Peter Klein continues his NHL Preview with a look at the players who will decide the NHL season. Which potential breakouts could lead to the biggest rewards?
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00:00Yes, every year there are a few players who kind of hold the fate of the NHL in their
00:13hands.
00:14And so again, this list isn't necessarily the best players or who's going to dominate
00:19the league.
00:20But these are five players who have a chance to swing how the National Hockey League goes
00:26this season.
00:27Coming in at number five, it's Jake Gensel.
00:30He or Stamkos have popped up on basically every list that we have done here so far.
00:41And that has been a bit surprising as I've been going through, but it's been the easy
00:46one.
00:47Just be like, oh yeah, nope, that guy.
00:48Lock that one in.
00:49There we go.
00:51Gensel, I do think is a good player.
00:54And I do think I have been a little bit hard on him in this.
00:56But I do think that the expectation that he will just fill in for Stephen Stamkos and
01:02everything will be fine after Stamkos had 40 goals in two of the last three seasons,
01:06I think is a little bit pie in the sky, so to speak, for this team.
01:13I think that Gensel is good.
01:16I think he has a few great qualities.
01:18I do not think that he is an overall great, like, difference maker type of a guy that
01:23Stamkos is.
01:25Now, if I'm wrong on that, then the Tampa Bay Lightning are a real threat again in the
01:30NHL, in their Eastern Conference.
01:34When you have Point and Kucherov still doing their thing, if Gensel can just go out there
01:40and just continue to light the lamp and maybe be an improvement over a Stephen Stamkos,
01:46then all of a sudden this Lightning team that felt like they were starting to fade away
01:50a little bit, all of a sudden they got something to say about everything in the Eastern Conference.
01:55I don't know if he alone and his play can help get them to a Stanley Cup, which is why
02:00I have them at 5, but I do think that he has an opportunity to really decide how things
02:04go in Tampa Bay, and that creates some opportunities for people in the, um, for other teams in
02:13the East, and some opportunities for some teams at the top of the East to move on maybe
02:17a little bit further.
02:18At 4, it's Elias Pettersson.
02:20He played at an unreal rate for a lot of last season, and that helped the Vancouver Canucks
02:26get to within a game of the Western Conference Final in the postseason.
02:30Now, this year, he is going to have to be great again.
02:34They are asking, I think, quite a bit of him with, um, the young Lakera Mackey playing
02:39on his line, at least to start.
02:41That's a player that I've said before that I like.
02:43Um, if he is able to get the most out of those guys again, Hoaglander and Lakera Mackey,
02:49then you have a Canucks team that, again, feels quite deep, and a Canucks team that
02:53feels quite dangerous.
02:55And one that, if the goalies are also healthy, so maybe this is a Elias Pettersson slash
03:00Thatcher Demko, because if those two guys are on, then within the range of outcomes
03:05for Vancouver is winning the Stanley Cup.
03:08Like, they can be that good.
03:10But if Elias Pettersson is almost anything under a Hart Trophy candidate, I do worry,
03:17and we talked about this the other day on Who's In, Who's Out NHL Playoff Edition,
03:21I do worry, oh, I forgot my dog was in here, that Pettersson and the Canucks maybe take
03:27a bit of a step back this year.
03:28And again, that now opens the door for a team like a Seattle, maybe an LA, to move up a
03:33little bit more.
03:35Probably not a Calgary.
03:36In the Pacific Division, Vegas takes over that opening from going from the wild card
03:41into a top three spot, and I think really shifts the dynamic out west.
03:46But, if Pettersson can get going, and kind of stay going, because he was very good last
03:51year, if he can be that guy, then I think Vancouver can be that team.
03:55At three, Capo Caco, with the New York Rangers.
03:59Last year we saw the Rangers take, I think, a pretty significant step forward because
04:03of Alexis Lafreniere.
04:05He was great in the playoffs at times where Panarin wasn't, and he was the star player
04:09at times where their other guys weren't, and that, I think, allowed the Rangers to
04:14rise up to another level.
04:16And while, again, love the talent on this Rangers team, with the aforementioned Lafreniere,
04:20I gush about Panarin any chance I get.
04:22Same thing with Zibinejad.
04:24In Calgary, we don't like Fox, but he's pretty good at hockey.
04:26You have one of the best goalies in the world back between the pipes as well.
04:30Kreider is just an absolute beast, and has people in various Canadian markets very upset
04:34with him over ways he has attacked goalies over the years, but is still quite talented
04:38at the sport of hockey.
