The Hockey PDOcast - What Each Team Should Be Most Thankful for at This Point in the Season

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Shayna Goldman to go through their list of what teams around the league should be thankful for at this point of the season. 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 HockeyPedocast. My name is Demetri Filippovich. And joining me is my good buddy, Shana Goldman. Shana, what's going on? Hey, thanks for having me today. So we're going to get into the spirit of it being American Thanksgiving later this week. And so I thought a fun exercise for us would be to make a list of what teams are thankful for at this point of the season.

Now we can also expand it to things we are thankful for as it relates to those teams just to give ourselves more runway. But we're going to go back and forth and see how many teams we can get through today over the next 50 minutes or so. You're the guest. I'll give you the floor.

Who's first in your list? Okay. This is something we are thankful for. It is the exciting starts from that like next wave of NHL stars and I think it's big that it's more than just okay macklin celebrini popping off his rookie it's celebrini is amazing now in his second season baddard is his stride we're seeing shafer and demadoff but i think i think badart is the key to this whole like next wave because i think we group we group players against each other it's just like always

natural right it's crosbie versus ovechkin it's mac david and mckin and all of those players they're always going to be put together so now we actually have what feels like badard versus Celebrini a bit. And I think we knew Celebrini was on that path to start him and it feels like Bedard's getting there. I mean, you look at his game last night against McKinnon, right? And they played up against each other a lot of five-on-five. And the Blackhawks actually had the edge and shot attempts with 15 to 3. They had 79% of the

expected goal share. And while it was scoreless, you saw those more dangerous looks for the Blackhawks. And I think that is a huge stepping stone because the defense hasn't always been perfect, right? And his weapon, his shot, hasn't always been there. The speed's there. So I think we're all thankful for like this new wave of NHL stars. I think it makes the game so much more fun and exciting. Yeah,

I just had Emily Kaplan on and we spent some time right off the top talking about Boudard and the offseason regimen that he did this year and how he's stronger and faster and all the stats behind that. And you can certainly see it. I think, you know, early on he was scoring a bunch. Certainly the Blackhawks were winning games

but a lot of the stuff under the hood, the underlying metrics of 515 suggested that they still had a long ways to go and I think it's been getting better as the year goes along and that was a nice little feather in his cap on Sunday despite the loss especially in that first period

I thought he was creating so much and certainly looked apart in that matchup role so that's really exciting I mean the list is so long right I think because of points we're going to look at Celebrity and Bedard Leo Carlson

certainly Matthew Schaefer of course I also wanted to shout out you know when we talk about what Leo Carlson and Conrad are doing I think it's very easy to kind of leave Adam Fantilli out of the shuffle but he kind of quietly here has seven goals and 12 points

in 12 games in November, I believe, playing on that top line that he had success with last season after Monaghan got hurt. And he had an explosion the other day in Toronto against his hometown team. And it feels like whenever he plays the Leafs, he's one of the best players I've ever watched. So that's incredibly exciting. And it's cool to see him just flying around and being very productive as well. So yeah, I think that's a great way to start us. That's something I think we're all certainly thankful for. First on my list, the Colorado Avalanche. And I'm thankful just for how good they are because it gives us one team that's truly separating itself from the rest of the league and kind of differentiating itself from the mess that the standings in the NHL are at this point

otherwise everything is so condensed and it's causing a lot of issues I think because the trade market is so stagnant partly because teams just can't really accurately diagnose where they stand everyone is kind of in it for the most part 20 of the 32 teams as we record are stuck between 24 and 28 points right now, and the league uses it as a promotional tool as further proof of the parity that you get in the NHL and how it's so open and anyone can succeed. Another way to look at it for me, though, is that there's kind of this air of mediocrity as well. Part of it is because we've had so many injuries, but everyone is kind of jam-packed right now in the middle, and loser points are just being handed out in bunches on a nightly basis,

and then you have the Colorado Avalanche on this island by themselves. They're undeniably great. they're in a league of their own. It feels like they're not even really competing against anyone else right now. They're kind of competing against some all-time, like great historical starts just to see how high they can take this thing. And we're only 22 games in. I'm sure there's going to be a lull at some point in the season. But right now, I'm just enjoying it to see how long they can go with having just one

regulation loss of their name. I want to tack on to that. I had the Aves goaltending specifically listed because it feels so different from last year, right? Like they came into last year with a really unsteady goaltending crease. And I don't think they got enough credit for it. being able to turn over their entire goldening situation by December. Like to me, that's just absolutely wild. We really don't see you get done.

And there's so much turnover on the roster the whole year that I think that got overshadowed by all of the second half storylines, the return of Landisog and all of that more. But I think that, you know, Scott Wedgwood was someone I was a little lower on at the time of the trade because I was a little concerned about that last year in Dallas. But like he has been there rock this year. He's like 11 quality starts in 17 games. Blackwood now is three for four. and I just feel like it's an area that they need to be sound and I think that allows them to play with their strength.

I really like that for the abs. Yeah, it was interesting because over the weekend, just to expand on that, I thought they certainly didn't have their best efforts relative to the standards. They were on the road in a back-to-back. They went into Nashville. They went to Chicago the next day. And they still came out of it with four points in the back of shutouts from Blackwood and Wedgwood. And the first one, the Predators came out firing, getting a ton of scoring chances. and Blackwood was awesome and it was only his fourth game of the season but I think getting him

going is huge for them to kind of even out that split given Wedgwood's age and track record and it's just fun watching them like they can turn it on for a stretch like they did in that second period against the Blackhawks and it's more than enough for them to win on any given night and then we've seen them in games against the ducks or the oilers kind of where they view it as a measuring stick game bring their very best fastball so certainly thankful for the Abstar okay what's next on your list all right um Oilers, the Kings, the Cracken, the Sharks, they all need to be very thankful

for the loser point. The great Allison Lucan tracks, how many teams have gone to overtime, and the Oilers and Kings have both gone ten times. The Cracken and Sharks have been to overtime nine times. Vegas has seven overtime losses. The Crackin, the Blues, the Kings have six

so they're getting those loser points, the Oilers, the Avs, the Penguins have five. And it just feels like we talk about parody this year. We're seeing a rise in overtimes. We're seeing a rise in loser points being handed out and it's starting up these discussions again which like i personally love because i think we all have a lot of opinions on what works for overtime right should it go to the shootout should overtime be longer or should we have a three to one point system so there can be that more

like differentiation and i think it's going to be really interesting to see how the standings pan out this year because everything's so close and because the loser point is playing such an influencing factor and it does every year but i think this year with everything being as close as it is we're going to be paying a potential a little bit more unless you know the contenders start rising to the the top and the pretenders slip to the bottom. So I think those teams should be very happy that they have those because it's a big reason why I say the Cracken are in a playoff spot right now and the Kings are still holding on.

