Get ready for our Blueline Blowout edition! We’re featuring the best D-men from around the NHL, from Erik Karlsson to Brent Burns to Victor Hedman to Kris Letang to Ivan Provorov to Jones & Werenski to the entire Hurricanes corps. Plus, on the 25th anniversary of the film, we have an oral history of The Mighty Ducks!

December 4, 2017

The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. THN is published 18 times a year, including 14 regular issues and four special issues – such as Future Watch, Draft Preview, Yearbook, the #1 selling hockey annual in North America.

The Hockey News - December 4, 2017

<div class="byline">Jason Kay Editor in chief @JKTHN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-0162/221243-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="293" height="376"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>HAT DO NICKLAS LIDSTROM,</b> Al MacInnis, Brian Leetch, Scott Niedermayer, Larry Robinson and Duncan Keith have in common? Plenty. Each won at least one Norris, one Cup and one Conn Smythe. And none of these Hall of Fame shooins got within a Zdeno Chara wingspan of the Hart. Nor did Scott Stevens, Chris Chelios or Paul Coffey. Ditto so far for Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty and Chara. Mama, don&rsquo;t let your children grow up to be superstar defensemen&hellip;not if you want them to be considered for the NHL&rsquo;s foremost individual honor.</p><p>Only one blueliner has won the MVP since Bobby Orr completed his Hart hat trick in 1972. That was Chris Pronger in 2000. Perhaps more curious is that none has even been a finalist, top three in balloting, since Pronger orchestrated what in retrospect is a near miracle.</p><p>It wasn&rsquo;t always this way. From 1927 to 1969, the year before Orr&rsquo;s first, the Hart was won by a defenseman nine times and one was second or third on 15 occasions. Blueliners were winners or finalists in 57 percent of those years. In the 30 years from Orr&rsquo;s first triumph to 1999, the percentage dipped to 37. Post-Pronger, it&rsquo;s been total darkness.</p><p>To quote philosopher Stewie Griffin, &ldquo;What the deuce?&rdquo; Have forwards become that much more valuable? The evidence suggests not. During this 17- year Hart shutout streak, defensemen have won the Conn Smythe seven times. Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association vote for both awards, though the Conn Smythe panel is smaller. Do voters now perceive the Hart as forwards-only territory? Strike two. Since Pronger&rsquo;s Hart, goalies have won the trophy twice and been in the top three on six other occasions.</p><p>Perhaps progress is to blame. Here&rsquo;s the theory. The growth of the NHL from six to 31 teams has typically stunted the number of times beat reporters see opposing clubs. At the same time, the explosion of visual media has created a saturation of product. The stars of the mega coverage are nearly always the guys who score and save. Defensemen do some of their best work away from the camera. What we&rsquo;re left with as primary research tools for voting are stats, highlights and assessments from others in the industry.</p><p>By contrast, Conn Smythe voters lean on the eye test. Night in, night out, they&rsquo;ve been able to see Keith control the flow of a game; marvel at Lidstrom&rsquo;s flawless, no-panic mastery; sense the energy in the building crescendo as Niedermayer dynamically leads rushes; and feel their pulses quicken as Stevens delivers soul-crushing blows and MacInnis fires bone-crushing shots. They witness how frequently coaches use their most trusted D-man &ndash; about 15 to 20 percent more than their top TOI forward &ndash; and in all critical situations.</p><p>One of my colleagues suggests the tide could turn with this wave of outstanding puck-movers we&rsquo;re now blessed with, many of whom are featured in this edition. Or maybe it will be progress that helps recalibrate the scale. Specifically, possession statistics, in which players such as Karlsson and Doughty excel, could be the forward- thinking tool writers consider to become more defense-oriented.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-0261/221236-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="228" height="123"></div><span class="image-inline"><img src="-012.jpg" title="com-01" width="22" height="18"></span><p><b>NEXT ISSUE</b> ON SALE DEC.4,2017<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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IN THIS ISSUE

THERE’S NO ‘D’ IN MVP

<div class="byline">BY JASON BUCKLAND</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-0161/222009-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE PUCK SNAPPED OFF</b> the stick, rose from the ice, and struck hard under the visor. As he crumpled in a heap, swallowed by a pain unlike any he had ever known, the young phenom thought&hellip; what, exactly?</p><p>This, even Zach Werenski isn&rsquo;t sure.</p><p>It was Game 3 of the Columbus Blue Jackets&rsquo; first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins last spring, and Werenski had reached to challenge a Phil Kessel shot from the slot. As Werenski&rsquo;s blade met Kessel&rsquo;s at the point of release, the puck leapt upward and rocketed along the shaft of Werenski&rsquo;s stick, its forward momentum halted only by his right orbital bone and eye socket.</p><p>For Werenski, darkness. His world went black, his ears grew deaf with ringing. There was no shock, no brief reprieve from agony. Only pain, immediate and crippling, as the ice began to pool red beneath him.</p><p>&ldquo;The blood,&rdquo; said Werenski&rsquo;s defense partner Seth Jones, &ldquo;was coming out quick.&rdquo;</p><p>Werenski staggered to his feet. He had been hurt before in sports, felled once in elementary school by a wrist he broke playing football, but he&rsquo;d felt nothing like this before. He skated in a panic toward the bench. Trainer Mike Vogt sped to meet him with a towel for the blood that would not stop gushing from his face. A harried Werenski squinted up at Vogt. &ldquo;What do I do?&rdquo; he asked.</p><p>At the very moment Werenski was able to find a door to leave the ice, Columbus, suddenly down a man and afforded no whistle to stop the action, surrendered the tying goal. The Blue Jackets later lost the game in overtime, and the Penguins took a 3-0 series lead.</p><p>Werenski&rsquo;s horrific injury &ndash; which left him with a broken orbital bone, several fractures around his eye socket and serious sinus damage &ndash; would eventually mark the end of his season, an attempt to return to the game behind a special mask cut short by swelling around his eye that wouldn&rsquo;t cease. Indeed, Columbus didn&rsquo;t last much longer, losing the series to the eventual Stanley Cup champs a few nights later.</p><p>And yet, for a team fighting to gain a leaguewide reverence that its famously boisterous coach feels it so recently had none of, the night may have signalled much more for Columbus.</p><p>When Werenski returned to that game six months ago, he did so alongside Columbus&rsquo; other great hope for the future, who makes up the other half of what may be one of the NHL&rsquo;s best blue- line duos. Like Werenski, Jones couldn&rsquo;t stop the Penguins. But in their two young defensemen, Columbus has uncovered not one but two franchise linchpins that could finally spell bright days ahead in the Ohio capital. The hope is Jones, 23, and Werenski, 20, will lead this oncemoribund franchise to league prominence, perhaps sooner than you think. &ldquo;Our mantra last year was just to earn respect in the league, because we had zero of it,&rdquo; said coach John Tortorella. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve found our way a little bit.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-0159/222002-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="598" height="547"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-0224/221995-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="754" height="459"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>THE FUTURE IS NOW</b> Jones and Werenski have youth, talent and desire on their side, which bodes well for a Blue Jackets franchise that&rsquo;s itching to move up the NHL ranks and become an annual playoff contender.<span class="photo-credit">(OPENER: GETTY IMAGES; JONES: JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; WERENSKI: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS OUR RELATIONSHIP ON THE ICE WAS SO GOOD IS BECAUSE OUR RELATIONSHIP OFF THE ICE WAS REALLY GOOD</b><br>&ndash; ZACH WERENSKI</blockquote><p><b>THE TRAJECTORY OF</b> an NHL franchise can hinge on any number of moments, though the Blue Jackets might be able to trace their rising stock to a precise date nearly two years ago.</p><p>On Jan. 6, 2016, Columbus acquired Jones from Nashville in a trade for star center, Ryan Johansen. The subtext was easy to spot: Johansen was a stud, an All-Star Game representative in 2015 and the Blue Jackets&rsquo; top scorer over the previous two seasons combined. Yet Columbus remained, in some ways, a tomato can. The Blue Jackets missed the playoffs in 2014- 15 for the fifth time in six seasons &ndash; and the 12th time in the 14-season history of the franchise up to that point. A change in philosophy was needed, and in Jones, the much-hyped defenseman drafted fourth overall by the Nashville Predators in 2013, Columbus was committing to something else entirely. &ldquo;To be one of those top organizations in the league that we all strive to be, you need to build through the middle,&rdquo; said Tortorella, who arrived behind the Columbus bench some 10 weeks before the team obtained Jones. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s goaltenders, and you have to have a defense.&rdquo;</p><p>In net, Columbus has a goalie who&rsquo;s about as good as it gets in Sergei Bobrovsky, the reigning (and two-time) Vezina Trophy winner. But what it uncovered in Jones was the second step toward a new future, a commitment to a style of play that Tortorella and the team&rsquo;s management considered the most efficient, most economical way to climb out of the basement.</p><p>The first step came a little more than six months before Jones landed in Ohio. On June 26, 2015, the Blue Jackets drafted Werenski, a University of Michigan star from nearby Grosse Pointe, at eighth overall. The hope was that after some more time at Michigan and a little seasoning in the AHL he&rsquo;d one day anchor a young, versatile two-way defense corps.</p><p>Werenski had other ideas for how long Columbus would have to wait. He spent one final season in college and then jumped straight into the heat of the AHL playoff race, leading the Blue Jackets&rsquo; minor-league affiliate to the Calder Cup. Tortorella watched him play throughout that post-season run and believed Werenski, then still only 18, was ready for the big-time.</p><p>In his first five games in the NHL last season, Werenski had five points, including two goals. Tortorella quickly paired Werenski alongside Jones, whom the coach also pressed into duty as an off-ice mentor to the teenage rookie.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-0146/221988-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="797" height="651"></div><p>It was an intriguing arrangement. Jones was still only 21 at the time, placed in the unlikely role of veteran leader. For Tortorella, though, it just made sense: what better way to make a young star (Jones) flourish than by having him take an even younger star (Werenski) under his wing?</p><p>The duo&rsquo;s swift rise brought envy from the entire league. And yet it was in each other that Jones and Werenski found their biggest fan. Jones couldn&rsquo;t help himself during one game last season, late in the third period against Washington, when he watched Werenski skate down the left side from the point and rip a puck through traffic to tie the score. &ldquo;That,&rdquo; Jones said, &ldquo;was eye-opening. It couldn&rsquo;t have been a much more perfect shot.&rdquo;</p><p>Werenski, for his part, could only marvel at a play by his blueline partner against Boston last season, when Columbus was riding a 12-game win streak it would eventually run to 16. The rookie looked on as winger Scott Hartnell peeked around the net and put the puck right onto the tape of Jones, who blasted it home as the arena&rsquo;s roof nearly exploded. &ldquo;He let an absolute missile go,&rdquo; said Werenski with wonder. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a bomb of a one-timer.&rdquo;</p><p>They gush about one another, these two, and Columbus management will surely relish that Jones and Werenski also count themselves as friends away from the rink. &ldquo;One of the main reasons our relationship on the ice was so good,&rdquo; Werenski said, &ldquo;is because our relationship off the ice was really good.&rdquo;</p><p>If chemistry in sports is nearly unquantifiable, it can at least be felt, and when it is present it is undeniable. Jones and Werenski have in themselves two very similar players &ndash; big, offensively gifted defensemen who take a certain pride in shutting down an opposing team&rsquo;s attack. Yet more than that, they also displayed an unusual cohesion for first-year teammates.</p><p>One play late last season in Ottawa sticks out. About two minutes into the first period, Jones gathered the puck along the right boards deep in his own end. In an instant, he found Werenski rifling up the ice, carving ahead with the puck in transition. Werenski drew three Senators toward him, only to discover Brandon Saad streaking near the blueline. Saad took the pass, ripped the puck into the net, and from the rear of the play Jones and Werenski could only look at each other and laugh, their role in turning a threat at one end <b>M</b> into a chance at the other best recognized without verbal acknowledgement. &ldquo;We just read off each other on the ice,&rdquo; Jones said. &ldquo;There was kind of that instant chemistry between us.&rdquo;</p><p>Columbus returned to the playoffs last year in no small part because of the output from Jones and Werenski. Jones had a career-high 42 points and was named to his first All-Star Game. Werenski, part of a sensational fraternity of NHL rookies last season, had 47 points of his own, breaking Rich Nash&rsquo;s franchise rookie record, no matter that Nash tallied his own statistics as a hard-charging forward, not a defenseman.</p><p>In any other year, save for the frontrunners Tortorella cheerfully referred to as &ldquo;that kid in Toronto&rdquo; (Auston Matthews) and &ldquo;that kid in Winnipeg&rdquo; (Patrik Laine), Werenski would&rsquo;ve been named rookie of the year, too.</p><p><b>MANY IN COLUMBUS</b> are still scarred by the gruesome injury that felled Werenski and stopped short his first taste of playoff hockey in the NHL. &ldquo;I try to forget it because it was just awful,&rdquo; said Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno. When Werenski returned to that game against Pittsburgh after being stitched up, his face was so puffy and misshapen Foligno could only offer that it looked like Werenski had been &ldquo;stung by a bumblebee &ndash; or 20,000 of them.&rdquo;</p><p>Werenski must wear the real scar left by that puck, though its mark may not only be cosmetic. A smack like that, and his subsequent insistence to rejoin his team on the ice, has a funny way of endearing yourself to an NHL dressing room. &ldquo;He gained so much respect for the way that he handled it,&rdquo; Foligno said. &ldquo;I think Zach will be a better player for it.&rdquo; (Moments before Werenski shared a stomachchurning photo of his face on Twitter after the game, Tortorella remarked best on the incident, volunteering that the rookie had &ldquo;balls as big as the building.&rdquo;)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-0228/221981-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="239" height="292"></div><p>In the ranks of young Columbus leadership, then, Werenski will join Jones, his partner on defense. &ldquo;When (Jones) speaks, guys listen,&rdquo; Foligno said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not easy to do (as a young player), but he backs it up with his play. Guys will follow a guy like that.&rdquo;</p><p>The Blue Jackets have their relative geezers &ndash; winger Cam Atkinson is 28, Foligno is 29, defenseman Jack Johnson is 30 &ndash; but if this franchise is to build on the respect that its coach believes it has finally earned, it&rsquo;ll be on the shoulders of its most youthful players. Last season, only Winnipeg had a younger average age than Columbus. The stars among the Jackets&rsquo; young core &ndash; Jones, Werenski and 23-year-old center Alexander Wennberg &ndash; all must prove they can cut it in the playoffs for the team to truly contend.</p><p>In Columbus, Jones and Werenski are known as something of a laid-back duo, not quiet, per se, but certainly not as fiery as their notoriously brooding coach. Yet opponents would be best not to mistake that attitude as complacency.</p><p>Jones was asked if he felt a certain kinship to his former teammates in Nashville, who roared to the Stanley Cup final last season without him. Did he feel jealous? Perhaps he could be forgiven if he was even rooting for the Predators, the team he&rsquo;d spent his earliest and most impressionable days with in this league. But the suggestion was batted away, like a charging forward in his end. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to choose favorites in the Cup final,&rdquo; Jones said, &ldquo;unless I&rsquo;m in it.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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BLOOD BROTHERS

<div class="byline">PHOTO BY GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-0164/221463-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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WHEN PROS BECOME BROS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; STEVEN ELLIS</div><p>These five also missed big time last year. How are they faring early?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0238/222266-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="239" height="274"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVEN <b>STAMKOS</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>STEVEN STAMKOS</b></h2><h3><b>TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING</b></h3><p><b>2016-17 TIME MISSED:</b> 65 games</p><p>Last year, with him playing in just 17 games due to a knee injury, the Lightning missed the playoffs. Now, nobody can stop them. Stamkos shifting into Nikita Kucherov&rsquo;s set-up man had both men off to record-setting starts</p><h2><b>JONATHAN QUICK</b></h2><h3><b>LOS ANGELES KINGS</b></h3><p><b>2016-17 TIME MISSED:</b> 59 games</p><p>A groin injury shelved him for five months after Game 1 of 2016-17. By the time he returned, it was too late to save his team from missing the playoffs. This year, he&rsquo;s top five in nearly every category, and the Kings sat atop the Pacific.</p><h2><b>JONATHAN HUBERDEAU</b></h2><h3><b>FLORIDA PANTHERS</b></h3><p><b>2016-17 TIME MISSED:</b> 51 games</p><p>Huberdeau&rsquo;s career has been filled with injuries, but missing 51 games after Achilles surgery last season was by far the lengthiest stretch on the sidelines. This season, he&rsquo;s on pace to score nearly 40 goals and top 100 points.</p><h2><b>MAX DOMI</b></h2><h3><b>ARIZONA COYOTES</b></h3><p><b>2016-17 TIME MISSED:</b> 23 games</p><p>Domi missed 23 games with a hand injury sustained in a fight. The Coyotes were off to an epically bad start this year, but his nine points through 13 games was second in team scoring behind rookie sensation Clayton Keller.</p><h2><b>JACK EICHEL</b></h2><h3><b>BUFFALO SABRES</b></h3><p><b>2016-17 TIME MISSED:</b> 21 games</p><p>Eichel&rsquo;s went on a tear last year after missing 21 games with a high ankle sprain. He carried that into this season and was on pace for a career-high 82-points after signing a monster eightyear extension in October.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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SHELVED STARS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0111/221307-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="474" height="352"></div><h2><b>Where&rsquo;s Victor?</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>o 19-year-old Victor Mete can play on the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; top defense pairing with Shea Weber but can&rsquo;t crack the THN Top 100 21-and-Under list in your Prospects Unlimited issue? Gross misconduct to Team THN for that foul.</p><p><b>BRIAN HUNSBERGER, WATERLOO, ONT.</b></p><h2><b>Where&rsquo;s Matthew?</b></h2><p>I cannot believe that you ignored 2016 WHL rookie-ofthe- year Matthew Phillips of the Victoria Royals in this list. I hope that his size was not a factor. Or is it because he plays in a locale that is just too far west for your radar?</p><p><b>GEORGE MACDONALD, VICTORIA, B.C.</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0212/221300-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="54" height="54"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>THN POLL</b></h2><p><b><a href="http://twitter.com/thehockeynews">twitter.com/TheHockeyNews</a></b></p><p>Who is the best under-six-foot defenseman in the NHL today?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-039/221293-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="251" height="225"></div><p><b>SHAYNE GOSTISBEHERE</b> <b>47%</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-048/221286-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="252" height="240"></div><p><b>ANTON STRALMAN</b> <b>19%</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-056/221279-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg" title="f0005-05" width="307" height="232"></div><p><b>TOREY KRUG</b> <b>17%</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-064/221272-1-eng-US/f0005-062.jpg" title="f0005-06" width="262" height="229"></div><p><b>TYSON BARRIE</b> <b>17%</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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YOUR SAY

<span class="image-inline"><img src="-022.jpg" title="com-02" width="17" height="17"></span><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>ick Lidstrom, and anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Look at his stats. He played against the top line of every team in every situation until the day he retired. A master of positioning and a hockey IQ that was off the charts.</p><p><b>&ndash; Kevin Sist</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-012.jpg" title="com-01" width="22" height="18"></span><p>Ray Bourque. He didn&rsquo;t have the chance to play his entire career on great teams like Paul Coffey or Lidstrom. He&rsquo;s the best.</p><p><b>&ndash; @GirouxRobert</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-022.jpg" title="com-02" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Doug Harvey. He won the Norris Trophy seven times, which is second all-time to only Orr. Also, he was a key part of a Canadiens team where he won SIX STANLEY CUPS. Harvey is arguably the best defensive defensemen of all-time and still put up relatively good point totals. He controlled the play through precision passing and great skating.</p><p><b>&ndash; Michael De Melo</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-012.jpg" title="com-01" width="22" height="18"></span><p>Denis Potvin. Could score, could pass and everyone on the ice was scared of him. In the era of hockey fights, no one went near him.</p><p><b>&ndash; @mymets86</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-022.jpg" title="com-02" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Paul Coffey. Known for his speed and scoring prowess, Coffey ranks second all-time among NHL defensemen in career goals, assists and points, behind only Ray Bourque. He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s best defenseman three times and was voted to eight end-of-season NHL all-star teams (four first-team and four second-team). He holds the record for the most goals by a defenseman in a single season, with 48 in 1985-86, and he&rsquo;s the only defenseman to have scored 40 goals more than once, also doing it in 1983-84. Coffey is also one of only two defenseman to score 100 points in a season more than once, as he did it five times; Bobby Orr did it on six occasions.</p><p><b>&ndash; Devin Button</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-022.jpg" title="com-02" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Eddie Shore &ndash; old-time hockey. One of the few defensemen before Orr who could score, and a monster in his zone.</p><p><b>&ndash; Larry Powell</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-012.jpg" title="com-01" width="22" height="18"></span><p>Chris Chelios, because he was a beast in everything he was doing.</p><p><b>&ndash; @NickKavadias</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-012.jpg" title="com-01" width="22" height="18"></span><p>Larry Robinson. As solid a defender as you can find and he was also able to aid the offense. And just ask Dave &lsquo;The Hammer&rsquo; Schultz about his toughness.</p><p><b>&ndash; @JeffBaker_4</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-022.jpg" title="com-02" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Brad Park finished as runner-up for the Norris Trophy six times. Presumably if Bobby Orr was not in the league, Park would have won. Therefore, the best defenseman not named Orr would be Brad Park</p><p><b>&ndash; Andrew Ray</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-012.jpg" title="com-01" width="22" height="18"></span><p>Though he never won a Norris Trophy, Scott Stevens had to do everything for three teams! We know him for his physical play, but did you know that he was the Devils&rsquo; leading scorer in the 1993-94 season? He had 78 points that year!</p><p><b>&ndash; @BronxSportsFan</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-022.jpg" title="com-02" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Brian Leetch. I got to see him in his prime growing up as a Capitals fan. Always an offensive threat from the blueline. Jumped into plays or went coast-to-coast if the play was there. Such a swift and fluid skater.</p><p><b>&ndash; Mike Di Pietro</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-022.jpg" title="com-02" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Chris Pronger. Mountain of a man. He would dominate the blueline like no one&rsquo;s business. Whether it was offense or defense, he was the best. Plus, no one would dare fight him. Just ask the Oilers how valuable he was.</p><p><b>&ndash; Pascal Riou</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-012.jpg" title="com-01" width="22" height="18"></span><p>Zdeno Chara. Combination of size, skill and the league&rsquo;s hardest shot made him such a force. &ldquo;6- foot-9 and he&rsquo;s a ballerina!&rdquo; &ndash; Bruins play-by-play man Jack Edwards.</p><p><b>&ndash; @BBaumken</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-022.jpg" title="com-02" width="17" height="17"></span><p>Slava Fetisov. One of only five players to win the Grand Slam of Hockey (Stanley Cup, Olympic gold, World Championship, World Junior Championship and Canada/World Cup). If he hadn&rsquo;t been stuck behind the Iron Curtain until 1989, he would have been able to display his skills in the NHL when he was in his prime.</p><p><b>&ndash; Mike Loveland</b></p><span class="image-inline"><img src="-022.jpg" title="com-02" width="17" height="17"></span><p>My boy Darren in our beer league. He can&rsquo;t skate, can&rsquo;t shoot and can&rsquo;t check &ndash; but the dude never misses his turn to buy the beer.</p><p><b>&ndash; Jose Conquistador</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

SOAPBOX

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-0145/221506-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="465" height="420"><figcaption class="caption-body">ADAM <b>FOX</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>LAN HEPPLE HAS A</b> joke about Cale Makar: &ldquo;Can he play defense?&rdquo; said Colorado&rsquo;s director of amateur scouting. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know &ndash; he always has the puck.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-0235/221499-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="95" height="95"></div><p>Makar was drafted fourth overall by the Avalanche in 2017 and, as Hepple explains, it was a no-hesitation pick for his franchise. Now a freshman at UMass-Amherst, Makar made a name for himself in the Alberta Jr. A League last year with the Brooks Bandits, then saw his stock shoot up after a record-setting performance at the World Jr. A Challenge. The blueliner is a great skater who moves the puck fast and thinks the game quickly. Makar is 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, playing a position that traditionally was the domain of 6-foot-4 beasts who easily eclipsed the 200-pound mark. What if Makar had been up for the draft 10 or 20 years ago? &ldquo;Geez,&rdquo; Hepple said. &ldquo;It would&rsquo;ve been a tougher pick.&rdquo;</p><p>Luckily for Makar, he came along at the right time. With puck-moving wizards like Erik Karlsson and Ryan Ellis making major waves in the NHL, being small no longer disqualifies a player from being highly coveted. In fact, the only defenseman to go higher than Makar in 2017 was third overall pick Miro Heiskanen, who&rsquo;s listed at 6-feet and just 170 pounds.</p><p>At the World Junior Summer Showcase in Michigan, the tournament&rsquo;s top scorer was Team USA defenseman Adam Fox, all of 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds. Fox is a Calgary Flames pick (66th overall in 2016) currently playing for Harvard, and while his skating isn&rsquo;t on the same level as Makar&rsquo;s, Fox processes the game just as well. &ldquo;It was really his hockey sense and his puck poise,&rdquo; said Flames GM Brad Treliving. &ldquo;It was elite.&rdquo;</p><p>Treliving noted that Flames scout Jim Cummins had a strong feeling about Fox all along, and the early returns have been very promising. But the evolution of the game in the past few years might be what really brings value to Fox as a player. &ldquo;The rules of where the game is at plays a big role in your personnel decisions,&rdquo; Treliving said. &ldquo;Being able to move pucks has never been more important. You have to be able to transition the play and have hockey sense.&rdquo;</p><p>With less clutching, grabbing and hooking out there, racecars can do just as much damage as tanks &ndash; maybe more. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s such a focus on speed,&rdquo; Treliving said. &ldquo;And you don&rsquo;t have to go through all the stickiness like you did back in the day.&rdquo;</p><p>Size is still an asset, Treliving cautioned, but it&rsquo;s not the be-all, end-all trait it once was. And youngsters such as Makar, Fox and Montreal Canadiens rookie Victor Mete (5-foot-9, 184 pounds) aren&rsquo;t just a cluster. They&rsquo;re the beginning of a promising wave that includes several 2018 prospects. Based on the early returns, puck-moving defensemen could be the deepest archetype in next summer&rsquo;s draft. Consensus No. 1 pick Rasmus Dahlin is the biggest at 6-foot-2, while Adam Boqvist, Quinn Hughes, Ryan Merkley and Ty Smith all come in under six feet. Treliving said many of these players have already been on the radar for more than a year, as their skill sets made them visible no matter what league or country they were playing in. It&rsquo;s now hard to imagine a big, tough-but-immobile defender being a top-10 pick. &ldquo;The days of sideburns and cigarettes are gone,&rdquo; said one NHL scout. &ldquo;Times change. The teams that win have speed and youth. I know teams like big players that can push guys around for the playoffs, but look at the teams that win. Look at Pittsburgh, look at Chicago.&rdquo;</p><p>Having one behemoth on the blueline is fine, the scout continued, but you can&rsquo;t have three like in the Dead Puck Era. While the puck-moving trend is finally breaking the size bias, progress has been slow. The NHL scout said he first had a &ldquo;eureka&rdquo; moment when he watched 5-foot-11 Alex Goligoski in his draft year &ndash; and that was back in 2004. And Hepple noted that for years, NHL teams were missing out on forwards with lots of skill because they were thought to be too small. Now, the game has already pushed out most enforcers, while defensemen who can make the first forechecker miss and get the puck out cleanly are gold. Most of the time, this will be done with speed. But even players like Fox, who is a decent but not elite skater, are so smart that they can make plays anyway. A quick mind is just as valuable. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the puck-mover, it&rsquo;s the guy that can think,&rdquo; Hepple said. &ldquo;Your offense starts from the back end. The NHL is a track meet. If you can&rsquo;t keep up physically and mentally, you&rsquo;re in trouble.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>GROWING SMALLER</b></h2><p>In the past 20 NHL drafts, 185 defensemen have been picked in Round 1. Of those, just 30 have been 6-feet or under (16.2%). In 2017, it was five of eight (62.5%). Extreme aberration or trend? Find out in June 2018.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-0314/221492-1-eng-US/f0009-032.jpg" title="f0009-03" width="1097" height="283"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(FOX: PATRICK GORSKI/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0009-01

BUZZ

MIND OVER MATTER

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE TELJEUR</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0164/221570-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="697" height="1003"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0244/221563-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="138" height="173"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p><i>ALEX TUCH</i></p><h2><b>My WEAPON</b></h2><p><b>ALEX TUCH | WARRIOR ALPHA QX</b></p><p><b>I HAVE THE WARRIOR</b> Alpha QX, and that really fits my style: mid-kick, pretty whippy. The blade has a good feel, and it has around a 95 to 100 flex. Over the years &ndash; I used to use Easton back in the day &ndash; I&rsquo;ve always had a really whippy stick. I used CCM last year because I was in the AHL, and it was tough for me. It&rsquo;s a stiffer stick, and, personally, it doesn&rsquo;t have a great feel &ndash; other guys love it. I didn&rsquo;t like the blade and the feel, and I struggled at times. It&rsquo;s still a great stick, and I could use it, but Warrior reached out this year and I gave them a CCM and a Bauer to look at. I used Bauer for years in college, at the world juniors and at the U.S. program, and I love Bauer. I gave them those and they made two sticks; one I hated, and one I loved.</p><p><b>&ndash; WITH RYAN KENNEDY</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0333/221556-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="165" height="1184"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0419/221549-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="339" height="381"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEX <b>TUCH</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0512/221542-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="264" height="271"></div><h2><b>Behind THE MASK</b></h2><h3><b>FREDERIK ANDERSEN | TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</b></h3><p><b>GOALIES HAVE HOME AND</b> away sweaters. Might Andersen have home and away masks now? His newest lid, left, drapes a white Leaf over a blue backdrop, perfectly contrasting his other mask from artist Dave Gunnarsson, right, which features a blue leaf on white. As with most new Gunnarsson designs, the newest one has 4-D technology, so you can feel the &ldquo;raised&rdquo; artwork by running your hand along the mask.</p><p><b>&ndash; MATT LARKIN</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0610/221535-1-eng-US/f0010-062.jpg" title="f0010-06" width="282" height="273"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MASK: DAVID GUNNARSSON/DAVEART.COM; STICK: WARRIOR HOCKEY; TUCH: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0010-01

THE INSTIGATOR

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-0151/221613-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="696" height="1179"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JERSEY: JONI COONS PHOTOGRAPHY; SHIPACYHOV: ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES; NIEMI: JEANINE LEECH/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES; MASON: DARCY FINLEY/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; GIRARDI: MARK LOMOGLIO/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES; HANZAL: GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; SHATTENKIRK: MINAS PANAGIOTAKIS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><i>BURN THE CONTRACT</i></h2><h3><b>VADIM SHIPACHYOV</b></h3><p><i>(2 years, $9 million)</i></p><p>It feels like an eternity ago that Shipachyov was anointed Vegas&rsquo; No. 1 center. Instead, he wound up an AHL casualty because of his waiver-exempt contract. Later, when given a proper NHL look, his game didn&rsquo;t appear to translate to North America. He refused to return to the farm and earned himself a suspension. One ticket back to the KHL, please.</p><h2><b>FOOL&rsquo;S GOLD</b></h2><h3><b>STEVE MASON</b></h3><p><i>(2 years, $8.2 million)</i></p><p>Subtract Steve Mason&rsquo;s legendary rookie campaign and you get a pedestrian .910 career save percentage across eight seasons before the Jets paid him $4.1 million a year. Was it really a surprise when young stopper Connor Hellebuyck quickly outplayed Mason in October?</p><h2><b>BUCK BEFORE BANG</b></h2><h3><b>MARTIN HANZAL</b></h3><p><i>(3 years, $14.25 million)</i></p><p>The towering two-way pivot was a disaster at both ends of the ice over the season&rsquo;s first month. He&rsquo;s only 30, though, and the numbers are totally inconsistent with his career patterns. Expect a rally in Dallas.</p><h2><b>A PENNY TOO MANY</b></h2><h3><b>ANTTI NIEMI</b></h3><p><i>(1 year, $700,000)</i></p><p>Niemi hasn&rsquo;t been a startingcaliber NHL netminder for several seasons, but it seemed reasonable for the Pens to sign him as a backup. Even that gig was too much for Niemi, who became the second coming of Andre &lsquo;Red Light&rsquo; Racicot before getting waived.</p><h2><b>GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR</b></h2><h3><b>DAN GIRARDI</b></h3><p><i>(2 years, $6 million)</i></p><p>All those shot blocks happen because the other team usually has the puck when Girardi is out there. In the shocker of all shockers, he allowed the most shot attempts per 60 minutes of all Lightning players in October.</p><h2><b>HOLD THE STOCK</b></h2><h3><b>KEVIN SHATTENKIRK</b></h3><p><i>(4 years, $26.6 million)</i></p><p>He drew criticism after some leaky defensive play called to mind his weak playoff performance with Washington last spring, but Shattenkirk remains a great offensive blueliner and possession driver. He doesn&rsquo;t have to play Norris-level defense to be effective. He&rsquo;ll find his place with the Rangers, who inked him to a team-friendly four-year pact when he could&rsquo;ve gotten max term elsewhere.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-0237/221606-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="288" height="357"><figcaption class="caption-body">ETHAN <b>STEWART</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Jersey HOUND</b></h2><h3><b>SPRINGFIELD JR. BLUES | 2017-18</b></h3><p><b>THE MOST FAMOUS PERSON</b> ever to come out of Springfield, Ill., is former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, so the North American League&rsquo;s Springfield Jr. Blues wanted to pay homage to the historical figure by crafting a logo with &lsquo;Honest Abe&rsquo; as the centerpiece.</p><p>The franchise tried out the jerseys last season and fans were impressed, so this year the Blues are wearing them full-time. On top of the sheer originality of the logo, this is just a good-looking jersey overall. The design is clean, with nice colors and a pretty sweet 25th-anniversary shoulder logo. And hey, it&rsquo;s way better than being on the penny.</p><p><b>&ndash; RYAN KENNEDY</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-0323/221599-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="228" height="313"></div><h2><b>In the CARDS</b></h2><p><b>THE NAME O-PEE-CHEE WAS</b> synonymous with cards for decades. The London, Ont., company had its beginnings in making gum but was best known for its annual set of hockey trading cards &ndash; especially from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. <i>The O-Pee-Chee Hockey Card Story</i>, by Richard Scott, recounts the history of the long-gone company, culling information from literature, articles and interviews. Interesting facts and figures about every set, from 1933-34 to 1992-93, are given in the 118-page book, including pictures of wrappers and the best cards from each season.</p><p><b>&ndash; SAL BARRY OF <a href="http://PUCKJUNK.COM">PUCKJUNK.COM</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

OFF-SEASON OOPS-O-METER

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-077/221838-1-eng-US/f0012-072.jpg" title="f0012-07" width="513" height="527"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROMAN JOSI & <b>MATTIAS EKHOLM</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>T&rsquo;S A FUN TIME</b> to be a defenseman. They still represent the final security checkpoint before the goaltender in today&rsquo;s NHL, but modern blueliners aren&rsquo;t just sentries designed to shove opposing attackers out of the slot. We live in the heydays of Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Victor Hedman and the Nashville Predators&rsquo; Big Four. Defensemen are the featured attacking pieces on their teams. Offenses often funnel entirely through puck-moving D-men who operate like basketball point guards.</p><p>And what it means to be a shutdown defenseman has also changed. You can smother opposing forwards these days not only via brute strength, but also with an active stick and elite gap control. The likes of Marc- Edouard Vlasic thwart scoring chances with their mobility and smarts, hardly laying a finger on their rivals.</p><p>With these modern criteria in mind, we&rsquo;ve ranked every NHL team&rsquo;s defense corps. Depth matters, but top-heavy teams aren&rsquo;t penalized massively, as the game&rsquo;s best defensemen play 25 to 30 minutes of the allotted 60. Teams with two top-end pairs earned the highest marks, as they hardly have to rely on their No. 5 and 6 &lsquo;D&rsquo; at all. Teams weren&rsquo;t docked for injured players who are expected to return this season.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-0164/221880-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>1 NASHVILLE PREDATORS</b></h2><p><b>R. Josi, P.K. Subban, M. Ekholm, R. Ellis, A. Emelin, Y. Weber</b></p><p>The Preds&rsquo; elite, mobile, offensively and defensively sound top-four play 50 minutes of every game. That&rsquo;s just unfair.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-0244/221873-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>2 CALGARY FLAMES</b></h2><p><b>M. Giordano, D. Hamilton, T.J. Brodie, T. Hamonic, B. Kulak, M. Stone</b></p><p>Hamonic didn&rsquo;t shine early, but in long run he&rsquo;ll give Flames an elite top-four. Not a ton of pressure on bottom pair.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-0332/221866-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>3 CAROLINA HURRICANES</b></h2><p><b>J. Slavin, B. Pesce, J. Faulk, N. Hanifin, H. Fleury, T. van Riemsdyk</b></p><p>Extremely deep but lack peak offensive upside of Flames, Preds. Slavin-Pesce might be NHL&rsquo;s best shutdown tandem.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-0418/221859-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>4 ANAHEIM DUCKS</b></h2><p><b>H. Lindholm, J. Manson, C. Fowler, S. Vatanen, F. Beauchemin, B. Montour</b></p><p>Ravaged by injuries. This group offers breathtaking puck-movement skill. Big hitter Manson is the blunt instrument.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-0510/221852-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>5 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS</b></h2><p><b>Z. Werenski, S. Jones, J. Johnson, D. Savard, R. Murray, M. Nutivaara</b></p><p>Werenski-Jones tandem is envy of the league: big, rangy phenoms can do it all. The rest is serviceable but not special.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-067/221845-1-eng-US/f0012-062.jpg" title="f0012-06" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>6 SAN JOSE SHARKS</b></h2><p><b>M-E Vlasic, B. Burns, P. Martin, J. Braun, B. Dillon, T. Heed</b></p><p>Vlasic is an elite defender, while Burns controls the game offensively as well as any blueliner save for Erik Karlsson.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-087/221831-1-eng-US/f0012-082.jpg" title="f0012-08" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>7 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING</b></h2><p><b>V. Hedman, A. Stralman, M. Sergachev, J. Dotchin, B. Coburn, D. Girardi</b></p><p>New Hedman-Dotchin combo means two-way maven Stralman can be used on second pair with rising Sergachev.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-095/221824-1-eng-US/f0012-092.jpg" title="f0012-09" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>8 FLORIDA PANTHERS</b></h2><p><b>A. Ekblad, M. Matheson, K. Yandle, M. Pysyk, A. Petrovic, I. McCoshen</b></p><p>Rising star Ekblad leads a big, young, physical blueline in Florida. The exception is puck-moving vet Yandle.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-105/221817-1-eng-US/f0012-102.jpg" title="f0012-10" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>9 NEW YORK RANGERS</b></h2><p><b>R. McDonagh, K. Shattenkirk, B. Skjei, B. Smith, M. Staal, N. Holden</b></p><p>What looked like a top-five unit has struggled. Shattenkirk didn&rsquo;t make the expected magic with McDonagh.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-113/221810-1-eng-US/f0012-112.jpg" title="f0012-11" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>10 ST. LOUIS BLUES</b></h2><p><b>A. Pietrangelo, C. Parayko, J. Bouwmeester, J. Edmundson, C. Gunnarsson, V. Dunn</b></p><p>Pietrangelo playing best offensive hockey of his career. Parayko shows flashes of a young Shea Weber.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-12/221803-1-eng-US/f0012-122.jpg" title="f0012-12" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>11 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</b></h2><p><b>K. Letang, B. Dumoulin, J. Schultz, O. Maatta, I. Cole, M. Hunwick</b></p><p>They know to keep it simple and move the puck up to the forwards. That&rsquo;s how they won the Cup without Letang.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-13/221796-1-eng-US/f0012-132.jpg" title="f0012-13" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>12 BOSTON BRUINS</b></h2><p><b>Z. Chara, T. Krug, C. McAvoy, B. Carlo, K. Miller, A. McQuaid</b></p><p>Krug and McAvoy bring exciting flair. With Chara to learn from, Carlo the heir apparent to become shutdown monster.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0151/221789-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="513" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body">DREW <b>DOUGHTY</b></figcaption></div><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0247/221782-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>13 LOS ANGELES KINGS</b></h2><p><b>D. Doughty, J. Muzzin, D. Forbort, A. Martinez, O. Fantenberg, C. Folin</b></p><p>Only Doughty brings flash, but partner Forbort and No. 2 pair Muzzin and Martinez form a well-rounded top-four.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0338/221775-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>14 WINNIPEG JETS</b></h2><p><b>D. Byfuglien, J. Trouba, J. Morrissey, D. Kulikov, T. Enstrom, T. Myers</b></p><p>Result is never as good as it should be on paper. But Trouba and Morrissey are growing, and there&rsquo;s only one &lsquo;Big Buff.&rsquo;</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0426/221768-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>15 EDMONTON OILERS</b></h2><p><b>O. Klefbom, A. Larsson, A. Sekera, K. Russell, D. Nurse, M. Benning</b></p><p>Came into their own in 2016 playoffs, especially Klefbom-Larsson. Analytics say scoring will eventually come around.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0521/221761-1-eng-US/f0013-052.jpg" title="f0013-05" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>16 OTTAWA SENATORS</b></h2><p><b>E. Karlsson, D. Phaneuf, C. Ceci, J. Oduya, F. Claesson, C. Wideman</b></p><p>Tempted to call this group &ldquo;Karlsson- Guy-Guy-Guy&hellip;&rdquo; not because the rest are bad, but because Karlsson is that good.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0617/221754-1-eng-US/f0013-062.jpg" title="f0013-06" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>17 WASHINGTON CAPITALS</b></h2><p><b>M. Niskanen, D. Orlov, J. Carlson, B. Orpik, M. Bowey, C. Djoos</b></p><p>Missing Shattenkirk and Alzner. Capitals still have an outstanding top three, but they&rsquo;re lacking depth now.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0712/221747-1-eng-US/f0013-072.jpg" title="f0013-07" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>18 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</b></h2><p><b>I. Provorov, S. Gostisbehere, R. Gudas, A. MacDonald, B. Manning, R. Hagg</b></p><p>In a couple years, this group might rank No. 1, but it&rsquo;s still a work in progress. Provorov a future Norris contender.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-088/221740-1-eng-US/f0013-082.jpg" title="f0013-08" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>19 ARIZONA COYOTES</b></h2><p><b>O. Ekman-Larsson, N. Hjalmarsson, J. Demers, A. Goligoski, J. Chychrun, L. Schenn</b></p><p>Looks like a strong, deep six, but Chychrun&rsquo;s injury and Hjalmarsson&rsquo;s horrid start made team underachieve early.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-098/221733-1-eng-US/f0013-092.jpg" title="f0013-09" width="331" height="481"><figcaption class="caption-body">DUNCAN <b>KEITH</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-108/221726-1-eng-US/f0013-102.jpg" title="f0013-10" width="513" height="303"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHRIS <b>TANEV</b></figcaption></div><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-118/221719-1-eng-US/f0013-112.jpg" title="f0013-11" width="42" height="42"></span><h2><b>20 MINNESOTA WILD</b></h2><p><b>R. Suter, J. Spurgeon, J. Brodin, M. Dumba, M. Reilly, K. Quincey</b></p><p>Moving the puck isn&rsquo;t an issue and Suter is the best minute-muncher this decade, but group lacks snarl aside from Dumba.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-128/221712-1-eng-US/f0013-122.jpg" title="f0013-12" width="42" height="42"></span><h2><b>21 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</b></h2><p><b>J. Gardiner, N. Zaitsev, M. Rielly, R. Hainsey, A. Borgman, R. Polak</b></p><p>Plenty of mobility, but Leafs&rsquo; No. 1 need is a true shutdown blueliner. They can&rsquo;t win a Cup until they get one.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-137/221705-1-eng-US/f0013-132.jpg" title="f0013-13" width="42" height="42"></span><h2><b>22 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</b></h2><p><b>D. Keith, B. Seabrook, J. Rutta, C. Murphy, M. Kempny, G. Forsling</b></p><p>Keith and Seabrook have had great careers but are slipping in their 30s and they&rsquo;ve never had less depth support.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-147/221698-1-eng-US/f0013-142.jpg" title="f0013-14" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>23 MONTREAL CANADIENS</b></h2><p><b>S. Weber, J. Petry, K. Alzner, V. Mete, J. Benn, D. Schlemko</b></p><p>The Weber-Mete combo a bright spot early, but rest of defense corps lacks foot speed and puck-moving flair.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-155/221691-1-eng-US/f0013-152.jpg" title="f0013-15" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>24 DALLAS STARS</b></h2><p><b>J. Klingberg, M. Methot, D. Hamhuis, E. Lindell, J. Honka, S. Johns</b></p><p>Results should be much better given Big D&rsquo;s cadre of talented young puck rushers. Still too many defensive lapses.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-162/221684-1-eng-US/f0013-162.jpg" title="f0013-16" width="42" height="43"></span><h2><b>25 NEW YORK ISLANDERS</b></h2><p><b>N. Leddy, J. Boychuk, C. de Haan, A. Pelech, T. Hickey, R. Pulock</b></p><p>They miss Hamonic. Not as deep as they once were, though Leddy and Boychuk remain rock-solid on the top pair.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-172/221677-1-eng-US/f0013-172.jpg" title="f0013-17" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>26 VANCOUVER CANUCKS</b></h2><p><b>C. Tanev, A. Edler, T. Stecher, B. Hutton, M. Del Zotto, E. Gudbranson</b></p><p>A deeper, more capable group than they get credit for, led by underrated Tanev. Very little star power here, though</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-182/221670-1-eng-US/f0013-182.jpg" title="f0013-18" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>27 DETROIT RED WINGS</b></h2><p><b>M. Green, D. DeKeyser, T. Daley, N. Kronwall, J. Ericsson, X. Ouellet</b></p><p>Green an early revelation but most likely a UFA trade chip. Others are a mix of low-ceiling youngsters and aging vets</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-192/221663-1-eng-US/f0013-192.jpg" title="f0013-19" width="43" height="42"></span><h2><b>28 BUFFALO SABRES</b></h2><p><b>R. Ristolainen, M. Scandella, J. McCabe, Z. Bogosian, N. Beaulieu, M. Tennyson</b></p><p>The minute you stop thinking of Ristolainen as a true No. 1, this group suddenly appears barren of talent.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-202/221656-1-eng-US/f0013-202.jpg" title="f0013-20" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>29 NEW JERSEY DEVILS</b></h2><p><b>A. Greene, D. Severson, W. Butcher, J. Moore, B. Lovejoy, S. Santini</b></p><p>Butcher is a lovely surprise, like the Devils in general, but that doesn&rsquo;t make this group anywhere near average.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-21/221649-1-eng-US/f0013-212.jpg" title="f0013-21" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>30 COLORADO AVALANCHE</b></h2><p><b>E. Johnson, T. Barrie, N. Zadorov, C. Bigras, M. Barberio, A. Lindholm</b></p><p>Bottom half of this bunch would have tough time cracking most NHL lineups. That&rsquo;s why Barrie trade talk is ludicrous.</p><span class="image-inline"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-22/221642-1-eng-US/f0013-222.jpg" title="f0013-22" width="43" height="43"></span><h2><b>31 VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS</b></h2><p><b>N. Schmidt, L. Sbisa, B. McNabb, C. Miller, D. Engelland, B. Hunt</b></p><p>Easy to root for these overachievers, who are mainly bottom-pair types, albeit Schmidt possesses untapped upside.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-07

