Count Steven Stamkos among NHL players not quite sold on the league's divisional postseason format.
"It's a little imperfect," the Tampa Bay Lightning captain told Sportsnet's Chris Johnston on Thursday. "I've always thought when you go to the 1 (seed versus) 8, and then reseed after that, that's just, for me anyways, a little more logical."
Stamkos' sentiments echoed similar comments from John Tavares and Nazem Kadri of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who trail the Lightning by six points for first place in the Atlantic Division.
"Our division is pretty deadly at this point," Kadri told Johnston on Wednesday. "Obviously that’s kind of at a disadvantage for us. It’d be nicer to play a seven or eight seed.”
If the playoffs started Thursday, the Lightning (24-7-1) would face the Montreal Canadiens (15-11-5), who occupy the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, while the Leafs (21-9-1) would be forced to face the third-place Buffalo Sabres (18-9-4) in the opening round.
Additionally, teams aren't reseeded in subsequent rounds as they were when the league used the conference format.
The most appropriate song for a night celebrating the Hartford Whalers will be played by the Carolina Hurricanes when they do just that later this month.
The Hurricanes plan on using "Brass Bonanza" as their goal song for Whalers Night on Dec. 23 against the Boston Bruins, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
Carolina will don green Whalers uniforms for the home game, as it will on March 5 when it plays the Bruins in Boston.
The iconic instrumental was played at Hartford games when the team came on to the ice for warmups, and also when it scored.
It was one of the choices the Hurricanes gave when they asked fans to vote for this season's goal song, but it ultimately lost out to Petey Pablo's "Raise Up."
"Brass Bonanza" was used by the Whalers until 1992. The club relocated to Raleigh, N.C. and became the Hurricanes in 1997.
Just 21 games into his NHL career, Brady Tkachuk is drawing comparisons to another talented but truculent winger - one he knows quite well.
Brady's father, Keith, potted 538 goals in parts of 18 NHL seasons and was as well-known for his physical play as he was for his scoring prowess. And there are plenty of similarities between father and son that go beyond the No. 7 jersey they share: Brady willingly parks himself in front of the net, pounces on any opportunity or loose puck he sees, and doesn't hesitate to mouth off to anyone who gets in his way.
The 19-year-old's overall game seems more suited for his father's era when the power forward role was far more prevalent, but with nine goals and 16 points in 21 games so far, whatever he's doing is working just fine in 2018.
Prior to being selected fourth overall by the Ottawa Senators this past summer, scouting reports on Tkachuk noted he was a fixture around the net even when he didn't have the puck. And that remains the case with the Senators. He excels at reading the play and knows the ideal time to head to the goal, as shown below in a game against the Florida Panthers:
As the primary trailer, Tkachuk swoops in unchecked and converts a Mark Stone rebound, taking advantage of a gap in coverage between Panthers defenseman Alexander Petrovic - who overskates the loose puck - and forward Mike Hoffman.
Despite having a nose for the net to rival his famous father, Brady was criticized for his weak skating prior to the draft. It's still a valid complaint at times. Although he has good speed when he gets going, his first step still lacks that explosiveness exhibited by the better skaters in the league - for example, his teammate Thomas Chabot. Tkachuk would be well-served to make that an area of focus this offseason.
That said, Tkachuk's skating has improved during his brief NHL career, though that has more to do with tenacity than physical ability:
Here, Tkachuk kicks off the rush by leaving the puck for teammate Maxime Lajoie. Recognizing the opportunity to create an odd-man rush, Tkachuk barrels to the Philadelphia Flyers' blue line ahead of the play; once the puck crosses, he immediately heads for an opening to the right of the puck-carrier. The pass misses Tkachuk, but this clip still serves as a good example of what he does best. He's not a fast or fancy skater, but he knows where to be.
The 19-year-old has proven his worth on offense despite entering Wednesday mired in a seven-game point drought. The underlying metrics suggest a bounce back is inevitable; 12 of his 16 points (including seven of his nine goals) have come at even strength, while he has just four secondary assists. Advanced stats like him, too: According to Corsica, at even strength, Tkachuk's primary points per 60 minutes of play currently sits at 1.91. In all situations, his primary P/60 is 2.95. That's good, particularly when you consider the majority of his shifts begin in the defensive zone.
