The Hockey PDOcast - Our Top Stories From This Past Week of Hockey

Episode Date: November 24, 2025

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Thomas Drance to go through their top stories from the past week in hockey. Topics include Saturday night's Golden Knights vs. Ducks game, the way the Capitals are playing at 5v5 right now and Justin Sourdif looking like another hit for them, the Hurricanes second line and their current opportunity in the East, Dylan Larkin's two-way role this year, the heater the Wild are on in November, and the Devils offensive struggles without Jack Hughes. 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.

Regressing to the mean since 2015, it's the Hockey P.D.O.Cast with your host, Dmitri Filippovich. Welcome to the Hockey PEDEOCast. My name is Dmitra Filippovich, and joining me, as always, on a Sunday, my good buddy Thomas Drance, Tom. What's going on, man? Not much, buddy. It's been another, you know what? I think this was my favorite week of hockey yet this season. I'm serious. I thought you had, like, that Vegas Golden Knights' Ducks game last night was incredible. Obviously, that Habs' Capitals game was like only beautiful goals allowed. And there were, what?

A lot of them. Ten of them with the goalie in the net. It just felt like the vibes were high around the league. And the hockey watching was of high quality. You also had like the Bedard Celebrini dueling hat tricks. I mean, this was a wild week. That feels like ages ago. And yet it wasn't.

It's just that this weekend's games were so good that it's already receded into the back of my memory. Yeah, on the one hand, the vibes were high. I agree on the other you watch these games. And even on Saturday, and I agree the slate was phenomenal. I enjoyed it throughout just sitting on my couch all night. There was an element of you tune into whatever game, let's say, Florida, Edmonton, obviously, the Stanley Cup final rematch, and it was very closely contested, came down to the very bitter. end and yet you've got like

East Lusurina out with like a barbecue related injury Eckblad as a late scratch obviously Kachuk and Barkaw been out the entire time Washington Tampa Bay Kutrov gets hurt in the first period of that game they have a decimated blue line after finally getting healthy up front and it seems like around

the league there's this like pervasive element of just injuries throughout to key players everyone's missing like three or four guys and yet the quality of play I think hasn't suffered necessarily but it does take a little bit of the sizzle out of it for me just that you're not getting to see these fully formed teams kind of trading haymakers at their very best. But hopefully it's a bit of an early season thing.

And as we get later into the season, guys will get healthy and we're going to finally see that. And I guess just something to remember the next time we're all getting mad about Olympic participation, right? There is a real cost to this. And back in the world before the IHFs cut the NHL a squarer deal, you know, it's totally understandable why owners would look at what we're seeing, look at the product, look at the absences that they're feeling and the fact that, you know, it's not even that big a deal. For example, I obviously cover the Canucks. They've been wildly injured. I mean, their coach

repeatedly citing nine or ten absences. And over their last stretch of games, you know, they played Dallas without Deshaen or Harley. They played the Tampa Bay Lightning with number one defenseman, Dastu. Yep. They played, you know, Florida, obviously, without Kachuk, Barkov, or Lus Duranen. The Carolina Hurricanes with like 30 percent of their opening days. roster out of the lineup. It's been like a week and a half since they played a team that wasn't as banged up as them. And injuries has been the main story around the team. So, you know, that's that's where we're at. And I just think it's worth being conscientious of the condensed schedule and what that impact is. So we don't really have a gimmick for today's show. It feels like the past

couple weeks we've had our projected Olympic rosters, tears and all that stuff. I thought we'd get back to our roots a little bit. And because the hockey has been so fun to watch, we're going to bounce around, talk about some of the stuff that's caught our eye over this past week, some of the big picture significance of all of it as well. And I want to start with that game that you referenced right off the top, Golden Knights Ducks, which served as an awesome nightcap on Saturday night after a fun day of hockey. And it really was the second meeting between these two teams, I thought, that felt like a marquee matchup this early in the season, both because of how well they're playing, but also the stakes

in the Pacific with this one being winner take all, at least for the time being, of course, for first in the Pacific, and both those meetings between these two teams have really delivered. I think they were both four or three overtime wins for the Ducks

that showcase some of the best elements of both these teams. Unfortunately, they don't play each other again until February 1st, I believe in Anaheim. I really wish we could almost fast forward to a series between these two

because the hockey's been that good. And on Saturday night, Vegas jumps out to these two quick goals in the first five minutes. You're like, all right, they came to play. They're taking this very seriously and we're going to talk more about that in a second.

And then the Ducks just answer with two, just quick attack goals off the rush that really highlighted and demonstrated why we're so excited about this team, right? The first one, Carter Goce kind of lobs this alley, you pass, Beckett Seneca, receives it on the fly, the blue line between his skate, circles around, gives it the Lacombe, who rips it home. Then on the second one, Troy Terry, and he's made an art form of this over the years, but it really feels like he's on one lately, play with better players. Challenges, two guys, the blue line on entry, kind of puts it in the triangle between their skate and sticks,

gets it over to Zellweger, who rips it home. And then we were just starting. off from there and it was just an incredible game. Yeah. The lateral movement preceding the point shot, I mean, those shots might be from 40 feet out, but they are wildly dangerous shots, not just because the pass is moving east-west. It's one-timed. It's one-timed hard and low by both defenders, but also there's wild amounts of layered traffic in both instances, and the ducks are good at setting these up. The fact that, you know, I like that Munchukov got in and played really well and played huge minutes. But I thought the big story for me anyway, coming out of that game was what the Ducks did in terms of rejigging their forward lines,

specifically putting Seneca up with Leo Carlson and Cottergoche, and you end up seeing what, eight-ish five-on-five minutes heads up between them and Jack Eichael. That's as hard to match up as you're going to find for a trio of Uber-gifted young players in this league. And they want it decisively. I mean, they want it on the scoreboard. They want it on the shot counter and they want it massively in terms of the territorial edge. That to me, especially given that Vegas came out, you know, with the intention of having a, let's put these young whippersnappers in their place sort of effort and delivered on it. I mean, fully delivered on it. And the ducks were still able to gather themselves, score those two quick strike goals to level it up, take another Vegas.

