Here’s Kirill Kaprizov’s Hart Trophy count:
Last season: Zero votes.
2023: One third-place vote (probably Michael Russo)
2022: His best result. Two firsts, four seconds, four thirds, 13 fourths and 19 fifths. He was seventh, 1,504 points behind winner Auston Matthews.
2021: One fourth-place vote, one fifth. He won the Calder Trophy.
I’m not here to start an argument, I lose plenty of those at home. He’s a franchise player. Minnesota’s going to throw the GDP of a medium-sized country at him. Connor Bedard told Colby Armstrong last season that it’s hard to name a particular person he learns from, but “of I was to pick one, it would probably be Kaprizov.”
Bedard is God to hockey youth, that’s a major endorsement.
You know that guy. That guy who’s never won the Hart Trophy. The guy who deserves more conversation, but doesn’t get enough love. The guy who suddenly reaches that sweet spot where en masse, voters say, “He’s earned a push.” (Artemi Panarin is another example.) Kaprizov avoids the spotlight and never has reached the second round of the playoffs — not solely on him.
Watching his ridiculous assist on the Wild’s fourth goal Tuesday in Florida, I couldn’t help but think, this is the year he pushes to the forefront.
Kaprizov played 18:04 in Minnesota’s opener. Since then, he’s not been below 21 minutes. He skated 24:16 against Seattle and 27:59 in St. Louis. No winger averages a heavier early-season workload; only Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon are higher among forwards.
He has 10 points in six games, at least one in five of them — the exception a loss in Winnipeg that began less than 24 hours after the Seattle showdown.
The Wild are 4-0-2, but there’s a lot of road to run. The Central looks very, very tough. However, they’ve got a good schedule, not jammed with back-to-backs, and none as tight as the Winnipeg one.
Quinn Hughes is my Hart pick, but Kaprizov’s sent an early missive. He’ll be there too.
32 THOUGHTS
1. Know you love the rumours, but it is early. This is the ‘we’re-still-seeing-what-we’ve-got’ phase. Predators GM Barry Trotz has the second-best hockey radio hit on The Game in Nashville. On Tuesday, he told hosts Willy Daunic, Derrick Mason and Adam Vingan, “No one is trading anyone right now. I would like to get a centre, but no one is giving their centremen away.”
Two toughest things to find: a stud defender and a top centre. No more zero in the win column after Tuesday night, where they opened with Colton Sissons between Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos.
2. Same situation for Calgary.
The faceoff leading to Seattle’s 1-1 goal last weekend illustrated a problem the Flames eventually will address. With Elias Lindholm in Boston, they don’t have a right-shot centre, leading to disadvantages in the circle.
It’s not a huge thing yet, as Calgary continues its joyous start during this roster re-set. “Sending a first-round pick for a guy who would be here for a year doesn’t make much sense,” GM Craig Conroy told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. “But if it was a first-round pick for a guy who would be here long term, we would be open to that.”
3. The Flames did some team bonding at world-famous Banff Springs Hotel, and were hooked by one of its charms — five-pin bowling. One player was absolutely sandbagged by others holding back their best until wagering began. “One guy went from bowling 70 to bowling 200,” a Flame laughed. Gotta be careful, just ask Roy Munson.
4. Cut-and-paste with Chicago, when it comes to centres. Centres for everyone!
5. Florida GM Bill Zito is taking care of business: Carter Verhaeghe, Paul Maurice and we will see about Sam Bennett. Talks are underway. Zito and agent Darren Ferris wouldn’t comment, and a couple of sources painted it as “not far apart, but now everyone’s dug in.” We’ll see. He’s great for Florida, and Florida’s great for him.
6. I watch a lot of Boston (shoutout Sophia Jurksztowicz, hope to see you back on-air soon). The eye-test isn’t pretty, the underlying numbers are unusually poor. Theory from 900 km away: the Bruins’ two games with Florida messed them up. The playoffs are for “taking numbers” and dealing with things next season. The Bruins desired that, it was a pointed topic of discussion. But the Panthers beat them twice, while not allowing Boston to gain any satisfying measure of physical payback.
