Dates, awards finalists, opting out, new faces, exhibition schedule and the Ottawa Senators rebrand.
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Tag: Jonathan Toews
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Look To The Rafters: Chicago Blackhawks (Part II)
In the early days of DTFR, we made an educated guess as to who each team might honor in the future regarding retired jersey numbers. Since then, the Vegas Golden Knights came into existence and more than a few jersey numbers went out of circulation across the league.
It’s time for an update and a look at who the Chicago Blackhawks might honor by hanging their name and number from the rafters at United Center someday.
Chicago Blackhawks Current Retired Numbers
1 Glenn Hall
3 Keith Magnuson/Pierre Pilote
9 Bobby Hull
18 Denis Savard
21 Stan Mikita
35 Tony Esposito
Did Anything Change In The Last Five Years?
No! As a matter of fact, the Blackhawks haven’t retired any numbers since Keith Magnuson and Pierre Pilote’s No. 3 on Nov. 12, 2008, but they’ll soon have a plethora of jersey retirement ceremonies because winning three Cups in five seasons will do that.
Possible Numbers to Retire Someday
2 Duncan Keith
There’s a trend among all the possible numbers to retire in the near future in Chicago– they all won at least two Stanley Cup rings with the Blackhawks. You’re probably quite familiar with them if you’ve been watching the NHL in the last decade.
Keith broke into the league in the 2005-06 season with the Blackhawks (who drafted him in the second round, 54th overall, in 2002) and has spent his entire career with Chicago across 15 seasons so far.
In that span, Keith has won three Cups (2010, 2013 and 2015) and has amassed 101 goals and 509 assists in 1,138 career regular season games played and ranks 10th all-time in points in franchise history with 610.
His team friendly $5.538 million cap hit expires after the 2022-23 season, when the defender will be approaching 40-years-old and may or may not even still be playing by then. Oh and he won the James Norris Trophy as the league’s best defender in 2009-10 and 2013-14. Keith was also named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner after the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.
Anyway, for most of these Blackhawks players it should be pretty self-explanatory.
7 Brent Seabrook
Seabrook was originally selected in the first round by Chicago (14th overall) in 2003. He broke into the league with the Blackhawks in the 2005-06 season and has spent all 15 seasons of his NHL career thus far with Chicago.
He’s also a three-time Stanley Cup champion, having been a member of Chicago’s 2010, 2013 and 2015 rosters. In 1,114 career NHL games, Seabrook’s amassed 103-361–464 totals from the blue line. Along with Keith, he’s been a long-standing pillar on Chicago’s defense and deserves acknowledgment in his own right for the longevity of his tenure that somehow made it as far as it did– and as durable– until he had season ending surgery on his right shoulder on Dec. 27, 2019.
There’s no doubt the Blackhawks will honor both workhorses on their defense that single handedly defined Chicago’s championship style from their own zone out.
10 Patrick Sharp
Compared to the rest of this list, it might be a harder time to argue for Chicago to send Sharp’s No. 10 up to the rafters of United Center, but if you want to make the argument, first there’s the number of years and dedication spent with the team and city (11 seasons across two stints) and second, there’s the fact that Sharp had 532 points in 749 games in a Blackhawks sweater (or .710 points per game while with Chicago).
He spent parts of three seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and two seasons with the Dallas Stars, which contributed to his 287-333–620 totals in 939 career NHL games, which– if you can’t do the math– means that Sharp had 88 points outside of Chicago in 129 games (.682 points per game outside Chicago), which means (“eye test” aside) that he spent his prime with the Blackhawks and was able to give his all to the team that he won three Cups with in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
So… yeah… maybe don’t forget about Sharp in the “potential numbers to retire” conversation.
19 Jonathan Toews
A year before the Blackhawks drafted Patrick Kane, they selected their centerpiece for the future in Toews with the 3rd overall pick in the 2006 NHL Draft. He made his league debut with Chicago in the 2007-08 season and produced 54 points in his rookie year. Two seasons later, he raised the Stanley Cup above his head as the first Blackhawks player to do so since 1961, after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.
Toews was named the 2010 Conn Smythe Trophy winner and has won an award in each of his Stanley Cup winning seasons– winning the Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015 with the Blackhawks, while taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2010, the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2013 and the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2015.
He’s fast approaching 1,000 career NHL games– all with Chicago– as he’s already appeared in 943 contests for the Blackhawks since his rookie season, amassing 345-470–815 totals.
There’s no doubt Toews will see his No. 19 raised to the rafters when he hangs up his skates.
50 Corey Crawford
Crawford is the reason why the qualifier “at least two Cup rings with the Blackhawks” had to be used for this list because– spoiler alert– he was not Chicago’s starting goaltender until the 2010-11 season, and thus, only won the Cup in 2013 and 2015.
Antti Niemi led the Blackhawks to their first Cup in 49 years, but Crawford doubled Niemi’s Cup wins in Chicago and led many to forget about the goaltender that ended the Cup drought for the Blackhawks, then went to arbitration, but couldn’t reach a deal to keep him as the home goaltender at United Center and finally signed a deal with the San Jose Sharks before the start of the 2010-11 season.
Meanwhile, Crawford’s amassed 260 wins in 488 games played for Chicago– yielding a 2.45 career goals against average and a career .918 save percentage, as well as 26 shutouts in that span.
He’s been around for parts of 13 seasons with the Blackhawks and is the modern Tony Esposito for the franchise, so it’s only fitting that Crawford’s No. 50 becomes the next jersey number belonging to a goaltender to be raised to the rafters in Chicago.
81 Marian Hossa
Three Cups with Chicago and he gets in the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility? Might as well complete the journey with retiring No. 81 for the Blackhawks this upcoming season– whenever it happens (if it happens) in 2020-21.
After missing out on the Cup in 2008 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hossa signed a one-year deal with the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings for the 2008-09 season. Detroit met up with the Penguins in a rematch of the 2008 Stanley Cup Final, but in the 2009 edition of the Stanley Cup Final. Once again, however, Hossa drew the short end of the stick and was defeated by his former teammates on his quest for his first Cup.
In the summer of 2009, Hossa signed a mega-deal worth $5.275 million per season over the course of 12 seasons through next season. After a debilitating skin allergy to his hockey equipment cut his career short, Hossa’s contract currently sits on the books of the Arizona Coyotes, but that’s besides the point.
In his first season with the Blackhawk’s, Hossa won it all. The long, torturous, journey to three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances paid off with Chicago’s defeat of the Flyers in 2010.
Then Hossa won two more Cups in 2013 and 2015 with the Blackhawks and amassed 186-229–415 totals in 534 games with Chicago from 2009-17.
Anyway, he scored a bunch of clutch goals for the Blackhawks, so I’m sure that alone will be good enough, right?
Since he’s still under contract with a team for 2020-21, does this mean the Blackhawks will have to wait until the 2021-22 season to retire his number– or are they going to have to wait until then anyway due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
88 Patrick Kane
The 1st overall pick in the 2007 Draft, Kane was selected by the Blackhawks as the planned counterpart for Toews in the overnight redefinition of a basement dwelling franchise to Stanley Cup contending club from season-to-season for a decade.
In 973 regular season games with Chicago, Kane has 389 goals and 633 assists (1,022 points), as well as lots of hardware.
For starters, he’s won three Stanley Cups with the club in 2010, 2013 and 2015. Oddly enough, his best season didn’t even come until after he won three Cups in five seasons with the Blackhawks. In 2015-16, Kane took home the Art Ross Trophy with 106 points, and won the Hart Memorial Trophy, as well as the Ted Lindsay Award that season as the league’s regular season MVP both as determined by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association (PHWA) for the Hart and by the rest of the league’s players for the Lindsay.
Oh and he won the Calder Memorial Trophy in his rookie season (2007-08) and picked up a Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
So there’s that.
Oh plus he scored the goal that ended Chicago’s 49-year Cup drought.
So there’s that too.
Final Thoughts
Now is the perfect time to get rid of the biggest disgrace in franchise history. Unretire No. 9.
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DTFR Podcast #183- Loyalty Loyalty Loyalty
Nick talks a little about why Joe Thornton didn’t get traded and the moves the Boston Bruins made leading to the trade deadline.
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McAvoy lifts B’s over Blackhawks, 2-1, in OT
Charlie McAvoy scored his first goal of the season to lift the Boston Bruins over the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1, in overtime Wednesday night at United Center.
