https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FLGiIqJVKWYr0nhu_IEwd4X3hFtGC-DOU4VmtTmfNWU/edit?usp=sharing.
https://imgur.com/a/U8mRk6R
In this table there are win total predictions for each NBA team from 7 different sources that were available in the preseason. The column for predicted wins is an average of rankings from ESPN, Bleacher Report Experts, Bleacher Report Odds, Basketball Reference, OddShark, 538 and Kevin Pelton’s RPM Predictions. The win total column is adjusted for teams WL record over an 82 game pace with the same data available for win percentage.
Teams that exceeded expectations the most.

• Toronto Raptors, were expected to play at a 45 win pace but played at a 60 win pace. +15.
  
• OKC Thunder, were expected to play at a 37 win pace but played at a 50 win pace. +13.
  
• Memphis Grizzlies were expected to play at a 28 win pace but played at a 38 win pace. +10.
  

Teams that failed to meet exceeded expectations the most.

• Golden State Warriors, were expected to play at a 49 win pace but played at a 19 win pace. -30.
  
• Minnesota Timberwolves, were expected to play at a 38 win pace but played at a 24 win pace. -14.
  
• Detroit Pistons, were expected to play at a 38 win pace but played at a 25 win pace. -13.
  

Inspired by a similar post I saw recently in /nba, I decided to give the OpenAI GPT-2 language model a shot at discussing 20 random top NHL players. For those who are unfamiliar with the model itself, it works by predicting the next word it thinks it will occur in a chain of text and is best known for its use on /subredditsimulator. for those familiar with that sub, the model can be very odd and nonsensical in what it spits out, even if the GPT-2 variant seems to form more coherent sentences.
None of the text below has been modified in any way, it is straight from the source. Although some have been trimmed due to the nature of the upper word limit being an issue and cutting samples off mid-sentence. But alas, here you go!
 

Nikita Kucherov

Nikita Kucherov didn't have an answer after getting his first goal against Ottawa to give the Flames a 5-4 win Saturday.
While Kucherov scored his first NHL point on a penalty shot by Ottawa's Erik Karlsson just over a minute into the game, the Blues were also shorthanded and the Senators were down 2-0 heading into intermission.
"We made our mistakes," Kucherov said after the game. "Our first goal wasn't good, so we made some big mistakes."
Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars, his third goal during the Blues' six-game winning streak, assisted on another goal from Kucherov with 16:39 left after the winger got Montreal's Sean Monahan in front of the net with a wrist shot at 15:20 through tight neutral zone coverage. "It was great," Kucherov said of the goal. "It's a little disappointing, when you're the goalie getting a goal, but it's something you're going to fight for, obviously a little bit." It wasn't the first time Kucherov had had trouble with Ottawa, though. They were 4-0-2 against the Blues in their four previous meetings, so the loss doesn't mark too many positives. "You're not going to score four goals against us on the road," Blues winger Zach Sanford said. "That's pretty disappointing."
Petr Mrazek of the Canadiens ended a five-game home losing streak with a short-handed goal, setting up a fourth goal with 2:03 left in the game. Chris Kelly of the Blues scored from the left circle to cap their 10-4 run, setting up Seguin's fourth and deciding the game. The Blues are 10-3-1 when scoring four goals in their last six games. They're a point ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card in last year's Eastern Conference, which would require clinching the final wild-card spot. "They're getting good goaltending," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "They're getting great speed back defensively as well. They're coming on the rush on a lot of their power plays, which is very good."
Mrazek scored on a penalty shot when the Stars didn't have anyone in their lineup.
 