And it'll be really interesting to see how much or doesn't affect the playoff picture at the end of the day. Yeah, the Oilers are 25th right now in point percentage and there are only four points back of first in the Pacific, which the ducks currently hold as rough as it's been for them. I had a different one for the Oilers and we may as well get to it here. So they just finished this seven game road trip. They go home for a quick game, the only game on the NHL scheduled Tuesday night against the Stars, and then they make a trip to Seattle on Saturday.

But after that, they get to stay at home for an extended period of time with a five-game homestand. And I think they're going to be thankful for some time at home because they desperately need it. They've played 16 of their first 24 games on the road. They've only gone 5-8 and 3 there. They're 5-1 and 2 at home. And also they've played a league high 24 games so far, including 12 and 22 days to start November with three sets of back-to-backs.

and now they get seven games spread over like 20 plus days or so. And I've been talking a lot about some of their system stuff and the execution and how off it's been. And I think not only being at home, but having more time between games will allow them to do more video and more practice and actually get down to the root of it. And hopefully that will result in better production from them. And so I think this is a nice little opportunity for them to reset,

move back up to standings and be where we expected them to be heading into the season. Yeah, that is going to be. be really interesting to see. I feel like anytime the league starts off slow, and I think this season definitely did, you can always trust these Canadian teams to shake things up. So I'll play off of that right now. It's fun to see the chaos of the Oilers. It is fun to see the leaves melt down. But right now, I am so thankful for the Vancouver Canucks for just being themselves. You know, it felt like maybe this would be the year they turned things around after all of last year's drama and chaos and, you know, the excitement of the year before them making the playoffs. And even

the season prior to that, then everyone was jumping on J.T. Miller for his efforts and like six on five. It's like, there's always something to go with. And it felt like, okay, the Pedersen Miller situation is settled. Everyone can just focus, new coach. This is about getting back to the playoff picture. Nope, absolutely not. We're not even talking about the playoffs. We are talking about Quinn Hughes and whether he could be traded and who is playing well, who isn't? Guys like Evander Cain slipping to the fourth line or getting a ton of minutes for whatever reason. And it just feels like, and now we have the Demco situation. Again, another injury. there's always going to be discourse in Vancouver.

And I think their fan base is so passionate and amazing that they amp it up so much higher. So I'm glad this team is not boring. I'm glad we have something to talk about. And I'm glad that someone like Jim Rutherford loves to speak to the media because he just gives us material on a daily basis, like how rebuilds don't work, citing the Buffalo Sabres instead of the Blackhawks and sharks who are so excited about the ducks you're seeing these returns from finally. And you even see teams like the Canadians in Blue Jackets jumping into the playoff picture sooner than expected. So it's all just incredible. It's the best content. It will never get old.

Yeah, I'm glad there's some passion off the ice because on the ice right now in Vancouver, there's a distinct lack of it. And for all the talk about how little offensive juice they have and how much they struggle to create there, defensively, what's blown me away is just how bad they've been at that end of the ice. They're 32nd and goals against 31st and expected goals against 31st and inner slot shots allowed 31st in terms of how much all offensive zone time. they allow their 30 second on the PK. It has been absolutely dire. So I'm with you there.

Okay, let's stick with the Pacific then. Here's something I'm thankful for. And I think the Kings should be as well. Brand Clark's usage. So the first 17 games, he starts off the year playing 1439 per game at 5-1-5, which is fifth amongst Kings' Defensemen, 17-03, all situations. Last five games, 18, 19 per game at 5-on-5, which leads the team, 21-56, all situations, including a couple games around 23, 24.

minutes. And it's a shame that it required a Drew Dowdy injury for this to finally happen. But I think that usage and the partner switch going from Edmondson and Dumolin is going to bode well for them, especially in a long-term view. Because I just feel like they, you know, he's coming off this, he's coming off the ELC this summer. And I feel like they really need to get a long look at him in this expanded role. And then for the purposes of this year, there's 28th and goals, 29th and 5-1-5 goals. They generate nothing off the rush. And so getting someone who can create, move the puck, push the pace, and give him more minutes to do so, I want to see what that looks like

because the on-ice results right now, as you'd expect for guys like Cici and Dumolin, they're just such black holes offensively. They're averaging about 1.2 or 1.3 goals per hour at 5-on-5 with them on the ice. And so they need to mix that up. The defensive environment is still great. It's going to give them a high baseline

in terms of squeezing out points in the regular season, but they've got to figure this out offensively not only if they're going to get past the first round for the first time and forever, but just getting back to the playoffs because the West is jam-packed as we talked about it right now. Yeah, I think that it's huge that he's getting this chance because if you look on paper at this roster, you go, okay, what do the Kings need? And it's like, Brian Clark is that.

If you were going to design a player in a lab, it's like that is what they need right now. Like obviously, because they use a Camel McCar, who among us couldn't? But you know what I mean? Like if you're going, okay, an offensively minded defenseman, here you go. It would help if they also had Jordan Spenson, if they gave him a shot too, but that didn't happen. So it's like, okay, you need to, this season, I think is just so critical. for them and their offseason was so perplexing still that it's like if you can get that youth movement a little bit and bring in someone who has a totally different skill set from

everyone else on your blue line that's massive because this is a team that year after year after year needs more offense um all right i'm going to stay in the west i think the wild should be thankful for wallstead and how excellent he's been um if you look at his last four starts four straight quality starts uh he saved two point four goals against a goal saved what's expected over the flames and i get it not the best offensive team, finishing issues there, but then you go to the Ducks, a team that's been scoring a lot, really good shooters on that team. He saved 2.3 goals.

