The Hockey PDOcast - Avs vs. Canes Heavyweight Tilt, Penguins New Look Offense, and Other Thursday Night Observations

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Harman Dayal to discuss the Hurricanes vs. Avalanche tilt between the top two teams in the league from Thursday night, the surprisingly effective Penguins offense to start the year, teams positioned to best take advantage of the rising cap in the next couple offseasons, and other takeaways from watching games last night. If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

since 2015. It's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Filippovich. Welcome to the Hockey PEDEOCast. My name's Dimitri Filippovich and joining me to close out another week of shows, my good buddy, Harmon Dile, Haram, what's going on? Still buzzing from that Carolina, Colorado game last night. Honestly, it's a full morning later and I still can't get enough of that hockey we watched. And we're going to talk a lot about it right out of the gate here. So the plan for today's show to put a cap on this week, we're going to do some takeaways from Thursday nights games. We did this two weeks ago, and it was really fun. So we're going to bring it back.

There were 12 games. It was an electric late slate in particular with a couple that were going to break down. And then we're going to talk about an article that they wrote recently on the athletic that ties into all of this. Let's start with Avskine's, though, because it's billed as a meeting between the top two teams in the Stanley Cup odds. at the moment. They have one combined loss in regulation between the two of them, their first and second in the league in time span leading so far. And you never want to get carried away, especially in any regular season game, but especially this early in the season. There's guys in and out of the lineup. But not only did this one live up to the hype, I thought it went above and beyond in delivering

the goods. It was an unbelievable watch. I was amazed by how much the two teams seemed to care, just how competitive it was. And maybe it was a person. perfect game script as well because we haven't seen this abs team because of how good they've been this year in these spots very often where they have a deficit, especially a multi-goal deficit, and they just have to abandon the game plan and push for offense and create chances and waves the way they can when they're forced to. And that's exactly what they did here. The hurricanes were very game. It was just a back and forth slug fest between probably the two best teams in the league. And I just thought from an entertainment perspective, it was it was an incredible watch. This was probably my favorite regular season game of the last five years. I was joking with you over text last night after switching from Vancouver, Nashville to Colorado, Carolina. It felt like going from 1x to 2x speed on a YouTube video. Just the difference in pace. It was as if it was a completely different sport and not just the electric speed and skill,

but also the physicality, the nastiness. And after Wedgwood left the game, a pretty good goaltending battle, too, between Anderson and Trent Minor, lots of great chances happening at both ends of the rank. And every player was emptying the tank as if this was the last game of their hockey careers, which you almost never get in the regular season. It was just pure chaos. I mean, multiple times, you're Josh Manson jumping up in the play. And he jumped off the screen to me at times where I'm like, oh,

42s is moving this fast. So this game had had everything. Big hits, the plays off the rush. Desperation dives in the third period to stop backdoor tapping goals that allowed Carolina to ensure that, all right, even though they blew the lead, they at least got one point out of it. And ultimately, just what a treat for everyone also with the throwback jerseys as well. Yeah, watching Preds Cain's and then switching over.

of this one, especially as it's going. It's just like it's two entirely different sports, essentially in terms of the way they were played. It was a 5-4-Kains, we went in a shootout. Carolina jumps out to that 4-1 lead in the first period. They drive Wedgwood out of the game, and then the abs come roaring back to tie it up. And, yeah, it was just back and forth.

They pretty much had every single thing you could possibly hope for for an entertaining game like this. I thought it was the reason probably why they treated it as such was it was just a measuring stick game, I think, for these two teams that don't get to play each other. very often and it led to just such a wildly competitive atmosphere. And to the hurricane's credit in coming away with a victory here, they enter this one down, their top three defensemen, right?

Slavin, Kjandro Miller, and Gostis Bear are all out. They're nearing the end of a six-game road trip. I think it would have been very easy to kind of phone this one in and just be like, it's not going to be our night. And then they get out to that early lead. Their top three in ice time in this game were Sean Walker, Mike Riley, and Jalen Chatfield. And we really stands out when you watch this.

I know they gave up four goals here and blew the league. lead to Colorado, but they held in there about as well as you could reasonably expect for based on how short staff they were. And in particular, what stands out, you saw it in that third period is how good this team is. I think everyone knows how active their sticks are and their defensive identity, but how good they are at staying disciplined in terms of protecting that back door across ice pass. And we saw Jalen Chadfield in particular in the third period a couple times, as the broadcast was pointing out, sort of sitting on those plays, you know that the best players in the league instead of forcing a shot from a tight angle are going to look for that backdoor tap-in.

