Which players have the biggest chips on their shoulders entering next season, and why?
It’s still the off-season, but 2018-19 has crept onto the horizon. Training camps are just a few weeks away. Players are back on the ice ramping up their workouts. Which NHLers are gritting their teeth a little harder than the rest? Which have the most to prove entering next season? Here are my chip-on-the-shoulder top five, in alphabetical order.
JACK EICHEL, BUFFALO SABRES
Ryan O’Reilly has been traded out of town. There’s no 1 and 1A center in Buffalo anymore. This is Eichel’s team. Three seasons into his career, he’s shown plenty of the promise that accompanied his No. 2 overall draft status in 2015, when he was hyped as a borderline generational talent behind Connor McDavid. In Eichel’s three seasons, however, the Sabres have gone from 81 to 78 to 62 points in the standings. He’s also missed 36 games over the past two seasons with two high ankle sprains, which have capped his career bests at 25 goals and 64 points. Meanwhile, McDavid has two 100-point seasons, an MVP and two scoring titles, while Auston Matthews has a 40-goal season, a Calder Trophy and two playoff berths. Eichel lags behind the two players to which he’s compared most.
It’s time for Eichel to bust out and have that 40-goal, 80-point season. No more excuses. Sabres GM Jason Botterill has added a ton of talent this off-season, from Jeff Skinner to Patrik Berglund to Vladimir Sobotka to Conor Sheary up front to Carter Hutton in goal, and the Sabres have two legit Calder Trophy hopefuls in Casey Mittelstadt and first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin. Eichel is set up for success better now than at any other point in his young career. Look for him to do what Nathan MacKinnon did last year.
DOUGIE HAMILTON, CAROLINA HURRICANES
The eyes deceive us. He may not appear to play with urgency, but the advanced stats tell us Dougie Hamilton is a dominant defenseman at both ends of the ice. Still, he’s long carried a reputation as being a square peg in a round hole in most NHL dressing rooms, as he reportedly keeps to himself more than most and enjoys intellectual activities. Trade rumors shadowed him in Boston until he got dealt. Then the rumors seemed to resume the minute he became a Calgary Flame. Now, Hamilton is a Carolina Hurricane. He’s capable of posting Norris Trophy-caliber numbers and has plenty of motivation to make the Flames regret dealing him away.
MATT MURRAY, PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Life seemed easy for Murray the moment he turned pro. He was a legendary AHL goalie, setting a league record with a 304-minute shutout streak. He broke into the NHL, won a Stanley Cup before even losing Calder Trophy eligibility, then won a second Cup in his “rookie” season. He roared into the league like Ken Dryden.
But everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Murray last season. He endured multiple injury-related absences, the most notable from a concussion, which cost him nine games. His father also passed away in the middle of the season, forcing him to take leave from the Penguins. Given what Murray went through on and off the ice, it’s no wonder his save percentage plummeted to .907, ranking him 38th among the 49 qualified NHL leaders.
Entering his second season since safety net Marc-Andre Fleury left and now crownless for the first time, Murray should be as motivated as any goalie in the league to rebound. He’s still just 24 years old – younger than Connor Hellebuyck and two months older than Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Penguins badly need Murray to be a star-caliber netminder again, as they remain squarely in their win-now Stanley Cup window.
MAX PACIORETTY, MONTREAL CANADIENS
Before and after he wasn’t traded at the 2018 deadline, Canadiens captain Pacioretty insisted he didn’t ask to be dealt and that he loves Montreal. He’s devoted to the city. But the trade talk persisted nonetheless entering the summer with Pacioretty embarking on the final season of his contract, and news broke in mid-July that the Canadiens would not negotiate an extension with him. Not exactly the smartest way to create leverage with suitors, but I digress.
Pacioretty, then, should have as much fire in his belly as any player in the league right now. In a contract year, he’ll want to bounce back from a horrible 17-goal campaign after four straight 30-goal efforts. He’ll want to showcase himself as a trade candidate – or maybe even play so well that he’ll change Montreal’s mind about re-signing him. For a litany of reasons, 2018-19 sets up as a crucial season for ‘Patches.’
FILIP ZADINA, DETROIT RED WINGS
Most rookies need to manage their expectations if they jump to the NHL as teenagers. Not Zadina. If he makes the Red Wings, he has every intention of lighting up the scoresheet. Openly angry that he fell to the sixth overall pick in June’s draft after most prognosticators had him going third or fourth, Zadina spoke out against the teams that passed on him, vowing to “fill their nets with pucks.” It just happens two of those teams, the Habs and Ottawa Senators, share a division with Detroit, so he’ll have many chances. If he makes the team, he gets his first crack at revenge Oct. 15 when Detroit visits the Bell Centre in Montreal. That’ll be appointment viewing.