The Eastern Conference is still all jumbled together. Only 11 points separate the best and the worst. Meanwhile, the last-place Buffalo Sabres (14 points) are only six points out of the final wild card spot. This conference is why Gary Bettman secretly loves the point that’s awarded for an overtime loss since it keeps the race interesting. It will also inevitably leave one or two fanbases up in arms when a team with 10 overtime losses somehow sneaks into the playoffs as a wild card.
In the Western Conference, teams are starting to separate themselves. This is noticeable in the Central Division and more specifically, with the Colorado Avalanche, who boast the best record in the NHL with 31 points in 19 games. They headline this week’s column.
The Starting Lineup:
- The Avalanche look a lot like the 2022 version.
- Preseason contenders are struggling, which ones have the most fixable issues?
- Wyatt Johnston’s quiet rise to Stardom.
- AHL global things & AHL notes.
- Quick Hits: Larry Brooks, Sellers to watch & more.
It might not be the best thing for the Avalanche to win the Presidents’ Trophy. The last time they did (2020-21), they lost in the Second Round, and the last time a team won the trophy and the Stanley Cup in a full 82-game season was in 2007-08 when the Detroit Red Wings won it all. Yet, they look like the best team in hockey early on. So, let’s look at what stands out with their Rocky Mountain High.
Why The Colorado Avalanche Look Like The Cup Version From 2022
The Avalanche are almost a quarter into the season (19 games for those keeping track) and are 13-1-5. The 2021-22 version won the Cup but this team is better, or at least looks that way so far. Below are the baseline stats of the two teams through 19 games.
2021-22 Avalanche: 11-7-1 record, 4.00 goals per game & 3.40 goals against per game.
2025-26 Avalanche: 13-1-5 record, 4.11 goals per game & 2.36 goals against per game.
Looking back, it’s a slight surprise to see the Avalanche allowing that many goals early on. Ultimately, they ended the season allowing only 2.83 goals per game with the help of the Josh Manson addition at the trade deadline, Bowen Byram’s return to the lineup, and Darcy Kuemper becoming the primary starter down the stretch and for the playoff run.
This team already has a great defense in place, and for the first time since 2022, they have a team built to win the Cup. It’s a credit to the reconstruction or pivot Joe Sakic, general manager (GM), Chris MacFarland, and the front office took to become a new-look team (they didn’t do a teardown as much as they gutted and renovated the kitchen).
The common issue since winning the Cup was that the Avalanche were a top-heavy team. It’s the price they paid by paying their core while letting go of depth players as salary cap casualties. The Avalanche weren’t a well-built team but they’d make the playoffs anyway with four of the top-20 players carrying them.
They have depth now, thanks to the Mikko Rantanen trade halfway through last season. The deal will always be praised and criticized since they let go of a star player who can take over games (and did in the First Round against them, ironically). The move, while costly, gave the Avalanche a star to keep building around in Martin Necas and a depth skater in Jack Drury.
Necas is the ideal winger to play alongside Nathan MacKinnon. He has the speed to join him on the rush and the shot to make the most of open looks. Necas isn’t the player who can carry the line, and he doesn’t need to when he’s playing with MacKinnon. Instead, he’s the player who gives the Avalanche a one-two punch on the top line, something a scout noted about the duo this week.
Drury doesn’t overwhelm anyone offensively (only seven points in 19 games). However, like Brock Nelson, he gives the Avalanche multiple centers to rely on. Yes, they’ll still give MacKinnon most of the ice time but now, they have two centers to give him the extra shifts off and not experience a significant drop off (which happened in recent seasons).
One scout noted that their goaltending remains a question mark, even though they overhauled the position in the middle of last season. MacKenzie Blackwood has struggled since his return from injury. Scott Wedgewood is having a great season but he’s an unknown for a playoff series. The Avalanche had an unknown in 2022 when they relied on Kuemper to carry them but if there’s one position that might cost them in a playoff series, it’s goaltending, especially if they run into Jake Oettinger and the Dallas Stars (which is almost bound to happen, considering the playoff format).
The best way to prevent goaltending from costing them is by surrounding it with a good enough defense. That’s what they did in 2022, what the Vegas Golden Knights did in 2023, and what the Edmonton Oilers attempted to do in 2024 and 2025. It’s why the Avalanche are far from finished in terms of upgrading the roster. It wouldn’t shock anyone if they added another depth forward or made a move for another stay-at-home defenseman. With MacKinnon and Cale Makar in their primes and playing the best hockey of their careers, this is the time to make a move to get over the hump. Expect them to do just that.
Golden Knights, Maple Leafs, Oilers & Panthers Have All Struggled: Who Has The Most Fixable Issues?
The preseason favorites to win the Cup included the usual suspects. Among them were the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Vegas Golden Knights. Below are their preseason odds according to most sportsbooks.
- Oilers (+700)
- Golden Knights (+900)
- Panthers (+1200)
- Maple Leafs (+2000)
The Oilers found their footing lately with three wins in their last four games but the above-mentioned teams, for the most part, have struggled. The question is, which teams can fix their issues? For some, that means waiting for players to return or calling up prospects. For others, it might mean a significant change, whether to the coaching staff or with a big addition in the trade market. The bottom line is that the big four contenders must address their needs in the months ahead, and some are in better positions to do so.
Panthers – Nothing to Sweat About
The Panthers are stumbling out of the gate mostly because of the injuries. Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk were the two cornerstones of the roster and the team’s identity. Barkov embodied the two-way play while Tkachuk set the tone from a physical standpoint. Tkachuk’s return will help them rebound and, particularly, upgrade an offense that is averaging only 2.72 goals per game.
The other thing they must address and easily can is depth in their forward unit. With Barkov out, everyone moves up a line, where Sam Bennett is centering the top line while Anton Lundell is in the top six. The Panthers will still have a need on their third line, something they had entering the trade deadline last season. Their GM, Bill Zito, acquired Brad Marchand to round out the roster last season and can similarly find someone to move to the third line (this season, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Ryan O’Reilly are the names to keep in the back of the head).
The Panthers are the one team that has earned the right to remain unfazed by early-season struggles. They’ve proven that as long as they get into the playoffs, they’ll be fine, and there’s still enough talent on the roster to get them there.
Oilers – Slight Concerns to Keep in Mind
The Oilers always seem to stumble out of the gate. Their slow start in 2023-24 didn’t stop them from reaching the Final, and the anecdote apparently was a coaching change. Similarly, the struggles last season were fixed with a few defensive additions, specifically, Jake Walman and John Klingberg. This time, however, things feel different. Yes, Zach Hyman is back, and with his return comes a reinvigorated offense. However, the issues on the net not only remain but are at the forefront this season.
The problem the Oilers face is that the goaltending isn’t a fixable issue, certainly not at this point. There’s a belief that they can acquire a goaltender who will be an upgrade over backup Calvin Pickard (and pressure Stuart Skinner to step up as a starter). It’s hard to plug and play a goaltender, even as a backup, in the middle of the season. It’s why goaltenders are rarely, if ever, traded during the season (although the Avalanche section above might have something to say about that). The Oilers can add a goaltender but the ideal time to make that move is in the offseason, so for now, it looks like they’ll roll with a Skinner-Pickard combo and hope for the best.
Golden Knights – There Are Some Issues
Like the Oilers, the Golden Knights are struggling to find depth scoring and goaltending. The defense looks better with Kaedan Korczak and Jeremy Lauzon filling in as depth options but otherwise, they don’t look like a complete team.
They acquired Mitch Marner this summer but it came with a cost. The Golden Knights had to move out Nicolas Hague and Nicolas Roy to make the cap space work (plus Alex Pietrangelo being on LTIR doesn’t help the defense).
The Golden Knights will look to upgrade their roster at the deadline. That said, there are more issues to address, and by default, they enter the playoffs with a weakness that teams can expose.
Maple Leafs – Sound The Alarms
There was a belief around the NHL that when Joseph Woll returned, the Maple Leafs, who were carried by their play in the net last season, would have stable goaltending and be fine. Now, Anthony Stolarz is on injured reserve, and the team is playing their third and fourth-string goaltenders.
Throw in the Auston Matthews injury, and the Maple Leafs have too many issues to count. They are playing poorly across the board, and multiple scouts have cited issues with their speed and team identity. With five losses in a row, a coaching change might be coming to light a fire underneath this team but that won’t fix things either. Instead, it’s possible, if not likely, that they’ll miss the playoffs and head into an offseason with questions about what direction they are heading in as they exit the post-Marner era.
Wyatt Johnston’s Quiet Rise to Stardom
Wyatt Johnston scored his 100th career goal on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens. He’s reached the milestone in his fourth NHL season, yet it’s easy to forget that he’s only 22 years old. He’s quietly becoming an elite young player, someone most fans overlook.