And I imagine against 30 other teams in the league probably, those would have been a bunch of goals for the ads and they probably would have won this one. But they were just sitting all over, breaking up those sure things. And I thought it was a for a game where they nearly gave up 50 shots on goal and gave up four goals against. It was a pretty remarkable defensive effort. I thought all things considered. Well, they made Colorado earn everything that they created in terms of the great A looks

and not just Chatfield, but Nikitian had a key stick in the lane that prevented a backdoor tap in, and then Aho as well, the desperation dive. So you could see the commitment there, the prioritization of trying to limit Colorado's east-west passing movement. And ultimately, that team just plays so fast that even if they're playing north-south, they're still going to create a lot. And we saw that. But you're right. with how much travel they've been doing down your top three defensemen,

they held in there as well as you could have expected against a Colorado team that was pumping a hundred mile an hour fastball at them. Yeah, as I said, Freddie Anderson faced the 48 shots. I thought he was dependents. He made so many high degree of difficulty saves. I mean, there was that sequence. I think it was in the second period where the canes are actually on a power play. And then back to back, you get them a car.

and Manson and alone breakaways and he shuts them down and Manson as you alluded to earlier was just flying in this game trying to he certainly understood the assignment and just tapped into all the chaotic nature he typically plays with but it was ramped up to the highest possible degree I mean he had that breakaway he nearly set up another one where he like dangled a couple hurricanes and then passed it off the lecaden and it just got broken up in the last second he was flying around like an absolute maniac he nearly decapitated Jackson Blake at one point I mean he was all over the place, but that was sort of the pace this game was played at in general, right? It kind of shows you, I think, the delineation point between these best teams and what they can ratchet it up to

versus some of the other ones that have to play a very specific style. And it was cool to see the hurricanes in particular in a contest like this where they're down so many defensemen, what that top line of theirs can do, right? They go head to head on the road here against McKinnon and Hs. And Eelers, Ajo, and Jarvis, I thought it looked awesome. Yet again, Eilers nearly scores his first goal as a hurricane. He kind of banks one in off Aho and Aho gets credit for it. But they've been doing this despite the lack of points for Eilers and now he's got points in back-to-back games. They've been creating a ton and I think just give this team an entirely different outlook moving forward as well. Obviously Ajo and Jarvis have been there. We saw the chemistry they had with Gensel for a short time there post-trade deadline a couple of years ago.

But what Eilers brings to this team's dynamic in terms of being able to take the puck zone to zone and carry it. thoughtfully and with purpose and establish possession and then create an easy look off of it. I mean, you tune into a Hurricanes game this year and there's probably three or four occasions at least where they're just getting transition opportunities that they didn't previously have available to them. And so I think that's massive when you think about why this year could be different for the hurricanes. They still have a lot of work to do. I imagine they're still going to keep trying to infuse more talent into this organization. But man, you could already see the impact of player like this makes and what he's getting in terms of unlocking Jarvis in particular,

who's had one of the best offensive starts of anyone in the league so far. Yeah, and I think this is a gear that the hurricanes have been wanting to add for a while. I remember at the start of last season, it was the first time that Carolina, we know how relentless they are on puck recoveries and their forecheck and a lot of low to high and the point shots. But last October, I remember at times, they, off of turn. Turnovers had the ability to make quick strike offense happen. It was, and it was their defensive environment, especially with how well they clogged the neutrals with guys like Slavin.

They just frustrated opponents into forcing plays. And then off of those turnovers, after the start of last season, I felt like there was, they were starting to add a gear in transition that I hadn't previously seen from them. I think as the year went on and especially in the playoffs, I didn't notice that as much. But then you add a neutrals and pock transporter like Eilers to the mix. And now it's not just off of turnovers, but you can organically make plays happen off the rush. You can organically create a lot of controlled entries.

And it's especially exciting because I think Eilers is the type of player that it can sometimes take time for teammates to learn his tendencies because he is a little bit creative and can be unpredictable with this flight path. And the fact that he already looks so dynamic and dangerous on the top line, you only wonder what it's going to look like halfway through the season once Aho and Jarvis have really picked up on some of his tendencies. So it's going to be really exciting to see, especially because this Kane's team, as you alluded to, they don't strike me as a team that is just going to stand pat.

When they get to the deadline, they're going to be looking to continue big game hunting. They always have assets available. They're always in the mix as far as having cap space. So to have this as a building block is really exciting. Yeah, that's a really good point in terms of, you know, necessarily being as simple as plug and play. We generally believe that the top players in the league are going to find a way to eventually figure it out and make it work and get the most out of each other.

But I know that like for years in a Winnipeg, part of the reservation for them of just loading up that top line or playing Eilers full time with Sheafley and Connor was just that unpredictability. that he has to his game and those two guys just preferring a much more methodical approach in terms of knowing exactly where the other guy's going to be, how each sequence is going to play out. And then he's just an absolute wild card. And I think that's exactly what the Surcanes offense needed, even on the power play. It didn't wind up resulting in a goal, but there was that sequence where it works its way down low on the side of the net to him. And he's looking off the defense and he just flings this pass right above the crease to Jarvis that gets broken up or

he just misses the net. But it was an incredible opportunity. And so, far this line, despite his lack of production, is generating 4.7 goals per hour at 5-1-5 when they're out there. And to put that into perspective, there were only two lines last year that played full-time, 250 minutes or more, to top that. It was Dreisidal with McDavid and Hyman, and then the Columbus line with Marchankov, Ronkov and Monaghan that we love. So I think it's incredibly encouraging. And the other thing is the impact it's had on Jarvis. And the Hurricane's broadcast was talking about some of the speed, I guess, he added to his game in the offseason in terms of being able to separate a little cleaner and especially you see it on that on

