This week in the NHL: 2024 Draft hopefuls battle at Top Prospects Game
So many games. So little time. What should you focus your NHL hockey fandom on if your favorite team’s games don’t scratch the itch enough?
Welcome to This Week in the NHL. From now until April, we’ll lay out a collection of key games, events and deadlines to watch on the league calendar each week.
So what’s on tap for Jan. 22-28?
Jan. 22: Best in West meets best in East
Winnipeg Jets @ Boston Bruins, 7:00 p.m. ET
In the latest potential Stanley Cup Final preview matchup, the surprising, first-place Jets head to TD Garden to test their mettle against the first-place Bruins in a battle of the two teams with the highest points percentages in the NHL. The last time these two teams met, Winnipeg laid a 5-1 beating on the Bruins Dec. 22, powered by a pair of goals from Nino Niederreiter.
Jan. 24: CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game
The Avenir Centre in Moncton, NB. Hosts the annual showcase. Team Red will be helmed by Daniel Lacroix, with Gerard Gallant serving as honorary coach, while Jim Hulton will coach Team White with Mike Kelly as his honorary bench boss. Among the top 2024 NHL Draft talents who will be on display: defensemen Sam Dickinson and Zayne Parekh, forwards Tij Iginla and Luke Misa and many more. Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis will have the lowdown on everything noteworthy that happens Wednesday night.
Jan. 27: Lars Eller’s 1,000th game
Montreal Canadiens @ Pittsburgh Penguins, 7:00 p.m. ET
That felt like a blip, didn’t it? Even though he was a first-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2007, Eller has spent much of his career under the radar, living a workmanlike NHL life as a third-line center. He has been durable and consistent, scoring double figures in goals 10 times, winning more than 50 percent of his faceoffs in seven different seasons and capturing a Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2017-18. He played the hockey of his life that postseason, picking up seven goals and 18 points, including three game-winning goals, in 24 games. He’ll play game No. 1,000 at home versus one of his old teams in the Montreal Canadiens, with whom he spent six seasons.
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