As for Washington\u2019s power play, it\u2019s around 2% below the league average this season.\u00a0 That\u2019s not great by any stretch but with how it was last season (23.5%) with largely the same personnel, I think there\u2019s a good chance it rebounds to at least league-average level.\u00a0 That\u2019s still going to come in a few percent below where they were a year ago but if they\u2019re around the middle of the pack, that\u2019s at least a step up from where they are now.<\/p>\n
mister noons: Who do you have finishing bottom two in each conference?<\/p>\n
As of this asking the bottom five in the West are WPG, STL, NAS, CGY, VAN. In the East, it is DET, OTT, TOR, FLA, BUF.<\/p>\n
For the West, I think Calgary is going to be there.\u00a0 Without Dustin Wolf<\/a> dragging them to competitiveness, we\u2019re now seeing the roster we thought we\u2019d see a year ago, one that has some pieces but isn\u2019t good enough.\u00a0 And with Rasmus Andersson<\/a> looking like a safe bet to move, it\u2019s probably going to get weaker.\u00a0 Right now, Nashville would have to be my other pick.\u00a0 I thought they\u2019d be at least a bit better this season but they\u2019re still near the bottom.\u00a0 And if they move out some veterans, it could get a bit worse.\u00a0 If St. Louis winds up selling more than I think they might, they could get into the mix as well.<\/p>\n The East is much harder to predict considering the bottom seems to change every few days.\u00a0 I want the answer to not be Buffalo just because that team needs to get going at some point but they can\u2019t win away from home and seem to be stuck in a perpetual rut.\u00a0 They\u2019re at least a safe pick.\u00a0 As I just noted, I can\u2019t rule out Toronto and Florida from being playoff teams and there aren\u2019t any pushovers in the Metropolitan this season which is rather surprising.\u00a0 There are some red flags with Detroit that make me think they could slip in the second half and given how tight the standings are, that might be enough to drop them to the bottom two.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not very confident in that answer.<\/p>\n Gbear: Which Head Coach gets fired first (my pick is well known)? <\/p>\n If Nashville was going to make a move to try to save the season, I suspect they\u2019d have done it already.\u00a0 Things aren\u2019t going well in Buffalo but at this point, they\u2019ll just let the season run out and let Lindy Ruff\u2019s coaching contract expire as originally planned (and then probably shuffle him into a new role).\u00a0 Vancouver and Seattle aren\u2019t doing much but have new head coaches so they\u2019re not making changes so quickly.\u00a0 It\u2019s rough in Calgary but Ryan Huska was extended not that long ago which buys him more time.<\/p>\n Where am I going with this?\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t be shocked if the first coaching firing came from a team with playoff expectations that doesn\u2019t want to fall too far out of the race.\u00a0 If Edmonton doesn\u2019t get going soon, Kris Knoblauch could be unfairly let go to try to shake things up without shaking up the roster.\u00a0 It would take some time to get to that point though.\u00a0 The other one that comes to mind is Jim Hiller and I write that as they\u2019re in a playoff spot and a recent denial that they\u2019re considering a change.\u00a0 But it\u2019s a soft grip at best on a postseason position and GM Ken Holland didn\u2019t hire him for the role.\u00a0 If the Kings falter over the next little while, that\u2019s one that wouldn\u2019t surprise me even though he\u2019s done a decent job.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t expect to see a lot of in-season firings.\u00a0 So many teams have changed coaches in the last 24 months which isn\u2019t much of a shelf life for a coach.\u00a0 Owners don\u2019t want to be paying a bunch of coaches not to coach so I expect we\u2019ll see more patience, especially with the standings being tighter than usual.<\/p>\n lgr34561: Are there any players you think will be traded before the deadline that people are sleeping on?<\/p>\n If I could simply say \u2018I don\u2019t know\u2019 here, this would be a time for me to use it.\u00a0 There is part of me that expects the trade market to not materialize much as the playoff salary cap is probably going to cut down on in-season swaps.\u00a0 With teams not really getting time to plan their rosters accordingly, this could be a quiet year.\u00a0 On the other hand, the level of parity could increase the number of buyers or teams willing to make \u2018hockey trades\u2019 in which case things would open up considerably and we could have a few deals that come out of nowhere.<\/p>\n Gmm8811: If the Blues move on from Schenn or Faulk, what do you think a reasonable return for each would be? I\u2019d prefer draft picks. Do they have to retain any money? Armstrong usually doesn\u2019t like to do that.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s answer these out of order.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think St. Louis has to retain on either player in a trade.\u00a0 Brayden Schenn<\/a> is a veteran center with enough of a track record to command a significant trade market and if the Blues are willing to take a player or two back to offset money short-term, that would work.\u00a0 Justin Faulk<\/a>\u2019s market probably won\u2019t be as strong but with one less year left on his contract (he\u2019s only signed through 2026-27), I think there are teams that would take on the full deal, as long as they could send a player or two back again.<\/p>\n However, while GM Doug Armstrong may not like to retain, the trade returns will undoubtedly be better if he did.\u00a0 That will have to be factored into the equation; is the extra value of the return worth the extra dead cap space?\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t shock me if it was.<\/p>\n As to what a return would look like, I know Schenn\u2019s having a down year but I still think it starts with a first-round pick.\u00a0 The demand for centers is sky-high and that\u2019s great news for the Blues.\u00a0 Last year, the believed ask was that plus two strong prospects including a high-end one.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that\u2019s necessarily viable now but a first, a key prospect, and a young roster player (or one who is near-ready) could be doable.