#NHLPeachy @NHL Morning Skate – April 16, 2023
* The 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs open with a four-game slate on Monday, starting at 7 p.m. ET with the Hurricanes and Islanders and closing with the Oilers and Kings at 10 p.m. ET. Monday’s games will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2 in the U.S., as well as on Sportsnet and TVA Sports programming in Canada.
* Among the intriguing storylines heading into the playoffs are the much-anticipated postseason debuts of a pair of Jacks (Eichel & Hughes) and longtime veterans in search of their first Stanley Cup.
* The Rangers, Devils and Islanders are set for their respective 2023 First Round series, marking the first time in 16 years that all three New York metro area clubs will take to the ice in the same postseason.
* As we turn the page to the playoffs, the 2022-23 Regular Season Recap takes a look back at the thrilling campaign that featured the highest-scoring season in 29 years, 42% of games ending in comeback wins, standout seasons from Connor McDavid and the Bruins, the most 100-point players since 1995-96 and much, much more.
STORYLINES APLENTY AS HOCKEY WORLD AWAITS MONDAY’S OPENERS
There’s just one more sleep until the puck drops on the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with 16 teams set to take to the ice – including five in pursuit of their first Stanley Cup (Vegas, Minnesota, Seattle, Florida & Winnipeg) – and an immeasurable amount of talent ready to push regular-season success into postseason glory.
EICHEL, HUGHES SET FOR MUCH-ANTICIPATED POSTSEASON DEBUT...
After leading their respective clubs in points, Jack Eichel (27-39—66 in 67 GP) and Jack Hughes (43-56—99 in 78 GP) are set to make their highly-anticipated postseason debuts when the Golden Knights clash with the Jets and the Devils go head-to-head with the Rangers.
* Eichel is set to make his first playoff appearance since entering the NHL in 2015-16 (180-266—446 in 476 GP). He can become the eighth player in NHL history to make his postseason debut after recording 400-plus career regular-season points – only Mario Lemieux (1989), Dennis Maruk (1983), Marc Savard (2008), Olli Jokinen (2009), Taylor Hall (2018), Joe Sakic (1993) and Marcel Dionne (1976) have done so.
* After skating in four regular seasons and setting a new franchise record for points in a single campaign in 2022-23, Hughes is set to make his postseason debut. The last time New Jersey made the playoffs was in 2017-18, when Hughes was wrapping up his first season with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. Hughes can become the sixth player to be selected first overall in an NHL Draft and then win a Stanley Cup before his 23rd birthday – only Patrick Kane (2010 CHI), Sidney Crosby (2009 PIT), Joe Murphy (1990 EDM), Guy Lafleur (1973 MTL) and Rejean Houle (1971 MTL) have done so.
* Hughes’ brother, Luke, could also make his playoff debut after skating in two regular season contests with the Devils. The New Jersey duo could become the 16th different set of brothers in NHL history to win a Stanley Cup as teammates and the first since Scott Niedermayer and Rob Niedermayer both hoisted the trophy with Anaheim in 2007.
* Of note, when he steps on the ice for his first postseason game, Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe (504 GP) will become the 10th active player to appear in 500-plus career regular-season games before making their playoff debut. Among that cohort, the only one to win the Stanley Cup in their first postseason was Zach Bogosian (2020 w/ TBL).
...WHILE VETS CONTINUE SEARCH FOR FIRST STANLEY CUP
The 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs will feature a number of seasoned veterans in search of their first championship, including Dallas’ Ryan Suter and Joe Pavelski as well as Carolina’s Brent Burns and New York’s Zach Parise.
* There are 16 players on teams competing in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs that have played 1,000 or more regular season games and have yet to hoist a Cup, a list topped by Suter (1,362 GP), Burns (1,333 GP), Pavelski (1,250 GP) and Parise (1,224 GP). The most recent skaters to achieve the feat were Andrew Cogliano (1,140 GP) and Jack Johnson (1,024 GP), who won with Colorado last year.
* Parise’s Islanders teammate Josh Bailey (1,057 GP) can also become the first player in NHL history to play his first 15-plus seasons with a franchise and then win his first Stanley Cup with them. The current benchmark is 14 seasons by Steve Yzerman, who won the first of his four titles in 1996-97 with Detroit.
