1. High-danger prowess

The Montreal Canadiens signed Chris Kreider to a one-year contract Sept. 12, complementing their young core with a veteran power forward who covers some key advanced stats categories. Montreal, which still has the fifth-youngest team in the NHL (average age: 25.68) even after signing the 35-year-old Kreider, reached the Eastern Conference Final last season and has a ceiling of reaching the Stanley Cup Final as early as this season.

Kreider, who scored an NHL career-high 52 goals with the New York Rangers in 2021-22, the start of three straight seasons of at least 30 goals (36 in 2022-23, 39 in 2023-24), has scored 22 goals in each of the past two seasons. Last season with the Anaheim Ducks, Kreider still was a productive player with the man-advantage with eight power-play goals and 17 power-play points. He also was one of six players on the Ducks with at least 50 points last season, providing veteran leadership for Anaheim’s young core to help the team make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2018 and win a postseason round for the first time since 2017.

Kreider, who’s been a standout in high-danger areas through the years, continued that trend last season with the Ducks after previously playing his first 13 regular seasons with the Rangers. Kreider ranked in the 93rd percentile among forwards in high-danger shots on goal (73) last season and in the 87th percentile in high-danger goals (14). Since the start of the puck and player tracking era (2021-22), Kreider ranks among the NHL leaders in both high-danger goals (130; second) and high-danger shots on goal (537; seventh). Now he has a chance to strengthen a lineup led by Montreal’s young stars in forwards Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Ivan Demidov, defenseman Lane Hutson, and goalies Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler.

Three seasons ago with the Rangers, Kreider ranked third in the NHL in high-danger shots on goal (136) and was tied for fourth in the League in high-danger goals (31). During Kreider’s career-best season in 2021-22, he led the League in power-play goals (26) and high-danger goals (41); the only player to score more high-danger goals in a single season during the tracking era was Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers in 2023-24 (45).