When asked about the next generation of talented players, most fans will mention Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, and Matthew Schaefer. Some will mention Jack Hughes, Tim Stutzle, and Jake Sanderson as part of the next wave of young stars. Few will mention Johnston, yet he keeps producing year in and year out.
Johnston being overlooked is a common theme in his career. It starts with his draft and development. Johnston was a part of the 2021 draft class, which many remember as the COVID-19 draft. It was the year that fans and scouts couldn’t tell much about any of the prospects and had minimal data to work with. Junior hockey seasons were either canceled or played minimally. For
Johnston was a part of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and developing with the Windsor Spitfires. Looking back, if he played a normal 2020-21 season, he would have been a top-five or even a top-three pick in the 2021 draft, especially since his development took off with the Spitfires. Below are his two seasons in the OHL.
2019-20 (age 16 season): 53 games, 12 goals, 18 assists, 30 points
2021-22 (age 18 season): 68 games, 46 goals, 78 assists, 124 points
Without question, Johnston would have put together a great season that scouts would have noticed. Instead, they had nothing to work with, and he fell to the 23rd pick in the first round. Jim Nill was the GM who took a chance on him. Nill also did the same thing in the second round with Logan Stankoven, who didn’t play much either in the Western Hockey League (WHL) heading into the draft.
The fascination with Johnston is that he doesn’t stand out on the ice. He’s not a highlight-type of player and goes unnoticed until he scores. He finds his spots in the middle of the offensive zone and waits for the puck to find him. Per NHL Edge, 10 of his 11 goals this season are from the high-danger area or the slot.
What makes him an elite talent is his consistency and durability. He’s in the lineup every night and centering a top-six line. On the Stars, that means he has a lot of help on his wings, whether it’s Mikko Rantanen or Jason Robertson. He’s the player who finishes the scoring chances and can do so both as a shooter and a power forward.
His size is another element of his game that stands out. He’s willing to get to the dirty areas for goals and is capable of scoring while taking the hits. It won’t result in the most aesthetically pleasing goals but they count just as much. Those dirty goals are what teams need in the playoffs, and for the Stars, they can consistently rely on Johnston to provide them.
Johnston is on pace for his first 40-goal season and will be in the race for the Rocket Richard. There’s a good chance he’ll have 200 goals by the time he reaches his age-25 season. Suddenly, fans will start speculating about whether he can chase down some big records or not.
Who is to Blame For Hartford’s disastrous season? & Other AHL Notes
On Saturday night, the Hartford Wolf Pack hosted Hockey Fights Cancer night. Just over 6,000 fans attended the game, which, by American Hockey League (AHL) standards, is a lot. One impressive feat for the Wolf Pack is that they sell well, especially for weekend games.
The Wolf Pack are a reminder that the AHL, like many leagues, has fans from all backgrounds and a surprising number interested in the team for one reason or another. There are the New York Rangers fans who are hoping to catch a glimpse of their prospects. There are Whalers fans who are happy to have hockey back in their city and somehow turn their children into Whalers fans (the number of blue and green jerseys seen on kids at games is staggering). Then there are New Englanders who are too far away from the NHL teams in Boston and New York, so the Wolf Pack are the next best thing.
The fans showed up and keep showing up. The team doesn’t. The Wolf Pack lost 5-2 on Saturday to the Laval Rocket, and they’ve lost seven games in a row. Their head coach, Grant Potulny, didn’t speak to the media after the latest loss. Instead, Case McCarthy was sent out to answer a few questions about his season debut and the team as a whole.
When McCarthy was asked what must happen to turn things around, he noted that it’s about sticking together and sticking to the process. Ironically, the Wolf Pack blew a 3-1 lead and lost 4-3 in overtime the night before to the Rochester Americans, and Potulny noted, “Right now it’s not about process, it’s about winning hockey games.”
It’s one of the many signs that there’s a disconnect in Hartford, where the players aren’t buying into the system and the coaches aren’t getting the message across. The reality is that this season can’t be pinned on the coaching since Potulny was given a bad hand to start the season and it’s showing now.
Ryan Martin: A Respected AHL GM Having a Bad Run
Ryan Martin is one of the most respected minds in the AHL. His eye for talent and team building is up there with the best of them. The Grand Rapids Griffins, and by default, the Detroit Red Wings, saw it firsthand when he was in their organization and led them to a Calder Cup title in 2017. The Rangers believe in his vision and not only hired him in 2021 but promoted him in the 2025 offseason. Martin signed Trey Fix Wolansky this summer, a veteran who has five goals and four assists in 14 games. Otherwise, he didn’t do Potulny any favors.