There’s been a lot early: Jeremy Swayman’s lengthy contract stalemate; Jim Montgomery going hard at captain Brad Marchand on the bench in Utah. That yelling wouldn’t bother me, as long as it was a rare occurrence. I’d be more worried if it happened often, that’s a sign of things coming unglued. A couple sources pointed out that they don’t like coaches who only make examples of young players or fourth-liners, and Montgomery isn’t afraid to criticize his stars. (The tap to Marchand was the only thing that concerned me, but didn’t cross a line and surely won’t happen again.)
They don’t look like themselves, but repeatedly made us look like fools for anticipating their demise. High-IQ team that isn’t itself right now and needs a re-start. Again, personal opinion, but I thought those Florida games really threw them (and reminded us the Panthers are still a force).
7. I understand why the Rangers would crave maximum term with Alexis Lafreniere, but I’m not convinced he’d want to do that. An eight-year deal takes him through his age 31 season, cutting down on the ability to strike again in his prime.
8. Miro Heiskanen and Roope Hintz, $8.45 million. Jake Oettinger $8.25 million. Want to guess what Dallas offers Wyatt Johnston, should this be a long-term extension? He’s next on their list.
9. Jets players were disappointed Rutger McGroarty didn’t last on the NHL roster until Pittsburgh/Winnipeg on Sunday. (They’ll just have to be content with a 6-0 start.) Two things can be true: McGroarty is entitled to work the CBA as he wishes, and fans are entitled to make their feelings known.
10. Utah is determined not to do something that causes 10 years of pain in the absences of Sean Durzi (four-to-six months) and John Marino (three-to-four months) No panic, short-term moves. Being down two righties will erode anyone, but Michael Kesselring’s emergence matters; one person’s injury is another person’s opportunity.
Another situation to watch is Michael Carcone. Scored 21 goals last season; no points in three games this year, and the Utahns are deep up-front. One stats person regularly badgers me about goals/points per-60 minutes. Carcone was sixth in the NHL last year, at 1.46. Someone will give him a spot if he can’t find one here.
11. Clayton Keller on Utah’s Dylan Guenther: “He’s got a special shot and I think he’s going to be a 50-goal scorer, without a doubt. After Auston (Matthews), I don’t know many guys who can shoot the puck like that. So effortless and scoring from pretty much anywhere.” Guenther had five goals in the first four games.
12. Sean Couturier played with Matvei Michkov and Owen Tippett during Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to Washington. Ice-time was 17:43, highest of the season. His average beforehand was 13:32, ranging from 9:52 to 15:58. It was revealing the Flyers put him with those two, searching for somewhere for Couturier to thrive. Like last season, they are concerned about his pace, but gave him an opportunity to make it work. Not easy for anyone involved.
13. Kings defenceman Kyle Burroughs on Edmonton’s Ty Emberson, a scratch from Tuesday’s overtime loss to Carolina: “I told him to relax and make a good first pass. He’ll get another 15 points just doing that.” The two were teammates last season in San Jose, before Burroughs was sent to Los Angeles and Emberson to Alberta. The Oilers liked Emberson as an under-the-radar acquisition, but he’s struggled so far. Burroughs preached patience, but admitted he thought the adjustment could be trouble.
“(Ty’s) never seen anything like this,” he said, referring to the meat-grinder (my term) of the Canadian spotlight. “He’s from Wisconsin, small-town guy, never played anywhere like it.” But he believes Emberson will figure it out. Burroughs added Emberson and wife Carolyn adopted a dog from a shelter, so that’s someone to root for.
14. Watching Toronto’s 5-2 win over Tampa Bay on Monday night, was thinking a lot about the goalies. First question: what is Anthony Stolarz’s maximum workload? Turning 31 in January, he’s never played more than 28 games in one season. Florida doesn’t win the Stanley Cup without Stolarz making them confident to rest Sergei Bobrovsky. Now, he looks calm and cool claiming Toronto’s top spot during Joseph Woll’s eve-of-season injury.
