There are many different ways to evaluate a player's impact on their NHL team. One could look at basic stats like points, shots, and wins, while others elect to use analytics like expected goals, high-danger chances created, and PDO. Ultimately, thanks to the amount of data being collected, fans now have a greater understanding of how the game is played and what on-ice strategies work best. 

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One metric that has been created to understand a players value is WAR or Wins Above Replacement. This metric attempts to determine how many additional wins a team will get with a specific player in the lineup compared to replacement-level player at his same position. While WAR is mostly used in baseball, it has started making it's way to hockey, with some sites already creating a formula that works for the NHL. 

Mar 18, 2025; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) and forward Elias Pettersson (40) and forward Brock Boeser (6) and forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki (23) celebrate Boeser’s goal against the Winnipeg Jets n the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

Evolving-Hockey is one of the few sites that records WAR for NHL teams. The site also provides a goals above replacement metric and Standing Points Above Replacement. Using their data, here is a look at which players led the Vancouver Canucks In WAR during the 2024-25 season. 

Forwards

Elias Pettersson: 2 (Tied 55th among forwards)
Pius Suter: 1.6 (Tied 86th among forwards)
Conor Garland: 1.5 (Tied 94th among forwards)
Kiefer Sherwood: 1.5 (Tied 94th among forwards)
Nils Höglander: 1.4 (Tied 106th among forwards)
Jake DeBrusk: 1.2 (Tied 114th among forwards)

Defensemen

Quinn Hughes: 2.8 (6th among defensemen)
Marcus Pettersson: 1.6 (Tied for 31st among defensemen)
Filip Hronek: 1 (Tied for 75th among defensemen)
Derek Forbort: 0.4 (Tied for 135th among defensemen)
Tyler Myers: 0.2 (Tied for 158th among defensemen)

Goaltenders 

Kevin Lankinen: 2.4 (22nd among goaltenders)
Thatcher Demko: 0.9 (41st among goaltenders)

To simplify, the low numbers, especially among the forward group give a clear picture as to why the Canucks missed the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Teams like the Winnipeg Jets, Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers and Washington Capitals all have multiple players in the top 50, while Vancouver's top player was Pettersson, who ranked tied for 55th. If Vancouver has a bounce-back season next year, they will likely have multiple forwards in the top 50, as they did in 2023-24. 

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It was a good night for the Florida Panthers on Tuesday in Raleigh.

Florida opened the 2025 Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes with an impressive 5-2 victory at Lenovo Center, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

One of the most exciting plays of the evening for Florida was the goal scored by A.J. Greer off a rush with Niko Mikkola and Tomas Nosek.

A play that Mikkola started in the defensive end quickly transitioned into a rush opportunity, and after a couple quick passes, Greer was scoring what wound up as the game-winning goal.

But as Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice explained after the game, the goal came on a play that he would rather not see made, and the bench had some fun at his expense as a result of it.

Now bear with me, as I hope most (if not all) of you get this pop culture reference.

In the movie “Major League,” there is a part where outfielder Willie Mays Hayes makes a fancy catch and when he gets back to the dugout, as he’s being congratulated by teammates, his manager Lou Brown gives him a high five and says, “Nice catch Hayes, don’t ever f---ing do it again.”

Yeah, that was Maurice on the Panthers bench after the Greer goal.

"I was mocked heavily on the bench for that goal. Heavily," Maurice said. "There's a wonderful inside play to Mikkola at line, which I abhor. We're going to do everything we can to never see that again."

Here's what happened.

As Mikkola rushed up the middle of the ice with Tomas Nosek, who had the puck through the neutral zone along the boards, Nosek decided to make a backhand pass to Mikkola as they crossed the blue line.

The pass crossed over a pair of Hurricanes’ sticks before landing perfectly on Mikkola’s tape, and he continued driving toward the net before making the pass to Greer.

NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) on XFlorida goal! Scored by A.J. Greer with 16:27 remaining in the 2nd period. Assisted by Niko Mikkola and Tomas Nosek. Carolina: 1 Florida: 3 #FLAvsCAR #RaiseUp #TimeToHunt

Now, if Nosek's pass gets deflected or intercepted, suddenly you have a major problem heading back toward your goaltender, with at least three Panthers players having all their momentum going the wrong way.

“If you make those plays, you have to make it,” Nosek said with a smile. “If you don’t, then you’re in trouble, that’s for sure.”

Fortunately for Florida, that did not happen, and instead they scored a nice rush goal with some pretty passing included in the process.

It also allowed for some light moments on the bench, as the Panthers players were all well aware of how much their coach doesn't like to see passes like that.

"It was a wonderful play by Nosek," Maurice said, before adding, "that you're not going to see again."

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Photo caption: Feb 22, 2024; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice reacts from behind the bench during the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images

The Florida Panthers got their latest playoff series off to a strong start.

Traveling to Lenovo Center in Raleigh, the Panthers skated to a resounding 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.

It was Carolina's first loss on home ice during the postseason.

Playing in a hostile environment is nothing new to the Panthers, who have emerged as one of the top road teams during the playoffs.

