So, the North Divison. Or the Scotia North Divison. Still getting used to that. These divisions are only a one-year thing, and now that we are a little over 60% through this season, it’s time to look at teams across the NHL. So why not start with the highest-scoring, most popular division. In this article and 3 more after this, I’ll be looking at the biggest surprise and disappointment from every team in a division. We’ll be going in alphabetical order, so first up, Calgary.
The Calgary Flames
Arguably the most disappointing thing about the Flames is the entirety of the team. With a 16–18–3 record through 37 games this season this team has more than likely missed out on the playoffs. According to Dom Luszcyszyn’s NHL playoff probably metric that he updates daily on the Athletic, they only have a 7% chance to make the playoffs. They fired Geoff Ward earlier in the season and replaced him with Darryl Sutter. That marks this team's 5th Head Coach since 2016. This team was supposed to be good for a while now, and their playoff window has seemed to close. Let alone their contending window, which was shut when they lost in the first round to Colorado in 5 games in 2019. It was pretty hard to nail down just one thing for a surprise and disappointment.
The Biggest Surprise
Chris Tanev — D
Chris Tanev has been absolutely amazing for the Flames so far this season. He has been playing some of the best hockey in his veteran career. He has been one of the best top pairing shutdown defencemen in the NHL this season and he has done so very well. He has only put up 6 points in 37 games, but scoring is not his job. He has been doing the little things right offensively that have led to goals for his team, even if his name isn’t on the scoresheet. He is 31 with 3 more seasons left on his contract after this season, so I don’t expect things to stay this way. Still a very good season for him and a huge surprise for me.
Honourable Mention
Elias Lindholm. I bet you didn’t know that he had 31 points this season. He has led the team in that department.
The Biggest Disappointment
Jacob Markstrom — G
Oh boy is this a fun one. From one stolen Canuck to another, this contract went a completely different way than I thought it would. I thought that Markstrom would be fantastic for the Flames. After having the best season of his career in Vancouver, he has gone the opposite direction in Calgary. Last season he put up a 0.918 Save%, but that didn’t tell the whole story. He carried the Canucks for most of the season. If the season finished normally he would’ve probably been in Vezina talk. This year? A 0.902 Save%. That’s pretty bad. He probably isn’t as bad as the numbers show, but he has certainly been very shaky all year long. You would definitely want more out of the guy you just signed to a 6x6 contract.
Honourable Mention
Johnny Gaudreau. Despite being an amazing play driver and raising his defensive game so far this season, he only has 13 Points at 5-on-5 in 37 games.
The Edmonton Oilers
I didn’t see the Oilers making the playoffs this season, so it’s kind of a surprise for me. A 22–14–1 record has them at 3rd in the division, and they certainly are making the playoffs. McDavid is having the best season of his career, and Darnell Nurse is making a run to be one of the more improved players so far this season. After an embarrassing loss to the Blackhawks in the play-ins last season, McDavid's post-season count is still at 1. That is going to change this year, and it’s time to finally see what playoff McDavid can do. They have a chance to prove themselves, and why not do that against their fellow Canadian Teams?
Biggest Surprise
Darnell Nurse — D
I kind of spoiled it in my intro of the Oilers, but I, like many others, have been very impressed with his play so far this season. Kind of. His atrocious defensive play has somehow gotten worse this season, but for that his offensive ability has skyrocketed. Now, you can attribute that mostly to playing with McDavid, but he has improved in the other team's end. No doubt about it. His 12 Goals in 37 Games by a defenceman leads the NHL. I didn’t think he would ever produce on this kind of level, but he has been proving me wrong this season. His advanced stats still aren't very good, but I think he has proven that he is a perfect fit to McDavid and Draisaitl offensively.
Honourable Mention
Jesse Puljujarvi, His advanced stats look great, and it matches the eye test. The numbers aren’t exactly there quite yet but give him some time.
Biggest Disappointment
Ethan Bear — D
Ethan Bear had a very good rookie season last year for Edmonton. This year I, and many others, expected him to take a jump. Instead, his advanced stats stayed around the same and his point production dropped. Overall, he’s probably been worse. As a 23-year-old guy, you’d expect to see some improvement, but maybe this is the player he’s going to be. If he stays like this that’s fine, he’s still a good player. But 3 points in 25 games just isn’t enough. Bear had high expectations going into this season, and he missed them by a lot.
Honourable Mention
Dominik Kahun. After I watched him in Pittsburgh last season I thought he was going to be and that he was a really good player. When he went to Edmonton I could only imagine his point production next to McDavid or Draisaitl. Kahun has had 9 points in 29 games, not good enough.
