Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar isn't pleased with his team's schedule.
The Avs are set to play in three straight back-to-backs. In the second half of each back-to-back, Colorado will be at a severe disadvantage, facing an opponent coming off an off day.
"I hate it," Bednar said following Wednesday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, according to The Athletic's Peter Baugh. "Every back-to-back, the team is waiting on us, resting. I find it odd that's the best schedule we can come up with."
Here's a look at the Avs' current schedule:
Date
Opponent
Feb. 14
vs. TB
Feb. 15
@ MIN
Feb. 18
@ STL
Feb. 19
vs. EDM
Feb. 24
@ WPG
Feb. 25
vs. CGY
Bednar is particularly irked that the second half of all three back-to-backs comes against a team the Avs are battling in the standings.
"I have no problem with playing back-to-backs," he said. "I don't like playing a rested team every time on a back-to-back, especially against three teams we're fighting with."
The defending Stanley Cup champions have been ravaged by injuries this season, yet they still sit third in the Central Division with 61 points. Their spot in the standings is far from firm, though. A regulation loss to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday, coupled with a Calgary Flames win on Thursday, would push Colorado out of the playoffs.
Meier carries a $6-million cap hit and is a pending restricted free agent. His qualifying offer will be $10 million, and he can become an unrestricted free agent in 2024.
The Sharks have yet to give Meier's agent permission to speak to teams involved in trade talks about a potential contract extension, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun. The Devils, LeBrun adds, would want an extension in place as part of a trade. That's not a deal breaker for other clubs, such as the Hurricanes.
Meier has recorded 30 goals, 21 assists, 242 shots, and 109 hits in 54 games this season. It's the third time in the 26-year-old's career that he's reached the 30-goal mark.
The Maple Leafs, which are likely penciled in for a Round 1 rematch with the Tampa Bay Lightning, are looking to advance past the opening round of the postseason for the first time since 2004. Adding Meier to an already stacked top-six forward group would make Toronto that much more dangerous up front.
The Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights are no strangers to making splashy additions. With captain Mark Stone out indefinitely, Vegas may be looking to replace his spot in the lineup. If Stone, who carries a $9.5-million cap hit, remains out until the postseason, the Golden Knights would approach the trade deadline with increased cap flexibility.
After the opening 20 minutes on Saturday night, it seemed like the Toronto Maple Leafs would cruise to a second consecutive victory over the basement-dwelling Columbus Blue Jackets. Then they fell flat in the second period en route to a 4-3 defeat.
"Just got outworked, outplayed," head coach Sheldon Keefe said postgame about his team's performance in the middle frame, according to TSN's Mark Masters.
"I can't (explain it)," he added. "You guys talked to the players. I'm sure you asked them the same questions. I can't do the work for them."
Keefe added that "effort" and "competitiveness" were the issues rather than execution.
The Leafs entered the first intermission with a 2-0 lead after controlling 75.82% of the expected goals, per Natural Stat Trick. However, they only controlled 42.08% of the expected goals the rest of the way.
Entering the third period down 3-2, Keefe's messaging was simple.
"(The players) got to make the decision how important it is to them," he said. "That's really it."
Despite sitting fifth in the NHL in points percentage, Toronto tends to play down to lesser opponents, such as the 32nd-ranked Blue Jackets. The Leafs own a 5-4-4 record against the NHL's eight worst teams this season, but they're 27-10-4 against the rest of the league.
The Jakob Chychrun sweepstakes appear to be coming to a dramatic end.
The Arizona Coyotes announced they're making the defenseman a healthy scratch Saturday against the St. Louis Blues due to trade-related reasons.
Chychrun, 24, has been on the trade block since at least January 2022, but a deal has yet to come to fruition.
Chychrun has registered 28 points in 36 games this season. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound blue-liner is signed through 2024-25 with a $4.6-million cap hit.
The Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and Columbus Blue Jackets are among the teams that have been previously linked to Chychrun.
