News Clips November 4-6, 2017

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Brandon Dubinsky upset over being poked in eye PAGE 04: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Coach returns to Tampa for celebration PAGE 06: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Tortorella adjusts coaching style from Cup days PAGE 07: Columbus Dispatch: Lightning 5, Blue Jackets 4, SO | Missing the finishing touch PAGE 08: The Athletic: Blue Jackets' wavering identity on display in loss to Tampa Bay PAGE 11: The Athletic: Matt Calvert leaves Blue Jackets' road trip after absorbing big hit on Saturday PAGE 12: The Athletic: With and traded, where will Blue Jackets turn? PAGE 14: The Athletic: Scoring drought has reached the point of frustration for Blue Jackets' Artemi Panarin

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects

NHL/Websites PAGE 16: The Athletic: Duhatschek Notebook: On sophomore slumps, Eberle-for-Strome trade, and scoring increase PAGE 20: The Athletic: NHL Trends: A look at who's up and who's down after the first month of the season PAGE 24: .ca: How NHL team playoff hopes start to die in November PAGE 26: TSN.ca: TSN Hockey's Top 10 Storylines of the Week PAGE 30: The Athletic: Pronman: With Samuel Girard the top asset, how good was Avalanche's return for Matt Duchene? PAGE 32: USA Today: Matt Duchene trade creates winners all around

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http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20171103/blue-jackets--brandon-dubinsky-upset-over-being-poked- in-eye

Brandon Dubinsky upset over being poked in eye By George Richards – November 3, 2017

BRANDON, Fla. — Brandon Dubinsky sat out the third period of Thursday night’s win over the . Part of the reason was he had to serve a pair of penalties. Dubinsky also got poked in the eye by Florida defenseman Keith Yandle and was afraid his eyeball had been scratched in the scrum near the net. In the end, Dubinsky said his eyesight began returning to normal midway through the period, but with the Jackets up big in a 7-3 win, there was no real reason for him to come in. “There was no need for him to play,” coach John Tortorella said Friday morning after avoiding the Dubinsky situation following the game. “It gave me a chance to play some other people.” Dubinsky initially was called for cross-checking Florida wing Jonathan Huberdeau in the back with 21 seconds left in the second period. Yandle, Florida’s veteran defenseman, then jumped to Huberdeau’s defense with Dubinsky saying being poked in the eye was a dirty move. “He eye-gouged me, I don’t know if he scratched my eye but the doctor says it looks good,” Dubinsky said. “It was a gutless move by him.” Dubinsky still had redness around his left eye after practice on Friday and is expected to be back in the lineup Saturday at the . “I was down by the net and knocked Huberdeau from behind,” Dubinsky said. “The puck is right there; (Sasha) Barkov came in and grabbed me and that’s part of it. You have to protect your guys but this situation is a little bit different. ... I don’t think this is something we need in our game.” Wing Matt Calvert was hit in the face by a flying puck for the second time in as many seasons when he got whacked while sitting on the bench. He was struck by an errant puck off the stick of Josh Anderson in the second period. Calvert said he had to push his two front teeth forward and back into place to continue playing; on Friday, he visited one of the Lightning’s team dentists and had a temporary bridge put in. “It was interesting but it happens,” said Calvert, who took 36 stitches to his forehead after being hit by a Nick Holden slap shot last November. He returned to score the winning . “I went back in the room and they had to push them back up. The mouth guard helped hold them in. It is what it is. The great thing about this league is Tampa Bay’s dentist was ready to take care of me.” It appears Pierre-Luc Dubois will continue to get a look as the fourth-line center after moving over from wing. “He said when his dad coached him, he always put him at center when his legs weren’t moving,” Tortorella said. “His legs haven’t been moving. So, it’s a perfect opportunity.”

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Gabriel Carlsson is close to returning after being out since the fourth game of the year. Yet, Tortorella likes his defensive lineup so much, he says don’t expect any tinkering to it. “I’m not going to change the six D right now, whether he’s healthy or not. I don’t think it would be fair,” Tortorella said. “I think our guys have played well. ... It’s a good problem to have.”

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http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20171103/blue-jackets--coach-john-tortorella-returns-to-tampa-for- celebration

Blue Jackets | Coach John Tortorella returns to Tampa for celebration By George Richards – November 3, 2017

BRANDON, Fla. — John Tortorella said he hadn’t run a practice inside the Tampa Bay Lightning’s practice center to the east of Tampa in years.

On Friday afternoon, the former Lightning coach was back on home ice as he led his Blue Jackets through a quick but spirited workout.

Tortorella grinned as he said the old barn had not changed much.

The Lightning’s 2004 Stanley Cup championship banner that Tortorella saw raised to the rafters of Tampa’s arena was almost always in his view. Tortorella keeps a home in the Tampa area and says coming back for games here can be “confusing” because it’s a place close to his heart.

“We come back for parts of the summer,” said Tortorella, who coached the Lightning from 2000 to ’08. “We have a lot of good friends here. I just try to keep it as business, though. It gets a little confusing for me, quite honestly, when you come back, so I just focus on our team and what we’re trying to do here.”

This weekend, however, Tortorella says he is going to let himself take in the moment as the Lightning honors that title team.

“I think that’s something that I would like to enjoy with some of those guys,” Tortorella said. “I don’t want to miss that stuff. I think you can stop thinking about the game and enjoy some of that stuff. The amount of work they put in, as far as all of us as a group, that’s fun. The other stuff, I don’t know. You just focus on your team.”

Last season, the Lightning waited until the Jackets came to town to retire Martin St. Louis’ jersey so Tortorella could be there. On Saturday, the Lightning has a reunion of that Stanley Cup championship team.

Tortorella planned on joining his old players for a special dinner Friday night and praised the Lightning organization for keeping that 2004 team close.

After all, the Lightning wasn’t able to officially celebrate its Cup team until the 2005-06 opener after the NHL lockout wiped away the 2004-05 season.

“It shows you how hard it is to get there,” he said. “It has been a long time, but it’s true what they say: You don’t forget one another when you go through that stuff, and I think this organization has done just a terrific job in trying to keep the people together.”

Blue Jackets forward Matt Calvert said he grew up idolizing St. Louis because of his hard-nosed play and tenacity. A smaller, skilled player as a youngster, Calvert looked to the (officially listed) 5-foot-8 St. Louis as inspiration.

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“I was real small growing up, and that was the era when only big guys made the NHL,” Calvert said. “He was one of those small guys who succeeded. He was always the guy I leaned on. I appreciated what he did for guys like me. He gave us the attitude that, ‘If he can do it, I can do it.’ ″

Don’t tell Tortorella, but the young Calvert turned on his hero during those 2004 Stanley Cup finals.

Being from (coincidentally) Brandon, , Calvert jumped on the bandwagon and was pulling for them to bring the Cup back to .

“As much as I liked him, Calgary was in those finals,” Calvert said. “We didn’t have a team in at the time, so Calgary was pretty much the closest team we had. He scored some big goals in that series. It was fun to watch.”

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http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20171104/blue-jackets--tortorella-adjusts-coaching-style-from-cup- days

Blue Jackets | Tortorella adjusts coaching style from Cup days By Erik Erlendsson – November 4, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. — Before Saturday’s game, the Tampa Bay Lightning had a pregame ceremony to honor its 2004 Stanley Cup championship team, which was led by current Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella.

One of the signature parts of that championship team was the play of the team’s top three lines. The fourth liners didn’t see a lot of ice time.

Now, 13 years after winning that championship, one part of the game that has changed is the role of the fourth line. It has to play a bigger role and lighten the ice time of the top players.

