The journey to a 1-1 series with the Bruins wasn't pretty, but the Maple Leafs are surely pleased to split a playoff-opening road trip to Boston.

Next up after Monday's 3-2 win: Game 3 on Wednesday at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena. Aside from the obvious - star forward William Nylander returning to full health and another stellar start from goalie Ilya Samsonov - what can the Leafs do in Game 3 to gain a series lead?

Let's discuss three areas of focus.

Steer Matthews away from Lindholm

The main advantages of playing at home: the crowd and last change.

Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe must tap into that second edge by doing everything he can to find favorable matchups for Auston Matthews.

Matthews, after 69 regular-season goals and 107 points, has been terrific through two games. He was so close to changing the course of Game 1 but hit the post in the second period. He did it all in Game 2, collecting the primary assist on Toronto's first two goals and sniping the third and final marker. In 44 total minutes, Matthews has a whopping 22 shot attempts (13 on target); nine hits; and won 21 of 41 faceoffs.

Hampus Lindholm is the only Bruins defenseman who can match Matthews' blend of size, strength, and skating. The 6-4, 224-pound Swede has been on the ice for 24 of Matthews' 32 five-on-five minutes and Toronto's scored twice and Boston's been shut out in that time. That's a victory for the Leafs, yes, but also not a huge disaster for Boston. Lindholm's done OK.

The logic behind Keefe chasing better matchups is less about Lindholm's ability to tame Matthews and more about Boston's alternatives. The defenseman not paired with Lindholm - either Charlie McAvoy or Brandon Carlo - would be worth targeting, while any of Boston's other blue-liners could be seriously exploited. Kevin Shattenkirk, Matt Grzelcyk, and Andrew Peeke (if he’s healthy after a Game 2 injury) are ill-equipped to handle No. 34 in blue.

Matthews has developed tremendous chemistry with wingers Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi; all of them bring something unique to Toronto's top line. Yet Matthews stirs the drink. He's talented enough to take over the series himself.

Stop taking unnecessary penalties

There are justifiable and unjustifiable penalties; infractions that save a potential goal against and infractions that accomplish nothing, that do more bad than good.

Toronto's been assessed 11 minors already and at least three qualify as unjustifiable: Domi's slash on Brad Marchand in Game 1; and Jake McCabe's cross-check on Jakub Lauko and Ilya Lyubushkin's roughing of Charlie Coyle in Game 2. (Boston's power play scored on two of the three.)

It's one thing to take dumb penalties. It's another to take them when you don't have a trustworthy penalty kill. Only nine teams had a worse kill rate than Toronto's 77% in the regular season. Through two playoff games, that rate has dropped to 57%, after three Bruins power-play goals on seven opportunities.

Officials tend to call a bunch of minors in the first few games of the playoffs before establishing a more lenient standard the rest of the spring. If history repeats itself and whistles are put away sooner than later, perhaps the Leafs' discipline issues become a moot point starting in Game 3. But Toronto must do a better job here.

Get more out of Marner, Liljegren

Before the series, Toronto's playbook for winning revolved around leveraging its forward depth. Overwhelm the Bruins and hopefully the rest falls into place.

Game 2 was a step in that direction, overall, although Mitch Marner's performance so far leaves much to be desired. The $11-million winger, who’s been widely criticized for poor showings in previous postseasons, has failed to record a point or lead the second line. Toronto needs him to be an elite playmaker - full stop. Captain John Tavares can't be the focal point of a line anymore and other linemate Matthew Knies is a complementary piece.

Marner's perimeter play has coincided with Nylander's absence. If Tavares is generally limited, Marner's playing meh hockey, and Nylander's unavailable, Toronto's forward group is all of a sudden shallow beyond Matthews.

That's concerning for the Leafs given their top-heavy roster.

While Marner isn't in danger of being scratched (he hasn't been that bad), Keefe should consider a shakeup on the back end. Timothy Liljegren has been a disaster with the puck on his stick to start the series (a center-ice turnover midway through Game 2 was particularly egregious). The 24-year-old right-shot is either due for a lengthy video session, healthy scratch, or both.

TJ Brodie had a challenging season and he's no longer in the prime of his career, but he's typically reliable with the puck and would be a better option on the third pair alongside rangy Joel Edmundson. It's a worth shot.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The journey to a 1-1 series with the Bruins wasn't pretty, but the Maple Leafs are surely pleased to split a playoff-opening road trip to Boston.

Next up after Monday's 3-2 win: Game 3 on Wednesday at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena. Aside from the obvious - star forward William Nylander returning to full health and another stellar start from goalie Ilya Samsonov - what can the Leafs do in Game 3 to gain a series lead?

Let's discuss three areas of focus.

Steer Matthews away from Lindholm

The main advantages of playing at home: the crowd and last change.

Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe must tap into that second edge by doing everything he can to find favorable matchups for Auston Matthews.

Matthews, after 69 regular-season goals and 107 points, has been terrific through two games. He was so close to changing the course of Game 1 but hit the post in the second period. He did it all in Game 2, collecting the primary assist on Toronto's first two goals and sniping the third and final marker. In 44 total minutes, Matthews has a whopping 22 shot attempts (13 on target); nine hits; and won 21 of 41 faceoffs.

Hampus Lindholm is the only Bruins defenseman who can match Matthews' blend of size, strength, and skating. The 6-4, 224-pound Swede has been on the ice for 24 of Matthews' 32 five-on-five minutes and Toronto's scored twice and Boston's been shut out in that time. That's a victory for the Leafs, yes, but also not a huge disaster for Boston. Lindholm's done OK.

The logic behind Keefe chasing better matchups is less about Lindholm's ability to tame Matthews and more about Boston's alternatives. The defenseman not paired with Lindholm - either Charlie McAvoy or Brandon Carlo - would be worth targeting, while any of Boston's other blue-liners could be seriously exploited. Kevin Shattenkirk, Matt Grzelcyk, and Andrew Peeke (if he’s healthy after a Game 2 injury) are ill-equipped to handle No. 34 in blue.

Matthews has developed tremendous chemistry with wingers Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi; all of them bring something unique to Toronto's top line. Yet Matthews stirs the drink. He's talented enough to take over the series himself.

Stop taking unnecessary penalties

There are justifiable and unjustifiable penalties; infractions that save a potential goal against and infractions that accomplish nothing, that do more bad than good.

Toronto's been assessed 11 minors already and at least three qualify as unjustifiable: Domi's slash on Brad Marchand in Game 1; and Jake McCabe's cross-check on Jakub Lauko and Ilya Lyubushkin's roughing of Charlie Coyle in Game 2. (Boston's power play scored on two of the three.)

It's one thing to take dumb penalties. It's another to take them when you don't have a trustworthy penalty kill. Only nine teams had a worse kill rate than Toronto's 77% in the regular season. Through two playoff games, that rate has dropped to 57%, after three Bruins power-play goals on seven opportunities.

Officials tend to call a bunch of minors in the first few games of the playoffs before establishing a more lenient standard the rest of the spring. If history repeats itself and whistles are put away sooner than later, perhaps the Leafs' discipline issues become a moot point starting in Game 3. But Toronto must do a better job here.

Get more out of Marner, Liljegren

Before the series, Toronto's playbook for winning revolved around leveraging its forward depth. Overwhelm the Bruins and hopefully the rest falls into place.

Game 2 was a step in that direction, overall, although Mitch Marner's performance so far leaves much to be desired. The $11-million winger, who’s been widely criticized for poor showings in previous postseasons, has failed to record a point or lead the second line. Toronto needs him to be an elite playmaker - full stop. Captain John Tavares can't be the focal point of a line anymore and other linemate Matthew Knies is a complementary piece.

Marner's perimeter play has coincided with Nylander's absence. If Tavares is generally limited, Marner' playing meh hockey, and Nylander's unavailable, Toronto's forward group is all of a sudden shallow beyond Matthews.

That's concerning for the Leafs given their top-heavy roster.

While Marner isn't in danger of being scratched (he hasn't been that bad), Keefe should consider a shakeup on the back end. Timothy Liljegren has been a disaster with the puck on his stick to start the series (a center-ice turnover midway through Game 2 was particularly egregious). The 24-year-old right-shot is either due for a lengthy video session, healthy scratch, or both.