I'm sorry, 2.4 goals. Against the Keynes, he was just above average. And then against Winnipeg, he saved 3.5 goals above expected to shut them out. I think Gus has been really good this month, too. It's not just him. I think the goaltending is a big reason they've turned things around after a slower start. I think the goaltending plus, I think the return of Matsukarello has helped reset that forward depth chart a bit.

so they look a lot more solid than they did to start the year. They were really disappointing a five-on-five, and there's still things to work out. But when your goaltending is giving you quality saves, it gives you more leeway to work things out. And I think when your backup's playing better, too, we've seen it before we're teams. They might play a little bit differently in front of their backup, but then they don't have that same energy for their starting goalie. I think both goleys are saying, like, you fix what's going on in front of the blue paint, and we've got it from here.

And I think that's really encouraging. I think his development altogether is encouraging because it's a name that we've heard floated for some time. And I think people get really impatient with prospects. So here it is. You're seeing the results. Like his name might be in the mix for Team Sweden. I think that's an exciting development for him too. And it'll be interesting to see how they keep deploying these goalies moving forward because, you know, Gusifson has been their guy. I would say two out three years, he's been really good. But if you can keep them fresh for the playoffs too and just figure out something different or have that answer, right? It's not just like a vibey thing. Look, there's Mark Andre Fleury,

throw him into a playoff game. It's like, here's Walsstead and he could be the next great goalie in Minnesota, it's a good thing for them. Certainly, the Wall of St. Paul, great nickname as well. And I'm with you. I think he had five career games in the NHL heading into the season, and he's got five awesome starts in this month alone and gives them some backbone and structure, right? Because early in the year, similar to what we're seeing continue in St. Louis for those two central division teams, like their PK was horrible.

They were giving up so much defensively, losing a lot of net front battles. And they've stabilized that, Zucarillo coming back, allows them to play Boldie with Erick on the second line. and so everything makes a lot more sense. The Ducks. Forget about the results. A 14 and 7 and 1 start that has them first in the Pacific is obviously great. I'm just thankful for how fun they become,

especially when you compare it to how miserable a viewing experience tuning into Ducks games was last year. It was such a chore under Greg Cronin, and then now what an exhilarating throw ride. It's been so far. We talk a lot about how the league dynamic has changed where teams aren't really shooting the puck anymore. Are you seeing these shot totals in the low,

20s at the end of games. There are games provide us with everything we can ask for. 60 combined shots for and against per game, nearly seven combined goals for and against. They became the first team to put 30 plus shots on the Golden Knights over the weekend. And they've tightened up a little bit defensively, but I think they're still very comfortable getting into these situations where they're just trading chances off the rush back and forth,

betting on the fact that that shooting talent you mentioned and Lucas Doe-style is going to be better than what the other team has. And I think that makes a lot of sense. And we've seen that so far. and they have these flurries within games where it can kind of be slow and quiet, and then all of a sudden they shake loose, they just kind of tee off on the other team. The other teams visibly starts to panic because they realize it's getting away from them. They're losing control, and the ducks are just flying offensively.

And so I wanted to give them some love and just say how thankful I am for kind of bucking the norm in the league, being this high-volume team that's just so fun for 60 minutes, and I really enjoyed watching them play. Yeah, big fan of them so far. definitely interesting and it's you know i think the change of coaching is huge not just just for the fact that they got quite grown in out alone which is wild to me because when he took the job everything he said i was like i am so intrigued to see what he does i thought he was going to be like this rising star coach based on everything he was saying how he was going to communicate with players and it just all fell apart their style was so boring so now i think you're seeing these players

get freed up and obviously a lot of them there was that natural progression there right like we knew leo carlson was going to take the next steps and guys that go uh go to uh go to say like they more to bring to the lineup. But now to see it all come to fruition, and it's not just the goaltending against the world. I think it's huge. It feels like they took that next step after, those it three years ago. They were like this exciting offensive team.

The defense was terrible, but the offense was great, and that's all that mattered. It feels like it was like a delayed gratification here, but it's all working out for the best. While we're on to Ducks, an honorable mention, I was considering making it as my one for them.

Troy Terry must be so thankful for the situation around him improving because he's 28 now. he's been there for seven lean seasons. And these are the team's ranks in goals per 60 during his time of the ducks. Last 28th, last 24th the year, he scored 37 himself, 31, 30, 30. And now he's playing with all this speed and talent, absolutely thriving. He has 25 points and 22 games looks awesome. So I imagine he's thankful for this talent infusion and you playing style.

Okay. What's next on your list? You know what? Hold on Terry real quick. I think I love that you brought that up because he's someone I don't think gets enough love. and you know on a perfect team he's not your best forward i think that's always been the argument against him and it's like seems like such a knock and it's really not it's like you're this perfect complimentary top six winger every team needs guys like troy terry and he's been so good there

and has done a lot with nothing to have guys now jumping over him on the depth chart that he slots properly it's huge for him too i think it's going to allow him to play his best um all right speaking of guys who've done a lot with nothing the red wings need to be thankful for dylan larkin and i know like last year a lot of conversation about is he a true one see right And sometimes you get that knock of like, if you're not a master of one thing, right? Like for McKinn, it's that he's so dominant. For McDavid, it's the speed, the skill. Like they are offensive masters, right?

But for Larkin, he doesn't have that one special trait. But he really is a jack of all trades. And it's exactly what the Red Wings need. He is their MVP. That team runs through him. And it's on both ends of the ice. I mean, at even strength. He is playing incredibly tough minutes.

