Wild head coach Dean Evason singled out Alex Goligoski after the veteran defenseman took a costly penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct in the final frame of Minnesota's 7-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night."Momentum was clearly in our direction, and then obviously they get a power play," Evason told reporters postgame. "They didn't score, but they gained momentum from it, they had a lot of good touches on it, and then we were behind the eight ball, obviously."It can't happen, can't take (a) stupid - really stupid - bad penalty. (Goligoski) knows it, we addressed it, but it can't happen. Can't happen in Game 2, and it can't happen going forward."The Wild had scored back-to-back goals to end the second period and were only down 4-3 when Goligoski took the penalty just under seven minutes into the third stanza.Goligoski said he felt there were some calls the referees missed for Minnesota and told an official to "make an 'effin call," spurring his trip to the box. Like Evason, the 38-year-old also felt his actions "hurt" the Wild.

Two games, six goals. It's quite the start for Auston Matthews.The Toronto Maple Leafs superstar became the fifth player in NHL history to open the season with back-to-back hat tricks and only the second to do it since 1917-18. Alex Ovechkin accomplished the feat in 2017-18. Before him, Cy Denneny, Reg Noble, and Joe Malone all did it in 1917-18.Matthews completed the achievement Saturday with a three-goal game against the Minnesota Wild. His first three came versus the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.

Conor Garland's market is beginning to take shape.The Columbus Blue Jackets, Winnipeg Jets, and Nashville Predators are among the teams interested in the Vancouver Canucks winger, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.Vancouver reportedly granted Garland permission to seek a trade. The 27-year-old switched agents Tuesday and is now represented by Judd Moldaver, whose list of clients includes Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews.The Canucks are hoping to free up $1 million to $2 million in cap space with a trade and would prefer a defenseman in return, Friedman adds. Vancouver dressed 17 skaters in its season opener since it couldn't afford to recall a player to fill in for injuries due to cap constraints.The Blue Jackets are an obvious match. They have over $2 million in cap space, per CapFriendly, and are reportedly looking to trade a blue-liner. In particular, Columbus has a surplus of right-shooting defensemen, which would be ideal for Vancouver's left-heavy blue line. Adam Boqvist and Andrew Peeke are potential fits.The Predators are the only team of the three that could afford Garland's full $4.95-million cap hit, as they have $7.8 million available. Nashville also has an abundance of right-shooting defensemen. Luke Schenn likely isn't going anywhere after signing a three-year deal as a free agent in the summer, but the club could make Tyson Barrie, Alexandre Carrier, and Dante Fabbro available.The Jets have $2.3 million in cap space. Logan Stanley, a 2016 first-round pick, is a possible trade candidate after Winnipeg made the 6-foot-7 defenseman a healthy scratch for the season's first two games.Garland tallied 17 goals and 29 assists in 81 contests with the Canucks last season. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound forward scored a goal in the team's season-opening 8-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers while skating on the top line. His underlying numbers over the last three campaigns are stellar. Evolving-HockeyGarland has three seasons remaining on his contract. The Canucks acquired him from the Arizona Coyotes in the 2021 trade that also brought Oliver Ekman-Larsson to Vancouver.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach exited Saturday's 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks after sustaining a lower-body injury in the first period.Dach appeared to be injured on a hit from Jarred Tinordi, which sent the 22-year-old into the Blackhawks' bench.

After 1,065 games in the NHL, nothing that Pittsburgh Penguins veteran Evgeni Malkin does should come as a surprise. But his four-point outing against the Washington Capitals on Friday night still impressed head coach Mike Sullivan."I thought Geno was on his game tonight," he told reporters after his side's 4-0 win. "When he's on his game, it seems like the puck follows him around, and he played with a lot of energy. He's still such a dominant player out there. I thought tonight he was at his best."Sullivan added, "He was playing at both ends of the rink. He's competing hard. I just think when he's on his game, he's as dominant a player as there is in the league."Malkin kicked off his evening with a quick snap shot in the slot for his first goal of the 2023-24 season. He went on to add a pair of primary assists, as well as a secondary helper on longtime teammate Sidney Crosby's first goal of the contest.The Penguins outshot the Capitals 16-4, with Malkin on the ice at all strengths while dictating 74.4% of the shot attempts and 73.7% of the scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.All in, the outing was the 37-year-old's 29th game in which he bagged at least four points in a single contest.Crosby has long had a front-row seat to the Malkin show. Along with defenseman Kris Letang, the three Penguins are now in their 18th NHL season together and own the title of longest tenured teammates in North America. The previous record was held by Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera, who played 17 consecutive campaigns with the New York Yankees."(Malkin) was just all over the ice," Crosby said. "He made some great plays. ... Nights like this where he's feeling it, he's gonna set up guys or create chances himself. He was just all over the puck tonight."Malkin's dominant performance was needed after the Penguins suffered a disheartening loss to the Chicago Blackhawks that saw them squander a 2-0 lead during their season opener on Oct. 10.Sullivan was a big fan of his team's improved play."I just thought we played smarter tonight," he said. "I thought we had a little more structure in the defensive zone, just our play without the puck was a little bit more conscientious, certainly than it was in Game 1. I think that gives our guys an opportunity to act on the talent that we have."Next up for Malkin and the Penguins is a clash against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Apps like theScore didn't exist when Michael MacCambridge grew up in Kansas City in the 1970s, back when it was harder for a kid to follow the hometown team. Late Royals games that ran past his bedtime sometimes ended after the morning newspaper went to print. The sports section relayed who led through seven innings.The suspense dogged MacCambridge, now an author of sports history books, as he left for grade school."Only when I came home and got the afternoon paper could I find out the final score of the game that had been played nearly 24 hours ago," MacCambridge said. "That is what's so hard to explain to modern sports fans: What a wasteland it was. Maybe you could get lucky and get a final on the radio. But it was a challenge."MacCambridge lived through a transformation. Everything about sports changed in the '70s. The debut of "Monday Night Football" popularized nighttime broadcasts and helped condition a national audience to crave round-the-clock coverage. The creation of free agency and rogue leagues empowered and enriched players. Gains were made that promoted racial integration and women's inclusivity.The decade's innovations and iconic athletes, from Hank Aaron to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Muhammad Ali, inspired MacCambridge's latest work: "The Big Time: How the 1970s Transformed Sports in America," which was published this week. Every era sparks change, but this rollicking period is when the games we love became a cultural phenomenon, commercial juggernaut, and 24-7 obsession.Supplied by Grand Central Publishing Before his book launched, MacCambridge spoke to theScore about the decade's key characters, indelible sights, and lasting effects."By the end of the '70s, you could see the broad contours of what sports has become today, which is this multimedia, pervasive common ground that has insinuated itself into all the different parts of American life," MacCambridge said."At a time when America is more balkanized, narrowcast, and divided than ever before, sports is the last really big tent. You could start seeing that happen by the end of the '70s in a way that didn't exist at the beginning of the '70s."This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.theScore: How did you experience sports in the 1970s?MacCambridge: I was 7 years old when the decade began. Fans tend to romanticize sports when they were growing up and falling in love with sports. Your sense of wonder is activated in that decade. I wanted to take a step back from my own emotional experience and try to understand the larger themes.Growing up in Kansas City, I lived in an apartment complex. There were players from the Chiefs who lived in my building and the next building over. It was an era when players lived in apartment buildings instead of owning them. The Chiefs' offices were about 10 minutes away in the middle of a park area. There were only about 10 people working there and a practice field out back.Sports were much less corporate, much less sophisticated, and the stakes were a lot lower then because players were being paid a lot less money. Sports was something different by the time we got to the end of the '70s.How did the '70s legitimize sports fandom? What happened that enabled millions of people to obsess over them?You have to go back to the assumptions that were made at the beginning of the '70s. There was still a feeling that pro football - which, by then, was America's most popular sport - was too male, too marginal, too parochial to succeed on prime-time network television. But with the advent and success of "Monday Night Football," that showed there was a broad audience.It's not a coincidence that in 1971, a year after "Monday Night Football" debuts, we have the first World Series game in prime time. In '72, the Olympics goes to every night in prime time. In '73, the NCAA has the first national championship game in prime time. "Monday Night Football" opened the door.Fans had been so regional in their interests and awareness. As more sports were on TV, as more sports pages became national in their outlook, fans were more national. By the time you get to the '80s and the launch of ESPN, fans are able to follow the games in a way they couldn't (in the past). Focus On Sport / Getty Images Ross Lewis / Getty ImagesFocus on Sport / Getty Images The decade's top athletes included tennis legend Billie Jean King. She beat Bobby Riggs, the chauvinistic retired major champion, in straight sets in the 1973 "Battle of the Sexes" as 45 million viewers tuned in. As you note in the book, it's possible no athlete ever delivered under so much pressure. What did her victory mean to some of the women you interviewed?The match was played in Houston, of course. There was a big viewing party in New York City. It gathered a lot of the women who were at the forefront of second-wave feminism. A lot of them weren't sports fans, but they knew this was a moment. There's a scene in the book with the actress Marlo Thomas, who starred in the TV series "That Girl," sitting in front of the TV and saying this was the most important moment of her life.Talking to women coaches, athletes, and administrators, it was clear that across the country that night, there was this thing. It was a circus, and there was nothing tangible improved by it one way or the other. Billie Jean King would have been the first to say that she could not have beaten one of the top 100 male players at the time. But because that match had gotten so much attention and had broad societal resonance, it felt huge.King would have known going into the match that if she lost, that's what she was going to be remembered for - just as that is what Bobby Riggs is remembered for today, 50 years later. Bettmann / Getty ImagesHank Aaron hit his 715th home run in 1974. He got death threats and racist hate mail while pursuing Babe Ruth, then was celebrated for breaking the record. What did Aaron's chase signify about that time in American life?It was important for Aaron to step up and share with the public the nature of the hate mail he received. I think it showed people a side of the country that a lot of middle-class, white sports fans hoped did not exist. It was a reminder that it did exist.It put a mirror in front of the American sporting public, which tended to congratulate itself for its open-mindedness, for its embrace of Black athletes. It showed how many people were virulently racist, threatening, and dangerous.The stress of that was clearly immense. I'm not sure another athlete who didn't have Aaron's character would have weathered that so well. But he did it. I quote from a biography of Aaron. (Braves teammate) Dusty Baker said, "Hank was a little bit like your dad." He didn't bring his problems home to you. You knew he had adult problems, but he didn't dwell on them.It was the single most-known record in American sports. Even someone who didn't follow sports knew Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs. That was what made it so historic. O-Pee-Chee 1974Bettmann / Getty Images Does anything in sports today compare to the spectacle of Muhammad Ali's violent, epic championship fights?I don't know if there's ever been an event that was as anticipated as that first Ali-Joe Frazier fight. (Contesting the "Fight of the Century" at Madison Square Garden in 1971, Smokin' Joe beat Ali by unanimous decision after 15 rounds.)You have to consider the time, Ali's place in the culture, the fatigue with the Vietnam War by then, and the sense among some middle-class Americans that Ali was unpatriotic (for refusing the Vietnam draft). You have more people watching the Super Bowl today than would have watched the first Ali-Frazier fight, but it doesn't have the political ramifications.Who you were rooting for in that fight said something about what kind of person you were, what your politics were, who your friends were, what your attitude about the country was. It was more true then than, I think, any sports event today. Bettmann / Getty Images LMPC / Getty ImagesThe American Basketball Association and World Hockey Association courted superstars like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Bobby Hull, and even Gordie Howe in his mid-40s. How did players benefit from the competition these short-lived leagues created?You're right: The leagues were almost inevitably short-lived. There was no real research done on whether it would be a good idea to have a pro football franchise in Shreveport, Louisiana, or a hockey team in Houston. But there was new money there. Before the advent of free agency, players had essentially been indentured servants. It gave players a choice.When Howe was with the Red Wings and winning MVP awards and Stanley Cups, he still had to work a job in the offseason to make ends meet. He had a neighbor who was a businessman who would take his boat to the lake every weekend. Howe couldn't afford that. When the WHA came offering hundreds of thousands of dollars, Gordie Howe happily took it, and understandably so.

Team Canada is promoting from within for the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championship.Alan Letang will serve as head coach of the squad, Hockey Canada announced Friday. The 48-year-old was an assistant coach on the Canadian side that claimed gold in Halifax last winter.Letang has been the bench boss for the OHL's Sarnia Sting since 2021. He previously occupied the role of interim head coach with the same league's Owen Sound Attack after joining them as an assistant in 2016.Letang guided Canada's summer under-18 team to the gold medal at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and was an assistant coach for the team that won the tournament one year earlier. He did the same for the championship squad at the 2020 world juniors.The Canadian coaching staff will also include Gilles Bouchard of the QMJHL's Sherbrooke Phoenix, Shaun Clouston of the WHL's Kamloops Blazers, and Scott Walker of the OHL's Guelph Storm.Former NHL defenseman Brent Seabrook is joining the team's brass in an unspecified position. He'll make his international management debut after playing 15 NHL seasons. Seabrook represented Canada numerous times as a player. He won Olympic gold in 2010, silver and gold at the WJHC in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and gold at the under-18 worlds in 2003.The 2024 world junior tournament will take place from Dec. 26, 2023, through January 5, 2024, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Team Canada - the two-time defending champion - will hold its selection camp in Oakville, Ontario, from Dec. 10-13.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Takes, Thoughts, Trends is theScore's biweekly hockey grab bag.The NHL's schedule makers sure know how to take advantage of a marketable player. Check out Chicago's slate to start the Connor Bedard era:

Warning: Story contains coarse languageColumbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski is set to miss one-to-two weeks with a quad contusion after colliding with Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway during Thursday's season opener, the team announced.The Blue Jackets recalled David Jircek from the AHL in a corresponding move.Werenski was helped off the ice by teammates after the hit behind the net. Hathaway was assessed a two-minute minor for kneeing.

The Colorado Avalanche secured the services of a core piece Friday, inking defenseman Devon Toews to a seven-year contract extension, the club announced.The deal carries an average annual value of $7.25 million, reports The Athletic's Peter Baugh.Toews was a pending unrestricted free agent who would've been one of the most sought-after players on the market next summer. He's in the final season of a four-year pact he inked with the Avalanche at $4.1 million annually in October 2020.The Canadian blue-liner signed his current contract 15 days after Colorado acquired him in a trade with the New York Islanders in exchange for two second-round picks. Those selections became current Arizona Coyotes rearguard J.J. Moser and now-19-year-old Swedish defenseman Calle Odelius, who's playing overseas.Toews has been one of the NHL's most underrated players for years. The 29-year-old was defensively solid with offensive upside even before arriving in Colorado, and he's excelled in both facets of the game ever since. Toews has benefited from playing with superstar Cale Makar, but his underlying numbers over the previous three seasons are nearly flawless nonetheless. Evolving HockeyToews collected seven goals and 43 assists while averaging 25:06 in ice time over 80 games in 2022-23. He enjoyed a career year offensively one season prior, notching 13 tallies and 44 helpers while averaging 25:22 in ice time across only 66 contests in 2021-22.The Quinnipiac product spent his first two campaigns with the Isles before they shipped him to the Avalanche. New York drafted Toews 108th overall in 2014.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Daniel Alfredsson is back with the Ottawa Senators organization with no official title, president of hockey operations Steve Staios told Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch."At this point in time, it's best for him to be around the players and the coaches quite a bit more," Staios said. "We're going to see how this evolves, but he's officially back with the organization."Alfredsson was on the ice for Ottawa's practice on Friday morning.

