As 2026 starts, let’s look at the past few weeks of hockey in 2025. Everyone has opinions about the Olympic rosters (including yours truly), and the rivalries have become heated (not in a hockey romance way, but from a place of semi-platonic animosity)

The Philadelphia Flyers are in third place in the Metropolitan Division. Nice! It also doesn’t hurt that the Flyers’ fourth line of Grebenkin, Grunstrom, and Abols has produced five goals and eight assists in the last five games. What is not nice: this road trip. It took time for the Flyers to get goalies, but did it really have to happen against Philipp Grubauer of all goalies? It would have been worse if Fourg-I mean Georgiev—was between the pipes, but still. At least the Flyers won against the Canucks, but did they really have to lay an egg against Calgary AGAIN?!! The only bright side is that we managed to score a goal. Now, can we PLEASE get back to normal against Edmonton???

The Hockey Gods saw me laughing about Pittsburgh blowing back-to-back multi-goal leads and said, “Let’s give Ollie the same kind of pain that Pittsburgh Penguins fans have had.” The Carolina Hurricanes then proceeded to blow back-to-back multi-goal leads. It wasn’t against the Sharks (no offense to the Sharks, but they’re still rebuilding), but to the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Turns out that Cats have claws!!! At least the Canes salvaged points after blowing the first Panthers lead; the Hockey Gods were not kind in the second match and had them blow the lead and lose in regulation. Even worse news is that Pyotr Kochetkov will undergo season-ending surgery, leading to the Canes having to rely on Freddie Andersen (and, if I’m being honest, the whole team) to play well in front of him. Hopefully, Slavin heals up for the Olympics; he’s the only player I’m excited to see from the men’s roster for Team USA compete.

I’ve heard way too much discourse online about how the Florida Panthers are the dirtiest team ever. Yes, the hit on Anthony Stolarz was a dirty play. The same for the hit Marchand threw on Matheson when they played against the Canadiens. But if we’re talking about the dirtiest teams of all time, the Bruins are right there!! Oh, and also the Broad Street Bullies, the Detroit Red Wings (especially with the Grind Line of Joey Kocur, Darren McCarty, Kirk Maltby, and Kris Draper, once Kocur retired after the 1998-1999 season), the Colorado Avalanche, thanks to Claude Lemieux, and the New Jersey Devils, thanks to Scott Stevens, ¹ would love a word.

But all the “Are the Panthers the dirtiest team in history” discourse pales in comparison to the Panthers’ injury list. While Matthew Tkachuk will come back soon, the Panthers miss him, Sasha Barkov, and Tomas Nosek, in particular, on the first power play unit. It should be no coincidence that their power play has dropped to the bottom of the league with all three out. They also miss defenders Jonah Gadjovich and Dimitry Kulikov, as Jeff Petry is a black hole who almost always comes up in conversation when the Panthers give up a goal against. He is also their best option right now, as Jones got injured during the Rangers’ annihilation of the Panthers in the Winter Classic. Have they thought about trading Petry elsewhere? He’s almost always responsible for goals against and will most certainly become more of a defensive liability if/when Jones is out long term.

The Washington Capitals quietly shake, rattle, and roll their way through all comers, at least for twenty minutes. Their problem is the same as Carolina's—they blow leads. 3-0 lead to the Rangers? Gone? 3-0 lead to the Devils? In the trash can behind the Prudential Center. 2-0 lead against the floundering Senators? Also gone! Please learn how to hold on to a lead! It turns out that no one wants to win the Metropolitan Division.

I am, however, excited to see Logan Thompson compete for Team Canada in the Olympics. Since Vegas traded him to Washington in the 2023-2024 offseason, he has embarked on a revenge tour to show Vegas that he can be a better goalie than Aidin Hill (the goalie Vegas kept over him). He has done so; last season, he helped the Capitals rank first in fewest goals allowed and also became the 17th goalie in NHL history to record 100 wins in 170 or fewer games. He has been understandably rewarded for his play with a Team Canada roster spot. Thompson is also one of my favorite goalies that doesn’t play for the Canes, Panthers, and Flyers, and is the only reason the Capitals hung in last year’s playoff series with the Canes. I had to respect him for withstanding the barrage of shots the Canes love to fling at opposing goaltenders, and finding out about how Vegas blamed him for their first-round exit in the 2023-2024 playoffs buoyed my sympathies.