And I think he's doing a really good job during them. Offensively, you see him shine. and he's so smart. I think he's smart. He knows when to be physical, when to make the hit, when to go for the puck, how to change possession, how to transition his team up the ice. He's a great passer. He's a good shot. I think he's just someone who thinks the game at a really high speed and has, everyone talks about hockey IQ. Like to me, it's like, okay, that's still Larkin. The power play influence is great. The penalty kill, he has been huge for this year because some shifts, we saw it a lot last month and they're still doing it. They're just throwing him over the boards to take the face off on the penalty kill because they had no one else who could do it. So he's taking these short shifts. Sometimes he's just taking the draw. Sometimes he's helping them clear the puck and then getting off the ice. I think it's just, it's not a perfect way to use him because ideally you don't want to like burn him out or you want to have other guys that can be relied on. I think they're working on that. But just in general, like that is an MVP caliber guy to me that if the Red Wings make the playoffs or anywhere near that playoff picture, even if they're like one

point out, I want to see him get top five votes because he is just such a great all around player for them. And a lock for based on his play so far and it's only 20 games in. but for a Selke finalist bid as well, right? Because that usage is so important. We talked about on the Sunday show with Drance, where he's eating up a ton of defensive zone starts because he's so good on those draws. They're using him against the other team's top players,

which other top scores in the league don't typically have to do all the time, and he's still winning those minutes as handle as he is, completely driving their offense. And then all the shock creation, how exhilarating he is off the rush. I mean, he's been absolutely phenomenal. And I had that on my list as well. I think the Red Wing should be very thankful for him. leveling up, and I think he's going to play a huge role on Team EOSA at this year's Olympics

as well. Next on my list, the Islanders. I think they should be very thankful for Matthew Shea for coming in as an 18-year-old defenseman who doesn't even turn 19 until next September and just immediately fundamentally transforming their entire organization from the offense to how much better they are this year, to how cool and likable he is both on and off the ice. I'm just so immensely impressed by him. I did a breakdown of his game with with our pal Harmon dial on Friday for the Patreon subscribers, but he just so in complete control at all times, the way he leads the rush,

distributes it kind of like a point guard in basketball, just making sure everyone gets their touches and feels comfortable and engaged, making sure he gets his shots on net from the point. He played this back-to-back this weekend, where in the first game he plays 27-28 against the Blues, and then the following day plays 27-22 again against the Cracken, and they dominate with him on the ice of 5-on-5 shots on goal. 19 to 6 in that game. They used him and Ryan Poulog primarily against Baneers,

Eberley and Marchman. We've been talking a lot about how they've really ramped up his usage from a matchup perspective playing against the other team's best players. And he's thriving in that spot now, getting much more comfortable with it with each passing game. And so I think it's just incredible. Put it all together, especially with the usage where he's played 25 plus minutes in eight of his 23 games. They got to be thankful for it. And I'm thankful for him coming in and just being such an immediate star right away. Yep. So this was next on my list too because like you said he's just a star and it's it goes two ways one you just see how dynamic he is right off the bat which is really impressive it's impressive for any rookie

defenseman because coaches don't always trust them it's also impressive for someone with the first overall pick tag which i think adds so much pressure to the situation and you know we've had slower starters in years past with first overall picks it could be a jack hues and nico heeshire or rasmus dolly like we've seen it happen before it happens all the time right everyone expects you to be connor macdavid day one you might not be he has come in he has been just electric the attitude, the energy, the vibes, everything. Anytime he has an interview, it's like a must listen. That is a rising star in the game, absolutely.

And it also shows just what the Islanders were missing, right? Like that back end, yes, No Dobson was a really good defenseman for them. I know last year was bad, and I know he made a lot of bad defensive reads. But like, at the end of the day, I still have him as someone who's very good with the high ceiling. But it still doesn't compare to this, right? Like, do I think they'd be better at both of them? Absolutely. But I think right now you look at him against the rest of the blue line.

you go, okay, it gives the team hope which they haven't had to have have in a while, right? Like, you might have had hope if you're an Islander fan that they're going to go into the playoffs and make some noise. Sorokin would be the guy. Barzalca pop off, things like that. And there's other things to be happy about this year. That Sorokin looks so good. And Bo Horvette also looks great.

But I think now it's just, you see the vision. You see the long-term game. And Darche deserves a lot of credit for ripping off the Band-Aid and giving this team the retool they needed. So absolutely agreed on that one. I've got the lightning as being thankful for the existence of the Syracuse crunch and the HL as a pipeline for call-ups because they've supplied them with enough players to

ice a full lineup every night so far this season with headman McDonough and Chernac all banged up they've been leaning on Charles Edward Dastu who started there this season and he's kind of salvaged Emil Iliberg on that pair Darren Radish who previously had reps there Declan Carlisle most recently then on the forward group Dominic James has been a revelation since coming up Gageman's always playing their Obviously, Jack Finley as well. I think they all got huge reps developing down there and lightning. I've been doing this in the H.L.

For a while. And despite all those injuries, they're 12-7 and 2. They're ninth in the league in points percentage. They're tied with the Sends for first in the Atlantic. They're top 10 again, expected goals for and expected goals against. And they're doing this even with the healthy guys. Braden Point kind of quietly has only three goals on 11 points in 21 games. He's been consistently a 20 plus percent shooting percentage efficiency beast over the past three years.

any sub 7% this year. And so he hasn't even really gotten going yet offensively in scoring. And yet they're still churning out these results. And when they get healthy, I think they're going to be kind of right back to where we expected them at the start of the season. And they wouldn't be able to do it without Syracuse crunch. Yeah, that lineup has been something this year. I'm going to stick with the Atlantic.

I think the whole Atlantic division should be very thankful for the Panthers struggling at times this year and the Leafs, leafing it up right now. You know, like the Panthers, I think the results, the standings, it obviously is a little bit concerning. The goaltending hasn't been perfect. They're not finishing their chances. And I think as we've seen them get a little bit better offensively, the defensive structure that we know them to have hasn't been great. I think they'll be fine in the long run there. The Florida Panthers will figure it out.