We had a solid Thursday night on the ice, going 3-2 with our bets between shot props and sides/totals.With just two games on Friday night's slate, there isn't a ton to pick from. Luckily, there are still a few plays that caught my eye.Alex Ovechkin over 3.5 shotsShooting is the name of the game for Ovechkin. Despite missing nearly 10 games last season, which is a healthy chunk of the year, Ovechkin still managed to finish fifth in the league in shot attempts.David Pastrnak, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, and Timo Meier were the only snipers to register more volume. Suffice to say, Ovechkin still has it.He should benefit from a coaching change - Peter Laviolette isn't the most offensive-minded coach out there - as well as better health surrounding him. The Capitals dealt with an abundance of injuries to key players last year, with T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, and Tom Wilson - among others - all missing extended periods of time.Having Carlson distribute Ovechkin the puck on the power play again will be a big plus, as will having Oshie back on his line at even strength.Over the last couple of years, Ovechkin's shot-generation numbers are better with Oshie on his line than anybody else. Since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, Ovechkin has averaged nearly 23 attempts per 60 while playing with Oshie. That's absurd volume for someone you can generally rely on for a few power-play shots as well.Ovechkin will have the juices flowing in his season opener against a division rival.The matchup isn't half bad, either. As the Penguins showed in their first game against the Blackhawks, they're exploitable defensively and will give up volume. Expect Ovechkin to take advantage.Odds: -135 (playable to -145)Jesper Bratt under 2.5 shotsBratt isn't much of a shooter. He has a very good shot, but he's selective with it, opting to create for his teammates instead. That has been especially true since 40-goal-scorer Meier entered the lineup.Dating back to last season, Bratt has recorded three shots or more in only 12 of 33 games with Meier in the lineup. That equates to a 36% hit rate, which isn't very good.I don't think the offseason addition of Tyler Toffoli - coming off a 34-goal year - is going to help matters when it comes to Bratt's volume.Bratt has started the season on a line with Toffoli and Jack Hughes, the latter of whom is coming off a year in which he finished fifth in shots.Playing with shooters like Toffoli and Hughes, I expect Bratt will be even more set on deferring to them and focusing on his playmaking. We saw that in the Devils' season opener, with Toffoli and Hughes combining for 13 shot attempts. Bratt attempted just three and hit the target once.With the odds implying a 55% chance Bratt fails to record three shots, I see real value on the under.Odds: -125 (playable to -150)Nick Schmaltz under 2.5 shotsSchmaltz isn't very trigger-happy. He averaged 2.1 shots per game a season ago and surpassed his 2.5 total only 18 times in 64 tries. That means he failed to get the job done a whopping 72% of the time.I wouldn't expect much of an uptick from Schmaltz in this game. With the addition of Jason Zucker and the promotion of Logan Cooley, there's more shooting talent in the lineup. That isn't going to help Schmaltz increase his volume.The matchup against New Jersey, quite frankly, is also bad. The Devils were a good shot-suppression team a season ago, and we saw that in their season opener. The Devils allowed what equates to 53 attempts per 60 at five-on-five, which is a very strong number.Schmaltz should see plenty of Selke finalist Nico Hischier at even strength, making it difficult to create offense.Odds: -165 (playable to -185)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Steven Stamkos will have to wait until the end of the 2023-24 campaign before he gets a new contract.The Tampa Bay Lightning captain is entering the final season of an eight-year, $68-million deal inked in 2016. Stamkos said on the first day of training camp in September that he hoped to get an extension done over the summer and was "disappointed" by the lack of talk toward a deal. He added that there hadn't been any conversations but was "ready whenever" to begin discussions.However, Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said Wednesday that he'll let the campaign play out before negotiating a new deal with Stamkos."Ultimately, I made the decision that it's in the best interest of our organization to wait until after the season to see what we have here, see how we perform, see how all these different, new pieces fit," BriseBois told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. "Then we'll be in a better position to make the best decision to set ourselves up for continued success."BriseBois wasn't shy about signing extensions this offseason. He handed Brandon Hagel an eight-year, $52-million extension and gave Darren Raddysh a two-year, $1.95-million deal in August. The Lightning also project to have over $10 million in cap space next summer, and Stamkos is the only notable upcoming unrestricted free agent.But BriseBois is adamant that he wants Stamkos to remain with the club over the long haul."I've stated that I think it would be great for the organization for Steven to finish his career here. He wants that," Brisebois said. "But what we want is for Steven to finish off his career in Tampa and for the club to continue to be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders for the remainder of his tenure."Stamkos recorded 34 goals and 50 assists in 81 games last season. The 33-year-old picked up an assist in the club's victory on opening night Tuesday.The Lightning selected Stamkos first overall in 2008. He's the franchise's all-time leader in goals (515) and points (1,057). Stamkos also ranks second in games played (1,004) and assists (542) behind Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis, respectively, but both records could be his by the end of this season.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion is exploring ways to clear cap space with restricted free agent Shane Pinto still unsigned.In addition to forward Mathieu Joseph, whom the team has had discussions about moving in recent weeks, the Senators have held talks involving defenseman Erik Brannstrom."(Dorion) is trying to move Mathieu Joseph. He has had (conversations) about moving Erik Brannstrom," TSN's Darren Dreger reported on Thursday's edition of "Insider Trading."Brannstrom, 24, tallied 18 points in 74 contests last season. He's played all 191 games of his career with the Senators since being acquired prior to the 2019 trade deadline in the deal that sent Mark Stone to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Swede signed a one-year contract worth $2 million this summer and will be an RFA after the campaign.Ottawa has just $62,620 of cap space, according to CapFriendly. Pinto was reportedly upset with a low one-year offer in September and is seeking around $2.5 million.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Auston Matthews overtook Connor McDavid as the favorite to lead the NHL in goals after his hat trick performance against the Canadiens on Wednesday night.Matthews is now +250 to McDavid's +260 to win the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy at theScore Bet with 81 games remaining on the schedule. Prior to Wednesday's slate of games, McDavid was +200, and Matthews was +350.PlayerOdds Oct. 11 (Implied prob.)Odds Oct. 12(Implied prob.)McDavid+200 (33.3%)+260 (27.8%)Matthews+350 (22.2%)+250 (28.6%)Odds via theScore BetMcDavid and his Oilers were also in action on Wednesday but were blown out 8-1 by the Canucks. McDavid assisted on Leon Draisaitl's lone goal for the Oilers.Now, is one game enough to warrant this type of reaction? Probably not. But Matthews is essentially getting a three-goal head start on McDavid for the remainder of the season.If McDavid doesn't replicate his 64-goal season from last year, Matthews' three goals from Wednesday could prove to be the difference.SeasonMatthews goalsMcDavid goals2016-1740302017-1834412018-1937412019-2047342020-2141332021-2260442022-234064For the first five seasons of Matthews' career, 13 goals was the most the two were separated by. Either Matthews or McDavid has led the league in goals each of the past three seasons.Meanwhile, the Canucks' Brock Boeser, who potted four goals on McDavid's Oilers Wednesday, wasn't even listed as a betting option to win the "Rocket" Richard Trophy prior to the season. He's now +2500 as the 10th favorite on the oddsboard.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Los Angeles Kings placed Viktor Arvidsson on long-term injured reserve, the club announced Thursday.Players on LTIR must miss 10 games or 24 days, which in Arvidsson's case works out to the same return date of Nov. 4 against the Philadelphia Flyers. He missed L.A.'s season-opening 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.The Swedish forward is dealing with what Kings head coach Todd McLellan called a lower-body injury. He was initially ruled out of the first two games of the season and deemed day-to-day.Los Angeles played its opener one skater short due to cap constraints and Arvidsson's ailment. Placing him on LTIR frees up both $4.25 million in cap space (his contract's average annual value) and a roster spot.Arvidsson has been a vital cog in the Kings' lineup since they traded the Nashville Predators a pair of picks for him in July 2021. He produced 20 goals and 29 assists over 66 games in 2021-22 before notching 26 tallies and 33 helpers across 77 contests last season.The 30-year-old has been prone to injuries throughout his career. He's never played a full season and has missed 80 games combined over the last six campaigns. Despite those woes, he's collected at least 20 goals five times and at least 30 twice.On Thursday, the Kings also recalled forward Alex Turcotte and defenseman Brandt Clarke from their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, while sending forwards Arthur Kaliyev and Alex Laferriere down to the farm club.Kaliyev has to serve one more game of his four-game suspension (two preseason contests and two regular-season tilts) for kneeing Anaheim Ducks forward Chase De Leo.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL is eyeing Mexico City as a potential international event site."Mexico City is on a short list because our teams are very interested in going there and exploring that market," NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer told ESPN's "The Drop" podcast.The NHL has staged events across Europe for decades and has expanded to less traditional markets in recent years, such as China and Australia."Our international department and our events department get so many inquiries from all over the world, and we've heard from so many people that have done major events in big cities, and they love the fact that hockey can be viable in their countries," Mayer said.The Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings have held camps in Mexico City, and the Arizona Coyotes are one of the teams pushing to play there down the road."I keep telling (the NHL), 'Guys, I don't think you understand. If you think there's a rabid fan base in Australia, any American sport event in Mexico is a massive deal for the country,'" Coyotes president Xavier A. Gutierrez said.Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is of Mexican heritage and said in 2021 that he'd love to play a game there.The NFL, NBA, and MLB have all staged events in Mexico.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Rick Tocchet knows that an 8-1 victory in the season opener doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.The Vancouver Canucks head coach tried to keep his players grounded after they defeated the Edmonton Oilers in decisive fashion Wednesday night."Listen, it's one game," Tocchet told reporters postgame. "Obviously, everything went our way (Wednesday night), and I'm proud of the guys, but this is a long haul ... I heard a couple guys with five minutes left say, and I told you guys, 'We're not ordering rings around here.' It's one game. ... We can feel good about it, but we've got to come back to Earth tomorrow."Brock Boeser scored four goals in the rout, which ran in stark contrast to Vancouver's home opener a year ago when the club was booed off the ice after a 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres."We've come a long way (from last year)," Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers said, according to Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre. "Saying that, we know there's a lot more to go. But we're in a good place. Just given what's gone on since the start of September, coming into camp, and the way guys were preparing, it was nice to have (the) game go the way it did. We need to make sure we keep striving for a higher level."J.T. Miller also harkened back to last season but specifically the difficulty the Canucks had playing against the Oilers in 2022-23."I think we know we need to enjoy (the game) and then move on," he said after Vancouver's blowout win. "It's nice to get off on the right foot after what happened last year, especially to come off with a lead and then (have them) come back on us a couple times in Edmonton - it felt good."Canucks forward Conor Garland - who opened the scoring just over eight minutes into Wednesday's victory - acknowledged he had a little extra motivation after the team reportedly gave him permission to seek a trade Tuesday."There were some unfortunate distractions," he said, according to MacIntyre. "But I definitely knew I had to have a good game with it all going on, so I was happy."The Oilers won't have to wait long to try to get revenge, as the Pacific Division rivals will meet again in Edmonton on Saturday.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

We have a fun seven-game slate ahead of us on Thursday night. Let's waste no time getting to a couple of plays that stand out from the pack.Kraken (-105) @ Predators (-115) The Kraken smacked the Predators around a season ago, winning two of three head-to-head meetings while outscoring them by eight goals.I expect their success against the Predators to continue on Thursday night. Although Nashville gave the Lightning a good run for their money on Tuesday, I'm not high on this Preds team.They're lacking talent down the middle, Filip Forsberg is the only impact winger on the roster, and the defensive ceiling of the team can only be so high when Tyson Barrie is logging more than 20 minutes per game.Juuse Saros has a way of masking a lot of problems, but on many nights, I think the task will be too much - even for him.The Kraken are one of the deepest teams in the NHL. They make their hay by overwhelming opponents with their depth. That proved to be too much for a powerhouse Avalanche team to handle in the playoffs, so it should be even more evident against a team like the Predators.I expect the Kraken to test Saros early and often while giving up very little at the other end. They're one of the best chance-suppression teams in the NHL, and outside of Roman Josi and Forsberg, the Predators don't have much dynamic ability in their lineup to break the Kraken down.Look for the Kraken to pick up their first win of the season in what should be a crazy and fun environment in Nashville.Bet: Kraken (-105)Golden Knights (-240) @ Sharks (+200)The Sharks are a complete dumpster fire. They won fewer games than any other team a season ago, and that was with 40-goal scorer Timo Meier and Norris winner Erik Karlsson on the roster for most of the year.There isn't really much positive to say about the team. They don't have firepower up front. They don't have depth. They don't have a stable defense core. And they certainly don't have goaltending.Tonight's projected starter, Kaapo Kahkonen, is coming off a truly miserable season. He posted a putrid .883 save percentage last year and was objectively one of the worst goaltenders in the league.He's more likely to cause the Sharks problems than erase them, which isn't ideal when playing behind the worst roster you'll find.The Golden Knights are a stout defensive side that won't give much to its opponents. They also have the high-end weapons to be clinical at the other end. Against this Sharks team, there should be no shortage of opportunities landing on the sticks of Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault, Mark Stone, and Co.Vegas should be able to control this game from start to finish and breeze to a sweat-free victory inside 60 minutes.Bet: Golden Knights in regulation (-150)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Wednesday was a disappointing night for the shot props. William Nylander started the evening off on a strong note, but Jake DeBrusk hit the net only twice on seven attempts against the Blackhawks. He failed to put us in a winning position and compensate for a dud of a showing from Connor McDavid and the Oilers.We're still sporting a solid 4-2 record with our props through the first couple days of the season. Let's try and build on that with three more plays for Thursday's card.Jack Hughes over 3.5 shotsHughes established himself as one of the best shot-generators in the league last season. He missed a handful of games but still managed to finish top five in shots on goal, ahead of superstars like Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk, and Mikko Rantanen.I expect Hughes to produce massive volume again in 2023-24. Jesper Bratt will be riding shotgun with Hughes at even strength and on the power play, which is a big plus. They have fantastic chemistry, and Hughes' shot rate was higher with Bratt on his wing than Timo Meier, Dawson Mercer, and some of the other great alternatives the Devils have on the roster.What I also love about Hughes is there's almost no scenario in which he'd share the ice with Meier, who generates insane volume and finished sixth in shots on goal last season.They don't play together at even strength, and they've practiced on different power-play units. Although Tyler Toffoli is a strong scorer, he isn't nearly the volume hog that Meier is. Hughes playing on different units should leave extra opportunities on his plate.Look for Hughes, who posted a 63% hit rate at home last season, to start with a bang against a middling Red Wings team.Odds: -140 (playable to -150)Kirill Kaprizov over 3.5 shotsThose who've followed these articles over the last couple of years know Kaprizov is one of my favorite targets, especially at home. The star winger averaged 4.3 shots per game in Minnesota last season and hit in 59% of his games.His road splits aren't nearly as compelling. Kaprizov managed only 3.2 shots per game and went over his shot total at a disappointing 32% clip.Kaprizov finds himself in a nice spot at home to the Panthers in Game 1. While Florida is a strong team, it tends to play in a lot of high-event games. This should be a good environment for Kaprizov.Perhaps more importantly, the Panthers are dealing with a lot of injuries on defense - Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour are sidelined.Kaprizov is going to get all the ice he can handle against a watered-down defense. Expect him to take full advantage.Odds: -132 (playable to -145)Jason Robertson over 3.5 shotsRobertson slowed down a little bit come playoff time, but his home splits were once again extremely good last season. He registered at least four shots in 59% of his home games, compared to just 40% on the road.The difference in shot volume was staggering. Robertson averaged a whopping 7.7 attempts per game in Dallas but just 5.9 on the road. Suffice it to say, it's a lot easier to get four pucks on net when attempting nearly eight shots per game.Robertson finds himself in a cushy matchup Thursday. The Blues are nowhere close to as good defensively as they were a couple seasons ago and figure to be in tough to make the playoffs.With big minutes against an exploitable defense, Robertson is in a prime spot to make noise.Odds: -105 (playable to -125)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said his club wasn't prepared to start their highly-anticipated season opener after an 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday."We laid an egg tonight; we all own it," Woodcroft said. "We're all in this one together. The bottom line is we were at a preseason level of work ethic and a preseason level of execution, all of us. We got a lesson in regular-season work ethic and regular-season battle level."He added, "I saw us lose a ton of battles. Things that normally are hallmarks of our game did not show up."The Oilers trailed 4-0 less than 10 minutes into the second period. Jack Campbell was replaced between the pipes by Stuart Skinner at that point, but neither goalie found success, each allowing four goals on 16 shots."We hung both guys out to dry tonight," captain Connor McDavid said, per Sportsnet's Mark Spector. "We have to learn from this rout.""Not sure how to explain that start to the season," he added.Edmonton was a popular pick to compete for the Stanley Cup this year on the strength of McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, along with some revamped depth. There's plenty of time for the Oilers to correct what went wrong in their first game, and the first opportunity comes Saturday with a rematch against the Canucks.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall is considered week-to-week after he suffered an upper-body injury during Chicago's 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday, head coach Luke Richardson announced, per the Chicago Sun-Times' Ben Pope.Hall headed down the tunnel after taking a hit from Bruins defenseman and former teammate Brandon Carlo in the second frame. The 31-year-old winger returned for one more shift but was ultimately ruled out for the rest of the game.Richardson wasn't pleased with what he saw from Carlo on the play."That's a blindside hit. That's a guy coming across the ice," he said. "That's what the game is trying to get rid of."The Blackhawks acquired Hall and veteran Nick Foligno from the Bruins in June in exchange for defensemen Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. Hall put up 16 goals and 36 points in 61 games for Beantown in 2022-23.The 2018 Hart Trophy winner's absence is a big blow for Chicago. Hall had been skating on a line with 2023 first overall pick Connor Bedard and assisted on the youngster's first NHL goal prior to his departure from Wednesday's contest."It was unfortunate. We just have to plow through," Richardson said, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers. "He was playing really well for us."Richardson said Lukas Reichel is an option to take Hall's place next to Bedard, per The Athletic's Mark Lazerus.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Ottawa Senators were shorthanded for their 5-3 season-opening loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.Ottawa was forced to go with 11 forwards and six defensemen due to salary-cap issues and injuries to forwards Josh Norris and Zack MacEwen.