TJ Brodie had a challenging season and he's no longer in the prime of his career, but he's typically reliable with the puck and would be a better option on the third pair alongside hulking Joel Edmundson. It's a worth shot.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

It's a strange time for NHL goaltending.

The league-average save percentage has dropped from .915 to .904 over the past 10 years. Teams are allocating fewer salary-cap dollars to the position. Starters' workloads have been reduced as splitting crease time has become the norm. A few teams are strategically carrying three goalies on their NHL roster.

High-pedigree, workhorse goalies have weathered this instability. General managers and coaches still value elite performance over long stretches, and roughly 10 starters - Andrei Vasilevskiy, Connor Hellebuyck, Ilya Sorokin, Juuse Saros, and Thatcher Demko, to name a handful - can provide just that.

Another way to carve out a niche is to become a career backup. First and foremost, the backup must give his team a chance to win when his number's called. The rest of the role is largely between the ears. "You have to find a way to become a supportive partner to somebody who has the job you always dreamed of," is how private goalie trainer Adam Francilia recently put it.

"Most people probably don't understand how difficult it is - mentally, emotionally, physically - to master the career-backup role," added Francilia, who works with a dozen NHLers, including star No. 1s and veteran No. 2s.

Let's unpack this inner game of being an NHL backup.

'Shit end of the stick'

Scott Wedgewood, the Stars' backup the past two seasons, broke into pro hockey in 2012 and spent a decade accumulating 49 ECHL, 190 AHL, and 69 NHL games as a member of five organizations. He was the definition of a journeyman and still would be if not for a few enlightening interactions.

The first came in 2017 when a Devils official informed Wedgewood that top prospect Mackenzie Blackwood would be prioritized over him in the AHL. This hinted at two impacts: fewer starts and worse odds of getting an NHL call-up.

"What the f--k? I'm the guy to go up!" Wedgewood recalled of his initial reaction to the Devils' plan. He then held the team's decision against Blackwood, even though it wasn't Blackwood's fault. Weeks later, Wedgewood was traded to Arizona for a fifth-round draft pick.

Wedgewood and Blackwood again became partners for New Jersey in fall 2020 - this time as NHLers. Blackwood immediately noticed a difference in Wedgewood's demeanor. He'd learned to stop riding the daily highs and lows.

"I didn't mean to be rude back then. It just felt like my chance was being taken away," Wedgewood said. "You have to take a look in the mirror at some point, and I'm better for doing that. Blackwood and I are good now. But I hate that at first maybe he didn't love me as a partner. That's completely on me."

One thing that hasn't changed over Wedgewood's career: Backups live a privileged, private jet-flying lifestyle, but they also "get the shit end of the stick."

Typically, the No. 2 guy starts the second game of back-to-back sets, the last game of long road trips, and groggy afternoon games. The backup tends to be left in the net regardless of the score. He's peppered with pucks in practice. Optional skates are not optional for him. Anything to rest the starter.

On the surface, it can look like the backup is being set up to fail. The magic is in how they reckon with all of these unglamorous responsibilities, which still have to be fulfilled no matter how the other facets of their life are going.

"You can sit there and create a picture of the toughest week of your life," Wedgewood said. "You had bad sleep, you didn't get a good workout in, the food wasn't cooked properly for your pregame meal, whatever. You can get all of this in your head and it's negative, negative, negative. What do you think's going to happen? You're going to be frustrated when you get on the ice."

Wedgewood said Scott Clemmensen, who made a 12-year career out of being a low-maintenance backup for Martin Brodeur and other high-volume starters, once offered him sage advice: Extend your runway in the best league on the planet by being pleasant to be around. Simply be a good guy.

"Are they a reluctant backup or a welcoming backup?" Francilia said of a question he often ponders and sometimes asks his clients to consider, too.

The 2020 postseason bubble brought Wedgewood closer to the "welcoming" label. He manned the crease nearly every day for two months straight so the Lightning's scratched skaters could stay sharp, one time vomiting due to exhaustion. He stood in front of countless Steven Stamkos shots before the captain's thrilling comeback goal in the Stanley Cup Final - and it didn't go unnoticed.

"One of my favorite memories of my entire hockey career came after we won. We took the Cup back up to our meal room and Frantz Jean, the goalie coach, came over to me," Wedgewood recalled. "Tears in his eyes, Frantz told me I never complained. He told me I helped Stammer get back to a good place."

At 31, Wedgewood's still fine-tuning his outlook. He works with independent high-performance coach Eric Hoffberg and Stars mental skills consultant Chad Bohling to attack the backup role with enthusiasm, purpose, and pride.

Wedgewood arrived in Dallas in March 2022 and was driven to play his best hockey. Yet he went out of his way to tell Jake Oettinger that he wasn't trying to steal the No. 1 job. He signed a two-year, one-way contract that offseason - security, finally. And this season, with Oettinger struggling and battling injury, Wedgewood will finish with the second-most minutes played of his career.

'Control what you can control'

It's 12:42 p.m. on a Tuesday in late March and Eric Comrie is standing in the hallway connecting the Sabres' dressing room to the KeyBank Center ice.

He's in full gear, his mask is resting on the top of his head, and he's flashing a wide grin Sabres fans know well. Practice began 102 minutes ago, his teammates are long gone, but it's only now that Comrie is starting to unwind.

One of three goalies on Buffalo's roster for most of the season, Comrie has logged 460 minutes in the NHL - the equivalent of 7.7 60-minute games - plus four full AHL games in 2023-24. I asked him how he's managed to stay sane with such limited game action over a stretch approaching six months.

"You just try to keep getting better every single day. Just try to work on little things and try to stay in the moment as best you can," Comrie, 28, said.

He added that his goal in practice was to keep his heart rate up and work on glove placement and stance adjustments. He had plans later in the day to study video assistant coach Mike Bales captured during certain drills.

Comrie, whose season was sidetracked in late October thanks to a minor injury, last started for the Sabres on March 7, and Feb. 15 before that. Those are his lone NHL appearances in 2024. The Sabres have leaned heavily on 25-year-old Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (29 starts in 2024) while sprinkling in 22-year-old Devon Levi (six starts). Both have long-term starter potential.

"The three-goalie rotation sucks. Anyway you can put it - it just sucks," said Comrie, a pending unrestricted free agent. "Ask any goalie, they don't like it because you lose rhythm, you lose reps, you lose different things."

It's essential for goalies in Comrie's situation to separate the supportive aspects of the role (which by all accounts Comrie excels at) and the personal development element. Getting the most out of every day has to be the objective.

"You can only control what you can control," Comrie said.

Logan Thompson of the Golden Knights can relate. He started 17 games in 2021-22, 36 last season, and he is up to 37 this campaign. Those workloads, which have been influenced by injuries, have often put him in backup mode.

Thompson becomes "more of a cheerleader" on days partner Adin Hill is starting. He'll stay out longer at the morning skate, stay out of Hill's way before the game to avoid being a distraction, and stay dialed into each shift.

"Me and Hillsy will talk at the bench during breaks. I'll let him know what I'm seeing," said Thompson, an undrafted 27-year-old. "I'll try to get into his mind and dissect the game a little bit, do whatever I can do to help him out there."

'I swear I'm on the team'

Carter Hutton couldn't help but share the absurdity every once in a while.

"I swear I'm on the team," he'd quip in a midgame text message to buddies from his hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Accompanying the text was a photo of Hutton, the visiting backup with no seat on or near the bench, sitting in the dressing room alone, geared up, with one hand buried in a giant popcorn bag.

Hutton, who retired in 2022 after a 10-year run with five different NHL teams, found it relatively easy to embrace the backup life. He wasn't a star player growing up and went through a phase of imposter's syndrome at each level. His ability to adapt to his surroundings and see the big picture mixed well with regularly sitting on a stool and wearing a baseball cap.

"I felt like I had conquered those demons at lower levels," Hutton said. "So I was able to feel grateful for every opportunity that came along in the NHL."

Not every netminder is wired like Hutton. Accepting one's place in the goaltending hierarchy can require mental jiu-jitsu. On one hand, trainer Francilia explains, the goalie must be realistic about his trajectory and adjust expectations accordingly. On the other, he can't stop working on his craft.

