Rear Admiral's NHL Round-Up: The Bruins Start Off Hot, Dynamic Young D-Men, And A Few Predictions
Yeah, it's still very early. But the vibes around the 2025-26 Boston Bruins are substantially better than they have been in quite some time. The 3-1 start to a season in which many predicted doom and gloom obviously provides a nice bump. New head coach Marco Sturm was a terrific hire---I was told "he's a real good guy and will do great here" by a person with a prominent position in the league. He's knows what Bruins hockey is all about and is bringing it back to where it needs to be.
Their #1 goalie Jeremy Swayman was in training camp this year and he's been stellar in both of his starts thus far: 2-0-0, 1.00, and .966. Elias Lindholm looks more like the guy the Bruins were expecting after signing him to a free agent deal 15 months ago, potting two power play goals and adding a pair of helpers in four games. Superstar forward David Pastrnak has 1-4--5 in four games and looks like he could even play a little goalie as well.
They're not a perfect team (witness yesterday's shitty start vs. a Lightning team seeking its first win) and there will certainly be bumps ahead. But they're buying into Sturm's message, playing as a team, and changing the negative narrative. No doubt many fans feel much better about this season than they did a mere week ago. Yes, there's still a shitload of puck left for the Bruins. But kicking off the year by winning three of their first four games will increase confidence while also galvanizing a group of guys who are still getting used to playing with each other.
The Bs headed out West yesterday where they'll take on a pair of the league's iron and its newest logo within a 72-hour period. They play just off the Strip in Vegas on Thursday at 10PM, in the Mile High City at 9PM on Saturday, and finish the three-game roadie in Salt Lake City when they take on the hairy elephants at 7PM Sunday night. Early season road trips can be great for team bonding, especially for a squad off to nice start. And snagging four points (or more) on this one could instill the locker room with the belief that there's no reason they should not make the playoffs. Can't wait for Thursday night.
A few more buds for your bowl…
Unsurprisingly, there were a number of pedants in the replies/quote tweets but I thought this was pretty cool shit.
As a retired member of the Goalie Union…
…I'm a glaring example of netminders being weird-ass cats. So I really wish that I saw this clip of seething Preds goalie Juuse Saros watching his crease get violated before the Sens home opener yesterday. Definitely would've been a max play. Juice stopped 31 of 32 Ottawa shots for the 4-1 victory.
During the game, the Swiss broadcast showed Brady Tkachuk having some choice words for Michael McCarron…
Good thing his young son had the earmuffs on, channeling the comedy classic OLD SCHOOL.
Nashville also gave us one of the funniest moments of the season so far by giving former Pred Dante Fabbro his tribute video…from the Sin Bin.
The Montreal Canadiens are on the path to returning to NHL glory thanks to organizational patience, a smart coaching hire, and somehow signing dynamic young defenseman and Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson to an 8-year/$70.8M extension. The deal expires at the end of the 2034 season and will pay the young stud D-man $8.85M over its duration. With cap projections expected to continue on an upward trajectory and what we've seen from this kid so far, this contract should be one of the biggest bargains in the NHL for several years.
The league has been blessed with a plethora of insanely talented, game-changing defensemen in recent years and Matthew Schaefer, taken #1 overall by the Islanders in the last draft, is just the latest. This kid is a treat to watch and it's insane that he just turned 18 a month ago. He logged 26:04 and 26:35 in his second and third NHL games. With an assist in his debut, he became the youngest D-man to record a point in league history.
No big deal. Just the lights going out during the middle of play in a pro sports league.
San Jose's Ryan Reaves and Anaheim's Ross Johnston gave us an early "Fight of the Year" candidate over the weekend.
And St. Lawerence's Abby Hehl gave us an early "Goal of the Year In Any League" candidate with this absolutely insane shoot-out goal to upset Vermont.
This is a pretty cool piece about the only three living former NHLers who retired with one career game and one career goal.
Interesting tidbits about the video above…
Here are my predictions for some NHL's awards this season…
Adams–Marco Sturm
Richard–Kyle Connor
Vezina–Jeremy Swayman
Selke–Nico Hischier
Norris–Lane Hutson
Calder–Ivan Demidov
Hart–Jack Eichel
And here's how I see the season playing out (and no, I'm not trolling)…
Division winners: Toronto, New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights
Conference Finals: Toronto over NYR, Winnipeg over Dallas
Stanley Cup Final: Toronto over Winnipeg
Conn Smythe winner: Anthony Stolarz
Stolarz, a 31-year-old journeyman goalie with more than respectable career numbers, was finally handed the #1 reins to a team in Toronto last season, putting himself under the league’s biggest microscope. And he was stellar in the regular season: 21-8-3, .926, 2.14, 4 SO. In the Leafs First Round series win over Ottawa, his .901 SP far out-paced the Sens Linus Ulmark’s .880. But after a Sam Bennett fly-by chicken wing halfway through Game 1 vs. Florida in the Second Round, he left the game and would not return in the series. Toronto's backbone was dunzo. And they STILL took the defending champs to seven games with back-up Joseph Woll putting up 3-4, 3.56 and .886 stat line. If he stays healthy for the duration of the playoffs, he'll end the 58-year Cup-less streak for the Leafs and 32-year Cup-less streak for Canada.
Stolarz will make $2.5M this year (his 4yr/$15M extension kicks in next season). Here are the last seven goalies to play in the last 10 Stanley Cup Finals and win the Cup, as well as their salary that year.
Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky won the last two Cups making $10M each year.
VGK's Adin Hill had no NHL playoff experience prior to winning the Cup as a 27-year-old and made $2.175M.
Colorado's Darcy Kuemper made $4.5M while winning the Cup as a 32-year-old.
Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy was making $3.5M when he won his first Cup and $9.5M for his second (he also won the Conn Smythe).
St. Louis Blue Crag Binnington was making $650K and had no NHL playoff experience when he won the Cup as a 25-year-old rookie.
D.C.'s Braden Holtby was making $6.1M when he won his Cup as an established 28-year-old star.
Pittsburgh's Matt Murray won back-to-back Cups at 22-and-23-years-old while making $628,333.
This shit is exactly what the NHL needs: great young players that have actual personalities and they're not afraid to show them off.