NHL Weekly Recap: November 1

Story posted November 1, 2021 in CommRadio, Sports by Maclain Young

Another exciting week in the NHL is wrapped up and a handful of teams are standing out among the rest.

After a thrilling shootout between the Florida Panthers and the Boston Bruins, the NHL dropped down to just one unblemished team.

Florida was finally bested after head coach Joel Quenneville resigned and the talented roster was left without a firm bench boss.

Speculation is already picking up with who will take the coaching job in Florida with many thinking John Tortorella could return to the league and coach again.

Either way, Florida has one of the deepest cores in the league along with one of the most promising prospects with goaltender Spencer Knight. The job is definitely attractive, but the opening coming about 10 games into the season is throwing plenty of people for a loop.

The Panthers may not have lost in regulation, but the only true undefeated team left is the Carolina Hurricanes at 8-0.

Many thought the Canes would regress this season, especially after losing top defenseman Dougie Hamilton to the New Jersey Devils in free agency. Carolina brought in some players like Tony DeAngelo and Jesperi Kotkaniemi but not without controversy.

DeAngelo was run out of the New York Rangers organization after having locker room issues and causing problems on social media. After he was cut last year, plenty of people thought he might never play for another NHL team.

Now he is playing for Carolina and off to a surprisingly strong start with nine points on the year.

Kotkaniemi was seen as a talented player in Montreal but was signed to the Hurricanes on an offer sheet for $6.1 million over one season and costing Carolina multiple draft picks.

Some think Carolina made this move out of spite since Montreal once tried to sign star Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho away on an offer sheer. Regardless, Kotkaniemi has been a solid piece in Carolina’s lineup so far despite not having the big numbers to back it up yet.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes are the NHL’s two winless teams.

Chicago has struggled to get it together after a busy offseason that included moving on from franchise legend Duncan Keith and signing Seth Jones to one of the league’s largest contracts.

Needless to say, it has not been clicking for the Hawks so far. It took until the seventh game of the season for the Blackhawks to simply have a lead and things will not be getting easier with the recent controversy surrounding the organization.

As for Arizona, its team was never too talented to begin with. The Coyotes are depending on players like Phil Kessel, who is a mere shell of his former self, to carry the load in terms of scoring along with a plethora of young players.

The Coyotes have looked like an AHL team at times and have been shutout in two of their last five games.

Overall, the great teams are already showing how outstanding they can be while some of the league’s bottom feeders have struggled to find footing in this young season.

 

Maclain Young is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email macyoung21@gmail.com.