With a quarter of the 2023-24 season behind us, theScore’s Jean Matisz And Josh Wegman offer their views on four captivating topics for the world of hockey.
Which realistically available defenseman should the Maple Leafs target in a trade?
Matisz: With regulars Mark Giordano, Timothy Liljegren and John Klingberg all out for extended periods, the Leafs have a clear need on the blue line.
They would have I have my eye on Chris Tanev of the Flames, and I don’t hate the idea. But I think Toronto would be better off targeting a responsible right-handed defenseman with a lower ceiling, some upside, or maybe both.
Nashville’s Dante Fabbro, whose name has been floating around in rumors for at least a year now, checks both boxes. The Predators team is in transition and the 25-year-old strikes me as a typical change of scenery guy.
Fabbro has arguably been the Preds’ best defensive defender this season. From 130 NHL defensemen to have logged 300 or more minutes at five-on-five, the 2016 first-rounder ranks 23rd in suppressing high-danger shot attempts – an area in which Toronto struggles. This isn’t a small-sample performance increase, either: Fabbro has posted solid defensive metrics throughout his career.
A pending restricted free agent, Fabbro only makes $2.5 million, and he won’t have the stats to command a huge raise this offseason. The Leafs also need defensemen for the future (Morgan Rielly is the only defenseman signed after 2024-25). In my opinion, Toronto can invest in Fabbro now and, if necessary, add another rearguard as the March 8 trade deadline approaches.
Wegman: I like Fabbro, but for a team under pressure to succeed in the playoffs, battle-tested Tanev is the superior option. He’s exactly the type of defenseman Toronto needs: elite defensive, courageous, proven and skilled at moving the puck.
Tanev, 33, could be part of one of Toronto’s top two defensive pairs and make an instant impact. But his presence would be very valuable alongside Rielly, who has never had a sturdy right-handed partner even remotely of Tanev’s caliber.
Even though Tanev is a pending unrestricted free agent, he could potentially be re-signed given his prior relationship with Leafs general manager Brad Treliving – who signed Tanev during his time with the Flames – and the fact that he east of Toronto.
Which team needs a coaching change the most?
Matisz: The Senators, by a landslide.
DJ Smith, Ottawa’s head coach since May 2019, is sitting in a hot spot after entering a projected season ahead with the ninth-worst points percentage in the NHL (9-10-0 record). The penalty kill sucks, ranking 27th out of 32 teams in success rate, and the power play isn’t much better, ranking 22nd.
One more figure: 9.4%.
These are Ottawa’s current playoff chances, according to MoneyPuck.
Smith no longer has late owner Eugene Melnyk and former general manager Pierre Dorion to go through a difficult hockey patch with. The new owner-management duo – Michael Andlauer and president Steve Staios – seem hesitant to make a quick decision regarding coaching, of course, but the season is passing quickly.
It’s never anything to lose. But coaching is part of it. A lot of it.
Wegman: While I agree that Ottawa is long overdue for a change behind the bench, no team has more on the line this season than the Penguins. If they don’t succeed this year, it will likely be over for the aging core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson.
We have already seen two teams benefit from the new coach effect. The Edmonton Oilers are 6-3-0 under Kris Knoblauch, while the Minnesota Wild are 3-0-0 under John Hynes.
I think Mike Sullivan is a great coach, but it seems like he was educated in Pittsburgh. And a new voice has always served the Penguins well. Dan Bylsma was hired mid-season before the Pens’ 2009 Stanley Cup run, and Sullivan himself was hired mid-season before the 2016 and 2017 championships.
An 11-10-3 start has the Penguins on the verge of missing the playoffs for the second straight campaign – unacceptable for a group clearly in win-now mode. New general manager Kyle Dubas can’t afford to wait any longer.
Rank the top 5 teams in the heaviest Western Conference
Matisz: Coming out of summer, I had the Golden Knights, Avalanche, Oilers and Stars as the strongest teams in the conference. Nearly two months later, I find it impossible not to pick the Kings as the team to beat the West.
No club in the the entire NHL currently operates on par with Los Angeles.
They are a defensive juggernaut: per game, the Kings allow the fewest goals, the fewest expected goals, the second-fewest shots on goal, the second-fewest shot attempts and the fewest slot shots. They attack in waves; the Quinton Byfield-Anze Kopitar-Adrian Kempe trio was unreal, and Phillip Danault, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Blake Lizotte also center very effective trios. Oh, and Los Angeles’ unheralded goaltending duo is, in a word, reliable.
Vegas and Colorado are my No. 2 and No. 3 teams, respectively. The defending champion Golden Knights – who lost just one key contributor, Reilly Smith, in the offseason – look no less dangerous than last year. Meanwhile, the top of the Avalanche roster continues to wreak havoc. The slight edge goes to Vegas because I trust their team’s defense and goaltending a little more.
Dallas is clearly number 4 in the Western Conference, and Vancouver rounds out the top five.
Wegman: For me, the Golden Knights are #1 until proven otherwise.
By leading the Western Conference in points – despite some notable injuries – they have done nothing to warrant their elimination from that spot. As John noted above, they brought back virtually the same group that was prevalent throughout the rest of the NHL in the 2023 playoffs. Their physical style of hockey makes them a tough nut to crack in the playoffs.
After Vegas, I have the Kings at #2, the Avalanche at #3, the Stars at #4 and the Canucks at a distant #5.
I’ve considered putting the Avalanche at number two, but their overall lack of depth concerns me (more than Alexandar Georgiev’s struggles).
The Canucks, meanwhile, are back down to earth with a 5-5-0 record in their last 10 games. I still think they’re a playoff team, but I don’t think they’re among the conference’s elite.
The All-Star Game draft is back. What other wrinkle should be added to the weekend?
Matisz: The league should leverage its NHL Edge tracking data and other statistical metrics to determine participants in its skills competitions.
Rasmus Kupari, who reached a league-high top speed of 23.95 miles per hour earlier this season, is expected to compete in the fastest skating competition. Radko Gudas, the current leader in maximum shot speed at 101.7 mph, is expected to compete for the most powerful shot. Darcy Kuemper, undefeated on 11 shootouts and penalty shots, should be involved in any iteration of shootouts we see this year. And the list continues.
It would also be nice if All-Star Weekend incorporated prospects in some way. Perhaps an on-ice showcase for draft-eligible kids, similar to the annual CHL Top Prospects Game – except it would air on a night without NHL games.
Wegman: Enough to have a representative from each team. This is not a house league where everyone gets a participation ribbon. Frankly, there’s no reason for a Sharks player to be an All-Star just because he’s the best player on the worst team. He takes the place of a much more deserving player who happens to be the second or third best on his team.
I have no problem with the draft format. This should be good entertainment. But in a future All-Star game, I would like to see the return of Team North America against Team World, which was used from 1998 to 2002. International bragging rights – even if the All-Star Games are essentially scrimmages – makes more sense than conference or division supremacy.
You may see players trying just one little a little harder.
(Advanced statistics courtesy Hockey in evolution And Natural Stats Tip)
