Biggest takeaways from Amazon Prime's six-part series "Faceoff: Inside the NHL"
Prime's new series provides an intimate look into some of the league's biggest stars during the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.
After much anticipation, Amazon released Faceoff: Inside the NHL on its streaming service Prime on Thursday. The six-part series followed several stars around the league as they navigated the playoffs to pursue the Stanley Cup.
Each episode focused on different players and provided exciting storylines for each featured playoff series. Here are some of my biggest takeaways from the show.
Jeremy Swayman deserves every bit of his new contract with the Bruins
The Jeremy Swayman saga has been one of the most interesting stories in hockey in the weeks before the regular season.
During his appearance in episode three, it was a prevalent topic of discussion. Several times it was teased that Game 6 against the Panthers could be his final game. Several months later, it was starting to feel that way, too.
While goalies can sometimes be seen as stoic figures who take everything a bit too seriously, Swayman's personality came across as laid back, serenading the viewers at the beginning of the episode with his guitar playing. It made even the biggest Bruins haters in the world like him just a little bit.
In a move almost perfectly aligned with the release of the show, Swayman and the Bruins ended their months-long stalemate by agreeing to an eight-year deal on Sunday.
It comes after a well-documented arbitration case last season that Swayman talked about during his episode. Swayman has checked off plenty of the negatives that the Bruins presented during his case last offseason, earning a large payday in the process.
Gabriel Landeskog is aiming to play this season for the Avalanche
While the second episode focused on the health of Filip Forsberg and Jack Eichel, Gabriel Landeskog's appearance in the fourth episode could be an extension of that. The Colorado captain hasn't appeared in a game since lifting the Stanley Cup in 2022.
What was initially thought to be a few months has turned into two full seasons after undoing knee surgery and a cartilage transplant procedure.
The Avalanche have been solid regular-season performers in his absence, eclipsing 107 points in each season. However, they've failed to return to the conference finals in their last two trips, including a first-round loss to the Seattle Kraken in 2023.
The fourth episode ended with Landeskog confidently stating during a press conference that he would play sometime between October and April of this season.
Currently, there isn't a concrete timeline for his return, but signs are pointing in the right direction. Whenever it should come, his return will be welcome news for the Avalanche, who will also be without Valeri Nichushkin to start the season.
Love him or hate him, Matthew Tkachuk is a face of the NHL
No player was featured more prominently during the series than Matthew Tkachuk. Along with the spotlight in the third episode with Swayman, Tkachuk was a big part of the final two episodes, which highlighted the thrilling seven-game Stanley Cup Final.
One of the storylines for Tkachuk's episodes was his family's legacy and getting the Tkachuk name on the Stanley Cup after his father, Keith, could not do so during his career.
Over the last three seasons, Tkachuk has blossomed into a clutch performer, especially during Florida's two runs to the Stanley Cup Finals.
He recorded back-to-back 100-point seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and three straight 60+-assist seasons during the regular season before adding back-to-back 20-point playoff runs.
With his prevalence in the series, it's clear that the league sees Tkachuk as one of the faces of the league. While maybe not as flashy as Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews, Tkachuk has to be in the discussion.
He's the first person you think of when discussing the Panthers' Stanley Cup Run, with Sergei Bobrovsky being a close second. His family pedigree only adds to it.
The expectations of Connor McDavid to win a Stanley Cup are overblown
Speaking of Connor McDavid, he was heavily featured during the two-part finale. The best player in the world playing in his first Stanley Cup Final was big news.
McDavid is responsible for the most viral moment of the series, giving an expletive-heavy plea to his team to be better after losing in Game 2.
While it didn't quite work in Game 3, his leadership helped the Oilers rebound for three straight wins before losing in Game 7 in Sunrise. His reaction to the loss is heartbreaking as he breaks down in the locker room.
The series does a good job of talking about the hype surrounding McDavid from a young age. The expectations have always been astronomical for him. Sometimes, it's to an unfair degree.
He has been the best player we expected him to be, winning the Hart Trophy three times and the Art Ross five times. During the 2024 Playoffs, McDavid broke Wayne Gretzky's assist record, leading the league with 42 points as he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Playoffs MVP.
If Connor McDavid never wins a Stanley Cup, he'll still be one of the best players of this generation and maybe even ever. He's only 27 years old, so he has several more years ahead of him. He'll likely reach 1,000 points before the end of October.
Even if he never played another game again, McDavid is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. That being said, I expect the sting of the Game 7 loss to fuel the entire Oilers team, making them front-runners for this year's Stanley Cup.
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