Second question: What is Andrei Vasilevskiy’s maximum workload? You know he wants to play every minute of every game, and the Lightning acceded to that wish for years. Last year, he missed 20 games after major back surgery and still played 52. Tampa hoped this season would be his true triumphant return. Until Tuesday, he’d started all five of their games, and I’m not convinced that’s sustainable. Tampa hasn’t had to worry about this for years, but it might finally be time to admit less is more for this future Hall-of-Famer.
15. Toronto followed up its big win over arch-rival Tampa with a stinker in Columbus. Their next one will be emotional: Craig Berube coaching against St. Louis. They should be inspired solely for him. There was something fitting about their nasty night with the Lightning, when they gave as good as they got. Last season, when Timothy Liljegren was injured by Brad Marchand, the Maple Leafs were shown videos of how Tampa consistently stood up for each other with a pack mentality, told that’s the identity they needed to create.
16. The last possible day of the Stanley Cup Final is June 23. The draft dates are not yet set, but the June 27-29 weekend in Los Angeles is the target. (Remember, it will be decentralized this season, teams staying in their markets instead of all in one place.) That tight window means the NHL will try something different with the awards. No show.
One possibility: NBA style, with a media conference on an off-day during the first round, then the winner being recognized in front of their home fans. I’ve lived that one, it’s very good, a reward for the home fans, exciting for the players. Visiting teams complain it stacks emotion even more against them, but that’s just whiny. Aside from the Calder, it is rare for the major trophies to be won by a non-playoff performer. Another option: surprise visits with the trophies to someone’s house, possibly presented by someone special. It’s got promise. Suggestions welcome.
17. If he does not find something he likes with a team, NHL Hockey Operations has asked Ken Holland if he’d be interested in a role with the league.
18. Early trend to watch: five-on-five shooting percentage. Since being tracked in 2009-10, the worst number is 5.7, by the 2014-15 Arizona Coyotes. After Tuesday’s games, five teams are below and one is tied. Below: Edmonton and Nashville (4.8); Islanders (5.1); Philadelphia (5.3); San Jose (5.4). Tied: Ottawa.
19. Also: who is the last regular to be on the ice for a goal against at five-on-five? Kiss of death mention for sure, but 18 players are above 50 minutes in that situation and zero goals allowed. Esa Lindell leads (117:19, per Natural Stat Trick). There are two complete forward lines: William Carrier-Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal (Carolina) and Filip Chytil-Will Cuylle-Kaapo Kakko (NYR).
20. A coach is nothing without good players, but surging Washington believes it has something special in Spencer Carbery. For example, Rasmus Sandin credited how the Carberator handled their end-of-season exit interview. Unusually, they didn’t have one before Sandin departed DC. “He told me, ‘Let’s not overthink this too much and let’s talk in a couple weeks,” Sandin said. When they did speak, “we had similar thoughts about my season. It wasn’t the best, it wasn’t terrible, it was average. It was OK. But that’s not what I want, that’s not what he wants … What’s going to be different?”
One of the keys: how Sandin could escape dangerous situations better. And how he could improve his shot. “I’ve always been a passer. We created a lot of chances to score, but either I overpass, or shot terrible.”
21. Raphael Lavoie waited in an Edmonton hotel two weeks ago while teams played ping-pong with his future. Waived by the Oilers, snared by Vegas, taken back by his original club — but unable to go to AHL Bakersfield because someone else put in a claim — then grabbed again by the Golden Knights, who sent him to AHL Henderson because the mystery team backed off.
Suspicion centred on Colorado, but a few sources denied that. I wondered about Dallas. First, I could see the Stars being intrigued by Lavoie, as he fits their identity profile. Second, they had depth/injury concerns. Mavrik Bourque started skating when Edmonton waived Lavoie a second time; his quick return from injury made me wonder if they could have changed their minds. Teams are not to discuss waiver claims if they don’t get the player.