NEW YORK METRO AREA WELL REPRESENTED IN 2023 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
For the first time in 16 years and fourth time overall (also 2007, 1990 & 1994), the New York metro area will have three teams in the postseason as the Rangers, Devils and Islanders will all participate in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* A New York based team has competed in the round before the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past three postseasons – the Rangers fell to the Lightning in the Conference Final last season, while the Islanders were defeated by Tampa Bay in 2020 and 2021.
* The Islanders, who will go head-to-head with the Hurricanes, enter the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs having won the most postseason series among the three New York metro area clubs over the past five years with a total of six, while the Rangers have won two over that span.
* New York and New Jersey will meet in the postseason for the seventh time and first since the Martin Brodeur-led Devils eliminated Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers in the 2012 Eastern Conference Final. New Jersey went 3-0-1 against New York this season – the 2023 First Round marks the first time that the Devils head into a playoff series against the Rangers owning the better record in the regular season series. The team with the better head-to-head record in the regular season went 4-1 in the six previous playoff matchups between the two clubs (they had identical 4-3-1 records before meeting in 2006 CQF).
KRAKEN, DEVILS RIDE HISTORIC IMPROVEMENTS TO POSTSEASON
Five teams that did not compete in the postseason last year clinched a berth in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, chief among them the Devils and Kraken, who both made significant year-over-year improvements to secure their spots. The current playoff system has produced a postseason turnover of five-plus teams in every campaign.
* New Jersey had a +49-point improvement versus 2021-22, the second highest year-over-year increase in NHL history in seasons of equal length – behind only San Jose (+58 from 1992-93 to 1993-94). The 1994 Sharks went on to defeat the Red Wings in the Conference Quarterfinals that year – winning the first series in franchise history – before falling to the Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the Conference Semifinals.
* After entering the NHL as an expansion franchise in 2021-22, the Kraken posted the largest year-over-year improvement for wins (+19) and points (+40) in League history from season one to season two. Seattle finished its inaugural campaign with a record of 27-49-6 (60 points) and completed 2022-23 at 46-28-8 (100 points).
BRUINS, MAPLE LEAFS ENTER WITH LONGEST PLAYOFF STREAKS
The Bruins (65-12-5, 135 points) and Maple Leafs (50-21-11, 111 points), the top-two teams in the Atlantic Division, enter the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs tied for the longest active streak of consecutive years in the postseason (7 straight since 2016-17). Boston has won six series over its current stretch while Toronto is looking for its first series win since 2004.
* After a much-documented record-setting year (read more on that here), the Bruins will look to advance past the opening round for the fifth time during their current streak of postseason appearances and return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2019 (4-3 L vs. STL). Brad Marchand (33-46—79 in 73 GP), David Pastrnak (30-44—74 in 70 GP) and Patrice Bergeron (26-35—61 in 72 GP) have a combined 214 playoff points during Boston’s run of consecutive appearances – all three rank among the top 11 in playoff points over that span.
* The Maple Leafs have qualified for the postseason in every year since the NHL debut of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in 2016-17. Toronto has required a winner-take-all game in 10 of its past 13 series dating to 2002, including nine Game 7s (3-6) and a Game 5 defeat in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers. That includes an active run of five straight years with a winner-take-all showdown (2018-2022) – one of four such runs in NHL history.
McDAVID LEADS GROUP OF NINE 100-POINT PLAYERS INTO THE POSTSEASON
Connor McDavid (64-89—153 in 82 GP), who was awarded the Art Ross Trophy and Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, leads a group of nine players who recorded 100-plus points in the regular season and will participate in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* This marks the first time in 27 years that nine or more players participating in one playoff year had 100 points during the regular season (9 in 1995-96). In that most recent instance, the Stanley Cup champion had two of those nine players on their roster: Colorado’s Joe Sakic (51-69—120 in 82 GP) and Peter Forsberg (30-86—116 in 82 GP).
* Overall, it has been 14 years since a player recorded 100 points in the regular season and went on to help their team win the Stanley Cup in the same year. Both of those players are still active: Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby each did it with Pittsburgh in 2008-09. Only two other players have done so since the start of the 2000s (Eric Staal in 2005-06 w/ CAR & Joe Sakic in 2000-01 w/ COL).
* As we get closer to the first night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, your mind might be full of questions and possibilities about things like: Does home-ice advantage matter in a seven-game series? How likely is a Wild Card team to advance? Will stellar seasons from the Bruins and Connor McDavid carry through to the postseason?
* Click Here for historical context to those questions and other conversation starters that may pop up around the water cooler as we await the start of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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