"There's a pivotal moment in these guys' careers, where they realize what they've become," Francilia said. "It's a sensitive topic. You can have this existential discussion with them, but you don't want them to just give up."

Every goalie's personal journey is unique. But as a general rule, if by 30 a goalie hasn't held down a No. 1 job for an extended period, the chances are slim that a full-time starter's role is in their future. Time to let go of the dream.

"Take that extra bit of pressure, which has now become a detriment to you," Francilia will tell clients, "and redirect that emotional, mental, and psychological energy into more fruitful gain. Pour it into your goaltending. Pour it into genuine, real, non-toxic support for your partner."

Red Wings goalie James Reimer, who works with Francilia, is one game shy of 500, a mark only 79 other goalies in history have reached. Incredibly, the 36-year-old has never made more than 48 appearances in a season.

Recently retired Brian Elliott, with 543 career games, and Curtis McElhinney, 249, count as others who accepted their fate and ran with the backup role.

Luck is a factor, too. The early 2010s Predators needed a no-frills backup when Hutton entered the league. Then a staph infection to starter Pekka Rinne created an opening for extra starts and time with goalie coach Mitch Korn.

"The Preds want to re-sign you," Rinne told Hutton over a pregame meal late in the backup's first season in Nashville.

"Oh really? How do you know?" Hutton replied.

"Well, David Poile called me last week," Rinne said of the longtime Preds GM, "and he asked if I wanted to play with you again."

Poile wouldn't have called Rinne if Hutton wasn't playing well enough to justify a one-way contract. But GMs and coaches want a happy starter, and like in most professions, relationships matter. If a backup's save percentage is in the same range as his peers, familiarity and trust can be the tiebreaker.

"The top 10, 15 guys in the world are just better than everybody else," Hutton said. "The rest? It's more of a matter of getting in. Because once you're in, if you have the right mindset, you basically have to play your way out."

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Poor Felix Sandstrom.

The Philadelphia Flyers goalie thought he had Thursday off but was called into action against the Maple Leafs after Samuel Ersson allowed three goals on 12 shots in the first period. Sandstrom survived the second, plus the opening minutes of the third, before his life flashed before his eyes.

With both Flyers defensemen somehow on one side of the ice, Auston Matthews, the NHL's greatest goal-scorer, accepted a neutral-zone pass:

Matthews entered the Flyers zone on the breakaway, deked, and fired a snap shot from the high slot for goal No. 55. What a haunting sequence for a backup goalie.

Despite scoring only four goals in his past 10 games, Matthews is certain to pass his career high of 60 and is on pace to finish with 70 goals - technically 69.66 - in 81 games (he missed one tilt in mid-December).

The 26-year-old seems to have his third Rocket Richard Trophy locked up. Former teammate Zach Hyman and division rival Sam Reinhart are tied for second with 46 goals while Nathan MacKinnon (42) and David Pastrnak (41) are the only others in the 40s.

Matthews doesn't have a lot of padding in his goal tally, either. He's yet to score an empty-net goal and 40 of his 55 goals have come at even strength. But he creates goals at a far higher rate than expected: Sportlogiq credited him with only 37.1 individual expected goals ahead of the 6-2 win over Philly.

As in years past, Matthews ranks high in many key offensive categories tracked by Sportlogiq. Before Thursday's game, Matthews on a per-game basis ranked first in the league in slot shots (2.76), sixth in inner-slot shots (1.40), first in scoring chances generated off the cycle (2.19), first in chances off the forecheck (0.63), and eighth in chances off the rush (1.14).

It's possible Matthews doesn't dress for all 17 remaining games, given Toronto's comfortably in a playoff spot and needs No. 34 at his best for the postseason. If he does play all 17, the competition isn't particularly overwhelming: Toronto has three games left against New Jersey; two each versus Carolina, Washington, Florida, and Tampa Bay; and one against Philly, Edmonton, Buffalo, Montreal, Pittsburgh, and Detroit.

Matthews has twice this season recorded back-to-back hat tricks; six goals in two games at any point over the final month would go a long way toward reaching 70. Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny - who both scored 76 in 1992-93 - were the last NHLers to reach the mark.

More insight on hockey analytics

My in-depth feature on the NHL's decade of data published Thursday involved interviews with around 20 people. Even though the story stretched to 4,000 words, plenty of interesting insights ended up being edited out.

Here are a few nuggets:

Nugget 1: Expand the time horizon to 15-20 years and you truly get a sense of how much the NHL's changed with respect to access to cutting-edge technology and statistics. Brant Berglund, the Bruins' video coach from 2002-10, recalls popping tapes into a VHS player to scout future opponents. Berglund, now the NHL's senior director of coaching and GM technology, is amazed to see job postings for roles commonly associated with tech start-ups. In 2024, teams have so much data to collect, organize, and analyze that some front offices are hiring database architects and software engineers. What a stark contrast.

Nugget 2: The league's working on the next iteration of NHL Edge, the long-awaited advanced stats hub launched earlier this season. Fans can expect to have access to puck possession, passing, defensive, and special-teams data. The visualizations and sorting filters at NHL Edge will also improve over time. "Part of what we want to do here is present information and allow people to draw their own conclusions from it," said Russell Levine, the group VP of statistics and information. "I think you're going to see much deeper insights as that data set grows and grows more complex."

Nugget 3: OK, this may be surprising: the rise of advanced stats hasn't impacted contract negotiations in any significant way. Games played, time on ice, role, goals, and assists remain the standard talking points, according to one NHLPA agent. Why? Well, only stats on NHL.com can be used in arbitration cases. Negotiations are about the big picture and basic stats often tell a concise story. Teams also have more manpower and access to better data than agencies, so by bringing up advanced stats, the player's side risks "opening Pandora's box" because teams can present more sophisticated data. The agent also stressed that negotiations in the first few days of free agency largely revolve around supply and demand. If a team's desperate, it'll overpay. If a player's desperate, he'll settle for less money or shorter term.

Kings of right-handed D-men

On July 1, 2018, the Kings signed Drew Doughty to an eight-year contract extension. The deal slotted Doughty, then 28, on the right side of Los Angeles' top pair for the foreseeable future, and he remains there today.

Around this time, Matt Roy was beginning to show signs of future top-four potential. He also shoots right. If all went according to plan, the Kings would theoretically have enough talent on the right side to take a conservative approach to right-handed defensemen over the next handful of years.

What they've done instead is acquire righties with NHL potential and then figure out later on what to do with such rare assets. For instance, after the Doughty extension, the Kings signed undrafted free agent Sean Walker and added prospect Sean Durzi in a trade with Toronto.

The Kings then selected seven righties over the next five drafts - not an absurdly high rate but high nonetheless. The kicker is they hit on four of them: Jordan Spence, Brock Faber, Helge Grans, and Brandt Clarke.

Spence and Clarke are future pillars of L.A.'s blue line; Faber and a first-rounder were traded to Minnesota for Kevin Fiala; Grans and Walker left in a three-team, eight-piece swap; and Durzi was sent to Arizona for a second-rounder.

You can certainly quibble with the results of those trades. No major wins.

But the takeaway is that the Kings have continued to covet a hot commodity across the league, which is a clever way of approaching the draft and develop process. It also makes me wonder what's in store for Otto Salin and Matthew Mania, righties with NHL potential drafted by L.A. in 2022 and 2023.

Parting shots

Nasty Nate: The Hart Trophy race will be a treat to watch down the stretch. Matthews, MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, and Connor Hellebuyck all have strong cases with four weeks left. Here's one stat that isn't necessarily relevant to the MVP discussion but highlights the absurdity of some of these performances: MacKinnon has at least one point in every Avalanche home game. In 32 games at Ball Arena, he's racked up 71 points (26 goals, 45 assists), which is more than all but 18 NHLers' season-long total.

MacKinnon's streak is tied with Guy Lafleur (1978-79, Montreal) for third-longest in league history. Wayne Gretzky - obviously - sits first and second on the list. Gretzky snagged a point in all 40 Kings home games in 1988-89. The modern 82-game season gives MacKinnon one extra date, so he'll become the new record holder if he goes wire to wire.