22. This kind of craziness occasionally occurs. Eric Comrie went Winnipeg-Arizona-Detroit-Winnipeg over nine weeks in 2019. (One part of this was a trade.) Brian Burke recently reminisced about Wade Brookbank, who, from Dec. 17, 2003-Jan. 3, 2004 was traded twice and waived twice, going Ottawa-Vancouver-Ottawa-Florida-Vancouver. Over Christmas, no less, as Burke and then-Senators GM John Muckler played tug-of-war.
Lavoie’s agent, Philippe Lecavalier, had an interesting idea: a team that loses someone on waivers should drop to last on the priority list if that player is put back on. Makes sense, since waivers exist to give players opportunities for a fresh start if not in the NHL. Another suggestion was forcing teams to keep anyone claimed on their roster for, say, a week. CBA issue, let’s see if anyone wishes to address it.
23. Exemplary work by Columbus and Calgary in honouring Johnny Gaudreau, brother Matthew and families at their respective home openers. At the Blue Jackets’ home opener, Matthew Tkachuk was supposed to be opposite close-friend Gaudreau’s regular left-wing position — beautifully left vacant at puck drop. Unfortunately, his illness prevented that from occurring. Sam Bennett, who also played six-plus seasons with Gaudreau in Calgary, was an excellent replacement.
24. A few thoughts about goaltender interference. I agree some of the disallowed goals look incredibly soft. Two that stood out:
• Justin Brazeau’s interference Oct. 10 (Montreal/Boston)
• and Corey Perry during the Battle of Alberta three days later.
Linked here is the NHL video on crease contact. Considering his involvement, it’s funny Perry is prominently featured, and I laughed my head off when he “waved the white flag” from the bench earlier this month. But, you can make a strong argument that this is the most consistently enforced call in the rulebook. If you enter the blue paint without being pushed or held, it’s on you.
One recent difference: Claude Giroux’s 6-6 goal in Canadian Thanksgiving’s maniacal Kings/Senators 8-7 shootout. David Perron clips Darcy Kuemper’s skate, but the Situation Room ruled the goalie could still have made the save. Los Angeles lost its challenge.
Again, this call can look super weak. We should be biased towards goals, not against them. But if the league eases on this standard, it will lead to worse outcomes — especially during the playoffs, when the crease is attacked with gusto.
25. Where the NHL could really help itself is after a night like last Tuesday. Within hours, there were two different outcomes on two similar plays. Mikey Eyssimont had one disallowed for Tampa against Vancouver.
It is a video coach’s job to recognize rulings and understand trends, so when I saw Michkov’s first NHL goal, I knew Edmonton would challenge. The Oilers were overruled — Michkov’s score stood. At the time, Edmonton had more disallowed goals (four), than actual goals (three). This is where the league should explain the discrepancy, with video.
I have theories: That Eyssimont jammed his stick into Arturs Silovs’ pad and didn’t remove it; while Michkov swatted away at the puck several times, overpowering Stuart Skinner as opposed to ramming him into the net. But I don’t “know.” A video — a simple explanation and comparison — would go a long way.
26. Mats Sundin is promoting his new book: Home and Away, with Amy Stuart. We’ll save the details of our interview with him until it airs, with one exception. Ed Belfour, asked for a good story, thought for a few seconds, then broke into a big smile. “Mats threw the best Halloween parties,” he said. Sundin laughed, but was proud, seeing as how throwing parties is a captain’s duty.
Did he have any good costumes? “A priest,” was his answer. Did anyone else have any good costumes? Matt Nichol — a redhead — formerly the Maple Leafs’ strength and conditioning coach, once came as Daniel Alfredsson. Nichol now works in Ottawa. Hope he brings that one back for this year’s Senators’ extravaganza.
27. Two excellent finds from the great people at Sportsnet Stats. Macklin Celebrini’s first NHL goal came 7:01 into his first NHL game. That was the second-fastest score by a rookie in league history. The fastest? The great Mario Lemieux scored on his first-ever shot, at 2:59 of his debut (Oct. 11, 1984).
