Something from all 32 NHL teams to be thankful for

Credit: Sidney Crosby (© Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

Yesterday, with the NHL calendar frozen for U.S. Thanksgiving in favor of NFL action, American hockey fans took a day to ~~eat and watch football~~ reflect on what they were thankful for. Maybe Canadians did too, with no NHL hockey to watch.

I was in a reflective mood myself, pondering: what’s something about every NHL team to be thankful for, roughly a quarter into the 2023-24 season?

Anaheim Ducks: The new kids

Just a couple years ago, Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale were the supposed pillars of Anaheim’s future. But it’s Mason McTavish who has taken tremendous strides this season, establishing himself as the team’s all-around horse up the middle. Teenaged blueliner Pavel Mintyukov has been a revelation, too, while 2023 No. 2 overall pick Leo Carlsson has been as special as advertised. But please, Ducks, can you stop with the load management?

Arizona Coyotes: Travis Dermott’s Pride

The NHL’s ill-fated decision to ban colored tape, after already nixing speciality warmup jerseys, came to a halt largely because players such as Dermott pushed back. Showing his support for the LGBTQ+ community, he put Pride tape on his stick for an Oct. 21 game, ready to eat whatever fine the NHL gave him. Three days later, the league rescinded its ruling.

Boston Bruins: Coach Jim Montgomery

You lose Patrice Bergeron? David Krejci? Dmitry Orlov? And somehow your team, which posted the most wins in NHL history last season, gets better? Jim Montgomery deserves a lot of credit for rallying this ragtag group. Watch this and you’ll understand why players follow him into battle.

Buffalo Sabres: J.J. Peterka

The Sabres were supposed to break out and end their NHL-record playoff drought at 12 years, right? And a projected 50-goal season from Tage Thompson was part of that picture. Thompson has been hurt, and the Sabres sit outside the playoff picture, but they aren’t dead in the water thanks in part to Peterka’s breakout. He’s tied for the team lead with eight goals in 19 games, already four away from matching his career high of 12.

Carolina Hurricanes: The Pyotr Kochetkov insurance policy

The Canes re-signed Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta last summer, blocking goalie of the future Kochetkov, but Carolina gave him a four-year extension last season for a reason: Andersen and Raanta have struggled to stay healthy in recent seasons. Andersen is now on the shelf due to an unfortunate blood clot issue, while Raanta left Wednesday’s game…it’s Kochetkov time.

Calgary Flames: The Snow Family

The inventive, passionate Chris Snow was a crucial part of the Calgary Flames’ front office. His incredibly inspiring fight against ALS gave hope to others afflicted with the disease. His wife, Kelcie, has shown remarkable bravery and generosity being so open about the family’s struggles and the Snows have raised so much awareness (and money) for the long-term fight against ALS. #SnowyStrong passed away on Sept. 30 but leaves behind an important legacy.

Chicago Blackhawks: Can’t think of anything…

Hmm. Any ideas? Oh, right, I’m told ‘C. Bedard’ sounds like he’s worth checking out.

Colorado Avalanche: Cale Makar’s casual generational superstardom

Quinn Hughes has been the talk of the NHL this season for good reason. He’s having an unbelievable year. Yet Makar chugs along, quietly scoring at a 132-point pace. The young man truly might end up regarded as the best defenseman since Bobby Orr or at least Nicklas Lidstrom, and it almost feels like we take Makar’s talent for granted. He’s simply expected to be historically great at this point.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Patrik Laine’s heart-on-sleeve mentality

It’s been a non-stop nightmare in Columbus since before the opening puck drop of 2023-24. Through it all, the mercurial Laine never stops baring his soul when addressing the media. This season has clearly been emotionally painful for him. But he has always been an open book. Most NHL players aren’t. His raw candor is appreciated.

