Oct. 27--Heading into the weekend, NHL teams had played 10.3 games, on average. My smartphone not only collects personal data for Facebook and Russia, it has a calculator -- and it says the regular season is already more than 12% gone. It'll be beyond 13% by Monday morning.
This is enough of a sample for the first snapshot of the 2019-20 season. If you are a Blue Jackets fans looking at this picture, you're looking forward to Wednesday night, when the Edmonton Oilers, one of the biggest surprises of the early season, visit Nationwide Arena.
Sign up for our Blue Jackets Xtra newsletterThe Oilers missed the playoffs in 13 of the previous 14 seasons. Perspective: The Jackets missed in 11 of their first 12 seasons. Think about that.
Previously, the Oilers were Exhibit A in Why Not To Tank: Three No. 1 overall picks in three years, 2010-12, did little to refine them. Two of these No. 1s -- Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov -- are long gone. Yakupov is 4,000 miles removed.
The Oilers may be Exhibit C or D in Why To Tank: They got Connor McDavid, a generational player, with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft (a year after they took Leon Draisaitl at No. 3 overall).
This morning, the Oilers sit atop the Pacific Division.
If the early season snapshot is any indication, the Oilers -- who have ripped through nine coaches and four general managers in 10 years -- are stabilizing. Finally. New general manager Ken Holland has a championship pedigree from Detroit. New coach Dave Tippett, a less-animated version of John Tortorella, has brought a defensive structure and sanity to the enterprise. Alberta isn't just Johnny Hockey, the Fringe Festival and tar sands anymore.
McDavid and Draisaitl play more minutes than Zach Werenski, which is kind of crazy -- but McDavid (1.82 points per game) and Draisaitl (1.73) were second and third in the league in production. They were right behind Boston's David Pastrnak (1.89).
(Speaking of the relative merits of tanking, Pastrnak, among others, was available when the Jackets took Sonny Milano with the No. 16 overall pick in 2014. So, like, nice job on Pierre-Luc Dubois over Puljujarvi, but there are no pure geniuses when it comes to projecting 18-year-olds -- unless McJesus is available for selection. But I digress.)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who began shaving last year, is now the longest-tenured Oiler. This excellent, two-way forward has found his groove as the No. 2 center. He now has a potent, if potentially malcontent, linemate in James Neal.
The Oilers lack depth all over the ice, but their first two lines are wicked and Tippett is an ex-Whaler, so he knows what he is doing.
Other snapshots:
The Washington Capitals are the unsurprising leaders of the Metropolitan Division. Defenseman John Carlson, the league leader in assists and points heading into the weekend, is being referred to as "John Norris" by Alex Ovechkin.
Colorado, atop the Central Division, is the best team in the league right now. The Avalanche got nine points in six road games against 2019 playoff teams. This, from the youngest team in the league.
The Buffalo Sabres are Oilers East with Depth. The Sabres, in first place in the Atlantic Division, have taken to the positive reinforcement and defensive structure of new coach Ralph Krueger. A lot of nice pieces are coalescing. Jack Eichel doesn't have to try to do everything anymore.
If you are a Jackets fan, you probably like the vibe. The Jackets are the second-youngest team in the league (average age, 25.8, just behind Colorado) and they have the most cap space ($10 million or so, a little more than Colorado). And they look pretty good.
One difference between the Jackets and the Avs: The Jackets are averaging 1.6 fewer goals. Which is to say the Jacket are on pace to average 130 fewer goals than the Avalanche, which in a snapshot is still a ton.
marace@dispatch.com
@MichaelArace1