It's going to be a different challenge. And getting Kachak is going to help the Leafs. They got to figure out their own messes. There's quite a few of them there. But at the end of the day, it's opening up things in the East because I think going into the year, it was a little bit more open in the metro outside of say the canes like we all knew they'd be there but it was going to be interesting to see how that all shook out but with the Atlantic it felt like okay it's going to be Tampa it's going to be Florida it's going to be Toronto you're going to be

if you're Montreal or someone or Detroit or Ottawa you're looking for another wildcard seed similar to last year because even with the injuries I think if I remember it we did the season previews the Panthers were projected to be third in the Atlantic so now we're seeing teams like the Red Wings jump up to the top three who is would have seen that one coming and you know the senators are there the lightning are able to be so highly ranked right now despite some ups and downs this year and it's made room for teams like the bruin's and it obviously it's not just the panthers and leaves alone like you have the canadians in their goaltending struggles but i think it just opens things up in the east a little bit more

and it's like if you're someone that likes the idea of okay everyone's you know there's a lot of parity that's great if you're someone that says well everyone's just really mid okay maybe it'll make that playoff race a little bit more interesting after things have been pretty locked up outside of a seat or two for the last couple seasons. So they should be very happy and it gives them that leeway. You know, you can't lose a playoff spot in November, but you can dig yourself

a really tough hole that you have to find your way out of. Now those teams have to. So if the teams that are rising to the top can kind of find a way to separate themselves, it'll make things even more interesting. Yeah, I'm with you. I thought, you know, obviously they haven't had Barkoff and Kachuk all season, but then the loose terrain and barbecue related

injury really kind of put it over the top for me and that was just such a massive loss. So hopefully he can come back soon. It sounds like a Chuck will be back in about a month or so. And so they've still been kind of hanging around, which I think is impressive. I mean, even in the most recent game on Saturday, the Stanley Cup final rematch against Doylers, Aaron Eckblad was a late, healthy scratch right before the game. And so they're kind of just trying to piece it together similar to their Florida rival. All right, Shane, let's take our break here. And then when we come back, we will finish up the things we and the NHL teams around the league are thankful for this time

of year. You're listening to the Hockey Ocas streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network. All right, we're back here on the Hockey-Ocast, joined by Shana Goldman. We're doing our list of what we're thankful for this season. We were talking about the Atlantic before, and one team he didn't mention there is the Buffalo Sabres. And I think something myself, the Sabres and their fans, based on what I read online, are certainly thankful for Josh Stone and what a revelation. He's been through all the ups and downs of Buffalo this year, the injuries, the start. out, the losing streak, everything going on that he expect from the Sabres. He's been their one constant really so far, 15 points in 22 games. He's about 60th in the league and 515 points

for 60. So he's producing like a top line player at even strength. And his impact just extends well beyond that as well. Like when you watch him play, the motor, the engine, the competitiveness completely pops off the screen. He's almost become an instant fixer for them as well because Tage Thompson was struggling for a while. His 515 metrics were down. And then they put him with him and plague talk on that line and all of a sudden that gets elevated as well pretty much it's going to be hard not to succeed when josh don't's out there with you because he's just winning battles making smart plays constantly making good things happen for you and so he's such a dog i feel like him and zach benson represent everything the saber should aspire to be moving forward as well

because sometimes i've questioned the effort and kind of the body language in terms of a lot of the guys who've been there for a while looking like it's taken its toll in terms of where the sabers constantly find themselves in year over year and these guys are completely oblivious to it in all the best ways all they just want to do is go out there and ball and they're really good and so regardless of what happens with Tuck where they finish in the

standings this year and if they extend that playoff drought I feel like getting those two guys signed up long term on eight year deals coming off their ELCs is the most important thing they can come out of this year for Buffalo yeah he's been so much fun and like players like him and Benson you think of like the Jarvis's and Hegel's

of the world right like those are the kinds of players that They're nightmares to play against. They're good in all situations. You can throw them out against top competition. Like, that's the model right there. And it's exactly what the Sabers need. I want to stay in Buffalo. I think that they should be so thankful for Rasmus Dahlene.

We saw what this team look like without him when he was away from the team. And they seriously struggled, right? You know, like they lost the hurricanes, the mammoth, the abs. And while they did somehow beat the Red Wings in just a complete surprising game, like that, that was his first game back. And his game score, that game, he had a 2.7 game score is, you know, great player on the ice for them. And I think it was a big reason they were able to turn things around. You look at every game that he's had since.

And he's putting up some of his best numbers. That game against the Oilers, he had a 3.08 game score against the Blackhawks. It was 4.37, and that was with just two points on the board, and he's still putting up numbers like that. He doesn't always get the same credit as, you know, the McCars and Hughes of the world. And rightfully so right, like they are a tier above the rest. But when we did player tiers this year, we talked to a lot of, to a lot of, of people about Dahlene and Hayskin. And everyone was like, they are right there leading off tier two. Like, these are all around threats, even if the scoring doesn't match up to the other guys.

They just bring it. And I think you just see that difference. Anytime he's not in the lineup, it just feels like the Sabres are kind of lost. Like, he's a stabilizing force on both ends of the ice. He's someone that could be a Norris trophy candidate one day. I could see him being a heart trophy candidate one day. And I think he's been playing some of his best hockey the last couple seasons. So they should be very happy he's back because you can just see a difference every single game and sure the competition hasn't been as deep they're playing teams like the black um the black hawks and the flames and a struggling oilers team over the last stretch but the red wings have been playing pretty well and i think the game against the canes too sure they're short-handed but i think

it's a big one for the sabers as well yeah and i also add to that like i certainly in the offseason there was a lot of rhetoric about bow and byram wanted to be viewed and paid and used as a top defenseman and then you remove a guy like rasmer stalling from the lineup you give bow and byram that spot and then you see what the results look like and it's just like there's levels to this certainly and what byram was able or what byron was able to do versus what dahlene does and how good he is and what a difference maker is at both ends i think that's certainly a good one all right the carolina hurricanes i don't think we've really mentioned them yet i covered on the sunday show but i wanted to expand on here i think if you're them right now you've got to be thankful for the state

of the east and just looking around and what an advantageous position you're in now you mentioned the panthers there earlier and the lightnings uh being banged up as well and those two teams, when they get healthy, maybe that'll change the dynamic. But for the time being, unlike the West, where you've got some real heavy hitters and three or four teams that are going to be a nightmare to play in the playoffs, the path for them right now through the East has opened all the way up. I think the odds have them about 22 percent to be the Eastern Conference representative in the Stanley Cup final.