Brennan Othmann has struggled this season, with zero goals and only four assists despite being a top winger in the Rangers organization. It’s not a secret that the team is looking to trade him or, at the very least, taking calls on the 22-year-old. Martin had the chance to make a win-win trade but never did. He can still do what the Lehigh Valley Phantoms did with Samu Tuomaala, which is turn a healthy scratch into Christian Kyrou, a defenseman who addresses a need. Martin has yet to move Othmann to address a need on the roster.
Then there’s the roster turnover from the offseason, where the Wolf Pack lost multiple veterans and never replaced them. It’s common in the AHL to ice a younger team, yet most GMs want a few veterans to guide the young players. Aside from Fix-Wolansky, Martin didn’t bring any in.
It felt fitting that Alex Belzile scored in his return to Hartford on Saturday night. He was a key part of their top six in the past two seasons and a reminder of what they are missing both on the ice and off of it from a leadership standpoint. The Rocket coaching staff couldn’t talk enough about the impact Belzile’s had on their roster as he’s been a mentor and buffer for the coaches to help the prospects develop and the team win games.
Martin will have time to make changes (and in the off chance that he reads this, he’ll have the time to hunt me down at the arena since he knows where I sit). However, he must make those changes. The pressure isn’t on him yet but it will be if the team goes from bad to worse, something that isn’t out of the realm in the AHL. The Potulny hire, however, isn’t working, and Martin must find someone who can turn things around.
Grant Potulny: A Great Hockey Mind Not Ready For The AHL
Potulny came from a college background, coaching at Northern Michigan University before joining the Wolf Pack. Whenever he’s asked about the X’s and O’s or the technical aspects of the game, he provides a detailed answer. It’s clear he has a mind to coach hockey, explaining his rise in the college ranks.
The problem is that Potulny’s college background didn’t prepare him for the AHL. This is a league where coaches have no control of the roster. They can’t recruit and build their teams the way college or junior hockey coaches can. Instead, they work with the hand they are dealt.
The AHL is where coaches who connect with their players stand out. The ones who get the buy-in and understand the players are the most successful in the league (and ultimately, also have success in the NHL).
Potulny isn’t connecting with the players, and it shows when his message isn’t getting across. The team will get off to a hot start and then hit the off switch to allow the opposition to come back and win. It’s how the Wolf Pack lost back-to-back games to the Phantoms, two games where they led in the third period but allowed a late goal and lost 4-3 in overtime. Well-coached teams find ways to close out games and get the players to play a complete game. Potulny isn’t doing that with the Wolf Pack.
Why Hartford Deserves Better
Typically, an NHL team doesn’t have a vested interest in its AHL team. Why should they? All that matters is that the prospects develop, and if they do, then they get called up to help build a Stanley Cup contender. For the Rangers, it’s all about Gabe Perreault developing into a regular, Dylan Roobroeck carving out a role as a fourth-liner, and a few younger skaters finding a path to the NHL.
The problem is that the prospects aren’t taking a step forward in this losing environment. They are either taking steps back or plateauing at the AHL. Brett Berard, Dylan Garand, and Othmann should be finding spots in the NHL, and instead, they are stuck in the league below. Someone in an AHL front office noted a few weeks back that teams are trying to pivot away from the losing cultures that are seen throughout the league, knowing the damage it does to the prospects.
The losses ultimately cost the fans the most, and in Hartford, the fans deserve better. They spend a lot by AHL standards on tickets, parking, baked potatoes, chuck-a-pucks, jerseys, and other extras to support the team. Yet, the Wolf Pack don’t support them in return. The Bridgeport Islanders, who had a historically bad 2024-25 season where they went 15-50-4-3, didn’t have the same attendance, and it’s why they are held to a higher standard. The Wolf Pack have a fanbase that deserves better than the 3-7-4 team they’ve received to start this season.
Other AHL Notes
The Americans are a fun hockey team to watch. They scored four goals against the Wolf Pack and five against the Islanders the following night. Their offense averages 3.43 goals per game, and Konsta Helenius looks like a rising star in the Buffalo Sabres farm system. The Amerks are the bizarro world to the Sabres since they are always competitive and in the Calder Cup conversation, while their NHL affiliate hasn’t made the playoffs in 14 seasons.