that pk breakaway goal where he's able to just turn ratchet up the gear essentially and get in all alone and then finish he's got seven goals and 11 points in seven games is a defensive monster but now he's top 10 in both shots on goal and high danger chances he's playing and shooting way more and I also love just how versatile he is you look at that goal breakdown of his two five-on-five goals two three-on-three on three goals, a short-handed goal, a power play goal, and an empty netter. I mean, he's just doing it all for them. And so I think it's been incredibly impressive. And he's a huge part of that vaunted PK of theirs, right? And that was an interesting dynamic in this one as well, because the hurricane's penalty kill is so stout. The Aves power play has been the one

kind of weak link for them so far during this amazing start for them. And I talked about it on the show earlier this week. I wanted to see them make the adjustment of putting Valenachushkin back on that top unit to get more looks around the net, to create more havoc. And and more unpredictability. And we saw him do that here. Nachushkin breaks through with two goals, one on the power play late to tie it. And so I thought that was encouraging for the abs

and probably something they're going to do more moving forward. But yeah, all the chess match element of this in terms of strength on strength, essentially and seeing how it played out, I thought made for just a really, really fun watch. Yeah, and I wanted to focus in on Nichchikin a little bit more there because I think he went absolute beast mode in that game. 2,05, the two goals, seven shots.

Avs outshot the Keynes 12 to 5 in his 5 and 5 minutes and controlled nearly 2 thirds of the expected goals. And just watching him bulldoze his way to the net time and time again in that game was just such a treat to watch. Not just the power element where once he has the puck, he's able to protect it so well and it's impossible to kind of regain inside body position. But also I think his first step is underrated skating-wise where he can beat. defenders especially if they're flat-footed when he's changing gears as he's accelerating on an entry and trying to make that move to the net so as a defender it's a nightmare trying to contest him because it's not just the size and how well he protects the pock but his his feet can move pretty quickly too when he's trying to really rash it up um the speed the hands and tight we saw

on that second goal how well he was able to from a bit of an awkward angle so close to the net, lift a puck up high and elevate it rather than just jam it into Anderson's pad and then even breaking up plays in the defensive zone. And to me, this is really encouraging for an avs team that we know when they have that five-man unit on the ice of McKinnon, Natchez, Lekin, McCar, and Taves that they look damn near unstoppable. But the question for the aves, ever since they lost a lot of their depth post the 22 Stanley Cup win is how much do they have in the middle six as far as other layers of

offensive contributions. And Nchuschen has obviously been an X factor in that regard because of injuries and a couple playoff runs where he hasn't, we're set to leave for personal reasons. But, you know, to have him available and to have Landiscaug back. And even just further down the line to see the speed that guys like Sam Malinski bring to the table on the back end when the. are pressing for offense. Even a guy like Jack Drury,

you're not the most offensively gifted guy, but can play at a really quick pace. Gavin Brindley, who the production hasn't been there yet, but I've liked some of the flashes in his game. This Colorado team looks so much deeper to me than a couple of years ago when it felt like, and obviously injuries were part of it,

but a couple years ago, it was really just that five-man unit, whereas now it feels like they're deep and have a lot of speed and play drivers up and, down that entire lineup. Especially with the way the first line has been such a buzzsaw. And then the third line, as you mentioned there, with Drury and Colton has been so good

for them. The second line has been fine in terms of controlling play. But Nachush can enter this one with just two goals and 15 shots on goal in seven games. And so not only getting him going, but kind of two birds with one stone, getting the power play with just 30th in the league going as well, is massive and presents so many problems for the opposition. So I thought that was really cool to see. And yeah, my one final note on this, I was mentioning for the Hurricanes, P.K.

and kind of tying it all together with Jarvis. Seth Jarvis has played 1633 short-handed so far. The hurricanes have a 49% expected goals here in that time, despite having one fewer skater out there. I mean, it was fun watching them. You know, this entire week for them is a bit of a measuring stick in terms of being in the league's elite because they play in Vegas.

They lose their first game, but it was a very competitive one. Then this one, they're going to go to Dallas on the road and then come home and host Vegas again for a rematch and just seeing how they stack up. And that PK in general, Vegas's powerplay has been just unstoppable. Like they've just been shredding everyone they've played. And really in that game, even though they won it, that was the first time I've seen someone pose a bit of resistance against them.

And that's because this hurricane's PK is just so good at allowing or not allowing you to either reenter the zone or get set up with their pressure. And so when you've got Jarvis and Ajo buzzing around out there, it just makes it a nightmare for you. And you got to see that in this game as well. So it was an incredibly fun when I'm proud of us. We only spent like 15 or 16 minutes on this one. I was a bit worried that we just spent the full 50 because I think this game warranted it.

There were so many layers to it. But I kind of hit all the notes I had there. Do you have anything else on this one or do you want to keep it moving? I just wanted to ask a quick question, get your take, actually. Were you surprised that Nikishin considering all the injuries was, I think, just below 15 minutes of ice time in that game? Yeah, a little bit. But I think there's a plan there in terms of ramping up. And him and Gossesbury, before Gossesbury left, had been so good together in particular.