So far, Florida holds an impressive 6-2 mark when playing away from Sunrise.

Not too shabby, especially when considering that the Panthers will not have home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final, if they get past the Hurricanes, that is.

We've still got a ways to go before we have to start worrying about that.

Let's get to the Game 1 takeaways:

POWER PLAY POWERS WIN

Simply on the surface, Florida picking up a pair of power play goals during their Game 1 win was a huge part of it.

Any time you get contributions from special teams, particularly during the playoffs, it's a big key to winning.

Doing against the Hurricanes' penalty kill, which has been by far the best during the postseason, is an even bigger deal.

Does it mean that Florida is going to dominate special teams during the conference final? Probably not.

The early success does give the Panthers something to hang their hats on as they continue grinding away against a team that is not that dissimilar than Florida is in a lot of ways.

"That's important," Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said of the power play success. "This whole thing is a confidence game, so you can get to the next game feeling good about it. They're going to make adjustments. There's a lot of broken play goals in this. We have almost identical penalty kills, so there's not usually the stuff you see on TV where it's seven passes to the seam, the pucks are all contested on both team's penalty kills. So you get a couple to go for you, you get to feel a little bit better, you get a little more confident in handling the pressure of the other team's pressure, you don't get frustrated."

ADJUSTING TO CANES’ RUSH

As the Panthers have worked their way through the Eastern Conference postseason bracket, they have faced some very strong, and very different, playoff opponents.

There is going to be an adjustment period when going from trying to defend a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs and then facing Carolina, a group that does things very different than the Leafs.

As Maurice explained, it's nothing they haven't had to do before, but there is still going to be a learning curve.

"I didn't love our game tonight, but I understood it," Maurice said. "It's a significant style change. The Game 1 is that first look at what your game looks like in a completely different opponent. So we will have to continue to build that game and get better. We had some good finishes, I thought they had good chances they didn't finish on. It's a little bit what it looks like when these two teams play. Sergei (Bobrovsky) was very strong. It's a different style of rush game than we've seen, so we were just okay with how we handled it. We have to make adjustments, but I maybe have felt that in our first game in each of the previous two (series). We went into Tampa and won, but we scored three power play goals, I think on three chances, and that was 30 minutes in the game and it's like 6-2 or something like that. And then we went into Toronto, and we struggled with their rush offense, so we've got work to do."

CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP

The keys to Florida's success are no secret.

They're physical, they're aggressive and they're excellent when it comes to playing a strong, five-man defensive unit.

It's that strong possession defense that drives Florida's transition game and ultimately, their offense.

Now they must find a way to adjust to defending a team that is very similar to Florida in a lot of ways, and then turn that defense into offense.

"It's a different style than we've seen," Maurice explained. "Tampa and Toronto are so dynamic up the middle of the ice, they'll break off early and go. I think by the end of the series, we had an understanding of it. (Carolina) was more of the double swing off the weak side that we didn't pick up very well. So this is true of Carolina and us: We probably both value puck pressure as much as anything else, and I don't want to sacrifice the puck pressure on a couple of plays that they get in behind us. We're not reckless with our forecheck, which it's fairly defined, but when you play a team like this, and they get in behind you, or they get odd-man rushes, you're missing some sort of change of sides detail. And every team is different. So there'll be teams with center-under on the breakout, there's center-over on the breakout, there's a whole bunch of different ways teams do it, you just have to see it and then adjust to it. So I didn't think we were great with that adjustment. We had guys pulling off when they shouldn't, guys going forward when they shouldn't, but this isn't anything new for us. Because of the way we play, we deal with this all the time. Now, that doesn't mean we're going to get it sorted out. I think you saw during the (Stanley Cup) Final last year, I'm not sure we ever had that thing sorted out, but we at least understand our vulnerability in the way we play, and we won't sacrifice that aggressiveness to cover off. That's what Bob is for."

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Photo caption: May 20, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) controls the puck during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes in game one of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images

The Florida Panthers got their latest playoff series off to a strong start.

Traveling to Lenovo Center in Raleigh, the Panthers skated to a resounding 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.

It was Carolina's first loss on home ice during the postseason.

Playing in a hostile environment is nothing new to the Panthers, who have emerged as one of the top road teams during the playoffs.

So far, Florida holds an impressive 6-2 mark when playing away from Sunrise.

Not too shabby, especially when considering that the Panthers will not have home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final, if they get past the Hurricanes, that is.

We've still got a ways to go before we have to start worrying about that.

Let's get to the Game 1 takeaways:

POWER PLAY POWERS WIN

Simply on the surface, Florida picking up a pair of power play goals during their Game 1 win was a huge part of it.

Any time you get contributions from special teams, particularly during the playoffs, it's a big key to winning.

Doing against the Hurricanes' penalty kill, which has been by far the best during the postseason, is an even bigger deal.

Does it mean that Florida is going to dominate special teams during the conference final? Probably not.

The early success does give the Panthers something to hang their hats on as they continue grinding away against a team that is not that dissimilar than Florida is in a lot of ways.