The Montreal Canadiens
Montreal is having some sort of season. They have played 4 fewer games than any other team in the Divison, and yet they’re still the 4th seed. So far they are 15–8–9 on the season. Losing 17 of 32 games isn’t a good thing, despite them somehow losing more in extra time than regulation. They can’t keep this up…right? I mean, maybe they can. Either way, they are more than likely making the playoffs this season. They started the season on fire, then someone poured gasoline on it. Once they put out the gas-lit fire, they have been a very mediocre team. That’s all they need to be to make the playoffs now, mediocre. This roster can be much more than mediocre, and I can’t wait to see them upset the Leafs in the playoffs because we all know it’s going to happen.
Biggest Surprise
Tyler Toffoli — RW
I mean, he’s leading the team in points and is top 6 in goals in the NHL with 18. I’d say that’s pretty good. You could tell watching him in Vancouver that he had this goal-scoring touch in him, and he’s unlocked it in Montreal. I don’t expect to see him score this much going forward, but is he ever a gem this team found in free agency last season. Toffoli has been exactly what Montreal needed, but they didn’t even expect this kind of production. The best part? He is fantastic defensively. He always has been, but now that he’s finishing most of his chances? Watch out NHL.
Honourable Mention
Jeff Petry. He’s tied in points with Toffoli for the most points on the team. You could tell he had this in him, and it was only a matter of time before the points started to come in for him.
Biggest Disappointment
Jesperi Kotkaniemi — C/LW
People may say that he has been a bright spot this season. No, no he hasn’t. Montreal made a mistake. He only has 16 points through 32 games and normally with a centre, you would say that they’re good defensively and that makes up for it. For Kotkaniemi that isn’t the case. He’s not good defensively, and his play-driving ability is nearly non-existent. You’d expect him to finally look good in his 3rd NHL season but he just doesn’t. For a 3rd overall draft pick, things aren’t looking too good for Kotkaniemi.
Honourable Mention
Philipp Danault. His offence has taken a dip, but his defence is still one of the best by NHL forwards. The only reason this isn’t Carey Price is that I expect around a 0.906 Save% from him now. Unless he is against the Penguins.
The Ottawa Senators
At least they’re where everyone thought they would be in the standings? A 12–20–4 record isn’t far off from where everyone thought that they would be. They have had some bright spots, however. On the opposite of that, they’ve had a lot of black holes as well. At least they have really nice jerseys? Let’s get this team over with.
Biggest Surprise
Josh Norris — C
I haven’t heard enough of Josh Norris for how good he has been this season. He’s fantastic on both ends of the ice, but the only gripe I have with his game is that he isn’t a great playmaker. That’s very common for rookies, so I don’t expect that to be a consistent thing. I never thought he would ever be this good, and he is yet another shot through the chest of the San Jose Sharks with the Erik Karlsson trade. If he becomes a better playmaker soon, I wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually got into the Selke conversation. He has been that good.
Honourable Mention
Drake Batherson. Yet another player that I didn’t think would turn out to be very much for Ottawa. His 11 goals show otherwise, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him be a solid player for this team in the future.
Biggest Disappointment
Matt Murray — G
This one hurts. Matt Murray has been one of the worst goalies this season that have played a considerable amount of time. He was just signed to a huge contract, and he has not lived up to it at all. A 0.880 Save% in 22 games. Really? He hasn’t been good. Plain and simple. I don’t know what happened to the Matt Murray I seen from 2016 to 2019, but this isn't him. Is it because he doesn’t care because he’s in Ottawa? Maybe. There’s no reason to guess what’s going on. We have to take what we see, and what we see is a really disappointing season from a 2 time Stanley Cup Champion.
Honourable Mention
Evgeny Dadonov. I mean, he has 12 points in 36 games. What else is there to say. As big of a free agent signing that he is, he hasn’t lived up to it.
The Toronto Maple Leafs
Like Ottawa, they are right where I thought. 23–10–3 and 1st in the North Divison. The current Rocket Richard front runner is surrounded by many more stars and they’re making it work. Not to take anything away from the Leafs, but I really don’t think that they have been as good as they can be. Everybody expected them to run away with the North Division this season, and they haven’t. Their individual player numbers look fantastic, but they haven’t been able to string together wins consistently. Toronto is still the favourites to come out of the North Division, but there are a few teams right behind them.
Biggest Surprise
Justin Holl — D
This season Holl has solidified himself as a top 4 defenceman, and the Leafs needed him to do that. In both ends of the ice, he has been great for this team. Having a breakout season when you are 29 is the surprising part here. If you asked someone who watched Toronto last season what they needed this season was another good top 4 guy on the right side, and Holl just became that this year out of nowhere. If he keeps this up, Toronto clearly has the best defensive core in the division.