The future of the Buffalo Sabres' blue line is under contract for the long haul.Two days after signing Rasmus Dahlin to an eight-year deal, the club announced it locked up its other franchise defenseman, Owen Power, with a seven-year extension carrying an $8.35-million cap hit.Power is in the final season of his entry-level contract, so the extension will begin in 2024-25.The Sabres drafted Power first overall in 2021. The 6-foot-6, 218-pound blue-liner was a Calder Trophy finalist last season after recording 35 points in 79 games while averaging 23:48 per contest. His underlying numbers were particularly strong offensively. Evolving-HockeyThere's room for improvement in his own end, but given his length and smooth skating ability, he profiles as a strong defender. However, he's not overly physical despite his stature, recording just 27 hits last season.Power, who turns 21 in November, only has 87 career NHL games under his belt. He was able to sign an extension so soon because the first year of his entry-level deal was burned after playing eight games at the end of the 2021-22 season once he turned pro. The Mississauga, Ontario, native previously spent two seasons in the NCAA at Michigan.Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson was in a similar situation. The 2020 No. 5 pick inked an eight-year extension with an $8.05-million cap hit in September despite playing in just 77 games.Despite the recent extensions to Dahlin and Power, the Sabres still project to have over $25 million in cap space next summer. Casey Mittelstadt, Peyton Krebs, Henri Jokiharju, Jacob Bryson, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen are their remaining 2024 restricted free agents.Like Dahlin and Power, fellow defenseman Mattias Samuelsson is in the first season of a seven-year, $30-million extension signed last season.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Brett Howden was suspended two games for an illegal check to the head of Seattle Kraken forward Brandon Tanev, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Wednesday.Howden received a match penalty during Tuesday's contest after hitting an unsuspecting Tanev up high in the third period of the defending champions' 4-1 victory.

It's early afternoon inside the Los Angeles Kings' practice facility in El Segundo, California, when a woman pokes her head into a small waiting room to ask if a group of touring college students can walk through."Yo, what's up?" Drew Doughty hollers from his seat on a black leather couch."What's up, buddy?" responds Gabe Altieri, the only familiar face.Doughty and Altieri have been part of the fabric of the Kings organization for a decade and a half - one the 33-year-old cornerstone defenseman, the other the 20-something son of a longtime marketing executive. A decade ago, they recited corny lines to each other for an EA Sports video game commercial.After exchanging a few pleasantries, Altieri shuttles along with his classmates. When the door shuts behind them, Doughty reflects on the passage of time, specifically how long he's known Altieri, who's no longer some cute little kid."It's fucking wild," he says. "Wild."Doughty, 15 seasons into a Hockey Hall of Fame career, has evolved, too - in some respects, that is. In a few ways, he hasn't changed whatsoever.Here are 15 shades of the man affectionately known as "Dewy."1. 'Drew plays' Ethan Miller / Getty ImagesBefore Doughty was drafted second overall by the Kings in 2008, he dominated junior with what his OHL coach, Dave Barr, calls "Drew plays."A Drew play can be anything from a spin move to avoid a forechecker on a regroup, to angling an opponent into traffic along the boards. Above all, it's a play that illustrates Doughty's savant-like hockey sense and competitiveness.If there are multiple options - say, leading the rush, joining the rush, or making a line change - the chances Doughty chooses the correct one are extremely high. As Barr puts it, "He knows when to go all-in and when to not go all-in."Doughty has been the Kings' ice-time leader every year of his career, skating 26:15 a night over 1,095 regular-season games. He owns the NHL record for most minutes logged in a single playoff run (747:33 in 2014). You'd think each shift is in part about energy conservation, yet he insists his workhorse superpower mostly boils down to positioning."I know where the puck is probably going to go next, so I'm already prepared for the next situation. I'm not playing catch-up a lot," Doughty explains. "You're going to see me skate full speed only a couple of times in a game."Doughty, who collected 52 points in 81 games last year, has been a textbook two-way blue-liner - 50% offense, 50% defense - for the bulk of his career."It's a decision I made a long time ago when we were winning Stanley Cups," he says. "I knew that was the best way to win, and I've stuck with it."2. Goofy chatterboxDuring the 2005-06 OHL season, Guelph Storm veterans would occasionally lob a question at the hot-shot rookie: "Drew, do you ever shut up, man?"Retired NHLer Ryan Callahan laughs as he recalls how Doughty's always been a chatterbox. "The personality you see in Drew now - that goofiness - was the same when he was 16," Callahan says."It's not too hard to get to know Drew," adds Pierre-Luc Dubois, the star center traded to L.A. in June. "The first time I was here, he picked me up to go to the rink. It felt like I had known him my entire life. He doesn't stop talking."Doughty was made for the mic'd-up era: he's happy-go-lucky and irritable."Buddy, you suck at hockey!" he once said to a sheepish Pat Maroon. "I heard we would be friends if we played together," he told a silent Jean-Gabriel Pageau. "Whoa! Big boy!" he yelled after knocking down Jesse Puljujarvi. "What's your handicap?" he asked amateur golfer Clayton Keller.Trash talk keeps Doughty engaged in the action. He doesn't set out to hurt feelings or get under a rival's skin, but blurts out whatever comes to mind. "He'll bring up something about your skates or shin pads," Keller says with a grin. "He asked me once why I wear earpieces on my helmet."That said, Doughty will channel his inner WWE superstar under the right circumstances. His 2017-2020 feud with Matthew Tkachuk, which began on the ice but took on a life of its own after a war of words in the media, generated rare buzz for regular-season meetings between Calgary and L.A.Both players claim no hard feelings linger. "We would go after each other," Doughty says. "But ever since he left Calgary ... nothing's happened. We probably didn't say this in the media then, but we both respect each other. I know how fucking good of a player he is."Around the peak of the rivalry, the Kings bought each other Christmas gifts. Dewy's present from Secret Santa? An autographed M. Tkachuk hockey stick.3. Two pillars Juan Ocampo / Getty ImagesThe Kings won two Cups in 2012 and 2014, and four integral pieces from those glory years remained in L.A. for a long time: Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, and Jonathan Quick. Then Brown retired, and Quick was traded.Technically, with depth forward Trevor Lewis returning this season, the current roster features three players from the Cup teams. But Kopitar and Doughty, under contract through 2025-26 and 2026-27 respectively, are the generational throughlines, the two pillars still standing.Kopitar and Doughty are similar on one hand. Teammates laud both for their dedication to winning, well-rounded skill sets, and ability to lead by example.On the other hand, they're different. "Kopitar is a little more adult," Kings forward Kevin Fiala says with a smile. That's not to suggest the captain's shy. He's vocal and a good hang, but closer to "even-keeled" than Doughty.4. Three girlsDoughty's at a loss for words only once over our 45-minute interview in mid-September. Hey, what's your favorite part of being a dad?"Ummm," he starts.Four seconds pass."Favorite part about being a dad," he continues.Another three seconds tick away."My favorite part, honestly, is ... just seeing them learn things, seeing them grow up, seeing how happy they are when they've accomplished things they haven't done before. I love just hugging them, holding them."Doughty's three daughters - Libby, 6; Naomi, 4; Jordan, almost 1 - fill him with gratitude. They help him recalibrate after losses. There's no time to dwell with gymnastics classes to attend, Barbie dolls to play with, and cuddles to share.Doughty's evolved as a person. He still acts like a kid at the rink, but he's no longer the guy who lost his cell phone and wallet in the Pacific Ocean shortly after being drafted. Or the guy who, along with old roommate Lewis, would rely heavily on weekly maid service. "She did our laundry. Cooked for us. Did our dry-cleaning. Everything," he says of a housekeeper named Gloria.What contrasting lifestyles to bookend the first 15 years of his career."So different. So different," Doughty acknowledges. "But I wouldn't change it. I wouldn't go back to those days. I'm super happy with life these days."5. L.A. evangelistDoughty isn't stupid. He knew the Kings' choice to rebuild around him and Kopitar a handful of years ago wouldn't be a quick process. Yet finishing last in the 2018-19 Western Conference standings, then second-last in 2019-20, made things feel bottomless. It was a stressful and frustrating stretch."I knew they always had a plan," Doughty says of the front office, led by president Luc Robitaille. "We just didn't know how fast the plan would work."Even in those down years, Doughty was an evangelist for the market and organization. The people: fantastic. The facilities: solid. The weather: balmy. The entertainment: endless. The Kings are relevant locally, but the pressure from media and fans is nothing compared to a Canadian market.Crucially, players are seldom recognized. And if they are, it tends to be at Kings-friendly establishments, like North End Bar & Grill in Hermosa Beach. Its billiards room is a shrine to the Cup years. "To the North End crew, thanks for everything!" reads an autographed framed photo of Doughty, hanging above a doorway between photos of Jarret Stoll and Quick."It's gotta be, I would think, the No. 1 place to play in the entire league," Doughty says of his adopted hometown. The lone drawback: "Taxes suck."6. Secret agent Juan Ocampo / Getty ImagesIt isn't in the same realm as his Cups, Olympic medals, 2016 Norris Trophy, or any other on-ice feat. Still, negotiating an eight-year, $88-million extension without an NHLPA agent by his side remains a source of pride for Doughty.In short, Doughty made the difficult decision in 2018 to talk directly with Kings brass and avoid the standard 3% agent fee on his deal. (His former agents, Don Meehan, who runs the Newport Sports group, and Mark Guy, who left the agent business in 2020, declined to be interviewed for this story.)The PA advises players negotiating on their own, and Doughty had lawyers look at the deal. So he wasn't without counsel. But agreeing to terms without expert representation - as Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Anthony Duclair have also done in recent years - is a chess move that requires guts."There's only a handful of players who can pull that off," former King Jonathan Bernier says. The retired goalie cites Doughty's long history with the organization, the fact team and player were aligned on the deal's length, and No. 8's familiarity with general manager and ex-player Rob Blake for reasons why the deal got done.Doughty's never had another NHLer reach out to pick his brain about the no-agent route, but has no regrets. "If you know your worth, it's a good play," he says.7. That laughA scraggly yet contained beard. Hair long enough to spill out of a hockey helmet. Two front teeth missing due to bad luck with errant pucks and sticks.Doughty's day-to-day aesthetic is pirate who just rolled out of bed. The look is distinct - uniquely his - as is his high-pitched, mischievous, loud laugh."If you're in the back of the team plane or bus, you can hear the whole laugh. It travels. And it's contagious, too," former Kings forward Alex Iafallo says."If you hear it once, it's funny. If you hear it twice, it starts to get a little irritating," quips Kyle Clifford, a valued member of L.A.'s two Cup teams. Clifford labels Doughty a character, a tension diffuser, "the life of the room."Quick, one of Doughty's best friends to this day, believes the 6-foot-1, 210-pounder's famous cackle perfectly complements a warped sense of humor."I can't count how many times I've heard him say something, then look at me, and say, 'Oh shit, I shouldn't have said that,' and then start laughing," Quick says, himself cracking up. "That's what you love about him. He's unfiltered."8. Written off Dave Sandford / Getty ImagesThe worst part of the rebuild was the individual losses. Doughty despises defeat on the ice, at the card table, on the golf course - wherever. He also hates being underappreciated, which he's felt various times in recent years."I was minus-20 or something one year, and I was still performing really well, but everyone was kind of shitting on me and erased me from that group of high-end defensemen," Doughty says. "I struggled with that."He spoke publicly about perceived slights in late 2020, as the Kings were gearing up for the pandemic-shorted season. "A lot of people have me written off as not even a good player anymore," he told reporters. Doughty had recently watched TSN analysts leave him off projected rosters for Canada's 2022 Olympic team. The snub would drive him to be better, he said.Where does he rank himself among NHL defensemen in 2023?"I still think I'm easily one of the top guys," Doughty says. "I just think the way that I play is different than a lot of the other guys who are talked about. I'm not going to go and put up 100 points. I'm not even going to go and put up 70 points. That's just not the way I play. Am I capable of playing more offense? For sure, I am. But I am a defense-first guy. That's how we won Cups."9. Deeply humanPeople close to Doughty have wondered why he cares so much about outside opinions. "I don't fucking know," he says. "Like, I just do. I can't control it."Criticism was virtually non-existent for the first decade of his career. He avoided prolonged lulls, going from blue-chip prospect to Norris finalist by Year 2, to two-time Cup champion and Norris winner by Year 8, while mixing in multiple Olympic triumphs. He says he "felt untouchable in those years."Then, at a similar speed, the roll of success screeched to a halt.Doughty's gone to therapy to better understand his sensitivity to criticism. He's learned over time how to block out the noise, while a second top priority - his daughters - has helped take the edge off. He's accepted he's human and that his brain is wired a certain way. He has plans to lean on the expertise of Dr. Sara Hickmann, the Kings' director of mental performance and clinical services. He also plans to re-enter the elite defensemen discussion this year."I just stay in the moment, stay present, and try to get better every day, and that's it," Doughty says. "But don't get me wrong: I want to be right back in that conversation. That won't leave me."10. Soccer bloodDoughty was born and raised in London, Ontario. He still has strong ties to the area, enjoying his cottage in nearby Grand Bend every summer. He also owns a vacant lot - "like 50 acres with nothing on it" - closer to the city center.He comes from a soccer-mad family. His only sibling, Chelsea - named after the English Premier League side - earned a scholarship to Division I Niagara University. Doughty's own time on the soccer pitch, largely spent identifying patterns in his opponent's attack, helped develop his on-ice vision."Drew was a great soccer goalkeeper. Just a natural athlete. And it almost came effortlessly to him," San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture says.Couture, another 1989-born Londoner, has competed with and against Doughty for two decades, and until recently used the same offseason trainer."I'd joke when people would ask about seeing Doughty in the summers," Couture says. "I'd say, 'Well, he probably hadn't skated for three months. Then he'd show up for a skate and he'd be the best player on the ice - which is full of NHLers - by a mile.' It seems like the game comes easy for him."11. Learning curve Dave Sandford / Getty ImagesAll young Doughty wanted to do was win hockey games. He didn't push the pace in practice, fully exert himself in the gym, or eat well. He didn't care to be a leader, period, and didn't understand why people urged him to be one.In time, with gentle prodding from veterans, natural maturity, and an official captaincy change, Doughty, an alternate captain since 2016, came around."I've changed," he says. "All of my habits are way better." The fourth-oldest player on L.A.'s opening-night roster has been a respected voice in the dressing room for years, but the tone and messaging is wiser, friendlier. To use Kopitar's word, he's less of a "hothead" - which means fewer misconducts.Doughty makes sure everyone's invited to golf outings, grabs lunch with promising blue-liner Brandt Clarke, talks shop over adult beverages with Dubois, and crushes video games with fellow No. 2 pick Quinton Byfield."I have grown up a lot, and I actually notice that guys are looking up to me now," Doughty says. He's the same dude, he adds, "just a little settled down."12. Nuanced gameDoughty was last nominated for the Norris in 2017-18 and last mentioned in the NHLPA's player poll in 2020-21 (fourth in "best defenseman" category).Between 2017-18 and 2022-23, his usage and deployment barely changed. He continues to eat heavy even-strength and shorthanded minutes alongside Mikey Anderson, and he quarterbacked last year's fifth-ranked power play.Also largely unchanged over six years, according to Sportlogiq: how often the puck's on Doughty's stick (1:51 per game at even strength in 2022-23, third among all D-men), and how proficient Doughty is at exiting the defensive zone (3.8 exits per 20 even-strength minutes, ninth among D-men)."Greatness is in the subtleties," former Kings GM Dean Lombardi says.As for spikes in the data, Doughty's become better at denying zone entries and improved his playmaking on breakouts (as measured by outlet-pass completion percentage). Translation: He's simplified his game - slightly."Rushing the puck: I still do it occasionally, but not as much as I used to," Doughty says. "Going into this season, I'm going to try and create some more offense, try to push that part of my game forward a little more.""I have to let loose sometimes," he adds, before stopping himself."But," he continues, "I still believe that my defensive game is easily one of the best in the league. That's my bread and butter, I care so much about it, and I do a great job at it. I don't want to lose any of that to create more offense."13. London loyal Rich Graessle / Getty ImagesWhen Doughty married his wife Nicole in 2018, the wedding party included six groomsmen: three hockey players (including Lewis) and three London pals.Doughty, as one might guess, considers himself a "super-loyal person." It's apparent in his professional life: After growing up a diehard fan of Wayne Gretzky and the Kings, he realized his dream and signed back-to-back eight-year deals. If the club is willing, Doughty would love to retire a one-team player.In his personal life, no one makes him laugh harder than his London