And so I think they're going to manage that. I mean, he's still acclimating himself to the league. It's going to be an adjustment process. And this is a really tough environment. So I think that plays a role in it. And they were just leading on the other kind of more established guys that have been there longer. But you could clearly see the upside with him. I mean, it's absolutely immense.

And that's another scary component of this. As the air goes along and they keep adding more to his plate and expanding that role, you imagine the upside will extend even further, especially offensively for this team as they try to answer a lot of the questions we've had about do they have answers to some of the defensive questions that opponents are going to throw it, then once they get into round two,

round three, potentially making a Stanley Cup final for the first time. Yeah, that definitely makes sense. I'm right there with you. His tools, I just love and I'm really excited to track his progress this year just to have a 6-3, 6-4 defenseman who can shoot the puck like that, plays physical. And of course, they're going to be growing pains, but already seems to be pretty decent defensively.

I think over the next couple of years, that could be such a massive game changer for the canes on the back end. Certainly. All right, let's talk about the Penguins a little bit here. They went into Florida and they won 5'3 on Thursday night, making it four in a row for them. They're up to six and two, a team that obviously I think a lot of people thought

was not only going to be near the bottom of the standings, but position itself to sell pretty aggressively and fully bottom out as they try to turn this roster over and just add more high-end young talent into the organization. They still have like a 20% implied probability for the playoffs. The Metro is an absolute gauntlet with the hurricanes being one of those teams ahead of them. But I've been really impressed beyond just the results. And it's early season, we're still in October,

what they're doing offensively with this group. and let me give you a couple stats and then I want your take on it. They're seventh in goal scored. They've been an absolute shot quality machine so far. According to Sport Logic, their first and inner slot shots, second in slot shots, ninth in offensive zone possession time, second in unexpected goals generated. And then they're second in the league as well in power play efficiency. We saw them cook up a beautiful power play goal where they essentially top down to string

together a series of passes that results in a in a one-timer for Crosby that beats Mabrovsky. And so what they're doing now offensively in terms of. of the established guys and getting contributions from them certainly, but then some of these either reclamation projects or young guys they're incorporating, I think it's been a really fun watch through this first couple weeks of the season. Yeah, and I think it's the aggregation of a bunch of variables clicking at the same time rather than one big change that has made them significantly more dangerously, offensively, in the early going.

I mean, first, just at a team level, it stood out to me how well-connected they look and their overall pace compared to the last couple of years seems night and day. When they're transitioning pox up the ice. I even remember going back to the game they had against the ducks and it was an absolute track meet. But just to see in that kind of environment the penguins keep up considering how much high-end skill the ducks have. And I think the ducks still ended up winning that game anyway. But there were moments of that game, especially early on, where I was shocked at the pace Pittsburgh was able to play with,

how many quality looks they were able to get on the inside, even in the Vancouver game earlier this week, where they blew the Canucks out 5-1. The number of times they were able to get behind the Canucks defense with speed was really impressive to me. Now, beyond the team speed, aspect, I think, I mean, there's so many different directions we could go in. I think we've got to start with the power play, especially seeing them get a couple on Florida there. Their passing has

been so quick and decisive. Again, kind of ironic because a couple of years ago, it was the biggest weakness of the team. But on the first goal, you could see just the decisiveness of the passing. Everybody's on the same page. All their movement seems instinctual. It doesn't seem like there's any hesitation or double clutching or when players get the puck, nobody's taking that extra half a second to survey their options and look at what's out there. It's all bang, bang, bang. And we especially saw that on their second power play goal where, I mean, that's just what three, four unbelievable tic-tac-toe plays leading to the backdoor,

backdoor tally. So that power play is number one in the NHL, which I don't think anybody had on their bingo card. for the season so far. Yeah, they're second behind Vegas, but Vegas is kind of operating in its own league. I mean,

13.5 goals per hour right now for them. And, you know, they were effective last year, but then they go out after the coaching change and bring in Todd Nelson from Hershey, and I think he's done a really good job. Their shot chart in general, when you look on hockey viz,

is just a big red blob around the net. They're doing such a good job of carving through the defense and getting into the interior. And it's kind of going throughout the lineup as well, right? like we've gotten 67 minutes so far a 5-1-5 of ben kindle and tommy novac novac a reclamation project that they have a number of on this roster they essentially just got either a free look or even paid to take him depending on how you view that trade with with nashville and then ben kindle an 18-year-old trying to play center in the nchl who leads this team in five-on-five expected

goal share those two guys together high danger chances are 19 to 9 so far and they constructed that beautiful given go goal uh in the second period that was was just the thing of beauty. Both of Kindle's goals have been really nice shots and in placements from him. So I think that's been awesome. And then that line of which I just love of beginning Malcon playing with Justin Brazo and Anthony Manta, the six five line, just three absolute behemoths. And I think partly why they're getting so many inside looks. I mean, 12 points from Alkin in eight games. Brazo has a hilarious stat line of five goals, 15 shots on goal and 15 high danger chances. And then Manta has three goals, 16 shots on goal, 12 high danger chances. I mean, they're just

living in the interior right now. Manta scored a beautiful one against Vancouver in particular and then just pushed off to the fender after after he had crashed into the net. I mean, they're just exerting their oil right now. And so there's so many different layers, I think, to this offense right now.