punch because the rest of the first period after Anaheim tied it up was actually Vegas's best 15-minute stretch and a reminder of just how oppressive they can be defensively and how easily they can control games. You know, their first two goals, I mean, what? It's a deflection and a sort of bouncer into Bowman in the slot. I mean, those felt fortunate, even though the effort and the ability to control the game was there. I actually liked Vegas's performance, Zellweger goal to the end of the first, as sort of their

best stretch of the game. and I thought the rest of it, granted they're in a negative game script at that point, but I thought the rest of it was not all Anaheim. That would be unfair, but Anaheim having a pretty decided edge against an elite team in this league that came in filled with the intent of showing them that they're still the best team of the Pacific. Yeah, we were texting about this throughout. It does feel like it's obviously a tough thing to quantify, but it's in the 82 game season,

it's such a marathon that you're going to get lulls and effort, especially from the top teams, right? some of them are very business-like in terms of especially on the road. So you view an inferior opponent and you're like, all right, we know exactly when we need to turn it up for five, 10-minute stretches and do the bare minimum to get either one or two points here and make it a successful night on the road. And you're not really getting that from teams that are going in to play Anaheim.

You can clearly tell they've taken stock of just how dangerous they've been and the element they provide there. And so you're getting these awesome efforts from teams that are coming in to play the ducks and they've been up to it. Like, they've played some really close games here during this homestand. A couple went their way. Yeah. They've also taken their lumps.

I mean, that avalanche game, you know, and that Aves effort, I mean, in comparison with the show that we saw live in Vancouver a couple weeks ago. I mean, that was a huge difference in terms of how the Aves showed up to that game. You know, I saw one of those efforts, one of those business-like efforts this week from the Dallas Stars. And, you know, Mika Renton was. not play off Miko Rantanin at any point until he had a sniff of, oh, I can end this team and then produced an incredible goal, one of the coolest goals I've seen five. And when you say when Miko Ranton in sense that he could end the team, you mean on the score sheet with a goal and not putting someone's... I guess I need to pick my words a little more carefully after the

week that Miko Rentan's had a very Afghani Malkin, like prime Afghani Malkin week, for sure. A couple of incredible plays that it's weird to see someone that gigantic be able to pull off. also some brutal hits, no question, ultimately getting suspended for the Coronado hit as he should of. Anyway, the, yeah, so you are seeing those efforts. And look, it's clear. I mean, don't listen to us. Don't take our word for it. Just go watch the best of the best teams in the league, go play Anaheim and how they're approaching it. And that's all the respect you need. Like, that's the tell. That's how you know that, that's how you know that people around the league are taking more than just notice of the ducks. They're showing up and, you know, like not treating it as a measuring stick game,

but kind of. Certainly. I mean, you mentioned that line off the top with, you know, recently kind of mixing up the combinations and putting Carlson between Ginochet and Seneca that had previously been, McTavish's spot, and what Carlson is doing right now. We've spoken about a bunch. But man, like, it really kind of comes to the forefront in that game where for a guy who, what, he's not even 21 years old yet he turns 21 in December. He's getting these heavy, heavy matchups, night in and night out against other teams' best players, still producing offensively, of course, with flashy goals and point totals. But for him to have a 55% shot share and north of 60% goal share at 5-on-5 at this stage, given the context of that, is so impressive to me. Cutter-Goce, you sent me a

screenshot on Natural Statrick of his shot share leading the league, and he's got, what, 97 shots on goal in 22 games. We wound up winning this one after a turnover from Marner around. on the net. In overtime, Minchikov, as well as you mentioned. For most of the night, he was actually pacing the ducks in five-on-five usage. He wound up just two seconds short behind Jacob Truba leading the team in Ice Time. 80% expected goal shot. I thought he made some really high-level offensive plays. Some of the breakouts under pressure, especially four-on-four against that vaunted Golden Knights, four-check, some keeps of the blue line. At the end of the first period, you could see those offensive instincts where he sees that there's time running down. He's not

necessarily at risk of giving anything up. And so he crashes towards the slot, gets a rebound opportunity. He had been obviously in the news this week because of the healthy scratches, because of the potential trade rumors, I guess, with his unhappiness not playing. And so he jumps back in, gets heavy usage, rewards them for it. I thought that was awesome to see. By the way, they should absolutely drag their feet on this and trust that it sorts itself out. You know, you've got a new coach. We see this happen all the time where a new coach discovers who their guys are and that results in changes in the pecking order and changes in usage and can occasionally result in reports like this, but a report like players been scratched and desires a trade,

like these things do sometimes blow over. Not always, but sometimes they do. And I just like, what do the ducks need more than a high upside lottery ticket with potential to deliver another blue chip talent on the back end? I mean, I think we're really excited about what they have up front. And frankly, we're still really excited about what they have on the back end. But Mintukov has the potential to be something unlike they have and unlike they are likely to have the opportunity to draft again in the top 10.

You know, unless it's an absolute howler steal of a deal, I just don't see the logic of why they would be rushing to accommodate a player's request on this. I mean, obviously, this is a team that's now, as I said, first in the Pacific. I think they're tied for second in the league and point percentage behind just Colorado. So it's not like it's necessarily a future projection. but I feel like when you watch a game like this or even some of these games during the homestand, the Ottawa one comes to mind where they blow it late and Ottawa did their job for the most part and kind of blanketing them and keeping them in check, there are these stretches where it's just

over 60 minutes, it's impossible to keep them down and they're going to have this burst that generally comes in close succession off the rush that is so intoxicating and so exciting about the future. And you could even see in this game against Vegas, I wanted to highlight, particularly when it's either Troy Terry or Seneca leading the rush, they do such a good job of using the full width of the offensive zone where the guy brings it out wide and then instead of just kind of playing it on that same side or trying to hit the middle trailer they go cross ice to the weak side and often it's cutter goche just waiting there to catch and shoot a brilliant one-timer and so they have the talent to execute that it's a very high degree of difficulty play but

they do it as well as anyone in the league and that also makes it so fun to watch for Vegas quickly here before we move on, since we spent a lot of this kind of, you know, giving flowers to the ducks and they certainly won this game and deserve it. Vegas quietly. Points in 17 of 21 games. Only regulation losses are against Colorado, twice against the Panthers, and the lightning, and that's despite missing guys like Mark Stone, William Carlson, Noah Hannifin, Ian Hill for a majority of the season so far. And we'll talk more with the hurricanes later. They certainly fall into this bucket as well, but I'm very impressed by these teams who, despite all these injuries that are rampant around the league and everyone's kind of trying to

wait through them right now, they're so business-like about just churning out results, regardless of who's in the lineup, you know exactly the way they're going to play, they're going to be a nightmare. I think this is the first game. The Vegas gave up 30 plus shots on goal all season. The first 20 games was out doing so, and it took the Ducks overtime to get there. And so very impressive for them despite defeat. And yeah, I love this matchup.

I hope we get to see it this postseason because I think. I feel like these two teams statistically just get the boast out of each other as well. Yeah, I agree with you. The other thing I just want to quickly note is the Ducks had so many Howler breakdowns in their first 10 games. And it did at least feel like Vegas had to press really hard. And this is to take nothing away from, you know, the way that Vegas played. But I did feel like they were way, the Ducks have felt way harder to break down, too, as this season has gone along. Like not a huge surprise that guys like Quenville and Woodcroft are finding ways to sort of turn the dial on their team's aggression to avoid the sorts of, you know, pond hockey type breakdowns that we saw a lot from the Ducks in the first 10 games.

Marner still has had his chances in this game. I mean, Dostal was immense without questions. So that's a big part of the Ducks secret sauce here. But I did think, I do just want to give some credit to the Ducks who I did feel like. were a far more credible absorbed defense team. It was an actually robust five-on-five showing from them in a game where, you know, they were getting Vegas's best. The Washington Capitals.

Despite the loss on Saturday night to Tampa Bay, I thought it was a big week for them, a much-needed one getting back on track. They had wins against the Kings, the Oilers, the Habs, that game that you referenced earlier scored 18 goals in these last three games. And the one that I was... And only 10 of them were Ethan Frank. Yes, and I was watching that lightning game very closely, and it was remarkably on brand for the season the caps have had, right?

You start off with a five-on-five goal in the first minute. You're like, all right, here we go. And then they give up two special teams goals, one, short-handed while they're on the power play, and then to the lightning power play in close succession. They have a five-on-three late with a chance to tie the game up and send it to overtime. They don't convert on. It was an extended one at that. And they dominated lightning. Obviously, the lightning are banged up.

They lost Kutraub early in this one after. three put up a couple points, but they outshot them 32 to 16, we're all over them getting a ton of chances, and it was very fitting for the season they've had. Now, despite the loss, despite their place in the standings, I think their 23rd in point percentage. I remain so bullish on this team, and part of it is because I find them so fun to watch, unlike last year when they were getting results, and a lot of it was score-based and just converting everything they were taking. They're generating so much. They're second across the board at 5-1-5, and pretty much every metric we care about behind only the Colorado Avalanche, the issue has been 27th on the powerboy,

29th on the PK, if those things can stabilize even somewhat to like the lowest possible baseline, I feel like it's going to be wheels up for this team. And I mean, Spencer Carberry's done a phenomenal job. We're going to talk about Justin Sort of another success story for them. But I just love watching this team play right now. And I feel like if they can get it together a little bit on the special team's front, the way they're playing 5-1-5 right now genuinely reflects and demonstrates that they're one of the better teams in the league. Yeah, the sort of story is interesting. I never thought of him as a

center once, even when he was, you know, playing his junior hockey out here. I always thought he'd be a skilled winger. He's been a nice fit there. He's winning draws, too. I mean, it's been a lot of fun to watch. And then, and then the Frank thing, too, I mean, not that this is new, he's been on a radar for a bit, but he did score a lot this week and was an absolute, like an absolutely larceness dobesh save away from having a hat trick against the haves all of these goals are coming off the rush i mean he's been a handful for teams that the capitals now have i mean all these guys up and down the lineup multiple guys on their fourth line who are genuine threats in open ice which feels different than what a lot of teams have i mean we're seeing that be an increasing

an increasingly frequent element of team construction certainly the avalanche would would be an example, but the caps have that look to them, which I think helps them five on five, but then it's the intricate passing stuff they do in the offensive zone that just feels like a handful. That Tampa Bay Lightning game, for example, was a pretty classic, a classic one where it's not that the capitals were making their shots so much as what they were trying was going their way. Yep. You know, it wasn't a schedule loss, or at least it wasn't a schedule loss in form even if it was on the second well was it the second leg of back to back no it wasn't but it wasn't a schedule loss it was just one where it felt like the bounces went against them yeah yeah i mean

