Trevor Zegras is a future star to build around

Justin Cuthbert discusses Trevor Zegras's marketability, Auston Matthews's form, and shares notes from his Canadian Olympic roster research.

Video Transcript

JUSTIN CUTHBERT: It's the Yahoo Sports Hockey Podcast, solo midweek edition. Justin Cuthbert back with you for another week. So this week's been a little different. I felt like I had to get something out of my system. I, like most others, starting to get the feeling that Olympic involvement-- or NHL involvement at the Olympics-- is starting to teeter a little bit. Getting a little bit uncomfortable with the idea that there's a very good possibility that the NHL won't be there.

Now, I want to see it because I want to see best on best hockey for the first time in what, eight years? Truly best on best hockey. But I also want it to happen because I produce NHL content as a profession. And I don't want to give up on those content opportunities completely, the ones that are provided by the Olympics.

So this week, I decided to do a little bit of projecting. Olympic roster projections done in different ways. A full week of roster projections. We had the postseason pedigree team, and that was sort of the hook to all of this, was the fact that Hockey Canada general manager Doug Armstrong came out and said that they want to have a team that's proven to win in crunch situations and important games. So that means playoff success in the NHL.

So obviously, that team featured lots of Lightning, lots of Bruins, some Avalanche, Golden Knights, some of Armstrong's Blues. Because they did win a Cup in the last five years here. Among others. And then, on Tuesday-- actually on Wednesday-- we had the all-spreadsheet team. So that was more of an analytical focus on who might be considered for this team. Of course, we have the Dougie Hamiltons, Phil Danault was on that team, among others.

And then today, we had the Recency Bias team. So that's just players based on this year's NHL results. So Andrew Mangiapane is on that team, Nazem Kadri, and even Tom Wilson snuck into there as an extra. Tomorrow is the last of the projections. We will have my team, so no stipulations. Just what I think the best team is for Canada, if indeed they do go to the Olympics in Beijing in February.

But since I've done, you know, the more research side of it, I did want to share some trends. Because I think it's worth talking about which players have made every iteration of Team Canada from my findings. As a reference for the team that I'm going to share on Friday, and the team that ultimately represents the nation in Beijing if, in fact, they do go.

Now, Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Alex Pietrangelo, they were on every team because they've already been selected to the team by Doug Armstrong. It's interesting that they wouldn't have made all three. I understand that's silly, at least with McDavid. But, you know, Crosby's had a difficult start this year with COVID and injuries and-- I wouldn't say poor performance, but he's not doing Sidney Crosby things, as we know him from the last few years and certainly before that. Just yet. I mean, he can get there for sure.

And Alex Pietrangelo, you know, the numbers might not suggest how valuable he may be. I do believe he deserves to be on the team. But as a spoiler, he didn't make the-- he wouldn't have made the analytical team. But anyway, here are the players who did make all four teams. All three teams, rather.

We'll start with the forwards. Probably no surprises here. Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Nathan MacKinnon. And if there was a surprise, Steven Stamkos. Now, you know, he's done a lot of winning, obviously. And he's a player that scored 60 goals like 10 years ago in one season. So he's got quite the pedigree. But he's also been very, very productive of late, and very good from a statistical standpoint, too, in every way you want to look at it.

So Steven Stamkos, maybe thought of as a bubble guy. Maybe changing some opinions this year, by the way he's played without Brayden Point and without Nikita Kucherov for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are on a roll. But he makes all three teams. And he's probably going to make my team and the Olympic team in the end, based on what he's done here in the last, I guess, couple of years since that injury. And since missing out on that playoff run with Tampa a couple of years back.

On the back end, I think this is where it's more interesting. Basically familiar faces on each team, but the only two that made both were Cale Makar and Devon Toews. Devon Toews is obviously interesting, because he may not make the roster in the end. He's not really believed to be a slam dunk like Cale Makar is.

But he's been just tremendous in every way you want to measure performance in these last few years, and certainly since going to the Colorado Avalanche and linking up with Cale Makar. Hockey Canada loves pairings, loves familiarity, and this makes all the sense in the world. So I do wonder if Devon Toews has broken into the conversation with the way he's played, and his importance, maybe, to Cale Makar's game.

But his importance to the Avalanche should not be understated. He hasn't played the full year, but he's played in 14 games. 17 points, 4 goals. A plus 60. And this is from Peter Barr, a friend of the program at the Athletic. And the Avalanche are 10-3 and 1, with Toews in the lineup this year. So very important to the Avalanche and perhaps important to Team Canada. He'll be on my team for sure.

