January Recap
In the Pacific Division the Canucks have surged to the top of the weakest division in hockey, led primarily by stellar goaltending from
Ryan Miller (and rookie
Jacob Markstrom, when he gets the rare start to give Miller a breather, has been exceptional). The Flames, Oilers, Sharks and Kings are all in a logjam below them with 53 points, with the Flames on a five game heater to climb into that conversation. Meanwhile the Ducks, on a seven game skid, still feel like they aren't completely out of it and have fired head coach
Bruce Boudreau, replacing him with
Jeff Blashill. They are hoping Blashill can get the most out of an eclectic roster that has veterans like
Dany Heatley, Ryan Kesler, Francois Beauchemin and
Jordan Leopold as well as up and coming young talent like
Cam Fowler,
Hampus Lindholm,
Rickard Rakell,
Kyle Palmieri and
Jakob Silfverberg. Captain
Ryan Getzlaf will need to elevate his game, as he has struggled by his standards this season with only ten goals and thirty four points. Managing their goalie tandem will also be an interesting challenge for Blashill, as
Freddy Andersen is just entering his prime and also is up for a new a contract but he has been recently upstaged by offseason acquisition
Vasili Koshechkin from Russia. The 31 year old has taken the majority of starts this year and accrued a .914 save percentage with four shutouts. His contract also expires this season, leaving management with some big questions to figure out this offseason.
In the Central Division the Blackhawks have come down to earth enough to hit double digits in the loss column finally. They still look to be the class of the league, led by
Patrick Kane's league leading 65 points and Corey Crawford's league leading 35 wins. The St. Louis Blues have really stepped up to the challenge and are trying to push Chicago. They are on a nine game winning streak, but still have fourteen points to go to catch the Hawks. The Avs have a reasonably good +19 goal differential and are up there in the playoff picture so far, but there are reports of a tense locker room situation. Young captain
Gabe Landeskog, although he is performing admirably on the ice with 41 points in 45 games and a solid plus-22, has his hands full trying to manage and lead his teammates, from star Russian netminder
Semyon Varlamov to young talents like
Matt Duchene and
Ryan O'Reilly to aging stars like
Jarome Iginla and
Alex Tanguay.
The Detroit Red Wings sit atop the Eastern conference, although not by much.
Jimmy Howard has provided some elite goaltending, leading the league in GAA and chalking up 27 of Detroit's 33 wins. In a season where
Datsyuk has missed a lot of time and
Zetterberg has had a down year for production,
Tomas Tatar has brought a lot of creativity and offense to the top of the lineup, his fifty points are tied for seventh in the league, and he is also sixth in assists with 34. There is a clear separation within the Atlantic between the top three, Detroit, Boston and Tampa, and the rest, with a sharp drop off between playoff bound Tampa Bay (62 points) and the Buffalo Sabres with 43 points and a -41 goal differential. Five of the six worst teams in the conference are in the Atlantic.
The Pens lead the Metro, led as usual by
Crosby, Malkin and
Fleury. The Islanders, led by
John Tavares and strong play from
Jaroslav Halak in net (his 27 wins ties Fleury and Howard for third in the league), are close on their heels. Washington is in the playoff picture in spite of an off year from superstar captain
Alex Ovechkin, whose twenty five goals are still fifth in the league, but a far cry from his usual 50 goal pace. The ageless wonder,
Jaromir Jagr, is looking to will his Devils into a playoff berth (they are currently in a close battle for eighth) with twenty four goals and forty two points as a forty two year old.