THE COUNTDOWN DEFENSE CORPS

<div class="byline">BY SEAN AVERY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-0162/221916-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="513" height="585"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span> NEVER WANTED TO TRY</b> cocaine because I was afraid I&rsquo;d like it. Although I don&rsquo;t have any addiction issues, I do know that sometimes I&rsquo;m excessive, even if it&rsquo;s just too much dessert. This means that if I have that extra helping of German chocolate cake then I do an extra thirty minutes on the exercise bike. If I smoke a few too many cigs at a party, then I can&rsquo;t have a cigarette for two days afterward and I have to do extra wind sprints until then.</p><p>This counterbalance strategy for dealing with an excess of vice is common to most hardcore athletes, and it&rsquo;s dangerous because you&rsquo;re pushing your body one way and then pulling it another. You can get away with it for a while, but not if you want a long career.</p><p>My desire to have a long career is another reason I never tried cocaine. I was also deterred by how stupidly people can act when they&rsquo;ve done a few lines. What they don&rsquo;t show in the movies when they depict glamorous people doing coke is how dull it is to listen to them repeating the same story over and over and over again.</p><p>Not that guys don&rsquo;t use other drugs.</p><p>The best feeling in the world is when the needle plunges through the skin of your ass and you feel a burst of Toradol rushing into your blood. You take it after the warm-up, fifteen minutes before the game. Toradol is an anti-inflammatory drug used to counter se severe pain, and once it gets in your system you feel its magic move from the tip of your toes to the top of your ears. It&rsquo;s the same vibe as the scene in Iron Man when Tony Stark turns the suit on and suddenly his body is covered by this indestructible armor. You feel indestructible. While having a continuous orgasm. There&rsquo;s nothing better</p><p>That said, it&rsquo;s terrible for your liver, and so during the regular season you take it in pill form. It&rsquo;s the playoff injection in your butt that presents the liver damage risk, but hey, it&rsquo;s the playoffs. You take a lot of risks.</p><p>I chuckle when I read all these stories about Toradol abuse in the NFL. The NHL makes the NFL look like amateurs in the Toradol department. My cocktail of choice during the eightytwo- game regular season was one Toradol pill and one 30 mg Adderall tablet, split in half. Adderall is what doctors prescribe for people with ADHD to help them focus. I&rsquo;d take half with the Toradol and half between the second and third periods. The Toradol makes me feel like I can skate through a brick wall, and the Adderall acts as a stimulant, giving me that extra gear and dialing me right into the zone. Adderall is prohibited by the NHL, that is, you are allowed to take it only if you have a TUE (which means &ldquo;therapeutic use exemption&rdquo;). Coming out of the 2004 lockout, the list of prohibited substances was a lot longer, but guys still loved their Adderall.</p><p>Guys also used Sudafed, which is also a stimulant, though one that was a lot more alarming to see in action than the Toradol-Adderall combo. Lots of guys on the Kings used Sudafed, and I saw some so jacked up on it that they lost their hearing. They were so wired and so shaky that they couldn&rsquo;t understand what you were saying to them. Toradol was the exact opposite.</p><p>In Detroit they used this thing called Power Orange, which worked like Sudafed. Even after the FDA pulled it, it could still be found in the Red Wings&rsquo; locker room.</p><p>The NHL did drug testing at the time, but the only thing you could get suspended for was an anabolic steroid. They tested for recreational drugs, but didn&rsquo;t suspend you for it. There was no advance warning, and they tested us all at the same time. So you showed up to practice and there would be signs posted directing you to the WADA (World Anti-Doping Association) people who would take your details, give you a little bottle to pee into, and direct you to a stall. You&rsquo;d give them your full bottle of piss and then they would test it. You could do it before or after practice. Sometimes there were guys who stayed two or three hours after practice just drinking liters of water in order to be able to pee.</p><p>The tests were anonymous in the sense that only if something got flagged would WADA check whose urine was in violation of league policy. If they found a guy with a load of cocaine in his system, he&rsquo;d get a call from the NHLPA doctor, who&rsquo;d talk to him about his recreational drug use, and if need be, strongly suggest that he needed rehab. But between the Toradol, Sudafed, Adderall, Vicodin, Percocet, and other PKs (pain-killers), you didn&rsquo;t really need to buy street drugs. You could find the right state of mind right in the trainer&rsquo;s room.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-0246/221909-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="183" height="296"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Adapted from</i> ICE CAPADES: A Memoir of Fast Living and Tough Hockey <i>by Sean Avery with Michael McKinley, published by Blue Rider Press, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright &copy; 2017 by Sean Avery.</i> <span class="photo-credit">(IAN TOMLINSON/GETTY IMAGES/NHLI)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0014-01

HOCKEY’S MANY HIGHS

<div class="byline">WITH MATT LARKIN | TWITTER@THNMATTLARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-0238/221945-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="696" height="522"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CONTROL FREAK</b> His point totals suggest &ldquo;offensive defenseman,&rdquo; but Burns&rsquo; advanced stats say he governs the game in every zone.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-0150/221952-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="103" height="121"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>R</span>OD LANGWAY WAS ONE</b> of a kind. It felt that way during his prime in the 1980s, and it&rsquo;s even truer 25 years removed from his retirement. He was a genuine defensive defenseman, a pain in the neck to play against, blessed with a big wingspan and heavy hitting ability at 6-foot-3 and 218 pounds. Any offense he provided was a bonus. His career high in points was 45, the equivalent of about 32 today.</p><p>Langway was a defensive specialist, but awards voters had no problem celebrating that. He won back-to-back Norris Trophies with the Washington Capitals in 1983 and 1984. He even finished second to Wayne Gretzky in Hart Trophy voting in &rsquo;84. Langway&rsquo;s accolades, however, contradict the long-held assumption that the Norris Trophy never rewards defensive defensemen and that it only goes to offensive dynamos. A quick perusal of the trophy&rsquo;s history supports that theory. Of the 63 winners, 21, or exactly one-third, had at least 80 points that year. Forty-eight tallied at least 50 points, and that number rises when you prorate Doug Harvey playing 70-game schedules and P.K. Subban winning in a lockout-shortened year. Even Zdeno Chara, one of the best shutdown blueliners of his generation, had 19 goals and 50 points in his Norris season.</p><p>The torch-carrying mob gets louder with each Norris Trophy won by Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns, often tabling the idea of two defense awards: one for the top offensive D-man and one for the top defensive D-man. But is that really necessary? The problem isn&rsquo;t that run-and-gun blueliners keep stealing the Norris away from defensive stalwarts. The problem is many of the Norris-voting complainers don&rsquo;t understand the award&rsquo;s definition.</p><p>Does the Norris go to the &ldquo;best&rdquo; or &ldquo;most outstanding&rdquo; defenseman? Not quite. It goes to &ldquo;the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest allaround ability in the position.&rdquo;</p><p>What type of defenseman, then, has the greatest all-around ability? It could be a well-rounded, two-way type like Drew Doughty. It could be a stingy smotherer like Marc-Edouard Vlasic or Jaccob Slavin. And it could still be an electrifying puck-rusher like Karlsson or Burns. The award isn&rsquo;t about a &ldquo;type.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s about impact on the game.</p><p>Look at Burns&rsquo; effect a season ago. The surface offensive numbers were impressive enough, as he had 29 goals and 76 points, and he became the first D-man in more than two decades to lead the league in shots, so it may look on paper like yet another all-out scoring defenseman swiped the Norris Trophy. But there was much more to Burns than flashy scoresheet numbers.</p><p>Burns played the eighth-most evenstrength minutes of any player 5-on-5. During that time, the Sharks led the NHL in shot attempts directed at the other team&rsquo;s net when Burns was on the ice. He led all blueliners in Corsi For per 60 minutes. Burns didn&rsquo;t rank among the absolute best in the NHL at suppressing shot attempts, so his overall profile skews toward offense, and the same can be said most years when we examine Karlsson&rsquo;s statistical profile. But here&rsquo;s the more important stat: Burns had the NHL&rsquo;s seventh-best Corsi plus-minus among defensemen who logged at least 1,000 minutes. The stat that matters more than breaking down individual offense and defense is how well a player skews the game toward one or the other, and Burns was elite in that category.</p><p>Seeing the pattern yet? It&rsquo;s not about offense per se &ndash; it&rsquo;s about impact on the game, and the player who impacts the game more than anyone&hellip;drum roll&hellip;demonstrates the greatest all-round ability at his position. Factor in that Burns also provided astonishing finishing ability, and there was no defenseman influencing his team&rsquo;s fate more than Burns. (Well, except for Karlsson, but that&rsquo;s my crotchety Norris-voting self talking.) The point is that Burns and Karlsson don&rsquo;t deserve to be stuffed into the Norris-winners category of &ldquo;offensive defenseman.&rdquo; They are indeed the two most gifted scoring blueliners of the past 25 years, but they are more. They are game controllers, game dominators, and thus make the greatest allaround impact at their position.</p><p>The exception would be if a shutdown defenseman emerges who suppresses shots so well that he has the reverse possession impact of an extreme offensive defenseman like Karlsson or Burns. And maybe Langway would&rsquo;ve graded out that way, with an eye-popping Corsi plus-minus, if advanced stats existed in his heyday. If a new Langway emerges with that type of statistical impact, he&rsquo;ll deserve the Norris Trophy as much as any offensive defenseman. The award is about effect on the game, not player type.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-02

JUST OFFENSE? THAT’S OFFENSIVE

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0160/222080-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>T&rsquo;S THE LITTLE THINGS</b> they&rsquo;ll miss when it all comes to an end after this season. Brett Pesce and Noah Hanifin broke into the NHL two years ago and have been roommates on the road ever since. But when they&rsquo;re freed from their entry- level contracts starting in 2018- 19, they&rsquo;ll also be freed of each other, since each will then merit getting his own room. Some guys on the Carolina Hurricanes wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if they voluntarily continued bunking together as veterans. Justin Faulk claims they&rsquo;re like an old married couple, even though their combined age is just 43. They annoy each other with their constant snoring</p><p>But the best days are the ones on the road when the Hurricanes have a late practice or a day off. On those days Hanifin and Pesce are usually in their rooms, clad in the terrycloth robes and slippers you get at these boutique joints, waiting for breakfast to arrive. &ldquo;Yeah, we like to bro it up a bit,&rdquo; Pesce said. &ldquo;Sometimes we need to be left alone. We need our Brett and Noah time.&rdquo;</p><p>The only other thing that would make this a perfect bromance is if the two were defense partners, but every relationship has its limits. When Hanifin jumps over the boards, it&rsquo;s almost always with Faulk, while Pesce and Jaccob Slavin are the other pair that make up the Hurricanes&rsquo; top-four. And what a top-four it is. There&rsquo;s a lot to like about this group, particularly if you&rsquo;re an American hockey fan who has designs on the NHL coming back to its senses and participating in the Olympics again. It is a Made in America defense corps drawing comparisons to some of the best in the NHL. It&rsquo;s not quite there yet, but the talk of this group being &lsquo;Nashville East&rsquo; &ndash; the Predators&rsquo; top-four is made up of Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis &ndash; is not far off. Except for one tiny matter, of course. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not anything until we get to the playoffs,&rdquo; Faulk said. &ldquo;We can be as good as we want in the regular season, but if we don&rsquo;t make it to the playoffs, we don&rsquo;t make any runs, it won&rsquo;t be anything. Once we make it to the playoffs, we have a group back here to be able to lead us.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0163/222073-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="756" height="501"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>THRILL OF THE CHASE</b> Pesce and his fellow blueliners enjoy the challenge of hunting down and hounding opposing teams&rsquo; best forwards.<span class="photo-credit">(OPENER: GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; DAVID KIROUAC/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES; MARK BLINCH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>There seems to be universal agreement on that. Any discussion of the best defense corps in the game has to include the Hurricanes. But the best part for them is that you could be talking about the present or the future and the conversation would remain the same. Rounded out by another American in Trevor van Riemsdyk and a Canadian in Haydn Fleury, the Hurricanes also have waiting in the wings 2016 first-rounder Jake Bean, a point-per-game producer in the WHL who&rsquo;ll be an integral cog for Canada at the 2018 world juniors, and Roland McKeown, a 2014 second- round pick of the Los Angeles Kings who was acquired three years ago in the Andrej Sekera trade. The numbers game suggests not all of them will find a home on the Carolina blueline, but it&rsquo;s a wonderful problem to have.</p><p>Ask any GM the one position he&rsquo;d like to have in abundance and he&rsquo;ll tell you it&rsquo;s defensemen. The more the merrier, because teams never know when injuries will hit or when they&rsquo;ll need a valuable chip in trade talks. But in the here and now, there&rsquo;s an awful lot to like about the foursome of Faulk, Hanifin, Pesce and Slavin. Not only do they make two left-right pairs, which is all the rage these days, but their breadth of talent is something to behold. In Hanifin and Faulk, Carolina has two gifted skaters who can move the puck and create offense from the back end, whether springing loose one of the Hurricanes&rsquo; speedy forwards or quarterbacking a power play. In Slavin and Pesce, the Hurricanes have a classic shutdown duo capable of logging big minutes and doing the heavy lifting against the best offensive players in the league. Neither came to Carolina as a known quantity, but both are rapidly emerging from under the cover of being underrated players. Ask anyone in hockey about Slavin and you&rsquo;ll almost certainly get raves. Think of a much quieter, unassuming, bearded and religious Rod Langway and you&rsquo;re on the right track. There might not be a defenseman in the NHL who&rsquo;s better at breaking up plays than Slavin. From 2015-16 through the first month of this season, no defenseman had more takeaways than Slavin&rsquo;s 148, which included a league-high 83 last season. And it&rsquo;s not as though the other three are slouches in that department. Pesce ranks seventh during that span with 103, Faulk eighth with 102 and Hanifin 11th with 91. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never really been much of a physical guy, so I&rsquo;ve always relied on my stick and my body positioning,&rdquo; Slavin said. &ldquo;Making sure I have the right angles, on the draw and in the corners, making sure I have the right body position, just being comfortable with that and trusting my own abilities.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">WE LIKE TO BRO IT UP A BIT. SOMETIMES WE NEED TO BE LEFT ALONE. <b>WE NEED OUR BRETT AND NOAH TIME</b><br><b>&ndash; Brett Pesce</b></blockquote><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0144/222066-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="1449" height="855"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BRAINS OVER BRAWN</b> None of Carolina&rsquo;s defensemen can be considered maulers, but Faulk & Co. win battles with skating, smarts and positioning.<span class="photo-credit">(CURRENT SPREAD: PESCE: MARK BLINCH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; FAULK: JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>And the best thing about it? At just 25, Faulk is the greybeard among the four, and he&rsquo;s under contract for another two years at $4.8 million per season. GM Ron Francis will look like a managerial genius in a couple years if Slavin and Pesce continue their upward trajectories. When he finishes his entry-level deal after this season, Slavin is tied up for seven more years at an average of $5.3 million and Pesce is locked in for six more years at an average of just more than $4 million. Hanifin, who has yet to sign an extension, is tough to project. Slavin and Pesce play more minutes and more difficult minutes, so it&rsquo;ll be hard to justify paying Hanifin more than either of those players, which could force the two sides into a bridge deal worth about $3 million a year, or it might result in Hanifin being dealt. But even if the Canes sign Hanifin to a long-term deal and give him Slavin-like money, that means they&rsquo;ll have four of the most promising defensemen in the NHL locked up for the next two seasons at just more than $20 million combined. When you&rsquo;re a budget team as Carolina clearly is, that&rsquo;s monumental.</p><p>No wonder coach Bill Peters likes them so much. Like everyone else in hockey, he looks at the players in this group and sees a lot of good things in their future. But there&rsquo;s the playoff problem. The Hurricanes haven&rsquo;t made the post-season in eight years. The franchise is essentially for sale, and the crowds continue to stay away in large swaths. That makes the present a little more urgent for this team, which would be bolstered by the defense corps making the kinds of advancements in their games to be considered elite. &ldquo;Potential is a dirty word, right?&rdquo; Peters said. &ldquo;Potential means you haven&rsquo;t proven anything yet. It&rsquo;s all potential until you&rsquo;ve done it, then it&rsquo;s actual fact. They&rsquo;re all young guys, they all have not even come close to reaching their ceiling, and they all have work to do. If they put the work in, they&rsquo;ll be a real good core moving forward.&rdquo;</p><p>About the only thing missing from the Hurricanes&rsquo; defense corps is the physical element. None of them is what you would consider a banger, and there isn&rsquo;t one on the horizon. But remember the thing we said about trade chips and never having enough skill on the back end, something the Hurricanes have in abundance. If the NHL continues with its crackdown on slashing to the hands and ever does something about multiple crosschecks, the need for a junkyard dog will be that much more diminished. Toughness is always a lot easier to find than skill, anyway.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0161/222059-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="756" height="542"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>A SURPLUS COMMODITY</b> Hanifin hasn&rsquo;t signed an extension yet and could wind up a trade chip should Carolina want to improve in other areas.</figcaption></div><p>Take Slavin, for example. Many believe he&rsquo;ll ultimately turn into the alpha male of this group. A native of Denver by way of Colorado College, Slavin already leads the team in overall ice time at more than 24 minutes a game, including logging the most shorthanded ice time and the most minutes against the top lines in the league. He&rsquo;s also beginning to display some offense, and this past summer, he and his wife decided to stay in Raleigh, where he had access to the Hurricanes&rsquo; facilities and strength coaches. Off the ice, those around him see him as a beacon of decency. As a devout Christian, Slavin openly acknowledges that his profession as a hockey player does not define him and that there is only one impression that concerns him, as evidenced by Galatians 1:10, which is his personal motto: &ldquo;Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.&rdquo;</p><p>Slavin may not be terribly concerned with what mere mortals think of him, but people are beginning to talk. When asked what Slavin brings to the Canes&rsquo; blueline, Pesce said, &ldquo;I guess the question is what doesn&rsquo;t he bring? His speed is second to none. He&rsquo;s got great hands, great vision and an unbelievable stick defensively.&rdquo; That stick was on full display in mid-October when the Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers on the road and the duo of Pesce and Slavin limited Connor McDavid to just three shots and one assist in 26:31 of ice time, the third-highest single-game mark of McDavid&rsquo;s career. At times, the two of them were downright suffocating, and those who didn&rsquo;t recognize the duo&rsquo;s shutdown ability before that night came away with a definite impression. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s easier to get up in the morning knowing you&rsquo;ve got to play a guy like Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby and do your best to shut them down,&rdquo; Pesce said. &ldquo;Not just for me and &lsquo;Slavs&rsquo; but all our defense corps. It makes the game a little more exciting. I like challenges. It makes the game more fun for us.&rdquo; The idea of facing the biggest stars in the league might make some defensemen want to stay in bed, but the Hurricanes&rsquo; blueliners are either supremely confident or supremely naive about their defensive responsibilities. &ldquo;We just laugh it off and have fun with it,&rdquo; Slavin said, &ldquo;but we also know our assignment.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0229/222052-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="979" height="521"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HANIFIN: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; SLAVIN: MARK BLINCH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>You get the impression the Hurricanes have the &ldquo;having fun&rdquo; thing down pretty well. They&rsquo;re a young group, with van Riemsdyk the oldest on the blueline at just 26. Justin Williams and Cam Ward are the only two players on the team north of 30, and even Jeff Skinner, who is second only to Ward in continuous service and has been around for forever, is only 25. That creates an <i>esprit du corps</i> on and off the ice, and the defense corps is no exception. Many of the single players live in the same complex, including Pesce, Hanifin and Faulk. &ldquo;I think you can count on just shy of one hand how many married guys there are,&rdquo; Faulk said. &ldquo;You get forced to hang out with each other. We don&rsquo;t have a choice. On the road, at home, we&rsquo;re together. None of us has a girlfriend. Well, some guys have girlfriends, but a lot of us don&rsquo;t, so we&rsquo;re stuck with each other.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0155/222045-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="452" height="355"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KNEE-DEEP IN DEFENSEMEN</b>Fleury, left, and van Riemsdyk are a highly effective bottom pair, aptly illustrating the Hurricanes&rsquo; riches on the blueline.</figcaption></div><p>Now the only task that remains for this group, as Peters pointed out, is to transform that potential into reality. It is not quite there yet, and they have not yet developed the consistency that the Predators&rsquo; group has. But Nashville&rsquo;s defense was also a work in progress that was fostered by the departures of Ryan Suter and Shea Weber. Ekholm didn&rsquo;t emerge as a force until last season, and Ellis took a few years to develop into the player he has become. So what does Carolina&rsquo;s top-four have to do to reach Nashville&rsquo;s stratosphere? Well, they have to get a little better at everything. That will take time and may require the addition of a more physical and veteran presence that can only be acquired outside the organization. With the game trending toward an importance in possession, it all starts with being good in the defensive zone, then de developing speed in the neutral zone and driving possession in the place Peters likes to call, &ldquo;the fun zone.&rdquo; Faulk and Hanifin are mandated to continue their development in the defensive zone, and Slavin and Pesce are constantly being pushed to make their zone exits cleaner and work on getting pucks through the sea of legs and bodies that usually stand between them and the net. &ldquo;(Nashville) has the puck most of the shift, and they control the game from the back end,&rdquo; Hanifin said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something that our &lsquo;D&rsquo; corps wants to be able to do. You want to control the game. You want to have the puck. If the (opposing) team gets it and they&rsquo;re chipping it out of the offensive zone, we want to regroup quickly and have the puck all the time.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">THEY&rsquo;RE ALL YOUNG GUYS, THEY ALL HAVE NOT EVEN COME CLOSE TO REACHING THEIR CEILING, <b>AND THEY ALL HAVE WORK TO DO</b><br><b>&ndash; Bill Peters</b></blockquote><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0227/222038-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="575" height="563"></div><p>The Hurricanes are still finding themselves and creating their identity. There have been great games like the one against the Oilers, and there have been others where things have not gone nearly as well from the back end. For all the promise, Carolina entered November with a .500 record and out of the playoffs. The entire team in general and the defense corps in particular is learning that an 82-game season might be a grind, but every single point that is left on the table, every blown lead, is one that might leave them outside the playoff picture at season&rsquo;s end.</p><p>Much of where the Hurricanes finish up this season will come down to their top-four, but the young Americans will dictate the franchise&rsquo;s fortunes well beyond that. The Pittsburgh Penguins managed to win the Stanley Cup last spring with a defense corps that was bound together with duct tape, string and wire, so a dominant blueline is not always essential. But the Penguins were the exception to the rule. If you want to be a contender in the NHL, you need a stud-laden blueline. And if that&rsquo;s the case, the future is indeed bright in Carolina. &ldquo;The talent level is tremendous and the character is awesome,&rdquo; Pesce said. &ldquo;I think the sky is the limit.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