Copley has emerged as the Kings' most reliable netminder this season, recording a 15-3-1 record with an .897 save percentage and a 2.92 goals against average.
The 31-year-old journeyman has played 51 career NHL games across five seasons, posting an .899 save percentage. In 237 career AHL games, his save percentage is .911.
With Jonathan Quick's eight-year, $58-million contract set to expire after this season, Copley and Cal Petersen - who's currently playing in the AHL in the first season of a three-year, $15-million deal - are Los Angeles' only goalies signed for 2023-24.
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) February 10, 2023
Backup goalie Adin Hill replaced Thompson in the contest.
Thompson has been stellar for Vegas this season. The 25-year-old rookie entered Thursday's game sporting a .913 save percentage with a 19-13-3 record and was the Golden Knights' representative at the All-Star Game.
Meier was previously reported to be the top deadline target of the New York Rangers, but with the Blueshirts landingVladimir Tarasenko on Thursday, they're likely out of the running for Meier.
The 26-year-old power forward has recorded 30 goals, 21 assists, 232 shots, and 109 hits in 52 games with the Sharks this season. He carries a $6-million cap hit this year and is a pending restricted free agent. His qualifying offer will be $10 million this summer, and he could walk to unrestricted free agency in 2024. With San Jose well out of the playoff picture, the team is expected to move Meier.
The Canes and Devils rank first and second, respectively, in the Metropolitan Division.
Flyers head coach John Tortorella didn't anticipate how much work defensively the team would need to put in with blue-liner Tony DeAngelo when Philadelphia acquired him from the Carolina Hurricanes this past offseason.
"Last team he played for - Carolina - I think they could absorb some of that with their roster as far as maybe some of his deficiencies defensively," Tortorella said Thursday, according to The Athletic's Charlie O'Connor. "It kind of sticks out more with us."
The Flyers acquired DeAngelo and a seventh-rounder from the Hurricanes in exchange for a second-, third-, and fourth-round pick. Philadelphia then signed DeAngelo to a two-year, $10-million contract.
DeAngelo's most frequent partner last season was Jaccob Slavin, who's among the league's best shutdown defenders. This season, DeAngelo has played primarily with Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim.
"I think he's done some great things for us here," Tortorella said. "It's just ... we want to try to help him and we feel he needs to get better defensively without taking away any of that great offensive ability he has.
"We know what Tony is. I'm a little bit - not disappointed - but the defensive liability is something we need to work at. I didn't think the amount of work that we need to do with him ... I didn't think that at the point in time that we got him. But it is what it is."
DeAngelo has recorded a respectable 31 points in 47 games this season. However, his minus-12.3 defensive goals above replacement is the worst among all NHL skaters, according to Evolving-Hockey. The next worst is John Klingberg at minus-8.9.
Last season, DeAngelo's defensive goals above replacement was a much more tolerable minus-2.6. The 27-year-old has never posted a positive defensive goals above replacement in a single season during his seven-year career.
Welcome to the fifth edition of theScore's 2022-23 Norris Trophy Rankings and the fourth in-season version. New rankings are published once a month throughout the campaign.
These rankings focus on analytics and the all-around ability of defensemen rather than just points or reputation.
xGF% = the share of expected goals a team produces while a player is on the ice at five-on-five
5. Miro Heiskanen, Stars
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Previous rank: N/A
GP
G
A
ATOI
xGF%
50
7
33
25:19
53.53
This list has a clear top four, but the No. 5 spot is wide-open. There's a case to be made for several blue-liners in this spot, though Heiskanen is far better defensively than offensive defensemen like Josh Morrissey, Roman Josi, and Dougie Hamilton while being much more of a threat offensively than shutdown defenders Jaccob Slavin and Jared Spurgeon.
Heiskanen is a versatile workhorse. He's effective at both ends of the ice at five-on-five, quarterbacks the Stars' seventh-ranked power play, and posted the lowest expected goals against per 60 minutes while shorthanded among Dallas' regular blue-liners on its second-ranked penalty kill. He's a jack of all trades.
