Free washer | The start of the rebuilders’ season

San Jose, Chicago, Anaheim, Columbus, Montreal and Arizona, six clubs resolutely rebuilding, finished in the cellar of the general ranking of the National Hockey League last season. Where are they after ten matches, and does the present guarantee the future for them?

This is obviously an exercise from which conclusions should not be drawn, but which allows us to take an overview of the current state of things.

Utah HC

With a move to a new market, the defunct Arizona Coyotes have accelerated their revival process. They got one of the best defensemen of his generation, Mikhail Sergachev, from the Tampa Bay Lightning, for another, slightly less renowned defenseman, JJ Moser, and young forward Conor Geekie, 11^e pick in 2022. They also gave up two second-round picks for defensive-minded defender John Marino.

The team has nevertheless been hit hard by injuries with the loss of last year’s number one defender, Sean Durzi, whose season is over (or almost), and Marino, still unavailable. Head coach André Tourigny’s team has nevertheless won more often than lost thus far, led by two young veterans on offense, Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, 21-and-under young sensations Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley, and Sergachev, nine points in twelve games, with an average usage of 25 min 35 s.

The 2024 first pick, Tij Iginla, remains in the junior ranks, in Kelowna, in the Western Junior League, where he amassed 15 points, including 9 goals, in 9 games. Young defender Maveric Lamoureux, late first-round pick in 2022, earned a promotion to compensate for injuries. Dmitry Simashev and Daniil But, two other first-round picks, are still in the KHL.

Utah started strong with three wins, but has lost five of its last six games, seven of its last nine, but three times in more than 60 minutes of play.

Blue Jackets de Columbus

There has been a huge changing of the guard in Columbus. Don Waddell replaced Jarmo Kekalainen as general manager and Dean Evason took Pascal Vincent’s place as coach. Patrik Laine was dumped by the Canadiens to end an unhappy marriage. Then there was the tragic death of the team’s top scorer last year, Johnny Gaudreau.

The arrival of Sean Monahan, 30, hired for five years at an annual salary of 5.5 million, gives stability to the center. His young wingers Kirill Marchenko and Yegor Chinakhov are off to a good start to the season. Adam Fantilli plays center on the second line in the absence of long-term loss Boone Jenner. Young Cole Sillinger is finally starting to produce offensively. Unfortunately, Columbus lost Kent Johnson for several months, after a promising start on his part.

Sixth choice in 2022, the vintage of Juraj Slafkovsky, defender David Jiricek is having difficulty breaking through the formation. He played only three matches. The first pick of 2024, center Cayden Lindstrom, drafted ahead of Ivan Demidov, is still in the infirmary. Columbus has just suffered thaws of 6-2 against Winnipeg and 7-2 against Washington. The team remains fragile.

Ducks d’Anaheim

Another fragile club. The Ducks have lost six of their last eight games, including two after 60 minutes. But, like the Canadian, Anaheim places its young people in training. Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish and Trevor Zegras are at the center of the top three lines. The defense is also very young with Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov and Jackson LaCombe. Hence the recent dismissal of Tristan Luneau to the minors. Carlsson and McTavish are doing pretty well, but Zegras is still looking for himself.

Goaltender Lukas Dostal, 24, is exceptional, with a 2.22 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage. He often saves furniture, unlike the Canadiens’ goalkeepers. Anaheim is just two points ahead of the NHL’s worst team, San Jose, but has played two fewer games. We should once again find the Ducks at the bottom of the standings this year. It’s planned. Their first pick in 2024, Beckett Sennecke, returned to the junior ranks in Ontario. This right-handed winger has 19 points, including 11 goals, in 12 games in Oshawa.

Blackhawks de Chicago

The Hawks are less bad than expected, with three wins in their last four games, against the Avalanche and the Kings, among others, but a loss against the Sharks. They allow especially fewer goals, 3.15 on average per match, for the 16^e rank in the NHL. In comparison, the CH allocates 4.08 per meeting.

Chicago remains Connor Bedard’s club, 12 points in 13 games so far, but we acquired several veterans, namely Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi, Alec Martinez, Ilya Mikheyev, Craig Smith, Patrick Maroon and TJ Brodie, to leave the young develop at their own pace in the American League. The Kevin Korchinski, sent too quickly into the den of the wolf last year, Frank Nazar, Colton Dach and the team’s second overall pick last year, Artyom Levshunov, recently returned to health. Despite this reconstruction, the Blackhawks still have a fairly old team, with an average age of 29 years, for eighth place in the NHL. Utah, Montreal and Buffalo have the youngest clubs.

Sharks de San Jose

The Sharks earned their first win last year in their 12^e match and their third in their 16^e part. It took them nine games to finally win this season, but won three straight recently before losing 3-2 to Vancouver. All this despite the absence of their first overall pick, Macklin Celebrini, injured since the first game.

The massive arrival of veterans like Tyler Toffoli, Alex Wennberg, Barclay Goodrow and Jake Walman greatly helps this young club which badly needed experience. We rushed Will Smith’s arrival in the NHL. It’s difficult for him, but he scored his first two goals, in the same match, recently. Mikael Granlund still leads the charge offensively with more than a point per game and defenseman Jake Walman is surprising offensively with 9 points in 13 games. Have they found their Matheson?

San Jose should still finish last in the overall standings this winter and amass another important piece for the team’s future, following Celebrini, Smith, Sam Dickinson, Quentin Musty, William Eklund and Filip Bystedt.