Boston goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (14-6-6 record, 2.36 goals against average, .921 save percentage in 26 games played), made 21 saves on 22 shots against for a .955 SV% in the overtime win.
Meanwhile, Chicago netminder, Robin Lehner (15-8-5, 2.83 GAA, .923 SV% in 30 games played) stopped 38 out of 40 shots faced for a .950 SV% in the overtime loss.
The Bruins improved to 33-10-12 (78 points) and took over 1st place in the entire league standings, while maintaining their 1st place standing in the Atlantic Division.
The Blackhawks, meanwhile, fell to 25-21-8 (58 points) and moved into 4th place in the Central Division.
Boston improved to 15-8-3 on the road this season as Bruce Cassidy earned his 150th win behind the bench as head coach of the Bruins.
The B’s are now on a five-game winning streak and have won six out of their last seven games.
Once more, Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body) and Joakim Nordstrom (allergy complications) were out of the lineup for Boston on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Danton Heinen (undisclosed/healthy scratch) also remained out of the lineup as Cassidy made no changes to his lineup from Tuesday night’s, 4-0, victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Boston to Wednesday night’s matchup with the Blackhawks in Chicago.
John Moore was the only healthy scratch for the B’s (if Heinen technically wasn’t a healthy scratch for the 2nd game in a row).
Late in the opening frame, Blackhawks defender, Slater Koekkoek, was guilty of holding Bruins forward, Sean Kuraly, and assessed a minor penalty at 15:56 of the first period.
Boston did not convert on the ensuing power play opportunity– their first skater advantage of the night.
After one period of play at United Center on Wednesday, the score was still tied, 0-0, while the Bruins led in shots on goal, 16-5.
Chicago held the advantage in blocked shots (7-2), giveaways (4-1) and faceoff win percentage (61-39), while Boston led in hits (14-5). Both teams had five takeaways aside entering the first intermission.
The Blackhawks had yet to see time on the skater advantage and the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.
Early in the middle period, David Krejci boarded Adam Boqvist and sent the young Blackhawks skater out of the game as Chicago’s media relations crew would later tweet that Boqvist was done for the night with a right shoulder injury.
Chicago went on the power play at 6:13 of the second period and took less than a minute to capitalize on the skater advantage.
Patrick Kane pinched along the boards to cut off a clearing attempt by Brad Marchand and stole the puck in the process.
Kane sent the rubber biscuit towards the net where Kirby Dach got a chance before Alex DeBrincat (13) pocketed a rebound off Halak and through the Bruins goaltender’s seven-hole to give the Blackhawks the game’s first goal at 6:50 of the second period.
DeBrincat’s power play goal was assisted by Dach (10) and Kane (41) and gave Chicago the, 1-0, lead.
Almost a few minutes past the midpoint of regulation, Kuraly (5) skated wide around the net and threw the puck towards the goal whereby the puck bounced off of Lehner’s stick and went through the Blackhawks netminder’s five-hole– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.
Matt Grzelcyk (14) and Anders Bjork (9) tallied the assists on Kuraly’s goal at 12:49 and the B’s were on the scoreboard.
Moments later, Jeremy Lauzon caught Kane with an errant stick and was assessed a high sticking minor at 16:43.
Chicago did not score on the ensuing power play.
Both teams entered the second intermission tied on the scoreboard, 1-1, despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 27-13.
Through 40 minutes of action, the Blackhawks led in blocked shots (14-9) and giveaways (6-3), while Boston held the advantage in takeaways (11-10), hits (21-12) and faceoff win% (51-49).
Chicago was 1/2 on the power play and the Bruins were 0/1 entering the third period.
Brandon Saad opened the final frame of regulation with a slashing penalty against Bjork at 5:53 of the third period.
Boston did not score on the ensuing power play.
Midway through the third period, Alexander Nylander tripped up David Pastrnak, but Pastrnak embellished the call and the two skaters received minor penalties– yielding 4-on-4 action for two minutes at 11:41.
Three minutes later, Chris Wagner was called for slashing against Dach while the Blackhawks forward nearly had a breakaway at 14:41.
This time, however, Chicago was not able to convert on the skater advantage.
Less than a few minutes later, Zack Smith delivered an illegal check to the head of Torey Krug along the glass just about in the neutral zone near the penalty box and received a minor penalty at 17:34.