Bo and UPL show: While their chances of making the playoffs remain slim (7.8% according to MoneyPuck), the Sabres' recent spurt should be encouraging to fans. Bowen Byram, acquired from Colorado ahead of the trade deadline, has been terrific alongside Rasmus Dahlin on the top pair. The 22-year-old Byram plays an up-tempo, assertive style suited for Buffalo's system. The club's outscored opponents 6-2 in his 70 five-on-five minutes.

Meanwhile, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen continues to flourish. His .915 save percentage through 42 games ranks in the top 10, and he leads all NHL netminders with a 77% quality start rate, posting a positive goals saved above expected value in 30 of 39 starts. Luukkonen, 25, and Devon Levi, 22, were battling for the starter's job to begin the season, but there's no doubt who the No. 1 guy is now.

RempeMania: The NHL's in the entertainment business, fighting is part of the on-ice product, and dropping the mitts is Matt Rempe's ticket to the NHL. So there should be no mystery why the 6-7, 241-pound Rangers rookie winger's amassed 54 penalty minutes (and a four-game suspension) in 56 minutes of ice time. He's incentivized to fight and is fully committed to the bit.

Hopefully, Rempe is being educated on what this role could do to his long-term health. Brain trauma is no joke. He needs family, friends, the Rangers, and his representatives at KO Sports to be the adults in the room (Rempe is just 21, after all) and lay out the risks and rewards of how he's playing. The kid can contribute offensively in a net-front role, so picking his spots to fight (as in the video below) is a good start.

Takes, Thoughts, and Trends is theScore's biweekly hockey grab bag.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The chemist's cell phone rings. He finds a quiet area of the lab to take the call.

Hockey Hall of Fame forward Ron Francis is on the line. It's the 2014-15 season, Francis' first as general manager of the small-market Carolina Hurricanes. Francis asks the chemist - who's assumed a part-time consultant role with the NHL team - about a few players. How would you rank them?

The call is short. The chemist slides his phone into his pocket, slips his gloves on, and walks to his work station. Back to the day job for Eric Tulsky.

If Hollywood were to produce hockey's equivalent of "Moneyball," that scene would surely make the final cut. It feels scripted - yet isn't. Tulsky, an Ivy League-educated, Ph.D.-wielding scientist with a well-paying Silicon Valley job, was caught between two worlds a decade ago. He was thriving as an inorganic chemist and in his side hustle as a data-driven hockey analyst.

"I felt like, from the start, that they wanted to hear what I wanted to say," Tulsky said of the Hurricanes. "I still had to earn their confidence in trusting my opinions. But they wanted to hear it from the outset. And that was big."

Tulsky, now 49, left California and science for North Carolina and a full-time position with the Hurricanes ahead of the 2015-16 season. Since then, he's ascended to assistant GM under GM Don Waddell (who replaced Francis in 2018) and interviewed for GM openings in multiple other markets.

Below is the story of Tulsky's evolution from outsider to insider, as well as the rise of statistical analysis within NHL teams and the greater hockey universe.

Primitive advanced statistics like Corsi, PDO, and zone starts were developed and evangelized on blogs and social media websites in the mid-to-late 2000s.

These stats and the insights gleaned from them went mainstream in the early 2010s, capturing the imagination of NHL owners and executives. The analytics movement reached a tipping point in the 2014 offseason as thought leaders like Tulsky, lawyer Tyler Dellow, engineer Tim Barnes, and stock trader Sunny Mehta were snapped up by teams looking for an edge. They wanted exclusive access to minds publishing probing hockey analysis online.

The Toronto Maple Leafs made the splashiest hire of the so-called "Summer of Analytics" when president Brendan Shanahan named 28-year-old Kyle Dubas assistant GM. Despite his deep roots in the game, Dubas had been billed the Theo Epstein of hockey - a stats-loving rising star. He soon formed a "research and development" group within the hockey operations department.

Before the 2014 hiring spree, about 15 people were working in analytics roles. The headcount for analytics staffers has since exploded to nearly 150.

According to online staff directories, 2023-24 media guides, and additional reporting by theScore, 22 of 32 teams - or 69% of the league - currently employ between two and five people in a hockey data-related capacity.

The Chicago Blackhawks employ a league-high 11 analytics staffers under 35-year-old GM Kyle Davidson. The Leafs and Dubas' new team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, employ nine staffers each. And the New Jersey Devils employ eight, including Dellow as senior vice president of hockey strategy and analytics.

Mat Sells, the Minnesota Wild's VP of hockey strategy, frames the current investment in analytics this way: some franchises hired a stats person in the mid-2010s for the sole purpose of signalling to fans that they had a pulse on the space. Now, he said, "every single team understands at least the most basic usage of statistical information and applies that to their operation."

The appetite for statistical analysis varies from person to person, and especially in hockey, given the sport's speedy, flowing, and chaotic nature. Still, it's increasingly rare to find someone working in hockey who dismisses it.

"Analytics, at the end of the day, is just a fancy word for information," one team's director of hockey analytics said. (Some sources for this article were granted anonymity because they're not permitted to speak with reporters.)

Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy sees a parallel between the early days of analytics and the early days of texting. Texting was originally scoffed at in his social circle - "Just call me, what are you texting me for?" he recalls a friend saying in the mid-2000s - but it slowly became part of daily life. People realized texting's an efficient way to communicate and adjusted their habits.

"Players determine success, not numbers," Cassidy said. "But it sure can help you coach your players. I think the data itself has come a long way, and the coaches I think who are current will use analytics to their advantage."

Corsi, which quantified overall shot attempts, including those that were blocked or missed the net, has been replaced by nuanced expected-goal models. Scoring chances can now be broken down by type: forecheck, cycle, rush, rebound, deflection. Shot speed, skating distance, puck-battle wins, strength of opponent, zone denials, and goals saved above expected are among countless metrics.

We've learned to lean on data in our personal lives, Cassidy notes, so why not in hockey? "You use good data," he said, "and all of a sudden you can make better decisions on how to eat, how to exercise, how to raise your kids."

Cassidy's conversations with Vegas' stats people often revolve around 10-game segments. Director of hockey analytics Dustin Walsh and director of hockey ops Tom Poraszka will share their thoughts on, say, the struggling power play. Maybe the defending Stanley Cup champions aren't generating enough offensive-zone time. Or zone-entry and puck-recovery rates have fallen off a cliff. Or they're too often losing the draw to start a power play.

Numbers can also be a check on team identity for Cassidy. Vegas famously packs the middle of the ice on defense to limit shots from prime scoring spots, so it's OK if the club ranks high in defensive-zone time. It's not OK, however, if it ranks high in high-danger scoring chances against.

"I can look at certain areas and say, 'Yeah, that number's no good. That's one of the reasons our game has slipped a little bit,'" Cassidy explained. "Other numbers could be there - high or low - and they do not go hand in hand at all with what's going on on the ice because it's not relevant to how we play."

Pete DeBoer of the Dallas Stars likes how advanced stats can help him and his staff "get into the deep layers" of a player's game. He'll take a nugget of data and combine it with video clips and his own intuition as head coach to deliver a message to a player that's both comprehensive and individualized.

"The ability to compare when a player was playing at a really good level to when he's slumping, and to show them some data about it - other than just listening to a coach drone on about his opinion and why he's not playing well - can be really helpful," said DeBoer, an NHL coach since 2008.

Young players are part of tech-savvy Generation Z. They want information.

"Their faces are buried in their phones all day long," DeBoer laughed. "They expect data. They expect engagement. They expect feedback. It's changed coaching. It's definitely made us more accountable as coaches to the messaging we're giving. You have to go another layer beyond just your opinion, and I'll be honest with you, sometimes that changes your opinion, too, when you dig into it. So, that's a good thing."

St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas is a self-described "hockey nerd" who tunes into NHL games in his spare time. He'll watch for pleasure or to study players or teams. At the rink, the 24-year-old is treated to regular presentations from Blues goaltending coach David Alexander, who uses data to break down recent goal-scoring trends to a group of curious players.

"This year a lot of tipped goals have gone in. A lot of back of the net, to-the-slot plays," Thomas said of two examples. "Those types of things. There's probably like 25 different categories you want to look at, and it really tells a big story about the way goal scoring has changed over the last two, three years."

Engaging directly with the data didn't come as naturally to Travis Konecny. But towards the end of the 2021-22 season, the Philadelphia Flyers winger took the advice of then-special assistant to the GM (now current GM) Daniel Briere and dove into details of his game with video clips and advanced stats.

