Category: Ian Palmer

Once again it was proven that defending the Stanley Cup is usually quite a bit more difficult than winning it as the St. Louis Blues were ousted from the playoffs in the first round. The Vancouver Canucks did the damage as they took the best-of-seven set in six games. The Blues, who were seeded fourth in the West, were trounced 6-2 in the deciding game last week after posting a 0-2-1 mark in the round-robin section of the postseason qualifiers.

However, they were seeded first going into the qualifying round after going 42-19-10 in the regular season with a points percentage of .662. St. Louis dropped the first two games of the series with the Canucks with one coming in overtime before bouncing back to win the next two. They then blew a 3-1 lead in game five and were edged 4-3 before playing their worst game of the series in game six.

One of the reasons for the quick departure was the fact goaltender Jordan Binnington couldn’t save the day for his teammates like he did last season. He went 16-10 in the 2018-19 playoffs with a goals-against average and a save percentage of 91.4 but was 0-3 this time around while conceding 13 goals on just 65 shots for a save percentage of 80.0. He allowed six goals on 10 power-play chances and allowed nine goals against in the first two contests against Vancouver on 47 shots.

Jake Allen took over in the Blues’ crease for the next three outings and won two of them but losing game five. Head coach Craig Berube went back to Binnington for the sixth game but he allowed four goals on just 18 shots and was yanked and replaced by Allen at the 8:06 mark of the second frame. The Blues also suffered from too many turnovers in the series and injuries started to build up the longer it went.

St. Louis played game six without forwards Tyler Bozak, Vladimir Tarasenko, Troy Brouwer and Alexander Steen as well as defender Gunnarsson. The last time all five were in the lineup was in game two with Tarasenko leaving after the second encounter to have his injured shoulder checked out.

Next season’s St. Louis squad could look a little different as defenders Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents along with Brouwer. There are also several restricted free agents who need to be dealt with such as forwards Jacob de la Rose and Jake Walman as well as blue liners Vince Dunn, Austin Poganski and Derrick Pouliot.

The players who are signed for at least the next two seasons include forwards Tarasenko, Sammy Blais, Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron, Brayden Schenn and Oskar Sundqvist and defencemen Colton Parayko, Marco Scandella and Justin Faulk. In addition, Binnington is also still under contract and he’ll be determined to bounce back next campaign.

He was fine during the 2019-20 regular season with a 30-13-7 record along in 50 starts with a 2.56 goals-against average, 91.2 save percentage and three shutouts. Allen is also a dependable netminder but both Allen and Binnington are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents in June of 2021.

The Blues have the leadership and skill required to return to the playoffs again next season to challenge for the Stanley Cup and should be able to learn from the mistakes they made this postseason.

The NHL, like most sports leagues around the world, has temporarily postponed its 2019/20 season due to the Covid 19 virus and the fear for public safety. The league’s commissioner Gary Bettman released a statement on March 12^th which officially announced the suspension of all NHL activities for the time being. Bettman and NHL fans across the globe hope to resume action in the coming weeks whereas the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) has officially cancelled its season and the playoffs.

Since the time frame for resuming games is unpredictable it’s unclear at the moment what the NHL has in mind if and when its teams get back on the ice. In a best-case scenario the league will be able to play out the remainder of the 82-game regular season and get in the full slate of playoff games. But with each passing week this may not be possible. Currently, the league has completed 1,082 of its 1,271 games this season.

The season would need to be extended either way whenever games resume and the first thing the NHL needs to do is make sure the rinks are available for games. Most teams have between 12 and 14 games remaining on their schedule and then four rounds of playoffs need to be played with the preferred length being four-of-seven game series.

If games resume in two or three weeks the league may try to fit everything in. If the break is extended there are plenty of options such as scrapping the rest of the regular-season contests or changing the playoff format. The league could shorten some of the postseason series to the best two-of-three and/or the best three-of-five formats. If the regular season games are eliminated though the NHL will have to come up with a method to decide which teams make the playoffs.

Since teams have played an unequal  number of games the fairest way to decide the playoff competitors would be to evaluate the league standings based on each team’s winning percentage. If teams are tied they could go to a head-to-head tie-breaking system or devise a different method. In addition, more teams could be added to the playoffs with a brand-new format put into place.

