NHL Daily: Corey Crawford, Mikko Rantanen, Hockey in Seattle

NHL Daily: Blackhawks starter Corey Crawford is off to an unusually slow start, Avs get top prospect Mikko Rantanen back, but how much will it actually help? Another twist in Seattle’s bid for an NHL team, and more! (Morning Coffee Headlines)

Grab your morning cup of coffee and join us here at Puck Prose for a compilation of NHL daily links that will help keep you updated with everything going on in the hockey world.

We had 11 games on the schedule on Tuesday night. Minnesota demolished the Bruins 5-0 as Malcolm Subban got the nod for an injury-riddled Boston squad. It was just his second NHL start and arguably just as disastrous a result as his debut. Speaking of disasters, Steven Stamkos and company embarrassed the Maple Leafs at home with a 7-3 beating. We also saw Calgary get some decent goaltending, propelling them to a 4-1 win over St. Louis.

As per usual, we highlight the top performers of the previous night:

F Steven Stamkos, TB (2 goals 2 assists)
F Nikita Kucherov, TB (1 goal 3 assists)
F Taylor Hall, NJ (2 goals 1 assist)
F Jason Zucker, MIN (1 goal 2 assists)
D Mark Streit, PHI (1 goal 2 assists)
F Joel Eriksson Ek, MIN (3 assists)
F Dylan Larkin, DET (2 goals)
F Travis Zajac, NJ (2 goals)
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, ARZ (2 goals)
F Matt Moulson, BUF (2 goals)
F Ryan Dzingel, OTT (2 goals)
D Ryan Suter, MIN (1 goal 1 assist)
F Andreas Athanasiou, DET (1 goal 1 assist)
F Brayden Schenn, PHI (1 goal 1 assist)
F Vladislav Namestnikov, TB (1 goal 1 assist)
F Auston Matthews, TOR (1 goal 1 assist)
F William Nylander, TOR (1 goal 1 assist)
F Sam Bennett, CGY (1 goal 1 assist)
F Johnny Gaudreau, CGY (1 goal 1 assist)
F Joe Pavelski, SJ (1 goal 1 assist)
D Michael Stone, ARZ (2 assists)
F Pavel Zacha, NJ (2 assists)
D Damon Severson, NJ (2 assists)
D Andrej Sustr, TB (2 assists)
F Devin Shore, DAL (2 assists)
F Tyler Toffoli, LA (2 assists)

G Devan Dubnyk, MIN (27 save shutout)
G Craig Anderson, OTT (22 save shutout)
G Petr Mrazek, DET (Stopped 29 of 31 shots)
G Brian Elliott, CGY (Stopped 23 of 24 shots)
G Martin Jones, SJ (Stopped 19 of 20 shots)

NHL Daily: Morning Coffee Headlines

Twist in Seattle Saga

In Sportsnet’s 30 thoughts piece, it was reported that Chris Hansen has made a game-changing decision that could help Seattle’s fortunes to acquire an NHL team. He has reportedly offered to forego public financing. [Sportsnet]

Crawford off to Slow Start

All NHL

Colin Likas over at Blackhawk Up discusses how starter Corey Crawford is off to an unusually slow start in 2016-17. He’s currently 1-3-1 with a 3.02GAA and .897 save percentage – sad, considering he’s coming off a career-best seven shutouts last season. [Blackhawk Up]

NHL, NHLPA visit Pyeongchang

While Olympics participation is still up in the air, both the NHL and NHLPA did their due diligence as usual traveling to the future host site. This was the first visit to Pyeongchang, South Korea ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics. [TSN]

What Type of Impact Will Rantanen Have?

Ross Sellers over at Mile High Sticking wonders how top prospect Mikko Rantanen will affect the chemistry of a team that is rolling pretty good right now. The Finnish forward missed training camp/preseason while recovering from an injury. [Mile High Sticking]

5 Interesting Team Stats

NBC Sports delves into five different intriguing team statistics early in the season. Among them, an astounding nine power play goals for Nashville, yet only two wins in five games to show for it. [NBC Sports]

Offseason Additions Stepping up For Habs

Jesse Zhang over at A Winning Habit takes a look at the Habs recent success and how a few offseason additions are stepping up. Most recently, Alexander Radulov collected a goal and two assists in Montreal’s 3-1 win over Philadelphia on Monday night. [A Winning Habit]

Next: Minnesota Wild to Improve Offense to Succeed

NHL Daily Morning Rant

I wanted to switch gears a bit today as we tend to do every now and again. For those fantasy hockey folks out there, I wanted to give you a list of 10 players worth a pick up on the waiver wire. The first five may or may not be available due to hot starts, but still considered under the radar players. The last group of five that are due to break out at some point in 2016-17:

Hot Starts:

1. Richard Panik (Chicago Blackhawks)
2. Jonathan Marchessault (Florida Panthers)
3. Matt Read (Philadelphia Flyers)
4. Jordan Martinook (Arizona Coyotes)
5. Lee Stempniak (Carolina Hurricanes)

Breakout Performance Candidates:

1. Pavel Zacha (New Jersey Devils)
2. Travis Konecny (Philadelphia Flyers)
3. Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes)
4. Tyler Motte (Chicago Blackhawks)
5. Kevin Fiala (Nashville Predators)

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