I'd say David Pastrnak has been hot lately, but that would be underselling it. Pastrnak has been cooking since the puck dropped on opening night. He is on pace for 58 goals, 62 assists, and 120 points, which would all be career highs. Pastrnak has been an elite player in this league for a handful of years now, but he is climbing into some rare air this season.
2Coming into the season, I was very uncertain about whether Vitek Vanacek would be the solution to the Devils' goaltending woes. Through his first 16 appearances in a Devils jersey, Vanacek has made me eat my words. He isn't necessarily in contention for the Vezina Trophy, but Vanacek has been well above average for New Jersey.
3Matt Murray just put on one of the most ridiculous goaltending performances you'll ever see. In Tuesday night's shutout win over the Stars, Murray saved a whopping 6.14 goals above average. The Maple Leafs gave the Stars seven power plays, including a five-on-three, but Murray stood tall through each one of them.
4In the past week, Steven Stamkos has recorded his 1,000th career point, and Corey Perry has played in his 1,200th game. That speaks to the longevity of both players, but especially Stamkos, who has overcome multiple significant injuries throughout his career. The Bolts may be among the oldest teams in the NHL, but they continue to defy Father Time and look like a Cup contender again.
5Bruce Cassidy just took the Golden Knights into TD Garden and ended the Bruins' 14-game home winning streak on Monday night. That had to feel good for him, and it was clear the players wanted to help him get a little revenge on his former team. Vegas has now won three of its last four, and it has some breathing room atop the Pacific Division.
6As it turns out, 37-year-old Brent Burns still has a lot of good hockey left in him. Going from the Sharks to the Hurricanes probably doesn't hurt, but Burns has been tremendous with his new team. Burns is fourth on the team with 19 points, and Carolina is dominating play whenever Burns is on the ice.
7It's easy to knock the Jets for some troubling possession numbers forcing Connor Hellebuyck to carry the team, but the bottom line is that the goaltender is part of the the team. Regardless of what Winnipeg's process looks like this season, Hellebuyck has proven he can carry a team, and the Jets just keep rattling off wins.
8Kris Letang suffered the second stroke of his career last week, and fortunately it doesn't seem like there will be any kind of lasting effects, and he will be back on the ice at some point this season. Until then, the Penguins need someone to step up and fill the major void left by Letang on Pittsburgh's blue line.
9At this point, Matty Beniers looks like the clear favorite to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's best rookie. Beniers has 10 goals and 11 assists in 25 games, which puts him on pace for around 34 tallies and 72 points. The emergence of Beniers has been one of the major reasons why the Kraken have been one of the top offensive teams in the league this season.
10Jason Robertson's bid for the Rocket Richard Trophy is very real. Robertson has 12 goals in his last nine games, and he now leads the NHL in goals with 23. Robertson has quickly become one of the best pure goal-scorers in the entire league, and he has the ability to find the back of the net in multiple ways. Robertson is perfectly comfortable to sit in the low slot and operate in a phone booth, but he can also beat a goalie with a perfect shot from distance.
11The Avs have suffered back-to-back losses to the Bruins and Flyers, and Nathan MacKinnon exited that loss to Philadelphia with an injury. Colorado has had some poor injury luck this season, but losing MacKinnon for around a month will be devastating, as if that wasn't obvious enough.
12The Wild have found some offense lately with players at the top of the lineup catching fire. In particular, Kirill Kaprizov has been shredding opponents over the last couple of weeks. Kaprizov is riding a 12-game point streak, but he has been even better lately. Kaprizov has lit the lamp in six straight games, and he has 12 total points in that time.
13The goaltending duo of Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov is keeping this Islanders team afloat despite some discouraging underlying numbers. Those two have combined for a team save percentage of 93.14%, which ranks sixth in the NHL. They have also combined to save more than 17 goals above average, per Natural Stat Trick.
14Jacob Markstrom "just sucks at hockey right now". Those aren't my words. That was Markstrom's assessment of his own play after a 2-1 loss to the Canadiens last week. Dan Vladar has now gotten back-to-back starts in net for Calgary as Markstrom tries to reset and find his game. We'll see how long Darryl Sutter chooses to ride with Vladar.
15In the offseason, the Red Wings paid Ben Chiarot to be a top-four defenseman, and they have played him in that role. So far, the results have been rather underwhelming. Chiarot has been on the ice for over 405 minutes at five-on-five, and Detroit owns a minus-12 goal differential in that stretch.
16Roman Josi got off to a slower start than normal, but he has returned to his elite form recently. Josi has 13 points in his last 10 games, and that is good news for the Predators. Unlike most defensemen, Josi is the engine that drives Nashville's offense, so the team typically goes as he goes.