One thing’s for certain and that’s the fact Bettman wants to make sure the NHL has a Stanley Cup winner in 2019/20. The board of governors will have to come up with some creative solutions the longer the league is forced to sit out. Nobody wants to play to empty arenas but it may still be a better solution than having to wipe games off the schedule. Playing televised games in empty rinks could be an answer for a few weeks when the league returns.

The NHL may end up playing into July if necessary but there will also need to be some type of cutoff date on the calendar which will indicate when it’s too late to save the season. In the meantime, players have been advised to self isolate themselves but they also need to stay in the best condition possible and be ready for action at any given time. The league would likely let teams hold three-day training sessions before games officially face off again.

If there is any type of silver lining in the postponement of the season it will mean that some of the league’s injured players may have the chance to heal during the downtime. Several of the league’s top stars including Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche are currently on the sidelines.

The NHL will continue to monitor the situation and won’t return to the ice until medical professionals and the American and Canadian governments give the league the all-clear signal. Also, the league has announced the players will still receive their last two paycheques of the season while they wait in limbo. The last time the NHL cancelled a season was over a century ago when the 1918/19 campaign was halted after five games of the Stanley Cup final due to the Spanish flu breakout. There was also no cup winner in 2004/05 because of a lockout.

The Philadelphia Flyers are currently in the midst of a nine-game winning streak and have soared up the NHL standings because of it. As of March 9^th, the team has a record of 41-20-7 with 232 goals for and 194 against. They had 89 points and were tied with the Washington Capitals for first place in the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division. They were also tied for fourth place in the overall league standings.

Of course, a playoff spot isn’t guaranteed but the Flyers owned an eight point lead over the fourth place Columbus Blue Jackets in the Metropolitan with two games in hand. They were also 10 points in front of the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders who were tied for fifth place in the division on March 9 with the Islanders and Carolina having a game in hand on the Flyers. One of the main reasons for Philadelphia’s success of late has been the goaltending of sophomore Carter Hart.

The way Hart’s been playing lately it looks like the Flyers may have finally found a worthy franchise goalie after searching for one for many years. Flyers’ fans may be wary though considering the franchise has seen a league-leading total of eight goaltenders start a minimum of 99 contests for the team in the past 20 years. This includes netminders such as Roman Cechmanek, Robert Esche, Ilya Bryzgalov and Antero Niittymaki.

Hart was drafted by the Flyers in 2016 in the second round with the 48^th overall selection from the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League (WHL) and was the first goaltender taken that year. Hart recently returned to the Flyers’ lineup on February 10^th after being sidelined for four weeks with an injury. Since making his return, Hart has gone 9-1 in his last 10 starts with a 92.9 save percentage and he’s won 11 of his last 12 decisions. He’s been excellent in net over the past few months after a terrible start during October.

The future looks very bright for Hart since he’s just 21 years old as most goalies don’t mature until later in their careers. In fact, there have been just six NHL goalies to play in 40 games before the age of 22 with a save percentage above 91.0. The other five were Roberto Luongo, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Martin Brodeur, Carey Price and Felix Potvin. The 6-foot-2-inch, 180 lb Hart of Sherwood Park, Alberta had played 73 regular-season NHL games as of March 9^th with a 40-25-4 record while posting a 91.5 save percentage and a 2.60 goals-against average.

This means Hart tops the list of under-22 goalies when it comes to save percentage. He went 16-13-1 last season with a 2.83 GAA and a 91.5 save percentage as the Flyers missed the playoffs. So far this season Hart is 24-12-3 with a 2.43 GAA and a 91.3 save percentage. Since being drafted he’s played just 18 games in the minors as he went 9-8-1 with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League in 2018/19 while posting a 3.05 GAA and a 90.2 save percentage.

Hart has actually performed better at the NHL level since being called up in December of 2018 than in the AHL. And unless the Flyers collapse in their last 14 games of the regular season he should have no problem leading the team to the playoffs this spring. If they do happen to make the postseason, Hart and his Flyers’ teammates could possibly be one of the favourites to go all the way to the Stanley Cup final if they can continue their fine play of late for the next couple of months.