what they're creating right now at even strength is really we're talking about because they lead the league in their slot shots you watch that game and it's been a constant theme for them because of that movement and the passing and the green light for the defensemen you can see that a lot of the defensemen are just stepping up in areas and getting looks where the other teams just not really ready for it in terms of their defensive game plan and so i think that boat's really really really well for them. I want to spend more time on this sort of story as well, because we spent so much of last year talking about this CAPS infrastructure with their pro scouting and the development and all these trades they made to acquire guys who had flashed to the NHL level

previously, but were distressed assets. You can't really say that for sort of because he had played, what, four career NHL games in the Panthers organization prior to this, but they make a trade, which I think everyone had their eyebrows raised a little bit somewhat in the off, early in the offseason. They give a second and a sixth for a 23-year-old with those four games, sign him to a two-year deal at just 825K per season. And it was a slow start, but then PLD gets hurt. They put him at

second line center between Protis and Tom Wilson. Only about 60 minutes so far with that line, but they're up 5'1 with 71% of the shots and high danger chances are 25 to 9, and I thought sort of was awesome in this one. He had to set up off the rush on one of those passing plays to get a great A for John Carlson in transition. He wins that

battle in front early on against Anthony Sorrelli and just out dogs them to score, attacks the middle with speed, draws a penalty on Kuturov, winning the draws, as you said, despite the fact that I don't think any of us really thought of him as a center. Had another good look coming downhill too with a heavy wrist shot. Yeah, and so he's playing phenomenally within this system, and it's just the latest example of this team doing this yet again with a guy like this. And it was a balsy trade for a guy who was only available because he was on the fringes of being waiver exempt and, you know, Florida did the math.

and thought he was probably unlikely, certainly not as likely to make their team as he was likely to return value on the pick that the capital's traded for him. It was like they paid retail and they were right. And that makes it in some ways more impressive, right? This isn't, this isn't something that they found in the for sale bin. This is a player they targeted.

We're willing to stand behind in terms of the price paid to be the team that got a look at him. And now we're playing him in a position that, you know, we weren't expecting him to necessarily be impactful in, and he's more than doing it. He's playing exceptional hockey. Yeah, the speed down in the middle is legit. He looks awesome.

And now you look at that price for playing a premium position, and it's a no-brainer. I also wonder I know quickly on this. I don't know if you've been following this, because we're so wrapped up in the NHL that it's kind of tough to keep tabs on the AHL. As much as I think we'd like to, Ilya Proto is going off in the HAL.

He's on this crazy point. goal scoring streak. He's got 15 points in 16 HL games as a 19 year old and we're getting very, very close to me being able to tweet a second pro-dis has hit the NHL meme.

So looking forward to that. Before we go to break, do you want to talk about the Carolina Hurricanes because they were next on my list here in teams of teams that caught my eye in watching hockey this past week? Yeah. And coming off of a more disappointing

like a characteristically. Yeah, so 401 a matinee loss in Buffalo at the end of a row. road trip and snuck it under the NFL schedule. But Buffalo, though, got Zach Benson back. So it's a different type of loss to Buffalo than the previous losses that other teams to sustain this week. I was watching the Sabres Blackhawks game on Friday night and watching the Sabres broadcast and the Sabres scored nine goals. So there was a lot of instances of them celebrating goals, but Benson was on the broadcast in the booth talking with the commentary team. And they scored a

couple while he was on there. And he was just like celebrating the entire time. A lot of one audio was great. Zach Benson is the absolute best. Really quickly, in the wake of multiple Canadian GMs representing teams that are in the 30s in the NHL by point percentage have recently given interviews about how you can't rebuild and both have cited that there's no guarantees in going through a rebuild. And it's been funny, like one of the big picture, I think storylines of this season is, you know,

the rebuilt Utah mammoth, the rebuilt Montreal Canadians, even the Eiser plan. You know, the Daniel Breyer effort in Philadelphia, and that team's top 10 in the NHL by point percentage, even if it's not the necessarily rebuilding pieces that are paying that off. Obviously, what Bard and Sellebrini are doing, what's happening in Anaheim, right? And so right now, you know, in terms of the nonsense peddlers who've been talking about how rebuilding is a fruitless endeavor at the NHL level, or at least one that's fraught with risk, versus standing pat. and continuing to, you know, desperately try to just grind your way into the playoffs year after year, which succeeds like half the time and leaves you getting lapped pretty quickly by those teams more disciplined and forward thinking than you.

Anyway, my point being that it feels like there's been this sort of tactical retreat as more and more of the examples that you can point to as quote unquote failed rebuilds have evaporated and no longer off recover. And it's like Buffalo's the last stand. and they had a fantastic week. So I'm waiting. It might be another couple weeks. I don't think we're actually going to get there with Buffalo.

By no means, am I buying stock necessarily? But Buffalo has fallen is the moment now that I'm waiting for. The Hurricanes. Yes, sorry. The reason why I want to talk about them, that loss notwithstanding, they're first in the Central with a 14-6-2 record. The east around them, though, is really clearing out. And I feel like it's opening a real runway for them to take off and build a nice cushion between themselves and the rest of the competition.

They have 30 points. The Devils are second. We're going to talk more about the Devils later on the back half with 27. No team in the Atlantic has more than 27. They've played a bunch of games on the road. They're going home now for a seven-game homestand where they're going to play the following. The Rangers, the Jets with Connor Hallibuck out, the Flames, the Leafs, the Predators, the Sharks, and the Blue Jackets. So I think there's a real opportunity here for them to go on a run.