Sidney Crosby

"I don't think it matters. I think our guys do what they got to do. We've got a talented group of defensemen playing against top competition and they have a little bit of a feel for how to work back. Some guys have just had a tough couple weeks or a bad couple weeks or two weeks. So it doesn't matter if you take a guy out at this time of the year. You have to get a little bit more rested. And some guys that are dealing with injuries to guys like Matt Irwin and Evgeni Malkin are in their fifth week. You just gotta get a little bit better for our guys and you get them into a better rhythm." Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are in the midst of a three-game-in-a-row losing streak against the Capitals, and defenseman Martin St. Louis is dealing with a knee injury. Crosby admitted it's a grind getting ready for games when they play Washington. The Penguins have been held without a point in their last four games against Washington but have improved their record to 12-2-2 when they do bring the home ice advantage. The Penguins are 4-2-0 vs. Washington over their last nine home games, including 5-1-0 against the Capitals so far this season. Washington's Braden Holtby has five goals and six assists in the road series with Pittsburgh. He and Sidney Crosby won't be on the ice for Sunday's game at Gillette Stadium (7 p.m. CT, NBCSN). Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen (lower body) will take on Crosby with goalie Braden Holtby not participating.
Crosby didn't play for the Capitals back in February because his concussion was too much for him to handle on a daily basis. That was when the team drafted defenseman Karl Alzner, also a forward, in the seventh round, just after he scored three goals in 12 games when he was hurt. Alzner didn't get his shot until his second game back, in March, but he did enough in practice and in games to get noticed by the coaching staff. He played well in the playoffs after a slow start to the season began. Alzner is one of the Capitals' best players. He's also the team's primary penalty killing weapon -- he's 2.18 PIMs per game on the season, and 694 hits -- and he continues to do damage.
In fact, it was during the second period versus the Devils in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final that he found just what he needed to help propel the team into the series. Crosby turned the puck over on an offensive zone faceoff and Alzner had to make his way across the ice and score from near the edge of the Devils zone. Crosby did a good job, going with the outside of his crease and scoring as he went. That's the kind of play he makes that will help his team win games.
 

Connor McDavid

To be fair, however, as you look at just the top 15 players in the league – at least for a period of time – the talent is still going to have a bit of a ceiling. Even the most highly touted players, including Sidney Crosby of the Penguins, Connor McDavid of the Maple Leafs and Jordan Eberle of the Flyers, could all end up taking a hit in his career. That has never happened before with these four prospects and one player (Tyler Seguin) will likely walk before the age of 23. To give a concrete example: Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs – the No. 2 goaltender of the decade in the world, and the first overall pick of this year's draft – is going to turn 30 in 2015-16 and won't have played since June 13.
All this is just too good to ignore, though, as some draft experts argue that it could be more important to invest in a player with a "true ceiling," which is defined as a player having a goal-scoring potential with a high plus-minus rating (i.e, an upper-90 in that category) and above average shot totals.
To that end, some fans of the big men will be looking for an asset with potential to play in the future; for example, Jonathan Drouin and Alex Ovechkin (and even Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars) have great scoring potential with a lot of upside, both of whom could easily end up in Minnesota.
The Leafs and Flyers may be looking to add a third top-line winger as their primary go-to forward. This is just one area where the trade deadline could be something of a crapshoot. The Leafs and the Blue Jackets, both of whom are in much deeper trouble on their depth charts due to injury, may find themselves in a position where they can afford to look elsewhere with some luck. Of course, some teams, including the Philadelphia Flyers, have a lot of cap room already, and they could try to use this to try to fill out their roster before making trades.
 

Johnny Gaudreau

Johnny Gaudreau had 10 shots on goal, eight of them coming with 4:20 left in regulation, and two more coming with 1:28 left in the first period. The Senators trailed 5-3.
The Sens went to town.
"They were going to score and we were going to score," recalled Lindy Ruff, in which he and Gaudreau were at times booed. "For them to bring the energy was pretty good. They had some confidence and if the puck came out of there, they were going to make a play.
That said, it was the second time in as many games Ruff said he had the Sens fans booing him.
"For me, the first one was pretty important, and I was just glad my teammates were up to that very thing. It's never a good feeling, but for the guys I think it's a good step, a sign they're committed to us, and they're going to work as hard as they can to do it."
So yes, that's two more points coming to Dylan Olsen. He played two shifts, got the guy one-footeded and was immediately assessed a major penalty. This is why you should never start a game without one and let him go to sleep after that shift.
Oh, and to make things even worse, the referee called an "OVERTIME BLOCK" to save the team's honour. That's right - the guy who played his best hockey last week was penalized after having a player give the puck up, even if it wasn't his fault. At least that's what a neutral official thought.
I'm not gonna lie, it was a bit weird to watch. As it turns out, a minor penalty was in order (there was no penalty on Charlie Coyle). It was only about 30 seconds later that the referee issued an OVERTIME BLOCK from his bench in the first period so we got another one late. It turns out he was pretty annoyed that Oliver Kylington's first and only point ended up in the bottom 10 in the end (he got a one-timer as well).
 

