Keeping busy means many random hockey thoughts. Specially during the first week of the young season. Thankfully, I have a pen and paper to save my thoughts and present them to you for some bonus "I'm Just Sayin'"
I'm Just Sayin'
* Favorite comment about Connor Bedard: "Is this guy for real?" Maven's answer: "Real-er than Real!"
* Pardon my skepticism but I'm still waiting for Shane Wright to live up to his press notices.
* And I'm getting tired of waiting; if you really want to know.
* Before he was drafted fourth overall in 2022, Wright made it sound as if he was the greatest thing since Vaseline. (P.S. For the second straight year Wright was wrong. He was just demoted to the AHL Firebirds.
* The Maple Leafs paid for a great player and instead they got a good -- sometimes very good -- player in John Tavares.
* If Toronto's captain -- a mistake if there ever was one, giving him the "C" -- lives up to his salary this year and into the playoffs, Sheldon Keefe will be carrying the Cup.
* Framly, I was stunned by Derek Stepan's way-too-soon retirement announcement.
* Holy Moly! It seems like only the day-before-yesterday that Step broke in so smartly with the Rangers.
* Face it. Whether Stepan was on your team or not, you just had to love the guy.
* In case you're interested -- and you should be -- Mark Stone at 14 and Jack Eichel at 15 are the only Vegas champs to make The Hockey News' "Top 50 Players" list.
* That's not the stunner; here's the astonishing fact: The Champs didn't have a scorer in the top 70 in the NHL. (Thank you Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun.)
* Faschinating." That's how The Maven describes Hudson Fasching's Isles contract . At this time last year Mister Keen, Tracer Of Lost Persons couldn't find him.
* I'm all in favor of romanticizing The Original Six. I loved every second of hockey in that era. But Red Wings Executive V.P. Jimmy Devellano makes a good point about the 1942-67 epoch:
* "The NHL was a 3-team league," says Jimmy D, "because Montreal and Toronto had massive recruiting advantages being in Canada. The only American team that could win was Detroit."
* Some time in mid-season Gary Bettman should be honored when he passes Clarence Campbell as the longest-running head of big-league hockey and any other major pro sport.
* All you had to know to understand why Bettman -- far and away -- has been the NHL's best leader consider the following regarding last week's Board of Governors (owners) meeting.
* Simply put, the NHL never has been in better shape -- money-wise, skill-wise, thrill-wise and otherwise!
* You have to like NHL Network's adds: Brian Boyle, Scott Hartnell, Devan Dubnyk, and Honest Tom Hickey. And every one of them is a terrific guy away from the cameras.
* Logan Cooley has enough raw talent to lift Arizona into a playoff berth. The kid has smarts on top of his smarts.
* Taylor Hall did not need analytics to back up this quote: "Connor Bedard already is such a pro!"
* Nor does Sid Crosby need graphs to back up his crack: "I still can compete against the best."
* You'll know when Sid-No-Longer-The-Kid is fading. When foe fans stop hating him.
* The real issue with Tampa Bay is how much of a gamble GM Julien BriseBois is willing to take to fortify his goaltending NOW.
* I say gamble on a solid, available vet like Jaro Halak and see what happens.
* Something tells me that the Rangers are sorry they signed Jonathan Quick.
* If I'm a Colorado fan, I wouldn't take aspirins over Devon Toews' bid for a contract extension.
* But if I'm GM Chris MacFarland and Toews demands eight years, I'd say NUTS to that.
* I love Marty St. Louis as a coach but I fear that his Habs have the worst goalie crew in the league.
* Nobody has done more to turn a town into a hockey city than David Poile for Nashville. One of the Game's true gentleman-scholars, David will be honored at the Preds November 22 home game.
* I bet it'll take you more than ten seconds to name the least-known NHL coach. My choice is the competent Andre Tourigny, starting his third year behind the Coyotes' bench.