Four NHL players had particularly strong weeks before heading to the Olympics. One Team Canada center, however, will want results in Milan.
It doesn't really matter what any Olympic men's hockey player has done this season when judging their performance in Italy.
What does matter is whether they are on a hot or cold streak over the next two weeks for their national team. Every player will play a role in whether a team stands on the podium or heads home early.
A handful of NHL players at the Olympics will look to carry over a hot streak into the tournament, while one injury replacement on Team Canada will hope to leave an off week in the past.
Here are five NHL players on Olympic teams who were hot or cold before heading to Milan.
Hot: Mark Stone, RW, Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights went 3-5-2 heading into the Olympic break, but they did win their last two games.
Stone scored the game-winning goal in a three-point night in one of them, and he recorded two assists in the other.
In his past three games, he's posted six assists and seven points while averaging 19:08 of ice time.
Stone now has 39 assists and 60 points in 41 games.
His robust physical game has made it difficult for him to play an 82-game season – he hasn't appeared in more than 66 games since 2018-19. But he's still one of the premier power forwards in the game, and he will be a key component of Team Canada's blueprint for Olympic success.
Stone had one goal in four games of the 4 Nations Face-Off last year, but in the 2019 World Championship, he went off for eight goals and 14 points in 10 games. Canada will be leaning on him to play a physical game with some timely scoring, and so long as he stays healthy, you shouldn't bet against him doing that.
Cold: Sam Bennett, C, Florida Panthers
As an injury replacement for Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli, Bennett brings edge and snarl to Team Canada.
But in a season that hasn't gone as he'd hoped, Bennett has not performed especially well lately.
In his last three games with the Panthers, Bennett was held off the scoresheet completely and was a minus-two.
Bennett isn't having an abysmal year on offense, with 23 assists and 42 points in 57 games. If he stays healthy, he's on pace for 27 goals and 60 points in 82 games, which would be slightly better than his 25 goals and 51 points in 76 games from last season. But he hasn't taken the step up the way people expected him to when Aleksander Barkov suffered a season-ending injury in September.
Like Stone, Bennett plays a ferocious physical game, and while he doesn't need to be Florida's leading scorer, his hard-nosed approach makes him valuable, not just for the Panthers but for Canada as well.
Hot: Matt Boldy, LW, Minnesota Wild
At 24 years old, Boldy is only scratching the surface of what he can be at the top levels of the sport. He's going to be a fixture on the Wild and on Team USA for years to come.
At the 4 Nations Face-Off, Boldy put up two assists and three points in four games – and last week, Boldy produced three goals and six points in only two games with the Wild.
Boldy has 32 goals this year – tying him for the third-most in the NHL – and 62 points in 54 games. He's on pace to demolish his career highs of 31 goals and 73 points. With a salary of $7 million for this season and each of the next four, Boldy is turning out to be one of the best bargains in the NHL.
The American Olympic team is full of dynamic young players, and Boldy is one of their biggest threats.
Hot: Roman Josi, D, Nashville Predators
The Predators have been a pleasant surprise this season, but the continued terrific play of Josi is hardly a surprise anymore.
The 35-year-old posted five assists and six points in three games for the Preds last week, giving him 28 assists and 39 points in 45 games this season.
The Predators need all the help they can get from him if they're going to make up the four-point gap between them and the Anaheim Ducks, which sit in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
But for now, Josi's focus shifts to the underdog Swiss team.
In 70 career games representing his country at the Olympics and World Championships, Josi has 33 assists and 45 points. He's helped the country win silver three times at the worlds.
Hot: Teddy Blueger, C, Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks' playoff hopes died a while ago, but in a small sample size this season, Blueger has produced meaningful numbers, including three assists and four points in only two games with Vancouver last week.
Injuries have limited Blueger to only 10 games this season, but in that span, he's produced five goals and eight points.
That type of production will make Blueger, 31, a sought-after player when he becomes a UFA this summer. And if he steps up for Latvia at the Olympics, Blueger is going to give himself more leverage in the free-agent market.
At the 2019 World Championship, Blueger recorded three assists and four points in seven games. If he can do something similar at the Olympics, Latvians will be thrilled with him. And he may be dealt at this year's trade deadline, so a strong Olympics will only help the Canucks get something meaningful for him.
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