Yeah, and I like the stylistic difference too where that, I like to call it the monster truck line with Malk and Brazo, Manta. They've got that methodical size, we're just going to overpower you and get to the inside element. And then that third line with Kindle and Novak has the speed and the creativity and the given goal that Kindle had last night.

So if you're an opponent playing the Penguins, let's say you're a middle six line. You have to be very cognizant of specifically what line it is because the way that the second line plays is so different stylistically from the way that the third line plays. And it just gives them a different look and style, which I think, helps as well. And just what Kindle is doing at 18 years old is a 5 foot 11 centerman is so impressive to me.

I know it hasn't necessarily showed up in his box car stats, two goals, zero assists in seven games. But watching him on a shift by shift basis, the confidence and poise he has with the puck is outrageous. The Penguins game against the ducks not too long ago, he did a spinner ram

in front of his own net for his own exit. Like his, like the, The audaciousness with which he's willing to make daring, bold plays and execute them successfully, is wildly impressive. I love his ability to make slick passes in high traffic areas. Defensively, he's been really mature as well in the right spots. I just think his overall hockey IQ is through the roof. And you already alluded to how sweet the underlying numbers. Look, both him and Harrison Brunick have given.

the penguins some much needed youth help, which I think is, like, it must energize the vets to know that you got some young guys coming that throughout the rest of the lineup can actually make some contributions instead of just having a top heavy roster where it's just the veterans and then a bunch of awkward mismatches that can't really create a lot in terms of your depth. Yeah, it's just been representative

or I think reflective of a massive vibe shift for this organization. and it's early on still, but I think it inspires confidence moving forward. A couple other things Dan Muses has done early on that I think have been pretty thoughtful on his part is one, the way he's deploying the fourth line of Blake Lizard, Nolachari, and Connor Dewer. They have two offensive zone draws and 38 defensive ones, very similar to what we see from Spencer Carberry with what he does with Nick Dowd in Washington, and I think that's freeing that other guys up a little bit more offensively.

And then another thing he's done is you look at Eric Carlson's usage, And to my eye, he's looked so much better than he has the past couple of years. He's taking about two and a half, five on five minutes per game off his played. And I imagine that's optimizing his shifts when he is out there a little bit more, just more juice in the tank now that he's 35 years old. And he's doing this playing with Parker Watherspoon as his defense partner. So you're putting it all together. And I don't want to get carried away because they're getting 920 goaltending right now

from the likes of Artur Shilov and Tristan Jerry. You've got Jerry out there last night making Scorpion. and doing it all. But what they're getting out of this group for the time being where, on the one hand, certainly playing above our expectations on the other, just squeezing out of 51%, 5-on-5-expected goals share out of this team

and the personnel group they have, I think is quite impressive. And the way they're dominating the shot quality, especially bodes well for them. So certainly a team worth watching moving forward, which is something beyond Crosby and Malkin, you haven't been able to say about the penguins the past couple of years. you're banging on about Carlson looking so rejuvenated and different under Dan Mews.

Right now, watching that Florida game, the way he was able to get his shots through from the point, you saw him sort of walking the line and able to get it through, which created the chaos that, you know, Rust had the rebound opportunity. And then as the penguins were covered the puck behind the net, all the Panthers were essentially turned to face the net and they couldn't pick up Crosby in that slot area so you had the pass from behind the net to Crosby for this night. But you don't get that chaos in the first place

if Carlson is unable to get his shot through and create that rebound. That's the same thing. The stutter step he had at the right point and then getting the puck through traffic for Rokkech Cal's goal on the rebound was massive and just the little nifty Allute pass into space directly onto Deer Stick for his third period goal. He's, he's looked so composed and he's also been a massive part of this team getting off to better than expected start. All right, Haram, let's take our break here and then we come back. We are going to pick things right back up and

talk about a couple other takeaways from Thursday night's action. You're listening to the Hockey Ocast streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network. All right, we're back here on the Hockey Ocast, run by Harmon Dyle, closing out the week with some thoughts from Thursday nights games. I mentioned earlier when we were talking Hurricanes, Aves, the electric late slate in particular, and one of those was Habs Oilers. Now, it was a bit of a strange game just from the perspective of the Habs

are playing the second leg of a back-to-back in Alberta. The Oilers are a team that just got home from a five-game road trip out east. And the Oilers start up 3-1. The Habs score four goals. in 513 a game time to go up 5.3. And then in the third period, you see that Oilers PowerPlay strike with back-to-back power play goals less than a minute apart. And it results in a 6-5 bonkers finish.

I imagine Jim Hiller was just watching this game after his victory against Dallas and just being like, oh, man, those back-to-back power play goals after, after I believe it was an unsportsman call on Josh Anderson, just nightmares reliving what happened in that series in round one last year. But this was a really fun one. And listen, the Habs lost this one. but I think in terms of some of the underlying ingredients, especially from the top line and what you're seeing from the defense pairs, I think bode very well for them and they were very game in this one.