\u00a0 If St. Louis sells, I don\u2019t see them embarking on a full-scale rebuild so the young roster player could very well be a crucial element of the return.\u00a0 If they have to take a more expensive player back to match money, that could ultimately expand the package a bit with the Blues adding a mid-round pick or equivalent asset.<\/p>\n With Faulk, a lot is dependent on if they retain or not.\u00a0 To stick with the premise of the question, I\u2019ll take the no answer.\u00a0 In that case, the return St. Louis paid for Cam Fowler<\/a> (a second and a prospect while also getting a fourth back) might be a reasonable equivalent while, again, possibly also taking someone back to balance the money.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure retaining would land them a first but it would probably give them a big boost in the caliber of the prospect coming back to them.<\/p>\n Unclemike1526: The Hawks\u2019 right side defense looks pretty well set for the future with Arty, Rinzel, and Crevier. Murphy seems to be the reason for the 11-7 lineup Blashill insists on using. I think it\u2019s cost them more than one victory (Seattle) where the Hawks were up 2-0 and folded in the 3rd because Burakovsky got hurt and they were playing 10-7 really. Wouldn\u2019t moving Murphy NOW make more sense so the lines can be straightened out? I can\u2019t see 11-7 working until the trade deadline. Thoughts? <\/p>\n I remember reading a comment from Jeff Blashill a while back saying that the idea of the 11-7 setup was so that all the young defenders wouldn\u2019t get overworked, especially with some of them getting their first full NHL season under their belts.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think moving Connor Murphy<\/a> would change that.\u00a0 Instead, they\u2019d probably just dress a different seventh defender, either a veteran coming back to balance money or rotating through their Rockford options.<\/p>\n With Murphy not having a great year, his value has taken a hit.\u00a0 But I think they can get more for him at or near the trade deadline than they can today.\u00a0 At that point, more of the contract (which carries a $4.4MM AAV) is paid off and it\u2019s more likely that the Blackhawks would be willing to retain the maximum 50% which might bring some other suitors into the mix that otherwise might not be able to afford him.\u00a0 At this point, he\u2019s more of a cap dump with a minimal return but at the deadline, someone\u2019s going to see him as a possible sixth defender on a contender and probably would give up a mid-round pick for him.\u00a0 With no one really banging down the door in Rockford (or Chicago not wanting to have a different youngster in that seventh role), this isn\u2019t a situation where they have to rush a move.\u00a0 They can do right by the long-term veteran and wait things out.<\/p>\n FeeltheThunder: The ending between Tampa\/Pittsburgh was absolutely ridiculous and the worst thing to happen in games. It was practically highway robbery by league interference. Tampa ties the game and suddenly, out of the blue, Toronto\u2019s Situation Room or whatever the hell they call it, calls in to the refs with barely a minute left claiming it was a \u201chand pass\u201d by Brandon Hagel<\/a> which, clearly, based on the various replays, wasn\u2019t a \u201chand pass\u201d at all. One can easily see it hit his chest prior to hitting the glass. The announcers were even stunned that Toronto called this in, especially near the very end of the game which they even said so rarely happens, if ever. They took the tying goal away off an absurd call and literally screwed Tampa badly. This whole matter feels way too coincidental, like it was truly rigged especially since it\u2019s being called in from Toronto who, ironically, that city\u2019s team are playing in the same division as the Bolts who just happen to be on top of the division. This all happens just as the Leafs are currently on a win streak now and this horrid call happens to Tampa. It feels rather fishy like this was actually done to keep Tampa from gaining points to give Toronto a chance to climb in the standings more. I think (many I\u2019ve heard from) that the Situation Room needs to be taken out of Toronto as this isn\u2019t the first time this type of crap has happened. What are your thoughts?<\/p>\n The Situation Room is staffed by NHL employees, not a bunch of Maple Leafs fans.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if the office is located in Toronto, New York, Florida, or anywhere else; it\u2019s largely going to be the same group of people going in and out of there.\u00a0 I\u2019m quite confident that the geographic location of the office and the current standings did not play a role in this decision.<\/p>\n Believe it or not, proper protocol was followed here.\u00a0 A hand pass qualifies as challengeable under \u2018missed stoppage\u2019.\u00a0 But the challenge system stops in the final minute of regulation.\u00a0 With less than a minute left in the third period, it\u2019s the responsibility of the Situation Room to identify situations that would potentially be challengeable at another time in the game and stop the game to review with the on-ice officials. \u00a0They did and after reviewing the footage with the officials, they made their ruling.<\/p>\n I think there\u2019s a case to make about the call being wrong but the Situation Room didn\u2019t do anything they shouldn\u2019t have done in terms of how things got to that point.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/USATSI_22196912-230x300.jpg\")
<\/a>But that\u2019s not a fun answer so I\u2019ll take a stab at a sleeper trade candidate.\u00a0 Two years ago, Kent Johnson<\/a> struggled, leading some to wonder about his future in Columbus.\u00a0 He signed a bridge deal and then had a breakout 57-point effort last season.\u00a0 However, he has really struggled out of the gate this year and some of those questions are back.\u00a0 But Johnson has shown enough to be appealing to some teams.\u00a0 The fact he has a center background (though he hasn\u2019t played there lately) only helps his value.\u00a0 If there are \u2018hockey trades\u2019 coming where it\u2019s an even swap of young core players, I could see Johnson being a viable candidate to be moved.<\/p>\n