More significantly, Tkachuk has made an impact even when he's not racking up the points. He ranks fifth among first-year players in hits with 52 and, despite weighing under 200 lbs, is happy to tangle with foes big or small. Here's an example that would make dad proud:
At the moment, his predilection for provoking opponents isn't a problem. According to Evolving Hockey, Tkachuk is even on major penalties taken and drawn and has only taken one more minor penalty than he's drawn. So he isn't making himself a liability ... yet.
That said, it would be wise for him to steer clear of his dad's example - Keith racked up more than 2,200 career penalty minutes - and instead mimic his brother Matthew, a winger for the Calgary Flames. At one point during the 2017-18 season, Matthew had the most minor penalties drawn in the NHL over a 13-month span.
The Senators would love to see Brady become that type of player. Ottawa ranks last in five-on-five shot-attempt differential (minus-457) by a significant margin but is a respectable 12th in power-play success rate (21.8 percent) while seeing the ninth-most power-play time in the league (170:16). The ability to draw more penalties might earn Tkachuk more time with the man advantage - he's at 2:14 per game at the moment, good for 10th on the team.
But Tkachuk's contentious - and irritating - moments are both a signifier and byproduct of the tenacious, relentless nature that drives him. And that isn't about to change, especially when it leads to results like this:
Here, Tkachuk has his stick knocked out of his hands by Flyers captain Claude Giroux. He retrieves it without hesitation, spots his opportunity, and redirects the puck for the game-tying goal.
Tkachuk has shown signs he'll soon be ready to lead the next generation of power forwards. And if his skating improves, along with his discipline, he could very well wind up with the best resume in the family.
Hannah Stuart keeps a close eye on both drafted and draft-eligible prospects and can usually be found trying to learn more about hockey analytics. She has previously written for FanRag Sports, The Hockey Writers, and Hooked On Hockey Magazine, and can also be found at High Heels and High Sticks. Find her on Twitter @HockeyWthHannah.
This week, theScore's unveiling a five-part series in which we predict who will be protected and picked when the new Seattle franchise selects one player from every other NHL team except Vegas in 2021. Today, we project the Metropolitan Division.
Before diving into our Metropolitan Division projections, here's a refresher on the expansion draft process:
Teams must submit a protected-players list of either seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie OR eight skaters and one goalie
All players with no-movement clauses must be protected
All first- and second-year players, as well as unsigned draft picks, are exempt and can't be picked
Any player with a career-ending injury is also exempt
And some notes about our process:
We assumed most 2019 and '20 restricted free agents will re-sign with their current club
We made judgment calls on 2019 and '20 unrestricted free agents, projecting some will stay with their current team and others will leave
We didn't factor in any trades or buyouts between now and June 2021
In the tables below, * indicates the player is a projected free-agent signing before 2021, while boldtext indicates the player has a no-movement clause
We project the Hurricanes to sign Holtby and Hoffman, who would both land on the protected list. And while it would be tough to watch 2016 first-rounder Bean get plucked for nothing, the club has a surplus of defensemen. Carolina could also potentially lose one of its young goalies - Nedeljkovic or Booth - since the other could be the heir apparent to Holtby, but we predict Seattle opting for Bean due to his upside. Meanwhile, Necas would be exempt if he suits up for fewer than three more NHL games this season, but we expect the talented forward to play an important role down the stretch.
The Blue Jackets could have a difficult decision to make in 2021. Do they go with the 7-3-1 format and risk losing a promising blue-liner in Murray or Nutivaara? Or do they protect eight total skaters and risk losing Silfverberg, who we project lands in Columbus after the team loses Artemi Panarin in free agency? We believe the Jackets would prioritize the young top-four defenseman, leaving Seattle with a reliable two-way winger in Silfverberg.