With the 2019/20 NHL season heading into the stretch run it looks like the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer is Leon Draisaitl’s to lose. The 24-year-old native of Cologne, Germany had posted 34 goals and 61 assists for 95 points for the Edmonton Oilers after 60 games and had an 11-point lead over his closest rivals, David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.

Draisaitl has also proved he has the flare for the dramatic and is a clutch performer as he was leading the league with 10 game-winning goals and had assisted on 12 game-winners by his teammates. There’s an outside chance that he reaches 50 goals this season and he’s currently leading the league in assists. The forward, who was drafted by Edmonton with the third overall pick in 2014, has already set a new career high in assists this year after notching 50 goals and 55 helpers for 105 points last season. He’s on pace for a career best 130 points this season.

Draisaitl had accumulated 125 goals and 187 assists for 312 points in 351 regular-season games after his first five seasons with the Oilers and came in second in team scoring to Connor McDavid over the past three campaigns. He also has 16 points in 13 playoff games. However, McDavid is currently injured and his reign as the team’s top scorer is likely to come to and end this year. With Draisaitl enjoying such a fine season there’s also a good chance he’ll be nominated for the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player.

The young forward was scoring at a pace of 1.58 points-per-game after 60 outings this season to lead the NHL. He was also leading the league in ice time for forwards at at 22:33 per night as well as power-play points at 38. Draisaitl has proven he doesn’t have to depend on McDavid to produce points for the Oilers since he has posted 14 goals and 32 assists for 46 points in 45 games without his superstar teammate in the lineup. In the first four games without McDavid this season he notched three goals and seven assists.

If Draisaitl happens to win the Hart Trophy this season he’ll become the first German-born player to do so. However, his chances might fall if the Oilers fail to make the playoffs. Edmonton is in a dogfight in the Pacific Division with the the Vegas Golden Knights, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes. With a quarter of the season to go any one of those teams could realistically finish the season as division champions or as low as fifth place in the eight-team division.

The San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings and  Anaheim Ducks occupy the bottom three spots in the Pacific and would need to catch fire down the stretch to have any hope of making the postseason. Draisaitl inked an eight-year deal with Edmonton in the summer of 2017 which sees him paid an average of $8.5 million a season. With five more years to go on the deal it looks like the Oilers have definitely signed themselves a bargain. But if Edmonton fails to make the playoffs this year it will be such a waste of a fantastic offensive season by Draisaitl.

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has come under fire recently, specifically by power forward Evander Kane of the San Jose Sharks. Kane was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for elbowing defenceman Neal Pionk of the Winnipeg Jets in the head on Feb. 14^th and was then handed a three-game suspension for the hit.

Kane took to his social media accounts soon after being suspended and laid into the Department of Player Safety and George Parros, the department’s head. Kane didn’t exactly say his actions didn’t warrant a suspension but he questioned why other acts of violence in the league have recently gone unpunished or why the punishment didn’t seem to fit the crime.

A week before the Kane incident, Arizona Coyotes’ Lawson Crouse elbowed Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins in the same manner and was given a two-minute penalty for roughing but received no additional punishment. In addition, Boston’s  veteran blue liner Zdeno Chara viciously cross checked Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadiens in the throat and was handed just a $5000 with no suspension.

Chara was given a minor penalty on the play but so was Gallagher, who did nothing more than absorb the dangerous cross-check. Several days after that incident, Edmonton Oilers’ forward Zack Kassian attempted to kick rearguard Erik Cernak of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the chest and was suspended for seven games.

Kane released a public statement which basically said there have been dozens of incidents in the league over the past few years which were similar to his elbowing penalty on Pionk but they didn’t result in any fines and/or suspensions. He added that the Department of Player Safety lacks consistency as nobody seems to know what exactly does and doesn’t deserve a suspension.

Kane went on to say the players are baffled and he doesn’t understand how the players’ association agreed to the current disciplinary process. He claimed that some players get the book thrown at them while others get a free pass when committing borderline punishable hits. Kane then appeared to get plenty of fan support for his comments from others on social media platforms.

Some fans have questioned why Parros is in charge of player safety since he was an enforcer and fighter when he played. He scored 18 goals and 18 assists in 474 regular-season NHL contests and accumulated 1,092 minutes in penalties while playing an average of 5 minutes and 56 seconds per game. In fact, Parros also started a line of clothing called the Violent Gentlemen Apparel Company with one of it’s slogans being, “Make hockey violent again.”