Seconds into Boston’s power play, Ryan Carpenter received a misconduct from the officials at 17:48 for something he did or said that only the refs would know about.
Almost 90 seconds into Boston’s power play, Krug tripped up Olli Maatta as the Blackhawks defender appeared to deliver a hand pass to move the puck through the neutral zone, which led to what otherwise might have been a goal for Chicago had it not been immediately waved off.
Regardless, the Bruins’ skater advantage was no more, resulting in an abbreviated 4-on-4 stint at 18:55 of the third period before the Blackhawks would go on an abbreviated power play to close out regulation time.
After three periods of play at United Center on Wednesday, the two teams required overtime as the game was deadlocked, 1-1, on the scoreboard.
Boston held the advantage in shots on goal (38-22) and hits (25-16) through 60 minutes of play, while Chicago led in blocked shots (18-14), giveaways (10-5) and faceoff win% (51-49).
Both teams had 13 takeaways aside as the Blackhawks were 1/4 on the power play and the B’s were 0/3 entering the extra frame.
Chicago began the overtime period with about 55 seconds left on the power play and a 4-on-3 advantage to begin what is usually 3-on-3 action in overtime (except for when there’s a power play involved).
Cassidy elected to start Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Brandon Carlo in overtime, while Blackhawks head coach, Jeremy Colliton, matched Boston’s skaters with Jonathan Toews, Kane, DeBrincat and Erik Gustafsson.
Shortly after killing off Krug’s minor, the Bruins raced up-ice on a give-and-go.
Jake DeBrusk flung the puck towards the slot where McAvoy (1) was awaiting the perfect chance to redirect the rubber biscuit with his blade from the edge of the crease to give the B’s the, 2-1, overtime victory with his 3rd career regular season overtime goal.
DeBrusk (16) and Krejci (25) notched the assists as Boston finished the night off with the win at 1:19 of the overtime period.
The Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal (40-22) and hits (25-16), while the Blackhawks left Wednesday night’s matchup with the lead in blocked shots (18-14), giveaways (11-5) and faceoff win% (52-48).
Chicago went 1/4 on the power play on Wednesday and Boston went 0/3.
The Bruins, in the meantime, improved to 9-1-6 when tied after one period, 10-2-3 when tied after two periods and 4-5 in overtime this season. The B’s are now 4-12 past regulation overall.
Chicago fell to 4-4 in overtime this season and 7-8 past regulation overall.
Boston returns home for a matchup with the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday before traveling to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Sunday.
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Boston Toews Party, Blackhawks beat B’s, 4-3, in OT
Jonathan Toews ended the Boston Bruins’ eight-game win streak with his game-winning goal in overtime to lift the Chicago Blackhawks over the B’s, 4-3, at TD Garden on Thursday.
Robin Lehner (6-5-3 record, 2.71 goals against average, .929 save percentage in 15 games played) stopped 37 out of 40 shots faced for a .925 SV% in the overtime win for the Blackhawks.
Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (13-2-3, 2.14 GAA, .929 SV% in 18 GP) made 27 saves on 31 shots against (.871 SV%) in the overtime loss.
Boston hosted Chicago on Thursday after defeating the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-0, on Tuesday night in Jaroslav Halak’s 500th NHL game.
David Krejci became the 19th player in Bruins franchise history to reach 200 career goals with the club in Tuesday night’s shutout over the Hurricanes, by the way. If you noticed, we had the night off from recapping the game.
The Bruins fell to 20-3-6 (46 points) on the season, but remained in 1st place in the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks improved to 11-12-5 (27 points), but stayed in 7th place (last) in the Central Division.
Boston fell to 12-0-5 at home this season, while Chicago improved to 5-5-1 in their last 11 games.
Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), Zach Senyshyn (lower body) and Patrice Bergeron (lower body) were all out of the lineup due to injury against the Blackhawks.
Brett Ritchie (upper body) was once again in limbo (he wasn’t in the lineup, but he also technically wasn’t listed as being injured).
Ritchie is practicing as normal and ready to go after dealing with his lingering infection, but Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, opted not to replace anyone in his lineup in favor of the winger.
Meanwhile, John Moore, made his season debut against Chicago after missing the first 28 games this season due to offseason shoulder surgery.