Brad Marchand

Brad Marchand of the Tampa Bay Lightning says it's about time that a coach got the benefit of the doubt.
"The game needs the coach to let players go where they want and he has shown that he can, that is the biggest difference I have noticed between being a coach and a leader at this game," Marchand said Monday night when asked if it should be the coaches calling the shots. "A whole lot happens in the game, you have to look at your team every once in a while, I think I will have my say on when to let some guys go and when not."
On a team where it has been two weeks since the Tampa Penguins, Marchand had been asked what his role was and if he saw the coach having anything to do with it, he said, "Well I guess the next question is why are you guys having fun?"
It could be a question, perhaps an in-joke. But if the Penguins continue to slide, you really want to know where Marchand sits on a team that has fallen out of love with him recently. If you're Marchand, you're going to get fired.
I am trying to understand the difference.
That was not a question Tuesday in the Capitals' game against the Winnipeg Jets at Verizon Center.
That was never what Marchand was about.
When the news broke this week that he had been fired by Washington, it was as if the entire universe had turned on him. Marchand got into an argument with Capitals fans in a hotel room over the season he put in with the Washington Capitals for two years, one that involved a girlfriend who has since moved out of state for health reasons.
In his first news conference ever in his job, after learning of the firing, Marchand tried to spin a no-holds-barred narrative.
"I've never experienced anything this bad in my life," he said. "And as an athlete, especially in an area you like, you want to win and as well to compete. I didn't want to lose for a year. … I'm a competitor. I've worked as hard as I can for this organization."
Marchand then admitted he was fired.
If you think about this situation, in the eyes of Marchand and for this team as a whole, the timing is not off by too much. It's not a perfect fit.
 

Nathan MacKinnon

At least twice every three days the Stars need four-on-four, no, five-on-five, to score goals and to compete because they have the players to do it.
When you are in the defensive zone – no, wait, when you are in the offensive zone – they are all playing.
You're the one who's not playing because of a late red-eye – no, wait, you're not playing because a team is calling you late, too!
So we're in the defensive zone, and everyone except Benn, who is at the front of the circle, stands in it and then he and his teammates try to block the shot. There's no way to stop it, and when it comes he goes for it. Benn, and most of last season, when he doesn't have a lot of speed offensively or when he's on you, can't keep up on your guys because he's in a defensive box. You're giving away the game. It's a tough box that he has to be in.
He's in his body, and your team can't get to him and stop him.
It's a little bit frustrating because we love the guys, and we know they're ready, but we don't believe they have as much upside that they thought the year before.
But I think the problem for Benn is how to play the game of hockey in the right situation because it's so hard in the defensive zone. To me, that's part of the appeal of play on the wing. That's his ability to skate in the offensive zone, even though a lot of you saw how he couldn't skate in the offensive zone as a wing last year.
When you can see things on a different plane than it used to be maybe it gets easier as a player, and they're learning that.
It took them a year and a half to go from having two guys and one goalie that is good, two guys that are excellent and two guys that would start any game in the league to seven guys who are really good and two better, in the best line in the league, as we're seeing today. This year that line has been fantastic.
 

Alex Ovechkin

"[I] did not expect to be the one that has to answer that question," Ovechkin said of his comment to the media Monday night. "Obviously, I am disappointed that someone would say that that isn't something I need to address."
Asked whether the media should cover that story more prominently, Ovechkin said he wouldn't be "happy if my story was ignored by people in the media."
"I think it was kind of a shock, honestly," Ovechkin continued. "[I] don't know why people would bring it up. I just kind of shrugged my shoulders and said, 'Yeah, that happened.' " The Washington Capitals star was asked Monday on a local news talk show what would happen to those around him who aren't able to accept his admission.
Ovechkin explained that his teammates would not have been willing to speak out about what they experienced because they are "used to people covering them and making us take actions," but he and teammates "are the ones who have to accept what we have to accept."
"It sounds harsh, but that's my opinion at this point," Ovechkin added. "So far what the world has seen seems pretty good."
A number of NHL players have come forward over allegations of sexual assault. Five were fired this season for their roles in incidents of alleged misconduct, while seven players pleaded guilty to serious criminal charges. That is more arrests than all but two players during the last 100 years combined -- Mike Smith and Ron Francis -- combined.
In response to the revelations, some NBA players in Portland, Maine, filed a complaint with the NBA against New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, saying Anthony had touched them inappropriately while on a business trip.
 

