But when scrolling down to the team’s scoring leaders, some players who have been out of the spotlight this season could offer the depth to push their team above the limit in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The following is a list of our candidates:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Jake DeBrusk, LW, Boston Bruins
What better way to show a prospective new employer that you are the real deal than with a top performer during your current employer’s most important time? DeBrusk, 25, requested a deal earlier in the season. It did not happen. So what he did was put everything behind him and get the best career numbers while playing alongside two kids named Marchand and Bergeron. Do not wait for it to fade: it has the kind of game that thrives in the playoffs. If he can keep up the momentum while everyone has their eyes on the other two kids, he could very well help the Bruins move on.
Tony DeAngelo, D, Carolina Hurricanes
DeAngelo’s story has a bow of redemption written everywhere. After unabashedly resigning from the Rangers last season because he was too strong and confrontational (which says something about the Big Apple) with teammates and then-coach David Quinn, he joined the taxi team but was actually isolated from his teammates. In six games that season, he had one assist, was minus-6 and seemed to be over.
Spoiler: It was not. After signing a one-year, $ 1 million, low-risk deal this summer with the Hurricanes, who were battling the loss of Dougie Hamilton, DeAngelo made the most of his second chance. After all, the guy has a game: he scored 15 goals in his second full season in the NHL and scored double-digit goals again this season. If he can keep his head above water, keep making the right decisions while spending the first couple of minutes with Ian Cole and making the most of the No. 1 D-man in the first power-play unit, his bet Hurricanes will pay big playoff dividends.
MacKenzie Weegar, D, Florida Panthers
If you’ve not seen too many Panthers games, it’s a shame. This is a team built to last – and maybe have fun – in the playoffs. A key part of that endurance and depth will come from Weegar, the capable defender who makes a career season. It brings a little attack, a little defense, mixed with a little attack that sometimes turns in the wrong direction.
You just do not know what to expect from the 28-year-old Ottawa native. Sometimes he just leaves and is on penalties, ashamed. If he can hold back, provide a solid backup – or even replace, as he did most of last month – franchise defender Aaron Ekblad, who may or may not return from LTIR for the first round and continue to bite / rush in / stutter-walk wisely, the Panthers will continue to make some noise.
Andrew Copp, C, New York Rangers
Do not let the fact that the former Winnipeg Jet Copp, 27, lost his action at the end of the season due to a lower body injury. It was probably just a precautionary move by the Rangers to protect their acquisition on the trade deadline so that it could heal the playoffs.
Largely unknown to Jets fans, Copp almost immediately became a favorite of Rangers fans with his combination of skill and wit. In 16 games with the Rangers, he had eight goals and 10 assists centering none other than the extremely talented Artemi Panarin. He scored a hat-trick against the Islanders on April 21, so he seems to fit in well with his new team. Most attention will be focused on Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Ryan Strome and Panarin, so stealthily entering the talented Copp from the other conference could make a difference for the Blueshirts.
John Marino, D, Pittsburgh Penguins
We all know the big names in the spotlight: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Jeff Carter. And in blueline, attention will be paid to Kris Letang and Michael Matheson … but not so much to Marino. The sky was the limit after Marino scored six goals in his rookie season, but he slowly went down to the starting line-up to the point where it was discussed that he would move before the deadline. That did not happen, of course, and now his game as a top-six defender in an attacking team will be even more important. The Penguins will rely on him to continue his steady play in the first unit that kills on penalties and to be quietly effective with his 18-20 minutes per game.
Ryan McDonagh, D, Tampa Bay Lightning
When you are a two-time Stanley Cup defender, many of your players are not dark horses. There we bring McDonagh, 32, as a counterpoint. A steady influence since coming to the Rangers all these years ago, McDonagh can still produce while in the No. 2 pair D and rely as part of the No. 1 penalty spot. But with Norris’s eternal lover, Victor Hedman stealing the limelight every year, McDonagh completes the job with very little fanfare. McDonagh is still playing big minutes for D-man, but if the trophy of the last two rows of the Cup starts to weigh on some of the players in front of him, going up a guy with McDonagh’s sensitivity and experience will be invaluable.