28. Second: OHL Windsor’s Ethan Belchetz — the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft — had a four-goal, six-point Gordie Howe hat trick on Sept. 28, a 12-2 win over Kitchener. Only once in NHL history has a “Howe” involved four goals, by Jeremy Roenick, on Feb. 24, 1994 against Winnipeg. Owen Nolan had six points (one goal, five assists) on March 5, 1992 — during a matchup that is no longer possible: Quebec vs. Hartford.
29. Major CHL meeting last week in Toronto, as approximately 57 teams were represented at an airport hotel. It’s something those leagues have wanted to do for a long time, an excellent opportunity to discuss things like best practices for growing the game. The NCAA’s expected easing of eligibility rules was another topic, with no one exactly sure how this is going to unfold.
What everyone does agree: It’s going to be chaos. The current NHL-CHL agreement does not expire at the same time as the NHL/NHLPA CBA (after the 2025-26 season), it extends beyond that. When the NHL floated the idea of a 19-year-old draft a few years ago, one of the facets to it was the possibility of USHL teams competing for the Memorial Cup. The biography of Steve Lowe, the Muskegon Lumberjacks’ president of hockey operations, disappeared from the team’s website on Wednesday. Hold on tight, going to be a wild ride.
30. Attended the third annual Dallas Stars Hall of Fame ceremony on Sunday. I’m on the voting committee — although there is much more expertise among the other selectors — and got back this year after missing it in 2023. One of the Stars’ charity beneficiaries is St. Philip’s School & Community Center. The players were introduced by four 13-year-olds from there, all of them far more talented at their age than I am at 54.
It’s a great event for a lot of reasons, but I particularly love the speeches. Broadcaster Daryl Reaugh feted the builder: Jim Lites, who hired Reaugh 28 seasons ago. Lites, with three different terms as team president, came from Detroit in 1993, playing a massive role in building the organization into what it is now. He made sure to thank a wide swath of people — for example, those near me were happy he recognized Brittany McMullen, executive assistant to the president/CEO — and discussed two truisms that are essential to winning: stable ownership (recognizing Mike Ilitch, Tom Hicks and Tom Gaglardi) and strong managers (Bob Gainey, Ken Holland, Doug Armstrong and Jim Nill).
Of the latter four, he pointed out two are in the Hall of Fame “and the other two will be there.” He said Ilitch once told him “you can do a great job managing people as long as you don’t care who gets the credit,” and that “everybody walked taller working with Gainey.”
31. Then, Brett Hull grabbed the microphone to welcome the player inductee: former captain Brenden Morrow. Hull started by saying if Lites took any longer, Morrow wouldn’t be honoured until next year, and it got better from there. Morrow looked like “he’s about 12, but when he got on the ice, he was a baby-faced assassin … He was destined to be captain, there was no chance he wasn’t going to be captain.”
Hull described one game where a teammate was warned by the NHL not to fight someone, but Morrow, feeling frontier justice was necessary, took it upon himself to engage, instead. He closed by saying that Morrow “is the greatest ball finder in the world in golf,” and therefore “should have scored more goals (with that) great vision.”
The day before, while attending the Stars’ win over Edmonton, Morrow admitted he isn’t crazy about public speaking and his friends basically thought he’d be terrible. He said he considered all of the things you’re supposed to do to make it easier, such as imaging the audience naked, “But I didn’t realize my parents would have such great seats.” (He got very emotional discussing them and his older brother.)
Then he talked about a teammate who was angry on the team plane about being benched a game or two. Another Star, Sami Helenius, who had a great attitude, spoke up and said, “You know what, I’ve sat 17 games in a row.” Morrow said it bothered him he hadn’t been aware of that, and was determined not to miss such details ever again. (This was 2001-02, his third NHL season.) Great event, I love stuff like this.
32. Just finished reading Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters, written by Susan Page. I’m not within a universe of Walters’ work, but there were times I found myself nodding with understanding about choices she made. A God in her field. Next: When the Sea Came Alive. It’s an oral history of D-Day. During hockey season, I try to read non-sports, just for sanity.