17The Oilers really need some help on defense. Evan Bouchard, the team's best defenseman to this point in the season, was recently benched for mystifying reasons. Outside of Bouchard, every other defenseman that has suited up for the Oilers has been below break-even in terms of expected goals share at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.
18In a surprising move last week, the Kings waived goaltender Cal Petersen. It probably shouldn't have been terribly shocking given his performance this year. Petersen has allowed 9.49 goals above average in 10 appearances, but to be fair, Jonathan Quick hasn't been much better either. Los Angeles has to find reliable goaltending from someone or risk missing the playoffs entirely.
19The Rangers are one of the NHL's biggest enigmas these days. Despite solid underlying numbers, the Rangers find themselves outside a playoff spot at this point in the season. A contributing factor to those struggles is that the Rangers are underperforming their expected goals numbers. The blueshirts have generated 93.82 expected goals, but they've only scored 82.
20Defenseman Josh Mahura has played a third-pairing role for much of the season, but the Panthers might want to give him more opportunity. Mahura has played just over 348 minutes at five-on-five, and the Panthers have outscored opponents 22-8 in that time, per Natural Stat Trick. Mahura's plus-14 five-on-five goal differential leads the team.
21The Blues have gone back to being ice cold, going 2-6-0 in their last eight, but luckily there might be a multi-faceted solution. If St. Louis allows Jordan Binnington to become a skater for a few games, he could play in a more traditional enforcer role. That would allow him to take out his aggression legally while also giving the Blues' forward group some sandpaper.
22On Saturday, it was initially reported that Brock Boeser would be a healthy scratch against the Coyotes. However, he wound up slotting into the lineup and scored the game-tying goal in a 3-2 win. That made for a great story at the time, but it might be fair to wonder about Boeser's long-term future in Vancouver.
23With so many injuries piling up in D.C., it can be easy to be pessimistic. Instead, let's highlight a surprising bright spot for the Capitals this season. 21-year-old Aliaksei Protas has more than held his own in a fourth-line role. He hasn't gotten on the scoresheet much, Washington controls possession with him on the ice. In fact, it may not be a bad idea to see what he does with more playing time.
24Alex DeBrincat is pacing well below the 41 goals he scored last season, but he seems poised to break through at some point. DeBrincat has scored on just two of his 60 shots at five-on-five, which comes out to a shooting percentage of 3.33%. DeBrincat's overall shooting percentage of 6.8% is less than half of his career average (14.8%). He should have some positive regression coming his way.
25Owen Power is not the only Calder Trophy candidate on the Sabres' roster. Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka have both forced their way into the conversation. They both have six goals and eight assists, but Quinn might have a slight edge in terms of on-ice results. With Quinn on the ice at five-on-five, the Sabres have a plus-six goal differential, which is a hair better than Peterka's plus-four goal differential.
26Montreal submitted a candidate for Collapse of the Year on Monday night when they blew a 4-0 lead to the Canucks in a 7-6 overtime loss. The Habs were up 4-0 after the first period against a team that has had its head coach on the hot seat for the last month, and they couldn't bring home two points. While that's not great on the surface, it is great for the tank.
27As if Columbus needed any more bad news this season, Jakub Voracek revealed that he is still recovering from the effects of a concussion he suffered earlier this year. As a result, it seems unlikely that Voracek will return to action in the 2022-23 season. At this point, everyone is hoping Voracek can get back to 100% in time to take the ice next season.
28John Tortorella scolded reporters for "dumb questions" over the weekend, and the Flyers scored an impressive win over the Avalanche on Monday night. Maybe things are starting to look up in Philadelphia after all.
29Later this week, the Coyotes will end their seemingly interminable 14-game road trip before making their glorious return to Mullett Arena. I have to imagine that going from Edmonton, Alberta to Tempe, Ariz. will be a major shock to the system.
30The trade rumblings around Erik Karlsson are well underway, and it seems like both he and the team would be open to a deal. There's no doubt Karlsson could help a contender, but moving his contract will be a major roadblock to any potential trade. Karlsson still has four more seasons at $11.5 million per year left on his deal after this one.
31Patrick Kane recorded three points, including the 1,200th point of his career, in a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers. Was Kane trying to send a message to the Rangers? Was he trying to show them what they're missing? I guess we'll never know.
32John Gibson and Anthony Stolarz have posted awful numbers in goal this year, but it's hard to know whether that is their individual performances or the Ducks' miserable defense. Anaheim has allowed a total of 103.76 expected goals against, per Natural Stat Trick, which is the worst mark in the league by a wide margin.
