What’s my favourite holiday I don’t actually celebrate? Easy answer my friends, it’s Thanksgiving in America.
From a sports perspective, you’re getting all kinds of football fun and Black Friday always brings a full slate of NHL games, including a bunch in the afternoon.
Of course, the fourth Thursday in November is also the point in the year where executives start to feel like they have a handle on what their team is and isn’t. It’s not the end of the world to be outside the playoff picture on American Thanksgiving, but it’s also not where you’d like to be at this point in the season.
With all the delicious food hitting tables south of the 49th, though, we’d far rather feast than fret. Who’s been gobbling up points — or wins, or minutes — around the league? This week’s power rankings highlight one player from each squad who’s been getting his fill so far.
1. Boston Bruins (14-1-3) Last year’s Hart Trophy runner-up is back at it, lighting the league on fire. Even with his two favourite centres — Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci — retired, David Pastrnak is earning his money in the first year of a new $90-million deal. The Czech winger has 29 points in 18 games.
2. New York Rangers (13-3-1) Since Artemi Panarin entered the league in 2015-16, only two players — Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — have put up more points than the Russian winger. He’s at it again, with 26 points in 17 contests.
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3. Vegas Golden Knights (14-4-2) The Vegas Golden Knights boast a bunch of guys having strong years, which is exactly what you’d expect for a Cup-winning squad whose calling card is wearing you down with wave after wave. Shea Theodore stands out, though, as the 27-year-old D-man is on pace for 74 points and is tied for fifth among D-men scoring.
4. Los Angeles Kings (11-3-3) Is it all falling into place for 2020 second-overall pick Quinton Byfield? After registering one point in his first five outings, Byfield has 14 in his past 12 playing left wing on the Kings’ top line.
5. Dallas Stars (12-4-2) Any time we get a chance to call attention to how ageless and awesome Joe Pavelski is — 18 points in 18 outings for the 39-year-old this year — we do it. Also, new star Matt Duchene failed to register a point in his first four games with Dallas, but is now up to 15 in his past 13 contests.
6. Florida Panthers (12-6-1) Sam Reinhart is the top-scoring Canadian forward in the NHL right now, which is not a sentence we expected to by typing at the point in the year where Americans are crushing turkey. Great stuff — and timing — by a talented player who is eligible to hit the open market this summer as a UFA.
7. Washington Capitals (10-4-2) This has got to be Charlie Lindgren, who is tied with Jonathan Quick (yep) for the best save percentage (.940) among goalies with at least five games. John Carlson is also devouring ice time, leading the NHL with an average of 26:31 per night.
8. Colorado Avalanche (12-6-0) Cale Makar is on pace to record 109 assists this season, which would break Bobby Orr’s record for defenceman of 102 set more than 50 years ago.
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9. Vancouver Canucks (13-6-1) Quinn Hughes heard all your pre-season takes about how his brother, Jack, was a Hart candidate and decided that wasn’t the family dynamic he wanted. Seriously, the Canucks’ first-year captain is a major MVP candidate with 31 points in 20 outings. He’s on pace to record the most points by a defenceman since Paul Coffey put up 126 40 years ago.
10. Toronto Maple Leafs (10-5-2) Auston Matthews is tied for the league goal-scoring lead, but William Nylander being on pace for 130 points in a UFA walk year is still easily the headline in Hogtown.
11. Winnipeg Jets (11-5-2) We just mentioned Matthews is tied for top place in the Rocket Richard race; well, the other half of that equation is Jets sniper Kyle Connor. His 14 goals in 18 games means his previous career high of 47 is officially on notice. Only five guys have scored more times than Connor since he entered the league in 2017-18.
12. Carolina Hurricanes (11-7-0) It feels like the Seth Jarvis breakout is upon us. He’s on pace for 36 goals this year.
13. Tampa Bay Lightning (9-6-5) Since the start of 2017-18, the only player with a better points-per-game mark than Nikita Kucherov (1.39) is Connor McDavid (1.57). Kucherov could conceivably set a new career points high this year, which is saying something when you have a 128-point season on the books.