It’s believed by many that Parros and his department aren’t being as strict as they should be and that’s why some players are getting away with violent conduct, which is leading to inconsistency when it comes to doling out punishment. In addition, the NHL Players’ Association represents players who have been suspended and want to appeal their sentence but the association doesn’t launch appeals on behalf of players who have been the victims of on-ice violence and have suffered from it.

According to Kane, the entire disciplinary process should be decided by an outside third party not the league itself. He believes that punishment should be handled by somebody who has no current or previous ties with the NHL and many fans seem to agree with him.

The NHL just wrapped up its All Star Weekend at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri on January 25^th with the Pacific Division edging the Atlantic Division 5-4 in the three-on-three tournament. The Pacific doubled the Central Division 10-5 in their opening game while the Atlantic downed the Metropolitan Division 9-5.

Boston Bruins’ forward David Pastrnak chipped in with a goal and assist in the final game for the Atlantic Division after notching three goals and an assist in his first contest to take home the MVP Award. Tomas Hertl scored the game-winner in the final with just 2:36 remaining on the clock as the Pacific squad fought back to claim the million dollar prize after falling behind 3-1 in the first period.

The Pacific Division also won the event in 2018 and 2016 while the Metropolitan Division captured the prize in 2019 and 2017. Next year’s All Star Weekend will be held in Sunrise, Florida, at the home rink of the Florida Panthers. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league may alter the format in 2021 and one possibility could see North American players taking on players from other nations.

The current format features teams from each of the league’s four divisions playing three-on-three games that are 20 minutes long with two periods of 10 minutes each. Each team plays the other squad in their conference with the two winners meeting in the final tilt. The NHL also holds a popular skills competition the night before the games are held.

Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders won the fastest skater event as he strode a lap of the rink in 13.175 seconds. The Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid, who won the competition the last three years, came second at 13.215 seconds. McDavid’s best time in the three previous seasons was 13.310 so Barzal did well and also improved on his 13.780 third-place finish of last year. Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers finished third in the eight-man event this weekend at 13.509 seconds.

In the goaltenders’ save streak competition, Jordan Binnington of the hometown St. Louis Blues came out on top with 10 consecutive saves. Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning was second with nine and Frederik Andersen of the Toronto Maple Leafs placed third with seven.

Defenceman Jacob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes won the shooting accuracy event by nailing all of the targets in a time of 9.505 seconds and was followed by Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers at 10.257 seconds and Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers at 13.074 seconds.

As far as the hardest shot event goes, blue liner Shea Weber of the Montreal Canadiens blasted a 106.mph slap shot to earn the league’s hardest shooter bragging rights. Fellow defenceman John Carlson placed second at 104.5 mph while forward Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks was third at 102.4 mph.

The league introduced a new competition this year called shooting stars in which players shoot several pucks from a platform located high in the stands behind one of the end zones. The object is to hit targets that have been place in various locations on the ice. The inaugural winner was forward Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks with 24 points.

Kane and Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs finished the event with 22 points each with Kane then scoring two points in a one-shot tie-breaking round. Matthew Tkachuk of the Calgary Flames came in third place with 20 points. In addition, the league held a three-on-three, 20 minute women’s game between the USA and Canada with the Canadians coming out on top by a score of 2-1.

It’s nothing new for NHL coaches to be fired midway through a season but the 2019/20 campaign has been especially harsh on bench bosses so far. We’re just three weeks into the new year but a total of seven head coaches have been relieved of their duties since the puck dropped on the season in early October. The latest to be let go was Gerard Gallant of the Vegas Golden Knights as he was sent packing on January 15^th after his club lost its fourth straight game.

Gallant was the Golden Knights’ first and only coach and guided the franchise to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season in 2017/18, losing to the Washington Capitals in five games. He was also named the NHL’s coach of the year that season for his work behind the bench. That didn’t help him hang onto his job though as he was replaced by Peter DeBoer, who was fired as head coach of the San Jose Sharks earlier this season.

Five head coaches have been let go due to the performance of their teams while Bill Peters was basically forced to resign from the Calgary Flames when he admitted to using racist language in the minor leagues a decade earlier. It was also revealed that Peters punched and kicked players on the bench when he was coaching in the NHL with the Carolina Hurricanes.