Briere and director of hockey analytics Ian Anderson identified troubling patterns: Konecny was too frequently firing pucks from the perimeter, and wasn't funneling the puck to the interior enough as a passer. He needed to overhaul his offensive-zone habits to increase Philly's odds of scoring.

"It wasn't that I wasn't working hard. It was just that I was going to the wrong areas of the ice," Konecny said of what he learned.

It ultimately helped Konecny, a 2015 first-round pick, get back on track. He recorded 31 goals in 60 games in 2022-23 and earned an All-Star nod this season. "It kind of turned me into a different player," the 27-year-old said.

While Thomas, Konecny, and others have benefited from statistical analysis, there's danger in overexposing athletes who perform best on instinct. Front offices and coaching staffs pick their spots on both the individual and team level. As one assistant coach explained, an analytics staffer will provide the coaches with a handful of insights ahead of a game, and then the coaches relay one or two of those data-driven points to the players. Less is more.

"Let's get on them on the forecheck," the coach said of the phrasing he might use if the opponent ranks bottom five in puck retrievals.

Vegas operates similarly. Cassidy throws strategies, not data, at his group.

"I don't think players are ready for that," he said.

Dubas and former Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka are often viewed as the ambassadors of the analytics movement. What's usually overlooked is that both had skin in the game long before the spotlight. Dubas was a stickboy and scout for an OHL team and became a certified NHLPA player agent in his early 20s. Chayka, prior to co-founding the analytics company Stathletes, was an OHL-drafted junior-A forward who dabbled in video and fitness coaching.

In contrast, Tulsky never played organized hockey and had no institutional ties for the first 35 years of his life. His entry point wasn't glamorous, either. He wrote about aging curves, penalty differential, draft slot value, and neutral-zone play. To a lot of the analytics staffers in the league today, it's Tulsky's nontraditional path - not Dubas' or Chayka's - that's relatable and inspiring.

"Of the people in his lane, Eric is probably furthest ahead," said one team's director of hockey analytics. The director cited Tulsky's climb in Carolina: hockey analyst, to manager of hockey analytics, to VP of hockey management and strategy, to assistant GM of analytics and professional scouting.

Born in Port Huron, Michigan, Tulsky moved to Philadelphia at age four. He was a diehard fan of Philly's sports teams, including the Flyers, though he gravitated toward baseball. The family had partial season tickets to Phillies home games, and young Tulsky devoured books by baseball analytics pioneer Bill James and obsessed over the stats-centric Strat-O-Matic board game.

"He's had his own internal drive forever," said Tulsky's dad, Rick, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist. His mom Kim, a retired commercial lawyer, likes to tell a story about her four-year-old waking her up one Sunday morning to pass along a bit of urgent news and analysis: He'd learned the sum of five plus four.

"It's nine! Do you want to know how I know?!" young Tulsky asked his mom.

"Sure, honey," Kim responded.

"Well, five plus five is 10, and four is one less than five. So that means five plus four must be one less than five plus five. So, nine!" he exclaimed.

Eric went on to earn a degree in chemistry and physics from Harvard and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. He conducted a two-year postdoctoral study at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C., then spent 10 years working for several innovative companies as a scientist and manager. Tulsky was tasked with solving problems in DNA sequencing, solar energy, displays, and energy storage. He currently holds 26 U.S. patents.

"Eric can get deep into the details but also will have a higher-level view of everything going on at the company and even the industry," said Craig Stolarczyk, one of Tulsky's former coworkers at Life Technologies (which was later acquired by Fortune 500 biotech company Thermo Fisher Scientific).

Aram Yang, who worked with Tulsky at QuantumScape, also has chemistry degrees from Harvard and the University of California. He notes that Tulsky is exceptionally bright, even compared to their high-achieving peers. He excels at translating technical concepts into plain language, Yang adds, and is "full of empathy."

"If you were to make a list of the brightest people you know, and then make a list of the most empathetic people you know, how many people would be on both of those lists?" Yang asked rhetorically. "Not many, right? But Eric is."

Tulsky's current gig pulls him in every direction. He's involved in all Hurricanes player personnel decisions, assists with contract negotiations and salary-cap compliance, and oversees 10 people working in analytics or pro scouting.

Carolina is one of several clubs to build an internal platform to serve as a one-stop shop for scouting reports, stats, and video. "We try to house all of the information we have in there, no matter what form it is or wherever it came from," Tulsky said about CHIP, the Carolina Hurricanes Information Portal.

The team's analytics group (the "hockey information group," officially) is large relative to the overall size of the hockey ops department, with a senior developer, two data scientists, a software developer, and a data engineer reporting to Tulsky. Waddell credits hands-on owner Tom Dundon, who purchased the Canes in 2018 and runs a private investment firm, for doubling down. "The analytics group was already up and running, but Tom brought a different mentality," Waddell said. "We want to be the best we can be, and make the best decisions we can, so we've put resources into that group."

Unlike many other clubs, the Hurricanes have distinct team characteristics.

They play a forecheck-heavy style and fill their roster with players suited for it. They seem to place a strict value on every asset (each player, pick, prospect) and rarely move off those valuations. They let veterans walk in free agency, swap picks more than anyone else, and prioritize upside in the draft.

This well-defined identity and strategic vision paid off when a player tailor-made for coach Rod Brind'Amour's system recently became available. Contending Carolina was able to acquire star forward Jake Guentzel because the front office stockpiled enough salary, picks, and prospects to take that big swing.

One advantage to having a lean operation is that every executive feels heard. That inner circle includes Dundon, Waddell, Brind'Amour, Tulsky, and Darren Yorke, the assistant GM in charge of amateur scouting. It turns out disagreeing, or challenging the status quo, is another distinct characteristic.

"Every person on our staff is comfortable telling their manager and their manager's manager that they disagree with them," Tulsky said.

"I remember somebody I worked with telling me once, 'If you're just going to agree with everything I say, there's no reason for me to pay you. I already know what I think. The only reason to have you here is because sometimes you'll tell me something that I didn't think about. That's what you're getting paid for: to disagree.'"

The NHL has evolved over the past 10 years at the macro and micro levels.

Take power-play deployment. All but four top units in the league currently feature four forwards, according to Daily Faceoff's lineup tool. Did the shift from using two defensemen to one occur in response to undeniable statistical evidence? Or did the numbers simply accelerate the shift?

"Honestly, it's hard to say what's data driven and what's data reinforced," one team's director of hockey analytics said of a decade in which the NHL goals-per-game rate has jumped from 5.46 to 6.22 for a variety of reasons.

Yet one macro trend seems strongly influenced by analytics. Mike Kelly, an NHL Network analyst and Sportlogiq's director of hockey analytics and insights, believes the industry-wide understanding of shot quality can be linked directly to a change in tactics. Point shots are out and point-blank shots are in thanks to heat maps and expected goals models.

The 2015-16 season was the first that Sportlogiq tracked NHL games. That year, 30% of all shot attempts were categorized as "slot shots," or attempts originating from the most dangerous area of the ice. The number rapidly increased to 40% by 2018-19 and hasn't dipped below 37% over the past five seasons.

"What the data has done is open people's eyes," Cassidy said. "You used to think, OK, you've got a two-on-one, come down on the goalie, and, 'Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!' Then the data says, well, most of the time goals are scored with the goalie moving. So now we're going down on a two-on-one break, and we're like, 'Look for a play. Try to freeze the goalie. Look for an east-west play.'"

Another team's director of analytics brought up aging curves. Front offices have a firmer grasp on performance peaks and valleys and are anticipating players' declines. The veteran so integral to dressing-room culture isn't getting extended and is aging out of the league earlier than prior eras.

"The NHL is an efficiency contest. It's about finding value," said Kent Wilson, who's been writing about hockey through a statistical lens for nearly 20 years.

In 2024, NHL teams have access to mountains of data through third-party providers like Sportlogiq, Stathletes, Clear Sight Analytics, and SportsMedia Technology (SMT). Shots, hits, time on ice, and other traditional stats continue to be logged by off-ice officials, but anything remotely complicated - like zone entries and exits - is handled by tracking and artificial intelligence.