04:39They have so many great pieces.
04:41It does kind of feel like if Kako can kind of turn into the guy we expected him to be
04:46when he was drafted very high by the Rangers a few years ago, then there is a very good
04:50opportunity for the Rangers to be a very legitimate Stanley Cup threat.
04:55They are right there.
04:57And I just feel like Kapo Kako can be that piece to carry them kind of over the finish
05:02line.
05:03And, uh, so that is why I have him on this list.
05:06At 2, it is Cole Caulfield.
05:10Maybe I should have him a little bit lower, because I don't think that he can alter the
05:13course of Montreal to the point where they are a Stanley Cup champion, uh, the way that
05:17I have just talked about the Rangers, and I have just talked about the Canucks, and
05:20I guess the Lightning to a certain degree.
05:22But I do think that Cole Caulfield has an opportunity to really help carry this Montreal
05:29team to the playoffs.
05:33And that is, I think, a pretty big step for them.
05:36And I think would be very intriguing.
05:38And now that they've gone out and added Lainey as well, if he can be the Lainey again, that
05:42we all think he can be, this is a really good, really exciting group.
05:45But they have needed that star for a little bit.
05:47If Cole Caulfield just turns into that guy, then this might be a Montreal team that takes
05:52more than a couple of steps this year.
05:54And again, I'm not saying Stanley Cup Final or Eastern Conference Final, even.
05:59But I do think that this is a team that has quite a bit of talent, and they are one that
06:03I think can cause some real problems out East.
06:06And we have already talked about, like, there are a lot of very good teams in the Eastern
06:10Conference.
06:11Probably a couple of them are going to miss the playoffs.
06:12And Montreal has an opportunity, I think, to dictate that a little bit as well.
06:17And coming in at number one, it is Mitch Marner.
06:21I think he has a way to decide this season, A, by just playing like Mitch Marner can.
06:27And just using everything that has happened this offseason as fuel, and just being like
06:31a, hey, fuck all y'all kind of a guy, and go out there and really light the lamp, and
06:37take over for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and be that dynamic offensive player that we all
06:41know he can be.
06:42I think he is legitimately one of the most talented guys in the NHL.
06:45If he can turn it on in the playoffs, if whatever thing that is on his shoulders, when it gets
06:52past the point of the regular season, and instead of game whatever of 82, it is just
06:56game one.
06:58Whatever thing that is holding him there, if he can turn, if he can just transfer regular
07:03season him into post-season him.
07:05And I get, you're, we're asking for something that hasn't really happened before.
07:09But if he can just do that, then this Leafs team, this last run with the Leafs, I jokingly
07:16said last dance the other day, I'm not going to do that anymore, because that is disrespectful
07:19to the last dance, because that was at the end of six championships for the Bulls, not
07:24six playoff game wins, or playoff game appearances for an NHL team.
07:28But, um, I do think that Mitch Marner has an opportunity, if he can just figure out
07:33the playoff part of it, and kind of drag a couple of his guys there, then this team can
07:37make some very substantial noise in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
07:42The other option, and the one that is a little bit more chaos, if he just decided, hey, you
07:48know what?
07:49I am going to waive it.
07:51Trade me.
07:52And then we have just mass everything going on across the NHL.
07:57And he is the one who can just kind of launch a smoke bomb into the entire trade frenzy
08:03thingy-mabob that is going on.
08:05And so I do not anticipate that option actually happening, but because he has that little
08:10one to play, I do think he could be very interesting.
08:14A couple from the chat on the Calgary Flames.
08:18Deeds, how fun was Cooley to watch last night?
08:21And dude's interviews are like listening to your barely goalie talk about his game.
08:25Yeah, he is overflowing with personality.
08:29I still think that he is going to be overflowing with personality as the Wranglers number one
08:33goalie this year.
08:34He'll probably make some NHL appearances because, you know, goalies get hurt.
08:40But I still think of the three that are in the battle for the job, he's third.
08:45And I think pretty solidly number three.
08:48But no, he was so much fun last night.
08:50And I do think that he is a player that is interesting.
08:54And you do need guys like that.
08:57And you do need guys who can really, you know, bump up those spirits, especially if you're
09:03playing down in the American Hockey League.
09:08And so I think that he is someone who will be a welcome addition for whether it's the
09:14American Hockey League or whoever it is.
09:18I think that there is something there for sure.
09:21Goalies get hurt.
09:22Vladar gets moved at the deadline, etc.
