After 15 days and 105 games, the 2022 NHL pre-season is now in the books.
On the surface, the games resemble the regular season. But the rosters are dotted with unfamiliar names, the stars often operate at half-efforts and the neutral-site games played in cities like Milwaukee and Belleville aren’t recorded by NHL’s regular stats teams.
So, we come out of the exhibition schedule with bare-bones numbers — wins and losses, goals and points, special-teams success rates and penalty minutes. It makes the view inside the crystal ball decidedly murky when searching for insight into how the regular season will unfold.
Bearing that in mind, here are some pre-season numbers of note.
THE PREDATORS WIN THE PRE-SEASON PRESIDENTS’ TROPHY
Their sample size was small because of their participation in the NHL Global Series, but the Nashville Predators finished with the best points percentage in the pre-season. In four games against NHL opponents, they went 3-0-1 for 1.75 points per game. Then, they went 3-0-0 in Europe, beating SC Bern 4-3 in an exhibition match in Switzerland before sweeping the San Jose Sharks in Prague in the first two regular-season games of the year.
With just five goals allowed in their four official pre-season contests, the Preds’ goals-against average of 1.25 was the lowest in the league. They were also the only perfect team on the penalty kill, going 15-for-15.
It’s been a stellar start for a club that’s looking to erase the memory of its first-round sweep by the Colorado Avalanche last spring — and some new faces look to be fitting in seamlessly. With three goals in Prague, Nino Niederreiter has launched himself in the pole position for the Rocket Richard Trophy, while Kevin Lankinen’s early play is suggesting that the Preds have found a good fit for their backup goalie.
Continued steady play from Lankinen should allow coach John Hynes to dial back the workload for starter Juuse Saros, who led the league in minutes played last season.
MARCO ROSSI, YEGOR CHINAKHOV LIGHT THE LAMP
Generally speaking, top stars put it on cruise control in the pre-season. So it shouldn’t be surprising that two 21-year-olds finished up at the top of the exhibition scoring race.
Marco Rossi, the Minnesota Wild’s ninth-overall pick from the 2020 draft, led all players with nine points in six games. His seven assists were also tops in the pre-season, so he looks set to start with the big club after playing his first two NHL games last year.
Rossi’s early success is a feel-good story, as the skilled Austrian forward looks to be back in top form after missing almost his entire draft-plus-one year as he struggled to work through severe complications from COVID-19.
Over in Columbus, Igor Chinakhov’s six goals in six pre-season games with the Blue Jackets nearly matches his output from his entire rookie season. He had seven goals and seven assists in 62 NHL games.
The 21st-overall pick from 2020 added muscle during his off-season training and was brimming with confidence when he came into camp. With the Blue Jackets deep on the wings, Chinakhov has outplayed his competition and earned himself a spot in Columbus’ top nine.
THE RACE FOR BEDARD IS ALREADY ON
Pre-season outcomes don’t officially impact draft lottery order. But that hasn’t stopped some of the frontrunners in next summer’s Connor Bedard sweepstakes from staking an early claim near the bottom of the standings.
The three teams with this fall’s worst exhibition records look a lot like the ones we might see contending for that No. 1 draft pick at season’s end:
Arizona Coyotes: 0-6-1 (1 point, 0.14 points per game)
Not yet moved into the new Mullett Arena at Arizona State University, the vagabond Arizona Coyotes didn’t register a win in pre-season.
They kept their first five games close, and got to overtime against the Dallas Stars in Tulsa, Okla. on Sept. 27. But the last two games on their exhibition schedule — a back-to-back set against the Canucks in Vancouver and the Golden Knights in Boise, Idaho — were both four-goal losses.
Barrett Hayton, the 2018 fifth-overall pick, stood out with six points in five games. But the Coyotes were shorthanded a league-high 38 times in the pre-season. That could be a sign that they’re struggling to keep up with the opponents’ pace of play.
Montreal Canadiens: 0-6-2 (2 points, 0.25 points per game)
Youth is at the forefront in Montreal. But after a last-place finish in the 2021-22 season, there’s no forward momentum yet from a Canadiens group that could muster a single pre-season win.
Cole Caufield has been his usual reliable self, putting up four goals in five games. And 2020 16th-overall pick Kaiden Guhle looks like he’s set to make the jump straight from junior to the Montreal blueline.
Could he be joined by Arber Xhekaj, the undrafted 21-year-old whose 6-foot-4 frame and intimidating physical presence have gotten tongues wagging?
Montreal gave up a league-high 31 goals in pre-season, and their 3.88 goals allowed per game is almost identical to last season’s league-worst 3.87.
Martin St-Louis and Kent Hughes have injected optimism into the Habs since joining the organization last year, but wins could still be hard to come by this season.
Chicago Blackhawks: 0-5-1 (2 points, 0.33 points per game)
The rebuild is on in Chicago, but Luke Richardson’s stripped-down roster has nothing going offensively. The Blackhawks finished the pre-season with just six goals in their six games — and four of them came in their 4-2 road win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sept. 28.
Chicago went 1-for-26 on the power play for a league-worst 3.8 percent success rate, was shut out in three of its last four pre-season games, and only Jujhar Khaira and Sam Lafferty managed more than one pre-season point — they each had two.
It’s all part of the master plan, but the biggest win in Chicago this year could be the haul the Blackhawks bring back when they trade Patrick Kane.