I'm sure they'd like to have that third period back, but for the most part, I thought this game was incredibly entertaining and it kind of showed the best of both teams and flashes, I think. Yeah, and I think the HAB should walk out of that game with their head held up high. I think they deserve to get that one. I think the two calls that put the Oilers on the power play in the third period for those two goals. The Anderson and Sports have been like after he slapped the puck down the ice. And even the Slavkovsky boarding call, I didn't agree with those.

I thought those were pretty soft and in my opinion. And you also just look at the way that Montreal came out of the game in that first period. Shots were 9-2 at one point. They scored the opening goal. And part of Edmonton getting back into it was them getting a couple of fortunate bounces, Tamashik shot bounced in off Alex Newhook Skade and Adam Henrique's goal like perfect tip, but that's just a pretty routine floating point shot that Walman took. You don't get many of those floating point shots that end up getting redirected for a goal.

And even from the others perspective, I thought they were sloppy at points in the defense zone especially. the D-Zone turnovers that they had, the Echombe Bouchard pair on, I believe, the first goal they surrender, the nurse turnover, and then Savoy not being able to get it out on another one of them. It was a bit of a messy performance from them and from the Habs perspective.

I like the pace that they were playing at. Caulfield was obviously unbelievable, and it was entertaining. It was back and forth. And again, my big takeaway is, I sort of feel like the Oilers were a little bit fortunate to walk out of that one with two points. Yeah, you mentioned Wallman. I think getting him back for the past two games shows how vital that is.

I mean, he obviously has that OT winner, followed by a hilarious celebration in Ottawa to salvage that road trip. And then sets up this one, he's got two assists. He's been on the ice already for three Oilers, five on five goals in just 35 minutes. There's still clearly, and you could see it in this one, like the number of different forward combinations they've used this season is staggering. They kind of know what they have, but also they're integrating so many new wingers to this team after some of the offseason departures.

And so they're just trying to find the right combination for guys and for a team that has Stanley Cup hopes. This is what you use October for. So I think that explains part of it for the haves. Caulfield, the two goals, 10 shots in this one, he's tied for the league lead with seven and nine games. That line in particular, their numbers are off the charts. They're nearly 70% expected goals.

so far this season. The note I had on the Habs, though, was the defense pairs. And I thought they're doing some interesting stuff in this one because part of the effect of bringing Dobson in, I think, has been totally reviving Mike Matheson. The combo of those two has a 60% expected goal share, 66% high danger chances. A year after Matheson was completely drowning and like a completely defensively oriented deployment with Alex Carrier, and now all of a sudden playing with Dobson, it's just totally rejuvenated him. What you saw in this game though was partly because Cain Gouldie's out for the foreseeable future, I think they were similarly experimenting with a couple different looks and trying to get Dobson and

Hudson out there for offensive zone opportunities and in four minutes they created two goals. So it's tough to argue with it. But what that left them with was some of these spots where Matheson was back to playing with Carrier and ultimately bit them on that final sequence where they get kind of lost in their own zone. Matheson gets left alone, net front against Port Colson, gets outmuscled and loses that battle and it results in the game-winning goal for the Oilers. So I think they're going to need to be careful with that a little bit, but the upside is immense. And I like to see more of Hudson and Dobson, in particular, quick and offensively,

because I said they played 427 in this one. They've only played 10 minutes, 5-on-5 so far this season. So they haven't really necessarily even been pushing that button yet. We saw them try to do so here to good results. and I'm curious to see whether they keep doing that more and then what the trickle-down effect is on the rest of the pairs. Yeah, and this is going to be an interesting test without Gouli because I've sort of looked at him

as the underrated glue of that top four as a defensive stopper, just because stylistically, we know that Matheson, Dobs, and Hudson, they love skating pucks out. They're unbelievable in transition and it can give you a lot of offense, but there was that question mark ahead of the season of was blue line has a ton of talent

but can they defend at a high enough level especially for Canadians' team that gave up a fair number of shots and chances last year despite being so prolific offensively. That is going to be tested without Gully and his knack for just clogging up space in the middle

how smart I think he is positionally how well he closes on guys and I think it's going to create scenarios where Marty St. Louis is going to have to be a little bit creative but as deep air deployments, especially when you're up against a loaded offensive team like the Oilers. Well, there was that one shift that really stuck out to me when they had Hudson and Dobson out there

where they're able to kind of, I think Slavkovsky, forces a nice little change of possession along the wall. It works its way up to the D. They go D-to-D. And then you get this beautiful sort of diagonal cross-ice pass stretching the offensive zone that gets it down from the right point to Caulfield. And then he's able to tuck it in alone against Pickard. And so I think that's really exciting.

I don't want to see more of that. And I noted this was a back-to-back that also saw them playing Sam Montembo over Yakub-Dobo. And I know Montembo kind of entered the year as their number one. And he's gotten five games compared to Dobish's four. and against some of the tougher competition, but Dobish has clearly outplayed him so far as well. And so I'm curious to see how that rotation, I guess, for the Habs goalies goes.

Before we move on from the Habs, I'm going to kind of tie both them and the hurricanes together here because you recently wrote an article in The Athletic looking at some of the teams who I think stand to benefit the most from this expected cap growth. We saw go up to $95.5 million for this year. It's going to be at least 104, if not more, heading into next season.