"That's important," Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said of the power play success. "This whole thing is a confidence game, so you can get to the next game feeling good about it. They're going to make adjustments. There's a lot of broken play goals in this. We have almost identical penalty kills, so there's not usually the stuff you see on TV where it's seven passes to the seam, the pucks are all contested on both team's penalty kills. So you get a couple to go for you, you get to feel a little bit better, you get a little more confident in handling the pressure of the other team's pressure, you don't get frustrated."

ADJUSTING TO CANES’ RUSH

As the Panthers have worked their way through the Eastern Conference postseason bracket, they have faced some very strong, and very different, playoff opponents.

There is going to be an adjustment period when going from trying to defend a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs and then facing Carolina, a group that does things very different than the Leafs.

As Maurice explained, it's nothing they haven't had to do before, but there is still going to be a learning curve.

"I didn't love our game tonight, but I understood it," Maurice said. "It's a significant style change. The Game 1 is that first look at what your game looks like in a completely different opponent. So we will have to continue to build that game and get better. We had some good finishes, I thought they had good chances they didn't finish on. It's a little bit what it looks like when these two teams play. Sergei (Bobrovsky) was very strong. It's a different style of rush game than we've seen, so we were just okay with how we handled it. We have to make adjustments, but I maybe have felt that in our first game in each of the previous two (series). We went into Tampa and won, but we scored three power play goals, I think on three chances, and that was 30 minutes in the game and it's like 6-2 or something like that. And then we went into Toronto, and we struggled with their rush offense, so we've got work to do."

CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP

The keys to Florida's success are no secret.

They're physical, they're aggressive and they're excellent when it comes to playing a strong, five-man defensive unit.

It's that strong possession defense that drives Florida's transition game and ultimately, their offense.

Now they must find a way to adjust to defending a team that is very similar to Florida in a lot of ways, and then turn that defense into offense.

"It's a different style than we've seen," Maurice explained. "Tampa and Toronto are so dynamic up the middle of the ice, they'll break off early and go. I think by the end of the series, we had an understanding of it. (Carolina) was more of the double swing off the weak side that we didn't pick up very well. So this is true of Carolina and us: We probably both value puck pressure as much as anything else, and I don't want to sacrifice the puck pressure on a couple of plays that they get in behind us. We're not reckless with our forecheck, which it's fairly defined, but when you play a team like this, and they get in behind you, or they get odd-man rushes, you're missing some sort of change of sides detail. And every team is different. So there'll be teams with center-under on the breakout, there's center-over on the breakout, there's a whole bunch of different ways teams do it, you just have to see it and then adjust to it. So I didn't think we were great with that adjustment. We had guys pulling off when they shouldn't, guys going forward when they shouldn't, but this isn't anything new for us. Because of the way we play, we deal with this all the time. Now, that doesn't mean we're going to get it sorted out. I think you saw during the (Stanley Cup) Final last year, I'm not sure we ever had that thing sorted out, but we at least understand our vulnerability in the way we play, and we won't sacrifice that aggressiveness to cover off. That's what Bob is for."

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Photo caption: May 20, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) controls the puck during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes in game one of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images

There had been some speculation after the end of their season that the Buffalo Sabres may be considering a major move involving restricted free agent defenseman Bowen Byram, and that gained some significant momentum on Wednesday, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on his 32 Thoughts podcast that the Sabres are gauging trade interest in the 23-year-old blueliner. 

Byram was acquired in March 2024 in exchange for center Casey Mittelstadt and scored a career-high 38 points last season. That was an impressive feat since the Cup winner was seldom used on the power play and registered all but three of those points at even strength.  

This morning on the “32 Thoughts” Podcast, Elliotte Friedman reports that Kevyn Adams is gauging the market value for Defenseman Bowen Byram.

“There is no doubt his name is out there”

The narrative still is that there is a desire from Byram to have a bigger role. But with… pic.twitter.com/aMctdnv3mz

— 2 Goalies 1 Mic (@2Goalies1Mic) May 21, 2025

Friedman indicated that Byram’s name has been circulating, even though the Sabres have control over him for two more years before qualifying for unrestricted free agency. Byram is likely looking for an opportunity to be a #1 defenseman, which he had little opportunity to be in Colorado with Cale Makar and Devon Toews on the top pairing, and that is a similar circumstance in Buffalo with a crowded left side with team captain Rasmus Dahlin and 2021 top overall pick Owen Power signed to long-term deals.

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Byram was connected to his hometown Vancouver Canucks in rumors during the season, but that was linked to the possibility of a Elias Pettersson trade and that does not seem realistic after the Canucks sent JT Miller to the NY Rangers. It is likely that the Sabres would be looking for a defenseman-for-defenseman swap, since the club is extremely weak on the right-side of the blueline. 

LA Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke is someone who was rumored to be possibly on the block before the deadline and could be an attractive target for the Sabres since he is still on his entry-level contract, but a deal for an impact forward cannot be ruled out, since Buffalo is looking to upgrade and augment their roster after missing the playoffs for a 14th straight season.  

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