They've done all of this while using 10 different defensemen this season. Jacob Slavin's played fewer than 40 minutes all year. They're third in the league in goals per 60 all situations behind only the aforementioned ducks and the Colorado Avalanches are fourth and 5-1-5 scoring. And the thing I wanted to highlight with them is watching the game against Minnesota, which they wind up losing in overtime after a great Jesper Walsstead effort on TNT. see, this Nikolai Eilers, Logan Stankov and Jackson Blakeline, was made in a lab specifically to cater to my interests, I feel like, of three players I've just historically loved.

112, 5-1-5 minutes, up 5 to 64% of the Choss, 63% of the expected goal share allows Rod Brindamore to play Svetchnikov with Ajo and Jarvis to keep him happy after the report from Elliot Freeman on Saturday. And the play Eelers makes it the end of that wild game. I know they wind up losing in overtime. time. But they're dominating and tilting the ice the entire time. They're trying to come from behind, create a goal late to tie it and get that extra point. And he gets the puck in a very harmless area on the ice, kind of along the wall, on the perimeter, certainly. And he makes

such a brilliant pass to the back door net front, the Jackson Blake's able to tap home. And I was just watching it thinking this was the exact type of play that I think was the reason why they went out and got a Nicola Euler as a player they were so desperately craving in the past years where they didn't really have a means to go from outside, inside like that, and just create a play when they need a shot to turn into a goal. And so that was really cool to see. He obviously had a big week with his return to Winnipeg as well and got a nice little ovation and response from the crowd there during the video as well. And so I love watching that line. I think something else that benefits the hurricanes I was thinking about this. I've been talking a lot on the show about

there's this new trend in the league I find where partly because of the Aves success with what they do with McKinnon and Carr high in the zone kind of trying to interchange and create stuff further away from the net it's a very high risk play right because if you turn it over all of a sudden you got numbers going back the other way off the rush

and if more teams are doing that I feel like that benefits a team defensively like the hurricanes because they're so aggressive with their man on my end pressure kind of chasing up to the point and trying to use their sticks and knock pucks away And so I feel like as we go along with that, if that continues and becomes like a real staple around the league, they're going to get so much more transition opportunities off of plays like that because they're the best in the league at contesting everything and making life hell for you regardless of where you're on the ice. And so I was thinking about that, I think things are lining up really nicely for them here despite that loss.

And a week from now or two weeks from now, we could be talking about them having a seven, eight point lead on anyone else in the East. Yeah. And again, I think you're, I'm glad you pointed out and spotlighted the defense. sense of injuries, right? I mean, guys like Joel Nystrom have been really nice finds for them. They've just, their machinery seems to, you know, whiz and hum, regardless of who's out. I think that's a big thing. But we are now seeing to what this looks like with a greater infusion of skill. And I still would like to see them add one more stall Martin nuke sized human, but with more finishing ability, right? More skill. But, man, they...

Oh, wouldn't we all? Huh? Wouldn't we all? Wouldn't we all? I mean, that's that last year when they swung for Ranton and then he wouldn't stay long term, I think it was right for them to not go for it again and sort of recycle the Gensel thing, right? I think that last season they kind of overachieved in a year in which in a lot of ways they'd kept their powder dry, you know? And, and, but this feels different, especially with the way that the East has opened up. This feels like, like a year to push in, um, to find your version of the Gensel trade again. And obviously they've had a lot of success swinging big, uh, in season. Uh, but I think like the pressures should be on that organization. I think this is a really unique opportunity with some of what's happened

around them at the top of the east. Yeah. For them to be in the position they're at despite those absences and everything that's happening around them in the east is when you compare it to the top four or five teams in the west, I feel like it's a no brainer from that perspective. All right, Tom, Let's take our break here, and then when we come back, we're going to close out this week's Sunday special. You're listening to the Hockey P.D.Ocast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network. Let's. I got my list of notes of stuff that caught my eye while watching hockey this week. Dylan Larkin.

Tied for 14th in goals. 22nd in points. That's really good. It's good usage, though. I feel like those numbers don't remotely reflect how valuable and how dominant he's been. And let me give you a couple stats that they reflect that a little bit better. As you said, 24-22 per game, or sorry, 20 minutes and 42 seconds per game. That's two and a half minutes more than any other wings forward. 56% face off win rate.

He's one more draws than anyone in the league. They're using him on the PK to win draws and clear, and that's made such a massive fundamental difference for a league worse PK last year. Draw on 11 penalties with his speed, taking only five. At 5 on 5, though, they're up 19 to 10 with him on the ice. They're down 38 to 18 at 5 on 5 on 5 without him on the ice. They've scored more goals with him on the ice 5 on 5 in 309 minutes than they have as a team in the 744 other minutes. And that's despite the fact that they're using him as a matchup center against the other team's best line.

He's starting where he has a 44% off of his own start rate. I was talking last week about how when you look at those numbers for a lot of the other top scores in the league, they're generally getting much more favorable usage, getting out there for offense's own draws and being able to use their best skills. They don't really have that luxury, so they're using him as a matchup center on Saturday. They come from behind and beat the Columbus Blue Jackets. He winds up playing 10 and a half minutes 5-on-5 against Werenzky and Marchenko. Shots on goal were 13 to 1 wings in that time.

He's top 10 in the league and rush chances, rebound chances. his inner slot shots, slot passes. He's doing absolutely everything right now. And he's a player who turns 30 in July. We've spoken a lot about the benefit of these tournaments. We're seeing now best on best four nations last year. Now the Olympics coming up this year. And what that can do for a player like this?

