.

This all means Tavares, Kerfoot, presumptive fourth-line center Jason Spezza, and Babcock favorite Frederik Gauthier could skate with a revolving door of wingers over the course of the preseason, which includes training camp in Newfoundland and eight exhibition games. Let the competition begin.

Who's going to fill the bottom of the roster?

On top of the holes at wing and backup goalie, Toronto also lacks a defined third defensive pairing as the Leafs' depth was overhauled this offseason.

"We've got a big job here. This is as much change as I've seen since I've been in the National Hockey League," said Babcock, who's been behind an NHL bench for 16 seasons since 2002-03.

Dermott, let's not forget, will eventually be the left-side defenseman on the third pair. The sixth and seventh spots, on the other hand, seem up in the air.

Jordan Schmaltz and/or Ben Harpur, formerly of the St. Louis Blues and Senators, respectively, might make sense. Top prospects Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin will get a long, hard look, too, but may not be ready for the big time. And there’s always Justin Holl and Martin Marincin, two NHL/AHL tweeners Babcock already knows quite well from years past.

Some food for thought: Thirteen players on the Leafs' current 23-man roster are each earning less than $1 million in 2019-20. By comparison, the defending Stanley Cup champion Blues have six players earning south of $1 million on their 24-man roster, while the stacked Tampa Bay Lightning have eight within their 21-man group.

Most fans wouldn't change that dynamic for the alternative - nothing wrong with paying your stars, right? But it's become very clear that Toronto is a team that'll be forced to flip the bottom of its roster on its head every offseason or two.

Will Matthews' usage remain an issue?

It's the storyline that won't go away until the results show.

Matthews, the projected next captain of the Leafs and arguably the club's best player, met privately with Babcock for the second summer in a row. Fresh off a Game 7 loss against Boston in which Matthews controversially played 18 minutes and 48 seconds, ice time was once again a topic of discussion.

Matthews reports the pair has made "a lot of positive progress," saying Thursday that they're on the same page heading into his fourth season.

"I think every guy would love to play as much as possible," Matthews said last week at the NHL's player media tour in Chicago. He claims he's not demanding the 23 minutes Connor McDavid skates per game, but wants to be relied upon more often in key moments.

"If we're up three or four goals, you don't need to be double-shifting (me), but maybe down a goal or two or in a tight game, a comeback game, I'd like to see myself out there more and obviously other guys as well," Matthews noted. "I think it's all situational. Like I've said before, I'm not the one pulling myself out there, so it's kind of a back and forth and trying to find a sweet spot."

We'll see if Babcock feels the same way in, say, February. But for the time being, he's not dogging Matthews for speaking his mind and ostensibly making a valid point in the process.

"He wants to be a driving force. No different than John Tavares," Babcock said. "They want to be the difference-makers, they want to be the guys who (lead their team) to a Cup. Like (Jonathan) Toews, like (Patrice) Bergeron.

"I think that's what you aspire to as a player, and I think that's your job as a coach to help them. And that's what we try to do. Is it going to be rosy every day? No. But he's an important part of our team, and we understand that."

The rosiness of the 2019-20 season starts Friday for Matthews, Babcock, and the Marner-less Leafs.

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.