Team Stat Leaders:
GF/gm - Chicago (3.28), Boston (2.98), St. Louis (2.96)
GA/gm - Detroit (1.84), Chicago (1.90), Nashville (1.98)
PP - Carolina (23.5%), Detroit (23.3%), Chicago (21.6%)
PK - Detroit (92.8%), Dallas (87.8%), Minnesota (87.0%)
Goalie Leaders (min 20gp):
GAA - Howard (DET) 1.61, Crawford (CHI) 1.90, Elliott (STL) 1.95
Sv Pct - Bobrovsky (CBJ) .934, Holtby (WSH) .931, Miller (VAN), Howard (DET) .930
GSAA - Bobrovsky (CBJ) 21.24, Holtby (WSH) 15.19, Lehtonen (DAL) 15.17
SO - Hutton (NSH) 12, Varlamov (COL) 9, Crawford (CHI) 8
Rookie Leaders:
Points - Gaudreau (CGY) 36, Larkin (DET) 33, Klingberg (DAL) 29, Pastrnak (BOS) 26, Trocheck (FLA) 26
Other Stat Leaders:
Takeaways - O'Reilly (COL) 56, Gorges (BUF) 41, Filppula (TBL) 39
Hits - L. Schenn (PHI) 331, Bortuzzo (PIT) 235, Borowiecki (OTT) 205
Blocked Shots - Greene (NJD) 207, Alzner (WSH) 174, Stuart (WPG) 143
PIM - Borowiecki (OTT) 162, Bortuzzo (PIT) 134, L. Schenn (PHI) 131
FO% - Carter (LAK) 58.0%, Bergeron (BOS) 57.5%, Gordon (EDM) 56.7%
+/- - Saad (CHI) +36, Toews (CHI) +36, Seabrook (CHI) +35
Injuries:
F Corey Perry (ANA) OUT 3-4 months (foot)
D Adam McQuaid (BOS) OUT 1-2 months (abdomen)
D Jack Johnson (CBJ) OUT indefinitely (back)
D Fedor Tyutin (CBJ) OUT 3-4 months (knee)
F Sam Bennett (CGY) OUT 2-3 weeks (shoulder)
F Nathan MacKinnon (COL) OUT indefinitely (elbow)
D Alex Goligoski (DAL) OUT 1-2 weeks (arm)
F Stephen Weiss (DET) OUT 2-3 weeks (knee)
D Erik Gudbranson (FLA) OUT 3-4 months (knee)
F Aleksander Barkov (FLA) OUT 2-3 months (eye)
F Jason Pominville (MIN) OUT 3-4 months (neck)
D Seth Jones (NSH) OUT 1-2 weeks (back)
F Casey Cizikas (NYI) OUT indefinitely (back)
F Ryan Strome (NYI) OUT 2-3 weeks (eye)
D John Moore (NYI) OUT indefinitely (concussion)
F Mats Zuccarello (NYR) DTD (leg)
D Patrick Wiercioch (OTT) DTD (shoulder)
F Ryan Callahan (TBL) OUT 1-2 months (arm)
D Anton Stralman (TBL) OUT 2-3 months (knee)
F Derek Dorsett (VAN) OUT 1-2 weeks (neck)
D Dustin Byfuglien (WPG) OUT indefinitely (elbow)
F Andrew Ladd (WPG) OUT 1-2 months (leg)
Transactions:
Jan 31st -
WSH acquires F Scott Hartnell, F Mark Letestu;
CBJ acquires D Nate Schmidt, WSH 2015 1st.
Analysis -
Columbus pulls the trigger to move out captain Scott Hartnell, who is without a contract extension for next year. Their season is in the tank, with both of their top four left side defensemen in the medical bay for some time, but they acquire an up and coming NHL defenseman in Schmidt who will immediately play a top four role on that blueline, at least until the injured Tyutin and Johnson are back, and who should be able to be a part of their core for some time moving forward at just 23 years of age. Washington swings big, desperate for depth scoring and in the playoff conversation. Schmidt was buried beneath Carlsson and Green on their depth chart and they have nothing on the wing behind Ovi. Hartnell adds grit and leadership to a team that wants to get in the playoffs and then surprise by going far. With Ovechkin anything can happen, and they have the goaltending in Holtby to make a deep run so they spend the draft capital to make it happen, and add another depth scoring option in Letestu, who should bring versatility and playmaking to the middle six. Overall, Columbus wins the trade, but if Washington has a deep playoff run they won't care.