I love watching the soap opera taking over MSG. The New York Rangers are halfway to setting the record for the most shutouts in a season—the record is 16, by the way, and the Rangers have been shut out eight times.— Despite the poor defense and the just as anemic offense, Igor Shesterkin has continued to be consistently excellent. He makes the saves he has to keep the team in the game. He has now inherited from his mentor, Henrik Lundqvist, the tendency to have exceptional performances to move his team relatively near competitive play, let alone relevance. I also cannot believe Team USA’s GM Bill Guerin saw how pathetic JT Miller has played and picked him over exemplary players like Cole Caulfield or Jason Robertson to make the Team USA roster for the Olympics. I hope the Team USA men’s roster loses for this alone.

Seeing both the Rangers and the New Jersey Devils floundering makes me feel good. Jack Hughes coming back has not moved their needle into the playoffs. They still rank near last in scoring chances, with 1.77 goals per 60 minutes. Hughes needs more help, and it should fall on GM Tom Fitzgerald to provide that. And imminently, lest he be consumed in the flames underneath the Prudential Center Arena. This one is shorter because I’ve already spoken about them at length here.

The Buffalo Sabres are a legitimate wagon. They have won 10 in a row after ditching Kevyn Adams in the dumpster where Bills fans put their broken tables. How have they done this? One reason lies in their goaltending, as Alex Lyon came up in the clutch for the Sabres, particularly when they were shorthanded. They also scored first with 55% of the time, giving Lyon and Ukka Pekka Luukonen the goal support to play at their best. Their scoring has come from across the team, as top-line players such as Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin, all the way down to fourth-line players like Jordan Greenway, have found the back of the net. With Lyon out for some time due to a lower-body injury, it falls on the offense and goaltending (in particular, Luukonen) to continue to carry the team. It’s finally exciting to watch the Sabres. Let’s see if this continues.

The Colorado Avalanche have two regulation losses in their entire season. That’s right, TWO! It’s not a matter of if but when the Avalanche clinches the Presidents’ Trophy. Which should make it all the more surprising that neither member of the Lumber Yard (Mackenzie Blackwood or Scott Wedgewood) got a roster spot in Team Canada. Both of them have save percentages well over .900 and have turned the Avalanche's goaltending from a sieve to a brick wall. How Team Canada chose Jordan Binnington is beyond me. Look, I know Binnington had a masterful performance in the Four Nations Face Off, but he has a save percentage well below .900 this year.² He could tap into that form, but I highly doubt that it will happen this year. Of course, the Avalanche scored six goals on Binnington when they faced the Blues after the Olympic selections were made. They had a message to send to Team Canada, and it is to give Binnington the world’s shortest leash at the Olympics.

Now that Jarry and Skinner have settled in on their respective teams, let’s see how the Edmonton Oilers are adapting to their new goaltender. It took three starts for Jarry to be placed on the injured reserve, which happened with alarming frequency during his time as a Penguin.

So in comes Calvin Pickard and Connor Ingram (fresh off a conditioning stint in the Oilers’ AHL affiliate after going into the NHL Players’ Assistance Program to address his mental health issues) to man the net while Jarry tries not to pull a Rick DiPietro. I’m happy that Ingram looks better, but Pickard is still a sieve. While Pickard and Ingram have horrible save percentages (.873 and .883 save percentages, respectively), they aren’t helped by a defense led by turnover machine Evan Bouchard. While Ingram has the excuse of adjusting to NHL play after spending time in the Players’ Assistance Program, Pickard does not. How he has not been traded in a separate deal shows Stan Bowman’s incompetence. You know, Florida or Columbus would love him as a reclamation project. Unfortunately, McDavid and Draisaitl cannot play defense and offense at the same time.

The Anaheim Ducks have stalled out a bit after their hot start. Having a four-game losing streak is not great, to say the least. The Ducks’ leaky defense leads to offensive talents like Chris Kreider, Beckett Sennecke, and Cutter Gauthier spending significant time in their own zone rather than in the opponent’s zone. This results in the Ducks giving up more high danger scoring chances than any other team in the league. Even when they get time, they haven’t been able to score. The Flyers Fans Yell Obscenities at Cutter Gauthier Bowl, also known as the Ducks playing against the Flyers at the Xfinity Mobile Arena, FU Center³, happens next Tuesday. Let’s see if Cutter circled the wrong game on the schedule again.