In addition, the Dallas Stars sacked head coach Jim Montgomery this season for what the club called unprofessional conduct. It’s believed Montgomery is now undergoing rehabilitation for alcohol abuse. Peters was replaced by Geoff Ward and Montgomery’s job was given to Rick Bowness.

It appears NHL owners aren’t afraid to fire coaches mid-season due to the recent success of coaching changes. For example, the St. Louis Blues relieved Mike Yeo of his post last season and replaced him with Craig Berube. The club sank to the bottom of the league ladder a couple of months later but then stormed all the way back to win the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup.

Mike Sullivan took over as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in December, 2015 and then led the team to two consecutive Stanley Cups. Darryl Sutter was hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings in December of 2011 and ended up winning the Stanley Cup that season and again in 2013/14.

Other head coaches to lose their jobs this season include Mike Babcock of the Toronto Maple Leafs, John Hynes of the New Jersey Devils and Peter Laviolette of the Nashville Predators. Like DeBoer though, Hynes has landed on his feet and is already back in the NHL as head coach of Nashville. Sheldon Keefe took over in Toronto, Alain Nasreddine in New Jersey and Bob Boughner in San Jose.

In total, there are 14 of 31 NHL coaches who are in their first year with their team this season and Berube has been with St. Louis for just 14 months. Just three coaches have been with the same club since 2015/16.  Jon Cooper has been with the Tampa Bay Lightning since March, 2013 while Paul Maurice has coached the Winnipeg Jets since January, 2014 and Jeff Blashill was hired by the Detroit Red Wings in the summer of 2015.

Making the playoffs is definitely harder for NHL coaches these days since 16 of 21 teams made the postseason back in 1987 and in 2019/20 16 of 31 clubs will make the playoffs. Soon it will be 16 of 32 franchises as Seattle is set to enter the league in 2021/22. With so many head coaches losing their jobs this year NHL teams may soon realize it’s not in their best interests to sign coaches to long-term deals anymore.

Babcock is a prime example of what can happen when coaches are signed to multi-season contracts as the Maple Leafs are still obligated to pay him for another three-and-a-half-years or until he takes another job. But if he’s raking in an average of $6.25 million on his eight-year deal there’s probably not much to motivate him into looking for a new job.

After quite a slow start to the 2019/20 NHL season the Tampa Bay Lightning eventually caught fire and recently reeled off a franchise-tying 10-game winning streak. They equalled the club high mark with a 1-0 away win over the Philadelphia Flyers on January 11^th but saw the streak end with a 3-1 defeat in New Jersey to the Devils the next. The Lightning outscored their opponents 42-17 during the streak with nine of those goals coming in a 9-2 drubbing of the Vancouver Canucks.

Tampa Bay set their club record of 10 consecutive victories just last year when they were red hot between February 9^th and 27^th. Their recent streak equals this season’s NHL high mark as the New York Islanders also won 10 straight games earlier in the campaign from October 12^th to November 5^th. The Lightning are now the fourth club in NHL history to win at least 10 games in a row in two consecutive seasons.

The Columbus Blue Jackets achieved the feat in 2016/17 and 2017/18 while the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled it off in three straight seasons in 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13 and the Philadelphia Flyers managed it in 1984/85 and 1985/86. Tampa’s loss in New Jersey snapped a five-game winning streak on the road but they’re still an impressive 8-2-1 in their last 11 away outings. The five-match road winning streak also equalled the second-longest road winning string in the NHL this season.

Tampa hadn’t given up a goal in 169:05 minutes of action until New Jersey scored in the second period of their game and fell just short of their franchise best of 184:06 which was set last February 12^th to 18^th. The Lightning also scored 13 straight goals before New Jersey tallied which meant they also fell short in their attempt to tie their franchise record of 14 consecutive goals which was also set lest February.

The recent hot streak has seen Tampa Bay soar up the standings in the Atlantic Division where they currently sit in second place with a record of 27-14-4 after 46 games. They trail the first-place Boston Bruins by seven points with a game in hand and have a four-point lead over the third-place Toronto Maple Leafs also with a game in hand.