Patrick Kane

"We just wanted to take this game one at a time," Kane said of his play. "It was an important game that we needed to take to get back into the race and not have to be so focused on our results. We just tried to take this game one at a time and we did a pretty good job tonight." The Hurricanes came into this season on a four-game losing streak after winning nine of their first 12 games. The Hurricanes went out and scored twice in the second period to put the game away before giving the Predators a 3-2 shootout win. The Hurricanes outshot the Predators 27-25, holding Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne to a .94 goals-against average and 3.33 save percentage.
The Predators held a 1-0 lead midway through the fourth and couldn't respond until Alex Ovechkin, who was 1 for 5 on the power play, was pulled after four seconds to give the team its first goal.
Tampa Bay tied it with 1:33 left in regulation before Jonathan Drouin's low-latitude, high-energy shot made it 4-1 at 20:33.
After playing shorthanded for five of the first seven minutes, the Hurricanes came right back. The game-winner was scored on a breakaway with 2:02 to go.
"It's been a struggle for us on the top line," said Andersen, who led the Panthers with 14 goals last season and is also 1 of 13 in Tampa Bay this season. "You look back, we've been playing hard, especially early in our games at home. We've been hitting some shots too. We knew all the time that there was going to be a shot for some of us and for some of them. It's just the confidence of the other guys and having the confidence of this coach."
 

Mark Giordano

Mark Giordano's team was just 5 points shy of fourth in the standings at the end of last season. They had yet to score a home win.
In a season full of controversy, only a season ago the Bruins decided not to play against Boston University when the school beat them in the Stanley Cup finals. This season, the only two team with fewer wins than Boston University was the New York Islanders. In the standings, the team with fewer wins got just eight points, while Boston University got 38.
"We have to take our share (of blame) and get it together," Giordano said. "We have to go out and compete and do a lot better than we were last year."
It wasn't just the injury problem.
"Obviously we had a long summer and there were a lot of injuries in our organization," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "We need a lot more consistency, a lot more stability and we know that we can't have this type of team just hanging around and struggling. They can't come back at us like last year."
On the ice, players said the Bruins' defense looked good, particularly along the blue line. Giordano said they were at the bottom of the power play, but they also were not nearly as good on the man advantage as their opponents from last season.
Defenseman David Pastrnak of the Bruins scored his first goal of the season at the 10:24 mark of the first period. The play gave his team a 2-0 first-period lead. But that was when things got interesting.
The Bruins had been outshot 9-7 after the first goal. The Devils had scored the last five, but their power-play chances were just 12 to 12, with 14-7 after that.
The Bruins looked pretty good without defense pairings like the two they used in those first two games, the Brad Marchand-Mike Reilly pairing.
 

Sebastian Aho

Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho returns to the lineup after missing several games with a hamstring injury.
Ducks forward Matt Belford was sent back on long-term IR after an MRI revealed structural issues in his right leg.
Facing a pair of second rounders in the 2016 NHL Draft, the Predators have three forwards who could make a major impact for them come playoff time: Adam Foote (fifth round, 2016), Nick Bonino (third round, 2017), and Jason Demers (second round, 2018).
Predators forward Sam Reinhart (lower body injury) is a game-time decision for Thursday. This one-off game marked the first time this season that the Sharks began their postseason with an injury-marred season – but will they be able to bounce back to qualify for another trip to the playoffs this year?
With an impressive run through the first three games of the season that ended in San Jose's loss to Nashville – the same Sharks team that lost to Calgary last weekend – the Sharks are now 1-5-2 during their first six road games.
San Jose, now 12-2-3 in its past 13 games, is also without top line defensemen John Scott and Joe Pavelski who played a combined 12 minutes in all three games against Nashville (including the 5:33 missed in the game on Tuesday). If they are healthy, Alex Killorn-Karlsson, Alex Burrows and Patrick Marleau should both be getting back to form.
There is some uncertainty at forward despite returning from a two-game suspension for hitting and fighting last season, but forward Nick Spaling should be a part of something special this season. The former first rounder was the first of six Sharks that were traded after the NHL's weekend break, and he looked good in the Sharks' two victory games this week.
 

