We’re at the halfway point of the NHL season and – when taking a realistic look at the league’s Eastern Conference – not much, if anything, appears definite or decisive . . . yet.
It’s anyone’s ballgame, folks.
But we’ve been down that particular road a few times in this column already in 2025-26, so we’ll leave the dogfight for playoffs alone . . . for now.
What might prove interesting and a bit fresher is looking at Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto (the fans’ choice favourites by far in these parts), and evaluating each of the club’s strengths and weaknesses through the first chunk of the year. Also, we’ll check in on where each of the three seem headed as we tackle hockey’s next half.
And yes, we’ll dip our opinions into Thursday night’s spectacle of a debacle from Denver to boot.
OTTAWA SENATORS
No complaints: Tim Stutzle. Shane Pinto. Jake Sanderson.
In essence, these have become Ottawa’s lone untouchables. That’s it; the complete list.
Stutzle, Pinto and Sanderson are the Senators’ building blocks going forward.
No. 1: Stutzle. He leads in the club in virtually every offensive stat (19 goals, 26 assists, 45 points, three GWGs) and at the age of 23 has taken hold as the absolute best of the 2020 draft (No. 3 overall) if it isn’t soon to become Sanderson.
Stutzle cares and he even fought against Colorado – not well, mind you, but he showed up.
No. 2: Pinto. Now you know why when teams called Ottawa in previous years about player availability, they inquired about the Long Island native.
He’s a complete player.
No. 3: Sanderson. Not quite on the Cale Maker level (who the hell is?) or Quinn Hughes level, but he’s right there with the Zerenski’s, Seider’s and Heiskanen’s.
One of the most fluid skaters in the game, Sanderson’s smarts are starting to blossom as well.
Complaints: I’m tempted to knee-jerk this one right out of the park. An 8-2 drubbing does that to you.
Yes, Colorado is far-and-beyond the tops of the tops in 2025-26 but what happened in that 8-2 guzzling was inexcusable. Ottawa is ‘supposed’ to be clamoring hard for points, or the season goes to dust.
There was zero clamoring Thursday night unless you call that third period ‘message sending’ relevant. It wasn’t. It was a joke.
Steve Staios has done zip to improve this team and the rabid posters who defend his record (what record?) since taking over from Pierre Dorion (who, BTW, drafted Sanderson and Stutzle) need help.
The Josh Norris-Dylan Cozens swap was heralded for months until Norris got healthy; the Kurtis MacDermid trade . . . this is the kind of deal Montreal used to make, bringing in guys like George Parros or Georges Laraque – somewhat reluctant enforcers past their best-before dates. Ineffective to say the least.
The Linus Ullmark deal? Well, Ottawa’s netminding crisis remains ongoing with no end in sight unless you believe James Reimer has anything/something left in the tank.
Unlikely.
The Jakob Chychrun one? Good Lord, Chychrun was a consideration for Team Canada, is second in the circuit in defenceman goals (15) and is a pretty +25.
Nick Jensen is none of the above and has become a healthy scratch.
Well then, so much for not caving to the knee-jerk, but this sure was fun.
Prognosis: Seriously, it will take something of a miraculous .625 or .650 run to get this team back to the playoffs. Unbelievably disappointing for Ottawa Fan who labelled this squad as a contender for top spot in the Atlantic during the pre-season. And yes, I had them there as well.
End note: Anyone who stayed up to watch Thursday’s third period in Colorado was either a masochist, a Schadenfreude-ist or an insomniac.
Carry on.
MONTREAL CANADIENS
No complaints: Nip-and-tuck with Detroit and Tampa for top rung in the Atlantic, the Habs appear ready for a long playoff run. The good news for all three of these divisional contenders is we’re finally seeing some separation in the division between them and the Senators, Sabres, Bruins, Panthers and Leafs.
The job done by upper management can’t be praised enough. Montreal no longer needs to rely on the few (Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Lane Hutson) to carry the many. This has morphed into a deep and talented team.
Montreal plays with pace and verve, and nowhere is that more evident than with (relative) newcomer Ivan Demidov – he’s worth the price of admission.
Complaints: Much like Ottawa, Montreal’s had a devil of a time finding someone (anyone) to stop the puck in dependable fashion. The recent Christmas break, as well as a stint with AHL Laval, did a world of good for No. 1 Sam Montembeault who’s been stable the last two outings.
His season up to that point had been fairly atrocious – and he put it down to placing excessive pressure on himself.
The Habs are currently rolling with a three-goalie set-up. We can’t see that continuing.
Prognosis: Sitting at a strong 25-13-6, the Habs look solid for back-to-back postseason slots.
We’ll have to get there first before seeing what this growing franchise has to offer against playoff vets like Florida and Tampa.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
No complaints: The acquisition of unheralded blueliner Troy Stecher was an under-the-radar move that somehow, some way’s paid off big time.
The 31-year-old is on his seventh NHL team and already has a fan in Toronto head coach Craig Berube: “He has some snarl to him, and he is not afraid to speak up, whether it is on the ice to the other team or to our team. I really like what he brings.”
Stecher’s been valuable to a club that has lost standouts Chris Tanev (still out) and Brandon Carlo for long stretches.
Oliver Ekman Larsson also deserves praise for his offensive game from the back end.
Matthew Knies has grown, both literally and figuratively, into a top-notch power forward. He, along with the seemingly ageless John Tavares, represent Toronto’s most consistent performers up front. William Nylander continues to produce as well.
Complaints: That condensed schedule has not been kind to the Leafs elderly roster and on too many nights their stars have sat due to wear-and-tear.
The quality goaltending that was the hallmark of a Toronto team one year ago has also suffered from injury and also suffered from inconsistency. Joe Woll missed a month and change to deal with a personal issue (he’s been solid since returning in November). His tag team partner, Anthony Stolarz, was ineffective in Woll’s absence and has been missing since Nov. 11th with an undisclosed injury.
Auston Matthews was close to awful for most of the first half but his game’s caught fire in the past two weeks.
Prognosis: If the Leafs can bottle and package that effort produced against the Florida Panthers from earlier this week, they’ll contend in the east.
This is most certainly a wait-and-see prognosis.
OTTAWA SENATORS WEEK AHEAD:
Saturday, Jan. 10: Florida at Ottawa (7 pm)
Tuesday, Jan. 13: Vancouver at Ottawa (7 pm)
Wednesday, Jan. 14: Ottawa at NY Rangers (7:30 pm)
thegrossgame@yahoo.com
Photo: Courtesy Getty Image