Dallas Stars: A prospect to get REALLY excited about

Logan Stankoven, a small but feisty player likened to a pit bull by Stars director of amateur scouting Joe McDonnell, made major junior look really easy the past couple seasons. Now, he and fellow prospect Mavrik Bourque are ripping up the AHL. Stankoven has 10 goals in 14 games. It might take an injury to open up a spot, but when the time comes, Stankoven in particular could make an immediate impact.

Detroit Red Wings: That goal song

I agree with my colleagues Scott Maxwell, Steven Ellis and Mike Gould, who named Eminem’s “Without Me” as the No. 1 goal song in the NHL. It has the local artist tie-in, the pump-up factor and ability to troll other fans by being just a bit annoying. Wings fans have been hearing that song a fair amount this season, too, thanks to new arrival Alex DeBrincat, who has buried nine of his 11 goals at home.

Edmonton Oilers: The Circus

From the non-stop nightmare in net to the tense exchanges between the Oilers’ superstars and local media, Edmonton has provided the best theatre of any NHL team this season, taking the mantle from the 2022-23 Vancouver Canucks. No one could’ve predicted we’d see Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s team out of a playoff spot in late November, but the debacle sure has been fascinating.

Florida Panthers: The…fans?

The Stanley Cup Final appearance last season started something. This week, they sold out a third consecutive home game, something that has not happened in decades. Not only are they starting to fill Amerant Bank Arena, but they aren’t relying on Snowbirds in visiting-team jerseys to do so. Good on ya, Panthers fans.

Los Angeles Kings: Cam Talbot

The Kings entered 2023-24 with a stacked roster, powered up even more by the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade. Goaltending, however, looked like an Achilles heel after they went the cheap route, letting Joonas Korpisalo walk in free agency and signing Cam Talbot for $1 million. So far, GM Rob Blake’s gamble on an injury-prone 36-year-old has paid off beautifully. Talbot is 9-3-1 with a 2.02 goals-against average and .930 save percentage. He’s in the Vezina Trophy hunt if he can stay healthy. That remains a massive if.

Minnesota Wild: Brock Faber

The sting of the 2022 Kevin Fiala trade has to hurt less with Brock Faber already manning Minnesota’s top defensive pairing, logging more than 23 minutes a night, looking like he’ll be a stalwart for years to come.

Montreal Canadiens: A Sean Monahan do-over

Last season, the Habs couldn’t cash in on a resurgent Monahan as a trade chip because he was injured by the time the Trade Deadline rolled in. This season? So far, so good. Monaha has established himself as an important veteran leader and faceoff maven who could help a contender’s bottom six. If all goes well health-wise, GM Kent Hughes will have another chance to cash Monahan in for a pick.

Nashville Predators: A slow start

The Preds have won three straight games but remain a couple games under .500. That’s where you want them to be if you’re a fan. Their confusing offseason threatened to doom them to more years of mediocrity. This franchise badly needs to bottom out and land some high first-round picks.

New Jersey Devils: Improved health

They dodged a bullet with Jack Hughes’ shoulder injury. Nico Hischier is nearing a return. The Devils are, shockingly, not in a playoff spot, but don’t count them out. They’ll be a completely different team with their top two centers back.

New York Islanders: A shield for Lou Lamoriello

The Islanders remain stagnant under Lamoriello. He already passed the buck on blame once, canning Barry Trotz last summer, and it’s likely he has one more shield in place with Lane Lambert, who seems about ready to fall through the ice. After that, Lou might run out of scapegoats to be thankful for.

New York Rangers: A new lease on life for Alexis Lafreniere

It’s almost as if a 22-year-old, who went almost an entire year without playing organized hockey during the early days of COVID-19, needed a bit of extra development time. Lafreniere is surging toward NHL stardom, playing the best hockey of his career, providing badly needed scoring for the Rangers’ usually barren right wing.

Ottawa Senators: Michael Andlauer

That presser after the Pierre Dorion firing. Oh, baby. The Senators’ new owner shoots from the hip. At least so far, he seems unafraid to criticize the NHL, calling them out for not disclosing the impending first-round pick penalty over the Evgenii Dadonov trade before the purchase of the team went through. Andlauer’s a refreshing character for the league.