Jordan Binnington

Blues goalie Jordan Binnington had a decent save in the shootout, but the Coyotes were able to get a quick 1-0 lead.
At 14:50 of the first period, it looked like the first-period penalty that tied it up. With 2:42 remaining, Arizona forward Sam Bennett was hit with an illegal check to his head. Bennett left the game, which he did to the point where officials asked him for time out. Bennett played six minutes and 27 seconds. He did not play in the second period when Arizona came back to tie it, but it did not come close enough.
A powerplay goal by defenseman Johnny Gaudreau set the scores at 2-2 for the Coyotes and the Lightning. They would not let the game get to that point, however.
In fact, there were 14 penalties made throughout, but only four were called in the third period.
The Coyotes came away with the win, having outshot the Lightning 22-8 during the span. Travis Hamonic scored twice after a nice play by Lightning defenseman Matt Carle gave him a one-timer, which he put on the power play.
The Lightning took to the ice with the Lightning 2-0 ahead in net with 18:51 remaining for a 1-0 lead. Tampa Bay, however, would find the back of the net twice more after the period to pull even once. Forward Ben Bishop stopped 15 of their final 18 shots.
There were some nice saves by the Lightning during the third period.
Forward Tomas Tatar had some nice stops, giving up no goals in the final 15 shifts of the third period.
In the overtime period, with the third period tied at 2, Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop looked for his first goal of the night after being picked up by Anton Stralman.
He did not find it; but he did score, putting the Lightning up 2-0 after a goal by defenseman Matt Carle. This was Bishop's first goal of the season, and it came three years ago in the first game of the season between the Lightning and Lightning Bay on October 30, 2009 when he scored his second goal of the season. The only other Florida player to record a goal in overtime against the Lightning was Joonas Donskoi on January 22, 2011 when Florida beat Tampa Bay 1-1.
Bishop was named the Lightning's Game-winning special teams star.
 

Auston Matthews

Auston Matthews has had a rough game against the Blues. He's on a goal differential of minus-4.8 (15th in the NHL) while dealing with two goals and seven shots on goal. His defensive game has been a concern, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to keep him up, at least for a bit.
The good news for the Maple Leafs is that they're on top of the play of defensemen William Nylander and Luke Glendening, in the last 20 games. It was pretty nice when they were on top of this whole thing, but now they're a few points behind the Oilers. The Oilers are off to a losing start, and the goalies are going away as well, but overall, it's been a pretty good first half of the season for the Leafs. We can also make a couple predictions from watching that season.

1. I'll not expect the Leafs to repeat as Stanley Cup champions during the playoffs. That would be an incredible upset because I think the team that finishes in the top two will finish in the Cup Finals after only 19 games. I doubt it; though they have a chance, it won't happen.
   
2. I'm not going to argue with that because the Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 2008. That's the closest to an all-star season I've seen this season: Connor McDavid led the Oilers to the Stanley Cup. (He's no McDavid, but it can't hurt that he was the Leafs' best player and helped them win it all.) Last season, when there really was some sort of star power, Edmonton finished first and second. It's the same story this year. The team that ends first will finish fourth or fifth, and the one that finishes last will finish ninth or tenth. They are still the same team and are just the Leafs. Not great, but if you want to see who is really the best, you can watch the Stanley Cup Final every year on Fox.
   

Last summer, while the Stanley Cup was still in the spotlight, we saw some real magic on the big stage with the Maple Leafs. It's all part of sports drama and it has been a great time for hockey fans. I'm glad for the Toronto market that got exposed to that in the past. We still have to keep the team as fresh as we can, because the big question remains about what the playoffs will bring to the franchise going forward.
Here's hoping this season will be a true turning point.
 