09:23Yeah, no, no, he's, there is absolutely a world where he can come in and have a bit
09:31of an impact for this team.
09:33So maybe not a big one.
09:35But yeah, that's kind of why I'm here is to show that I don't suck that much.
09:40And hopefully I can help this team get some wins in the regular season.
09:43Yeah, who doesn't love an eccentric backup goalie?
09:48And especially pre-season, man, to kind of break up some of the monotony when this thing
09:52starts to drag on a little bit.
09:53By the way, just recorded, will not be up yet, but very, very soon, on the Game Over
10:00YouTube channel.
10:01I just did just a quick little, not as in-depth as we'll go for Game Overs in the regular
10:06season, but just a quick little on the first couple pre-season games for the Flames.
10:12Kindly, I didn't watch the one out in Edmonton, the required signing up for Oilers Plus, and
10:18I'm not going to do that, and then had some stuff to do today, and a 10-minute recap video
10:22just wasn't going to shoehorn in, but saw a few of the clips on Twitter, things looked
10:25good.
10:26So yeah, over on Game Over Calgary, very, very soon, I will be looking at the, looking
10:34at the players that have stood out in a good way, looking at a couple of things I'm a little
10:37bit concerned with, and what I think about the lineup going forward.
10:42At least for now.
10:43Again, all of it with the caveat that it is still very early in the pre-season, but there's
10:47at least, I think, a little bit to like about this Calgary Flames team, and a couple of
10:54pieces that I think can actually provide a nice little bit of comfort for you as we kind
11:01of get into the start of the season.
11:04So, a bit more over, again, go subscribe right now.
11:07I'm going to throw this in the chat, which is probably why I've been stumbling a little
11:10bit, although probably not more than usual, throwing it in there right now.
11:14Yeah, youtube.com slash at Game Over Calgary.
11:18Go subscribe there.
11:19You can find us on the internet at, I had this written down, I'm pretty sure it is The
11:25Game Over Network, yeah, thegameovernetwork.com.
11:29You can find us on social media.
11:32We are at Game Over NHL on TikTok and X, and we are Game Over Calgary on, or sorry, Game
11:42Over Network on YouTube and Instagram.
11:44That was all not as smooth as I wanted that to be, but go subscribe, we really appreciate
11:51it and want to do a few more of those over on the Game Over Network.
11:55By the way, the audio from that is going to be up in podcast form on Couch Potato Diary,
12:00and also, it's going to be a little bonus action for you guys before tomorrow's stream.
12:05I'm going to stream it live.
12:08I'll be in the chat, chatting with you guys, but we'll play the pre-recorded things, so
12:12that is going to be, that's kind of the plan.
12:15But still, go subscribe over on Game Over Calgary, and we will get that going.
12:20I'm thinking Honzyk's game is growing as the preseason goes on, do you agree?
12:23100% I do.
12:24I don't know if it's growing to the point where he can make the NHL roster, but I have
12:27very much liked what I've seen from him so far.
12:30And look, they've won three of their games by like a combined 100, so there's going to
12:34be a lot of positives, but I think he has been a very nice sign so far, and one that
12:40I feel like he is going to be someone who is going to have to grow into a bit more things
12:49at the AHL level, but I think he's going to be one where, by the time we're here again
12:54next year, he's going to be a guy that we're going to be talking about in a, okay, we need
12:58to find a way to get this kid on the team.
13:00And there's actually a few of those right now for the Flames.
13:03But yes, all of that talked about over on Game Over Calgary, probably in the next hour
13:07and a bit or so.
13:09Yeah, I would agree, Toxic, I would keep him in the A, but I do think his game is growing.
13:13Are you going to be doing all the post-game shows there?
13:16Not all of them, lord no, not all of them.
13:19But certainly some of them.
13:21And I would, I even hesitate to say most.
13:25But I will definitely be part of the cast over at Game Over Calgary this year, and also
13:30just the Game Over network in general.
13:32We're doing a whole lot of stuff, doing a whole lot of stuff there on the national side.
13:37That's a whole lot of fun.
13:38Conrad, I completely agree with you, but not entirely my call.
13:41So yes, a lot there on the Flames-y part of the conversation.
13:47So yes, again, to summarize, Game Over Calgary, YouTube channel.
13:52I will be talking about Flames Prospects.
13:55You should go watch that, but you can also listen to it in audio form, and I'll have
13:58a bonus stream of it here, so we can all chat about it as it goes on.
14:03It's kind of a pre-show meeting before tomorrow's livestream.