NHL rinks are equipped with up to 20 cameras while player jerseys and pucks are tagged with infrared emitters to create X, Y, and Z coordinates throughout the game. This raw location data collected by SMT is fed straight to teams. It also helps generate the "measurable" stats found on NHL Edge, the player- and puck-tracking hub launched by the league earlier this season.

We now know, for instance, this season's hardest shooter (Colin Miller) and fastest skater (Owen Tippett). The NHL views this product as a key engagement vehicle for fans and media that'll become more sophisticated over time.

"One of the challenges with hockey in general is that it's a very chaotic sport with lots of substitutions and where the best players play less than half the game," NHL group VP of statistics and information Russell Levine said. "We're hopeful that people can take the sort of information we're presenting and use it to better understand what makes certain players and teams effective."

A few people interviewed for this article wondered if the third-party providers will eventually be able to unearth data insights that can help better separate individual player performance from coaching systems. Others are interested in one day accessing data that can help better quantify hockey sense and hockey IQ.

For example, if there was a skating route efficiency metric, the analysis around slow but incredibly smart players could become more nuanced.

"To be able to say, well, we've got this prospect we might want to draft or this NHLer on the free-agent market we might want to sign, and skating's been a bit of a detriment, but he is just so clearly elite at getting to the right spots that it doesn't matter - that for sure would be massively valuable," Kelly said.

Wilson would like to get his hands on data relating to player types and teammate chemistry. Corey Sznajder of the All Three Zones manual tracking project is keen on learning about the efficacy of specific special-teams formations, and which players can handle disruptive shooting environments.

"I'd like to see a lot more data on how much space a player has around him and which players can score when they're being covered," Sznajder said.

theScore floated a few of these ideas, plus the expected impact of AI on data and also productivity within organizations, to one director of hockey analytics. The director offered his two cents, and then added, partly in jest, "OK, now you understand why we have so much to do."

At this point, most clubs have access to the same, or close to the same, raw data. "How you weaponize that information for insights, and how you communicate it, is the biggest competitive advantage right now," Kelly said.

Speaking to his own experience, Sells - who heads Minnesota's two-person analytics group - says that the amount of data or the number of staffers working with it is irrelevant if the rest of hockey ops doesn't take you seriously.

"You could have people doing groundbreaking work in the industry," Sells said. "But if amateur or pro scouts, or development people, or the coaches, or the people managing the salary cap don't understand the information or see how it's applicable or valuable, then it probably won't be used properly."

Traditional and nontraditional hockey people finding common ground may be the biggest development of the past 10 years. Tulsky, once a complete outsider, now supervises scouts whose deep experience and feel for the game combine with stats to make key decisions. The eye test is essential, he says.

Tulsky, who interviewed for previous GM openings in Pittsburgh and Chicago and is surely being considered for Columbus' current opening, is happy in Carolina. And, no, the husband and father to a teenage son doesn't dwell on what life would look like in a lab coat. He's a hockey guy.

"I liked chemistry well enough. But I was doing hockey analysis for free in my spare time. I have not set up a chemistry lab in my garage," Tulsky said with a laugh.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Quick-hit analysis of big-league moves completed Friday, March 8.

Roslovic traded to Rangers

New York acquires: F Jack Roslovic
Columbus acquires: 2024 fourth-round pick

Without the full context, the Rangers acquiring Roslovic makes total sense. They could use his speed and playmaking, and the price is reasonable. But viewed through the lens of the entire deadline period, where New York also brought in forward Alexander Wennberg but not someone like Jake Guentzel, it's not as satisfying. The Rangers are injecting depth into their lineup while division rival Carolina is injecting a legitimate needle-mover in Guentzel. And there was no reunion between the Rangers and Pavel Buchnevich, or another splash as the deadline neared. Maybe GM Chris Drury was close but deemed the prices for quality talent to be too high. Anyway, the fourth-rounder going to the Blue Jackets upgrades to a third if the Rangers reach the Cup Final.

Hertl traded to Golden Knights

Vegas acquires: F Tomas Hertl, 2025 third-round pick, 2027 third-rounder
San Jose acquires: Prospect David Edstrom, 2025 first-round pick (Sharks retain 17% of Hertl's salary)

Vegas did it again. Anthony Mantha on Tuesday. Noah Hanifin two days later. Now Hertl at the buzzer on deadline day. What a week for Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon. Hertl's currently injured but expected to return during the regular season, and he should slot in behind Jack Eichel and ahead of William Karlsson and Nick Roy - that's unbelievable center depth to match unbelievable blue-line depth. But this acquisition doesn't come with zero risk. Hertl, a dual threat as a triggerman and playmaker, is 30 and only in the second year of an eight-year deal. Those final seasons could be tough to swallow at a $6.75-million cap hit. At any rate, I can't praise the Golden Knights enough for raising the bar on going "all-in." The defending Stanley Cup champions are on a mission to repeat. The Sharks, meanwhile, hit a home run here. Hertl's timeline as a star NHLer isn't aligned with the club's competitive timeline. Moving him, in general, would have been applaudable. To get a first in 2025, which is supposed to be a deep draft, as well as Edstrom, who's a 2023 first, in return? GM Mike Grier must be grinning widely.

Dumba traded to Lightning

Tampa Bay acquires: D Matt Dumba, 2025 seventh-round pick
Arizona acquires: 2027 fifth-round pick

The Lightning added Anthony Duclair up front Thursday and now Dumba's coming in to help the back end. Both contracts fit under the cap because star defenseman Mikhail Sergachev is on long-term injured reserve. As for what Dumba offers, his on-paper value likely exceeds his on-ice value. He shoots right, is physical, skates well, but he leaves something to be desired as far as his ability to impact the run of play. That said, I do like this move at this price for Tampa Bay - they needed another defenseman before Sergachev went down. Plus, Dumba's a pending UFA, so both parties can move on if this doesn't work out. Arizona not retaining any of Dumba's $3.9-million salary drove the price down.

Johnson traded to Flyers

Philadelphia acquires: D Erik Johnson
Buffalo acquires: 2024 fourth-round pick

Sabres GM Kevyn Adams cashes out on another veteran. Like Okposo, Johnson was one of the few 30-somethings in the Buffalo room. To flip a player of Johnson's caliber (a No. 6 defenseman at best this late into his career) for a fourth-rounder is good value. I do get the Flyers' motivations here, though: the club's blue line has been shaken up. Jamie Drysdale and Nick Seeler are injured, while Sean Walker is now on the Avalanche. They need NHL D-men to stay in the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference.

Allen traded to Devils

New Jersey acquires: G Jake Allen
Montreal acquires: Conditional 2025 third-round pick (Canadiens retain 50% of Allen's salary)

Finally: The Devils, who own the league's second-worst team save percentage, acquired a goalie. Allen, 33, isn't the long-term answer between the pipes but he's worth bringing in for the rest of this season and next at a $1.9-million cap hit. GM Tom Fitzgerald can find a starter to share the workload with Allen in the offseason. (Jacob Markstrom, perhaps?) Props to Canadiens GM Kent Hughes for showcasing Allen throughout the season (21 starts in a three-goalie rotation) before cashing in on deadline day. Note: The third-rounder upgrades to a second if Allen plays 40 games for the Devils in 2024-25.

Zucker traded to Predators

Nashville acquires: F Jason Zucker
Arizona acquires: 2024 sixth-round pick

On one hand, I don't love the approach taken by Predators GM Barry Trotz. He should be sitting or selling ahead of the deadline, not buying a middle-six forward on an expensive expiring deal. On the other hand, Zucker fits coach Andrew Brunette's playing style well as a strong transition player. Perhaps Trotz simply couldn't pass up the overall value here, because based on the rental forward market, Zucker is definitely worth more than a sixth-rounder. (Arizona's unwillingness to retain salary certainly impacted the return.) Zucker signed a one-year, $5.3-million deal knowing he'd likely get dealt midseason. He put up only 25 points in 61 games in a Coyotes uniform.

Maroon traded to Bruins

Boston acquires: F Pat Maroon
Minnesota acquires: Minor-leaguer Luke Toporowski, conditional 2026 sixth-round pick

Maroon, 35, is far from a difference-maker in his 13th NHL season. He'll crash and bang but doesn't do much else in limited ice time. The Bruins picked up Maroon for insurance (a contender can never have too many depth pieces) and likely his personality and experience. The loveable, big-bodied winger is a three-time Stanley Cup champion (though he's currently injured and should return in a few weeks). The sixth-rounder transfers to Minnesota only if Maroon makes an appearance in the 2024 playoffs. Side plot: Remember the Maroon-Jack Edwards kerfuffle? Edwards will now call all of Maroon's games.