Erik Karlsson

And while fans of the deal were happy with their end result, general manager Ray Shero was not willing to give up the $65 million the team was expected to cost last season, leading to an undermanned, underperforming squad coming off of a playoff berth the past two seasons.
Shero also said he was not willing to pay $45 million to bring Marian Gaborik to San Jose this offseason. As expected, that was a big blow to the Blues as no team wanted to give up a quality, young scoring forward.
"We wanted a player who brings us a big, skilled forward," Shero told reporters after the deadline, according to Dave Rubenstein of CSN Bay Area. "We had a list of players we weren't going to part with. We were not going to put Gaborik on the table. I felt like to do that we were looking at putting forward a player who, when your team makes it to the Stanley Cup finals is not going to be available for an easy return.
The Blues traded Gaborik to Minnesota and brought in Gaborik to Chicago this summer to fill the void left by Gaborik's departure. In his first 10 NHL seasons, Gaborik has never posted a point, despite posting a plus-5 point ratio in just over 30 games per season. He is coming off a career year when he scored 38 points in 63 games, but also had his contract purchased in advance of his first year free agency.
As Shero admitted in the same radio interview on Tuesday on 102.7 the Game, he still isn't 100 percent happy with the trade.
"There's a couple of things that we did not go through," Shero said. "We still have to figure out how to get through this, so it's going to take some patience and hard work for us to build our team again and to be effective. I've been in this business for so long that I've done this on a consistent basis, and I have seen teams lose for a long time.”
 

Mitch Marner

Mitch Marner may have been dealt a similar blow by the news that his parents weren't expecting him to play in the 2015 Winter Classic, but the Ontario native has made it clear he has no regrets about being left out in Toronto.
"I've got no regrets about playing here. I didn't choose it, I just had to play it," he said. "So, it's a perfect storm."
He was the oldest player at the Winter Classic, joining the team that was struggling for roster and confidence heading into the game. He was the youngest player, sitting at just 19 years old. Still, he never doubted he had a shot playing against the likes of Crosby, Doughty, Martin Jones and Alex Ovechkin.
"I think it goes without saying, that the team was lacking a spark. It all came down to having that spark and making plays in games at this time," he said. "As long as that stuff was there for me, the team couldn't complain that I was not there for them."
Mitch Marner's goals have not been flashy, but they have proved to be quite good this season. In 16 games, he has scored five goals, but his goals-against average is a decent minus-3. In that period, he has been shut out on 10 occasions. The last time, it was 2013-14 when he shut out Columbus.
Even with some of the offensive struggles, Marner's possession numbers seem to have steadily improved. He's been involved in just 16 of Toronto's goals and his 11 shots against are the least among all three forwards. He is on pace to be the second most valuable Toronto forwards this season.
He'll still have to find a way to get the puck into the net this year, but given the way things look now, the chances are he makes a name for himself there — even if the Flames' top three forwards aren't doing much to help him.
 

Mikko Rantanen

Mikko Rantanen made 17 saves, including five stops, in a 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Rantanen won the matchup with the Hurricanes on his 25th birthday.
"Obviously I don't have the right to complain that it was kind of sloppy," said the 24-year-old. "I think our lines got really excited and we played some really good hockey but again I felt like our defence was just outplayed. I think it might have had something to do with my body."
While Rantanen's performance wasn't exactly the story, the 22-year-old has been an integral part of Vityaz's success this year.
He allowed seven goals on 51 shots in 22 shifts and turned aside two shots on goal to score both goals on Friday.
"It was like this really strange thing where he's been at that level and he still hasn't cracked an NHL lineup," Vityaz said of Rantanen. "You never know with the young defencemen they're going to improve or even continue improving, which is why we don't like to play in their systems until they've developed enough to get us there."
The Vityaz-based VHL club is trying to find a way to improve on the numbers it posted in 2016-17 and is hoping to be part of the 2018 NHL draft in February.
"I think for us there's definitely something more there," said coach Timo Lindberg.
Lindberg was impressed by the young defensemen, which includes 22-year-old Rasmus Rau and 20-year-old Matt Stajan, who both scored goals in their teams' 5-3 loss to Rask on Friday. He said they're playing the right way and showing flashes of promise that have earned them playing time for Vityaz.
Rau leads the club in shots-on-goal (23.9), but Stajan is second in the league in blocked shots with eight.
"Matt has certainly shown some really good offensive instincts this year," Lindberg said of Stajan. "He works hard and goes to the net but he also makes plays on his own and really gets into the net as a playmaker."
Lindberg wants to see more than just the youth as part of his plans for the future. "We are all looking to get a couple of players and more depth up front," Lindberg said.
 

Ben Bishop

"We can't even win with the current line," Bishop said. "Everytime a guy gets a goal we haven't touched his stick since the 4th quarter all the way through the 2nd. He has been terrific the past two weeks. If someone came out of San Jose we'd just start calling a timeout."
San Jose's defense is still a strength. The Sharks allowed just six goals in Thursday's 3-1 win over Atlanta due in large part to good hockey by veteran defender Dustin Brown, who had a goal and three assists. But their offense has stalled. The Sharks rank last in the NHL in goals allowed, and the top goal-scorer is second-line left wing Logan Couture.
"We still don't generate a lot of offense," winger David Schlemko said. "If we get our chances, we have to work on shooting on the outside."
While the Sharks haven't found their magic on the road, their first trip across the country has been a successful one. They have four points all-time, tied with the Detroit Red Wings (and one shy of the Red Sox for the all-time series record, according to STATS LLC). Boston, who hosts the visiting Sharks Wednesday, has allowed 14 goals in its 17 tries.
"We've won five in Vancouver," captain Joe Thornton said. "It's a tough place to play when the whole atmosphere is good. Last year it was a very nice place to play. I don't think anyone is as happy as us, and that's just because we're so young and we have so much talent. I'm looking forward to continuing to go to Boston."
Even that isn't enough. Sharks coach Peter DeBoer has had more success at home than on the road. He is 22-19-8 this season at PPL Center.
 

Brent Burns

And neither was voted on for voting purposes by the media. I can at least point to three reasons why they weren't chosen and why I'm disappointed the Sharks did not. First, the Sharks were a top-25 team last season. They won the Pacific Division without taking a point. Here are the numbers:
The San Jose Sharks were 20-14-2 this past season. They lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4. They beat the Anaheim Ducks in six games with a combined goal-scoring of 27 goals, but had their top-four forward (Patrick Marleau of the Anaheim Ducks) and backup goalie (Scott Gomez) suspended and left the lineup all season because they were found to be having an affair.
They're a great team but there had to be a reason why only one of the top five forwards is up there and only one goaltender has them winning with such regularity. This was a team that seemed capable or at least capable of leading the Pacific Division if it wasn't for poor goaltending from Joe Pavelski and the goaltending of the rest of the NHL.
Second, this season's Sharks are just the sort of team that makes you wonder: Can the Sharks be the team they were when they played for winning championships?
A lot of it is just how the roster has been assembled because of injury. I mean, last season's Kings had a big defenseman and a center of the future that can contribute and they also had a good defense in Vlasic and Muzzin. Well, if that wasn't enough, last season's Sharks had some trouble with their forwards when they were shorthanded. They were very turnover heavy in the defensive zone and very inconsistent off the puck.
But again, this team has to make the playoffs, and even though they were a strong team in the playoffs, they're not one that can stay in the hunt unless they can win the Stanley Cup. The Sharks will miss Stanley Cup Champions Joe Thornton and Brent Burns, but they're still not going to let that get in the way of their overall aim of winning the Stanley Cup.
Third, I think the reason that I don't think the Sharks will be a contender has more to do with the fact that the club that drafted them is going to be terrible again next season in a weak Eastern Conference.
The Montreal Canadiens, as the only team not to win the Stanley Cup, will almost certainly not make it.
 