Another finding, though-- I think this is the one that's most interesting to me when I was putting together these teams-- is that the all Recency Bias team yielded an incredible defense score. At least on paper, I think. Let me run it down for you. Morgan Rielly and Drew Doughty is, I guess, my top pairing, if you want to call them my top pairing. Devon Toews and Cale Makar, probably the third pairing. Aaron Ekblad and Alex Pietrangelo, that's the top 6.

And then as my reserves, I got Ekblad's partner in Florida, who's been tremendous-- both individually and with Ekblad-- MacKenzie Weegar. And then my extra would be Dougie Hamilton. I don't think you can go wrong there. I mean, I might be missing Shea Theodore. He hasn't had that good of a start, though, this year. I certainly believe he's going to make the team in the end.

But I think you could do far worse than a defense corps with Rielly, Doughty, Toews, Makar, Ekblad, Pietrangelo, and then reserves being Weegar and Dougie Hamilton. Just something to think about. Another player that's going to be under consideration for Olympic rosters is Trevor Zegras.

The biggest news of the week was this outstanding setup that he gave Sonny Milano in the Anaheim Ducks victory over the Buffalo Sabers this week. And my biggest takeaway from what we saw was that this guy, above everything else, just understands how to be a superstar, right? He might not be there yet. We see superstar moments, I think, from him every game. Like, the creativity with this guy really knows no bounds.

But he might be the closest thing to like an NBA-- like one of those players in the NBA or the NFL that people just really want to tune in to watch. Because he does things differently. He does those brazen, audacious moves, like we saw the Milano set up. But in addition to that, he knows how to market those moments.

So this game came on ESPN. And I don't think there's a coincidence there. I think this guy understands the stage, the moment, and all that goes into a national broadcast. But to try that move, for it to work, then to show us how to react to his goal himself by opening his mouth wide and putting his hands to his head, and enjoying on the bench like he did, and the interview with ESPN after tweeting about it after.

I mean, he made it more than just the on-ice moment. And that is so individual from an NHL standpoint, because most of the time, hockey players, when they do something incredible, the natural reaction is to put their head down and go to center ice or go to the bench. And we're seeing a little bit less of it, but Zegras has taken it to another level. The showmanship, everything that goes into it, this is completely different.

I think this is an opportunity for the NHL. I think Trevor Zegras is growing into a building block for this league. I would not be surprised to see more Anaheim Ducks games on US national television for the reason to showcase Trevor Zegras. And if there was any-- I mean, I gave out a bet on Lucas Raymond a couple of weeks ago to win the Calder Trophy, just with his start. It's Trevor Zegras' to lose.

I mean, he's got all that momentum. And now all the points are coming. He's going to be taking over. Now that he's gotten rid of Cole Caufield, who was basically the other coin flip option heading into the year, Trevor Zegras is going to take control of that Calder Trophy race, I think. With more and more moments like that, more off-the-ice moments that get attention and eyes directed towards him, I think this guy's got an opportunity to carve out a pretty sizable place in this game for himself just by doing things a little bit differently.

Another player who does things differently could be on Trevor Zegras's Olympic team-- if, in fact, Zegras makes it-- is Auston Matthews, who has shown incredible form here of late. He is on an unreal scoring binge at the moment. He's got 7 goals in his last four games, and 10 in his last seven. He scored in each of those seven games. And suddenly, he's pulled himself to within four goals of the league lead in Leon Draisaitl, who's pretty much been front-running since the start of the season.

But honestly-- and here's another bad bet I gave out-- Leon Draisaitl should not be favored to win the Rocket Richard right now, based on how Auston Matthews is playing. Matthews should probably be the favorite, as he was at the start of the year, for the Rocket. And I saw him at plus 850 on a local Sportsbook to win the award the other day. If you see that number, I don't care how invested you are at anyone else-- Draisaitl included-- that is worth putting some money on.

But more importantly, if you're a Leaf fan, his rise here in the last couple of weeks, and in the last three games, just the way he's played, is exactly what you want to see with Mitch Marner on the shelf here temporarily. Marner missing time should not slow down Matthews or the Maple Leafs at all. Now, they only have one win from those three games. The overall performance has not been poor.

But Auston Matthews has been sensational in those games. As I mentioned, the Rocket Richard is probably his to lose. I wouldn't be surprised if he led the league in scoring-- goal-scoring, that is-- by the new year, the way he's playing right now. And the importance of him continuing to be shot first mentality, and hungry out there on the ice, looking to score goals to help the Leafs while one of their superstars is out of the lineup.

I think Auston Matthews is going to continue on this tear. He looks as good as he's ever looked. And, of course, he was by far the best goal scorer in the NHL last season. Some breaking-ish news here on Thursday is that Jim Rutherford is being connected pretty sizably here to the Vancouver Canucks. Either taking over the general manager position that is vacant, or held in the interim by Stan Smeal, or the Vice President of Hockey Operations or some form of that.

