It is hard to believe, but the opening of the NHL regular season is just a week away. That means we’re nearing the end of another blistering preseason schedule, and may have learned a thing or two about teams as they experiment in camp.
In preparation for the start of the season next week, I wanted to isolate five must-know statistics from the September slate of games. Enjoy!
1. Danil Gushchin’s four goals
Sometimes all you need is lightning in a bottle to crack an NHL lineup, and Gushchin may be the best example of that this preseason. The 20-year-old San Jose Sharks winger and former third-round pick in the 2020 draft spent last season scoring at will with the Niagara IceDogs, and he hasn’t slowed down into camp. Gushchin is the only skater with four goals this preseason, playing a chunk of his minutes with journeymen Andrew Agozzino and Max Veronneau. Keep an eye on Gushchin – scoring bursts like this, even if fleeting, can be rocket fuel for coaches who want to experiment with lines and arm scorers with better playmaking talent.
2. Big ice time for Bean, Brannstrom
Jake Bean is a 24-year-old defenseman with a first-round draft pedigree. Erik Brannstrom is a 23-year-old with first-round pedigree. The circumstances are quite different, but the Columbus Blue Jackets need to see a big season from a prospective defensive anchor in Bean the same way the Ottawa Senators need to see Brannstrom establish himself as an NHL-ready two-way defender, one who could entrench himself on a bottom-four pairing and trusted defensively.
Both players have been put through the ringer this preseason – Bean (18:01) and Brannstrom (17.45 ice time per game) have been two of the three most-utilized defenders at even strength. In Columbus, Brad Larsen has put Bean with Nick Blankenburg and Marcus Bjork; Ottawa has played with Brannstrom Nikita Zaitsev and Maxence Guenette.
So far, the goals haven’t been shaken out in Bean’s (0-2; -2) or Brannstrom’s (1-4; -3) favor.
3. Chytil’s shot attempts
It is not lost on me that Rangers center Filip Chytil was on a short list of potential breakout candidates based on his statistical profile last season. To recap, he and his line were generating much more offense than what would’ve been obvious from his goal and assist totals, and those scoring opportunities will remain as long as Chytil’s line keeps pressuring the interior of defenses.
In three preseason appearances this year, Chytil has generated 18 shot attempts (tied for second among forwards through Saturday), and the Rangers line has outshot opponents 54-26 (+28). Notably, Chytil’s played most of his minutes with two quality distributors and playmakers: Vitaly Kravtsov and Artemi Panarin.
4. The Hurricanes’ offense is humming
Carolina has quietly turned the territorial dominance they have seemingly had for years into meaningful offense – last season, the Hurricanes finished seventh in even-strength scoring (3.23 goals per 60 minutes), a cut above a team the caliber of the Tampa Bay Lightning and enough to bury average teams quickly.
It also serves as a reminder that when a team is generating shot volume at this velocity and from these areas, they are doubly dangerous (via HockeyViz):
If this preseason is any indication, Carolina is picking up right where they left off. The Hurricanes have scored 14 goals in their opening three games, the highest rate in the league, and that’s backed up by 3.8 expected goals per 60 minutes played, also the highest number in the league. Veteran Andrei Svechnikov and the recently acquired Brent Burns each have a pair of goals so far.
5. Demers is struggling
I have been curious to see how Edmonton receives the veteran Demers, a camp invite who was the prototypical defensive defenseman in his prime.
Five years ago, Demers would have been the perfect fit – and perhaps even the missing piece on the blue-line – to stabilize an Edmonton team that still needs some defensive help. But Demers is 34 years old and coming off a back surgery that saw him miss all of last season.
It’s hard to know how patient the Oilers will be with Demers, who clearly is going to need time to see if he can still be a reliable defensive option deeper down Edmonton’s defensive depth chart – time, unfortunately, the Oilers do not have.
The preseason numbers haven’t been good: the Oilers have been outshot 69-32 (-37) with Demers on the ice, playing primarily with Markus Niemelainen as his partner.
Data via Natural Stat Trick, NHL.com, Hockey Reference, Hockey Viz, Evolving Hockey