“I’ve learned, and it’s been a struggle for me, because I think your best players need to be on the ice a lot,″ Tortorella said. “But I’ve learned that I think it’s helped our team. If we want to play with pace, and we always want to be just going North-South with it, everybody needs to play.″

Atkinson still out Right wing Cam Atkinson remains out of the Blue Jackets lineup as he continues to recover from a hip injury that has kept him out of three games. While considered day-to-day, Tortorella said Atkinson might return Tuesday when the Jackets play the at Nationwide Arena.

When the team’s top goal-scorer from last season back gets back in the lineup means the lines will need to be moved around.

“It is a process for me to figure out what our lines are going to be,″ Tortorella said. “Cam’s out. He’s been out. I’m not sure what happens with the lines when he comes back, but eventually, we’re going to have to stabilize something.″

Slap shots

The Blue Jackets scratched defenseman Scott Harrington, center Zac Dalpe and Atkinson against the Lightning. ... Defenseman Seth Jones recorded his second career goal against Tampa Bay in 11 meetings.

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http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20171104/lightning-5-blue-jackets-4-so--missing-finishing-touch

Lightning 5, Blue Jackets 4, SO | Missing the finishing touch By Erik Erlendsson – November 4, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. — John Tortorella knew the second half of the Blue Jackets’ Sunshine State swing would prove more difficult than the first.

Not exactly a prophetic statement, but proved true nonetheless as they had to rally from down two goals in the third period to league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning before falling 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday night at Amalie Arena.

Steven Stamkos scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Lightning the victory.

Seth Jones, Markus Hannikainen, Brandon Dubinsky and Zach Werenski scored for the Blue Jackets, and Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 31 saves. The team rallied from down two to start the third period.

The Blue Jackets jumped on the board quickly as Jones sent a bad angle shot from the boards that deflected off the stick of Victor Hedman, popped up in the air and landed behind goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy just 2:30 into the game.

But the Blue Jackets’ lead didn’t last long. On the next shift, Brayden Point picked up a bouncing puck that deflected toward the goal and lifted a backhander over Bobrovsky 24 seconds later to tie the score.

The Lightning struck again 38 seconds later when league-leading goal scorer Nikita Kucherov had an open net to shoot from the right circle at 3:32.

The Blue Jackets pulled even after Pierre-Luc Dubois beat Andrej Sustr to the corner on the forecheck and fed an open Werenski in front of the net for his fourth goal of the season at 10:55. The teams combined for 32 shots on goal in a wide-open first period.

The Jackets allowed the sizzling Lightning power play to go to work early in the second period and Tampa Bay was able to zip it around the zone before Stamkos was open at the left circle to shoot into the open half of the net at 6:20.

The Lightning carried a 4-2 lead into the third period after Yanni Gourde was able to come down the slot as the Jackets collapsed down low, scoring on a feed from Alex Killorn with 1:59 left in the second period.

The Blue Jackets came out swarming in the third period, pressing the Lightning by activating the defense, pinching to keep pucks in. The aggressiveness paid off as they cut the deficit to a goal at 9:46 of the third period as Hannikainen beat Vasilevsky on a wraparound.

The pressure kept coming from the Blue Jackets, forcing Tampa Bay into poor decisions trying to clear the zone and led to Dubinsky finishing off a rebound at 11:45 to tie the game.

The Jackets had a power-play chance in overtime but failed to find the winner.

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https://theathletic.com/146860/2017/11/04/blue-jackets-wavering-identity-on-display-in-loss-to- tampa-bay/

Blue Jackets' wavering identity on display in loss to Tampa Bay By Aaron Portzline – November 5, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning have the best record in the NHL. They are a popular pick to win the Stanley Cup, which means they're a good measuring stick for the young Blue Jackets, who also fancy themselves a playoff club. When the two clubs met Oct. 19 in Columbus, the Lightning skated circles around the Blue Jackets in the first period and left town with a 2-0 win. On Saturday, the Lightning nearly had the Blue Jackets extinguished by the end of the second period, before the Blue Jackets rallied with a monster third period. The Lightning eventually won 5-4 in a shootout, but John Tortorella deemed it a “glass half full” point. What have the Blue Jackets learned in two games against the Lightning? That Tampa is an incredibly fast team — both with their feet and their minds — and neutral zone turnovers are their fuel. That the Blue Jackets can play with the Lightning if they take care of the puck and turn the game into a battle of wills below the hash mark. “When we put them down low, I think you could see the effect it had on the game,” Seth Jones said. “When we didn't want to put it behind their D, you saw what happened. They had chances offensively.” The Blue Jackets trailed 4-2 after two periods, the lead growing to two goals late in the second when Tampa Bay's Yanni Gourde slipped a check coming through the slot at 18:01. It felt like the Jackets were saved by the bell in the second, but they came out strong in the third. “We certainly got the puck deep in the third,” Tortorella said. “That was probably the fastest we played through the game. Got to some blue paint. Got some sticks on pucks to keep our forecheck.” At 9:46 of the third, Markus Hannikainen was behind the Lightning net when he reached around and jammed the puck through or under the left pad of Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Less than two minutes later, Brandon Dubinsky scored his first goal of the season — he rattled home a feed from Boone Jenner in the slot — to pull the Blue Jackets even. That's a long road back against a very good team in a packed (19,092) building. “Making sure pucks were getting out and making sure they were getting in,” Dubinsky said, explaining how the Blue Jackets came alive in the third period. “You saw the success we had when we got on that deep forecheck. We had one guy in fast, sometimes two, sometimes three. We needed more pucks deep and to get on the hunt more. It seemed like we were standing around too much, watching them play at times.” Funny, that last phrase from Dubinsky — “standing around” — is a quote many players offered up after the 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay in Nationwide last month.

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The Blue Jackets (9-4-1) are still trying to forge an identity this season, and they're transitioning from a heavy, hard-to-play-against team to a team that can beat you with skill and scoring. The way the Jackets have played against the Lightning — and the way they've played in the stretches in which they've played well against the Lightning — suggests that maybe the transition is going to be choppy. Or maybe the Blue Jackets just aren't ready to run-and-gun with a club like the Lightning just yet, especially as long as Artemi Panarin continues his goal-scoring drought. On Thursday in Sunrise, Florida, the Blue Jackets just overwhelmed a Panthers club that hasn't learned to play in its own zone yet. But on the other side of the state last night, it required a different tack. If Tortorella gets his wish, the Blue Jackets will stick to their old playing style — hard forecheck, straight- line approach — but rely on Panarin, Bjorkstrand and others to sprinkle a little individual skill into the mix. Right now, the Blue Jackets are winning amid their frustration. “It was a good comeback to grab a point against a really good team,” Tortorella said, “with still not everybody firing away on our team.” NOTEBOOK • The Blue Jackets went 0-for-4 on the power play, including a full two-minute 4-on-3 in overtime. They cleared the puck on themselves three times during that 4-on-3 and generated just two shots on goal, both one-timers by Panarin that Vasilevskiy easily kicked away. You might say that is where the game was lost. • Steven Stamkos won the game for Tampa with a goal in the third round of the shootout. Wrister. Unfair. Sergei Bobrovsky had stopped Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point in the first two rounds. • The Blue Jackets' shootout batting order: Bjorkstrand was stopped on a wrister, Panarin was stopped on a wrister, and Sonny Milano was stuffed on a backhand. • Matt Calvert absorbed a huge, shoulder-to-shoulder hit from Tampa Bay's Dan Girardi in the neutral zone at 4:52 of the third. It sent Calvert's helmet flying off his head and Calvert himself sailing off the ice before he slammed into the wall in front of the Lightning bench. After a few seconds on the ice, Calvert skated off under his own power. • Here's Tortorella on the hit: “Clean hit. Clean hit. Danny Girardi's not going after anybody's head. That's just a clean hit. It's unfortunate Calvy gets banged up. I'm not sure what it is.” • Markus Hannikainen has scored in two consecutive games. His goal tonight started the third- period push back to a tie. “I'm bummed out that we couldn't finish it off, but still a big goal for our line,” Hannikainen said. “I feel comfortable more and more. It's always like this when you get in the lineup for (consecutive) games, you get more and more comfortable with the puck, you get in the game, you get the feeling that you're part of the team. That's huge. It's huge for the confidence, and it feels good.” • Tortorella on the Lightning living up to their name: “That's a really fast team. Forget about their top line, I think Point is one hell of a player. Quite honestly, it looks like he's kind of the heartbeat of that team right now.”

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• The Blue Jackets' five losses — you've seen this stat in this space a few times, now — have come against Chicago, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Tampa Bay. Combined record (yes, counting Tampa twice) is 50-14-8. Here's Tortorella, pregame, on the Blue Jackets' needing/wanting to beat a “top” team: “We always talk about it being a mindset. I think our team thinks it's a good team. I think they're very honest with themselves that they still have to continue to get better. If you come in (to Tampa) and maybe you win a game like this, it gives you a layer, a mindset. Respect your opponent. This is a really good team. If you beat 'em, that's good for you. That's good for the mindset of ‘we're coming.' ” • Before the game, Lightning coach John Cooper said the Blue Jackets are a better club than when they met in Columbus on Oct. 19, a 2-0 Tampa win. Told of this, Tortorella shot back: “Oh, tell him to shut up.” • The Blue Jackets are off Sunday. They're spending the night in Tampa Bay and flying to New York City on Sunday ahead of the game Monday with the New York Rangers. • Former Blue Jackets Rick Nash, who played his 1,000th game on Oct. 26 vs. Arizona, will be honored for the feat on Monday in Madison Square Garden before the game.

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https://theathletic.com/147237/2017/11/05/blue-jackets-matt-calvert-leaves-road-trip-after-absorbing- big-hit-on-saturday/

Matt Calvert leaves Blue Jackets' road trip after absorbing big hit on Saturday By Aaron Portzline – November 5, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. — Matt Calvert has left the Blue Jackets' road trip and returned to Columbus after absorbing a big hit in the third period of the 5-4 shootout loss Saturday night to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The club is officially listing him as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He won't play Monday when the Blue Jackets play the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden. At 4:52 of the third period, Calvert was sent sailing off his skates with a hard shoulder-to-shoulder check by Tampa Bay defenseman Dan Girardi, a blast that dislodged Calvert's helmet. He slammed into the boards in front of the Lightning bench. Calvert remained on the ice momentarily but made it to his feet and skated off under his own power. He sat on the bench for a few moments before continuing on to the dressing room. The Blue Jackets don't plan to recall a player from AHL Cleveland today — the Monsters played in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday night — leaving them with 12 healthy forwards. Right winger Cam Atkinson did not travel with the club after suffering a hip injury last weekend in St. Louis. He's also been battling an illness. Forward Zac Dalpe was a healthy scratch Saturday against Tampa, so he's Calvert's most likely replacement. John Tortorella had 11 forwards and seven defensemen in uniform in a 4-3 shootout win over Boston on Monday. Moments after Calvert was hit by Girardi, Nick Foligno skated up to Girardi to confront him. A scrum formed, and there was pushing and shoving, but no punches. Tortorella, who coached Girardi for five seasons with the Rangers, said he didn't take issue with the hit. “Clean hit. Clean hit,” Tortorella said. “Danny Girardi's not going after anybody's head. That's just a clean hit. It's unfortunate Calvy gets banged up.” The Blue Jackets rallied from a 4-2 deficit shortly thereafter, forcing the game into overtime before losing in a shootout.

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https://theathletic.com/147598/2017/11/05/with-matt-duchene-and-kyle-turris-traded-where-will- blue-jackets-turn/

With Matt Duchene and Kyle Turris traded, where will Blue Jackets turn? By Aaron Portzline – November 5, 2017

NEW YORK — The long-awaited trade finally happened Sunday. Center Matt Duchene, with one foot out the door in Denver for months now, was traded by Colorado as part of a three-way deal with and Nashville.

Duchene landed in Ottawa, Kyle Turris was shipped to Nashville, and the Avs acquired four players/prospects and three picks in the next two drafts, all in the first three rounds. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the trade.

It's an interesting trade from the Blue Jackets' perspective, because it takes off the market two top-six centers that could have filled a need in Columbus.

And isn't it interesting that Jarmo Kekalainen was watching the Avalanche play tonight in Brooklyn against the New York Islanders when the trade was finalized? Duchene was pulled off the ice after only two shifts.

The Blue Jackets were known to have had extensive talks with Colorado regarding Duchene, but they were not willing to pay the price that Avalanche GM Joe Sakic was demanding. As you see by the return, Sakic certainly landed a lot of bodies and picks.

Sources indicated to The Athletic on Sunday that the frequent discussions between the Avalanche and Blue Jackets in the summer had faded in recent weeks. No bad blood, just two sides who knew where they stood and had no reason to keep talking.

Kekalainen would not address Duchene directly, but he told The Athletic that the trade Sunday does not feel like an opportunity lost.

“The market is never settled,” Kekalainen said. “Some stuff will always come up, new stuff will come up … something might pop that we never expected. That's the way it goes in pro sports.”

There's also this not-small fact: The Blue Jackets are 9-4-1 and in first place in the Metropolitan Division, pending the New Jersey-Calgary result tonight.

The Jackets, who play the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden on Monday, are off to the best start in franchise history, and some of their top players have sputtered offensively.

For instance, Artemi Panarin has scored one goal and is on a 10-game streak without a goal, the second- longest of his career.

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“We're winning games and playing hard, but we're not running on all cylinders yet,” Kekalainen said. “A lot of guys can improve their performance. That's where I'd like to get.

“I'd like to get clicking on all cylinders with our team, see some of our big boys get a little confidence, have success on an individual level.”

NOTEBOOK • Told there's a strong chance defenseman Gabriel Carlsson will draw into the lineup Monday against the Rangers. Repeat: not a guarantee, but a strong chance. That would seem to suggest that there's an injury or an illness, because John Tortorella on Friday said he couldn't justify sitting Markus Nutivaara or Ryan Murray to get Carlsson back into the lineup.

• Carlsson was activated from injured reserve Sunday after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury. To create space, the Blue Jackets put right winger Cam Atkinson on IR. He's missed three games with a hip injury and an illness. He's listed as day-to-day. His placement on IR was made retroactive to Oct. 25, meaning it's been a week and he could be activated at any time.

• The Blue Jackets signed forward Maxime Fortier to a three-year, entry-level deal. Fortier has been a big-time scorer in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but he slid through the past two drafts, likely because of his size (5-foot-10, 178 pounds). He had 32-55-87 for the Halifax Mooseheads last season and 31-46-77 in 2015-16. He's off to a roaring start this season: 13-14- 27, plus-12, in 19 games.

• Here's Kekalainen on the early-season signing of Fortier: “We want to pull the trigger rather than wait when we get messages from our scouts saying, ‘This guy should be signed NOW!' We act on it quickly so it doesn't become a bidding war.”