Moore had one assist in one game with the Providence Bruins (AHL) in his conditioning stint on Sunday. He was placed on the left side of the third defensive pairing alongside Matt Grzelcyk, while Connor Clifton served as a healthy scratch.
Once more, Cassidy elected to keep Brad Marchand with Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen on the “first line”, while Jake DeBrusk, Krejci and David Pastrnak made up the “second line”.
Cassidy left his bottom six forwards untouched from Tuesday night’s action against Carolina.
Steven Kampfer joined Clifton as Boston’s only healthy scratches on Thursday.
Less than a minute into the action, Patrick Kane hooked Marchand on a scoring chance 33 seconds into the first period.
Boston did not score on the ensuing power play, but got another chance on the skater advantage at 16:35, when Anton Wedin tripped Coyle.
Despite being shorthanded, the Blackhawks found a way to make the most of being down a skater by scoring a goal on the penalty kill.
Ryan Carpenter (1) pocketed a rebound off of an initial shout from the point by Connor Murphy after the Hawks caught Charlie McAvoy playing catchup since the Bruins defender blew a chance in Boston’s offensive zone seconds prior.
Murphy (1) had the only assist on Carpenter’s goal at 18:14 of the first period and Chicago jumped out to the, 1-0, lead with Boston’s first shorthanded goal against this season.
Less than a minute later, Pastrnak lifted Dennis Gilbert’s stick out of Gilbert’s hands while the Blackhawks skater didn’t have the puck and was charged with an interference infraction at 18:41.
Chicago only needed 10 seconds on the power play to let Dylan Strome (6) go undetected and tip-in a goal from point blank in front of Rask, giving the Blackhawks two goals in a span of 27 seconds.
Erik Gustafsson (7) and Kane (20) notched the assists on Strome’s goal and Chicago led, 2-0, at 18:51.
After one period, the Blackhawks held the advantage on the scoreboard, 2-0, while trailing the Bruins in shots on goal, 12-8.
Boston held the advantage in hits (9-8) and faceoff win percentage (60-40), while Chicago led in blocked shots (8-1), takeaways (5-3) and giveaways (4-2).
The Blackhawks were 1/1 on the power play heading into the first intermission and the B’s were 0/2 on the skater advantage.
Chicago kicked things off with a bench minor for too many skaters on the ice 53 seconds into the second period, resulting in the third power play of the night for Boston.
Ironically, the Bruins weren’t able to do anything with the skater advantage as a result of Chicago’s illegal skater advantage.
After serving the Blackhawks’ bench minor, Alexander Nylander cut a rut back to the penalty box for catching Boston defender, McAvoy, with a high stick at 10:35 of the second period.
Boston didn’t capitalize on their fourth power play of the game.
Seconds after finishing their power play, the Bruins found themselves going on the penalty kill after Pastrnak retaliated in front of the Chicago net and received a roughing minor against Murphy at 12:58.
The Blackhawks did not score on their second skater advantage of the night and held the, 2-0, lead after 40 minutes of play.
Despite having a, 12-10, advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone, Chicago trailed Boston in shots on net after two periods, 22-20.
The Bruins held the advantage in giveaways (12-6), hits (20-18) and faceoff win% (59-41), but the Blackhawks led in blocked shots (15-6) and takeaways (10-8) entering the third period.
Chicago was 1/2 on the power play, while the B’s were 0/4.
Things went from bad to worse before they got better (then finally worse again) for the Bruins as Alex DeBrincat (6) shot the puck off the post on the short side over Rask’s blocker, giving the Blackhawks a, 3-0, lead 17 seconds into the third period.
Strome (13) and Calvin de Haan (4) had the assists on DeBrincat’s goal off the opening faceoff for the final frame of regulation.
Chicago’s three-goal lead marked the first time this season that Boston trailed by three goals.
Former Blackhawk, Joakim Nordstrom (3) got the B’s on the scoreboard with his first goal in 11 games after David Backes generated a rebound off of Lehner’s leg pad that Nordstrom pocketed into the twine to cut Chicago’s lead to two goals.
Backes (2) and McAvoy (9) had the assists on Nordstrom’s goal at 1:49 of the third period and the Blackhawks led, 3-1.
Midway through the third period, after Zack Smith launched high into Pastrnak along the glass, Moore immediately stepped in and dropped the gloves with the Chicago forward.