Now this makes a lot of sense. It makes more sense than Bruce Boudreaux to Vancouver ever made sense. But clearly, the head coach is having a positive impact with the Canucks, who are suddenly winning games with him at the helm. And it certainly makes more sense than bringing in Marc Bergevin, despite these two guys being somewhat similar in a lot of ways.

It's about trades, right? Those are two of the more successful trade-makers in the NHL in the last 5 to 10 years. Rutherford does it with frequency and more success than most, honestly. And the fact that this team clearly needs to make changes from its NHL roster, bringing in a guy like Rutherford who could execute changes and not be taken advantage of league-wide is probably a pretty important thing.

You know, we've talked a lot about having new blood in the game, and new people having a chance to put their mark or put their stamp on an NHL team and their profession. Yeah, I want to see it, too. But it seems like in Vancouver, the Hall of Famer, the guy who's been around forever, the guy who knows how to execute trades makes the most sense to diagnose this problem and help lead Vancouver out of it.

They've got to flip the roster. And if it's not Bergevin-- and it shouldn't be for a variety of reasons, I think-- Rutherford certainly makes a lot of sense. OK, let's move to the Power 5. It is the best five teams in the NHL right now as decided by me. A couple of new entries here.

And we'll start at number 5 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. As mentioned, their first appearance. The defending champs finally breaking into the elite tier here. They've got 4 consecutive wins. They've got 10 wins from their last 13 games. And they've done it without Nikita Kucherov. And they're now doing it without Brayden Point, which is pretty impressive.

I mean, a lot of talk about teams that just can't have talent be brought up through the system. And, you know, we often say, well, what team has that? What team is able to fix their own issues? Tampa Bay Lightning are that team. They just continue to roll that conveyor belt. Talent comes up. Talent goes down. Voids are filled, and they just continue to win hockey games. And they're doing it at even a better rate than I expected this year.

Number 4, the New York Rangers. Another debuting team, I believe. Second best record in the NHL right now, which is pretty surprising given, you know, what we thought about them entering the season, what their lineup looks like, and who they've got at net right now. Of course, they've got a Vezina Trophy candidate, but he's on the shelf. And Igor Shesterkin, who's dealing with an injury.

Alexander Georgiev has been hanging tough. They clearly need Shesterkin back. But they're still winning hockey games right now, they're 8 and 2 in their last 10. Their goal differential suggests that their record overall, both in these recent games here and overall is a little bit fortunate, but they just continue to get the job done. So the New York Rangers, you're at the top of the league standings, now into the Power 5.

Number 3, the Florida Panthers just keep chugging along. They survived Barkov's absence. He's come back and they look a little bit better in recent games here. They've got only 3 wins from 10 games on the road, which is not great. But the majority of those losses have come either in overtime or the shootout, so they continue to be productive even when they lose. And they still continue to win at home. I think they're 14 and 1 now at home. Lots of comeback victories. But again, without Barkov. And now, they're back to being their best selves.

And I believe this is a debuting team here at number 2 as well. We've got the Minnesota Wild, who are the hottest team in hockey right now, with 7 wins in a row. This is far from the most talented team on paper, kind of like the Rangers as we mentioned previously. But boy, do they have an identity. It is clear and it is obvious. It's pace and more pace from this group and from Dean Evason.

This team is functioning at the highest level, I think, maybe in the league right now, given that they don't have the same amount of talent as other elite teams. But they just continue to play very, very well within their own structure, and within their own identity. Minnesota Wild, they're very, very impressive. And they are threatening, certainly, to steal the Central Division away from the Colorado Avalanche, who are playing very well as well.

But number 1 goes to the Washington Capitals still. You know, they're teetering maybe a little bit. The perch is not as strong as it maybe was in recent weeks here. And maybe they don't deserve to be number 1. This is just on my list. But Washington just hasn't had the ebbs and flows. They've just been very consistent from the very start of the season, and they continue to get the job done.

I don't know if they're firing on all cylinders right now. They do have a couple of losses. They've answered that with the recent 2-game winning streak. But they are tied for the league in points. And they were one off the league's best goal differential. They remain the very top of the league in pretty much any metric that you want to choose.

With that, that's the Yahoo Sports Hockey Podcast. More Power 5 next week. More Julian McKenzie on the weekend. Zone Time will return before maybe a slight holiday break. But we'll have more shows and more content coming soon. And check out, please, my Olympic previews this week, with my team-- it all culminating with my team on Friday. For the Olympics, which may or may not involve the NHL.