Now, he's not necessarily a quote unquote young player in the way we think about some of these guys benefiting, but from a exposure perspective where he's only played in a playoff setting in five games. And that came as a teenage rookie, hasn't gone back since. at the Four Nations we saw him probably penciled in heading into that tournament lower on the depth chart in terms of how important he'd be and then him and Matt Boldie played so well that he just kind of forced his way up into a higher leverage role and now thinking ahead to the Olympics for a stacked team USA team up front I feel like he's going to be one of the more

important players because he can just do everything his skill set is so valuable he can fit in with anyone and all of a sudden he'll get to play with great players i'm not that lucas raymond and alexa brinket aren't but it's just going to be such an awesome environment for him and it's going to be one of those things where people who aren't paying attention are going to be like man dylan larkin is awesome for a second straight year and i'm really looking forward to that it's pretty unique to have this type of usage and be as productive as he's been you know the list of guys who are you know producing like larkin and have this type of usage i mean is basically like him and coil and coil's not, you know, playing as many minutes.

I mean, Coil's taking as many draws, but he's not playing, or nearly, but he's not playing as many minutes. I suppose Elias Pedersen would sort of be the other guy to shout out here, but Petterson's five-five production pales in comparison. I mean, it's seven to 13 points-wise, right? So ignoring the hockey card, once you actually sort of peer underneath, what Larkin is doing to generate those sorts of looks and that sort of actual, you know, bottom line production while being used this heavily defensively is different, materially different.

There are levels to this, right? And this is a guy for whom I think Selky Chatter needs to start to pick up in a really major way. I mean, if this isn't a Selky candidate at this point, given the defensive orientation of his usage, given how critical he is to the team and the fact that he's combining that, with a high level of offensive dynamism and skill, then I don't know what the award is. Like, I would say he's the frontrunner, and I feel like no one's mentioning his name in conjunction with it.

Yeah, it's such a, I mean, that award is entirely reputation-based, and you're not in it until you're in it, and then when you are, you're in there until you retire, basically. And so I feel like he certainly force his way in there with his play this season. The Minnesota Wilde. Start the year, 3, 6, and 3.

we were talking a lot about our concerns about their defensive numbers, the P.K. struggling once again. In November, they've gone 9-1-1. They're up 21 to 9 in 5-15, 35 to 17, all situations. They're 7-0-1 since Matt Zuccarello came back specifically coming off another shutout win with Jasper Wallstead, Enette, who, by the way, it arguably has the best nickname in the league, not in my opinion, the wall of St. Paul, incredible, and he's been on an absolute heater. they had been as a team and all of a sudden now despite that slow start they're up to third in the central now it's a big gap projecting it forward because the abs are just running away with it and the stars keep churning out points but we've spoken so much about the jets and them

surviving all the injuries and now hella bucks out and i think neil pionk got banged up in this game as well utah the blues struggles and all of a sudden the you look up now in the wild are actually the team that's in third there and we got to talk about them in terms of trends that are going on around the league because they just keep rattling off wins and not giving other teams anything at all. I mean, they just went through an entire weekend in games against the penguins and the jets without giving up a single goal against. It's impressive. And, you know, I would have said that I was more worried about them early in the year than I was about St. Louis. Yep. And yet they've woken up and St. Louis is still in a malaise or a slumber at this, at this juncture.

and look, a lot of it is what we're seeing in that, right? I mean, there's no way around that. Walshsted's, I mean, as you note, the nickname is incredible, but the form is absurd at this point. And, you know, on the list of, you know, you watch McLeod crush it today for Buffalo and then Walsstead, I mean, the Oilers side of this is amusing. And I do think that there's an angle there too,

because while the Oilers beat up on the Florida Panthers, I'd say their form was concerning through most of this week. I mean, genuinely concerning from, you know, one of the people who has the most confidence in them, no matter how much they struggle in the month of October, this week was a week where it felt like they're actually running out of time to start playing serious hockey. And I'm beginning to find it harder and harder

to ignore the real flaws on the back end. So Minnesota's sort of waking up and now positioning themselves to be something of like a bowl work against a Pacific Division wildcard team, right? You're going to have to beat out Minnesota. I do think complicates, or at least further narrows, the path for Edmonton to get back on track and just given McDavid's stature and what he means and the fact that that team's made it to two consecutive finals. And the fact that Wollstead's been such a key driver of this, I don't think we can ignore the Edmonton angle in the Wilde's rise and dominance in the month

of November. The wall of St. Paul in November. 25 and 27 at Islanders. 36 of 36 against the flames, 28 to 28 against our Anheim ducks. 42 of 45 in that game where the hurricanes just threw everything at him and they won in shootout and then a 32 save shutout

against the jets here more recently. Also, I mentioned Zuccarello there. I feel like him coming back makes this lineup make a lot more sense because all a sudden now the chemistry with him and Caprizo all over the years has been undeniable. It allows them to split up at least more regularly. Caprizov and Boldy play Boldy with Joel Erick on the second line. It gives them more structure up front as well. And this is without Marco Rossi as well. They've been using

a young guy in Danil Yorov down the middle with Caprizov as well. And so they're playing remarkable hockey right now. Let's end with this. The New Jersey Devils. Yes. So just as we started recording last week, we were kind of fresh off of the Jack Hughes, injury news and we were talking about where they were at at that moment their ability to survive this stretch without him forever long he's out. They played four games now since he left the lineup.