RED, WHITE & BLUELINE

<div class="byline">BY TOM THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0162/222144-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BURNS: DAVID KIROUAC/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES; KARLSSON: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>NALYTICS EXPERTS MAKE A</b> convincing argument that two of the most important statistics are puck possession and the shots on goal that are generated from it. Coaches make an equally compelling case that their primary objective is to minimize goals against by preventing the opposition from creating odd-man situations. Hockey people appear to agree the most important players in maintaining puck possession and generating odd-man rushes are offensive defensemen. They have become the NHL&rsquo;s most valued commodity. No team can hope to compete for the Stanley Cup without an efficient puck-moving defense corps. And no blueline can be considered elite without a star member who serves as the focal point of his team&rsquo;s attack.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0164/222137-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="1063" height="599"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>THE QUARTERBACK</b> Karlsson&rsquo;s ability to rush the puck up ice and create passing options makes him an offensive force</figcaption></div><p>The NHL is blessed with a number of first-rate offensive defensemen. Over the past two seasons combined, 15 blueliners have totalled between 91 and 119 points: Victor Hedman (119), Roman Josi (110), John Klingberg (107), Dustin Byfuglien (105), Kris Letang (101), Kevin Shattenkirk (100), Duncan Keith (96), Mark Giordano (95), Torey Krug (95), Drew Doughty (95), Oliver Ekman- Larsson (94), Shea Weber (93), Dougie Hamilton (93), Ryan Suter (91) and P.K. Subban (91).</p><p>Two others, however, stand well above the rest. Ottawa&rsquo;s Erik Karlsson has 153 points and San Jose&rsquo;s Brent Burns has 151. They&rsquo;re definitely the top two offensive defensemen in hockey. But how do they generate such a high level of offense, and how do they compare to each other?</p><p>It is obvious that both are world-class skaters, puckhandlers, playmakers and shooters. Both have exceptional hockey sense and they&rsquo;re competitive and durable. And both are gamblers who, at times, leave their teams vulnerable defensively. Their offensive totals over the past two years are remarkably similar. Each has had one &ldquo;monster&rdquo; playoff season where he carried his team on his back and each was a probable Conn Smythe Trophy winner had their team prevailed.</p><p>However, there are obvious differences between the two, which go far beyond the length of their facial hair. Karlsson came into the NHL as a slightly built Swede whose size and strength were questioned by pundits. He is now adequately sized at six-foot and 192 pounds, but his game is still based on intelligence and finesse. Burns came in as a power forward who was converted into a defenseman. He has become a physical behemoth at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds who can combine power and polish. Let&rsquo;s examine how each of them has developed their games to the level that is so far ahead of their NHL contemporaries.</p><p>Karlsson protects territory defensively. He closes the gap and leads with his stick. He wants you to dump the puck into the Ottawa zone. Once he retrieves the puck in the defensive zone, he is at times facing his own net. His ability to pivot quickly and immediately be in position to make a crisp pass brings back memories of Bobby Orr. Some of his long-distance &ldquo;saucer&rdquo; passes immediately after escaping the first forechecker defy belief. He advances the puck with his head up and can make any type of pass to either side when necessary. He doesn&rsquo;t have great speed, but he has tremendous first-step acceleration and alertness when he wants to join the rush.</p><p>Of all his attributes, Karlsson&rsquo;s play at the point may be his finest. His shot is above average, but he is as good as any point man I have seen in avoiding blocked shots. He either can get the shot directly on goal or shoot quickly off the backboard with the proper angle to create a scoring chance. His real forte at the point is drawing defenders out of position as he fakes shots and passes with his head up. He can then make a crisp, accurate pass to a teammate in shooting position. In pressure situations in the playoffs, I marveled at his poise and execution.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0228/222130-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="302" height="481"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERIK <b>KARLSSON</b></figcaption></div><p>Burns has obviously enjoyed his role as a full-time defenseman the past two seasons. He has taken his game to another level, and his style is unique in the NHL. He is anything but a protector of territory defensively. He forces the play at all times in the neutral and defensive zones. On occasions, he even forechecks in the offensive zone. He sometimes leads with his long stick, often leads with his body and it&rsquo;s not unusual for him to leave his feet and dive at the puck. His feet are always moving, and he&rsquo;s attempting to force you all over the ice.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0149/222123-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="279" height="476"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRENT <b>BURNS</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0234/222116-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="870" height="553"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BURNS 1: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; BURNS 2: EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES; BURNS 3: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>When Burns gets the puck in the defensive or neutral zone, his first instinct is to move with it. He has tremendous foot speed for a big man, and he uses it to beat forecheckers on a regular basis. He&rsquo;s also very conscious of the &ldquo;home run&rdquo; pass. His passes usually are made at a high rate of speed. He is not looking to &ldquo;saucer&rdquo; the puck. Whether he is carrying the puck or joining the rush, he&rsquo;s usually doing it at full throttle. He&rsquo;s a force to contend with and draws many penalties because of it. From his position at the point, Burns keeps his head up and can make good passes to teammates in shooting position. However, his priority is to look for a shot on goal. If Weber is the gold standard for slapshots, Burns is without peer for his wrist shots. Standing still at either point or &ldquo;dancing&rdquo; laterally from the right point towards the middle of the ice, Burns is the only point shooter who can consistently beat unobstructed goalies with his wrister. To lead the NHL in shots on goal, as he did last season with 320, while playing defense is a remarkable achievement.</p><p>What conclusions can be drawn from these descriptions? The first is easy. Karlsson and Burns are indisputably the two best offensive blueliners in the NHL. The only other D-men who have shown the potential to come close are Hedman, if he continues to develop, and Letang, if he can get back to his pre-injury form. Karlsson and Burns get similar results from different styles. The distribution of their points is different. Karlsson has 33 goals and 120 assists the past two seasons. Burns has 56 goals and 95 assists. In their big playoff seasons, Karlsson had two goals and 16 assists and Burns, playing in five more games, had seven goals and 17 assists. Both have had a high percentage of points on the power play. Both take risks defensively. Burns can get burned when he leaves his feet, and he&rsquo;s known for heading up ice prematurely. Karlsson is prone to &ldquo;fencing&rdquo; with his stick, making him vulnerable in his own zone.</p><p>Karlsson is nowhere near the physical specimen that Burns is. His major attributes are hockey sense, playmaking and poise with the puck. Burns is at the elite level in all of those categories, but, in each case, Karlsson is better. Karlsson&rsquo;s defensive shortcomings are not as dramatic. He is less likely to leave his feet and miss the puck or be caught forechecking and leave a forward to play defense. His reliance on finesse and playmaking make him a more consistent offensive producer, and he makes better use of his teammates than Burns.</p><p>Both of these players are at the top of the pyramid in the most-valuable-job category in the NHL. After generational players Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid, there is a valid argument that Karlsson and Burns bring as much value to their team as any other player in the NHL at the present time. Either one can alone improve the performance of their team significantly. Burns, 32, brings a package that is unique in the NHL. Karlsson is younger at 27, has been an elite defenseman longer and he may involve a little less risk for the same results. I look at both of their faces in the <i>NHL Official Guide & Record Book</i> and my decision is Erik Karlsson over Brent Burns &ndash; but just by a whisker.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0314/222109-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="513" height="542"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MASTER BLASTER</b> Burns fires away furiously and frequently, leading the league last season with 320 shots on goal</figcaption></div><p><i>Tom Thompson has been an NHL scout/ director/assistant GM since 1985</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-01