In what was just the 5th fight this season for Boston, Moore was toppled quickly by Smith at 11:46 and headed down the tunnel before returning moments later.
Less than two minutes later, Coyle was penalized for roughing against Slater Koekkoek at 13:40, but the Blackhawks couldn’t muster a power play goal and instead gave up a shorthanded goal against when Chris Wagner (2) skated in on a breakaway and fired a shot past Lehner for his first goal in 17 games.
Sean Kuraly (8) and Grzelcyk (7) notched the assists on Wagner’s goal at 15:01 and the Bruins trailed, 3-2.
Not to be outdone in the quick back-to-back goal scoring department, Boston rallied to tie the game, 3-3, with two goals in a span of 2:26 after Torey Krug (4) skated into the slot and squeaked a shot through Lehner’s seven-hole at 17:27.
DeBrusk (7) recorded the only assist on the goal as the Bruins tied the game and kept their no regulation losses on home ice this season streak alive.
After 60 minutes of hockey, the score was tied, 3-3, and the Bruins were leading in shots on goal, 40-30.
Boston also held the advantage in third period shots on net alone (18-10), as well as in giveaways (16-9) and hits (30-24), while Chicago led in blocked shots (18-10), takeaways (14-10) and faceoff win% (51-49).
As there were no penalties called in the overtime period, the Blackhawks finished the night 1/3 on the skater advantage and the Bruins went 0/4 on the power play.
After Cassidy started Krejci, Pastrnak and Krug, Chicago’s head coach, Jeremy Colliton, countered with Toews, Kane and Murphy.
Less than a minute into overtime, Toews (5) ensured Pastrnak wouldn’t get the puck in Chicago’s defensive zone and generated his own breakaway down the open ice, stickhandling and scoring on Rask’s five-hole to win the game, 4-3, in overtime.
Murphy (2) had the only assist on Toews’ goal 54 seconds into the extra frame, yielding the only shot on goal in the overtime period.
Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal (40-31), giveaways (16-9) and hits (30-25), while Chicago left the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with the overtime win and the advantage in blocked shots (18-10), as well as faceoff win% (52-48).
The Blackhawks improved to 3-2 in overtime this season, while the Bruins faltered to 2-2 in the extra period.
Chicago also improved to 10-2-3 when scoring first this season and the B’s fell to 4-2-3 when trailing after two periods.
Boston concludes their current five-game homestand (3-0-1) on Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche. The B’s then begin a four-game road trip in Ottawa on Monday.
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DTFR Podcast #174- Coaching Conundrums
Some firsts, 100s, broken fingers and pointing fingers– who should be concerned about their job security behind the bench? Plus Cap’n and Pete are back.
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DTFR Podcast #170- 2019-20 Season Preview: Atlantic Division
Brayden Point re-signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning, a bunch of other RFAs signed extensions, the Boston Pride were sold, Dan Girardi retired and DTFR’s season previews continued with the Atlantic Division.
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2019-20 Central Division Outlook
As the entire hockey world awaits training camp action next month, let’s make some (un)educated guesses about the upcoming season that will totally pan out because everything always goes as expected. (It doesn’t.)
The projected standings below are only a forecast.
They are based on recent indications– as well as the last few seasons of stats– and cannot account for variations in roster construction (a.k.a. trades and free agency moves).
There’s a lot of variables that will turn the tables upside down, including transactions, injuries and otherwise. Anything can happen.
As always, it’s more important to remember 1) the spread and 2) the positioning.
Just how many points separate the projected division winner from the last wild card spot (the spread) and where a team is supposed to finish in the division standings (the position) can imply that things aren’t always what they seem.
A team that’s projected to win it all still has to play an 82-game regular season, qualify for the playoffs and go on to amass 16 wins in the postseason.
Projected Standings After ZERO Months
Central Division
- z-Nashville Predators, 103 points
- x-St. Louis Blues, 100 points
- x-Winnipeg Jets, 97 points
- wc2-Minnesota Wild, 93 points
- Chicago Blackhawks, 92 points
- Dallas Stars, 92 points
- Colorado Avalanche, 86 points
Nashville Predators: Pros and Cons
Before you continue reading, it’s important to remember that this is the most unpredictable division in the league currently. Seriously.
Nashville is more than likely going to take the division in the regular season thanks to their minor moves in the offseason and major gains in the long haul, but everything else?