Ryan O’Reilly

He recorded the best power play scoring average of the season (six goals) for the fourth time in his career, tying Mike Modano for second overall in the league, and also tied his career-best.
The St. Louis Blues won the award in addition to two other awards, the NHL rookie of the year (Mike McKenna of the St. Louis Blues), and defenseman of the year (Ryan O'Reilly of the Atlanta Thrashers).
O'Reilly became the fourth Blues forward to win the award since 1997 when he was with the Chicago Blackhawks. He tied Mike Bossy for fourth place after winning the Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers. O'Reilly also tied Tony Granato for fourth place with a career-best nine goals and 12 assists. This is O'Reilly's sixth time on the award's list.
O'Reilly also becomes the first Blues player in Vegas Golden Knights history to earn the rookie of the year honor for a full playoffs campaign. O'Reilly also matched the record for most games won by a defenseman in a rookie season, having won 17 games in 1988-89. Prior to 1988-89, only one other defenseman won the award.
He had his best regular season with 14 victories, one shy of his NHL season record of 16 set in 2003-2004. O'Reilly broke that mark with six goals and 13 assists during the first 50 games at the all-star break. As a team, the Blues finished the season with a 56-25-28 record, winning their four playoff games to reach the finals. O'Reilly also won his first-career Stanley Cup Championship and became the first Blues player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy after leading the league in goals in six of the last seven elections.
As the Blues are currently three points out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the first overall, no player has been the winner of the award three consecutive seasons. O'Reilly broke that record with five consecutive seasons as a Leaf.
 

Artemi Panarin

"It's not the case, but there is interest," Panarin told Sportsnet. "I'm talking to some people in the [receiver] department, some coaches, a number of people. Some people are here for next year."
It took some time, but Panarin is starting to move in a positive direction in Toronto. He's now on the first-line power play at even strength, and ranks second on the team with one goal and six points — the same number he got in last season's playoffs.
Panarin leads the team with 16 assists through 40 games, which is tied for the most in the NHL.
That's just a big jump from his 2012-13 rookie season, when he missed a third-straight game with an ankle injury. He wasn't quite as healthy in 2014-15, but the team managed to finish 30 points without him. In 2015-16, he went 0-for-3 while playing all 82 games. In 2016-17, he has one goal and 12 points in 18 games.
"In my experience, [recovering] after injuries is a good thing," the former Ottawa Senators teammate Mike Bossy told Sportsnet before Tuesday's season opener against the Boston Bruins. "You get your confidence back and you feel like you can play some more, and then that's when you're on the other side of the glass and the guy in front of you can be more effective with the puck."
In addition to his goals and points, Panarin has become a reliable pass-catching power forward in some situations. He's finished at even strength four times in the past five games, and he's not far off that total this season (4-for-7). His assist total hasn't really increased, either, dropping to two this season after going on a streak of 11. He's done that on occasion without giving up a power-play goal, and he has four assists in 15 games so far.
On the other hand, the Leafs have allowed a ton of scoring chances.
 

John Tavares

He followed that up with a big-time performance with the Boston Bruins this past January, when he scored 22 goals and 48 points in 70 games played.
And while the 25-year-old has played a few seasons after signing his entry-level contract in 2014, Tavares says he's comfortable where he stands now that he's signed by Vancouver for the next two decades.
Speaking to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, Tavares said it's not about his age, it's the amount of people around him who feel like hockey players on a consistent basis and the players on Vancouver's roster, which is growing every year.
"I can definitely appreciate the fact that I'm not the best player there," Tavares said. "I want to get myself healthy and the way I look at it, is as a player I understand how to grow as an athlete - I understand that it goes into size, strength, ability, skill. It is a constant game. I know that."
In six seasons with the team, Tavares played in over 100 games and collected over 434 points with Vancouver and Toronto. His season has looked pretty strong so far this year, with his offensive totals increasing as Vancouver has played him more. He will likely get a chance to showcase his true potential in Vancouver next year, while also getting more than his salary in arbitration at some point in 2015-16.
Cody Franson has been making significant progress into a top-line centre in Calgary this season. He has posted a 2.59 GAA, a .918 save percentage, and 2.20 goals against average in 536 career games with a Flames team that finished 12th in the Western Conference standings. With no goals against to start his career, Franson has been performing on a nightly basis and should be playing with his big brother as well.
Jiri Hudler has been playing at a very high level, and is enjoying a great season in Winnipeg so far. He was named the team's top defenceman for the first time in his career and leads all Jets blueliners with 21 goals. He has scored at least 30 goals in two consecutive seasons. Jiri Hudler will likely be playing alongside his brother Jacob, but that is not the only player with some success with the new team.