Okposo sent to Panthers

Florida acquires: F Kyle Okposo
Buffalo acquires: Conditional 2024 seventh-round pick, minor-leaguer Calle Sjalin

Florida made its big chess move earlier in the week with the Vladimir Tarasenko pickup. This Okposo trade is more of a straightforward checkers move. Okposo's slowed down in recent years, though he still has utility as a fourth-line winger, and the outgoing Sabres captain also brings leadership. That price isn't at all exorbitant, so why not? A notable trend with conditional picks this year: upgrading a round or two if the buying team goes on a deep playoff run. In this case, the seventh becomes a fifth in 2024 if Florida wins the Stanley Cup. Sjalin, meanwhile, is a 24-year-old AHL forward.

Toffoli traded to Jets

Winnipeg acquires: F Tyler Toffoli
New Jersey acquires: 2025 second-round pick, 2024 third-rounder (Devils retain 50% of Toffoli's salary)

The Jets, 17th in the NHL in goals per game, needed another goal-scorer. Toffoli, 31, fits the bill, and is on pace for his third 30-goal season. The smart, right-handed winger became the top sniper available after Jake Guentzel moved from Pittsburgh to Carolina late Thursday night. Couple this move with the Sean Monahan acquisition in February, and Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff improved an already solid forward group in a substantial way. High marks for being aggressive - a word rarely used to describe Cheveldayoff and his managerial style. Toffoli is a pending unrestricted free agent making $4.25 million. As for the Devils, I believe getting a second and third for a rental of Toffoli's caliber is completely fair. First-round picks have been hard to acquire and he wasn't going to be the guy to command one.

Eberle re-signed by Kraken

Contract: 2 years, $9.5 million

Well, there goes a productive winger. Jordan Eberle, a 33-year-old pending UFA who could have netted a decent package on the trade market, is staying in Seattle. He's fourth in Kraken scoring with 14 goals and 23 assists for 37 points in 58 games. Seattle doesn't have many forwards signed beyond next season, Eberle is a heart-and-soul type you want around young players, and the $4.75-million cap hit is fine. That said, the full no-trade clause may come back to bite GM Ron Francis a couple of deadlines from now.

Kuznetsov traded to Hurricanes

Carolina acquires: F Evgeny Kuznetsov
Washington acquires: 2025 third-round pick (Capitals retain 50% of Kuznetsov's salary)

Kuznetsov was a top-end playmaker in his prime. At 31, he's a reclamation project. The Hurricanes are hoping the career-long Capital can find a version of his old self after this change of scenery. The salary retention brings Kuznetsov's cap hit down to $3.9 million - not a bad bet for the Canes, all things considered (Kuznetsov will be a UFA after next season). Maybe Kuznetsov can thrive in a sheltered depth role down the stretch and then shoot for a second Stanley Cup ring. The Russian was recently assigned to AHL Hershey after nobody claimed him on waivers. To get a third-rounder for such a distressed asset is good business. Bravo, Caps.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

First Noah Hanifin, then Jake Guentzel.

Ahead of Friday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline, deals involving the top available NHL skaters bookended Thursday's action. Pittsburgh shipped out Guentzel minutes before midnight in a blockbuster swap with Carolina.

The deal: the Hurricanes receive forward Guentzel and defenseman Ty Smith, while the Penguins acquire forward Michael Bunting; prospects Ville Koivunen, Cruz Lucius, and Vasili Ponomarev; and two conditional draft picks.

Pittsburgh gets a 2024 second-round pick that upgrades to a 2024 first-rounder if Carolina makes the Stanley Cup Final. If the Hurricanes win the Cup, the Penguins are awarded an additional 2024 fifth-rounder.

The Penguins are retaining 25% of Guentzel's salary, lowering his $6-million cap hit to $4.5 million. Bunting, the only other NHLer in the deal, also makes $4.5 million, so it's a money-in, money-out transaction for the Hurricanes.

Let's discuss how each team fared in this high-profile swap.

Hurricanes' side of deal

Of all the trades leading up to deadline day, Guentzel to Carolina might be the best player-team fit. A sniper is exactly what the 37-19-6 Hurricanes need.

Guentzel is an extraordinarily smart player - we're talking top 10 in the NHL in hockey IQ - and uses his smarts and silky hands to wreak havoc around the opposition's net every shift. Heading into Thursday's contests, Guentzel ranked second in the league in expected goals per game (0.67 in 50 games) and fourth in inner-slot shots per game (1.48), according to Sportlogiq.

Unlike so many of Carolina's forwards over the past handful of seasons, Guentzel finishes his chances; he's a two-time 40-goal scorer and has racked up 22 markers this campaign for a 36-goal pace over 82 contests. What stopped the Hurricanes from advancing past the Eastern Conference Final in recent years is their inability to score timely goals, and Guentzel's production rate is even better in the playoffs - 34 goals in 58 career games.

Guentzel's dealing with an upper-body injury but is expected to return soon. That's ultimately a non-issue. However, something to remember is that Guentzel has played most of his career on Sidney Crosby's wing. He's a tremendous player in his own right, yet we don't know what he can do over an extended period away from an all-time great. I wouldn't label that a "red flag" for Carolina. Maybe just a yellow one.

Coach Rod Brind'Amour can slide Guentzel onto the first line with star Sebastian Aho or have him team up with Martin Necas on the second. Either way, this acquisition injects star power into Carolina's lineup. As for Smith, he's been in the AHL all season. There's nothing wrong with seeing if a change of scenery can help the 23-year-old offensive defenseman return to the NHL.

Carolina entered the season as a popular Stanley Cup pick. The club started slow but has dominated since December's holiday break. The Canes rank third in points percentage since Dec. 27, winning 20 of 28 games.

This trade is a massive win for the franchise in the big picture. Carolina often strikes out on acquiring big-name players (Elias Pettersson, Erik Karlsson, Matthew Tkachuk, etc.) but can pursue blockbuster trades because it's so well-managed. Under general manager Don Waddell, the Canes have become peerless across the NHL at simultaneously contending for the Cup, keeping salaries down, and stockpiling draft capital and good prospects.

I make this trade every day of the week if I'm Waddell (though I'm docking him slightly because, at the end of the day, he forked over five or six assets).

Grade: A-

Penguins' side of deal

Let's start with the positives.

This trade brings in a top-nine winger (Bunting) on a reasonable contract through the 2025-26 season. It also brings in three promising prospects, plus one, potentially two draft picks.

In a vacuum, that's a solid package for a pending unrestricted free agent, especially since Pittsburgh desperately needed to deepen its prospect pool.

Now for the negatives.

I'm borderline shocked the Penguins moved Guentzel without a guaranteed first-round pick coming back the other way. Sure, the Hurricanes are one of a handful of teams in the Eastern Conference with a legitimate shot of making the Cup Final, so that second could turn into a first. But the playoffs are unpredictable.

The three prospects also aren't blue-chippers. The Athletic's Scott Wheeler recently ranked them sixth (Ponomarev), seventh (Koivunen), and ninth (Lucius) among Carolina's prospects. Pittsburgh may see more value in these forwards than Wheeler, but the main point remains: GM Kyle Dubas didn't reel in a player destined to become an NHL star.

No needle-moving NHLer. No first-rounder. No sure-thing prospect.

Similar to the return package for Hanifin, Guentzel yielded quantity. The high-end rental market has been kind to buyers over the past few days.

The Penguins are attempting to make the most out of the final years of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang. It's a tight window, and this trade doesn't bring them appreciably closer to contending for the Cup next season.

This is likely the first step of many for Dubas as he tries to aggressively retool. It's not a nightmare result. But it isn't a dream return, either.

Grade: C+

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Noah Hanifin saga is officially over.

The Calgary Flames sent the defenseman to the Vegas Golden Knights late Wednesday in a three-way trade looping in the Philadelphia Flyers.