friends. He's happiest in their presence, their shared history allowing them to be the truest version of themselves. Doughty didn't realize in the moment, but a private party celebrating his 1,000th NHL game didn't truly begin until the London crew arrived following a flight delay."My mom, sister, and Nicole were like, 'You were just pacing around the entire house,'" he recalls. "I couldn't enjoy myself. I was waiting for my buddies."14. Full circleThe Kings are done building and ready to win not only their first playoff series in a decade, but contend for the Cup again. The skater group's deep and finally features the requisite amount of game-breakers up front, thanks to a few high-profile trades. Goaltending is the season-opening question mark.L.A. is +1000, or 10-1, to win the conference and +2500, 25-1, to win the Cup."We're in that bucket of 8-10 teams that all have a chance of winning a championship," Robitaille says. The executive uses a mountain-climbing metaphor to contextualize the challenge ahead: "You have to climb Mount Everest. We're near the end, and sometimes when you go to Mount Everest, you run out of oxygen and come back down. Then you go back up."Doughty is among the lucky few to bask in the Everest air - twice! - and also know exactly what a lengthy rebuild entails."It's in my head all the time," he says. "There's nothing more I want to win than another Stanley Cup. That's all I care about doing. That's No. 1."15. Own manThe reason why Doughty is sitting on a couch in a small waiting room, and why Altieri and the college students passed by, is because he's waiting for his turn with Glorious Customs. The Montreal-based custom clothing boutique is in town to take measurements and select Kings players are taking advantage.Byfield emerges from his fitting as our interview is winding down. Doughty asks him how it went and how much it'll cost, then immediately admits he's probably not going to get his measurements after all."Dude, it's pretty sick," Byfield says.Doughty's mind is already elsewhere. The Kings are departing for their preseason trip to Australia in roughly 30 hours and he hasn't finished packing. Plus, ever since he set foot in L.A. 15 years ago, he's marched to the beat of his own drum. In a weird way, passing on free measurements is on-brand.Amid all the change in his life, the core of Doughty's being is the same.He's Dewy.John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Laughton wants to use Pride tape despite the NHL's new ban, and he doesn't appear worried about how the league might punish him.You'll probably see me with the Pride tape on (Pride night)," Laughton said Wednesday, according to PHLY Sports' Charlie O'Connor. "I don't know, I didn't read really what it said, if it's a ban or something, but I'll probably have (the tape) on (my stick)."We'll see what they say, but it's not going to affect the way I go about it. If they want to say something, they can."Laughton added: "I'll use the tape - if I have to buy it myself, I will. Go about it that way."Many NHL players and others in the hockey world have criticized the league since it confirmed Tuesday that it's prohibiting the use of the rainbow-colored tape that often accompanies Pride night celebrations.Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said Tuesday he wished "the players had the right to do more" in the wake of the decision. Calgary Flames blue-liner Rasmus Andersson said the ban "sucks" and lamented that it's not just Pride nights but also "Hockey Fights Cancer" events that'll be affected.Longtime NHL executive Brian Burke wrote Wednesday that he's "deeply disappointed" in the league's efforts to "protect a select few who do not want to answer any questions about their choices." Burke added that he hopes the NHL reconsiders its decision.In June, the league banned the wearing of theme night jerseys of any kind during pregame warmups for this season. It made the move in response to seven players refusing to wear Pride night jerseys for various reasons during the 2022-23 campaign.The first player to do so was Ivan Provorov, who at the time was Laughton's teammate with the Flyers. Philadelphia traded Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets in early June.Laughton helped organize the Pride night during which Provorov's refusal took place. The Canadian oversaw several initiatives connected to the event along with fellow Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk.Last season, Laughton was Philadelphia's nominee for the King Clancy Trophy, which recognizes players who exemplify leadership on and off the ice and also make significant humanitarian contributions to their communities.The Flyers' next Pride Night is scheduled for January 10, 2024.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

We opened the season with a split on sides and totals. The Penguins squandered a lead against the lowly Blackhawks, but fortunately, our under hit in Vegas relatively sweat-free.Let's take a look at a couple of plays that stand out on Wednesday night's slate.Jets (+115) @ Flames (-135)Death, taxes, and unders between the Jets and Flames. Dating back to 2021, 13 consecutive games between these two sides have featured six goals or fewer. That's a crazy run.The Flames have moved on from head coach Darryl Sutter, but the bulk of their team over the past couple of seasons remains intact.They still lack high-end finishers and have the defensive personnel needed to be very stout. That isn't a great recipe for barn burners.That's not to say the Flames can't or won't improve offensively. I think they will have the freedom to be more creative this year and expect more life in their attack than last season under Sutter.Losing Tyler Toffoli up front is a stinger, though, and it may take some time for Ryan Huska's adjustments to become second nature.Facing a healthy, rested, and now extremely rich Connor Hellebuyck isn't the ideal spot for an offensive explosion to start the season. Even if the shot and chance volume are there, converting that into goals against Hellebuyck will be tough.On the flip side, the Jets were a bottom-10 side at scoring five-on-five goals a season ago. I think Gabe Vilardi and improved forward depth will give the Jets an offensive lift, but this is still a Rick Bowness-coached team.Playing somewhat conservative, "smart" hockey still takes priority and likely puts a cap on the Jets' offensive ceiling - particularly against such a strong defensive side.This strikes me as a 3-2 or 4-2 type of game - thus, I see value in the under.Bet: Under 6.5 (-125)Avalanche (-120) @ Kings (+100)After a disappointing first-round exit against the Kraken, a reloaded Avalanche team is hungry to get back to the mountaintop. I think they'll be looking to make a statement in their season opener - and expect them to do just that.The Kings are a solid team, but they tend to struggle against teams with high-end speed. There's no shortage of examples.Connor McDavid and the high-flying Oilers have knocked the Kings out of the playoffs two years in a row, while the Avalanche have beaten the Kings in 10 of their last 12 head-to-head meetings.Headlined by Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, the Avalanche have an abundance of team speed. Even some of their offseason depth additions - like Miles Wood and Ross Colton - can really fly and give opponents fits with their skating.The Avalanche will be looking to use that to their advantage and give this slower-paced, methodically attacking Kings team all they can handle.When their speed inevitably opens the Kings up, the Avalanche should feel good about their chances versus Cam Talbot.He posted an .898 save percentage over 37 appearances with the Senators a season ago and, at 36 years of age, seems to be well beyond his best days.He may well give the Avalanche a goal or two he shouldn't. That's something the Kings can't expect from Alexandar Georgiev at the other end of the ice.Look for the Avalanche to convert speed and goaltending edges into an impressive road win.Bet: Avalanche (-120)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The New Jersey Devils are rewarding head coach Lindy Ruff with a multi-year contract extension, the club announced Wednesday.Ruff was a Jack Adams Award finalist last season after he guided the Devils to the NHL's third-best record. The veteran bench boss helped New Jersey reel off a 13-game win streak from late October to late November. He led the turnaround after fans infamously chanted "Fire Lindy" following a slow start.The 63-year-old ranks fifth in NHL history in games coached and wins, though he has the third-most losses and a winning percentage of .487. Ruff won the Jack Adams in 2006 with the Buffalo Sabres, finished second in 2007, and placed third in 2016.He coached the Sabres for 15 seasons beginning in 1997-98, helping them reach the Stanley Cup Final in his second year behind the bench. He joined the Dallas Stars in 2013-14, coaching them for four seasons. New Jersey hired him for the abbreviated 2021 campaign.Ruff is 98-98-24 since taking the reins with the Devils. New Jersey made it to the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23 after missing out for four straight seasons and qualifying only once in a 10-year span following a Cup Final appearance in 2011-12.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

We started the season with a bang on Tuesday night, cashing all three shot props, including a juicy +170 hit.We'll look to build on that great start with three plays for a bigger and more appetizing slate of games.William Nylander over 3.5 shots Nylander strongly benefits from home ice. Last season, he recorded at least four shots in 57% of his games in Toronto, a far cry from the 37% hit rate he managed away from home.As you'd expect, there was a noticeable gap in volume. Nylander generated 12.16 shots on goal per 60 in Toronto compared to 10.93 on the road. That's a sizable difference when looking at a sample size of 41 games each.I like Nylander's chances of continuing his success at home against the Canadiens. He absolutely feasted on the Habs last year, recording 27 shots over the span of four games while going over his total in each. That's an average of nearly seven shots on target per game.I'm not sure I'd expect that level of volume tonight, but the Habs are a subpar defensive team, and Nylander will benefit from cushy matchups at home.It's also worth noting he's skating on a line with John Tavares - who's less of a shooter than Auston Matthews - and Max Domi, someone who tends to create shots for linemates more than take them himself.Nylander is in a very good spot to hit the ground running.Odds: -110 (playable to -135)Jake DeBrusk over 2.5 shotsThe Blackhawks are very bad without the puck. Their defensive metrics were horrendous last season, and they didn't really add any reliable options to improve in that aspect. It certainly showed in their season opener.Although the Blackhawks managed to grind out an upset win over the Penguins, they conceded an alarming 71 attempts and 40 shots on goal.I think we'll continue picking the Blackhawks for shots all season long, and DeBrusk is a good way to go about it in this game.DeBrusk is one of the best volume generators on the Bruins and figures to be the focal point of the second power-play unit. He's also being centered by Charlie Coyle, with whom he has quite high shot rates.The Blackhawks are a poor defensive team, they play fast, and they're in the latter half of a back-to-back. This is a very good spot for DeBrusk - who hit the over in both games against Chicago last season - to start his year on the right note.Odds: +105 (playable to -120)Connor McDavid over 3.5 shots McDavid was a one-man shooting gallery last season. He recorded at least four shots in 61 of his 95 games (playoffs included), which is a 65% success rate. Pretty good!Although McDavid is the most gifted playmaker on the planet, he's so puck-dominant that he has an abundance of good shooting looks each and every night. It's impossible not to when you play 20-plus minutes and have the puck on your stick more than anybody.McDavid enjoyed plenty of success against the Canucks last season, going over his total in all three meetings. He recorded a combined 16 shots on target, good for an average of more than five per night.Win or lose (likely the former), look for McDavid to test Thatcher Demko a handful of times.Odds: -125 (playable to -140)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Connor Bedard may have recorded his first-ever NHL point Tuesday night, but it's the Chicago Blackhawks' 4-2 comeback win over the Pittsburgh Penguins that he'll recall the most about his big-league debut."I think you remember (your debut) with a little better taste in your mouth when you win," he said postgame, according to the Chicago Sun-Times' Ben Pope.He added: "It was really cool, really special, (and I was) trying to take it in. But in the end, you're focused on the hockey game. There's nerves, of course. It's a pretty big moment in your life. But (I was) just trying to settle in and focus on that."The Blackhawks trailed the Penguins 2-0 around the midway mark of the second period, but they stormed back with four unanswered goals. Bedard helped turn the tide with a secondary assist on Ryan Donato's tally that got Chicago on the board:

Pittsburgh Penguins winger Jake Guentzel played in Tuesday's season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks following a swift recovery from offseason ankle surgery.Guentzel, 29, was expected to miss a handful of regular-season games after being given a 12-week recovery timeline following the procedure in August.He's been a fixture alongside Sidney Crosby on Pittsburgh's top line in recent seasons while also earning top power-play minutes. Guentzel led the Penguins with 36 goals and ranked third with 73 points.The forward has racked up 414 points in 453 games with the Penguins since making his debut in 2016-17. He enters the season on an expiring contract but recently said he wants to stay in Pittsburgh.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine believes he can keep up with with the likes of Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, and Sidney Crosby as he transitions to playing center."I'm not going to start kissing everybody's ass or pumping everybody's tires," Laine said Tuesday, according to Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. "I know I can compete with those guys and that's why I want to do this in the first place."Laine will be Columbus' first-line center to start the season after playing the vast majority of his career on the wing. The 25-year-old has struggled in the faceoff circle throughout his seven seasons, averaging 32.5%, though he's only taken 246 draws in that span.He's had difficulties defensively over the last three seasons, averaging a 17/100 by Evolving-Hockey's defense metric, though he posted a 69 in the 2022-23 campaign. Evolving-HockeyThe Blue Jackets have veteran pivot Boone Jenner and promising rookie Adam Fantilli at the center position, but they don't have much depth down the middle beyond that.Laine has performed well offensively of late, notching 22 goals and 30 assists while being limited to 55 games in 2022-23 due to injury. He produced a point per game the season before that, collecting 26 tallies and 30 helpers over 56 contests.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Morgan Rielly would like to have more freedom in the wake of the NHL's new ban on using Pride tape on the ice."I wish players had the right to kind of do more and be more involved," Rielly told the media Tuesday, including TSN. "I'm going to continue to be involved in the community and offer support to those communities and those groups that want that (and) need that."As players, we're going to be continue to be involved pretty much no matter what the league says," he said.Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving also expressed his support on behalf of the club."Regardless of what is out there, this organization, myself personally, we've always been supporters of the LGBTQ community," the GM said. "Nothing is going to change with that."The league is forbidding players from using the rainbow-colored tape as part of new theme night rules, deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed to The Associated Press earlier Tuesday. The NHL sent a memo to teams last week clarifying what they can and can't do in terms of theme nights, which have historically included celebrating Pride, the military, and other causes.The makers of pride tape responded to the ban Tuesday, saying they're "extremely disappointed" in the decision."We hope the league - and teams - will again show commitment to this important symbol of combatting homophobia," they added.In June, the league said it wouldn't allow players to wear any type of theme jersey during pregame warmups. That came in response to seven players refusing to wear Pride jerseys for various reasons. Commissioner Gary Bettman said at the time that the seven players' refusals overshadowed their teams' efforts to host Pride nights.Rielly has been a vocal supporter of Pride and LGBTQ rights, saying in June that his support "is not going to go away" due to the NHL's rules.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Vancouver Canucks have given forward Conor Garland permission to speak with other teams about a potential trade, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.Garland also switched agents on Tuesday and is now represented by Judd Moldaver of Wasserman Hockey, according to PuckPedia.The 5-foot-10, 165-pound winger tallied 17 goals and 29 assists in 81 games with the Canucks last season. Garland's most productive campaign on a per-game basis came in 2020-21 with the Arizona Coyotes when he recorded 39 points in 49 contests. He's posted stellar underlying numbers over the past three seasons. Evolving-HockeyHowever, his ice time dropped from 17:55 in 2020-21 to 16:24 in his first campaign with the Canucks in 2021-22 to 15:07 last season. But that could rise again as he's currently skating on the team's top line with Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko.Garland, 27, has three years remaining on his contract with a $4.95-million cap hit, and he's still owed $17 million in actual dollars. Only five teams (Anaheim, Arizona, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit) can currently afford to take on his full cap hit.The Canucks acquired Garland from Arizona in the 2021 trade that brought Oliver Ekman-Larsson to Vancouver.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Andrei Svechnikov will not be ready for the start of the NHL campaign after all.The Carolina Hurricanes winger is ruled out for Wednesday's home opener against the Ottawa Senators and likely won't travel with the club on the six-game road trip that follows it, head coach Rod Brind'Amour said Tuesday, per North State Journal's Cory Lavalette.Svechnikov suffered a torn ACL in March. In August, he was expected to be ready for the start of the 2023-24 season.The 23-year-old power forward produced 23 goals and 32 assists in 64 games with the Canes last season. He's expected to be a fixture in Carolina's top-six forward group when he returns to game action.The Hurricanes selected Svechnikov second overall in the 2018 NHL Draft. He's tallied 264 points in 347 career games across five campaigns. He's set to enter the third season of the eight-year, $62-million contract he signed in August 2021.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL season is back, and with it come our moneyline projections for every game this week as we search for valuable hockey bets.Since it's the first week of the season, there are two issues with our projections:

NHL hockey is here! There are only three games on the slate, but the matchups we do have certainly aren't lacking in quality.Let's dive into a couple of them with our first best bets post of the season.Blackhawks (+200) @ Penguins (-240)There is a lot of excitement surrounding the Blackhawks, and understandably so. They drafted one of the most exciting and franchise-altering prospects we have seen over the past 20 years.While Connor Bedard immediately makes the Blackhawks a team worth watching, they have a long way to go before they're more than that. Their roster is bad. Very bad.Headlined by Bedard and Taylor Hall, the top line should be dynamic and productive. But the rest of the lineup leaves a lot to be desired.Chicago is very thin down the middle, which is not ideal when heading into a matchup against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The team has very little firepower as well. Outside of Hall, the Blackhawks don't have any above-average contributors on the wing. And things only get worse from there.The Blackhawks were one of the league's worst defensive sides a season ago. Top prospect Kevin Korchinski should help in the long haul, but there will no doubt be growing pains while he - and other Blackhawks youngsters - adjust to the highest level of hockey in the world.Petr Mrazek is arguably the worst starting goaltender in the league, so it's not realistic to expect him to bail the team out when mistakes are consistently made in front of him.Jake Guentzel playing would definitely be preferable, but, even if he's out, the Penguins have more than enough firepower to overwhelm this young Blackhawks team.Look for Crosby, Malkin, Erik Karlsson, and the Penguins' experienced stars to set the tone.Bet: Penguins in regulation (-140)Kraken (+150) @ Golden Knights (-175)This total does not make a ton of sense to me. The Kraken and Golden Knights are both very strong defensive teams that tend to play slow and suck the life out of their opponents.The Kraken ranked third last season in expected goal suppression, making life as easy as possible on their shaky goaltending tandem. With the same core and coaching staff, I see no reason to expect any different this year.Meanwhile, the Golden Knights ranked just outside the top 10 in xG suppression a year ago. That's an impressive feat when considering the injuries they dealt with - and to key players.Bruce Cassidy loves structure, and the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in his debut season with the team. They certainly won't be looking to get away from the formula that worked so well for them.As you'd expect, there wasn't much offense when these two teams met last year. They faced one another on four different occasions. Three of the games featured six goals or less, and two of them saw the teams combine for just 50 shots. That is unheard of in the modern NHL.Both of these teams play slow, structured hockey, and both of them enjoyed plenty of success doing so.The Kraken will be sticking to their guns following their first playoff appearance, while the Golden Knights will do the same after a Stanley Cup victory.Expect a tight, grind-it-out affair.Bet: Under 6.5 (-130)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Hockey is finally back. The puck drops on the 2023-24 NHL season Tuesday and, despite a three-game slate, there's still plenty of value on the board.Let's dig in with three of my favorite plays for opening night.Connor Bedard over 3.5 shotsThe 18-year-old phenom posted an unheard-of shot volume in junior, piling up shots by the handful every night. That's translated to the NHL in the early going - he was a machine in preseason play.Bedard wasted no time asserting himself as the go-to shooter on the Blackhawks. He averaged more than four shots on goal and seven attempts per game over the span of four appearances.Bedard is centering Taylor Hall - a talented speedster who's more of a playmaker than a shooter - at even strength and figures to be the focal point on the man advantage.It's also worth noting that the Penguins were subpar at preventing shots against opposing centers last season. And although they have some new personnel, the core of the team is mostly intact.Odds: +170 (playable to +140)Filip Forsberg over 2.5 shotsForsberg is one of the league's most consistent volume shooters. He generally ranks near the top of the league in shots per minute and I don't see that changing this year.He has a more offensively inclined head coach in Andrew Brunette, who should give him all the opportunity in the world and allow him to play more creatively and freely than John Hynes did.He'll also benefit from playing with Ryan O'Reilly, who's extremely pass-happy and will frequently record only one or two shots even when flirting with 20 minutes of ice time. He'll no doubt be looking to feed Forsberg every chance he can.Preseason is preseason but Forsberg went absolutely bonkers in the exhibition games, registering 21 shots on goal and 39 attempts in just four appearances. Look for him to record more than his fair share of shots in what should be a fairly eventful season opener.Odds: -150 (playable to-180)Nikita Kucherov over 3.5 shots Kucherov is a monster on home ice. Last season he averaged 7.5 shot attempts per game in Tampa Bay, compared to just 6.0 on the road. That's a drastic difference.He finds himself in a juicy opening night matchup against the Predators. Nashville's new general manager Barry Trotz - of all people - talked all summer long about playing a faster, more offensive brand of hockey and letting the skill shine through. His coaching hire of Andrew Brunette strongly indicates that's not just wordplay.The Predators played at an extremely high pace in the preseason, finishing near the top of the league in shot generation and near the bottom in shot prevention.They'll likely play in a lot of high-event games this year and I think it starts on opening night against the Lightning.We should see a lot of action in this one, making a perfect environment for Kucherov to excel in.Odds: +100 (playable to -120)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Columbus Blue Jackets want to trade a defenseman to create more flexibility on their roster at the position, sources told Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli.Columbus revamped its blue line over the offseason by acquiring Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson. It's unclear who the Blue Jackets would prefer to ship out, but the newcomers, along with star rearguard Zach Werenski, are likely the safest.Here's a look at the club's defensive depth chart on the cusp of the 2023-24 regular season.LDRDIvan ProvorovDamon SeversonZach WerenskiAndrew PeekeAdam BoqvistErik GudbransonJake Bean is also on the NHL roster, and the Blue Jackets have a pair of high-profile prospects in their pipeline in David Jiricek and Denton Mateychuk - both of whom were first-round picks in 2022.Columbus ranked 31st last season in both shots against per game (35.4) and goals against (329).The Blue Jackets begin their regular season Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers, marking their first contest under new head coach Pascal Vincent.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Eight players. Three front-office executives. Two head coaches. One recently unveiled team owner. One prospective team owner. And one union head.The following isn't a definitive list of the people who'll define the 2023-24 season, but it identifies 15 who are tremendously powerful, hold the key to an intriguing team's success, or find themselves in a high-pressure situation - multiple labels apply in some cases - ahead of Tuesday's opening night.Connors: McDavid and Bedard Icon Sportswire / Getty ImagesSidney Crosby arrived on the NHL scene in 2005. McDavid showed up a decade later. Bedard, the next generational talent, is here two years early.McDavid is the sport's face, the player who sets the standard for excellence. While Bedard is only getting started, his rookie season represents an opportunity to take charge of an Original Six franchise that is looking to open a new chapter.McDavid, 26, recorded a ludicrous 153 points last season. He's in the sixth season of an eight-year deal, while superstar teammate Leon Draisaitl is in his seventh of eight. The time is firmly now for the duo to finally win a Stanley Cup.Bedard, 18, will make a truly terrible Blackhawks team watchable. He'll contend for the Calder Trophy. Ironically, the better Bedard does, the worse Chicago's 2024 draft lottery odds will be - a storyline in and of itself considering Bedard will need his own Draisaitl-level sidekick down the road.Craig Conroy Icon Sportswire / Getty ImagesConroy, a former Flames forward, has been a member of Calgary's braintrust for more than a decade. He was hired as an assistant to the general manager in 2010, and rose to assistant GM in 2014 before becoming GM in May.Previously one to offer advice, he's now pulling the trigger on decisions. Of note so far: Conroy promoted Ryan Huska to head coach; traded Tyler Toffoli for Yegor Sharangovich and a draft pick; and inked Mikael Backlund to a two-year extension, naming the trusty center captain in the process.The Flames will need significant contributions from starting goalie Jacob Markstrom and $10.5-million winger Jonathan Huberdeau to get back to the playoffs. Both are coming off down years. Meanwhile, top-six center Elias Lindholm and top-four defenseman Noah Hanifin headline a six-pack of pending unrestricted free agents. So much is in flux in Calgary and Conroy's in the middle of it all.Auston Matthews Josh Lavallee / Getty ImagesMatthews' relevance in the hockey universe is at an all-time high.For starters, the Maple Leafs sniper signed a four-year extension this past offseason that will lift him over Nathan MacKinnon for highest average annual value (AAV) in the salary-cap era, starting next season. Perhaps unfairly, Matthews' reputation is already linked to his future $13.25-million salary.Another thing: Matthews has made a habit of incorporating a new element to his game every year. What will it be in 2023-24? Along the same lines, how will his foray into killing penalties go? Is the role a short-lived experiment, or will it become a launchpad to Selke Trophy consideration?A healthy Matthews should hit 50 goals (he scored 40 in 74 games last year with an injured wrist). At the team level, Toronto can win its division, though playoff success remains elusive for Matthews and Co.Michael Andlauer and Steve Staios Ottawa Senators / YouTubeAndlauer, who formerly had a stake in the Montreal Canadiens, recently became the majority owner of the Ottawa Senators. The transportation and logistics mogul's first high-level move after making the $950-million purchase was to name Staios, the ex-defenseman, his president of hockey operations.This setup - a deep-pocketed owner and well-respected president - is a welcome change from late Eugene Melnyk being atop the org chart and GM Pierre Dorion leading hockey ops by himself. About Dorion: He must be sweating ahead of his eighth season as GM. The Sens have missed the playoffs six straight years, and Dorion's managed the salary cap so poorly that the team can't afford to sign burgeoning center Shane Pinto to a modest extension. Head coach D.J. Smith's job isn't particularly secure, either.Looking long term, the franchise needs a new downtown arena. Melnyk couldn't make it happen; perhaps the new guy can.Tage Thompson and Devon Levi Bill Wippert / Getty ImagesIt would be inaccurate to say the Sabres' 12-year playoff drought rests exclusively on Thompson's and Levi's shoulders. But they're both vitally important.Thompson, aiming for his first 50-goal season after potting 47 in 78 games last year, is the maestro behind Buffalo's high-octane offense (the club finished third in goals in 2022-23). Levi, the much-hyped goalie who showed well in his first seven NHL games last year, is supposed to be the answer between the pipes (they finished 26th in goals against in 2022-23).The Sabres are unlikely to disrupt the Atlantic Division pecking order this season, or in the near future, if they can't stop the bleeding on defense. At the same time, they must continue to push the pace offensively. Balance is key.Barry Trotz Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesThe Predators aren't a glamor franchise and won't win a ton of games this year, yet Trotz is someone to keep an eye on. This is the 61-year-old's first season in charge after moving from NHL head coach to NHL GM.With Nashville's only GM in history, David Poile, retiring, it's Trotz's show now, and he clearly isn't afraid to make bold decisions. Longtime Preds Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene, and Mattias Ekholm are gone, while playoff-hardened veterans Ryan O'Reilly, Gustav Nyquist, and Luke Schenn were acquired. The GM said he won't strip his roster down to the studs, instead labeling his team - which also has a new head coach in Andrew Brunette - "somewhere between a rebuild and a reset."What that means in practical terms remains to be seen. Trotz has salary-cap flexibility and a boatload of draft picks. At some point, he may be tempted to trade high-end goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov; the path to the starter's job is blocked by Juuse Saros, whom Trotz wants to re-sign. Nashville can go in so many different directions, which is super intriguing.Elias Pettersson Derek Cain / Getty ImagesJack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk, and Pierre-Luc Dubois all recently took matters into their own hands, forcing their clubs to trade them while they were still young. Will these moves trigger an era of player empowerment?If he wants, Pettersson can wield similar power by notifying Canucks management he doesn't see a long-term fit in Vancouver. Although he's a pending restricted free agent and not a UFA, the Swedish center is talented enough to determine his own fate and has CAA Sports' Pat Brisson in his corner. (Brisson represents Eichel and Dubois, among many other stars.)That said, Pettersson - arguably a top-10 player in the NHL and only 24 - could easily sign an extension with limited drama, which would be a massive victory for Vancouver. The Canucks can help themselves by taking a step forward on the ice and offering the cornerstone piece a fair contract.Martin St. Louis Christopher Mast / Getty ImagesA year and a half into his Montreal tenure, St. Louis' honeymoon period as head coach is essentially over.Canadiens fans are looking to St. Louis and executives Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes for progress. The team has attacked its rebuild by not only compiling draft picks but also by trading for young NHLers with hopes that a change of scenery and time with St. Louis and his staff will pay dividends. Former Blackhawks forward Kirby Dach counts as a success story here.Next in line is speedy Alex Newhook, who Hughes snagged in a draft-weekend trade with the Avalanche. There are also the cases of 2022 first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky and 2021 No. 31 pick Logan Mailloux, both far from finished products. St. Louis, who believes a pro hockey player can improve at any age, has an abundance of promise to work with.Marty Walsh Brian Babineau / Getty ImagesWalsh is entering his first full season as executive director of the NHL Players' Association after being hired in February. From recent discussions with players across the league, it's clear the 56-year-old's been a breath of fresh air - a bolder, more charismatic presence than predecessor Donald Fehr.Walsh is an ardent union leader who left the Joe Biden administration to work for the PA. While the former Boston mayor won't be negotiating a collective bargaining agreement anytime soon (the current CBA doesn't expire until September 2026), he'll be involved in shaping the league for the foreseeable future as chief counterpart to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.In September, Walsh led the PA through the Mike Babcock scandal in Columbus. Other items on the agenda include: developing an action plan for growing hockey-related revenue; hammering out an international hockey calendar; supporting the Professional Women's Hockey League's launch; and making sure standards don't slip in Arizona as the Coyotes continue to play in an NCAA arena.Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele Andre Ringuette / National Hockey League / GettyHellebuyck and Scheifele signed identical extensions Monday, keeping them under contract in Winnipeg until 2030-31 for a combined $17 million annually.While you can quibble with the decision to re-sign them, especially at that term, there's no denying what Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has done here. He's been decisive in locking up members of his long-term core, and at least for the first few years of their deals, he'll have an elite goalie and No. 1 center.As for the here and now, Winnipeg is one of the most fascinating teams in the league. On paper, they should challenge for a playoff spot. But what's the ceiling of this group? One playoff series win? Maybe, maybe two?Hellebuyck and Scheifele are atop of the list of players who must have monster years. With only Colorado and Dallas in the Cup-contending tier, the Central Division is top-heavy. Winnipeg has an opportunity to pounce.Peter Laviolette Richard T Gagnon / Getty ImagesThe New York Rangers' roster didn't exactly undergo a facelift over the summer. Sure, Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino, Erik Gustafsson, and Jonathan Quick are in for Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Niko Mikkola, and Jaroslav Halak. But overall, the talent lost and gained shakes out to similar value.The lone dramatic change came behind the bench, with Laviolette, associate coach Phil Housley, and assistants Mike Peca and Dan Muse replacing Gerard Gallant and his crew. It feels like an ultra-important season for the franchise, and coaching will have a significant impact on end results.Laviolette, who's developed a reputation for being hard on his players, called for a more tenacious, more physical brand of hockey in training camp. He's tasked with figuring out how to best use and deploy key young wingers Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, finding the right pairings on the back end, and not wasting another season of goalie Igor Shesterkin's prime.Ryan Smith Melissa Majchrzak / Getty ImagesMost hockey fans have likely never heard of Smith. But he's lurking behind the scenes.With the league losing patience with the Coyotes, it's entirely possible relocation rumors begin swirling in 2023-24. Smith, the majority owner of the NBA's Utah Jazz and co-owner of MLS' Real Salt Lake, already expressed his interest in bringing the NHL to Salt Lake to Bettman (who hasn't exactly shot down the idea of expansion in his recent comments to reporters).The 45-year-old Smith - whose estimated net worth is well over a billion dollars - has said he's been inspired by the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the NHL in Las Vegas and Seattle. Utah isn't the only desirable relocation or expansion market, though, with Atlanta and Houston appearing to be top-tier options as well.Market size is working against Smith. Only 3.3 million people live in Utah, and just 200,000 in Salt Lake City - though Smith's been quick to point out the state's rich history with winter sports and the Olympics. Working in his favor: Smith owns an arena. The Jazz's Delta Center isn't exactly fresh (it opened in 1991), but it's decent, and landing an NHL team could spur action toward a new building.John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Heading into the 2023-24 regular season, theScore's Kyle Cushman, Mike Dickson, Kayla Douglas, Josh Gold-Smith, John Matisz, Sean O'Leary, and Josh Wegman make their picks for the division champions, major award winners, and Stanley Cup Final.Atlantic Division Kevin Sousa / National Hockey League / GettyEditorPickCushmanMaple LeafsDicksonMaple LeafsDouglasMaple LeafsGold-SmithMaple LeafsMatiszMaple LeafsO'LearyMaple LeafsWegmanMaple LeafsIt's unanimous here, and that's unsurprising considering what's going on with two other perennial powerhouses. The Boston Bruins got demonstrably worse over the summer with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retiring, plus Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitry Orlov left as free agents. The Tampa Bay Lightning won't have injured goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for at least the first two months of the season. This should clear the path for Toronto to claim its first-ever Atlantic title and first divisional crown since the North in 2021. Of course, what happens after the Leafs win the division is another story.Metropolitan Division Jaylynn Nash / Getty Images Sport / GettyEditorPickCushmanDevilsDicksonDevilsDouglasHurricanesGold-SmithDevilsMatiszHurricanesO'LearyHurricanesWegmanDevilsOur editors predict a two-horse race for the Metropolitan Division with the same two squads that led the group a season ago. With both the Hurricanes and Devils considered as Eastern Conference powerhouses, a rivalry between the heavyweight teams could be brewing after their second-round playoff series this past spring. Carolina is the more experienced squad, but New Jersey is out to prove that last season's breakout campaign was no fluke.Central Division Michael Martin / National Hockey League / GettyEditorPickCushmanAvalancheDicksonStarsDouglasAvalancheGold-SmithAvalancheMatiszStarsO'LearyStarsWegmanAvalancheThe Avalanche took the Central last season despite a litany of injuries. There's a chance they could run away with it if they stay healthy. However, three of our editors think the Stars can edge Colorado to claim their first division title since 2015-16.Pacific Division Andy Devlin / National Hockey League / GettyEditorPickCushmanOilersDicksonGolden KnightsDouglasGolden KnightsGold-SmithOilersMatiszOilersO'LearyOilersWegmanOilersDespite coming off of the team's maiden Stanley Cup victory, the Golden Knights aren't the favorite to win their own division.That goes to the offensive powerhouse Oilers, who earned five of seven votes to take the Pacific. Edmonton gave Vegas its toughest test of the playoffs and went a league-best 18-2-1 after adding Mattias Ekholm last season. With a full year of the Swede on the backend and the all-time great duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, there's no telling the heights the Oilers can reach.'Rocket' Richard Trophy Andrew Lahodynskyj / National Hockey League / GettyEditorPickCushmanMikko RantanenDicksonDavid PastrnakDouglasConnor McDavidGold-SmithAuston MatthewsMatiszLeon DraisaitlO'LearyMikko RantanenWegmanAuston MatthewsThis one has the most variety out of all the award categories with five players getting thrown into contention. And what a field this is. Matthews has won the hardware before, McDavid is the reigning champ, Pastrnak was last year's runner-up with 61 goals, Draisaitl posted his second straight 50-goal season, and Rantanen hit that same benchmark for the first time. Together, they amassed 272 tallies in 2022-23. No matter which talented scorer takes home the "Rocket" Richard Trophy this season, goal lights across the continent will get a workout whenever these five skaters are on the ice.Art Ross Trophy Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyEditorPickCushmanConnor McDavidDicksonConnor McDavidDouglasConnor McDavidGold-SmithConnor McDavidMatiszConnor McDavidO'LearyConnor McDavidWegmanConnor McDavidIt's gotten to the point where picking someone not named McDavid for this accomplishment would be embarrassing. He's racked up the most points in the NHL for three straight seasons, and he's already won this trophy five times in his eight-year career. Another one would tie him for the second-most ever with Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux at just 27 years old.Selke Trophy Elsa / Getty Images Sport / GettyEditorPickCushmanNico HischierDicksonNico HischierDouglasNico HischierGold-SmithNico HischierMatiszNico HischierO'LearyNico HischierWegmanAuston MatthewsPatrice Bergeron, step aside. After 12 straight years of being a finalist and a record six wins for the former Boston Bruins stalwart, the Selke race is bound to feature some new blood. The majority of our staff thinks it's Hischier's award to lose after a runner-up finish last season on the strength of a breakout 80-point campaign that featured his usual defensive excellence. Matthews is the lone wild card on the list. He's never finished higher than 10th in Selke voting through his seven-year career. However, a new role on Toronto's penalty kill could boost his stock.Calder Trophy Michael Reaves / Getty Images Sport / GettyEditorPickCushmanConnor BedardDicksonConnor BedardDouglasConnor BedardGold-SmithConnor BedardMatiszLogan CooleyO'LearyConnor BedardWegmanConnor BedardShoutout to Matisz for going against the grain here, but of course Bedard is the overwhelming favorite. The much-hyped 2023 first overall pick just torched the WHL for 143 points in 57 games, and the NHL is next on his list. Bedard has already drawn comparisons to the likes of Wayne Gretzky, McDavid, and Sidney Crosby, and he hasn't even played a real game in the big leagues yet. No pressure, right? It's safe to say the entire hockey world (not just Chicago Blackhawks fans) will be keeping an eye on Bedard's every move all season long. We hope you're ready to get sick of seeing him on the highlight reels.Vezina Trophy Michael Mooney / National Hockey League / GettyEditorPickCushmanJake OettingerDicksonIgor ShesterkinDouglasIlya SorokinGold-SmithIlya SorokinMatiszIlya SorokinO'LearyIlya SorokinWegmanJake OettingerEach of the three goalies chosen here made the top five of our preseason Vezina rankings, and all of them boast strong cases to earn Goalie of the Year honors. That said, Sorokin is the rightful favorite here. The Islanders star netminder has established himself as perhaps the best goalie in the NHL since arriving from the KHL three seasons ago. If New York is in the playoffs, he'll be the main reason why.Norris Trophy Dustin Bradford / Getty Images Sport / GettyEditorPickCushmanCale MakarDicksonCale MakarDouglasCale MakarGold-SmithCale MakarMatiszCale MakarO'LearyMiro HeiskanenWegmanCale MakarIt's Makar's trophy to lose. He's in a tier of his own when it comes to the game's top defensemen - all he needs to do is stay healthy. But Heiskanen, one of the league's best defensive blue-liners who broke out offensively last season with 73 points, could make a case for himself if he keeps making strides.Hart Trophy Zak Krill / National Hockey League / GettyEditorPickCushmanConnor McDavidDicksonConnor McDavidDouglasConnor McDavidGold-SmithConnor McDavidMatiszMatthew TkachukO'LearyConnor McDavidWegmanConnor McDavidMatisz again provides the lone dissenting vote here, but the Hart is clearly McDavid's until proven otherwise. Tkachuk ranked second behind the three-time MVP in wins above replacement and goals above replacement last season. The Florida Panthers winger has less to work with, but there's no guarantee the Cats even make the playoffs in 2023-24.McDavid has claimed the Hart in two of the last three years, and he earned the second-most votes behind Matthews the other time. McDavid has finished no lower than fifth in MVP voting every season since 2016-17. Barring something catastrophic, he should finish no lower than first once again.Stanley Cup Final Michael Martin / National Hockey League / GettyEditorPickCushmanHurricanes over OilersDicksonHurricanes over StarsDouglasHurricanes over AvalancheGold-SmithAvalanche over DevilsMatiszOilers over HurricanesO'LearyAvalanche over HurricanesWegmanOilers over HurricanesThe Hurricanes are a clear favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference as only Gold-Smith leaves Carolina out of the Stanley Cup finals.It's a 50-50 split from the six editors on whether the Canes can pull it off, though. Three have us in store for a 2006 rematch between Carolina and the Edmonton Oilers, with two picking McDavid and Co. to end Canada's Stanley Cup drought.The 2022 champion Avalanche get some love as well as three take Colorado to win the West and two pick them to lift the Cup again. The rapidly ascending Devils and consistently competitive Stars get a pair of singular votes to win their conference but ultimately fall in the finals.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel could test the market as a free agent at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, but he's made it abundantly clear that his heart is in the Steel City."I've pretty much grown up in Pittsburgh," Guentzel said in an interview with The Athletic's Josh Yohe. "I love this place so much. I really do. This is a great place, both for me and my family. I don't want to be anywhere else."He added, "I can't even tell you how much I love it here. From playing with (Sidney Crosby), to the ownership, the people in this city, the team ... This is where I want to be. For now, I'm just focusing on playing. We'll see if it happens. I hope it does."Guentzel has been eligible to sign a new extension since July 1. He's about to play out the final season of a five-year extension with a cap hit of $6 million, but he'll be due for a substantial raise. The top-line winger has two 40-goal seasons under his belt, and his 197 tallies in 453 contests since his debut in 2016-17 are the second most on the team over that span, trailing only Crosby.His production last season dipped below a point-per-game rate for the first time since 2018-19, but Guentzel was still vital to the Penguins' offense, pacing the squad with 36 tallies in 78 outings.As it stands, the Penguins have about $17.2 million in projected cap space in 2024-25 and a few other free agents on their books, including Jeff Carter and Alex Nedeljkovic, per CapFriendly.Guentzel is the most important player out of that crop, but general manager Kyle Dubas has yet to engage in serious contract talks with the talented scorer as he works his way back from offseason ankle surgery."I've got a great relationship with (Guentzel's agent, Ben Hankinson), and the major priority right now has just been on Jake's health," Dubas said Monday, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Seth Rorabaugh. "So, there's really no real focus on anything other than the health portion of it."Guentzel underwent the procedure in early August and was initially given a 12-week recovery timeline, which would have kept him out for at least the first seven games of the season.The 29-year-old is ahead of schedule, though, and is considered a game-time decision for the Penguins' season opener Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks."It's kind of remarkable what each day does for an injury like this," he said, per Yohe. "I'm feeling really good."The Penguins selected Guentzel in the third round of the 2013 NHL Draft.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Winnipeg Jets announced matching seven-year, $59.5-million extensions for stars Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck on Monday.Both players were set to enter the upcoming season on expiring contracts. Their new deals carry $8.5 million average annual values and run through 2031.Scheifele and Hellebuyck were commonly discussed as potential trade candidates throughout the summer and for the 2023-24 deadline if new deals weren't struck. In June, it was reported that Hellebuyck wasn't interested in signing an extension with the club.However, prior to training camp opening in September, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said the club's "singular focus" was winning with Scheifele and Hellebuyck in the fold.Scheifele was the Jets' first draft pick after the team relocated from Atlanta in 2011. He ranks third on the club's all-time games played list (723) while sitting second in goals (272) and points (645). The 30-year-old produced a career-high 42 goals in 68 games in 2022-23."I think it was really important, you know, to be a Jet for the next eight years," Scheifele said, per NHL.com's Jamie Thomas. "I think I'm going to be 39 when (the new deal expires). So, to call myself a Jet for life, it's an honor, really. Because not many guys get the opportunity to actually do that and be on one team their entire career."Hellebuyck established himself as one of the league's top netminders since taking over the starting job in 2016-17. He owns a lifetime .916 save percentage and has been a Vezina Trophy finalist three times, winning the award in 2020.His new contract carries the fourth-highest salary among goaltenders, behind Carey Price ($10.5 million), Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million), and Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million).The Jets begin their 2023-24 season Wednesday against the Calgary Flames.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Leading up to the start of the 2023-24 season, theScore is counting down the top 100 players in the game today, as voted on by our NHL editors.100-71 | 70-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyHughes' awaited breakout arrived in full force last season. He stayed healthy and annihilated even the loftiest of expectations going into the campaign.The 22-year-old finished one point shy of 100 and was among the biggest reasons the Devils went from bottom five to top five in the league last season. We knew he could be among the NHL's best playmakers, but what truly surprised was his dominance as a shooter.Not only did Hughes finish top 10 in goals with 43, but his 336 shots on goal ranked fifth, more than doubling his previous career best. The sky's the limit for the electrifying center.The "C" in Crosby stands for "consistency." The Pittsburgh Penguins captain is 18 seasons into his prolific NHL career and has never not been a point-per-game player, and last year was no different.The Pens failed to make the playoffs in 2022-23 for the first time since Crosby's rookie season, but it was hardly the longtime captain's fault. Crosby paced his team with 93 points - 10 clear of the second place Evgeni Malkin - while appearing in all 82 games for the first time since 2017-18. The 36-year-old also led Pittsburgh in goals above replacement (15.8) and wins above replacement (2.7) by a wide margin.The Penguins will be champing at the bit to return to postseason relevancy in 2023-24, and it's a safe bet that a highly motivated Crosby will lead the charge.The Tampa Bay Lightning aren't the juggernaut they once were, but Kucherov remains one of the NHL's most gifted stars. The Russian winger racked up more assists last season than anyone except the No. 1 name on this list, and his 113 points tied for third in the league. Most impressively, Kucherov averaged a career-high 20:08 in ice time, proving that even as he reaches the typical stage of a player's decline, he's anything but a typical player.Pastrnak may have waltzed to MVP honors last season if it weren't for some fellow named Connor McDavid, but the Bruins sniper had to settle for runner-up after a ridiculous 61-goal, 113-point outburst. Boston's unprecedented regular-season success may have overshadowed just how dominant Pastrnak was, as no other Bruins skater reached 30 goals or 70 points.Perhaps most impressively, a league-leading 43 of Pastrnak's goals came at even strength. He also paced the NHL in game-winners (13) and shots (407) while averaging 19:34 per contest - a new personal high. Pastrnak has gone from an established star to one of the absolute best wingers around. The Bruins are facing some uncertainty heading into this season, but you can bank on him being their primary difference-maker.Tkachuk cemented his status as one of the game's elite players with back-to-back 40-goal, 100-point seasons. But he truly put himself in the conversation for the world's second-best player this past postseason when he carried the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final with 11 goals (including three OT winners) and 13 assists in 20 playoff contests.While skill alone would already make Tkachuk one of hockey's best, it's his tenacity, competitiveness, and in-your-face style of play that truly make him special. Tkachuk is one of the very few players on this list who are routinely willing to drop the gloves to stand up for teammates. That rare breed of skill and physicality makes him a unicorn in today's game. Michael Martin / National Hockey League / GettyDespite missing 22 games, Makar still finished as a Norris finalist for the third straight campaign.That says all you need to know about the best defenseman in hockey. Makar logged a career-best 26:23 per appearance and was one of only two blue-liners to operate at over a point per game alongside Erik Karlsson. His 71.5 goals above replacement since coming into the league in 2019 are nearly 10 better than the next-best defenseman.If Makar can stay healthy - he's missing time in the preseason already - it feels like the Norris is his to lose for the foreseeable future. His unbelievable blend of skating, skill, and shooting is unlike anything we've seen from a rearguard in years and makes him one of the most exciting players in the game.Matthews is coming off a down year by his standards but still posted 40 goals in 74 games despite being hampered by a nagging wrist injury and a career-worst 12.2 shooting percentage.If the ailment is completely behind him, it wouldn't be surprising to see him rejoin the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy race in 2023-24. He won the hardware in back-to-back years prior to last season, highlighted by a 60-goal performance in 2021-22 that also earned him the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award as the league's most valuable player.The 26-year-old has been one of the NHL's most consistent goal-scorers since his debut, and his 299 tallies since 2016-17 are the most in the league. Matthews will be the NHL's highest-paid player beginning in 2024-25, and he can start proving why he's worth that this season.Draisaitl's elite performance has long been unfairly downplayed because of his association with our No. 1 player, but the German center just keeps producing at an otherworldly level. He leads all NHLers in goals and all forwards in average ice time since 2018-19, ranking second in points over that span behind you-know-who. Some of that is due to Draisaitl's durability, as he's missed only four games over the last five seasons and just eight over the last seven. But that in itself is remarkable considering he's consistently among the forwards taking on the heaviest workloads.MacKinnon was no worse than fifth on any of our seven ballots and came in second on three of them. The 28-year-old is fresh off registering a career-high 111 points in only 71 contests - good for the league's third-most points per game (1.56) - while pacing all his peers with 77 even-strength points. Few players can change a game like MacKinnon, and if it weren't for the one player ahead of him in our rankings, he could stake a serious claim as the world's best player.Since his breakout 2017-18 campaign, MacKinnon is third among all players in points, and he's earned three Hart Trophy nominations, two All-Star selections, and a Cup along the way. He's got plenty of time to add to his hardware collection, and if he produces like this for a few more seasons, he very well might skate his way straight into the Hall of Fame. Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyWhile four different players received votes for No. 2 on this list, there was no doubt about No. 1. McDavid was our unanimous choice - and rightly so.Matthews sparked some debate for best player in the game after winning the Hart Trophy with his 60-goal season in 2021-22, but McDavid put all that to bed with a historically great 64-goal, 153-point campaign. It marked the most goals in a season since Alex Ovechkin's 65 in 2007-08 and the most points since Mario Lemieux's 161 in 1995-96. Considering the quality of goaltending and competition in today's NHL, what McDavid did was nothing short of incredible.The NHL hasn't seen a player with skating so superior to his counterparts since Bobby Orr. The things McDavid can do with the puck on his stick while at full speed may never be matched - ever. Today's fans should consider themselves lucky to watch him play. It's only a matter of time before McDavid carries the Edmonton Oilers to a Cup victory and puts an exclamation mark on his status as one of the all-time greats. (Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick, Evolving-Hockey)Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Leading up to the start of the 2023-24 season, theScore is counting down the top 100 players in the game today, as voted on by our NHL editors. We'll reveal players every day until the top 10 are unveiled Oct. 9.100-71 | 70-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 Scott Taetsch / Getty Images Sport / GettyA terrifying freak accident limited Carlson to just 40 games a season ago after he was struck in the head by a slap shot. The 33-year-old didn't miss a beat upon his return in late March, averaging 23:23 and tallying eight points in 10 contests post-injury. He remains one of the game's top offensive blue-liners.There's no doubting the fact that Ekblad is a warrior. He gutted his way through the playoffs with a broken foot, dislocated shoulder, and torn oblique, but he only missed one game. The 27-year-old defenseman will miss the start of the season as the result of his ailments, but he more than earned a placement on these rankings despite that.Eriksson Ek has developed into one of the NHL's best and most underrated two-way forwards. The 26-year-old Swede posted career highs with 38 assists and 61 points last season. He also ranked 20th in the NHL in individual expected goals and authored largely favorable underlying numbers as a whole, finishing in the top 10 in Selke Trophy voting for the third straight year.Hyman has gone from an important role player to a star in his own right, and while some might knock him for the quality of players he's lucky enough to play alongside, he gets the prime opportunities for a reason. He's entrusted by coaches in all situations, is a relentless worker, and is fresh of a career year that included 36 goals and 83 points.Tuch's rare blend of size and speed has helped him blossom into one of the game's premier power forwards. He put everything together for a career year in 2022-23, racking up 36 goals and 79 points in 74 games. The Syracuse product has also become a key leader for the up-and-coming Sabres. Steph Chambers / Getty Images Sport / GettyMcCann proved his 50-point season from the Kraken's inaugural campaign was no fluke. The 27-year-old hit the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career last season and reached the 70-point plateau. He'll look to lead Seattle in scoring for the third straight campaign.Brodin was a minutes-munching machine for Minnesota in 2022-23, leading the squad in average ice time (22:52) for the third straight season. The underrated rearguard missed 22 games this past campaign, but he still ranked third on the team in blocked shots (130) and second in shorthanded ice time (177:01).Much like Eriksson Ek, Cirelli is a skilled two-way player who's often overshadowed by more electric teammates. But the Tampa Bay Lightning forward does it all, playing in the top six at five-on-five, on the power play, and on the penalty kill. His defensive abilities give him versatility and value even when he's not consistently producing offensively.The reigning Calder Trophy winner showed no signs of being uncomfortable in his first full season in the pros, ranking second on the Kraken with 24 tallies while adding 33 assists. Beniers has strong two-way chops and looks to be the complete package at only 20 years old.You know a player is special when he's cracking this list without ever playing in an NHL game. Three of our seven voters thought his inclusion was premature, but the hype surrounding Bedard, who came in as high as 51st on one list, made him worthy of a spot. With a generational-caliber shot and skill, will anyone be surprised if he pots 30-plus goals his rookie year? We won't. G Fiume / Getty Images Sport / GettyThe last time DeBrincat's shooting percentage dipped below 15%, he followed it up by scoring at a 50-goal pace. Things didn't work as well as hoped in Ottawa, but a move back home to Michigan with the Red Wings should rejuvenate the two-time 40-goal scorer.Giroux proved to be an instant match with Ottawa, posting a career-high 35 goals in 82 games while generating plenty of chemistry with Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle. The young Senators will need the 35-year-old veteran's leadership on and off the ice to enter the playoff picture in 2023-24.Horvat amassed 31 goals in only 49 games with the Vancouver Canucks last season, although that red-hot rate predictably plummeted after he was traded to the defensive-minded New York Islanders. However, the skilled center averaged over 20 minutes of ice time and won 58.5% of his faceoffs in 30 contests with his new club. The latter would've been a personal best over a full season.There's no denying Huberdeau's debut season in Calgary was a massive disappointment, but the veteran playmaker has done enough throughout his career to stay on our list. The 30-year-old is in desperate need of a bounce-back campaign, but his 613 points in 671 career games suggest he'll be just fine.Kreider's game isn't pretty, but he constantly produces. Nobody expected him to match the 52 goals he scored in 2021-22, but he still managed to find the net an impressive 36 times last season. A heart-and-soul player who loves engaging in the physical aspect of the game, Kreider has garnered a reputation as a clutch performer, tallying 16 goals in 27 games over the last two postseasons. Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyVerhaeghe has quietly been one of the best offensive drivers since he joined the Panthers in 2020. Florida's generated 3.46 expected goals per 60 at five-on-five with Verhaeghe on the ice during this span, the top mark in the league for any player. The Panthers' run to the Cup final elevated his visibility, and as such, the 28-year-old's starting to get the recognition he deserves after eclipsing the 40-goal and 70-point marks for the first time last season.Chabot's average ice time (24:58) didn't eclipse the 26-minute mark for the first time since 2018-19, but he still led his teammates by a three-minute margin. The 26-year-old also paced Ottawa in goals above replacement (14.6).Fiala picked up where he left off with the Wild in his first season with the Kings, producing over a point per game and leading the club with 49 assists despite missing 13 contests due to injury. The Swiss winger can create opportunities in the offensive zone and finish them as well. He's in his prime as a 27-year-old for an up-and-coming L.A. squad.Caufield was on track to score 40 goals last season before a shoulder injury derailed his campaign near the midway point, but the promise he showed was enough to crack our list. The Canadiens winger is one of the league's purest scorers, and his infectious personality has him on track to be both a household name and a superstar in no time.Rielly catches some flack for his poor defensive play at times, but he's constantly shown an ability to raise his game in the postseason despite the Maple Leafs' playoff shortcomings. He was their best player during their most recent postseason, buckling down defensively while netting 12 points in 11 games, giving him 37 in 50 playoff contests for his career. Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images / Denver Post / GettyKempe has proven to be among the league's top sharpshooters over the past two seasons. He's seen his shooting percentage rise four straight years, culminating in him breaking the 40-goal plateau for the first time last season. Kempe will aim to be the first King since 1993 to crack 50 this season.Miller is still somehow with the Canucks as he's about to enter the first season of the seven-year, $56-million extension he signed last September. The 30-year-old potted 82 points in 81 games last campaign - trailing only Elias Pettersson for the team lead - and he's just one year removed from a 99-point campaign.Montour erupted for 73 points last season, nearly doubling the previous career high of 37 he established in 2021-22. The defenseman's goal, assist, and point totals all ranked among the league leaders at the position in 2022-23, as did his average ice time (24:08). That rose by more than four minutes over his previous career average, and it skyrocketed even further to a whopping 26:58 in the playoffs. Montour was one of the main reasons the Florida Panthers made their unexpected Stanley Cup Final run.Dubois finally made his way to a desirable location this summer, and there's no question the Kings landed themselves a premiere player. The 25-year-old is one of the NHL's most versatile power forwards and is fresh off a career year after recording 0.86 points per game. As good as Dubois has proven to be to this point of his career, it feels like he's just scratching the surface of his potential. A fresh start in Hollywood could be the springboard he needs.Letang's courage is unmatched. The most recent recipient of the Bill Masterton Trophy, Letang suffered the second stroke of his career in November but miraculously returned to the Pens' lineup less than two weeks later. He still remains a highly productive offensive blue-liner as he recorded 41 points in 64 games this past campaign. Elsa / Getty Images Sport / GettyIf you weren't sold on Bratt before the 2022-23 campaign, you better be now. The 25-year-old was rewarded by the Devils with a $63-million contract in June after scoring 73 points for the second straight season. Now that he's locked in for the long haul, the sky's the limit for the Swede in New Jersey.Sergachev emerged for the Lightning in 2022-23, reaching new career highs in points (64) and ice time (23:49) while leading all Tampa Bay blue-liners in both categories. The 25-year-old's breakthrough comes at the perfect time for the Bolts given that he's entering the first season of an eight-year, $68-million extension.Scheifele has been one of the NHL's most productive centers since his third full season back in 2015-16. Despite some defensive deficiencies, the 30-year-old is coming off a career-best 42-goal campaign. The Winnipeg Jets are holding off on trading Scheifele, who's entering a contract year, but another solid season from the 2011 seventh overall pick wouldn't be surprising regardless of whether he gets dealt.Tavares' reputation as a bona fide superstar has taken a hit since his career year in 2018-19. But make no mistake, the soon-to-be 33-year-old is still producing. He racked up 80 points in 80 games this past season and is up to 354 in 360 contests since he joined the Maple Leafs in the summer of 2018. Lindholm regressed after potting a career-high 42 goals and finishing as the Selke Trophy runner-up in 2021-22. His goal total fell by 20, and he dropped to 10th in voting for the league's top defensive forward honor. However, he's still an excellent two-way center who can fill the net if he's paired with a good playmaker.(Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick, Evolving Hockey)Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Leading up to the start of the 2023-24 season, theScore is counting down the top 100 players in the game today, as voted on by our NHL editors. We'll reveal players every day until the top 10 are unveiled Oct. 9.100-71 | 70-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 Kavin Mistry / National Hockey League / GettyDunn finally made good on his potential and became a legitimate top-pair defenseman last season. The 26-year-old finished top 10 in scoring among blue-liners with a career-high 14 goals and 64 points, earning himself a $29.4-million extension to remain in Seattle for at least another four years.Spurgeon continues to be one of the better defensive defensemen in the game despite his 5-foot-9, 166-pound frame. Two of our voters thought he was deserving of spots in the top 50, while three others kept him off their lists completely. The 33-year-old ranked fifth among NHL blue-liners in goals above replacement last season.Forsberg was limited to 50 games last season, and injuries have forced him to miss an average of around 16 contests in each of the five campaigns that preceded it. Still, there's no denying the Nashville Predators forward's ability to produce when he's healthy. The moustachioed Swede was on pace to top 30 goals and approach the 40-assist plateau had he played all of 2022-23.Pavelski is as productive as ever as he nears 40 years old and is fresh off one of the most impressive playoff performances in the league: He racked up nine goals and five assists in 14 games as Dallas reached the Western Conference Final this past spring. It's clear that finally winning the Stanley Cup is Pavelski's primary motivation and, if he gets it done with this deep Stars squad, his Hall of Fame case becomes much more interesting with 449 goals and over 1,001 points already in the bank.Barzal's production hasn't seemed to catch up to his abilities. Despite being a zone-entry artist and one of the game's most creative playmakers, he hasn't topped 62 points since he racked up 85 in his Calder Trophy-winning rookie campaign. With a full season of Bo Horvat by his side, maybe this will be the year he explodes offensively. Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyFew in the league's history embody the definition of a minute-munching defenseman quite like Doughty. He averaged over 25:00 for the 11th straight campaign and eclipsed the 50-point mark for the first time since 2018. The 33-year-old remains as important to the Kings' success as ever.On a strong Vegas Golden Knights team that boasts an enviable defense corps, Theodore still stands out. He ranked second among all Knights blue-liners with 41 points in 55 regular-season games and led the group with 13 playoff points to help capture the Stanley Cup.Svechnikov's 2022-23 season was hampered by injuries. The Carolina Hurricanes forward may have appeared to underwhelm statistically as a result, but his per-game offensive numbers were on par with the ones he authored in 2021-22. Sebastian Aho is the Canes' superstar up front and Martin Necas is coming off a breakout campaign, but Svechnikov is still a dependable second scoring option for Carolina.Lindholm was an underrated piece of Boston's historic 2022-23 regular season, registering a career-high 53 points and dominant defensive metrics while boasting the league's best plus-minus at plus-49. His efforts were enough for a second-team All-Star nomination, a fourth-place finish in Norris Trophy voting, and a significant jump in our top 100 rankings.Guentzel is a goal-scoring machine. He's averaged 35 per 82 games in his seven-year career, and he's added an impressive 34 tallies in 58 postseason contests. With a $6-million cap hit, he's one of the league's best bargains - but he's due for a sizeable raise when his contract expires at the end of the season. Zak Krill / National Hockey League / GettyPietrangelo added a second Stanley Cup ring to his collection in June, reminding the league of his value as a top-pairing blue-liner in the process. The 33-year-old led the Golden Knights by averaging 23:25 in the postseason, nearly a full three minutes clear of second on the team.Burns' first season in Carolina went swimmingly. With defensive stalwart Jaccob Slavin at his side, the 38-year-old enjoyed his best offensive campaign since the 2018-19 season, posting 61 points in 82 games. What's more, Burns ended up 10th in Norris Trophy voting, marking his return to the ballot for the first time in four years.Kopitar has long been one of the NHL's most reliable two-way players, and the veteran Los Angeles Kings center proved last season that he can still play at a high level. The Slovenian forward, who turned 36 in August, notched 74 points in 82 games and finished in the top five in Selke Trophy voting for the sixth time, including the two occasions he won it.Nugent-Hopkins was a key piece of Edmonton's lethal attack last season, exploding for a career-high 104 points - 35 more than his previous best. It remains to be seen if the veteran became a new player at 30 years old or if his magical 2022-23 is a one-off but, either way, Nugent-Hopkins is a prime offensive threat on one of the league's best teams.A full season in New Jersey should do wonders for Meier, who scored 40 goals between the Sharks and Devils last season. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound power forward is the ultimate compliment to some of New Jersey's smaller forwards like Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. Claus Andersen / Getty Images Sport / GettyConnor's scored at a 30-goal pace every season of his NHL career, and that didn't change in 2022-23. The 26-year-old didn't hit the same heights as his 47-goal, 93-point campaign from a year prior, but he was still prolific enough to lead the Jets in scoring for a second season in a row.Gaudreau wasn't the 115-point man he was with the Flames in 2021-22, but his first season in Columbus wasn't a total disaster by any stretch. He led the Blue Jackets with 74 points in 80 contests and he will certainly look for more heading into the second campaign of the seven-year, $68.25-million blockbuster extension he signed as a free agent last summer.As a defense-first blue-liner, Slavin is constantly overlooked, but the 29-year-old Hurricane remains one of the NHL's most responsible rearguards in his own end. Slavin tied for third in the league in takeaways with a career-high 88 last season, all while playing fewer games (76) than everyone else in the top 10. He should get more Norris consideration, but at least he finished in the top four in Lady Byng voting for the fourth straight campaign, including his 2021 win.Morrissey hit a new level offensively with 76 points last season while racking up more than 24 minutes per contest for a Jets team that desperately needed his Herculean contributions on the back end. Questions about the sustainability of Morrissey's offensive breakout are valid, as are the ones about his defensive metrics, but he's proven to be indispensable for Winnipeg.Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy and led the league in wins (40), goals-against average (1.89), and save percentage (.938). For those who think his spectacular season was simply a product of playing for the defensively sound Bruins, think again. Obviously, the team in front of him helped, but Ullmark still finished third in the league with 38.21 goals saved above expected. He comes in as the list's sixth-ranked goalie, as our editors need to see another big year before considering him truly elite. (Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick)Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Leading up to the start of the 2023-24 season, theScore is counting down the top 100 players in the game today, as voted on by our NHL editors. We'll reveal players every day until the top 10 are unveiled Oct. 9.100-71 | 70-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 Andre Ringuette / National Hockey League / GettyLarkin's quietly put together back-to-back 30-goal, near-point-per-game campaigns. Now locked in at an $8.7-million cap hit for the next eight years, the 27-year-old remains the face of the Red Wings for the foreseeable future as the team looks to get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2016.Oettinger was a workhorse for the Stars in 2022-23 and was one of just seven goalies in the league to appear in 60 or more games. The 24-year-old handled his increased workload admirably, establishing new career highs with 37 wins, five shutouts, and a .919 save percentage. He's the guy in Dallas.There was a time when Malkin was much higher on this list but, despite his drop, he showed last season that he still has plenty left in the tank. The Pittsburgh Penguins power forward, who turned 37 in July, collected 27 goals and an impressive 56 assists in 2022-23. Injuries have been an issue for Malkin in the past, but he played all 82 games in the last campaign. He also took more shots on goal than he had in a season since he led the NHL in that department in 2011-12.Though it didn't get a ton of attention, Keller enjoyed one of the most impressive seasons in the league last season for the lowly Coyotes, authoring a career-high 37 goals and 86 points after breaking his femur late in 2021-22. From February onward, the 25-year-old was the league's fourth-most prolific scorer, trailing only Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Nathan MacKinnon. Not too shabby.Stamkos, 33, remains productive, tallying 34 goals and 84 points last season. It was his eighth time hitting the 30-goal mark and seventh time reaching the 80-point plateau. He still possesses one of the game's most lethal one-timers and it's hard to envision him slowing down as long as he stays healthy. Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyDespite dipping below the point-per-game mark for the first time since 2016, Marchand was still a massive part of the Bruins' historic regular season. Boston will need the 35-year-old to remain an elite two-way driver as the team enters its post-Patrice Bergeron era.The 2022-23 campaign was full of even more Mika magic than usual. Zibanejad reached new heights with a 91-point campaign that saw him lead the offensively potent Rangers with 39 goals in 82 contests. Maybe a 100-point season is what's next for the sniping Swede in the Big Apple.Nylander will be out to prove he deserves a hefty new contract as a pending unrestricted free agent, but he's already done plenty. He notched career highs in goals (40), assists (47), and points while playing in all 82 regular-season games last season, adding four tallies and six helpers in 11 playoff contests. If the move from wing to center sticks, it'll go a long way in securing him the payday he desires.The Devils have some flashier players, but Hischier is the up-and-coming club's heart and soul. New Jersey's captain put forth a career-high 80 points last season while posting defensive metrics strong enough to earn him second place in Selke Trophy voting. The hardware could very well be in Hischier's near future now that Patrice Bergeron is out of the running.Toews sometimes gets overshadowed by his defense partner, Cale Makar, but there's no denying that Toews is elite in his own right. He can drive play offensively and he's also a lockdown defender. Two of our voters thought he deserved a spot in the top 25, which is justifiable considering he's finished no lower than sixth in goals above replacement among blue-liners in each of the last three seasons. Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images Sport / GettyPanarin still ranks among the league's top playmakers: Only Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have tallied more assists than Panarin since 2019. The 31-year-old has scored at a 90-point pace every season in New York and shows no signs of slowing down.After an injury-riddled first year as a Devil, Hamilton truly arrived in New Jersey in 2022-23. The talented defenseman posted a career-high 22 goals and 74 points while skating in all 82 games for the first time since 2018-19, proving to the Devils that he's worth every penny of the seven-year, $63-million contract he signed in July 2021.Tkachuk is no longer the Ottawa Senators' brightest star (see below), but the club's captain remains a multi-talented franchise cornerstone and its most important player. The 24-year-old winger collected over a point per game last season and notched at least 30 goals (35) for the second straight campaign. He also ranked fourth in the NHL in shots on goal and 11th in hits while boasting stellar underlying numbers.Stutzle evolved into a full-blown offensive superstar last season, and don't be surprised if he soars up our list by this time next year. The 21-year-old is one of the top young players in the league and is the Senators' purest offensive catalyst, as evidenced by his 39 goals in 2022-23. The sky truly feels like the limit for Stutzle, and he's just getting started on a career that carries a ton of promise.Six of our seven voters ranked Hintz between 31 and 42, with the lone outlier coming in at 55. That's about as consensus as it gets for a player in this portion of the rankings. The Stars' first-line center is coming off back-to-back 37-goal seasons and an excellent 2023 playoffs in which he recorded 24 points in 19 games. He's a rare breed with both power and finesse. Jonathan Kozub / National Hockey League / GettyDespite the persistent trade rumors, Hellebuyck remains a Winnipeg Jet entering the final season of his contract. A workhorse goaltender of a seemingly bygone era, Hellebuyck led the NHL in games by a netminder for the fourth time in six years and reached the .920 save percentage mark for the first time since his Vezina trophy campaign in 2020. He's in for a big payday next summer.The Great Eight posted his 13th career 40-goal season last year, but what else is new? It's nothing that we haven't come to expect from the 38-year-old sniper. Not only will Ovechkin be looking to get his Capitals back into the playoffs in 2023-24, but he'll also continue his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's record: Ovi is 73 tallies away from taking the No. 1 spot on the NHL's all-time goals list.No NHL goaltender faced more shots or made more saves than Saros last season. Only Hellebuyck played as many games as his Nashville Predators counterpart, and no other puck-stopper saw as much ice time as the Finnish netminder in 2022-23. Despite his workload, Saros ranked among the league's best in save percentage and goals saved above expected. He's been one of the NHL's best goalies for some time now, and he's still in his prime.Injuries have hurt Stone's stock in recent years, but he proved he's still a world-class player this past spring. He captained the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup and bagged 24 points in 22 games along the way. A healthy Stone is still the best defensive winger in hockey, and his offensive prowess shouldn't be slept on. Since arriving in Vegas, he's managed 203 points in 218 games.The newest captain of the Canucks, Hughes has been one of the game's most dynamic offensive defensemen since becoming a full-time NHLer in 2019-20. He ranks third among blue-liners in points in that span, trailing only Roman Josi and Cale Makar. But his defensive game has come a long way since his rookie campaign, and he's established himself as one of the game's best all-around players. (Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick, Evolving-Hockey)Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Leading up to the start of the 2023-24 season, theScore is counting down the top 100 players in the game today, as voted on by our NHL editors. We'll reveal players every day until the top 10 are unveiled Oct. 9.100-71 | 70-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 David Becker / National Hockey League / GettyBack surgery will keep Vasilevskiy on the shelf for the opening two months of the season. It marks the first time we've seen a chink in the armor of the 29-year-old since he took over the Lightning's starting role in 2016. We know what to expect from Vasilevskiy when he's in the net as a top-six Vezina finisher each of the past six seasons. But 2023-24 may be the time for Tampa Bay to start alleviating his workload.Aho led the Carolina Hurricanes in goals (36) for the sixth straight campaign last season, and we fully expect him to make it seven. A cornerstone of the contending Canes, Aho already ranks fifth in franchise history in goals and points. He could've become an unrestricted free agent in 2024, but Carolina wisely signed the 26-year-old center to an eight-year, $78-million extension in July.Shesterkin didn't equal his Vezina Trophy-winning performance of 2021-22 last season, but the New York Rangers goaltender still had a great campaign statistically. The Russian remains one of the NHL's best netminders, and while the Blueshirts aren't a perfect team, they rarely have to worry about the crease, thanks to Shesterkin's consistency.Dahlin is meeting, and perhaps soon to be exceeding, the sky-high expectations placed upon him as the No. 1 overall pick in 2018. The 23-year-old is coming off his best season yet, with 73 points in 78 games while logging monster minutes and putting up stronger defensive metrics than ever before. Dahlin ranked seventh among all blue-liners in Evolving-Hockey's goals above replacement metric last season, showing he's well on his way to becoming the dominant two-way blue-liner he was advertised as.Hedman has cracked the top 10 of this list in each of the last four years, but he falls out after an uncharacteristically poor campaign. He wasn't his usual dominant two-way self, and he only tallied nine goals and 40 assists in 76 games, resulting in his lowest point-per-game mark since 2015-16. Hedman turns 33 in December, and while it's possible this is the beginning of his decline, we refuse to rule out the all-time great from returning to the Norris Trophy conversation. Kevin Sousa / National Hockey League / GettyMarner still seeks his first 100-point season after finishing just one point short a year ago. The deft passer has added more of a shooting element to his game over the past two seasons, with consecutive 30-goal campaigns, and has established himself as a premiere two-way winger, earning his first Selke nomination last season. There's no denying Marner's status as one of the best right-wingers in hockey.McAvoy's 2022-23 season debut was delayed due to injury, but the Boston Bruins' No. 1 defenseman posted seven goals and 45 assists in 67 matchups for the highest point-per-game rate (0.78) of his career while eating up just over 22 minutes of ice time per game. It feels as though the 25-year-old's time as a Norris Trophy finalist is right around the corner.Josi is less than two seasons removed from racking up 96 points in 80 games, and the Nashville Predators defenseman produced 0.88 points per contest last season despite missing 15 due to injury. Josi is a perennial workhorse, averaging over 25 minutes of ice time since 2012-13. The 2019-20 Norris Trophy winner should continue to be a game-changer for the Preds, even at age 33.Thompson has blossomed into one of the league's most electrifying talents, ranking in the top 25 among all skaters in points over the past two seasons (162). His emergence has galvanized the Sabres' upswing, and a 50-goal, 100-point season could be the next step for their top forward.Five of our seven voters were on the same page with Eichel, ranking him between 22 and 24. The other two were split: One ranked him No. 8, while the other had him all the way down at 41. Regardless, Eichel hushed any critics about his play with a sensational postseason performance in which he led all playoff skaters with 20 assists and 26 points in 22 games en route to Vegas' Stanley Cup win. Michael Mooney / National Hockey League / GettyIf not for Linus Ullmark's remarkable season, Sorokin would likely be the reigning Vezina Trophy winner. The 28-year-old led the league with six shutouts, and a look at his advanced metrics shines an even brighter light on his campaign. Sorokin led the NHL with 51.4 goals saved above expected. He gets a ton of starts and ranks among the league's best in both traditional and advanced stats - that's why he's the No. 1 goaltender on this year's top 100 list.Barkov, one of the NHL's best two-way forwards, provided stability in 2022-23 amid the Florida Panthers' roller-coaster campaign. He registered 23 goals and 78 points in 68 games - good for his third straight point-per-game season - while helping the Cats dictate play at five-on-five. The 28-year-old added 16 points in 21 playoff contests during Florida's miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final.Heiskanen has been one of the league's most promising defensemen since debuting in 2018. The Dallas Stars blue-liner's commendable contributions had primarily been on the defensive end until he exploded for 73 points in 79 games last season. Heiskanen is now elite at both ends of the ice, and the Finnish rearguard is only 24 years old.Point is an underrated but indispensable piece of the juggernaut Tampa Bay has built. The 27-year-old commands top-line duties down the middle with a strong two-way game and is fresh off a career year in which he posted 51 goals and 95 points. He's also one of the Bolts' most clutch players, with 44 career game-winning tallies to his credit, along with 82 points in 82 playoff games.Kaprizov is exactly what the Wild franchise sorely lacked ever since Marian Gaborik departed in 2009: an electrifying, game-breaking player who can single-handedly drive an offense for a well-rounded, defensively stingy team. Since coming over to North America, Kaprizov ranks 12th in the NHL with 234 points in 203 games. At 26 years old, he's only getting better, too. Norm Hall / National Hockey League / GettyRobertson doesn't dazzle in the same way as the other elite forwards around him on this list; he's not even the primary puck carrier on his line. But all he's done since becoming an NHL regular in 2020 is put up points. One-third of arguably the most consistent line in hockey, the 24-year-old exploded to exceed 100 points for the first time last season and continues to inch closer to his maiden 50-goal campaign.Karlsson is taking his talents to Pittsburgh after an incredible season that saw him post 101 points while skating in all 82 games for the first time since 2015-16. The reigning Norris Trophy winner pulled off those numbers on a struggling San Jose Sharks squad and became the first rearguard to hit the century mark since Brian Leetch in 1991-92.Pettersson played all but two games last season, just like he did in 2021-22. But the Vancouver Canucks center collected seven more goals (39) and 27 more assists (63) than his previous campaign to top the 100-point mark for the first time in his career. Pettersson also tied teammate J.T. Miller for the league lead in shorthanded goals with five. The Swede - who'll turn 25 in November - has developed into a true superstar.Fox's Norris Trophy hopes last season were dashed by Karlsson's historic offensive output, but the Rangers' top rearguard was one of the game's elite again in 2022-23. He earned a first-team All-Star selection for his 72 points while thriving in both power-play and shutdown roles. Fox is the complete package as a defender and ranks second among defensemen in points (193) and fourth in goals above replacement (40.8) over the past three campaigns.Rantanen became more of a shooter in 2022-23, and it paid off. He fired 306 shots on net - 0.33 more per game than his previous career high - which resulted in a personal-best 55 goals, shattering his previous high of 36. Rantanen, who was ranked as high as seventh by one of our voters, was oh-so-close to making it three Avalanche players in the top 10 of our list. (Analytics sources: Evolving-Hockey, Natural Stat Trick)Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Buffalo Sabres signed star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin to an eight-year contract extension carrying an average annual value of $11 million, the team announced Monday.The deal is effective for the 2024-25 season and will make his salary the second-highest among blue-liners in the NHL, tied with Drew Doughty. Erik Karlsson leads the pack with an annual cap hit of $11.5 million."I grew up here as a man," Dahlin said, according to NHL.com's Jourdon LaBarber. "I came here as an 18-year-old, didn't know much about anything. Learned the language, learned the culture. Then from the beginning, I loved the city."So, I've always wanted to be here for a long, long time, and now it's going to happen. This is the city I love."Dahlin was scheduled for restricted free agency next summer and became eligible to ink an extension on July 1. His current deal is a three-year pact worth $6 million annually.The 23-year-old is coming off his best season to date, registering career highs in goals (15), assists (58), points (73), power-play points (32), shots (204), and average ice time (25:48) in 2022-23. His breakout campaign saw him finish eighth in Norris Trophy voting.Dahlin was the first overall pick in 2018. He's been a fixture on Buffalo's blue line since he was 18, racking up 233 points in 355 career games through five seasons."This is a really exciting day for us," general manager Kevyn Adams said, per NHL.com's Heather Engel. "We have a player in his prime years that's committing to this organization for the max term that you can."Adams has made locking up Buffalo's young talent long term a priority in recent years. Along with Dahlin, core pieces Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, and Mattias Samuelsson are signed through 2030.The Sabres own the NHL's longest active postseason drought at 12 years. They missed the playoffs by a single point this past spring but are widely expected to compete in a deep Atlantic Division this season.Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.