Honourable Mention
Jason Spezza. 37 years old and has 19 points in 35 games? Yeah, I didn’t see that coming.
Biggest Disappointment
Frederik Andersen — G
After all of those seasons of carrying the young Leafs and he can’t even be good when they’re at their best? From 15/16 to 18/19 Freddy was Mr. Consistent. 4 Straight seasons of having a Save% of 0.917% to 0.919%. Last season he had a down year at a 0.909 Save% and he was expected to have a bounce-back season with the best defensive core he has had in front of him since he came to Toronto. A 0.897 Save% isn’t a bounce-back season. If he was putting up anything above a 0.910 Save% the Leafs would probably have the best record in the NHL. He has been a letdown.
Honourable Mention
Ilya Mikheyev and Alexander Kerfoot. I have to include both of them here. Two young guys who got a chance to improve this season and they haven’t taken a significant jump at all. Mikheyev has somehow regressed, and Kerfoot is around the same point pace as last year.
The Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have probably been the most boring team in this Divison. They aren’t good, but they aren’t particularly bad, and they’re right around where most people had them at the start of the year. Pettersson has only played in 26 of their 37 games, and he wasn’t particularly fantastic in those games either. They’re a fun team to watch, but that doesn’t mean much when they aren’t winning enough. A 16–18–3 record shows just that.
Biggest Surprise
Thatcher Demko — G
I didn’t think it was going to be this quick. I knew that he would earn the starting role over Holtby this season, but I didn’t think he would be a possible Vezina candidate. He only has a 0.917 Save%, which isn’t necessarily mind-blowing. Impressive, but not mind-blowing. Then you look at the Canucks defence and watch a game and you can tell that he’s the only reason Vancouvers record isn’t near Ottawas. Demko is the goalie of the future for this team, and he’s showing the NHL that Vancouver made the right choice to let Markstrom walk last summer.
Honourable Mention
Nils Hoglander. I didn’t think he would be ready this year and he has shown up and put up 16 points in 37 games. Nothing outstanding but he has looked pretty good so far.
Biggest Disappointment
Adam Gaudette — C
Adam Gaudette is 24 now. He is a former Hobey Baker Award winner in the NCAA and has not improved whatsoever at the NHL level. This is his third season in the NHL and he’s been the opposite of most young players. He had a bad rookie season followed by an exceptional sophomore year. This year he only has 7 points in 33 games. Gaudette's defensive game is also non-existent, so when he isn’t producing it’s a huge problem for the Canucks. I really like him as a player but I have absolutely no idea of what he will be in the future.
Honourable Mention
Jake Virtanen. Only 4 goals and no assists in 32 games for the former 6th overall pick. 7 years later and there’s no denying that that pick was a huge mistake for Vancouver.
The Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets, my personal favourite team to watch in the North Division. A good few people expected Winnipeg to miss the playoffs this season, which surprised me. The least surprising thing about the Jets for me this season is that they’re 2nd in the division, right behind Toronto. A 22–13–2 record for Winnipeg is right around where I thought they would be. Where I didn’t think they would be is having Pierre Luc Dubois as their second-line center and Laine is playing in Columbus. This is a very young team, and I think with one more defenceman they will be a true contender again.
Biggest Surprise
Andrew Copp — LW/C
If I asked you how many points Andrew Copp has this season you might say, “who?”. Copp is a player that I thought would be a very good 3rd line centre in the future for this team. His 27, yes 27 points in 37 games says otherwise. That’s a 60 point pace. He has been noticeably worse defensively this year, but if you take a guy who would normally get 35 points a game and almost double that for a season I think it’s worth it. He has been playing LW this season, and let’s just say that I think he has found his position.
Honourable Mention
Nikolaj Ehlers. I’ve been a big fan of Ehlers since his Halifax days. He has been averaging about 50–65 points so far in his career, and I was starting to think he wasn’t going to be much more. 36 points in 37 games. He has looked fantastic.
Biggest Disappointment
Logan Stanley — D
Honestly, there aren’t many disappointments in Winnipeg this season. Logan Stanley has entered his rookie season as a 6'7" behemoth. He was the 18th overall pick in 2016, and a lot of people thought that he was going to be a solid top 4 defensive defenceman. I don’t think that anymore. Stanley has 2 points through 25 games, and he hasn’t looked particularly strong in his own end either. He will be a nice shutdown third pairing guy, but that’s all. Hey, he’s only 22 so I could be completely wrong here.
Honourable Mention
No one. It was hard enough to pick one Jet who has underperformed, let alone two.