One and three record lost the last three. Outscored 14 to 7 in those games. They've generated three five-on-five goals total as opposed that a 12 they've given up against and all three of those have come from the Jesper Brat, Nico Hissier. Line with Meyer on there for the most

part. Not getting anything from anyone else in the lineup up front and I feel like that is really put into forefront our lingering concerns dating back to last year and then certainly this offseason where they refuse to for whatever reason meaningfully address it they made kind of moves on the margins assuming that everything else would be in place and obviously when you remove a guy like jack hugh's considering how much he has the puck and how much he creates for everyone and what a fundamental difference it's going to make not having them every team's going to look different with that part of the equation but there's just

no backup plan or fail-safe option, I guess, here, right? Like, if he's not out there creating, you're just not going to be able to survive the other minutes, and then all of a sudden you remove that, and I feel like it makes things just so incredibly difficult for them. And the state of this forward group right now, I feel like, is really unacceptable. Like, I feel like you don't ever want to make a panic move in this league, but just thinking ahead to where this team's at and the opportunity they have, I feel like they're doing themselves such a disservice with every single day that goes by.

and they don't do something about this. Yeah, I mean, you're right. And I agree. I do want to see a little bit more before I bury their chances of weathering this particular storm. You know, the, what, the three games they played, Vasilevsky, Bobrovsky, and Dan Vladar, but also that Philadelphia Flyers team is playing some mean defense. The three-headed monster, or net? It's not so much of Ladar thing as much as it's a...

Yeah, that was an ugly game in Philly. And Jake Allen gave up a couple off the rush, and I got away from them in a very close period of time. But they, whenever they didn't have Brad and his shirt out there, they looked like they were playing a different speed than the Flyers, who I wouldn't classify as an offensive juggernaut, but they made them look like that on Saturday. Yeah, which is, which is concerning. But I do think that at least part of this is they've shot nothing at all. They haven't, they've shot two and a half percent in the three games at five on five. That will chill out. Will it?

Yes. When you look at the personnel outside the top line, though? They're not going to score two goals on their next 110 shots, regardless of that. I mean, they at least have baseline NHL players and a really savvy offensive coach in Sheldon Keefe. All four of those games, L Hughes, have been on the road. Right. And they're going back home for six of their next seven, I believe. So that will give them opportunities for more favorable matchups for the season, though.

let me give you some stats okay your guy lammico yeah 120 515 minutes truly my guy 0.6 on ice goals 4 per hour yep lukeland denning 176 515 minutes one goal per hour paul carter 226 515 minutes without jack hughes yeah 1.3 goals per hour andre pallat your guy another one of your guys well you more used to be a hundred and 27 515 minutes without jack use 0.9 4 goals per hour Connor brown 1.98 goals per hour. Stefan Nason, 115 minutes, 0.77 goals per hour. Dawson Mercer, 114, 515 minutes without playing on the wing in the top six, so centering his own line.

1.6 goals per hour. They're giving those guys 18 million in cap real estate this season, and some of it certainly will improve just because the numbers indicate as such, but a lot of those players I mentioned also are kind of offensive black holes in terms of stuff just not happening with them on the ice and not really having a lot of talent. And a lot of those players also like a Mason or a Cotter or Mercer certainly. Like I think Mercer, I love his game. For him to be successful, he probably needs to play with good players on the wing

and not necessarily be driving his own line. A lot of those other guys, if they play with these types of players, which they are right now, they're not going to be in a position to succeed because they can't drive themselves. They're not going to get those opportunities and it's going to look the way it has. And so I feel like that's kind of the issue they're bumping into where if you're playing Meyer, his year, and Brad together, and they're your three best players and they're playing well,

there's just nothing else beneath that in terms of a reasonable expectation of, all right, we're going to be able to create meaningful looks and turn those into goals. And so I am pretty concerned about how that's going to shake out for the time being. I just look through this, though, and think about it, and think about, I mean, even removing those three guys,

I just feel like between Gritsch, Brown, Dodonov, you know, Nason, Cotter, and Mercer, you've got to be able to cobble together at least like a not a not a at least a below average enough bottom six that your top line especially given its quality can sort of hang i it's got to be it's got to be enough to make it through four or five weeks without threatening your playoff perch yeah i could i mean the goal finning's going to be better i think the special teams is good the top line is great certainly that's that's going to be enough that's going to be enough to hold the board it says here you classify it as a bottom six though i

I'd say it's more of a bottom nine. Yeah, yeah. No, it is. It is a bottom nine. And a lot of those players and Gritser got banged up in that game in Philly. He's the only one you really mentioned. Like, Dadaunov at this stage of his career, can do it in small spurts. Small spurts.

Yeah. But that's all you need. But you're eating analogy of guys who eat and guys who bring the food to the table. Yeah, they don't have a lot. I feel like Gritsyik's the only guy you mentioned amongst that list of someone who's going to get the food and set it on the table and make sure everyone can can have a nice meal and be fed. I don't think you're wrong. I don't think you're wrong. And so I'm not saying, it's going to be a lean Christmas.

You know, they're going to have to. The devils are looking fit. They're going to have to hope that Ebenezer brings by a goose. But, yeah, I mean, and hopefully they're all using plastic knives. Nonetheless, I do think they're, first of all, they had the start. And secondly, good special teams and a sick top line with four additional middle-six-calibre guys, that's got to be enough to sort of limp through the next three to four weeks, I'd think. And I think it can, but I guess where I'm taking issue with it is my expectations are higher for

this group. Yes, fair. Like, it's not a matter of surviving and that might be enough for the time being. And obviously it will look different when Jack Hughes comes back. But this just kind of highlights our concern, even before the Jack Hughes injury of what they did this offseason, the fact that they didn't really take a big swing. We just talked. about the position the hurricanes are in to do so and I feel like there needs to be a bit more urgency here to meaningfully improve because even when Hughes comes back, you're still facing a lot of those dilemmas with a lot of these players not really kind of being ill-fitting, I guess. Yeah. And throw in the fact that, you know, not counting the 2020 or 2021 season,

which was only 56 games and he played all 56. So let's like scrub the two pandemic seasons, right in the five seasons since full seasons he's only played more than 71s right so building in a layer of jack hughes i mean so building in a layer of redundancy where you know surviving in november and December is one thing surviving if there's a key game six and your seasons on the lines another so yeah building some redundancy in terms of you know the hardest thing to find which is a standalone uh offensive force right like a not not just a driver i mean I mean, Jack Hughes is one of the best in the league at doing that being the face of the tip of the spear of a high-end offensive attack. But finding someone who's, you know, closer to being a credible version of that, even if it's sort of down lineup, yeah, I mean, that that would be huge for them.

