You look for electricity and greatness, not indistinguishable parity, during the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. That’s what championship events are supposed to showcase. Maybe that’s why Cale Makar has been so transcendent while infusing the Avalanche and the tournament with unabashed exuberance less than two weeks off the UMass campus.
All of the intangibles are and should be recognized, and work ethic deserves credit. But we’re hungry for talent to break through following a talent-based regular season. It does not diminish what the eight teams standing did to advance — they clearly earned these moments in the sun and their activity produced achievement.
But talent. How much sheer talent is on display here as the weather turns warm and fans whose teams — 27 of them soon enough — are home for the summer might have better entertainment choices. A marquee event requires marquee performers.
So bear with me. How many future Hall of Famers would you say are/were in this second round? No, Makar would not be counted, and neither at this point would, say, Sebastian Aho or Mat Barzal — brilliantly talented young’uns who have 15-20 years in front of them to make their respective cases.
All right. Let’s start with Zdeno Chara, perhaps the most underrated player of the last quarter century. Patrice Bergeron is assured a plaque. Let’s say that David Pastrnak is on the track. And stop. Stop right there. Just say no to Brad Marchand. So, two or three Bruins.
Artemi Panarin, the impending Rangers/Panthers/Islanders winger, has an outside shot after taking advantage of the playoff stage, but you look at a couple of other definitive Hall-worthy Russians in Alexander Mogilny and Sergei Zubov, so maybe not. Seth Jones could be considered with another decade-plus of excellence. And I guess if Sergei Bobrovsky pulls off something grand here or in his next life in Florida/wherever, there’s a chance for the Russian goaltender, too. So maybe one, maybe two, maybe three stretching it. Or maybe none from the Jackets.
Nathan MacKinnon can start his speech now. Mikko Rantanen has a long way to go, obviously, but he has the tools. One for sure from the Avalanche.
It is only a matter of when, not if, for Joe Thornton. Erik Karlsson, who would have been Broadway-bound three summers ago had No. 65’s impending free agency moons aligned, is a lock. Joe Pavelski may have an outside chance, but probably not. Same for Marc-Edouard Vlasic, perhaps, but come on, Kevin Lowe and Doug Wilson aren’t in the HHOF. But Brent Burns will get to the Grand Hall. That’s three for sure from San Jose.
Jamie Benn is making a pretty good case for himself. Tyler Seguin is kind of a blip on the radar, but he is on the screen. And no, you can’t say now that Miro Heiskanen has declared himself a candidate, but the freshman defenseman inexplicably not a finalist for the Calder Trophy — is on that path. A few possibilities in Dallas.
Vladimir Tarasenko? The Blues’ winger might have a chance. Ryan O’Reilly is almost a linear descendent of Walter Tkachuk, and nobody can recall much support for No. 18. But a Conn Smythe and a Cup or two along the way could bolster his candidacy.
There is one more, though, and he is Justin Williams, whose numbers don’t reach the threshold but who consistently aces the eye-test. When you watch the winger in these biggest of games, you know you are watching a Hall of Fame player, his comparably modest 312 goals, 476 assists and 786 points in 1,244 games over a 19-year career, aside. There are also 39 playoff goals and 100 points in 151 playoff games, three Cup rings, and counting.
Mr. Game 7 should become Mr. Honored Member.
So the puck hits the netting, somehow not one of the four on-ice officials working Game 4 of the Columbus-Boston series notices that, and the Jackets’ Panarin scores a goal off a feed following the ricochet that obviously should have been disallowed but couldn’t be under league video-review guidelines.
A week after arguing against adding a coach’s challenge to review major penalties, it’s somewhat inconsistent to suggest video review should be employed under the scenario that occurred in the first period of the Bruins’ 4-1 win.
But on clear-cut plays like that — just as on determining whether it was truly in the defensive zone and thus worthy of a delay-of-game penalty — couldn’t Toronto simply signal the official scorer to instantly correct the situation? Toronto stops play when they recognize a goal has been scored, so why not this?
You know what is desperately needed? A Summer of ’19 Shanahan-type summit that focuses exclusively on officiating. The game is just so fast — so fast. The time in which players have to make decisions shrinks by the day. That applies to the officials, as well.
This model might be broken for good. Maybe there should be an off-ice referee who would have the ability to override calls on the ice. I don’t pretend to know. But this way doesn’t seem to be working. No referee or linesman takes the ice with the intent to commit mistakes, let alone multiple ones. They obviously need help. The league needs to reimagine the way the game is officiated.
A summit is the way to go. Presumably, notes would be taken and kept.
The trade for Adam Fox that includes an encumbered 2020 second-rounder (a third will become a second if the Harvard product plays 30 NHL games this season) takes the Rangers out of the offer-sheet game for any compensation that includes a No. 2 for 2020.
In other words, no Mitch Marner or Brayden Point on Broadway … unless you’re sacrificing four first-rounders.
Which potential new president John Davidson is not.
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