Which teams will do some last-minute NHL trade shopping?

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Good morning, hockey folks. If you’re feeling festive, it’s time to break out your Claude Noel jersey, put some Conor Garland on the tree and hope Morgan Frost brings Garth Snow next week.

No, I do not apologize … 🎅🏼🎁

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Big Board breakdown with Chris Johnston

Today’s the big day for the NHL’s Christmas roster freeze, which hits at midnight and goes until Dec. 28. Will anything happen before that deadline?

Well, last Friday was sure fun, and there’s a growing malaise settling in for a number of teams that have struggled to find their way of late. (More on that group a little later.)

Our Chris Johnston published his latest trade board this week, and it’s full of interesting names from some of those teams, several of which feel like they’re going to be in power positions as the buyers come calling.

Here is Chris’ top 10 as we approach the holiday break:

1. Rasmus Andersson, Calgary
2. Kiefer Sherwood, Vancouver
3. Alex Tuch, Buffalo
4. Blake Coleman, Calgary
5. Steven Stamkos, Nashville
6. Ondrej Palat, New Jersey
7. Justin Faulk, St. Louis
8. Jordan Binnington, St. Louis
9. Phillip Danault, Los Angeles
10. Mason Marchment, Seattle

Like I said, some pretty interesting names. And there are 22 more on the full board, which will continue to grow as we get closer to the March 6 trade deadline.

I checked in with CJ yesterday for more thoughts on his list and some of what he’s hearing from around the league right now.

Chris, which team or teams do you think are about to be particularly aggressive on the trade front after Edmonton, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Vancouver got us going last week?

CJ: “I’m keeping an eye on the New Jersey Devils. They weren’t able to outbid Minnesota for Quinn Hughes and have also been out in the market looking for upgrades to their top-six forward group. It’s been tough sledding (7-10-0) since Jack Hughes went down with his hand injury, and, even with Hughes working his way towards a return, there seems to be some urgency coming from the Devils front office.”

What was the most surprising/intriguing name to land on the board this time around?

CJ: “Alex Tuch. He could either be No. 1 when we refresh things in January or off the list entirely. New GM Jarmo Kekäläinen sounded pretty determined to get Tuch signed to an extension after taking over the Sabres GM job, but it’s probably going to take a monster contract to make it happen. There are plenty of teams eager to engage on Tuch if he formally hits the trade market.”

Finally, with the standings still so bunched up, how many realistic sellers are there?

CJ: “At this stage, Vancouver is arguably the only true seller. Before the Hughes trade, the Canucks indicated a willingness to engage in trade discussions, particularly as it pertained to their pending free agents. In saying that, I think other teams will get there in the new year. Calgary, Nashville and St. Louis stand out as the next wave of sellers, which is why they are well-represented on the Big Board. Seattle could join them, too, if the Kraken don’t pull out of their current nosedive.”

Good stuff from Chris, as usual. You can find his latest columns here.

Bonus reads:

• Sabres writer Matt Fairburn has a good take on the Tuch situation, ranking it as the No. 1 piece of business for Kekäläinen to deal with.
• The Oilers’ big trade acquisition, netminder Tristan Jarry, left last night’s win over Boston with an injury. That one could hurt.

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🎄 MirTrivia, Xmas Edition

Watching the Maple Leafs labor through yet another ugly loss last night (4-0 to the Capitals in Washington), it occurred to me their power play is nearing historically awful levels. They’re at just 10 percent over the last 16 games and getting close to last (31st) on the year, despite having some of the biggest offensive stars in the league. The heat is definitely now on Toronto’s coaching staff.

But what is rock bottom for a power play in the NHL?

• Question 1: Which team has had the worst man advantage in the NHL’s salary cap era, and how bad was it?

• Question 2: Which team holds the all-time record for most putrid PP over a season? (Both teams need to have played at least 80 games.)

Answers at the bottom.

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Are contenders pushing out pretenders?

There have been a lot of feel-good surprise stories through the first 30-odd games of this NHL season, but it does seem like things are normalizing over the past few weeks.

Consider these three teams that unexpectedly got off to strong starts but are now flailing in the standings:

• Seattle Kraken, 1-9-1 in the last 11 after blowing last night’s lead against the Flames, making them the worst team in the NHL over the past few weeks.

• Chicago Blackhawks, 3-10-2 in the last 15 after getting thumped by Montreal last night. Connor Bedard’s injury obviously hurts, as the Blackhawks are averaging just two goals a game right now, last in the NHL.

• Pittsburgh Penguins, seven losses in a row. Trading away Jarry isn’t going to help matters, but it always felt like a matter of time before the Penguins faded after an admirable 14-7-5 run to start the year.

We’ll also give honorable mentions to the Utah Mammoth and Winnipeg Jets, who have had some really tough stretches of late. Unlike the three clubs above, however, they’ve still got some life in them, if only because they seem to have the talent to pull out of their tailspins. Let’s face it, Connor Hellebuyck can lift any team up.

At the other end of the equation, some teams that have started playing really well the past month include the Hughes-infused Wild, Capitals, Flames (?!) and Panthers.

We believe three of those have some staying power … and suddenly 11 or 12 of the 16 teams in playoff position are about what we expected.

Hang in there, Islanders and Sharks!

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Coast to Coast

🏒 In this week’s Power Rankings, the guys get into the holiday spirit and assign Christmas song lyrics to each team.

📣 The rise of Quinn Hughes: Great read from Mike Russo and Joe Smith, who are all over the Quinnesota Wild era so far.

📰 Peter Baugh caught up with red-hot Nathan MacKinnon, who is having a ridiculous season at age 30, driving the Avalanche to a historic 24-2-7 start and plenty of Hart Trophy talk.

🥇 A deep dive for numbers nerds on who should be on the Olympic rosters for Team Canada and Team USA? Sign us up.

🤔 Ranking the PWHL’s potential next expansion markets, after successful launches of Seattle and Vancouver this season.

📻 On “The Athletic Hockey Show,” Hailey Salvian and Sean Gentille discuss how the Wild’s trade for Hughes will affect the Western Conference and yet another ownership change for the Penguins.

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MirTrivia answer

The Leafs’ horri-awful 14 percent power play still has a ways to fall to catch the true bottom feeders, but they’re at least starting to come into view.

The worst power play in the NHL’s cap era, which began in 2005-06, was the 2013-14 Florida Panthers, who somehow went 10 percent over a full season when up a man. They scored just 27 PP goals and allowed six against, for a goal differential of just 0.25 per game. Woof.

The worst ever, though, at least for the years NHL.com publishes the data? It’s the 1997-98 Tampa Bay Lightning, who scored on just 9.3 percent of their PPs as part of a horrific 44-point season (17-55-10).

Tampa finished last in the NHL by a mile that season, 19 points behind the next worst team, and Paul Ysebaert (pictured above) led them in scoring with just 40 points. They then drafted Vincent Lecavalier first that summer, and six years later, they won their first Stanley Cup.

How’s that for a (literal) silver lining? Something tells me that’s not how it’s going to go for Toronto.

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