Here are the high-level details:

The Flyers joined the party solely to retain a chunk of Hanifin's salary. Teams must send an asset back in retention trades, hence Vorobyov's inclusion. He's a 27-year-old Russian center currently playing in the KHL.

With the Flames also retaining, Hanifin, a pending unrestricted free agent, arrives in Vegas with a cap hit of $1.24 million (down from $4.95 million).

Both draft picks heading to Calgary have conditions attached. If the 2025 first is traded again this week, or if the pick's in the top 10, the Flames instead receive the Golden Knights' 2026 first. And, if Vegas wins a playoff round this season, the 2025 third upgrades to a 2025 second.

Got it all? Let's assess Calgary's and Vegas' work here.

Golden Knights' side of the deal

One thing we've learned about the Golden Knights in their seven-year existence is that they're almost always pursuing the marquee name available.

Jack Eichel. Mark Stone. Alex Pietrangelo. Max Pacioretty. Robin Lehner.

And now Hanifin, the top defenseman on the trade market all season.

Vegas won the bidding war - like they always seem to do with trades and signings. As usual, general manager Kelly McCrimmon is using long-term injured reserve space to jam as much talent as possible onto the books. Make no mistake, the 33-22-7 Golden Knights aren't cheating. The NHL allows teams to operate this way. Vegas is simply exploiting the loophole better than others.

Hanifin, 27, is the type of player who doesn't wow with one or two elite skills. Instead, the Boston native gets above-average marks in virtually every category. He's a do-everything defenseman who'll inject quickness and puck-moving ability into a blue line that's mostly filled with defense-first guys.

Speaking of that defense corps, man, is it exceptionally deep. A new top pair of Hanifin and Pietrangelo. Alec Martinez (when he returns from injury) and Shea Theodore on the second pair. Some combination of Nicolas Hague, Brayden McNabb, and Zach Whitecloud on the third. Those are some massive dudes (four of seven guys, including Hanifin, are at least 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds), and they can work as a unit to grind teams down in the playoffs.

Vegas is trying to repeat as Stanley Cup champions and, on Wednesday, they didn't give up an NHLer to acquire a No. 2-caliber defenseman. I don't see a downside to this trade for them. And if Hanifin excels - and if he signs an extension between now and July 1 - this move will become a grand slam.

It's wild to think that, after picking up forward Anthony Mantha (for two picks) on Tuesday and Hanifin a day later, McCrimmon still has his first-rounder in 2024 to dangle in another trade ahead of Friday's 3 p.m. Eastern deadline.

Grade: A+

Flames' side of the deal

The Flames traded an impact defenseman having a career year offensively for a first-round pick, a minor-leaguer with NHL potential in Miromanov, and a third-rounder which, in all likelihood, will become a second come draft weekend.

That return is by no means terrible. But it feels ... slightly underwhelming.

Part of the reason it feels mediocre is because this isn't the first time Calgary GM Craig Conroy has opted for quantity over quality.

The recent Chris Tanev and Elias Lindholm return packages also lacked a player of significance. Sure, Miromanov has some promise, but his ceiling isn't super high. Same goes for Artem Grushnikov (Tanev trade). Hunter Brzustewicz (Lindholm trade) has the best chance of becoming a top-of-the-lineup player, but it's not as if he's one of the NHL's premier prospects.

How much of this can be chalked up to the Flames unloading former GM Brad Treliving's baggage at a bad time for sellers? How much of this is subpar negotiating by Conroy? How much of this is poor luck, with none of Lindholm, Tanev, and Hanifin signing an extension with their new club at the time of the trade, thus making them a pure rental?

Hard to say. It may be a perfect storm of all three issues.

Circling back on the Hanifin deal: the return would look markedly better if Miromanov was either a fully formed NHLer or a high-end prospect. A first, a third that may turn into a second, and a young player with serious upside? Oh yeah, that's a much better outcome. Miromanov, who signed a two-year extension with Calgary following the trade, may blossom into an everyday NHLer. He's right-handed, huge, and physical. But he's also already 26.

On a sunnier note, Conroy now has two first-round picks in 2024 and 2025.

Grade: B-

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Noah Hanifin saga is officially over.

The Calgary Flames sent the defenseman to the Vegas Golden Knights late Wednesday in a three-way trade looping in the Philadelphia Flyers.

Here are the high-level details:

The Flyers joined the party solely to retain a chunk of Hanifin's salary. Teams must send an asset back in retention trades, hence Vorobyov's inclusion. He's a 27-year-old Russian center currently playing in the KHL.

With the Flames also retaining, Hanifin, a pending unrestricted free agent, arrives in Vegas with a cap hit of $1.24 million (down from $4.95 million).

Both draft picks heading to Calgary have conditions attached. If the 2025 first is traded again this week, or if the pick's in the top 10, the Flames instead receive the Golden Knights' 2026 first. And, if Vegas wins a playoff round this season, the 2025 third upgrades to a 2025 second.

Got it all? Let's assess Calgary's and Vegas' work here.

Golden Knights' side of the deal

One thing we've learned about the Golden Knights in their seven-year existence is that they're almost always pursuing the marquee name available.

Jack Eichel. Mark Stone. Alex Pietrangelo. Max Pacioretty. Robin Lehner.

And now Hanifin, the top defenseman on the trade market all season.

Vegas won the bidding war - like they always seem to do with trades and signings. As usual, general manager Kelly McCrimmon is using long-term injured reserve space to jam as much talent as possible onto the books. Make no mistake, the 33-22-7 Golden Knights aren't cheating. The NHL allows teams to operate this way. Vegas is simply exploiting the loophole better than others.

Hanifin, 27, is the type of player who doesn't wow with one or two elite skills. Instead, the Boston native gets above-average marks in virtually every category. He's a do-everything defenseman who'll inject quickness and puck-moving ability into a blue line that's mostly filled with defense-first guys.

Speaking of that defense corps, man, is it exceptionally deep. A new top pair of Hanifin and Pietrangelo. Alec Martinez (when he returns from injury) and Shea Theodore on the second pair. Some combination of Nicolas Hague, Brayden McNabb, and Zach Whitecloud on the third. Those are some massive dudes (four of seven guys, including Hanifin, are at least 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds), and they can work as a unit to grind teams down in the playoffs.

Vegas is trying to repeat as Stanley Cup champions and, on Wednesday, they didn't give up an NHLer to acquire a No. 2-caliber defenseman. I don't see a downside to this trade for them. And if Hanifin excels - and if he signs an extension between now and July 1 - this move will become a grand slam.

It's wild to think that, after picking up forward Anthony Mantha (for two picks) on Tuesday and Hanifin a day later, McCrimmon still has his first-rounder in 2024 to dangle in another trade ahead of Friday's 3 p.m. Eastern deadline.

Grade: A+

Flames' side of the deal

The Flames traded an impact defenseman having a career year offensively for a first-round pick, a minor-leaguer with NHL potential in Miromanov, and a third-rounder which, in all likelihood, will become a second come draft weekend.

That return is by no means terrible. But it feels ... slightly underwhelming.

Part of the reason it feels mediocre is because this isn't the first time Calgary GM Craig Conroy has opted for quantity over quality.

The recent Chris Tanev and Elias Lindholm return packages also lacked a player of significance. Sure, Miromanov has some promise, but his ceiling isn't super high. Same goes for Artem Grushnikov (Tanev trade). Hunter Brzustewicz (Lindholm trade) has the best chance of becoming a top-of-the-lineup player, but it's not as if he's one of the NHL's premier prospects.

How much of this can be chalked up to the Flames unloading former GM Brad Treliving's baggage at a bad time for sellers? How much of this is subpar negotiating by Conroy? How much of this is poor luck, with none of Lindholm, Tanev, and Hanifin signing an extension with their new club at the time of the trade, thus making them a pure rental?

Hard to say. It may be a perfect storm of all three issues.

Circling back on the Hanifin deal: the return would look markedly better if Miromanov was either a fully formed NHLer or a high-end prospect. A first, a third that may turn into a second, and a young player with serious upside? Oh yeah, that's a much better outcome. Miromanov, who signed a two-year extension with Calgary following the trade, may blossom into an everyday NHLer. He's right-handed, huge, and physical. But he's also already 26.

On a sunnier note, Conroy now has two first-round picks in 2024 and 2025.

Grade: B-

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.