Collectively, the Lightning have scored the fourth-most goals in the league at 162 and their 130 goals against ranks ninth best. The club’s special teams have also been pulling their weight as their power play is ranked second in the league behind the Edmonton Oilers at 27.8 per cent and the penalty killing is tied for fourth best with the Dallas Stars at 83.5 per cent.

Individually, right-winger Nikita Kucherov (last year’s Art Ross Trophy winner as the NHL’s top scorer), leads the way with 17 goals and 49 points and is followed by centre Steven Stamkos at 17 goals and 44 points. Defenceman Victor Hedman is next with nine goals and 41 points while centre Brayden Point has notched 18 goals and 40 points and centre Alex Kilorn has chipped in with 18 goals and 37 points.

The Lightning have also been getting solid goaltending from Andrei Vasilevskiy as he’s 22-9-2 with a goals-against average of 2.58 with a 91.5 save percentage. Veteran backup netminder Curtis McElhinney hasn’t been quite as sharp and is 5-5-2 with a 3.10 GAA and a 90.4 save percentage. The Lightning have recorded just two shutouts this season with Vasilevskiy posting both of them in the ninth and 10^th games of their recent winning streak.

But even with the team’s recent hot run, the Lightning can’t afford to take the foot off the gas since they have just a five-point lead over the Florida Panthers and the last playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. They are also only two points in front of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference wild-card playoff race as of January 13^th with each team having 37 games remaining in the regular season.

The final of the 2020 Under-20 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships came down to Canada and Russia in Ostrava, Czech Republic on January 5^th with the Canadian coming out on top by a score of 4-3. Meanwhile, Sweden captured the bronze medal with a narrow 3-2 victory over Finland in the third-place matchup which was the same result when the two teams met in group play earlier in the tournament. Finland entered the championships as the defending champion.

Russia made it to the final after an exciting come-from-behind 5-4 win over Sweden in the semifinals while Canada blanked Finland 5-0 in their final-four showdown. Sweden’s Samuel Fagemo, a 2019 second-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, led the way in scoring with with eight goals and five helpers for 13 points in seven contests. Nineteen-year-old Rasmus Sandin, of the Toronto Maple Leafs was named best defenceman of the tournament as the Swede finished it with a position-high three goals and seven assists for 10 points.

Sandin was also named to the event’s All-Star Team along with fellow blue liner Alexander Romanov of Russia. Joel Hofer of Canada was named the All-Star Team’s goaltender while the forwards were Fagemo along with Barrett Hayton and Alexis Lafrenière of Canada. Lafrenière was also named the tournament’s most valuable player as he notched four goals and six assists for 10 points in five outings. The 18-year-old Lafrenière of Saint-Eustache, Quebec currently plays with Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and missed two games for Canada due to injury.

Lafrenière was named the Rookie of the Year in the QMJHL last season and also made the league’s first All-Star Team as he racked up 32 goals and 48 assists for 80 points in 60 games and added four goals and seven points in seven playoff contests. He then followed up with 105 points in his second junior campaign on 37 goals and 68 assists in 61 games with another nine goals and 23 points in 13 postseason appearances. The 6-foot-1-inch, 192 lb left-winger is expected to go first overall in the 2020 NHL Draft  in June and also captained Canada to the gold medal at the 2018 Under-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

Canada captured their leading 18^th  World Junior gold medal and 32^nd overall against Russia at this year’s event with fourth-liner and Los Angeles Kings’ prospect Akil Thomas scoring the game-winner with 3:58 remaining in the third period. The goal, which was Thomas’s first and only of the tournament, capped off an impressive comeback as Russia held a 3-1 lead just six minutes and 42 seconds earlier. It was the fifth time in nine tries that the Canadians have beaten Russia for the gold medal since 1996  and it came after being thrashed 6-0 by the Russians in group play a week earlier.

The loss means Russia hasn’t won a gold medal at the prestigious event since 2011 and the nation has now lost four straight finals since then. It was an eventful tournament for Canada and head coach Dale Hunter as it was the country’s first medal since taking gold in 2018. They finished sixth place at home last year after losing to Finland in the quarterfinals. In addition, their 6-0 defeat to Russia in the group stage was Canada’s worst loss in the 44-year history of the tournament.