-AJ-

Indeed. Of all players with 100+ points, he has the fewest penalties and is also generally known to be a gentlemanly player. He's finished as high as 12th in years past and I would bet that he could be a finalist this year. Jack Hughes with just 6 PIM and 97 points is the likely winner though. Barkov with 8 PIM and 77 points in 67 games as well as Point with 92 points and 7 PIM are also good contenders, though the major penalty from Point might put him below Petey. After those three, you have to drop below a point-per-game to get another player with fewer penalties than Pettersson, so I'd expect the lowest he'll finish is 4th or 5th.

I'm not a Hartman fan and this is definitely interference, but the hit itself is a beautiful clean it. I think the only reason this gets a suspension is Hartman's extensive history of fines and suspensions. For most players, this is a two minute minor, end of story. For a few with some supplemental discipline history maybe this is just a fine.

First try: My 9th try had us at first, but I clicked "Sim Lottery" too fast to get the screenshot.

We were definitely in the race, but falling out of it. 4-5-1 is not a good enough record to stay in the playoff race when you only have a small buffer, as we did. Markstrom had been injured and Demko was struggling to be a consistent starting goaltender. Regardless, if the point is simply that we were in a race, not doing well in a race, then it is true. Even still, the race doesn't really heat up until the last 10 games or so and the regular season was cut short before things really got intense, so it wouldn't be like what he's experienced this year. Again though, if you're willing to look at years in which we didn't make the playoffs but were close, you could even just go as close as the 2021-22 season after we signed Boudreau. That was quite the run and we finished only about five points out of the playoffs. Bo seems to have forgotten last year.

2020 was a bit weird since we were actually slipping out of the playoff race when the freeze occurred, though we did end up making it and did well. 2015 was a long time ago and he was just a rookie, so idk maybe he doesn't remember it well.

Best year yet for him. I do wonder if he'll ever make it in the NHL though. At 24, he's kind of starting to approach AHL star age instead of promising prospect stage.

Both are also tied with Bure for the most shorthanded points in a season (nine).

My favourite Canuck off the ice. An incredible human.

Indeed, I've seen many similarities for a long time and now we're seeing even more with his defensive game improving.

We do already have a thread on coaching: I'd encourage the conversation to continue there

His defensive game has definitely improved. +/- is really a metric of both offense and defense as you've astutely pointed out, but his improving defense definitely helps keep the goals against while on the ice down. He's a very good defensive forward and if he can get his face-offs to a respectable level, I think he could be talked about in the Selke conversation if he keeps playing like he has this year.

Pettersson and Miller have both tied the record for shorthanded points with 9 (set by Bure, later tied by Bure again and by Courtnall). I'd love to see if one of them can break the big tie!

Pettersson and Miller have both tied the record for shorthanded points with 9 (set by Bure, later tied by Bure again and by Courtnall). I'd love to see if one of them can break the big tie!

I agree. His next pre-season is his last chance to make a big impact. After that, he's either trade fodder, or just an AHL veteran.

Silovs is good, really good for a 22-year old, but so far, he's a solid starter in the AHL. I personally think it could be good for him to elevate his game even more in Abby and become one of the best in the AHL next year.

Was at the game tonight! Was quite a boring game to start, but the finish was a thrill. Three assists for Nielsen! Woo is looking quite good these days. Also, Rathbone's pass on Karlsson's 2nd goal was insane. Amazing offensive hockey IQ.

10M would be a crazy good deal. I think anything less than 12M is a good deal at this point. My guess is about $12M with quite a bit of trade protection and eight full years.

That would be a fair deal--I'm just worried he'll ask for about $2.5M or something, which could get costly, especially if this year turns out to be a flash in the pan.

I haven't watched games recently, but my understanding was that Hirose is a more defensively sound player than Rathbone. Are they the same in that regard or is that a point of difference?

Agreed--though with Bear and Joshua, there could be a trap of signing for too much money, so caution should be taken not to give too much.

I generally hold an extremely high standard for it too. While I don't think he's there now, I do think there's a realistic possible world where Crosby could challenge that level and make the big four a big five. He's currently 35 and has about 1500 points. If he ages well (think Selanne) and plays at a point-per-game level (or close to it) until he's 40 without serious injuries, he could easily retire with 1800-1900 points and I think with those numbers, especially done so in maybe about 1600 games and in the 2nd dead puck era (around 2008-2018) there could begin to be an argument for him at Howe's level IMO. I'd have to look more closely at the numbers to see if I'd really think that, but I don't think it's insanely farfetched to think that Crosby could do it. Although he's not quite on the same level, you have to think that if Ovechkin breaks 900 goals or even pushes close to 1000 goals that he's gonna have a lot of people talking about him at that level too. He has three years left on his deal and even if he averages only 30 goals per year, he'll end up at about 910-920 goals. He's kept up his pace remarkably well for someone his age.

Yeah, I guess he could be considered active still. A good choice too.

Many hockey fans are aware that the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF) has a mandatory three-year waiting period after a player's retirement before they can be inducted into the HHOF; however, ten players have been considered so excellent that the waiting period for them was waived, a nod to how they were not only good enough for the Hall, but a level above most. These ten are as follows: - Dit Clapper (1947) - Maurice Richard (1961) - Ted Lindsay (1966) - Red Kelly (1969) - Terry Sawchuk (1971) - Jean Beliveau (1972) - Gordie Howe (1972--he was still playing in the WHA and would return for one last year in the NHL in 1979-80) - Bobby Orr (1979) - Mario Lemieux (1997--he would make a return in 2000 and retire again in 2006) - Wayne Gretzky (1999) As you can see, no player has had the waiting period waived for them since Gretzky and the Board of Directors even said in 1999 that only for certain humanitarian reasons would a player have the waiting period waived for them. In my opinion, the option to waive the three-year waiting period is a great way to acknowledge the best of the best into the Hall and I feel like a few active players will end up with careers that would deserve such an honour. The primary two in my mind are Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, but chances are that Connor McDavid will also be at that level when the time comes for him to retire. Should the HHOF allow for the waiting period to be waived based on a player's excellence or keep it the way it is? If they allowed waiving again, who among current players should have the waiting period waived?

Bad news for Tryamkin fans is that we already signed an Eastern European Nikita T., so Tryamkin's spot has been taken.

Was fine up until the end when he entirely forgot to pay attention to where his man was. Just doesn't seem to be fully there mentally. Not sure if he's distracted or just not smart enough.