And I feel like that's low, given their current position. They're sitting atop the East and the Metro, despite the fact they've had Jacob Slavin for just like game and a half or so, Keandre Miller missed some time, Shane Gossesparer missed extended time as well. They've used a ton of defensemen, and they just keep kind of humming along. And now they're going home for this seven-game homestand against some of the weaker teams in the league and a chance to really beef up their point total. And so I feel like they should be thankful.

They're obviously a great team, and I think they're the best team in the East. But with everything else kind of deteriorating around them and a lot of that mediocrity we talked about, they're the ones that have been immune to it for the most part. And so just comparing it to what the best teams in the West are going to have to go through, I feel like that's what they should be thankful for. Yep, totally agreed on that. All right, let's go totally different direction to a team we know that's going to be bad in the West. The Sharks, in the month of November, their short-handed goaltending has been really, really, really good.

Their team that does take a lot of penalties, and that kind of is a consequence of one being a young team, too, when you don't have the puck, you're the one that's going to take penalties in your way to get back to it. But the season as a whole, they're short-handed goaltending. You know, they've allowed 6.4 goals against per 60. But just in the month of November, it's 1.62 goals against per 60, which is one of the best in the league. In 74 minutes, it's two goals against that they've allowed. They've scored one shorthanded goal for. And their expected goals against over that span of time is 9.4 per 60, just in the month of November. So it just shows that huge gap between goaltending and the team in front of them.

So I think that's really encouraging because when you're a bad team, I think it's very easy to fall out of games if you are just constantly getting beat on the power. play or you know you're falling behind you can't stay in it for 60 minutes i think their goaltending has been massive can make a lot of saves behind a poor defense that's huge for them and it just feels like it's allowing them to stay in things and make things inciting and teaching these young players at such an early phase in their career like how to stay in a game for 60 minutes and how to stay competitive i think that's huge for them yeah you mentioned wallstead earlier and his stats askarovs are right up there as well he's played eight games in november as a 960 percentage given up just 12 goals in that

time had another phenomenal performance on Sunday against the Bruins giving up just one goal, making some crazy high degree of difficulty, athletic lateral saves. And he's kind of living up to the hype and all the potential and all the excitement that we saw in flashes and past seasons kind of sprinkles here or there. And so I think the fact that they're not only competitive, but they've won seven of those eight games, I think is huge for the morale and for making the most out of some of their young forwards. And so I think that's a great one. what teams haven't we done yet? I feel like we've covered most of it.

Actually, we haven't done the Preds. And there's not that much to be thankful for the 30 second in the league and the standings. I'm going to piggyback off with something I've been talking about recently. I think they should be thankful for what's happening in the league around them because you look at the summer they had two summers ago when they signed all those veterans, those long-term deals. And right out of the gate, they were all struggling. It looked like because of our expectations of how the NHO worked and

functioned in past seasons. They were going to be stuck with that and going to be an absolute cap hell for years. And now the cap's going up. A lot of these teams are in the mix, in the standings because of how condensed everything is. And there's very few willing sellers right now. And we've seen how some of these deals that we thought previously you'd have to acquire, attach picks to get rid of them. All of a sudden now they're being valued and everyone just wants players because they have cap space and there's not enough guys to go around. And so we'll see if they do anything, I don't think anything that Barry Trotz has done the past couple of years should inspire a lot of faith that they're thinking about this logically. But if common sense does prevail,

and I imagine they're going to have some bidders, certainly for O'Reilly, but potentially for some of the other veterans they have signed as well, maybe they can get out of this a little bit with some shrewd moves to not only clear the cap, but also acquire more assets as they as they continue to accumulate those and try to rebuild and get back to where they were a couple years ago. Yeah, I would say Andrew Burnett should be very thankful for the fact. that Trots is a former coach and maybe has soft spots for coaches and doesn't want to pin all their problems on that right there. All right, we haven't talked about Vegas much.

So I'm going to say they should be so thankful for Shea Theodore for being so good. They went into this year and obviously we've known Shea Theodore is great on both ends at the ice. But for the last years, it's been Petrangelo and Theodore, right? They're both shouldering matchup minutes. Or for a time, it was just Patrangelo handling that heavy workload. But you go through the league right now on hockey stack cards. And you go through defensive ratings, and Theodore is leading with a plus 5.9 right now.

McNabb's right behind him with a plus 5.1. And the two of them are playing the toughest minutes for the Golden Knights. And yes, they have the support of the forward group, right? You have guys like William Carlson when he's healthy and Mark Stone when he's healthy, but also Mitch Marner and Jack Eichael are two excellent, excellent, excellent defensive forwards. And I think the team structure and their system works too. But at the end of the day, you need players to uphold the system and allow it to be that way. and I think Theodore and McNabb have just been, they're so good together.

I think McNabb, we've always known as a good defensive defenseman, and he's not someone that sometimes I think coaches, especially with younger players and offensive players, we'll see them like staple a defensive guy to an offensive guy because they think they have these gaps in their games. I think that he keeps up and compliments Theodore well. They've been a pair for so long. And Theodore's just a great all-around threat. So even though his role's been different this year, I think they're really holding down

the fort and just been great on that top pair. Yeah, Theodore's usage in particular, I was talking about this earlier because of their depth and how many guys they had in the blue line in the past. He was obviously so efficient in his minutes, but he never really had to play to a level where we generally would expect his talent level to be at and top defense in the league. He'd be around 20, 21, 22 minutes a night. And all of a sudden now he's playing a career high and he's thriving in that spot. And so it's awesome to see. And hopefully he can he can stay healthy because he's a phenomenal player. The Flyers should be thankful for Trevor Zegris coming in and rejuvenating his career and looking as awesome as he has

offensively. He leads a team with 21 points and 20 games. He's getting a ton of usage under Rick Talk. I think he's playing like 18 and a half or so minutes. They're winning his five on five assignments. And it's kind of crazy to think about because we just talked about the ducks and how fun they've been offensively and what a difference it was from the past. And probably their most exciting offensive player from that previous era is gone. And yet they've still managed to do what they have. And then Zegris himself has turned around in Philly in an environment. It's obviously less conducive to offensive to success, but has been carrying them.