John Tavares, C, Toronto Maple Leafs
Hard to believe we are talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs leader being out of the spotlight. After all, no one in the blue and whites is ever really under the radar (see: endless discussions earlier this season about the third in Nick Ritchie’s career). But with all the celebratory focus this season on 60-goal scorer Auston Matthews, teammates Mitch Marner and Michael Bunting, goalkeeping drama and, to a lesser extent, a growing defensive body, we have not heard much about Tavares. That makes him a dark horse.
And when you look at it, the 31-year-old had a quietly decent season, scoring the most goals from his first season as a Card when he scored 47. (But that minus-8 on an offensive line. The team is a big oh.) If he can to be the solid No. 2 center – scoring big goals, closing the other team star, erasing – which every team needs in the playoffs, the Sheets will succeed. They missed him last year after suffering a serious head injury in the first round against Montreal. A fiery Tavares cleaning on the doorstep will help a lot of skeptics in doubt.
Justin Schultz, D, Washington Capitals
The days of Schultz’s double-digit goals are over, but he still has to show his offensive skills in this third pair D so that the Capitals can have any shots. An enigma during his days with the Oilers and the Penguins, much was expected of Kelowna, a native of BC, but his game and place in it is different now. He will not win praise for his defensive ability, but during the playoffs, when wear is just as important as ambition, the key is to have men who can move on to an injury gap. The playoffs are clean and, given his awful plus / minus, Schultz could use one to show he can be a key low-key player who will assist the general in the second power-play unit and answer the bell. when struck on the shoulder. a teammate got on the catwalk.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Andrew Mangiapane, LW, Calgary Flames
Remember when we heard how amazing Mangiapane’s goal was? How did this offense come out of the blue and was a complete bonus for coach Daryl Sutter’s team? Well, the early hot hand of the Flames finally cooled down (for a 12-game scoring drought) to the point where we started hearing more about Matthew Tkachuk No. 1, Elias Lindholm and Johnny Gaudreau.
If the Flames want to take the expected damage during the playoffs, they will need more attack from their front line. And that means you, Mangiapane. He’s got it recently, so the timing is right – you do not want a guy to struggle with his confidence in mid-April – and playing with Mikael Backlund and Tyler Toffoli means he will get a lot of sharp passes for conversion. But if it falls into another recession, no matter how deep it is, the Flames will burn quickly.
Devon Toews, D, Colorado Avalanche
As the team that threatened first overall throughout the season and set a franchise record for points, not many players play under the Avalanche radar. We have heard all the good and shocking things about Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Nazem Kadri, Mikko Rantanen and the like. But for Makar to succeed in the playoffs, the Avs will need a solid two-way game from Toews, his defensive partner. Praising the dark horse Norris Trophy for this two-way game, Toews was the conscience in Makar’s offensive guilt journey. While Makar is in the spotlight, Toews usually hangs back carefully, off screen, to provide coverage in case the rush returns. It is in pair No. 1 D, in the second power-play unit and in the first penalty kill unit. Oh, and his numbers, by themselves, are not in the rare air of Makar, but they are still quite stellar.
John Klingberg, D, Dallas Stars
With the spotlight on Joe Pavelski, Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn (especially Benn, who had a disappointing season), the Stars will need more than D. Enter Klingberg. The most talked about player before the end of the trade period was injured and found himself with the Stars to help in the stretch drive and, after the Stars became the last team to qualify, he will be counted for big minutes playoff in blueline. His stock has dropped enough for the Stars to let him play without extra time, so expectations are comparatively lower, which means he could make a big difference.
Zach Hyman, LW, Edmonton Oilers
When Evander Kane …