That’s to be determined.
Matt Duchene’s cap hit ($8,000,000) costs the Preds a million dollars less than P.K. Subban ($9,000,000), but there’s 10 pending UFAs on the roster after this season. If a legitimate one-two duo down the middle can’t get the Predators a Cup, then this window may be closing– and fast.
Pekka Rinne isn’t getting any young and the crease will soon be Juuse Saros’ before you know it.
The good news?
The Preds are still one of the most impressive teams on the blue line with Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis and Dante Fabbro.
How would the Predators fail?
Somehow 30 points in a season gets you a seven-year contract (*ahem* Colton Sissons), but kudos to General Manager David Poile on doing so at a $2.857 cap hit though. That being said, this is dangerous logic that’s tempting fate at the hands of the Hockey Gods, which might only further weaken Nashville’s goaltending when it counts in the postseason.
St. Louis Blues: Pros and Cons
Glue guys score important goals in the playoffs and glue guys come in all shapes and sizes– including dadbod, a la Pat Maroon.
But there’s just one problem, the hometown hero that lifted St. Louis over Dallas into the Western Conference Final has left the Blues for the Tampa Bay Lightning– a product of the salary cap era, a big postseason performance and a… wait, he’s not making a huge salary?
Why did Maroon leave? Because Ivan Barbashev– the younger, better, faster, stronger more long-term approach player– is still an unsigned RFA and the Blues have less than $2.000 million in cap space currently.
St. Louis still has its core, however, and will now find out if Jordan Binnington is truly “The One” or a one hit wonder over the course of a full season of having Binnington as their starter.
When all is said and done, the defending champs have a great chance to continue to make noise in the regular season and, well, we’ve never experienced the Blues winning the Cup before, so… can it happen again? Is that a thing?
How would the Blues fail?
The cliché Stanley Cup hangover. It’s a long, grueling, season that takes its toll– even with all sorts of proper training and nutrition.
Winnipeg Jets: Pros and Cons
The Jets are in trouble. Sure, they might have a decent season and finish in a divisional spot heading into the playoffs, but they’ve got about $16.150 million in cap space and currently unsigned RFAs in Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Eric Comrie right now.
Not to mention the fact that they traded Jacob Trouba to the New York Rangers in the offseason for Neal Pionk, but at least Winnipeg got back their 2019 1st round pick in the transaction (previously dealt to New York in the Kevin Hayes trade).
Yes, a team that should see a bounce-back season in the crease from Connor Hellebuyck leading the way to a potential deep postseason run, might not even make it past the First Round if two of their prominent players (Laine and Connor) are still unsigned by the start of the regular season.
Other than that, Dustin Byfuglien is aiming for a strong run without any more injuries and the rest of Winnipeg is looking to quietly do their thing under the tremendous leadership of their captain, Blake Wheeler.
How would the Jets fail?
If Laine and/or Connor miss any part of the regular season, the Jets aren’t going to be soaring all that far without the fuel to get them to the Stanley Cup Final.
Minnesota Wild: Pros and Cons
What an offseason for the Wild and their fans, right? I mean, things are really wild in Minnesota.
First, Mats Zuccarello lands a five-year, $30.000 million contract in the State of Hockey, then (now former) General Manager Paul Fenton is fired and now Bill Guerin has his first job as an NHL GM.
Welcome to the club, Mr. Guerin, now undo all of this mess that was done by the last guy and the guy before him dating back to July 4, 2012.
At least a full season of Ryan Donato in a Wild sweater should be exciting.
Joel Eriksson Ek signed a two-year extension and Ryan Suter’s play wasn’t too terrible last season, but the wheels fell off in the crease because of how bad puck possession was in front of Devan Dubnyk and Alex Stalock.
Though they’re forecasted as a wild card berth (the forecast formula accounts for more than just last season), Minnesota’s not looking like they’re really going to be much better than they were last season– if at all.
Unless Guerin has any big plans up his sleeve and can get to work patching the holes left and right.
How would the Wild fail?
If they add another player over the age of 30 to their roster, then you know it’s a full-on rebuild (which might actually be for the better at this point).
Chicago Blackhawks: Pros and Cons
Patrick Kane had a tremendous season in 2018-19, amassing 44-66–110 totals in 81 games while the Blackhawks failed to make the postseason for the second straight year.