And I think he certainly looked apart. I was watching that game on Saturday against the Devils, and both him and the team looked phenomenal off the rush. And I know it's been a bit of a struggle in terms of creating shots and chances this season, but Rick Tocket has them playing very competitive good hockey, and they're one of those teams in the mix right now in the Metro and the East in general.

All right, staying with the East, team we haven't hit a lot on. Let's go with the Bruins. They should be so thankful for Morgan Geehee because, I mean, he just won't stop scoring goals. And he was someone that looked like a regression candidate last year from just the shooting percentage alone. But then you also factor in the fact that he played a lot of Poshnach. They made a really good dynamic duo. He was going to be put in favorable minutes this year. And that has obviously happened. I think Poshnock has been amazing. I think Swamen has been.

I think McAvoy looked great before his injury too. So you're getting those core players, which I think we all knew were going to be good, right? Like even if they had down years, like their lower levels are still pretty good. And Swamen bouncing back. And McAvoy looking strong to start the year, it's really encouraging because those are the players you're building around. but you also need supporting players and I think Boston's had a tough time finding good guys like Zadoroff in his first year he struggled he looks better this year but

you know in general like the Elizeland home contract hasn't been perfect so to have some like he which is exactly with any any guys who can score goals I think he's been a revelation for them for the last two years and if they're going to turn this thing around quickly which it does feel like they're doing otherwise we'd be talking about McAvoy and Swamen and players not being here in the long run like if they're going to go like Washington Capitals mode

and try to turn this thing this around and reload for next year and be good. He's someone they should want to keep around because I think he's a versatile enough forward and I think he just plays so well with Paschranock and your lineup's not too heavy then. It's not like you're going, okay, you need an otherworldly one C or winger to compliment

him. If you want to have lineup balance, sometimes it helps to have that one two punch like you do in Florida would say Barkoff and Kachuk generally split, you know, across two lines. I think he's going to allow for that if they can identify the right forwards to play around them. Certainly. I mean, him having 17 goals is here being tied for the league lead with McKinnon,

as outrageous part of that is getting to share the ice with Pasternak and I think his role as a playmaker and facilitator over the years has been very impressive but geeky himself I mean the shot is legit and some of his work around the net and how he makes himself available for those looks from Pasternak deserves a lot of credit as well and so he's been awesome this season the Winnipeg Jets don't really have that much to be thankful for right now just because of how many injuries they've gone through now Connor Hullabuck being the most recent one but I'm going to give them being thankful for Dylan Sandberg coming back who missed the the start of the season. He's played five games now. They're getting outscored with him in the

ice 5-1-5, but his underlying metrics have taken another jump from last year. He's 57% shots, 60% expected goals, 63% high-danger chances. His partner, Neil Piong, got hurt just a couple minutes in in their most recent game on Sunday. He was bouncing around between playing with Dylan DeMello, playing with Colin Miller. He's such a stabilizer for them. And now, especially without Hellebuck available for the next couple weeks and potentially month plus, they're going to need it because even while they were churning out results with Lowry, and Perfetti and him out early in the year. Their 5.15 metrics were completely in the tank.

And so just having the puck more often, being in better positions, insulating the goal tending a little bit is going to be huge. And he's probably, I mean, almost certainly their best pathway towards accomplishing that. All right. We hit on the Blackhawks a little bit, but circling back to them, Spencer Knight has been incredible for them. He saved 20.75 goals above expected to leave the league. And yes, he has a tougher workload, so his numbers are going to look more favorable.

But he's responding to his workload better than anyone. And he did last year after he was traded to the Blackhawks. And I think has proven that the guy we all thought he could become he is. And I think it took him a little bit longer to get there. When he came back to the Panthers, it was a little bit tough for him. And I think he struggled in the HL. But you saw him get it together last year at the NHL level. And that was really encouraging.

But then you didn't know how that was going to translate from going from one of the best defensive teams to one of the worst. But he has been the guy, the steady guy. And I think he's just carrying that into this year. It's giving them a chance to win on most nights when they probably should have. and it's similar to what we were talking about with the sharks. If you can have a goal 10 that's going to keep you in for 60 minutes, that's great seasoning for these players. And I think it's helping them stick around and win games.

Maybe you wouldn't expect them to like the game against the Leafs, where, you know, it's these late goals because you're getting the quality goaltending. You're getting a chance to win. And I think that's allowing, you know, guys to find their footing in these shutdown roles or for offensive players, they're bringing the goal support. So it's just figuring out everything in between. I think you're finally seeing those signs of progress. And it's a big reason why.

Like it changes the vibe. the energy, and that is what they needed more than anything. Yeah, similar to what we said about Ascaro, for some of these young teams that obviously aren't going to have the puck a lot, when you give up the backbreaking goals, especially, it can just be so deflating and totally take the energy out of the situation. So having that is huge as a backbone. The Pittsburgh Penguins, and I know you wrote recently about coaching changes, and we're always fascinated to see what first time NHL head coaches are going to look like.

And I've been giving Dan Hughes a lot of credit because you certainly look at this personnel group and then subtracting guys like Brezzo, who was playing so well for them at the start of the year, Raquel as well, there's not that much to work with relatively. I know they had a bit of a disappointing weekend where they lost both games at home, scored just two points, two goals combined against the Cracken and the Minnesota Wild. But for the season, they're still top 10 and expected goals generated, slot shots, inner slot shots, offensive zone possession. There's so much thought applied to their usage, the deployment, the way they play and move the park to compensate for some of that lack of team speed and we'll see what it ultimately nets out to.

But I think the first 20 plus games of Dan Mues and HL coach have been very impressive given what he's working with, their top five in both special teams as well. And so I think they should be thankful for that because we've heard the players talk about, you know, what a drag last year was in particular, how the relationship with Mike Sullivan and kind of eroded and so just bringing in a new voice and kind of bringing new life to that organization, I think has been huge. and then you've got Ben Kindle stepping in, some of the veterans playing much better

and looking more rejuvenated. And so I feel like that's exciting. And Dan Muses, there's a lot of credit for all of that. Yeah, definitely. One of the most interesting coaching hires. And I wonder if we see him Excel, if it'll, you know, what other teams are going to take from this? And I think Excel has to be used relative to expectations this year.