COVER STORY

BURNS Vs KARLSSON

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0162/222187-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>J</span>AKE DOTCHIN DESCRIBES THE</b> incident as follows: It&rsquo;s a practice day for the Tampa Bay Lightning in late October, one that always ends with a shootout when it&rsquo;s the day before a game. It&rsquo;s Victor Hedman&rsquo;s turn for a breakaway, but his teammates decide, nah, he doesn&rsquo;t get to shoot this time. They block him from trying, exclude him from the game and tell him, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re done. You&rsquo;re not going today.&rdquo; Hedman throws a little fit. He starts sabotaging the other players&rsquo; breakaways. He blasts pucks at Braydon Coburn during his attempt. Then Hedman hurls his stick into the boards and skates away.</p><p>Hey, NHL? We have a problem to report. There&rsquo;s a 6-foot-6, 223-pound bullying victim playing defense for the Tampa Bay Lightning. His name is Victor Hedman. Please send help.</p><p>Ok, so the truth is Hedman hams it up when people provoke him. The stick throwing and mock tantrums are his way of entertaining his teammates, who love him for it. But you know the expression, &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a grain of truth in every joke&rdquo;? Well, it applies here. Hedman&rsquo;s as good a sport as anyone, and he gives it to his teammates just as well as they give it to him, but the teasing comes from somewhere. He&rsquo;s legitimately a hothead, and his teammates know how to set him off. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great person, first and foremost, very humble, and he likes to take care of his teammates and get involved, but he can be grumpy,&rdquo; said Bolts blueliner and longtime buddy Anton Stralman. &ldquo;He definitely goes on the defensive. So the guys like to be on him at practice sometimes if he messes up a pass or a play. He&rsquo;s easy to get going, and when he gets going, it&rsquo;s even funnier, because he can break a stick or smash the boards or chase somebody down.&rdquo;</p><p>To play amateur psychologist: maybe Hedman&rsquo;s short fuse and his role as the easy mark come from his childhood. As he explains it, he was always the big kid, never the runt who suddenly shot up in puberty. Hedman stood out in crowds among his friends, the one outgrowing his clothes quicker than everyone else, though he at least could inherit hand-me-down skates from his older brothers Oscar and Johan. Hedman told this story in a Las Vegas hotel hallway this past June at the NHL Awards, dressed in a snazzy black-onblack suit ensemble, thick hair slicked back, looking like he was about to challenge James Bond to a game of baccarat followed by a fight to the death, so it&rsquo;s difficult to picture such a specimen ever having a low opinion of himself. But Hedman insists he was the awkward kid in his neighborhood growing up Ornskoldsvik, Sweden. He started out as a goalie, but his parents worried he&rsquo;d get hurt, so he told his mom he&rsquo;d switch positions if she bought him a new helmet. The following Christmas, there it was under the tree, and Hedman the goalie became Hedman the skater. He wasn&rsquo;t happy with the results at first. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I was that skilled when I was younger,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I had some trouble growing into my body. My coordination wasn&rsquo;t the best. I had some tough years.&rdquo;</p><p>It was also difficult simply fuelling his massive frame properly. He was extremely prone to cramping, especially late in games, and that continued into his first few NHL years with the Lightning, who selected him second overall in 2009 behind only John Tavares. Now he compensates for the problem by loading up his water bottles with salt between periods.</p><p>But the cramping is just one side effect of being such a big guy. It also makes it difficult for him to stuff himself into the cockpit of a single-engine plane. Why would he want to do that? As claustrophobic as it sounds, it&rsquo;s very much Hedman&rsquo;s idea of a good time. He&rsquo;s passionate about flying, having discovered it through his grandfather, who was a military pilot. Hedman has logged eight hours so far in a Piper PA-32. That&rsquo;s one of those tiny planes you see in the movies with the single propeller on the front, the kind that lands on water during drug runs or when Indiana Jones makes a getaway with a freshly stolen artifact. Picture Hedman of all people inside one of those. It&rsquo;s a fun thought, but it&rsquo;s not exactly the safest off-season hobby. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a dream, but it&rsquo;s maybe not a realistic dream, as I don&rsquo;t think I have the time to do it,&rdquo; Hedman said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have more time once I&rsquo;m retired, but that&rsquo;s pretty far down the line. You don&rsquo;t know what your passion will be and what you&rsquo;ll like when that time comes, but I enjoy flying. You obviously fly a lot with the team, so you get a little bit sick of it, but piloting an aircraft is one of the best feelings I&rsquo;ve had. I don&rsquo;t think the Lightning want me flying. We fly enough, and for me to try and get my license is an unnecessary risk. I put it on hold.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0164/222180-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="513" height="678"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SCORING MONSTER</b> The Lightning&rsquo;s quick-strike attack and Hedman&rsquo;s offensive instincts helped him hit 70 points last season.<span class="photo-credit">(OPENER: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; THIS PAGE: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>That&rsquo;s a huge relief for the Lightning, especially when Hedman has outgrown that whole gangly, two-left-feet phase to become an elite player. The teammates who&rsquo;ve known him the longest speak about him with a sense of pride. They admire what he&rsquo;s accomplished, perhaps none more than Stralman. As someone who readily admits he enjoys tracking all his fellow Swedes in the NHL, Stralman was a fan of Hedman&rsquo;s before signing with the Lightning in July 2014, and they only grew closer once paired together. Now coach Jon Cooper opts to deploy his two best blueliners separately to spread out the responsibility, with the Hedman- Dotchin tandem leading the way and Stralman playing with sensational rookie Mikhail Sergachev. Stralman and Hedman miss sharing the ice together but understand what&rsquo;s best for the team. They also maintain their bond by watching their soccer teams compete. Hedman is an absolute diehard for Manchester United and an encyclopedia of the English Premier League, while Stralman loves Liverpool. During road trips, they &ldquo;bundle up in their rooms,&rdquo; as Stralman put it, order breakfast and watch their nemeses whenever they play each other. There&rsquo;s a real sense of brotherhood between the pair, and it gives Stralman a fond admiration over Hedman&rsquo;s evolution. &ldquo;He really just took all those tools, his size and how powerful he is, his skating &ndash; for his size he moves well &ndash; and his shot,&rdquo; Stralman said. &ldquo;He found a way to put it all together and become a really good player. It&rsquo;s been fun being close up to see where his game is now.&rdquo;</p><p>The brain and body have synched to forge one of the very best blueliners in the NHL. Hedman ranks up there with Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Drew Doughty now. Since the start of 2015-16 only Karlsson and Burns have outscored him among defensemen. Hedman plays it humble, of course, claiming the explosion in points is a product of the changing game, not his own play. &ldquo;Getting the &lsquo;D&rsquo; involved is huge, joining the rush, creating offense, creat ing confusion in the &lsquo;O&rsquo; zone,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have an explanation why that is, but that&rsquo;s how the game is played right now. You involve everyone in offense. You need everyone to play defense as well. It&rsquo;s a five-man unit out there right now. You&rsquo;ve got to make the most of it and use everyone to create plays, so that&rsquo;s why you see those high numbers (for defensemen).&rdquo;</p><p>It&rsquo;s a boom era of scoring among NHL defensemen, true. Hedman, Karlsson and Burns each topped 70 points last season. The last time three blueliners did that in one year: 1995- 96, 21 seasons earlier. Hedman finished seventh and third, respectively, on the Norris Trophy ballot over the past two seasons, and it feels like he&rsquo;s next in the Professional Hockey Writers Association&rsquo;s unofficial voting queue, which tends to reward defensemen who are &ldquo;due.&rdquo; It was Doughty in 2016, Burns in 2017, and maybe Hedman gets his Norris in 2018.</p><p>It helps that, on top of posting almost peerless offensive numbers, Hedman suits up for a Bolts team that looked like the class of the league in October. Much of that can be attributed to the sizzling starts for forwards Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, not to mention Andrei Vasilevskiy&rsquo;s play in goal, but this team isn&rsquo;t a Stanley Cup contender without Hedman, who has graded out as an elite advanced stats/possession defender in recent seasons. And Hedman controls the play despite often facing the other teams&rsquo; best offensive threats.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0156/222173-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="1145" height="797"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DEFENSIVE BEAST</b> With his size, strength and skating ability, Hedman makes it hard for opposing forwards to get to the net. <span class="photo-credit">(FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>He&rsquo;s also become a real field general at 26. He&rsquo;s a great communicator with his teammates, especially Dotchin, who made the team last season and ended up discovering chemistry with Hedman on the top pair. Hedman constantly chatters to him &ndash; during shifts, between shifts, during practices, after practices, after games &ndash; and he asks Dotchin to do the same with him. Sometimes, Hedman&rsquo;s famous temper rears itself, but never in a way that belittles the youngster. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s constructive with me,&rdquo; Dotchin said. &ldquo;If he feels like he&rsquo;s come off the wrong way toward me or something, he&rsquo;ll always come talk to me later and make sure I understand what he meant by what he said. He&rsquo;ll make sure I&rsquo;m comfortable with him still and do things a leader should do.&rdquo;</p><p>Hedman has transformed from the long-term project slowly growing into his body to the guy Tampa Bay turns to when it needs someone to rally others, give advice, keep them in a close game, protect a lead or generate a chance with a scintillating rush. If he keeps getting better, his teammates will have nothing left to tease him about. Their best bet for new material may be to find him on a runway and watch him try to squeeze into a PA-32. But that&rsquo;s years away. For now, he and the Lightning have a Stanley Cup to chase.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">HE&rsquo;S A GREAT PERSON, VERY HUMBLE, AND HE LIKES TO TAKE CARE OF HIS TEAMMATES AND GET INVOLVED, <b>BUT HE CAN BE GRUMPY</b><br>&ndash; Anton Stralman</blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0030-01

SKY HIGH

<div class="byline">BY SHELLY ANDERSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0236/222230-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DAVID KIROUAC/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0164/222237-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="75" height="85"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p><b>IT IS A COMPLICATED</b> formula, one where the needle is always moving and the results are always open to interpretation: risk vs. reward.</p><p>Kris Letang lives it. The swift and savvy two-way star is the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; best defenseman because he can pass, shoot, join the rush, pinch in deep and still get back quickly to defend then send the play back the other way. That comes with some risk, namely turning the puck over at times and creating chances for opponents. And it also has come with some frustrating and frightening medical issues over the years.</p><p>He played all 82 games in 2010-11 but in the five subsequent non-lockout seasons, he&rsquo;s averaged 54 games due to a variety of health issues, from groin injuries to concussions to a stroke in 2014 at 26 to a herniated disc in his neck last season. His latest ailment made him a spectator &ndash; at times a cranky one &ndash; for the Penguins&rsquo; entire 2017 Stanley Cup run. Letang was restless watching from his perch above the ice, noting, &ldquo;the people sitting next to me don&rsquo;t really like me. I&rsquo;m screaming. I don&rsquo;t work the best way by watching,&rdquo;</p><p>Letang underwent surgery in early April and had not played since Feb. 21 before this season. He copped to feeling a little scared after the surgery &ndash; any operation involving a spinal disc comes with some risk &ndash; but he launched into a summer of rehab and workouts that allowed him to be ready for opening night. &ldquo;To be honest, when I started the year, I was just glad I was playing hockey,&rdquo; said the 30-year-old.</p><p>He played in all 13 of the Penguins&rsquo; games in October, and he resumed his usual heavy workload, skating in all situations and leading the team with an average ice time of 26:30, more than five minutes above anyone else. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s pretty motivated,&rdquo; said team captain Sidney Crosby, who knows a thing or four about missing extended time. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s worked as hard as he possibly can to give himself the best chance to come back at 100 percent and feel good. It&rsquo;s something that just takes time when you miss a lot of time, just to feel comfortable, feel strong,&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0324/222223-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="95" height="95"></div><p>It hasn&rsquo;t been a reckless return. On an off-day between home games against Edmonton and Winnipeg in late October, Letang was the only healthy player who skipped practice. Coach Mike Sullivan called it a maintenance day, a modernday term that can have a variety of inferences. Letang, though, made the somewhat surprising revelation that he opted for the day off, rather than a trainer or doctor or coach handing down an edict. &ldquo;It was more my call than anybody else,&rdquo; Letang said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re all looking at the schedule. It&rsquo;s a pretty busy schedule in November and October. We&rsquo;re trying to get as much rest as we can when the schedule allows us. I feel fine right now. I&rsquo;m trying to keep building my game, being more consistent. Having a day off allows me to rest.&rdquo;</p><p>Consistency was a glaring problem at times for Letang during the season&rsquo;s first month. He had one goal and eight points, but just one of those points, an assist, came at even strength. Although plus-minus is a stat with an increasingly dubious reputation, Letang&rsquo;s minus-14 was tied for worst in the NHL and did not appear to be a fluke, especially when taking into account his 25 giveaways, by far the most on the club. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little bit of everything right now: timing, trying to figure it out how I want to play the game, trying not to (absorb) too many big hits,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m hesitant, trying to do too much.&rdquo;</p><p>The Penguins, however, are willing to wait for Letang to get back to the top of his game. &ldquo;Sometimes we&rsquo;re quick to forget how much time he missed last year,&rdquo; Sullivan said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a bit of a process that it takes for a player to get his timing back and some of the fine motor skills associated with his game. We see him improving on a game-by-game basis.&rdquo;</p><p>Perhaps that patience is partly rooted is what else Letang did in the first month &ndash; the reward portion of the formula. He led the team with 10 takeaways and, somewhat surprisingly, with 21 blocked shots and 21 hits. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s still playing aggressively, he&rsquo;s skating well,&rdquo; Crosby said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got pretty high expectations. He doesn&rsquo;t like making mistakes. He&rsquo;s pret pretty hard on himself. I think he&rsquo;s being patient, but he&rsquo;s going to fast-track that process just based on how much he cares and expectations.&rdquo;</p><p>Letang is know for his speed, but Brian Dumoulin says one of his oft-linemate&rsquo;s best attributes is his ability to slow the game down when he&rsquo;s looking to begin a breakout. &ldquo;A lot of times you see him taking that extra second to make the right play instead of just throwing the puck out of the zone,&rdquo; Dumoulin said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the type of guy that will hold it for that extra second and usually make a smart play with it.&rdquo;</p><p>But that little hesitation means there are incoming forecheckers. Throughout his career, Letang has accepted the risk of taking a hit to make a play. Often, he can sidestep danger with his explosive first stride or at least deflect the blow. Other times, the hits get delivered with full force. Occasionally, he doesn&rsquo;t pop right back up. The Penguins&rsquo; brass asked Letang over the summer to look for ways to try to better avoid those hits, but those are situations the six-foot, 200-pounder couldn&rsquo;t simulate during recovery and rehab. They had to come in games.</p><p>The night before Letang took his self-imposed maintenance day, the Penguins beat Edmonton 2-1 in overtime. The Oilers, for all their speed and skill, entered that night with the highest average of hits per game. Letang got through fine. &ldquo;It was a big test having Milan Lucic trying to hit me,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>A skeptic might ask, but how long until something else sidelines him? He&rsquo;s played 10 years in the NHL. Can he play another 10 years in the league? Letang&rsquo;s eyebrows shot up. &ldquo;Yeah, hopefully,&rdquo; he said, as his face softened into a smile. &ldquo;Hopefully.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">WE&rsquo;RE QUICK TO FORGET HOW MUCH TIME HE MISSED. <b>HE&rsquo;S IMPROVING ON A GAME-BY-GAME BASIS</b><br>&ndash; Mike Sullivan</blockquote><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0156/222216-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="513" height="542"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CONTACT CONTRACTION</b> The Pens asked Letang to find a way to avoid getting hit as often. His style makes that easier said than done.<span class="photo-credit">(LETANG: TERRENCE LEE/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES; STAMKOS: CARLOS OSORIO/TORONTO STAR VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-02

YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN

<div class="byline">&#x2013; WAYNE FISH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0161/222309-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="696" height="605"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ALL-AROUND REARGUARD</b> Provorov&rsquo;s tireless two-way play and exemplary approach make him invaluable on the Philadelphia blueline. <span class="photo-credit">(RICHARD A. WHITTAKER/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>AT THE RATE HE&rsquo;S</b> going, playing half a game isn&rsquo;t out of the question for sophomore Ivan Provorov.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0238/222302-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="95" height="95"></div><p>After all, last year the Russian blueliner became the first rookie in Philadelphia Flyers history to lead the team in average ice time. This year, he&rsquo;s already hit 27:11 in regulation and 28:07 in OT, meaning the 30-minute threshold (and beyond) is within sight.</p><p>But you won&rsquo;t hear a peep of a complaint from Provorov, drafted seventh overall in 2015, and that provides some insight into his personality. While he&rsquo;s fluent and articulate in English, he chooses his words carefully in measured tone, with the same sort of precision he executes his game on the ice.</p><p>Teammates such as 24-year-old Shayne Gostisbehere have to keep reminding themselves that Provorov still isn&rsquo;t old enough to join them for a &ldquo;relaxer&rsquo;&rsquo; at a post-game bar. Yet Provorov, who has played in all 93 games since opening night of 2016-17, has already established himself as a leader and says he&rsquo;s approaching a comfort level that will allow him to speak up in the dressing room. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s definitely the anchor of our defense,&rdquo; Gostisbehere said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s only 20 and that says a lot about him, his character, how humble he is. He plays against the top lines every night. His leadership, it&rsquo;s sort of a byexample thing. Obviously, he&rsquo;s not the most opinionated guy, he&rsquo;s a quiet guy who goes about his business. He does a great job, and we&rsquo;re leaning on him a bit here.&rdquo;</p><p>Indeed. Injuries to Andrew MacDonald and Gostisbehere early in the season forced Provorov to log even more time on a nightly basis. Don&rsquo;t think other players aren&rsquo;t taking notice. This is how young leaders evolve. &ldquo;On all the teams I&rsquo;ve played on, I&rsquo;ve been a leader on and off the ice,&rdquo; Provorov said. &ldquo;More of just a quiet, lead-by-example kind of guy. But you know eventually I&rsquo;m going to start talking more. There are a lot of older guys who say a lot of stuff in the room to keep the guys going. With every year, I&rsquo;m going to try to talk more and more.&rdquo;</p><p>Some of Provorov&rsquo;s maturity can be credited to his decision to leave home and come to North America at 14. Experts told him getting a head start on the transition to a different culture would help his professional hockey growth, and they were right. Provorov was consumed with the idea of personal excellence, and so far, so good. &ldquo;From Day 1, that was my goal,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Ever since I started playing hockey, to play in the NHL. My parents and I thought it (coming to North America) was the best way to get better, to learn the culture, the language. Get used to the ice. I had a lot of sacrifices to make for myself and the family. But they paid off. I was willing to do everything to make the NHL.&rdquo;</p><p>In his second big-league season, Provorov is showing even more potential as the Flyers got off to a decent start (6-5-1) for a change. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s absolutely dialed in,&rdquo; said coach Dave Hakstol. &ldquo;He did some specific things over the summer that he wanted to improve, physically and conditioning-wise. You see the results of those small improvements. His loudest statements still have to be in how he plays. MacDonald is our vocal leader on defense and he&rsquo;s out (until mid-November), so there&rsquo;s a void there that can be filled, and even though &lsquo;Provy&rsquo; is a young guy, he&rsquo;s one of those guys who can fill part of that role.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">YOU HAVE TO BE A STUDENT OF THE GAME. YOU HAVE TO LEARN EVERY DAY. <b>FROM NEGATIVE PLAYS, FROM POSITIVE PLAYS</b><br>&ndash; Ivan Provorov</blockquote><p>Certainly there are no signs of a sopho more slump. Through 13 games, Provorov&rsquo;s ice time was 24-plus minutes per game, more than three minutes ahead of runner-up Gostisbehere, and his eight points were second to Gostisbehere&rsquo;s 13 among Philly D-men. If anything, Provorov looks even more composed. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a year older and I have one year under my belt,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m definitely more comfortable. More relaxed, I guess. Just try to keep getting better with every game.&rdquo;</p><p>Provorov was back home in Yaroslavl for much of last summer, but fame has changed him little around family and friends. &ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t changed me as a person or anything like that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;With my friends and family, I try to talk a little bit about hockey, but mostly try to spend time with them. Catch up on the things I&rsquo;ve missed. Just spend as much time with them when I&rsquo;m not playing hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Spare time in Philadelphia doesn&rsquo;t include TV. &ldquo;I went to a couple basketball games last year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was a busy schedule. My first year, I just kind of focused on hockey. Kind of blocked out everything else.&rdquo;</p><p>Candidates for NHL defensemen usually don&rsquo;t make it until they&rsquo;re 22 or 23. Provorov has condensed the timeline. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been a hard worker,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It pays off. You have to be a student of the game. You have to learn every day. From negative plays, from positive plays. Hard work plus the learning of the game.&rdquo;</p><p>GM Ron Hextall saw how defenseman Drew Doughty evolved and became a linchpin for the Kings&rsquo; Stanley Cup teams. He&rsquo;s hoping for a similar career track for Provorov. So maybe that 30-minute game isn&rsquo;t so farfetched after all. &ldquo;Ivan is geared to handle a lot of minutes,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s in great shape, his body is built for it. We&rsquo;re keeping track of the minutes. But he thrives on work.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0149/222295-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="403" height="574"><figcaption class="caption-body">IVAN <b>PROVOROV</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0036-01