We see the Devils landing some veteran forwards in free agency - namely Brassard and Zuccarello - to improve their forward depth and replace the likes of Marcus Johansson and Brian Boyle. However, those new pieces wouldn't be worth protecting come June 2021, as they'll already have a ton of mileage on their bodies. Seattle could go with a goalie here, but we're thinking the expansion franchise selects Wood - a speedy north-south winger who already has a 19-goal season under his belt.
We're projecting the Islanders to land Toffoli as a free agent in 2020 after watching Jordan Eberle jet in 2019. However, Toffoli's track record as a consistent 20-goal scorer likely won't save him from expansion, and he could provide Seattle with a legitimate top-nine forward. It's also possible the Isles' relationship with Ho-Sang goes south over the next 30 months, but for now, the 2014 first-rounder has too much potential to leave off the protected list.
Already our choice to snag Panarin in free agency this summer, the Rangers appear to benefit most from Seattle's start date moving from 2020 to 2021. The switch allows New York to avoid having to protect Staal, Shattenkirk, and Lundqvist whose contracts all include a no-movement clause and run out in '20-21. (We also predict Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes, and Chris Kreider will find new teams in free agency.) The Rangers could then use three protection spots for youngsters Chytil, Andersson and Howden, leaving Seattle with its pick of a few established forwards. We predict Namestnikov due to his ability to play both center and wing.
Seattle could scoop up a known commodity in Van Riemsdyk, but we don't see the contract he signed this past summer ($35 million over five years) aging well. Instead, it makes more sense for the expansion team to swing for the fences on Myers, a mobile 6-foot-5, 21-year-old blue-liner who somehow went undrafted. We project Philly will sign Varlamov in 2019 - bridging the gap until Hart is ready - and the decision on which goalie to protect should be much easier by 2021.
The toughest decision for the Penguins could come in goal. Murray's been awful for a season and a half, but it's too early to write off the two-time Stanley Cup champion. Protecting Murray would leave Seattle with DeSmith, who's posted a stellar .924 save percentage through 34 NHL games. Rust is the only other real contender, though his ceiling doesn't appear to be particularly high.
Oshie will be 34 to start the 2021-22 season with four years left on his contract. The Washington state native would give Seattle a marketable player with a winning pedigree who could potentially wear a letter. Meanwhile, we project the Capitals will protect Burakovsky - who's just 23 and still has room to grow - along with Kempny rather than 2021 free agent Niskanen and a trio of up-and-coming defensemen.
Howard is a pending unrestricted free agent who boasts a .923 save percentage in 22 games this season. The 34-year-old's contract carries a cap hit of $5.29 million.
In late November, TSN's Darren Dreger reported that the St. Louis Blues were keeping tabs on Howard, but that the netminder would come at a considerable cost.
Howard's in his 13th NHL season - all spent with the Red Wings.
The defenseman ripped home a shot off a brilliant Granlund feed to give the Wild a 6-0 lead in the opening minute of the third period, and Minnesota's solid power-play structure allowed the dynamic duo to execute the sequence to perfection. Let's take a look at how they did it.
As we begin, Zach Parise has the puck behind the Canadiens' net, but the Wild aren't fully set up yet.
Parise wiggles free and finds Ryan Suter at the point, in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Now, the Wild are in business.
Suter walks the line and dishes to Granlund on the edge of the circle. Dumba (No. 24), who had been parked at the point on the near side, cuts to the middle as Granlund (No. 64) takes Suter's pass along the boards.
Granlund moves in down low and draws a pair of Canadiens defenders, with two more nearby. His passing options appear limited, but a certain Wild blue-liner is lurking unmarked on the far side.
Dumba, who remains wide open, makes his move toward the goal. Granlund identifies that and feathers a terrific pass that somehow finds its way through four Canadiens.
Dumba receives the dish and wastes no time unleashing a wrist shot.
The wrister ricochets off both posts and past Canadiens goaltender Antti Niemi to give the Wild a six-goal lead.
Minnesota went 4-for-4 on the power play in the game. Dumba's goal from Granlund early in the third offers a shining example of why the Wild were so successful on the man advantage, and why they boast the eighth-most effective power play in the NHL this season.