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https://theathletic.com/148067/2017/11/06/scoring-drought-has-reached-the-point-of-frustration-for- blue-jackets-artemi-panarin/

Scoring drought has reached the point of frustration for Blue Jackets' Artemi Panarin By Aaron Portzline – November 5, 2017

NEW YORK — Thirty-six seconds into overtime on Saturday in Tampa Bay, Artemi Panarin skated into open space in the high slot with a chance to end the game, but his wrist shot sailed just over the crossbar. At 2:03 of that same OT, Panarin unleashed his patented one-timer from the left dot, only to watch Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy kick it away with his right pad. Nine seconds later, same thing: Panarin with a blaster, Vasilevskiy with a kick save. But Panarin's response was different on this one. The Blue Jackets' big offseason acquisition spun, spun his stick around and took a slammed his hand against the stick blade in frustration. He later was stopped by Vasilevskiy in the second round of the shootout. “Oh, sure he's frustrated,” John Tortorella said. “He's a goal scorer. He knows he's a goal scorer. He knows he needs to be a goal scorer for us. It's not for a lack of opportunities. “He has another chance in a very important part of the game … to help us. Yeah, he's a good pro. He's with a new team. He wants to try and help us. Sure, he's frustrated.” Panarin has been productive: he has 1-10-11, tied for first on the club in points. But he carries a 10-game streak without a goal into tonight's game against the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden.It's the second longest of his career. He went 11 games during his rookie season (Oct. 14 to Nov. 6, 2015) with the Chicago Blackhawks. It's the second longest of his career, dating to an Oct. 13 win over the Rangers in Nationwide Arena. He went 11 games without a goal during his rookie season (Oct. 14 to Nov. 6, 2015) with the Chicago Blackhawks. Put another way: Panarin has one goal on 44 shots on goal (2.27 percent), including 37 consecutive shots on goal that have been turned away. Before this season, he's averaged one goal for roughly every 6.5 shots on goal. “A guy like him doesn't shoot 2 percent for the season,” Jarmo Kekalainen said. “You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. “He's getting lots of chances. He's going to score. A little success and then things will start going in easier. Maybe he just needs a lucky goal. He's playing well, but pucks aren't going in.” Panarin leads Blue Jackets' forwards in ice time (20:40 per game), ranking ninth among forwards in the NHL. His 44 shots on goal are tops on the team, too. But he's one of only two players in the league with 40-plus shots on goal and fewer than two goals. Arizona's Max Domi (1 goal, 43 shots) is the other.

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Seth Jones, who is tied with Panarin for the club points lead, said he was trying to keep Panarin loose after the overtime loss to the Lightning. It was a wild affair, and Panarin had three chances to end it. “If (the one-timers) are maybe 18 inches off the ice, they're goals,” Jones said. “It's that close. “I went over to him (after the second one-timer), just kind of messing with him, saying, ‘Lift it, and that's in! Lift the puck, and it's in!' He said, ‘I know, I know. Give me one more.' ”

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https://www.theathletic.com/146169/2017/11/03/duhatschek-notebook-on-sophomore-slumps- eberle-for-strome-trade-and-scoring-increase/

Duhatschek Notebook: On sophomore slumps, Eberle-for-Strome trade, and scoring increase By Eric Duhatschek – November 3, 2017

NHL rookie crops are a little bit like wine years in Bordeaux. Some vintages are just naturally better than others – but pretty much everyone can agree, 2017 was one of the best years ever. Not only did you have Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine at the top vying for the Calder Trophy, the quality didn’t diminish until you got 20 to 25 players deep into the rookie class. In any other year, the numbers posted by William Nylander or Mitch Marner, Zach Werenski or Matthew Tkachuk, even Sebastien Aho to Brayden Point would have had them in serious contention for rookie-of-the-year honors. And that didn’t even include all the impact rookie defencemen we saw – from Ivan Provorov and Brady Skjei to Nikita Zaitsev – or the players who didn’t get a full season in the league, but made a genuine impact once they arrived (Anthony Mantha; Jake Guentzel). But a sophomore year can be a funny thing. Generally, I abhor the term “sophomore jinx” as a catch-all to describe the challenges that player faces in his second year that didn’t affect performance in the first year because it implies it’s mostly a question of bad luck. There’s more to it than that. As we’re seeing this year with another extraordinary NHL rookie class, there is a palpable level of excitement for players when everything is giddily new and before reality sinks in — that this is actually a job and there’ll be good days and bad days once you settle in as an NHL regular. The first month of 2017-18 showed a great divide between the sophomores that have smoothly adapted to change and those that are struggling. And no, it isn’t just Marner having issues. Even though the have started well, Laine managed just his seventh point Thursday night against the Dallas Stars (more on Laine in a minute). Aho, a 49-point producer last year, is still looking for his first goal. Werenski snapped a four-game drought by contributing two assists Thursday in a blowout win against Florida, only after coach John Tortorella told him to try and produce more offence. Skjei had 39 points in 80 games for the Rangers last year, but is stuck at just four this year. Guentzel, who had 33 points in 40 games after being called up by the Penguins last season and then set all kinds of rookie playoff scoring records, has been moved off Sidney Crosby’s line and has just seven points. In short, it isn’t always sweetness and light the second year. Challenges abound, and in the case of Laine and Werenski, it looks as if teams are simply keying on them more. With Aho, the chances are coming and not going in. But Aho didn’t score in his first 13 games last year and still finished with 24, so there’s hope in Carolina that he will emerge from his early-season funk. But as TSN analyst says, just because things went well for a player last year doesn’t mean everything’s going to fall into place this year. “Look at anybody’s hockey card,” said Ferraro, in an interview with The Athletic. “There’s good years. There’s bad years. And even in a good year, there might be a stretch of six weeks where they’re terrible and get nothing done. But for these guys, the problem is it’s happening in October.” Ferraro, who played 1,258 NHL games over 18 seasons and scored 898 career points, says players in their second seasons face far greater “internal or individual” expectations and it can negatively affect performance.

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“Last year, those guys don’t know what to expect, so they had no expectations,” Ferraro said. “They just wanted to make the team. Pretty soon, they’re three months into the season and things are going pretty well and they haven’t even really thought about it. Season finishes; and Laine had the year he had; Aho had 20 goals unexpectedly; Werenski was just dynamite for Columbus; but now they’ve got all summer to think about it and put expectations on themselves. “If you go through a stretch like this in the middle of February, you don’t really notice and the media doesn’t really notice. But it’s happened out of the gate. So here we are, 10 games in, and Aho doesn’t have a goal. When he picks up the stat sheet before the game – because all the guys do – he looks and sees he’s got the same number of goals as the goalie. It’s incredible how you start to stress. The more you stress, the more you cheat. The more you cheat, the worse it gets. Once that filters into a players’ head, there’s that great phrase ‘paralysis by analysis.’ You’re thinking. You’re seeing more video. You know what you’re not doing, but the harder you try, the worse it gets.” Laine was unusually candid about his own slow start this season at the Jets’ morning skate Thursday, noting that he was finding hockey “really hard” at the moment, but venturing that every player feels that way sometimes and he just needed to work through it. Laine acknowledged his confidence wasn’t where it needed to be, but he was happy that the team was winning and only wished he could be contributing more to their overall success. Laine concluded by saying he’d gone through stretches like this before, always came out of it, and predicted he would again. It was a mature and thoughtful summation of what he was going through, something not many 19-year-olds would be able to articulate as well. For Laine, like the other players searching for their lost confidence, the solution may well be to relax and play again on instinct, which is how they had success in the first place. That’s easier said than done, according to Ferraro, who believes the modern-day player is taking in so much information all the time that he often has a hard time just exhaling and clearing his mind. “The thought of doing less and caring less – that goes 180 degrees against everything you do,” Ferraro said. “But in reality, that’s the exit door. You have to find a way to let your instincts take over, which is what they did as rookies, because they had no expectation. Everything, every place, everybody was new to them last year. And now, you go in and Patrik Laine does an interview and people ask, ‘why are you struggling?’ Zach Werenski, people are noticing now. Last year, if Werenski started with no points in 10 games, who would even have noticed? He was just a young kid. I’m almost certain that Zach Werenski is a really good player who is going to have a great career. But he’s probably doubting himself a little bit right now, and doubting his decisions, and once you start to doubt, you’ve dug yourself your own little hole that you have to fix. And that takes time. It’s sport. The other guys are trying, too. “Marner, everything went so well for him last year. He played all the games. The power play was great. His line stayed the same. If you think that’s the way it always is, then you haven’t been following sport. Nothing that happened last year has any real bearing on what happens this. It’s almost like that goofy stat – Team A is 4-11 on Tuesdays. Like who cares? It doesn’t matter. To expect the same result as last year is nonsense. I’m reading Edmonton saying, ‘we had a 2-7-1 stretch last year, and so this is a lot like that.’ Why would that have any bearing on this year? It doesn’t. For the guys who had really good years last year, maybe we think, ‘that’s the norm’ and it’s going to be like that all the time. But it’s not going to be.” THE BEST LAID PLANS Back in June, when the Islanders and Oilers completed the Ryan Strome-for-Jordan Eberle trade, the assumption was that both players would benefit from the change of scenery, largely because of who it meant they could play with. Just about everybody penciled Eberle in on the Isles’ top line, alongside

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John Tavares, because the two had played together so well for Canada at the 2009 world juniors. If they could mesh so well in a short pressure-packed tournament, how well would it go when they had a chance to develop chemistry over time. Strome, meanwhile, was thought to be a fit either with Connor McDavid or possibly Leon Draisaitl, depending upon how coach Todd McLellan shuffled his lines on any given night. So much for the best-laid plans. Tavares and Eberle didn’t hit it off right away, so Isles coach Doug Weight reverted to a line that worked so well down the stretch for them – Tavares between Josh Bailey and Anders Lee – and they’ve been monstrously successful. Tavares, the soon to be unrestricted free agent, is the catalyst, with 10 goals in his past six games. But Bailey has 14 points in his past eight games, and Lee 13 points in his last seven. All three are in the NHL’s top 20, and much of their success of late has come on the power play – seven goals in the past 14 tries, the three of them, plus Nick Leddy and impressive rookie Mathew Barzal manning the points. The Isles’ PP wasn’t an overnight sensation, but Weight added former NHLer Scott Gomez to his coaching staff in the off-season. Gomez was a creative happy-to-go-lucky character with great vision in his playing days, and some of that seems to have rubbed off on the Islanders play with the man advantage of late. Eberle is now on the second PP, but plays even strength with Barzal and Andrew Ladd. Strome is still trying to find a home in the Oilers’ lineup. SHORT TAKES –Scoring was up about half-a-goal-a-game in October compared to last year. There are lots of theories as to why that may be, but the most logical explanation is the NHL’s crackdown on slashing, which is permitting goal scorers to get cleaner looks in close, without having to worry about having their sticks slashed out of their hands by defencemen, trying to take away a premium scoring chance. –Just because it’s so much fun to type the term “Legion of Doom,” consider this stat: Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov became the first teammates to record 20-plus points in a month since Eric Lindros and John LeClair did it back with the 1995-96 Flyers. Stamkos had 24 points for the month, Kucherov 21. Twenty-one years ago, Lindros went 10-11-21 in October and LeClair 9-11-20. Mikael Renberg made up the third member of the Flyers’ legendary Legion of Doom line. –Mark Scheifele became the third Jets’ player this season to record a hat trick, when he netted three goals against the Dallas Stars Thursday night. The others: and Nikolaj Ehlers. It was always assumed that Winnipeg would score this season. The reason the Jets are off to a better start is that Connor Hellebuyck continues to play lights-out good in goal for them. Hellebuyck has still not lost in regulation (7-0-1) and the win over Dallas made him the first goaltender in franchise history to earn at least a point in eight consecutive decisions to start the season. Winnipeg went out and signed Steve Mason in the off-season to stabilize its goaltending. For now, the answer appears to have been there all along. Hellebuyck just needed time to mature. His 1.92 goals-against average and .938 save percentage may be unsustainable over the course of the season, but Winnipeg’s ability to pile in the goals will create a margin of error, even if the numbers slip slightly. –The Sharks’ Joe Thornton became just the 20th player in NHL history to get to 1,400 points as the Sharks continue to adjust to the post Patrick Marleau era. –With Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler out with injuries, Anaheim’s top four centres at the moment are Kalle Kossila, Antoine Vermette, Derek Grant and Dennis Rasmussen. You could argue that with Patrick Eaves, a 32-goal scorer last season, and Cam Fowler, a 25-minute per night defenceman, also out, the Ducks are missing four of their top eight players. Not many teams could survive that sort of carnage and stay competitive.

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–Once Edmonton wraps up its five-game homestand with Sunday’s game against the visiting Detroit Red Wings, they make a tour of the New York teams, starting with the Isles and ending with the Devils, which means they get to see their former teammate Taylor Hall twice in a six-day span. It’s also their first chance to face Eberle.

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https://theathletic.com/145761/2017/11/03/nhl-trends-a-look-at-whos-up-and-whos-down-after-the- first-month-of-the-season/

NHL Trends: A look at who's up and who's down after the first month of the season By Dom Luszczyszyn – November 3, 2017

The end of every month is a great time to look back and reflect on the previous month of hockey and see which way teams and players are trending. A one month sample is usually obfuscated by hot and cold streaks, so it’s valuable to find ways to separate the signal from the noise. Those at the extreme ends of the spectrum also make for some great stories. The end of October is an especially interesting time because all we have is a small sample of games and our pre-season perception to compare it to. The Athletic has a model we use for projections and probabilities that are updated daily and this is the first look at how much has changed under the hood since the season started. Our season preview series offered a snapshot of how and why each team was rated the way it was and this is an opportunity to provide further context as the season progresses: an update on how valuable the model sees each player and how much that’s changed over the last month. It’ll hopefully be an interesting sneak peek at how the model operates and how much perception changes from month-to- month, and it’s a question many have asked after seeing the daily probabilities operate. What you’re getting is two articles in one. The first looks at the teams and players that have made the biggest changes from where they were during the pre-season. The second is a brief run through of each team with accompanying charts looking at how each player’s value has changed over the last month – an appendix of sorts that covers all 31 teams for those that want to take a deeper dive into every team or simply curious about their own. (S/T to Tyler Dellow for the great idea from this post, although I’m on the record as a Julius Honka Truther). Hottest Teams Last Month Strength: 0.491 Current Strength: 0.516 The most impressive thing about the Kings first month of the season is that they basically did it without their first-line-calibre second line centre, Jeff Carter, who played in just six of their first 13 games. No matter, the team is clicking like the last three seasons never happened. Anze Kopitar is back to playing like a top 10 centre, Dustin Brown (see below) is playing like an elite winger, Drew Doughty is on another level, too, and then there’s who’s been spectacular with a just barely under .940 save percentage (he’s only been above .920 once in his career). The Kings are running a bit high on percentages, but it’s clear this is a very different team than before, one that most of the hockey world greatly underestimated before the season started. Perhaps most surprisingly, they’re actually fun to watch, too. Tampa Bay Lightning Last Month Strength: 0.526

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Current Strength: 0.549 According to The People, the Lightning are the unquestioned vote for the league’s current best team and it’s hard to disagree. They’re getting there thanks to the performance of their superstars, but also because their younger players have taken big leaps. Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov rightfully get all the fanfare, but Brayden Point has also played at a point-per-game pace and their linemate Vladislav Namestnikov isn’t far behind either. On defence, Mikhail Sergachev has been a revelation, much better than expected (he’s outscoring Jonathan Drouin!) offsetting the one signing we won’t mention that many expected could set the Lightning back. Pretty much everything is clicking for the Lightning right now and they’re on the right path to Cup contention. Sure seems like very few teams can stop them. Honourable Mentions: Columbus Blue Jackets: Last year was no fluke, this team is proving they’re the real deal. Model thinks they’re next best after Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. St. Louis: Model still underrates them, but the Blues are looking much better than expected so far, especially without Robby Fabbri for the season. Coldest Teams Buffalo Sabres Last Month Strength: 0.464 Current Strength: 0.442 This year was supposed to be different. This year was supposed to be the year Buffalo takes a step forward. Instead, it’s been more of the same. In fact, it might even be worse because of the expectations. They’re still a dreadful team at 5-on-5 and have actually dropped in most meaningful categories since last season and their biggest strength, the power play, has evaporated in a trail of shorthanded goals. Sam Reinhart and Kyle Okposo have been the biggest disappointments so far, but this team is full of players not far behind with the play of Evander Kane and Jason Pominvlle being the lone bright spots. Thursday night’s win over Arizona might’ve been a turning point – or it could’ve just been a win against another bad team just like them. Canadiens Last Month Strength: 0.536 Current Strength: 0.515 No surprise that Montreal lands here: no team has been more disappointing this season than the Habs. Even if you were skeptical of the Canadiens – and many were – most people still thought they could be competitive (and this model thought they could be much more than that). They haven’t been. That all falls on Carey Price right now. It’s not all his fault, obviously, but he’s the reason this team has hope every season. This season he’s the reason they have none. They obviously have their scoring issues, but we knew that going into the season. The constant would be they had a superstar goalie who could mask those problems. Price hasn’t had been able to hide anything so far. I don’t doubt he can return to form, but with the hole they dug it may already be too late. Honourable Mentions: : The Stanley Cup hangover is very real right now as the team sits with a minus-14 goal differential despite an 8-5-2 record. Back-to-backs are killing them.