In the meantime, those that remain from Chicago’s three Cups in five years core are another year older. Jonathan Toews is 31, Kane is 30, Brent Seabrook is 34, Duncan Keith is 36 and starting goaltender, Corey Crawford, is 34.
While incredibly talented, time is not on the Hawks’ side.
That’s why General Manager Stan Bowman has been working to make the team younger with Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat and newcomer Olli Maatta (acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins this summer) taking on larger roles on the Original Six squad.
Even better, 28-year-old defender in his prime, Calvin de Haan, bolsters Chicago’s blue line and provides some much needed time on ice relief for Seabrook and/or Keith as second-year head coach, Jeremy Colliton, sees fit.
Winning the 3rd overall pick in the draft in June, brought Kirby Dach into the equation– whether he’ll be ready for NHL stardom behind Toews and Strome immediately or not.
Though the Blackhawks are forecasted to narrowly miss the postseason for the third straight season, they aren’t going to miss out on the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs by much and will be the team to knock out one of the teams higher up in this outlook (*ahem* Minnesota).
How would the Blackhawks fail?
Age continues to chip away at the memories of yesteryear. That, or injuries, probably.
Dallas Stars: Pros and Cons
The Stars weren’t happy with the production from their best players despite the fact that they were– in fact– their best players. Who would’ve thought?
But now Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn are joined by veterans Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry among Dallas’ forwards, while Andrej Sekera has taken a supporting role on the defense in place of the current unrestricted free agent Marc Methot (who may retire altogether).
On the bright side, Dallas’ defense contains Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, John Klingberg and one of the most underrated aspects in the league– itself.
The Stars defense– combined with the superb duo of Ben Bishop as the starting goaltender and Anton Khudobin as their backup– is really solid.
Unfortunately, the team with the most goals at the end of the game always wins and sometimes Dallas just couldn’t score.
That’s where General Manager Jim Nill has looked to Pavelski’s prowess and Perry’s ability– should he rebound– to try to fill the cracks in their offensive game and start winning games even if they only give up a goal or two when it matters most (the playoffs).
Should the Stars beat the aging curve, they’ll make it back to the playoffs. But don’t think it’s easy– they coasted into the postseason last season and shouldn’t make a habit out of that if they’re looking to play their best hockey deep into June.
How would the Stars fail?
Somehow bringing in Pavelski (35-years-old), Perry (34), Sekera (33)– thereby increasing your overall average age– and expanding your list of no-trade and/or no-movement clauses to seven players on your roster just doesn’t always seem to payout. But at least Perry and Sekera are on one-year, $1.500 million contracts.
Colorado Avalanche: Pros and Cons
Pro: This forecast doesn’t take into account how much of an outlier the 2016-17 season was for the Avs.
Con: Unfortunately, the 2016-17 season has to be included in the dataset to “accurately” predict the upcoming season’s outcome until the 2026-27 season or so.
Pro: Colorado has one of the best first lines in the NHL.
Con: Mikko Rantanen is still an unsigned RFA (and he’s a vital part of the first line).
Pro: Joonas Donskoi, Nazem Kadri, Calle Rosen and Andre Burakovsky are all newcomers to the Avalanche with something to prove. GM Joe Sakic was busy on the phone(s)!
Con: If the team doesn’t gel by January, it’s going to be a long season.
Pro: Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.
Con: The number of games Gabriel Landeskog will be suspended for at some point in the season.
Pro: This is a very exciting team to watch and a surefire dark-horse to make the Stanley Cup Final.
Con: Now I’ve jinxed them.
How would the Avalanche fail?
By proving this forecast right and inexplicably regressing to their 2016-17 season ways. Otherwise, they’re definitely not actually finishing last in the Central Division… right?
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DTFR Podcast #165- Where’s My Cottage Invite?
Nick takes a little time out of the summer to go over third line signings, jersey number controversy and Ron Francis’ hiring as General Manager of the Seattle expansion franchise.
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.
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DTFR Podcast #155- The One Where They’re Divided
Nick, Cap’n and Pete assess the Detroit Red Wings hiring of Steve Yzerman as General Manager and Executive Vice President, as well as recap the trio of Game 7s in the First Round and preview the Second Round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.
Down the Frozen River 
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