We have five minutes left here. I feel like I've been picking all the topics. I mean, we agree upon it ahead of time. It's not like I'm forcing you to talk about this stuff. But do you want to close out with some parting shots or a topic we haven't gotten to yet? I watched Dallas struggle mightily in Vancouver. I thought they played really poorly, and then obviously we know what happened to them in Calgary the next day. Now, they're banged up.

They don't have Harley in the lineup and losing the second leg of a back-to-back in overtime. I love how you described a loss that flames at this point. We know what happened to them. It sounded so tragic the way you said it. Well, it wasn't just that they lost. It's that it's a loss that's not that instructive. Like, I don't want to be banging the I'm panicking about Dallas because they lost the second leg of a back-to-back in a game in which Miko Raton was ejected. you know and they're missing these guys like i don't want to be i don't want to be leaning too much into

one results in sort of my analysis i think my issue with it is like i don't care what context there is they got you know they played vancouver and calgary and both teams were probably narrowly better than they were at five on five across that 120 minute sort of stretch and you know i i think think that there's a business-like approach when you get off to the sort of start that they've got off to, but we also see a lot of softness in the underlying numbers, and it's not just the underlying numbers. It's not as if that's divorced from the reality of watching them play, right? They're not as imposing as they have been in previous years, and I do think we're at a point

where, you know, I'm going to need to see more before I'm suggesting that they're in the same tier as teams like Vegas and then Colorado being in its own tier entirely, not just in the West, but in the league. I think them and Edmonton have kind of lost touch with this idea of like a big four, at least in the early part of the season. Edmonton, because the results have been concerning Dallas, because the process has. And I did feel like what I saw in Vancouver and then what happened in Calgary, and we all know what happened in Calgary, really reinforced that. Yeah, the new big four in the West is Anaheim. I was going to say the abs, the golden nights, and then the ducks and the ducks.

Yeah, I think there's an, I mean, first off, they're going to be fine, don't get me wrong. Harley coming back and being healthier than he was even before he left the lineup and then do Shane as well, and I think that's a massive loss from a dynamic puck-carrying perspective. I do think we need to give them, especially considering the results they're getting a bit of the leniency we've been giving the Oilers to start the season

because we kind of saw them do this last year, right, where they had these. really really bleak defensive metrics down the stretch and we were really worried about it and their place as a contender and then come the playoffs they played differently they tightened it up a little bit and they did enough to at least make a spirited run to the western conference final the power play is so good the level even in that game where they didn't really

have anything going against the flames they were getting so many looks down low with that with that power play triangle with johnson hinson and robertson and robertson's playing remarkable hockey right now so I feel like this isn't necessarily we can't transpose the way they're playing now into what it's going to look like come to playoffs and I think there might be an element of not playing possum intentionally

but in terms of this being their route to success against some of these better West teams which is probably being lower volume but being incredibly efficient on those opportunities because their best players are the ones always shooting the puck for them and they're going to score a lot in the power play

and it's going to drive everyone crazy and it's going to post or result in ugly shot totals in those games, but it's probably going to be successful. So I'm not worried about it every time being, especially because they're getting the results they have. It will be. It will be successful in that they're clearly going to be a 100-point team that makes the playoffs.

But, you know, I'm talking about them in comparison with Vegas and Colorado. I mean, this is a team that's made the conference final three years in the last four and has been in the Stanley Cup final, you know, in addition to that, this decade. I mean, my standard for what I'm expecting. out of this Dallas team is higher than that. And so my concern meter also sets off a little bit at a bit of a lower ebb. And I do think there's some softness in sort of what we're seeing from them five on five that worries me that they haven't necessarily taken the step that certainly I was hoping they had

after we saw what they did in the playoffs last year. And certainly with sort of Harley's emergence, I mean, I thought this was a team that was coming in poised to be a real contender level team and and to this point 25 games in or less um you know i i think i'm cool on that front point well taken especially in light of what happened in calgary then we all know what happened we all know in calgary we all know it all right buddy what do you want to promote on the way out oh well connect's coverage over the athletic check that out and connect's talk monday to friday on sports net 650 i'd assume we'll be you know getting into rebuild theory on a more disciplined basis going forward unless the Canucks.

If you love that diatribe about Zach Benson and adults, boy, do I have more for you. Oh, if you want Zach Benson diatribes, wait to listen to Canucks talk. If Zach Benson can stay healthy for a bit and produce the way we know he can. All right, buddy, good stuff. If you want to help us out, subscribe to the PDOCs Patreon for access to more shows every week. Give us a five-star review wherever you listen, join the PDOCast Discord. And that is all for another Sunday Sunday special. I know a lot of our listeners will be commuting later this week for American Thanksgiving

to visit their loved ones. And so I will have you covered with plenty of new listening material coming over the next couple days. Thank you for listening to the HockeyPedioCast streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network.