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Arizona Coyotes: The league’s worst team in October is falling fast, just not as quickly as some other teams. They should have a better record than they currently do. Appendix: How each team's strength has changed over the last month. Most Valuable Players Dustin Brown, LA Last Month GSVA: 0.61 wins Current GSVA: 1.25 wins Who is this Dustin Brown and what has he done with the actual Dustin Brown? He’s playing at a point- per-game rate with a near even split for goals and assists, and is taking 3.4 shots per game, a mark he hasn’t been anywhere near in about nine years. He’s playing over 21 minutes (!) per night, something he hasn’t done in five seasons, and why wouldn’t you when he’s playing like this. A resurgent Brown has been a big part of a resurgent Kings, except this is more than that – he’s playing at a rate he’s never shown before. He’s nearly doubled his value in one month, the biggest spike for October. He’s been a 30-point player the past four seasons and it sure looked like he was finished (with a disastrous contract to boot), and while it’s unlikely this continues all season, it sure seems like he’s found another gear. Josh Anderson, CBJ Last Month GSVA: 0.46 wins Current GSVA: 1.03 wins Anderson went to the 11th hour in his contract stand-off with the Blue Jackets, eventually signing the day before the season started. I didn’t get why he was even in a stand-off because he hadn’t proved much in the NHL yet (he eventually took what Columbus offered so he could play), but he wanted to bet on himself with a shorter deal and clearly he knew what he was capable of. He’s off to a hot start this season with eight points in his first 11 games, a sterling 56 possession rate and is being handsomely rewarded for his efforts averaging 19 minutes of ice-time over his last three. He’s become an important part of Columbus’s forward group and has moved up to the top line with Artemi Panarin and Nick Foligno. The trio have been excellent since being united, and Anderson has been a big part of that. Honourable Mentions: Pavel Buchnevich, NYR: Every Rangers fan who screamed “play Buchnevich more!” last season is yelling “see!” this season. Vladislav Namestnikov, TBL: Does any player in hockey have a better gig then the guy who gets to play with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov? No, but Namestnikov is good on his own terms, too. Least Valuable Players Tyler Johnson, TBL Last Month GSVA: 1.42 wins Current GSVA: 1.08 wins The Lightning are flying high right now, but Tyler Johnson is going in the complete opposite direction. Before the season, and for much of the last few seasons, he’s looked like an upper tier second line centre and was paid handsomely for it in the summer, but he hasn’t played the part so far. His seven points in 14 games are largely underwhelming, his Corsi and individual shot rate has dropped in three

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straight seasons and he’s seen a big minute reduction as a result. I don’t see the situation getting much better for Johnson in the foreseeable future either as Brayden Point has outright stolen his job. Mitch Marner, TOR Last Month GSVA: 1.79 wins Current GSVA: 1.33 wins Auston Matthews has taken his game to the next level. William Nylander has done the same. Mitch Marner is on the fourth line. Development isn’t linear and Marner is experiencing a bit of a sophomore slump this season unlike the other two members of The Big Three. He hasn’t looked like himself much this year. He's scoring under half-a-point per game and is playing two minutes fewer than last season. Much will be made about his defence and an ugly minus-10, but he’s actually been much better at possessing the puck and it’s probably not his fault his goalies stop under 85 percent of shots when he’s out there. The low on-ice shooting percentage should turn around soon and his game will follow, but it was a very forgettable October for one of the league’s brightest young stars. Honourable Mentions: Jason Spezza, DAL: Averaging under 13 minutes per game and has just five assists in 13 games. Not an ideal start and not totally surprising since he’s no longer on Dallas’s top power play. Conor Sheary, PIT: Life ain’t so easy when Crosby isn’t going at his usual pace. Last season was probably a little too good to be true for Sheary though.

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http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-team-playoff-hopes-start-die-november/

How NHL team playoff hopes start to die in November By Jonathan Willis – November 3, 2017

Let’s talk about the NHL playoff picture.

For most hockey fans, the immediate reaction to that sentence is to look at a calendar and question the sanity of the person writing it. It’s early November, every team in the league is stuck between just 10 and 15 games played, and as we know, the NHL season goes on forever.

We should also know by now that in the modern NHL, parity rules the day.

Commissioner Gary Bettman, a bean-counter’s bean-counter, has long laboured to create such an environment. He appreciates the many marketing advantages of having lots of teams in the playoff race late, and of having teams capable of rising from the league floor to the middle of the pack in a single season.

“As long as the hockey is exciting and entertaining, that’s what it’s all about,” Bettman said at the 2016 Draft lottery. “And we have the most incredible competitive balance and you’re seeing it in terms of the number of teams that made the playoffs this year that didn’t the year before; I think that’s five teams, last year it was seven.”

Ryan Dixon and Rory Boylen go deep on pucks with a mix of facts and fun, leaning on a varied group of hockey voices to give their take on the country’s most beloved game.

Some of that balance is genuine and a direct result of equalizing forces like the salary cap and draft lottery. Much of it is artificial, thanks to measures which tend to bunch teams together, with three-point games, the shootout and a long trend towards lower-scoring games among them.

One side effect of that artificial equivalence is that it makes it really difficult to move rapidly up or down the standings over the course of a year.

Elliotte Friedman often mentions the Nov. 1 benchmark: Teams four points (or more) out of the playoffs at that point rarely overcome the deficit. Since 2005-06, 46 of 52 teams (88 per cent) that far out on Nov. 1 ended up missing the playoffs. Among Canadian teams this year, both Montreal (four points, since expanded to six) and Edmonton (seven points) meet that description.

It’s worth going into the math a little bit here.

Let’s imagine, for a moment, that we have a magic orb with one function: It can give us the true talent of an NHL team, with no allowance at all for luck, in terms of standings points. For the sake of argument, let’s further say that it tells us Edmonton and Montreal are 100-point teams on merit, which isn’t crazy given that both clubs were expected to be only a little worse than their matching 103-point finishes last year.

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Given the infallibility of our orb, we can compare how well those teams should have done to how well they’ve actually done. We also know that the rest of the way those teams should play at a 100-point pace:

Already our 100-point teams are in some danger. The average wild card team over the past four years had 96 points; the average best team to miss the playoffs had 91. Four of those eight best-non-playoff teams finished with a point total of 93 or better.

Additionally, there’s an even chance of even more bad luck (poor health, unfortunate bounces, whatever). The dice have no memory, so more bad luck is exactly as likely as equalizing good fortune.

If our 100-point Edmonton or Montreal teams bleed just four more points that way over the last 70-ish games of the year, both become almost certain to miss the post-season. Only one sub-90-point team has made the playoffs in the past four seasons.