Philadelphia Flyers: Sean Couturier’s return

How cool is it to see Couturier back looking like one of the best defensive forwards in the game after missing all of last season due to back trouble? His career seemed in jeopardy a year ago. Fingers crossed that he can stay on the ice.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby’s ageless brilliance

The living legend is on pace for 55 goals. That would be the most ever by a player 36 or older. He never ceases to amaze.

San Jose Sharks: The 2024 NHL Draft Lottery

The Sharks’ historically awful start pretty much guaranteed they’ll be in the hunt for the lottery ball lead all season. Good. They’re finally bad enough to start laying the foundation for their next generation. Projected No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini’s dad even works for the Bay Area’s Golden State Warriors as director of sports medicine and performance.

Seattle Kraken: The 2024 Winter Classic jersey

Whoa. WHOA. Gimme. Please, Santa. It’s GLORIOUS.

St. Louis Blues: Honesty from Doug Armstrong

When a team has seemingly peaked in its contention window, it’s alarming when its GM refuses to acknowledge the sinking ship and bails out water with stopgap veteran acquisitions – think Ron Hextall in Pittsburgh last season. So it was heartening to hear Armstrong tell Daily Faceoff’s own Frank Seravalli that he understands the Blues are trending toward a rebuild if they can’t turn their season around. The best way forward is sometimes backward.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Jonas Johansson

Listen. Johansson won’t be earning Vezina votes anytime soon. He owns an .889 career save percentage. But he has done enough to keep the Tampa Bay Lightning afloat while awaiting Andrei Vasilevskiy’s return from injury. The .894 SV% isn’t impressive, but no goalie has played more minutes and faced more shots. He sits in the upper third of the NHL in expected goals against and high-danger shots against per 60 at 5-on-5. He hasn’t had great help defensively. But he’s stepped up with a pair of shutouts and cobbled together an 8-4-5 record, enough to keep Tampa in the playoff hunt. It hasn’t always been pretty, but he’s done his duty.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Every second of William Nylander this season

The spectacular goals and setups. Riding the subway to games. The viral talk show clips from the Leafs’ trip to Sweden. Nylander simply can’t miss in 2023-24, and it’s going to get him P.A.I.D. on his next contract.

Vancouver Canucks: Everything?

From Quinn Hughes to Elias Pettersson to Thatcher Demko to J.T. Miller, no teams’ stars have shone as brightly as Vancouver’s this season. Bit of PDO luck? Sure. But even factoring in that regression, this is a reborn Canucks team under coach Rick Tocchet.

Vegas Golden Knights: A head start for the fanbase

The Vegas sports scene gets more crowded by the day. The Raiders arrived in 2020, Formula 1 this year, and the MLB’s Oakland Athletics are headed there next. The Golden Knights have a strong brand in the city, however, established in 2017 and strengthened by last season’s Stanley Cup victory.

Washington Capitals: T.J. Oshie’s wisdom

After Adam Johnson was tragically killed in an EIHL game last month when opponent Matt Petgrave’s skate cut his throat, multiple major leagues reacted by mandating neck protection. The NHL is not yet one of them. But Oshie made a point of donning a neckguard in reaction to the heartbreaking story, claiming he was doing it for his kids. Dozens of NHL players have followed suit.

Winnipeg Jets: Team defense

It’s the Upside Down in Winnipeg. After years of goaltender Connor Hellebucyk carrying leaky defensive clubs, the Jets are actually doing a strong job preventing enemy chances, grading out in the top 10 in expected goals against per 60 at 5-on-5. Ironically, a less-busy Hellebuyck has struggled this season. If he can turn his game around, the Jets may be surprisingly competitive. It’s already beginning to happen; he has a .912 SV% in his last six games, and the Jets have won six of those.

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