14. Detroit Red Wings (8-6-3) Alex DeBrincat went seven straight contests without a goal earlier in the season, but still has an impressive 11 tallies in 17 games during his debut in Detroit.
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15. Philadelphia Flyers (10-8-1) With 16 points this year, Travis Sanheim is already nearly halfway to his previous career best of 35, set five years ago when he was just a league sophomore. At 27, there’s no doubt he’s playing the best hockey of his career. He’s also logged the second-most total minutes of anybody in the league.
16. St. Louis Blues (10-7-1) Robert Thomas has always been a pass-first threat, but he’s on pace for a career best 32 tallies this year.
17. New Jersey Devils (8-8-1) Even with all the incredible production in the NHL this year, Jack Hughes is your points-per-game leader at 1.83. The Devils need wins bad, though, as they slide down the Eastern Conference standings.
18. Pittsburgh Penguins (9-9-0) The only time in his career that Sidney Crosby scored goals at a higher rate than he is as a 36-year-old this year was 2010-11, when — at 23 — he netted 32 in 41 games during a campaign that was basically ended by a concussion in the Winter Classic. How cool would it be to see him challenge his career high of 51 this winter?
19. Ottawa Senators (8-7-0) How about Brady Tkachuk’s feast-or-famine year? The Sens captain is scoring at a 55-goal pace despite NOT finding the net in 10 of his 15 outings. Of course, each of the five nights he did hit paydirt, Tkachuk double-dipped, giving him 10 goals on a handful of two-goal showings this season.
20. Seattle Kraken (8-8-5) The Kraken’s No. 1 D pair of Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn are first (Larsson) and third (Dunn) in total minutes played this year.
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21. New York Islanders (7-6-5) Noah Dobson has basically been a 50-point defenceman the past two years, but the 24-year-old is tracking more of a 70-point campaign this season.
22. Buffalo Sabres (8-9-2) Sophomore J.J. Peterka is starting to look like a second-round steal. He’s on pace for 35 goals.
23. Anaheim Ducks (9-10-0) We all knew it was a matter of time before second-year Duck Mason McTavish became a star and we were all right. The next Anaheim captain is a point-per-game player this year.
24. Calgary Flames (7-9-3) Connor Zary scored in his NHL debut this year and the 22-year-old has eight points through his first nine big-league contests.
25. Nashville Predators (8-10-0) Filip Forsberg and newcomer Ryan O’Reilly have formed a nice top-line duo. The former is scoring at a clip that could deliver his first 90-point season and the latter is proving there’s still some offence left in his wonky-curved blade with 17 points in 18 contests.
26. Montreal Canadiens (8-9-2) The past two seasons have been injury-marred nightmares for Brendan Gallagher, so it’s great to see the no-quit winger back on a 20-goal pace.
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27. Arizona Coyotes (8-9-2) Did you know Lawson Crouse is tied for the NHL’s goal lead in November with nine? You did?! Nice job.
28. Minnesota Wild (5-8-4) The Wild’s struggles are certainly not Mats Zuccarello’s fault. ‘The Hobbit’ is tracking a career-best 91-point season at age 36.
29. Edmonton Oilers (5-12-1) It’s hard to focus on the positive here, but Evan Bouchard — following his huge playoff production last spring — is a point-per-game defenceman this year.
30. Chicago Blackhawks (5-12-0) I mean, would you rule out Connor Bedard netting 50 goals? He’s on pace for 48 through nearly a quarter of the year.
31. San Jose Sharks (3-15-1) Fabian Zetterlund, acquired in the trade that sent Timo Meier to New Jersey last spring, is at least a small success story. The 2017 third-rounder has four goals and has seen his ice time jump up significantly from the early days of the season.
32. Columbus Blue Jackets (5-11-4) After missing all but eight games last year, Zach Werenski could blow past his previous career best for points (48) by 15 or 20. He’s presently on pace for 68.
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