IVAN THE GREAT READY TO RULE

<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0239/222450-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="95" height="94"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0324/222443-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="52" height="52"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>C</span>HARLIE MCAVOY</b> has played for five teams over the course of the past year and was outstanding for every one of them. The 19-year-old fast-tracked so he could enroll a year early at Boston University, so the fact he&rsquo;s so good at such a young age should come as no surprise</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0420/222436-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="52" height="52"></div><p><b>BRENDAN GUHLE</b> almost made the Sabres out of camp as a 19-year-old in 2016, but it&rsquo;s hardly a step back that he&rsquo;s still plying his trade in the AHL. It&rsquo;s a natural progression, and when he&rsquo;s an NHL blueline mainstay in the future, he and the Sabres will have considered it time well spent.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0516/222429-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="52" height="52"></div><p>The rich get richer. <b>JAKE BEAN</b>, drafted 13th overall in 2016, has excellent skating ability and hockey sense. He&rsquo;ll likely start his NHL career on the third pairing, but only because the Canes have such a great top-four. He&rsquo;s been a point-per-gamer over the past three WHL seasons</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0615/222422-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="52" height="52"></div><p><b>GABRIEL CARLSSON</b> will never be the top guy in Columbus as long as Zach Werenski and/or Seth Jones are in town, but the towering Swede is just starting his NHL career and gives the Jackets another solid blueline option. He has excellent reach and marries it with intelligence.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0713/222415-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="52" height="52"></div><p>After leaving the NCAA after one year to jump to the WHL, <b>DENNIS CHOLOWSKI</b> has added 25 pounds to his frame and was scoring at a point-per-game pace. The Wings don&rsquo;t usually rush prospects, but with a weak blueline they&rsquo;ll have to resist the temptation to do that here.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0811/222408-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="52" height="52"></div><p>With three years of college and a full season in the minors to his credit, <b>IAN MCCOSHEN</b> brought a high level of maturity to his game in Florida this season. He has the size and temperament to play a physical style, and the potential to chip in about 20 points from the back end.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-099/222401-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="52" height="51"></div><p>After surprising everyone by making the team out of camp, <b>VICTOR METE</b> was logging big, important minutes with Shea Weber. His ice time started to come down a little in November as the Habs continued to struggle, but the smooth skater has passed every test handed to him so far.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-109/222394-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="52" height="52"></div><p>Even though <b>WILL BUTCHER</b> was in the news for most of the summer, his offensive outburst to start the season was still shocking. The Colorado pick who spurned the Avs for the Devils was an integral part of New Jersey&rsquo;s early success. His blend of skills and smarts has made him lethal</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-117/222387-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="52" height="52"></div><p>Five years after being drafted 15th overall, <b>RYAN PULOCK</b> is still fighting for ice time, despite solid results. He dressed for just four games in October &ndash; and the Isles won every time. Without him, they were 3-4-1. Pulock has size and a hammer of a shot, his skating is a work in progress.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-127/222380-1-eng-US/f0037-122.jpg" title="f0037-12" width="52" height="52"></div><p>In all likelihood, New York&rsquo;s next top defender will come via trade or free agency. Internally, <b>SEAN DAY</b> is the best candidate, though far from a safe one. Day&rsquo;s physical gifts, from his size to his skating, are great. In his fifth year of major junior, he still has a lot to learn about the game.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-136/222373-1-eng-US/f0037-132.jpg" title="f0037-13" width="52" height="52"></div><p>He hasn&rsquo;t come along as quickly as people expected after being the first defenseman to take MVP honors at the world juniors, but the Sens can afford to wait on <b>THOMAS CHABOT</b>. Even Erik Karlsson spent time in the AHL as a rookie, and Chabot will ultimately be the better for it.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-146/222366-1-eng-US/f0037-142.jpg" title="f0037-14" width="52" height="51"></div><p>The Flyers&rsquo; system is perfectly calibrated for the future, and <b>TRAVIS SANHEIM</b> will soon be counted on for minutes and points, just like Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere. After AHL seasoning, Sanheim ascended to the NHL this season. His possession numbers were impressive.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-156/222359-1-eng-US/f0037-152.jpg" title="f0037-15" width="52" height="52"></div><p><b>ZACH LAUZON</b> was Pittsburgh&rsquo;s first draft pick in 2017 (51st overall) and became its most promising rearguard prospect. A neck injury has limited him this season, but the QMJHL&rsquo;s best defensive defenseman last season has the potential to be a great NHL shutdown blueliner in a few years.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-164/222352-1-eng-US/f0037-162.jpg" title="f0037-16" width="52" height="52"></div><p>Few were surprised when the Lightning told <b>MIKHAIL SERGACHEV</b> to get a place, least of all Sergachev himself. He&rsquo;s supremely confident in his abilities, and that carries over to his play on the ice. Despite limited minutes, he was producing a ton of offense (11 points in 14 games).</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-173/222345-1-eng-US/f0037-172.jpg" title="f0037-17" width="52" height="52"></div><p>The one thing holding <b>TIMOTHY LILJEGREN</b> back in his pursuit of getting to the NHL is that the Leafs have players like him in abundance &ndash; great-skating offensive D-men with sometimes questionable decision-making skills. But he&rsquo;ll round out his game in the AHL and be ready soon.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-183/222338-1-eng-US/f0037-182.jpg" title="f0037-18" width="52" height="52"></div><p><b>CHRISTIAN DJOOS</b> has made the most of the openings caused by the summer&rsquo;s blueline attrition in Washington. The second-generation NHLer (his dad is Per Djoos) put up big points for AHL Hershey last year and is now providing top possession numbers while paired with John Carlson.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0037-02

EASTERN CONFERENCE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0164/222493-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="696" height="605"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ABOUT SCHMIDT</b> With his up-tempo playing style and upbeat personality, Schmidt fits the expansion plan in Vegas. <span class="photo-credit">(DAVID KIROUAC/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0241/222486-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="95" height="95"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>F YOU NEED ANY</b> proof that art sometimes actually does imitate life, you should dig back and find a segment called &ldquo;NHL Superlatives&rdquo; on the May 11, 2016, episode of <i>The Tonight Show</i> with Jimmy Fallon. It&rsquo;s kind of a goofy bit, where they bring up photos of random players and make fun of them. When Nate Schmidt&rsquo;s bio photo from the Washington Capitals came up, Fallon declared him &ldquo;most likely to puke rainbows out of his mouth.&rdquo; Then Fallon asked to see the photo again, and this time it was altered to bug out Schmidt&rsquo;s eyes, give him rosy cheeks and have a rainbow streaming out of his mouth like vomit &ndash; as seen in the popular Snapchat filter.</p><p>So here was some comedy writer in New York who probably knew almost nothing about hockey and even less about Nate Schmidt going through photos thinking this one might be good for a laugh. But what is absolutely remarkable about it is that it nails Schmidt to a &lsquo;T.&rsquo; Because if it were humanly possible to puke rainbows, Schmidt would projectile vomit a multicolored arc every time he opened his gob. Even Schmidt acknowledges that if he had to describe himself to someone, he would simply hold up that photo and say, &ldquo;This is me.&rdquo; Between Schmidt and former Caps teammate T.J. Os- hie, every day was always the best day in the history of the world. Which is all well and good, but it can get on people&rsquo;s nerves a little, too, so Schmidt and his teammates had a tacit understanding. &ldquo;A couple of the guys gave me a safe word if I was getting too excited,&rdquo; Schmidt said. And what exactly was that word? &ldquo;That&rsquo;s going to stay with me. Brooks Orpik, if you ever get a chance, he&rsquo;s the one who originated it. Sometimes I would just get too excited, and he would just go, &lsquo;Whoa, whoa, whoa, take a deep breath, just relax a little bit.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>Relax a little bit? Are you kidding? Who has time to relax in Nate Schmidt&rsquo;s world? He&rsquo;s too busy wringing every little bit out of life and an unlikely NHL career. He&rsquo;s a little occupied at the moment, anchoring the blueline for the Vegas Golden Knights, the most dynamic and what will probably become the most successful expansion team in NHL history. He&rsquo;s leading the team in ice time and shifts per game. And when he&rsquo;s not playing hockey, Schmidt is busy being the NHL&rsquo;s Renaissance Man. If he&rsquo;s not swing dancing with his girlfriend, he might be winning his family&rsquo;s annual beanbag tossing championship, held every summer back home in Minnesota. Or if he&rsquo;s in a particularly reflective mood, he might be actually kicking up his feet and reading about Thomas Jefferson.</p><p>But all of it is done with a purpose &ndash; to learn something or get the most out of an experience. After parts of four seasons with the Capitals &ndash; where he was signed as a college free agent by former Washington GM George McPhee &ndash; Schmidt has landed in Vegas and been a huge part of the biggest surprise story in the hockey world this season. The way Schmidt sees it, if not for his good fortune in being discovered, he might be back home running Schmidty&rsquo;s Gas and Convenience, a chain of family-run stores in Minnesota. (Although the fact he got his business management degree in just a little more than three years from the University of Minnesota and was part of a small group of students who played the market and managed their own investments suggests he might have been destined for something bigger. &ldquo;At the time Under Armour was really good for me for a while,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s taken a little bit of a beating lately.&rdquo;)</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">A COUPLE OF THE GUYS GAVE ME A SAFE WORD IF I WAS GETTING TOO EXCITED. <b>SOMETIMES I WOULD JUST GET TOO EXCITED</b><br>&ndash; Nate Schmidt</blockquote><p>The point is, Schmidt is 26 years old but still has a refreshing naivete about him. Almost every player who has made it to the NHL has a sincere appreciation for his circumstances, but Schmidt really still cherishes the fact that someone is willing to pay him to play this game. And after being awarded $2.25 million per season on a two-year deal in arbitration last summer, that paycheque has a few more zeros in it now. &ldquo;This game is finite,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It will end some day. So try and have as much fun while you&rsquo;re doing it while you can.&rdquo;</p><p>In a perfect world for the Caps, Schmidt wouldn&rsquo;t even be playing in Vegas. Washington tried to avoid sacrificing Schmidt in the expansion draft, but Capitals- turned-Golden-Knights GM McPhee knew the player he was getting. There was often the notion that Schmidt was always swimming upstream with the Caps, never quite able to break through to the security of a regular role. That is not the problem in Vegas, where Schmidt has emerged from a crowded blueline corps to become the top dog. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got the two things we&rsquo;re looking for, ability and some real upside,&rdquo; McPhee said. &ldquo;He was the No. 1 choice. We&rsquo;d like to have him playing for us for the next 10 years.&rdquo;</p><p>The sounds good to Schmidt, who was one of the team&rsquo;s leading voices in the wake of the shooting massacre that occurred in Las Vegas just prior to the start of the season. McPhee said that when he and his staff were scouring rosters looking for players, they were looking for those with both playing ability and personality, and Schmidt fits on both counts. And with his skating and willingness to jump into the play offensively, he fits the template the Golden Knights are trying to establish of becoming a relentless team that plays with a quick tempo.</p><p>If Schmidt manages to stick around, Vegas fans will cling to him. When he was in Washington, the Capitals had a video segment called &lsquo;Schminute&rsquo; in which Schmidt would pretty much just be himself. He said he hears talk that might be revived in Vegas. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t thrown out all my bags of tricks just yet,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t want to give them too much at once.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0154/222479-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="403" height="362"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-01

IT’S ALL FUN AND GAMES

<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0238/222627-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="95" height="94"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0328/222620-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="55" height="56"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>J</span>ACOB LARSSON</b> is next in a line of skilled blueliners coming through the system. The smooth skater plays a balanced two-way game that is more about all-around ability than offense. With Kevin Bieksa and Francois Beauchemin on expiring deals, Larsson will arrive next October</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0427/222613-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="55" height="55"></div><p>The Coyotes were cautious about <b>JAKOB CHYCHRUN</b> as an 18-year-old last season, breaking him in at just 16:40 a game. He&rsquo;s recovering from August knee surgery, so that will again be the case when he returns. But on an aging &lsquo;D&rsquo; corps, Chychrun will start carrying the mail by Season 3.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0521/222606-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="55" height="55"></div><p>The Flames have four minute-munchers locked in for a while, but if anyone is going to crack that group, it&rsquo;s <b>JUUSO VALIMAKI</b>, Calgary&rsquo;s first-round pick in 2017. A late birthday, Valimaki is playing his final WHL season in Tri-City and may need time in the AHL. He&rsquo;s an all-around defender.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0618/222599-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="55" height="55"></div><p>Charlie McAvoy&rsquo;s departure meant an increased role for <b>CHAD KRYS</b> on Boston U&rsquo;s blueline. Krys isn&rsquo;t real big, but he&rsquo;s upped his physicality. He&rsquo;s a vocal leader and loves to shoot the puck. He&rsquo;s a couple years away from the NHL, but should augment Chicago&rsquo;s power play someday</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0716/222592-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="55" height="55"></div><p><b>CALE MAKAR&rsquo;S</b> tantalizing offensive skills have spawned Erik Karlsson comparisons. Picked fourth overall in 2017, Makar smashed the record for highest NHL draftee out of Alberta Jr. A. He needs experience against stiffer competition, and he&rsquo;ll get it in the NCAA with UMass-Amherst</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0813/222585-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="55" height="55"></div><p>Would <b>MIRO HEISKANEN</b> jump from No. 3 overall to No. 1 if we repeated the 2017 NHL draft? He&rsquo;s averaging more than 23 minutes as an 18-year-old in the Finnish League and boasts the highest points per game by a Liiga defenseman aged 24 or younger in the past 25 years.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0911/222578-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="55" height="55"></div><p><b>CALEB JONES</b> and <b>ETHAN BEAR</b> were late-round picks in 2015. While Jones flourished in WHL Portland, Bear was a blossoming division rival in Seattle. Both are now rookie pros in AHL Bakersfield. As Andrej Sekera and Kris Russell approach their mid-30s, Jones and Bear will rise up.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-109/222571-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="55" height="55"></div><p>Since drafting Drew Doughty second overall a decade ago, the Kings have mostly stayed away from offensive D-men with early-round picks. The exception is <b>KALE CLAGUE</b>, taken 51st overall in 2016. The 19-year-old hotshot is the top-scoring D-man in the WHL, on pace for 100 points.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-118/222564-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="55" height="56"></div><p>We can&rsquo;t call ex-college standout <b>MIKE REILLY</b> a prospect much longer. He&rsquo;s 24 and struggling to break in as an NHL regular. By the end of October, he was logging just 13 minutes a night with some of the worst possession stats on the Wild, who lack a top-drawer blueliner in their pipeline</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-126/222557-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="55" height="56"></div><p>The Predators already have the league&rsquo;s best defense corps, and they have another future horse in <b>DANTE FABBRO</b>, who has the two-way skill to play big minutes in the NHL. If Nashville needs forward help, though, might GM David Poile sacrifice Fabbro? It happened with Seth Jones.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-135/222550-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="55" height="56"></div><p>Other than Brent Burns, San Jose&rsquo;s defensemen are of the shutdown variety. That&rsquo;s why the Sharks would love if Swede <b>TIM HEED</b> continues to blast away on the power play. The 26-yearold isn&rsquo;t big, but he moves the puck well and averaged a point per game in the AHL last season.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-145/222543-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="55" height="55"></div><p><b>JAKE WALMAN</b> lost out to Vince Dunn for a roster spot to replace injured Jay Bouwmeester, but Walman possesses the most upside of any Blues defense prospect. He&rsquo;s a phenomenal skater with potential to push the pace and skew the possession game in his team&rsquo;s favor.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-155/222536-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="55" height="55"></div><p>The Canucks have a cadre of D-men in their mid-20s, but a future leader could be 19-year-old <b>OLLI JUOLEVI</b>, apprenticing with TPS Turku in Finland. He&rsquo;s a candidate to be on Finland&rsquo;s Olympic blueline. He was picked fifth in 2016, just ahead of Matthew Tkachuk and Clayton Keller.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-164/222529-1-eng-US/f0039-162.jpg" title="f0039-16" width="55" height="55"></div><p>Because Vegas picked a ton of D-men in the expansion draft and because <b>SHEA THEODORE</b> was AHL waiver-exempt, that&rsquo;s where he had to start his season. He ripped it up with 11 points in eight games before earning his NHL ticket &ndash; hopefully for good &ndash; by early November.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-172/222522-1-eng-US/f0039-172.jpg" title="f0039-17" width="55" height="55"></div><p>Do the Jets have the next Zdeno Chara in 6-foot-7, 240-pounder <b>LOGAN STANLEY</b>? Like Chara, he blends nastiness and puck-moving skill. Stanley also has a winning pedigree, having lifted the Memorial Cup with OHL Windsor last spring. He&rsquo;s still raw, like most big D-men are as teens.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0039-02