The Vancouver Canucks have finally and fully embraced a tank. It took them trading their franchise defender to do so, but as I’ve learned from Flyers fans before me, pretending to continually retool is a powerful anesthetic. It numbs the front office into complacency. Just get another veteran; we have talent in the forward core that will take us into the playoffs. We can repeat glory! (in the Canucks case, it’s a second-round exit). But the fantasy of continued glory does not match up with the reality of a team stalling out. The Canucks had Hughes, a star defender, and wanted to make a team around him. They did, at least in the 2023-2024 season. The buzzer-beater against Nashville in the first round was iconic. Alas, the mismanagement of Jim Rutherford plus drama regarding JT Miller and Elias Pettersson that overshadowed last season, squandered whatever playoff window the Canucks had. Canucks fans are left with wasted potential and anger at management. Yes, Thatcher Demko has more fragile bones than Tristan Jarry and Rick DiPietro, but you could at least be a bit more forthcoming regarding Demko’s injury recovery!! There are sports sportsbetting lines at risk (plus fantasy sports players but we know the endless loop of Draft Kings Sportsbook commercials every fan is subject to watching).

The Vegas Golden Knights wished on a monkey’s paw. They got the Carter Hart I saw, who gave up five goals to the Avalanche. He has a save percentage below .880. That’s not good. Yes, Eichel and Theodore will come back, but players not named Mark Stone and Mitch Marner could also do something.

Do you think they miss Logan Thompson yet? Aidin Hill has spent more time on the shelf than between the pipes, Hart is not only a PR nightmare but a horrible goaltender, and Akira Schmid has regressed. Meanwhile, Thompson is one of the Team Canada goalies for the Olympics and has become one of the best goalies in the NHL. I think the Knights sure do!

After GM Barry Trotz said he needed more from his players, the Nashville Predators responded by going 7-3-2 in their last ten games. Steven Stamkos returned to the form that led to Nashville spending so much money on acquiring him. It also doesn’t hurt that the youth movement in Fedor Svechkov, Ozzy Wiesblatt, and Luke Evangelista seems to be learning from the veterans. Nashville has a perfect mix of veterans and youth that can provide development outside of practices and meetings. The veterans have been in the league longer than the rookies, and can thus give the younger players valuable advice about how to adjust to the NHL. Nashville’s hot streak will, of course, postpone their much-needed rebuild, but I’m sure Barry Trotz and Andrew Brunette are relieved—their jobs are safe for this season at least.

Like with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the nicest thing I can say about the Seattle Kraken is that they are a team. They are a team with more uniform changes than playoff series wins, a team that flounders if goalies Joey D’Accord and Philip Grubauer do not do well. The Kraken is also a team without a true superstar. For any Kraken fans disappointed in their team, might I suggest following the Torrent? They have a better record than the Kraken right now. Why yes, I am still mad that Grubauer chose to play up to his potential against the Flyers. Couldn’t he have reverted to the form that led to Colorado trading him in the first place?? Pretty please for the Author whose hockey teams both delight and torture him.

NHL Masters Leaderboard Update

(Click here for an explanation of the NHL masters)

New year, new update of the NHL Masters leaderboard. There haven’t been many changes from last year, as Mallioux, Fowler, and Schenn are still the top three on the leaderboard, and in a three-way tie, no less. Andrew Mangiapane is still on there, as well as Jonathan Marchessault. There are some additions. Axel Sandin Pellikka took Johanssen’s place as the Red Wing representation; I yet again ask Todd McClellan to work with his defensive coach in reducing Pellikka’s minus handicap to a plus. Jake Evans is also out of the top 10; Colton Dach has replaced him. Makes sense given that Dach is playing for a still rebuilding team that has their top talent in Bedard and Nazar out for long-term injuries. What is most surprising is Vancouver’s Brock Boeser in eighth place. I have yet to see a Canuck in the Masters leaderboard, which shows me the Canucks embrace of the tank that I discussed earlier.