And on the one hand, it is a rising tide situation where everyone's going to have more cap space. I don't think it's necessarily going to be benefiting everyone equally, though, because there's certain teams in this league that either through chance or through good business have already locked up a significant portion of their core and their nucleus for rates that are much more reflective of the previous cap environment than the one that's to come. And so now all of a sudden you get into a spa where there's eight or nine more million. every year. Some teams are going to have to use that, or at least a good chunk of it, just to retain the personnel they already have, where there are teams like the hurricanes and HABs, most notably, who have a lot of their guys already signed long term, and now are going to be able to use that as an opportunity to keep just adding more high-end talent and supplementary guys to fill out their rosters, and I'm very curious to see how they go about that.

Yeah, both teams are positioned exceptionally from that standpoint. I mean, you start with the hurricanes and to me they've got three franchise pillars. Seth, Jarvis, Jacob Slavin, and Sebastian Ash Naho. And you look at the individual contracts for those guys, Jarvis at a tick under $7.5 million was seven years of term left, especially in light of the step he's taken this year and how we view him as a burgeoning superstar. That is flat out one of the best contracts in the NHL. You could say the same for Jacob Slavin, who's in and around the $6.4 million range, despite being the best shutdown defenseman in this game and a number, bonafide number one, eight years left at that number.

I was shocked even when the deal was, like I thought it was a bargain the moment it was signed. It surprised me to see it come in well below seven. And now that the cap is going up, I mean, $6.4 million over the next eight years, by the midway point of that contract, you're going to be, you're going to be, you're going to be looking at number four defensemen who make that kind of money. And then Sebastian Aahou as well, under 10 million to have your franchise center locked in in a world where we know how valuable centers especially are and how difficult it is to acquire those types of players. And the market forces causing those prices to inflate to have a cap sheet where you've got all. your top guys locked in for a really, really long time.

Nobody making more than 10 million is an exceptional advantage. And then I love what they did this past summer as well. Not just your star players, but to take those aggressive bets on Logan Stancovin and Jackson Blake. I mean, it just was such a no-brainer from a risk-to-reward perspective because Blake's at 5.1. and that extension, I believe, kicks in next year, which means he got nine years of team control left for him.

And Stan Kovin at $6 million, same term. You're paying them third line money, essentially, in this new cap world. They're already that. And their upside case is really high. When you look at a guy like Jackson Blake scored 17 goals as a rookie, despite averaging less than 14 minutes per game, he's already up to five points and seven games in an elevated role and he is like that contract hasn't even kicked in yet and that the that next cap number already looks like such a

deal for him and then going eight years on kionre miller as well who i think is going to fit in well with their system it's it's a really unique situation where it's not just you got all your your star talent in place but also they've taken proactive bets on player on some of their players a year before their ELCs even expired. Yeah, I was going to say we've already seen it where essentially both guys are not only third liners, but they're playing on their second line and doing well in that role. Like Stankov and has stepped in and he's their second line center. Functionally, Jackson Blake, because Svetnikov's been demoted because he's been inefficient

offensively, is playing on the second line wing and both guys already look like unbelievable deals and that's only going to get better with each passing season given their age profiles. All right, we got about 10 minutes left here. What do you want to look at from Thursday nights action? Because we had a couple other really fun high-scoring games. I have this sneaking suspicion. You're going to want to talk about the Canucks Bread, the team that you cover after watching that game

and some of the questions we have about the Canucks. And I'm certainly happy to do so. But do you want to talk about that or do you want to talk about something else? I think we should quickly talk about the Canucks. It's been a weird year with a lot of strange variables going on. we know the number of injuries that they're dealing with, but eight games in, the concern level is starting to mount for this team.

I know their record isn't that bad for 4-0, but they've also been benefiting from a PDO that's over 105. I mean, not just the goal-tending aspect, we expect Emco and Lankinen to make a lot of stops for you, but their shooting percentage is pretty high and just watching them in that Nashville game. And I understand it's the tail end of a long road trip, and you've got a pretty depleted lineup.

But I think when you look at how lifeless they were offensively for pretty much all of last year, their process is really concerning me to this point, especially this lineup with no Philippauteal for the foreseeable future. And I know Max Sasson has been a good story, but the lack of speed that they have down the middle right now is massively concerning to me. Elias Pedersen, he's had moments where he's looked better,

but ultimately only one goal and four points in eight games. This team just doesn't have really any offensive juice going for it right now. And even when they, quote unquote, get healthier in the sense of getting Hoglener back, Luger back, Lackermackie back, ultimately they need heatal most out of their current injuries. And I just don't know if you can bet on him at all considering how many concussions he suffered. So I think they're in a bit of trouble. Yeah, they had that really fun comeback win last week against the Stars. And Connor Garland was just all over the place. Then they start out hot and wind up holding

on against Washington, but just the two goals combined in their last two games in Pittsburgh and Nashville. They're 31st in all situations, expected goals according to support logic. 5-1-5, they're 30th and expected goal share. In this one, they get out shot 30 to 13 at 5-on-5 by the predators. And I think the most interesting thing for me with them, and part of it is like heels out, as you said, blugers out. So you look at the, the depth chart down the middle and beyond Pedersen, it's a lot of questions. And you were noting that there was a point where they were just like running three wingers because that's all they have at this point as a line. But the usage is notable. Now, part of it is their games have involved a lot of penalties. And so I think they've played

the 31st in five on five ice time per game as a team. But the forward usage, you've got Evander Kane leading the team at 1355 per game, and then you go down to Besser, Sherwood, Garland, Pedersen's down to 1124, and that's a notable one to me, where I think the underlying numbers and to the eye, like he's doing much more Pedersen stuff than he did last year in terms of takeaways, making an impact, setting the table, like just kind of creating advantageous situations.