4. Rasmus Dahlin, Sabres
Bill Wippert / National Hockey League / Getty
Previous rank: 5th
GP
G
A
ATOI
xGF%
49
14
41
26:07
52.58
Dahlin has been excellent since the last rankings, tallying 16 points in 14 games with a 52.97 xGF%. The main issue with his game this season continues to be a theme, though: He can't stay out of the box.
The young Swede has tallied 20 penalty minutes in his last 14 games and is up to 64 on the season - fourth-most among blue-liners. The amount of penalties he's taken has cost him more than a full goal on his 15.5 goals above replacement, which ranks third among defensemen.
There's nothing wrong with playing with an edge, but if Dahlin can harness his aggressiveness, he could easily climb higher on this list. Everything else about his game is there.
3. Adam Fox, Rangers
Jared Silber / National Hockey League / Getty
Previous rank: 2nd
GP
G
A
ATOI
xGF%
51
10
39
25:02
56.91
Fox has been a staple of consistency, never ranking worse than No. 3 on our in-season Norris rankings. He's also never gone more than two consecutive games without a point.
The 24-year-old has driven offense at a high rate and been responsible defensively this season. Fox leads the Rangers' blue-liners in both expected goals for per 60 minutes and expected goals against per 60 at five-on-five. With Igor Shesterkin not reaching his usual lofty standards, Fox has undoubtedly been New York's MVP.
He falls one spot on this list through no fault of his own and was simply passed by a superstar who's starting to get red-hot.
2. Cale Makar, Avalanche
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Previous rank: 4th
GP
G
A
ATOI
xGF%
45
13
32
27:04
55.89
Fox and Makar are neck and neck, but the Avalanche phenom gets the edge because of the amazing job he's done carrying an injury-ravished team. With the roster around him now starting to get healthier, Makar has heated up further, recording 11 points in nine games with a 60.9 xGF% since the last rankings.
The torrid pace of late has pushed Makar, who leads all NHL skaters in average ice time, up two spots on this list. As things stand, it's not enough to move him into No. 1, but there's still plenty of time left for last year's Norris winner to make a push to repeat.
1. Erik Karlsson, Sharks
Kavin Mistry / National Hockey League / Getty
Previous rank: 1st
GP
G
A
ATOI
xGF%
52
17
52
25:26
56.55
There's just no stopping Karlsson at this point. The two-time Norris winner has maintained his elite production, racking up 16 points in 13 games since the last rankings. His underlying numbers continue to improve, too, as he's posted a spectacular 62.84 xGF% in that span.
Karlsson isn't perfect defensively, but the way he's been able to drive offense at a historic rate on one of the worst teams in hockey remains remarkable and more than makes up for any deficiencies in his own end. His 51 even-strength points still lead all NHL skaters and are 19 more than the next highest defenseman. He also paces all blue-liners with 17.2 goals above replacement.
Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin scored a hat trick as the Atlantic Division topped the Central Division 7-5 on Saturday in the 2023 NHL All-Star Game final.
It's the first time the Atlantic Division has won it all since the NHL moved to the divisional format in 2016.
Larkin also tallied a pair of goals and an assist in the Atlantic's semifinal matchup against the Metropolitan Division, giving him six points overall.
But it was Matthew Tkachuk of the hometown Florida Panthers who was named MVP after his seven-point day.
Toronto Maple Leafs playmaker Mitch Marner chipped in with three assists in the final, while Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov also contributed to the Atlantic's victory with a goal and an assist. Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark was excellent in the final, stopping all six shots he faced in the first half before giving way to Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Atlantic Division boasts three of the top five teams in the NHL by points percentage, with the Bruins (first), Lightning (fourth), and Maple Leafs (fifth).
The 11 members of the Atlantic Division roster split $1 million in winnings for their triumph.