WESTERN CONFERENCE

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0162/222663-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ADDING SOME &lsquo;O&rsquo; TO THE &lsquo;D&rsquo;</b> Woo already rated as a first-rounder due to his shutdown ability. His added offense could see him called early <span class="photo-credit">(MARC SMITH/DISCOVERMOOSEJAW.COM)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>FOR DAILY PROSPECT COVERAGE, VISIT</i> <b><a href="http://THN.com">THN.COM</a></b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0237/222656-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="95" height="95"></div><p><b>JETT WOO&rsquo;S</b> grandparents own a couple Chinese restaurants in his hometown of Winnipeg, and over the summer he helped run orders for them. On the ice as a defenseman for the WHL&rsquo;s Moose Jaw Warriors, he&rsquo;s delivering on another level entirely.</p><p>Even though the team&rsquo;s top blueliner, Montreal Canadiens prospect Josh Brook, was scheduled to miss the first three months of the season with wrist surgery, the Warriors were flying high in the standings thanks in part to Woo and his ability to pick up the slack. Of course, his coach had a lot of faith in him to begin with. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I would have had him on the first power play unit if Josh wasn&rsquo;t hurt,&rdquo; said Warriors bench boss Tim Hunter. &ldquo;But the defensive zone play and the minutes, I would have.&rdquo;</p><p>Thanks to that increased offensive responsibility, Woo was nearly a point-per-game player for Moose Jaw through 15 games, with one-third of his production coming on the man advantage. But what really sets Woo apart in his NHL draft year is what he does on defense. &ldquo;He plays hard, a bit of a throwback player,&rdquo; Hunter said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s physical and he doesn&rsquo;t back down from anyone. He plays the right way, has good timing on the rush and keeps things simple.&rdquo;</p><p>Woo&rsquo;s big hits &ndash; like the one that happened right in front of Tri-City&rsquo;s bench in late October &ndash; can drive opponents nuts, but as a big fan of Shea Weber, he&rsquo;s not going to be soft. Even Woo&rsquo;s name is rooted in action: he&rsquo;s named after movie star Jet Li, who was supposed to stay with Woo&rsquo;s grandparents one time but went to Hollywood instead, where he became a big box-office draw. Nonetheless, the name stuck with the Woo clan.</p><p>Woo, who&rsquo;s father, Larry, was also a WHLer and eventually became a firefighter, spent a lot of time as a kid with his grandparents at their Marigold restaurant. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve eaten it since I was a little kid, probably three or four times a week,&rdquo; Woo said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s more of a treat for me.&rdquo;</p><p>Moose Jaw doesn&rsquo;t have a Chinatown like Winnipeg, but Woo has been very happy with his move to small-town Saskatchewan. &ldquo;I thought it would be a lot tougher,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I like it a lot. Everyone knows everyone.&rdquo;</p><p>Given his contributions this season, Moose Jaw fans definitely know Woo. He&rsquo;s got NHL first-rounder written all over him, and while he continues to grow as a player, he&rsquo;s getting tips from Hunter. From stick positioning to defending odd-man rushes and being patient in the &lsquo;D&rsquo; zone, they&rsquo;re all details that Hunter believes will come with experience. Woo, however, can&rsquo;t hide his desire to become an elite defenseman ASAP. &ldquo;I want to be an all-around player,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and get into NHL form as soon as possible.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0040-01

ACTION STAR IN THE MAKING

<div class="byline">WITH RYAN KENNEDY | TWITTER@THNRYANKENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0236/222699-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="696" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>THE DEEP BLUELINE</b> The Flyers crop of young defensemen, led by Gostisbehere and Provorov, should have the team back in contender status soon. <span class="photo-credit">(RICHARD A. WHITTAKER/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0151/222706-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="103" height="130"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0324/222692-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="95" height="94"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>HAT DO YOU DO</b> when your team needs a refresh instead of a full-on rebuild? When Ron Hextall took over as GM of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2014, the team hadn&rsquo;t won a playoff round in a couple years, but they were neither tragic nor scary. &ldquo;The feeling was that we were a decent team, but an aging team,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;We needed to get younger.&rdquo;</p><p>With that in mind, Hextall made a point of stockpiling draft picks, and in each of the past three drafts his Flyers have had at least nine selections over the seven rounds. Look at some of the most successful franchises around and you&rsquo;ll see a similar strategy somewhere in their recent past. Pittsburgh made double- digit selections from 2002 to 2004, back when it was a nine-round draft, grabbing key pieces such as Marc-Andre Fleury and Evgeni Malkin &ndash; but also Max Talbot, Alex Goligoski, Tyler Kennedy and Ryan Whitney, some of whom were traded for other crucial contributors once the Sidney Crosby era began. Chicago did the same in the years just before Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane arrived. Not all the picks were good, but the breadth paid dividends. It doesn&rsquo;t always work out, of course &ndash; the New York Islanders made 13 selections in 2006 and 2008 &ndash; but you&rsquo;re putting yourself in a position to succeed.</p><p>The results in Philly have been very good. Even if you discount the fact the Flyers won Nolan Patrick in 2017 thanks to the draft lottery, Hextall and his staff have done an excellent job of accruing talent. And they&rsquo;re not just trawling with a commercial net; the Flyers are identifying positions of need and trying to hit on them. For instance, a franchise that has been stung by goaltending over the years (the joke being that Hextall himself was their last great keeper) has made sure to take at least one goalie every year.</p><p>Carter Hart, Canada&rsquo;s starting World Junior Championship goalie, is the showcase prospect in net, but he&rsquo;ll get stiff competition from Felix Sandstrom and Matej Tomek (two more WJC alums), not to mention 2017 draft addition Kirill Ustimenko. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s easy to draft goalies when you have more than seven picks,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re the hardest to hit on.&rdquo;</p><p>That uncertainty goes for every NHL team, but at least the Flyers are increasing their odds. And the fact all those young netminders are on different career trajectories helps, too. You only have so many creases in the pros. &ldquo;In a perfect world,&rdquo; Hextall said, &ldquo;you turn a goalie pro every year.&rdquo;</p><p>With Hart in the WHL, Tomek in the USHL and the other two in Europe, that process can be spread out. And let&rsquo;s not forget: the Flyers already have Alex Lyon and Anthony Stolarz in the pros.</p><p>But where Philadelphia has truly excelled lately is on the back end. We&rsquo;ve already seen the elite play of Ivan Provorov and the upside of Shayne Gostisbehere at the NHL level, and they&rsquo;re just the beginning. Philly went into training camp with two blueline spots open and veterans were given the chance to seize one. They didn&rsquo;t &ndash; the kids did. That meant steady Robert Hagg and smooth-skating puck-mover Travis Sanheim made the jump to the big club. When injuries put a hole in the depth chart, the Flyers had to scramble a bit &ndash; but only because another promising youngster, the towering and nasty Samuel Morin &ndash; got banged up in the AHL at the same time. The franchise also has rapidly developing Philippe Myers (signed as a free agent after he went undrafted) and offensively inclined Mark Friedman marinating in Lehigh Valley. With all that depth, it&rsquo;s kinda funny that Hextall laments the one thing he didn&rsquo;t get in the 2017 draft: a rightshot defenseman.</p><p>The Flyers are very intriguing right now. So far in 2017-18, they&rsquo;ve been just OK. But shifting captain Claude Giroux to left wing and bumping up Sean Couturier to firstline center paid immediate dividends, and we haven&rsquo;t even seen the full Nolan Patrick experience yet since the youngster got concussed early in the campaign. If the Flyers miss the playoffs again, it will be a disappointment but not devastation. Fans should be excited about next season, when the defense corps will add more youngsters and be more skilled, while the forwards will be just as potent and perhaps a little better.</p><p>Whether you cheer for the Flyers or not, it&rsquo;s a fun league when they&rsquo;re relevant. The fans are passionate, and the team has some great rivalries. Hextall knows the market and his strategy of avoiding a complete teardown is informed by that familiarity. &ldquo;You owe a certain amount to your fans,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We wanted to be as competitive as possible, with an eye to the future.&rdquo;<br>Just like a former goalie to keep his eye on the prize.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0041-02

RELOADING ON THE FLY

f0042-01

THE MIGHTY DUCKS

<div class="byline">BY LARRY HUMBER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0158/222883-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="512" height="513"></div><h2><b>GAME Name</b></h2><p>Use the picture clues to uncover the name of a prominent hockey personality</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0249/222876-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg" title="f0049-02" width="470" height="210"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0337/222869-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="470" height="210"></div><h3><b>ACROSS</b></h3><p>1 Hockey legend ___ Taylor</p><p>4 Not close, one-___</p><p>7 The A in ALIH (league with teams in Japan and China)</p><p>8 Steve ___ had his best seasons with Chicago and Nashville</p><p>10 Nickname of Atlanta&rsquo;s ECHL team</p><p>12 &lsquo;Super Joe&rsquo;</p><p>13 An ___ net is unguarded</p><p>14 An ___ player never gets the attention he merits</p><p>18 A powerful punch</p><p>19 First name of highest Swiss NHL draftee ever</p><p>20 One of two known Muslim NHLers, pictured</p><p>21 Finnish city that&rsquo;s sent many players to the NHL</p><h3><b>DOWN</b></h3><p>1 One of the Patricks</p><p>2 Patrick Kane&rsquo;s team, shortened twice</p><p>3 Break out</p><p>4 Nickname of Orlando&rsquo;s ECHL entry</p><p>5 Former Coyotes coach ___ Tippett</p><p>6 The Habs were one from 1955-60</p><p>9 The AHL&rsquo;s Mighty Ducks played here</p><p>11 Airplane associated with Windsor&rsquo;s juniors</p><p>12 His number is retired in Detroit</p><p>15 Toss out</p><p>16 Shot the puck hard, ___ it</p><p>17 &lsquo;One-___&rsquo; Frank McGee</p><h2><b>Guess WHO?</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0433/222862-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="239" height="314"></div><h3><b>CLUE #1</b></h3><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m third among NHL goalies in wins and shutouts since my rookie year of &rsquo;08-09.&rdquo;</p><h3><b>CLUE #2</b></h3><p>&ldquo;I honed my famous glove hand playing Finnish baseball, a.k.a. Pesapallo.&rdquo;</p><h3><b>CLUE #3</b></h3><p>&ldquo;By next season I&rsquo;ll become the all-time wins leader among Finnish NHL goalies.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>PUCK PUZZLE</b></h2><p>Can your hockey brain bring its A-game? The challenge is on!</p><p>The Norris Trophy has been awarded since 1954 to the NHL&rsquo;s top defenseman. Listed here are seven Norris winners. We&rsquo;ve spotted you some letters to get you started. The 2000 Norris winner will appear vertically in the red boxes.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0522/222855-1-eng-US/f0049-052.jpg" title="f0049-05" width="455" height="388"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GUESS WHO: NASHVILLE PREDATORS; NAME GAME: GETTY IMAGES; CROSSWORD: MARK BLINCH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>GUESS WHO ANSWER:</b> PEKKA RINNE <b>CROSSWORD SOLUTION: ACROSS</b> 1. CYCLONE, 4. SIDED, 7. ASIA, 8. SULLIVAN, 10. GLADIATORS, 12. SAKIC, 13. EMPTY, 14. UNDERRATED, 18. HAYMAKER, 19. NICO, 20. KADRI, 21. TAMPERE <b>DOWN</b> 1. CRAIG, 2. CHIHAWKS, 3. ERUPT, 4. SOLAR BEARS, 5. DAVE, 6. DYNASTY, 9. CINCINNATI, 11. SPITFIRE, 12. SAWCHUK, 15. EJECT, 16. DROVE, 17. EYED <b>PUCK PUZZLE SOLUTION:</b> LAPERRIERE, BURNS, CHELIOS, MACINNIS, DOUGHTY, COFFEY, BOURQUE (FINAL ANSWER: PRONGER) <b>NAME GAME SOLUTION:</b> MATTHEW TKACHUK<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">WITH KEN CAMPBELL | TWITTER@THNKENCAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0254/222912-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="696" height="522"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HUGE HAUL</b> Sakic immediately changed the Avs&rsquo; outlook by netting four players and three high draft picks in the Duchene trade. <span class="photo-credit">(RJ SANGOSTI/THE DENVER POST VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0160/222919-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="103" height="126"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>N HIS FIRST THREE</b> seasons in the NHL, Joe Sakic was a combined minus-102. In his second season, he was minus-40, which is an incredibly difficult feat to accomplish, particularly when you score 102 points. That same year, the Quebec Nordiques finished dead last, 33 points behind the second-worst team, which established the high-water (?) mark for solitary futility.</p><p>Even then, though, everyone thought Sakic was going to be an outstanding NHL player, that it was just a matter of time before he elevated the Nordiques/Avalanche to new heights, which is exactly what he did. When Sakic, the legend, was tabbed to take over as GM of the Avalanche in 2014, we all thought there would be a learning curve. After all, he was only a few years removed from almost permanently maiming himself by sticking his hand into a working snowblower. After that happened, he was described by Avs vice-president Jean Martineau as a &ldquo;bright, intelligent 39-year-old who made a mistake.&rdquo;</p><p>As Colorado went from a team that surprised everyone by making the playoffs the season before Sakic&rsquo;s hiring to one that foundered, then set about to alienating one of its best players, well, let&rsquo;s say people were starting to talk. If there was anyone who needed a job-saving Hail Mary of a transaction, it was Sakic.</p><p>And then he went out and did it. For months and months, people screamed about the Matt Duchene situation and insisted the player be dealt. A need for instant gratification demanded that the Band-Aid be ripped off quickly. And for months and months, Sakic waited and waited, showing the same kind of patience that made him one of the greatest offensive players of his generation. He told Duchene to be patient, that a deal would sooner or later be completed. And only when Sakic got the deal he wanted, one that netted him one player, three very good prospects and three draft picks, did he make the move. All that for one player, a player whom he had been backed into a corner to deal in a trade market that was limited.</p><p>Not only did that move save Sakic&rsquo;s job, but Nov. 5, 2017, may go down as the day the Avalanche officially turned their fortunes around. Like the 1987 trade of Dale Hunter that landed the pick they used to select Sakic, this trade has the potential to be an enormous game-changer for the Avs&rsquo; long-term future. All of a sudden, things are becoming far more crystallized in Denver, and if the subtraction of Duchene somehow facilitates a drop in the standings that gives the Avs a better chance at top 2018 draft prospect Rasmus Dahlin, all the better.</p><p>How does a future defense corps perhaps anchored by Erik Johnson, Dahlin, Cale Makar and the newly acquired Samuel Girard sound? Not a bad place to start. And let&rsquo;s assume Shane Bowers, the Boston University center who is a couple of years away, can make a contribution, a center-ice trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Tyson Jost and Bowers looks pretty promising. And now with two picks in each of the first two rounds of the 2018 draft, Sakic is in a position to make deals to move up in the draft.</p><p>That, ladies and gentlemen, is some very good work. Until now, Sakic&rsquo;s record as a GM had been rather undistinguished, unless you consider getting a seventh-round pick in exchange for Freddie Hamilton a deal of significance. There were a lot of those. He obviously didn&rsquo;t get nearly enough for Ryan O&rsquo;Reilly and very nearly lost him to an offer sheet. (Although Sakic managed to steal Sven Andrighetto away from the Montreal Canadiens for Andreas Martinsen.) But for the most part, there were far too many Cody- Corbett-for-Joe Cannata deals, ones that are akin to arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.</p><p>Sakic desperately needed to hit a home run on this trade, for his own job security and the future of the Avalanche, and he put it into the parking lot. So perhaps just as it was with the player, Sakic simply needed some time to hit his stride and to start carrying his franchise. To be sure, Sakic will not be seen as a pushover in trade talks with other GMs. Anyone who can get seven assets for a player who has never scored more than 30 goals, has played just eight playoff games (and never scored in any of them) and never finished in the top three in voting for any major award is not to be trifled with. Sakic the GM has indeed arrived in a big way, more than three years after taking over the hockey department in Denver.</p><p>The best thing about all this is there is finally some hope in Colorado. Professional sports teams, even more than wins and losses, are in the business of selling hope. There was not a lot of that with Sakic at the helm for the better part of three years, but that has all changed.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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December 4, 2017

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