The Rocket entered this season with a Calder Cup or bust mentality, and it shows in how they play. Pascal Vincent has them playing a complete game where their defense stands out. I got to watch their Saturday night win alongside Cedrik Blondin, who covers the Rocket and multiple Quebecois teams for SickMedia and other various outlets. Aside from being a cool experience, it was refreshing to see a traveling analyst and get a different perspective on the teams in the area (compared to the echochambers that most beat writers live in).
The Phantoms saw their five-game winning streak snapped this weekend with a 4-3 loss to the Hershey Bears on Nov. 15. That said, they’ve been a top team in the AHL and have seen the Alex Bump and Denver Barkey line combination take off in recent games. The two prospects have a combined nine goals and 13 assists. Everyone is eyeing Bump, who leads the Phantoms in points, as the next call-up for the Philadelphia Flyers, yet the question is whether both should be called up to keep the chemistry intact. The Flyers don’t have a lot of roster spots available to pull that off but considering how the two work alongside each other, it’s worth considering.
For all the talk about the Wolf Pack above, they aren’t the worst team in their division. That would be the Springfield Thunderbirds, who are 2-10-1-1. The two teams meet up in Hartford on Tuesday for Kids’ Day, which features an 11 AM puck drop and plenty of screaming. Those are always fun to attend, although earplugs are recommended for those who value their long-term hearing.
Speaking of Kids’ Day, there’s a team in the OHL called the Ottawa 67’s, named after their founding in 1967, which was also Canada’s centennial. Let’s just say, they didn’t disappoint with their Kids’ Day last week.
Quick Hits: Larry Brooks, Hovering Around The Sellers & More
Larry Brooks passed away last week at 75 years old. He was an inspiration to many hockey fans and hockey writers like myself. This column, especially the quick hits, was inspired in part by his weekly Slap Shots column (Luke Fox’s Quick Shifts, Mike Sando’s Pick Six, and Tyler Kepner’s Sliders also helped shape this weekly column).
There have been plenty of tributes written in the past few days on the titan that was Brooks. One thing that stood out about him was that he was a bridge as a columnist in the mainstream media who wasn’t afraid to write about the truth and provide honest coverage.For most fans, they must turn to independent media or smaller platforms that lack the same access for honest but less accurate coverage. Brooks wasn’t afraid to write what had to be written, and that part of hockey coverage is gone now that he’s no longer covering the sport.
Another thing worth adding was his mentorship and partnership with younger writers like Mollie Walker, who is a rising star at the New York Post. Too often, we see established writers look down on and ignore younger ones. Brooks didn’t see the younger writers as a threat, even at the same platform as the Post, and instead, he saw them as a key link in the chain for future coverage. At Hockey Hot Stove, I’m surrounded by established writers who have covered the NHL for 20 or even 30 years, and those seasoned veterans aren’t taken for granted (like the person editing this piece).
- Two teams are dealing with injuries, and it’s hard to see them waiting around to make a move or two. The New Jersey Devils will be without Jack Hughes for eight weeks because of a broken pinky from a broken glass at a team dinner (you just can’t make some stuff up). The Montreal Canadiens already lacked strength up the middle and will be without Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach for some time. Both teams are in win-now mode and won’t wait to upgrade their rosters.
- The Vancouver Canucks are a seller to watch. They’ve struggled to start the season, and Jim Rutherford operates on his own timeline. When there’s a chance for him to make a splash, he does it. After all, he just made one with the David Kampf signing.
- The Detroit Red Wings are another team to watch. They beat the Rangers on Sunday but they’ve only won two of their last six games. So, keep an eye on them in the Eastern Conference.
- The Nashville Predators are another team to circle. The question is whether they can move that Steven Stamkos contract. The $8 million average annual value (AAV) is a lot but with the cap going up, it’s manageable for a few contending teams.
- The rising cap, which allowed the Los Angeles Kings to extend Adrian Kempe, has killed free agency. Every team can afford its star players now. What it hasn’t done is kill the trade market since teams can look at a bad contract and view it through a different lens. Expect the Stamkos contract to be one of the many that is moved either at the deadline or in the offseason.
- The Predators, by the way, played the Pittsburgh Penguins in Stockholm, Sweden, this weekend. It’s a series that the NHL is leaning into but isn’t getting the most out of. There’s a good chance that most hockey fans have no idea there was a Global Series until they checked the schedule this week and saw an early start time for two games.
- The Global Series is something that will hopefully be the main talking point for the upcoming episode of Ice Time. So, check that out!!
