The NHL is almost never predictable. As has been established time and again over the years, pretty much any team can win any game on any given night. Nothing ever comes easy.
Naturally, not every player follows the same trajectory. Some guys come out of the top development leagues in the world and immediately establish themselves as stars at the top levels; others take more circuitous routes to success.
On Friday’s edition of “Daily Faceoff Live,” Matt Larkin and Steven Ellis made their picks for the biggest surprises of the 2022-23 NHL season thus far.
Matt Larkin: Looking out west last night, Steven, the Canucks with a big win and Andrei Kuzmenko has a big night. He gets his 35th goal in what you could call his rookie season, not Calder Trophy-eligible, so it’s debatable if he officially broke a record. Pavel Bure’s rookie record with the Canucks is 34 goals. Kuzmenko breaks it, I guess, but technically it’s not a record if you really want to break it down to the nitty-gritty. But it sort of got me wondering: is there a bigger surprise this season than Kuzmenko? Pretty amazing story, you never know what you’re gonna get with a KHL import. So, for you, if it’s not Kuzmenko, what player this season is the biggest surprise for you?
Steven Ellis: A couple of years ago, I was really excited when the Boston Bruins went out there and picked up Linus Ullmark. At the time, I felt like, in Buffalo, he was a good goalie that just didn’t get a great shake. The team was never good, he was having to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Then he goes to Boston, a team that was still in playoff contention. Right away, it wasn’t easy: Jeremy Swayman came in and looked great, and Tuukka Rask was there for a brief little period of time, let’s not forget that. And then it was like, alright, now let’s see what you can do. Last year, he was definitely not guaranteed that No. 1 spot.
This year, you look at the stats, both surface-level and advanced stats, this is one of the best seasons we’ve seen from a goalie in a long time. This feels like a Brodeur mid-2000s-like season, or a Miikka Kiprusoff — guys who just go out there and are lights-out, every single night. You look at how the Bruins have been this year, and you’ve got to look at their goaltender.
