Rookie Chase Heats Up in Philadelphia: NHL Highlights

SportsGrid

Watch Rookie Chase Heats Up in Philadelphia: NHL Highlights - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00If we are looking at the rookie chase here in Philadelphia, we love this.

00:04Matvey Mitchkoff, waited for him to come over.

00:06He's finally here, sort of butting heads with Tortorella.

00:10He was the NHL Rookie of the Month.

00:12Finally comes back there with two-game layoff, puts up a couple points.

00:15But if we are talking about the Calder Cup, Mitchkoff, Stankovin, Celebrini,

00:20where does it stand right now, Pete, in your eyes?

00:24Well, my preseason pick on NHL.com was Stankovin.

00:27He just plays for the safest offense.

00:30You know, I think it's one of those things where he's going to see an elevated role

00:34over the course of the year, regardless of who he's playing with.

00:36I don't worry about him.

00:37With the Flyers and the Sharks, they're rebuilding.

00:40I think the Flyers are a little bit more accelerated than them.

00:43But even Phillies had some issues early on in the season.

00:46They haven't been quite as good as I thought they were last year with, you know,

00:50being on the verge of the playoffs for most of the season

00:53and then bowing out the last day of the season.

00:55So I worry about that Tortorella dynamic a little bit.

00:58But I mean, probably over time, Mitchkoff has a case over these two other guys

01:03to be at another level.

01:05Celebrini is there with Will Smith in San Jose.

01:10He's actually been really good per game, missed a lot of time because of injury.

01:13He's only played like four or five games so far this year.

01:16So it's been very productive.

01:19And he'll get back into the race over time.

01:21But I would lean with Stankovin.

01:22Just like overall, the shot volume, the point per game so far, really impressive.

01:29And we got a glimpse of him last year, even in the playoffs.

01:31So we know he's the real deal.

01:34Pete, taking a look at some of the awards,

01:36the Vest and I handed out on the yearly best shot stopper,

01:39best goaltender between the pipes once it's all said and done.

01:43And no surprises, Connor Hellerbach has had a fantastic start to the year there

01:46with the Jets, a 12-1 win and loss.

01:50Who's been the standout between the pipes for you?

01:52Maybe a name worth watching with a bit of value, if it's not Connor.

01:57Yeah, I think we've seen some really slow starts for teams like Nashville and Boston.

02:03And Swayman, right, he had all the conversation about him going into the season.

02:08And we expected a ton out of him.

02:10Got the late start in training camp before he got his contract done.

02:13A lot of drama there, negative storylines and stuff like that.

02:17So he's been disappointing.

02:18I was picking UC Soros because Nashville was so impressive in the offseason,

02:24adding Stamkos and Marchessault and Brady Shea onto an already loaded offense.

02:29But that offense, although they've been good in shot attempts percentage,

02:32top 10 in the league, they just, I guess they have too many shooters.

02:36They don't have enough playmakers on that roster.

02:38So I'm disappointed in the goal support that Soros has received so far.

02:43Out of those two, I would say Soros, if Nashville turns it around,

02:46makes the playoffs, he has that workhorse, shutout dynamic any given night

02:52where he could get back into the race.

02:53But right now, and even after the Rangers-Jets game last night,

02:58I mean, it's hands down Connor Hellebuck right now.

03:01As I mentioned earlier, he was the Vezina winner last year,

03:06won it a couple years before in 2020, going for number three this year,

03:10going for back-to-back Vezinas, which hasn't been done since Marty Brodeur,

03:15I believe, in the earlier 2000s.

03:17So right now, unless the Jets really come back down to earth and cool off here,

03:23it's looking like it's going to be Hellebuck again,

03:25even compared to the other greats like Shesterkin and Sergei Bobrovsky and guys like that.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended