CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – The Christmas season is upon us once again. Here's some gift suggestions for several notable NHL teams and players.
Alexander Ovechkin
His eighth career 50-goal season, putting him one shy of the record held by Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy. The Washington Capitals star is on pace for a career-high 70 goals.
Winnipeg Jets
The title of Canada's team. The better-balanced of the seven Canadian clubs, they're this country's best hope of ending its quarter-century Stanley Cup drought.
Connor McDavid
His second Hart Memorial Trophy in three years. No player is more valuable to his team this season than McDavid is to the Edmonton Oilers. Without him, they're sunk.
Toronto Maple Leafs
An established top-pairing defenceman. The Leafs are thin on the right side of their blue-line. Left unaddressed, it could prove fatal to their Stanley Cup aspirations.
Steven Stamkos
The opportunity to hoist the Cup in 2019. He and his Tampa Bay Lightning teammates are dominating the league and remain the favourites to win it all this season.
Montreal Canadiens
A power play instruction manual. The Canadiens sit near the top-10 in goals but their power play percentage is among the league's worst.
Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog
A new award honouring the top forward line of the year. As of Dec. 20, Rantanen and MacKinnon sat one-two in the NHL points race while Landeskog was among the leading goal scorers.
Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings
A blueprint for rebuilding in the salary-cap era. Their respective glory days are now behind them. They must find a way to shed some aging, expensive veterans to make room for young, affordable talent.
P.K. Subban
A speedy recovery from his recent upper-body injury. The Nashville Predators blue-liner has been sidelined since mid-November. Without its most charismatic star, the NHL just isn't the same.
Philadelphia Flyers
A reliable starting goaltender. They've gone through six already this season. No wonder they're near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
Elias Pettersson
The Calder Memorial Trophy. On track for a 90-point performance, the Vancouver Canucks wunderkind leads this season's rookie scorers by a wide margin.
Ottawa Senators
New ownership. Under cantankerous Eugene Melnyk, the Senators have foundered on the ice and at the turnstiles in recent years. They need a stable hand on the rudder.
Aleksander Barkov
Overdue and well-deserved recognition as one of the league's elite players. The Florida Panthers captain leads by example, excelling at both ends of the rink.
Minnesota Wild
Consistency. In recent years, no club has suffered more in-season ups and downs than the Wild. A month ago, they were jockeying for first in the Central Division. They've since tumbled out of a playoff spot.
Mark Giordano
The Norris Trophy as the league's top defenceman. The 35-year-old Calgary Flames captain is enjoying a late-career renaissance. So far, he's this season's most complete defender.
Happy holidays, everyone. See you in the New Year.
Lyle Richardson is a freelance writer with the Sporting News and runs the website Spector’s Hockey. His column will appear in The Guardian throughout the NHL hockey season.
