The NHL hit the halfway point on Thursday night, though not every team has played 41 games. Here are the surprises, disappointments, award leaders and other categories from the first half of the 2024-25 season:
Best story: Columbus Blue Jackets. They’re sitting in an Eastern Conference wild-card spot, despite dealing with the offseason death of Johnny Gaudreau. Injured captain Boone Jenner hasn’t played this season. Defenseman Zach Werenski, Kirill Marchenko and newcomer Sean Monahan are helping carry the load. And when Monahan went on the injured list this week, the Blue Jackets crushed the Seattle Kraken 6-2 in their first game without him.
Most impressive story: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals. After a so-so (for him) 31-goal season in 2023-24, he needed to total 42 goals between this season and next to break Wayne Gretzky’s career goal record. But he got off to a red-hot start with 15 goals in 18 games before breaking his leg and missing 16 games. He’s back and up to 19 goals now, putting him on pace to break the record this season.
Biggest surprise: Vegas Golden Knights. They appeared due for a dropoff after losing Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, Logan Thompson and others during the offseason. But they’re leading the league in points. Jack Eichel is on pace for his first 100-point season, which is a good sign for Team USA at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.
Biggest disappointment (tie): New York Rangers, Nashville Predators. The Rangers have dropped from first overall in 2023-24 to 24th overall and went through a slump that led to trades of Jacob Trouba and Kaapo Kakko. The Predators added Steven Stamkos and fellow 40-goal scorer Marchessault in the offseason but have dropped from a 2023-24 playoff team to 30th overall.
MVP: Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers. He’s the first player to 30 goals this season and nine of those are game-winners, including four in overtime. He’s second in points (61), is tied for second in plus-minus (+24) and wins 56.6% of his faceoffs.
Goaltender: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets. The two-time (and reigning) Vezina Trophy winner has 25 wins in 33 starts, both league bests. He’s also tops in the league among No. 1 goalies in goals-against average and save percentage. Also a good sign for Team USA.
Defenseman: Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets. He’s tied for the goal lead among defensemen with 13, and his 48 points are one behind leader Cale Makar, who has played one more game. Werenski also leads in average ice time (26:30) and has had a five-point and a four-point game this season. Also a good sign for Team USA.
Rookie: Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks. He had a goal and an assist in his debut, then missed the rest of October. Despite that, he’s just two points out of the rookie scoring lead while averaging nearly a point a game.
Coach: Spencer Carbery, Washington Capitals. The Capitals added a lot of players in the offseason and Carbery has them fitting together. That includes Pierre-Luc Dubois, who struggled last season in Los Angeles. The Capitals have the league’s second-best record and went 10-5-1 while Ovechkin was out. Washington, which had a minus-37 goal differential last season in Carbery’s first season, is at plus-41. Columbus coach Dean Evason also gets a nod.
Best goal, Nazem Kadri, Calgary Flames. He leaped a fallen Tampa Bay Lightning defender, kept his balance, spun and ripped a shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Best save: Jacob Markstrom, New Jersey Devils. Markstrom robbed the Kraken twice in the same game.
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