But he's got five on five shots on goal in eight games and he's playing over two minutes fewer per game. I mean, for him right now to be averaging 1124 is remarkable. I mean, Evander King is the only four they have in the top 120 league-wide in 5-on-5 usage of this season. And so the brusks down at like 10-02. So just I think the deployment and the way they're using these guys. And I don't know if it's the coach not necessarily understanding the personnel or trying to make a point or just trying to try to make it work while they survive right now. But it certainly doesn't seem optimal.

Yeah. And you mentioned Kane. all the way up there. He's really struggled. That's the wrong guy. As far as leading your forwards in five and five ice time, I think what was asked about this after, like just prior to the Nashville game. And he sort of made the case that, well,

Peders are playing a lot of special teams and special teams minutes are harder than five and five minutes. But then you look, that answer didn't fully make sense because you look at the distribution of those special teams minutes against Pittsburgh. And it was nearly five, minutes on the power play and just over two minutes on the penalty kill and for the season as a whole um i i didn't double check these numbers after last night's game but up until last night peterson was averaging 57 seconds per game on the pk so the point being power play minutes

are easier than five and five minutes it's really the pk that is you know a little bit more taxes taxing to even that justification that well he's playing so much on special team so that's why we're limiting his 5-5 usage a little bit. It doesn't make sense because he isn't playing a lot of taxing PK shifts. So I fully agree. They need to utilize their top players a whole lot more. But even if they do that, I just, I don't see enough offensive weapons on this team. And Quinn Hughes looks remarkably human and ordinary to start the year.

I made a couple of these observations to you via text last night. Just watching him spin, turn, pivot, he seems to lack that explosive separation that he has the last couple of years. The play where Evangelista high stick to him in Quinn drew the penalty, I think that's the exact kind of play where last year Hughes spins off of Evangelista so sharply that Evangelista isn't even close enough to him to high stick him. And there was another one with the goalie pull or with about two minutes left where they were trying to press and tie the game back up. A zone exit where, you know, tight area under pressure. You expect Quinn Hughes to be able to maneuver his way out of that spot and he got checked. It wasn't just he had to make an outlet pass.

It was a straight up failed exit. And you're thinking, you know, between that and, you know, kind of struggling to get shots through the point. but also the fact that, you know, I think teams have really realized that there's no other threat on this team offensively and there is just no other respect for anybody else who's out there to where, like,

I made this point on an earlier PDO cast, the season opening against Calgary. The flames were like cheating on Hughes. And I think that element has limited his individual impact too. Yeah, getting doubled in Triple Team. I was thinking of that as well as you were talking here where in that debut, the flames made such a clear point of trying to take him out of the equation and make someone else beat them. And he's just also, I think you noted this, getting like a fraction of the shots that he did previously on net.

And that was such a big part of his offensive breakout the past couple of years, how much work he put into it, getting himself in those spots, and then attacking downhill and creating space. And he's not getting the same number of them off. He's playing a ton. I mean, he played nearly 30 minutes in this one. He's leading the league at 2640 and just isn't getting the same separation. I think part of it is him. Part of it is just whatever. It's the first 10 games.

This isn't reflective of what it's going to look like the rest of the way. And part of it is the reality of the environment he's in. All right. And that was a fun, fun slate of games. We didn't even get it to Logan Cooley having four points in a hatrick in his first nine shifts in St. Louis and the Utah mammoth, our Utah mammoth going off to win their fifth straight.

Another really fun Ducks game, the lightning blowing another game. I mean, there was so much to get through. We're going to circle back on some of the other stuff on Sunday. and cover it a little bit more. What do you want to plug on the way out? Yeah, just that story today on teams that have most of their core pieces locked up long term.

That was a fun one to dive in and sort of look at which teams are positioned well where they don't have a lot of star players that need new deals in the skyrocketing cap climate. Good stuff, buddy. Well, we'll have you on again soon to break more games down. If you're looking for more P.D.O.C.S content, we just did. a Rangers deep dive with Adam Herman on the Patreon for our Sicko subscribers. So if you're listening to us right now and you haven't subscribed yet, I think it's a great time to fix that.

We've got the Sunday special coming this weekend. I believe Drans and I are doing our watchability rankings for this season. So we're going to be talking about all of this stuff in even further detail. And that'll be up on the feed as soon as we're done recording for the subscribers. So get in there, get access to our weekly newsletter coming on Monday morning to start off the week with some additional reading. And that is all for this week. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

And thank you for listening to the Hockey, P.D. Ocast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network.