That’s a little unsettling if you’re rooting for either of those teams, but the reality is actually worse because our Orb of NHL Standings Truth is an imaginary construct which existed solely for the purposes of the last few paragraphs. Despite fairly successful recent histories, we don’t know that the Oilers or Canadiens are really true-talent 100-point teams. They might be better than that, but with every passing loss it becomes more likely that their actual level of ability is somewhat lower.

Because of the league’s overwhelming parity, it doesn’t take much of an adjustment for the situation to get really bleak. If the first month of the season convinces us to adjust the expectations of those teams downward just four points, from 100 to 96, again we find the playoffs have become a long shot even with average fortune the rest of the way.

That’s not to say a team in this position should give up and write off the rest of the season. A lot of those failed teams knew they were going to be bad before the season started. Some of the greatest stories in sports are improbable comebacks, and a club that started the season with a reasonable expectation of success has little choice but to maintain the courage of its convictions.

But the unlikely recoveries from terrible starts are great stories precisely because they’re so rare. Recent history shows that nine out of 10 teams in a deep hole at the start of November will be golfing come April. For all the calm reassurances going around right now that the season is still young, the truth is that it doesn’t have to get very old before we can start penciling in the also-rans.

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http://www.tsn.ca/tsn-hockey-s-top-10-storylines-of-the-week-1.906168

TSN Hockey's Top 10 Storylines of the Week By Scott Cullen – November 4, 2017

Three-way trade talk, Price, increased scoring, Tavares, Couturier, not sticking to sports and more in TSN Hockey’s Top 10 Storylines of the Week.

TURRIS, DUCHENE IN THREE-WAY TRADE RUMOUR

Friday brought word of a potential three-way trade involving the , and Nashville Predators, a deal that would have seen Ottawa acquire Matt Duchene and Nashville get Kyle Turris, while Colorado’s haul would be centered around picks and prospects.

But, the deal apparently fell through, which has effectively been the story of every Matt Duchene trade rumour, because it appears that Avalanche GM Joe Sakic is determined not to have a repeat of the Ryan O’Reilly deal, in which Colorado received Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Zadorov and J.T. Compher from Buffalo.

That leaves some fallout. Not so much with Duchene in Colorado, because he’s been the most likely significant player to move since at least last season’s trade deadline, but the possible inclusion of Turris may be a bit of a surprise from the Senators. He is set to be an unrestricted free agent next summer, but the Senators presumably have playoff expectations and playoff teams don’t typically deal away their No. 1 centres. But, maybe they would to get another No. 1 that is under contract for another season.

PRICE Though they are showing signs of coming out of it, winning three of their past four games, the have been a disappointment early in the NHL season.

They couldn’t score to start the year and that was an obvious concern, but now that they’ve started to find the net, the questions have started about franchise goaltender Carey Price, who has a .877 save percentage through his first 11 starts; this from a goaltender who has a league-best .928 save percentage over the past four seasons.

He’s currently nursing a lower-body injury, that is supposedly minor, and hopefully the break is what Price needs to get back on track, because the Habs know they aren’t going to accomplish much if Price isn’t on top of his game.

SCORING IS UP One of the ongoing concerns in the NHL has been the difficulty in generating offence, with goals per game hovering around five-and-a-half for the past seven or eight years. Through the first month of this NHL season, though, goals per game is up to 6.15, which would be the highest average since 2005-2006.

Saturday night, for example, there were five games that finished with a 5-4 score and one more with a 6-4 final; those offensive outbursts aren’t quite as rare this year.

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There are surely multiple reasons for the increased offensive output, including a slightly higher rate of power plays, but one is that the average save percentage for goaltenders is .905, the lowest in the league since 2006-2007.

TAVARES One player doing his level best to increase the league’s offensive output in recent weeks is Islanders star , who has 10 goals and four assists in the past six games.

This outburst followed a relatively slow start to the season, one in which he had three points in the first seven games, but was held without a point in six of those seven games.

Set to become the top unrestricted free agent on the market next summer, Tavares has 12 goals in 13 games. He is generating a career-high 3.54 shots on goal per game, so even though he’s not going to keep scoring on 26% of his shots, that shot generation is a positive indication for continued goal production.

COUTURIER

While there are a lot of familiar names among the league’s scoring leaders, perhaps the most unexpected is Philadelphia Flyers centre Sean Couturier, a 24-year-old who has topped out at 39 points twice during his six previous NHL seasons.

Couturier established himself as a strong defensive centre early in his career, and has spent a lot of his time in a matchup role, but this season brought some changes, with the Flyers shifting Claude Giroux to left wing and moving Couturier up to the top line.

The early returns have been great, as Couturier has 18 points (9 G, 9 A) in 15 games, and continues to put up stellar possession stats (52.5 CF%, +5.7 CFRel%), giving Philadelphia one of the most effective lines in the game.

KINGS Although they lost in overtime to Nashville Saturday, the Los Angeles Kings are one of the hottest teams in the league to start the season, going 10-2-2 in their first 14 games.

They aren’t the dominant possession team that they have been in recent seasons, but that hasn’t saved them in two of the past three years when they’ve missed the playoffs.

While the Kings attempt to change their game to play at a quicker pace, and create better quality scoring chances, the biggest difference-maker has been goaltender Jonathan Quick who, coming back from a season in which he was limited to just 17 games, has a .939 save percentage through 11 starts.

As much as Quick has a great reputation based on the Kings’ playoff runs, he’s had a save percentage over .920 once in his career, 2011-2012 when he was the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy.

BLUES A team that came out of training camp crushed by injuries, the St. Louis Blues entered the season with diminished expectations.

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After beating Saturday night, the Blues are 11-3-1 through 15 games. The goaltending has been good, and Vladimir Tarasenko remains their game-breaker, but the impact players for the Blues early in the season have been left winger Jaden Schwartz, who has 20 points (8 G, 12 A) in 15 games, and defenceman Alex Pietrangelo, who has a point-per-game (6 G, 9 A).

JETS The Winnipeg Jets lost in overtime to the Montreal Canadiens Saturday, but they are 4-0-3 in the past seven games and that puts them second in the Central Division behind St. Louis.

For the past couple of seasons, the Jets have had talent, but haven’t had the answer in net. They tried to address that need by signing Steve Mason as a free agent in the summer, but while Mason struggled in his first three starts, Connor Hellebuyck has been excellent, with a .932 save percentage in 10 games.

That they’ve started so well, even with second-year winger Patrik Laine slumping, is an encouraging sign for the Jets’ staying power, so long as the goaltending holds up.

HALLOWEEN

NHL players tend to get creative when it comes to Halloween and it’s usually all in good fun; most of the time. But, the political climate being what it is in the United States, not all costumes are easily dismissed as good fun.

For instance, Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid dressed as Donald Trump. Considering all the blowback that the Pittsburgh Penguins received for accepting an invitation to the White House recently, it was not hard to imagine that McDavid’s costume would receive criticism. And it did. When these issues catch faces of the league like Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid, people notice.

It’s possible that McDavid was lampooning the president, but when given an opportunity to discuss it, he dismissed it as “Just as a Halloween costume.”

Here’s the thing: hockey is a predominantly white sport, and it requires significant financial means to participate, so the vast majority of players in the league aren’t among those marginalized in the current political climate, and the impression given can be that they are either completely uncaring or woefully unaware of how these issues can affect people that aren’t rich white males.

This means that McDavid dressing as Trump, or Alex Tuch dressing as a border agent might be good for a few laughs, except for all the people for whom those people represent very real threats to their daily lives.

From a league that wants to tell you that “Hockey is for everyone,” the message is, at best, mixed because not everyone finds the jokes funny.

TEAM PUTIN

While we’re not sticking to sports, superstar Alex Ovechkin announced this week that he’s starting a social movement supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It’s great P.R. for Putin to get endorsed by a star athlete. What’s in it for Ovechkin?