It's not just about the good starts, what they do all year, that if you see the vision, things coming along, the future looking bright, if it'll kind of get other teams to go, you know, maybe we should go outside the box because I felt like when he got hired, you heard so much about like, does he have that same vibe and energy that everybody needs as a head coach and because he's kind of

nerdy and it's like, yeah, look, look what he's doing. So love that. Staying in the Metro, we haven't talked a ton about the devils. I don't think Nemish has been perfect, but I think his development and growth over this season, just the course of these last two months, I think it's something to be

pretty thankful for. I mean, he went six straight games, I think. without being on the ice for a five and five a goal against and that obviously ended in their last game he was on the ice for two against the flyers but and the defensive numbers haven't been perfect but i think that's just like a confidence boost thing like yes you can get complacent if you're not on the ice for goals against and think you're doing everything great and it doesn't matter but the process does matter i think he's been playing a bigger role he's been better offensively and i think his growth is pretty big for this blue line because i don't think we know

what the future holds for guys like dougie hamilton obviously now there are some really key injuries And I feel like when Pesci got hurt, everything started to, I don't want to say fall apart, but just start breaking down a little bit more. And I think he's here, after a really good start, has struggled a little bit more, too, over this last stretch of play. Now, obviously, they're without Jack Hughes. But if you can have other guys stepping up and they have a bit, it's going to help them keep things afloat.

And his progress is one of them because he was a top pick for them. And I think he's had a lot of ups and downs over the last couple seasons. And, you know, when he was finally getting looks at the NHL level, he wasn't doing enough to earn his minutes a nice time. It's not like this is someone that you're like, wow, he's really good. He's just not trusted. It's like, wow, is he NHL caliber really because he looks better than the HL, but he doesn't look ready here. So I think just his opportunity has been big this year, but I think overall you're starting to see him get it together and hopefully you know, he can turn them into something more sustainable. Yeah, absolutely. Those games

where he was playing 25, 26 minutes, how much he's creating offensively as well. And similar to what we said about Brand Clark, another guy who's entering the final year of his ELC, they've got some decisions to make. And so getting these viewings and getting these reps from him, I think, is massive for both the individual and the team moving forward. And so it's awesome to see him bounce back because he had that stretch where they went out west on the road trip and he was making some mistakes and struggling and getting buried a little bit. And then he really bounced back from that. And I think that resiliency is huge. The last team that I had on my list of Washington Capitals, I wanted to give them being thankful for their pro scouting staff because they did it

once again with Justin sort of. I know it's only been a couple games, but PLD goes out. He's going to be out for an extended period of time. They plug him in at second line center playing between Alexi Proto's and Tom Wilson and that line has been phenomenal for them. He certainly looks the part surprisingly as a center because I wasn't really envisioning that for him. They kind of put themselves out there with that trade in the off season because they traded a couple assets for a guy who was very unproven and they're getting the most out of them the way they have with pretty much everyone. They've acquired the past couple years and so I think that's impressive and they should be thankful that they've got this organizational foundation, I guess,

and ability to do so time and time again with a lot of guys like this. All right. Last one on my list, I'm going to go with the Dallas Stars. They should be thankful for Jason Robertson. He has been excellent this year. And I think they've needed more offensively at times. They lost last year because their five-on-five offense just wasn't there. It's bit them before in the playoffs.

And I think to start the year, it was a little bit shaky too. But I think he's been really good. And I think he's going to make life a little bit easier for them one way or another because his contract situation is going to be talked about a lot a lot this is a team with some really big contracts on the books you have to navigate around that they have to decide if they want him or if they feel like that cap should be dedicated to working on the roster elsewhere especially now that he's not the number one winger on the team but at the end of the day if he's playing well it's good for two reasons they can either trade his right somewhere else or it makes the

decision that much simpler of saying okay now you know to extend him and you know i'm curious how much of it does come down to what he can do in the playoffs because that has come under fire before. I thought he was good last year against Edmonton. It just didn't always show on the score sheet, but he was like that one pop that they had off the rush because they're offense stride up so much. So I think it's a good thing for everyone in Dallas that he's playing this well to start the season. We'll see how that works out.

Like Olympics-wise, but at the end of the day, like the stars need him to be one of the guys because that's their whole strength, right? It's that they are one of the best forward groups in the league. So they're going to need him to be consistently excellent. So I'm really excited to watch the situation unfold. Maybe it's because free agency is so boring, and I think that'll spice up the situation even more. If more teams are like, hey, we need a winger and we can't get one any other way, other than the trade market, if that adds anything to the situation or not. But I just think him playing, it's good for everyone.

Yeah, he's been going nuclear offensively carrying them. He looks healthy. He's moving so much better than he was last year when he came back from that foot surgery. And even in their most recent game, I know they wind up losing in the shootouts at a flames, but they were down to nothing. And he just kind of willed them to that point, at least for scoring the goal off the rush. and then making the play to set up the power play goal that tied it late. And so he's been phenomenal. And especially with some of the injuries they've had up front,

I feel like he's compensating for that greatly. All right, Shana, that was fun. That was a nice little exercise, ran through the league. I thank God everyone into the Thanksgiving spirit and celebrated some of the stuff where we've enjoyed so far this season. What do you want to promote in the way out? What are you been cooking up at the athletic recently? I'm going to have something about the teams in and out of the playoff picture at Thanksgiving.

and I have a vibe check coming the following week about what we've learned in the month of November. All right, good stuff. Well, I'm glad we finally got to do this for the first time this season. Looking forward to having you on soon. Again, if you want to help us out, subscribe to the PDOCAS Patreon

for access to extra shows every week. Join the Discord. Give us a five-star review. And that's all for today. Plenty of content here recently. We had Emily Kaplan on. We did a Sunday special at Drens. Now this show with Shayna,

we got another show coming on Wednesday before we did a couple days off. Thank you for listening to the HockeyOcast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network. work.