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1/ I've known Ovechkin since he was a teenager and his latest political escapade didn't surprise me at all. One thing you should know...

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) November 3, 2017

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https://theathletic.com/147792/2017/11/06/pronman-with-samuel-girard-the-top-asset-how-good- was-avalanches-return-for-matt-duchene/

Pronman: With Samuel Girard the top asset, how good was Avalanche's return for Matt Duchene? By Corey Pronman – November 5, 2017

On Sunday, Colorado, Nashville and Ottawa completed a blockbuster three-way trade involving Matt Duchene and Kyle Turris. I believe Colorado did very well in this transaction, acquiring defenseman Samuel Girard, centers Vladislav Kamenev and Shane Bowers, a first-round pick (that is lottery protected for one season but still guaranteed), and a second- and a third-round pick. But before we get into why that is the case, I will examine the prospects the Avalanche acquired. Samuel Girard, D Girard is the top asset in Colorado’s return for Duchene. Girard is one of the best offensive defensemen to come out of the CHL in the past few years. He is a dynamic puck-mover, who plays with a distinctive, elusive style on the ice and has elite hockey sense. It is easy to point to his diminutive frame as a reason to hedge against him. However, whenever I’ve talked to people in the QMJHL (including Sunday night at the World Under-17 Challenge), they have no hesitation on whether he’ll be able to handle the NHL defensively due to how smart he is. Girard might be more of an offense-tilted player at the top level, but he has the potential to be an impact player as well. He’s shown well for Nashville in limited games, but due to a logjam in the depth chart, he was never going to get the power-play time to succeed. I mentioned not too long ago that it seemed like something had to give with Nashville on the Girard front given the Predators' incredible surplus of high- end defensive talent (although I was subtly hinting at moving Mattias Ekholm or Ryan Ellis). Girard becomes the No. 2 prospect in Colorado's system behind defenseman Cale Makar, but it’s a thin margin and I can see the argument for either player — presuming Tyson Jost is a graduate. Vladislav Kamenev, C Kamenev’s star may not be as shiny as it was two years ago when he was a top player at his final World Juniors and carried Russia to a silver medal. He remains a real NHL prospect though and is on the cusp of making it into the league. Kamenev is a two-way center with good hockey sense, who grinds for pucks and has quality puck skills. He’s not a super flashy player and it's questionable whether he’ll become an impact NHL player, but he had a good NHL preseason and has been a good pro in the AHL, even if he hasn’t taken his game to the next level. He’s a potential middle of the lineup player who could play in all situations. Shane Bowers, C I wrote about Bowers, who Ottawa selected 28th overall in 2017, a few weeks ago saying, Bowers is a player who is tough to get a read on. I don’t think any scout I talk to hates him, but the question is can he be on your power play in the NHL or is he a safe two-way forward at the top level. “He’s got a lot of talent and a great work ethic, he plays physical and goes to the dirty areas,” said Boston University’s coach David Quinn. Those latter elements give hope that, even if he doesn’t become a dominant scorer, he can still find a way to carve out a role as a pro.

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I have seen him live twice this season, a few more times on video and generally think he’s shown well, although he hasn’t looked like a top-end talent. Even some of Bowers’ biggest backers will admit seeing him as a legit top-six NHL forward might be a stretch, but it is plausible. He can skate very well to generate scoring chances, but his puck skills and instincts are not at that same high level. Realistically, he projects as a third-line center, which is still valuable, but there is a slight chance he becomes something more. Trade analysis from Colorado’s perspective: Any reasonable analysis of this trade, given the NHL exists in a hard salary cap, would conclude Colorado did well. The question is how well. In the modern-day NHL, teams contend by squeezing out wins on player’s pre-UFA contract years — and specifically their entry-level years — before they are paid their market value. Given how much talent Colorado got in that category and the state of their roster, the Avs seem to have done very well, while moving an expensive player who will be a UFA in the summer of 2019. Some statistical analysts in varying sports I’ve talked to in evaluating a trade assume a player’s value extends to the end of his contract and nothing more. I hedge on being that firm, given there is a better than a one-in-31 chance a player re-signs with his current team. However, given it seemed incredibly unlikely Colorado was going to resign Duchene, you could only reasonably assume he’d give you a little less than two seasons of value. With that in mind, Colorado most certainly got enough future value on two seasons of Duchene and then some. Girard could arguably fill that gap by himself if he becomes even a decent top four defenseman over his pre-UFA years. And that’s before you add in Bowers, Kamenev and the picks. Joe Sakic was extremely patient in making this deal, and the Avalanche organization is in a lot better shape now than where it was days ago. In a period of a few short months, starting last June at the 2017 NHL Draft where they selected Cale Makar fourth overall, the Avalanche have gone from having a glaring shortage of young defensemen in the organization to having a surplus. Instead of having questionable depth in prospects, their depth is now decent and will likely get a lot better this summer. It’s by no means a guarantee this deal will pan out for Colorado. Anyone familiar with the ups and downs of projecting young players will understand this inherent risk. It’s easy to look at deals like the Tyler Seguin or Marian Hossa trades, which returned a haul of assets, and be less than enthusiastic. Colorado fans need to look at this realistically, though. Girard is a great asset. Bowers, Kamenev and the first-round pick are good assets. The second- and third- round picks are useful assets. Chances are, one of those players really hit, maybe even two. And if that does happen, particularly if Girard hits, Colorado fans will forget about Duchene quickly. The Avs didn’t become a contender this week, but they took a step in the right direction, which lately has not been a thing you could say all that often.

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http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/goes-brown-10-truly-frightening-2017-18-nhl-starts/

Matt Duchene trade creates winners all around By Kevin Allen – November 5, 2017

After falling just short of winning the Stanley Cup five months ago, the Nashville Predators have made another bold move to strengthen their chances of winning next spring. The Predators acquired center Kyle Turris from the Ottawa Senators in a three-team, multiple player deal that sends Matt Duchene to the Senators, and Samuel Girard and Vladislav Kamenev (both from Nashville) and Shane Bowers and Andrew Hammond (both from Ottawa) to the Avalanche, along with first- and third-round picks from Ottawa and a second-round pick from Nashville. The Predators needed another scoring center, and Turris is a proven performer who can produce 55 to 65 points per season. With a center group that now includes Ryan Johansen, Turris, Nick Bonino and Calle Jarnkrok, the Predators are strong down the middle. And they were able to accomplish this trade without breaking up a defense that ranks among the best in the NHL. Girard is a quality defensive prospect, but he is 19 and wasn't going to help the Predators this season. Nashville general manager David Poile has historically been a bold trader. In the last couple of seasons, he has acquired Johansen in a major deal for Seth Jones and then traded captain to acquire P.K. Subban. This deal adds to his reputation as one of the league's strongest traders. He’s not timid about surrendering talent to land the player he needs. Turris has already agreed to a new six-year, $36 million contract extension. The Avalanche are also a major winner in this deal. Colorado general manager Joe Sakic has been heavily criticized for how he has handled trade negotiations regarding Duchene. Privately, opposing executives have said that Sakic wanted too much for Duchene But his patience allowed him to fetch a considerable return for the 26-year-old star. Girard is an intriguing prospect, and the Avalanche need a quality young defenseman. Bowers was a first-round pick. The Predators were high on Kamenev’s potential, but all of their top centers have multi- year contracts. There was no room for Kamenev in the foreseeable future. The three draft picks alone would seem like a fair price for Duchene, who has 10 points in 13 games this season. He owns 92 goals over his past four seasons. The Senators had pressure to move Turris, who could have been an unrestricted free agent this summer. They weren’t close to re-signing him, and they didn’t want to lose him for nothing. They came within one goal of reaching the Stanley Cup Final last spring and they needed a productive center in return if they were going to deal Turris. This was their best option, although they probably didn’t want to give up the draft picks. Duchene has this season and next season left on a contract that pays him $6 million per season.

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