On The Western Front, Weston McKennie Is A Tick

Sector 1901 - On The Western Front

With only a few days to go, let's do a quick preview of the rest of the NHL. We'll do the Western Conference today and the East tomorrow. Here we go, no time to waste!

Anaheim Ducks - The Ducks are about a half-step ahead of the Hawks in their rebuild, though the whole thing is basically ruined by their retina-burning new unis. Anaheim just has more kids up to see what they are, especially on the blue line with Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger on the two top pairs with whatever's left of Cam Fowler and Radko Gudas. Up front, the Ducks have Leo Carlsson as their #1 and he drives a lot. The Ducks were probably hoping for a bigger jump from Mason McTavish in Year 2, but they'll happily try again. Cutter Gauthier, the winger the Hawks should have been calling about, will get his first taste of a full NHL season on Carlsson's wing. This seems like the year the Ducks finally decide if Trevor Zegras is an actual piece or just a very flashy, easily TikTok-able hood ornament. But his chance creation is probably too good to give up on, even if his brain drips out of his ear in the defensive zone and is now a winger. There's enough to watch here for the 12 Ducks fans that are left, but there isn't anything on the bottom of this roster and if Carlsson and McTavish don't take steps forward, it could be ugly. Though it'll be ugly anyway thanks to their neon carrot look.

Calgary Flames - Woof. And that's not because Dustin Wolf is finally taking over in net. This is gonna be a rough go in southern Alberta. Martin Pospisil is the second center here, and an aging Nazem Kadri is the first. Anthony Mantha is on the second line. That's a bad place to be Their brief glimpse at contention is well and truly over.

Colorado Avalanche - It's a pretty familiar story here, where MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Makar are so good that this team is almost guaranteed 95 points on that alone, given just decent health. But there's also the same questions about what's behind that. Can the Avs unlock Casey Mittelstadt? They didn't really last year in a brief audition, though he was better in the playoffs. Is Gabriel Thrakkerzog finally going to emerge from the land of wind and ghosts? It seems like he finally might, but what's he going to be after missing multiple seasons? Devon Toews and Makar will really push the puck, but can Josh Manson and Sam Girard take on the dungeon shifts? And most of all, is Alexandar Georgiev really up for backstopping a true Cup contender? If anyone's calling on Jeremy Swayman, it's the Avs. They'll almost certainly be around the top of the division, but it'll still get awfully nervy against deeper teams come May. And they can't get injured at all.

Dallas Stars - I suppose when Kyle Davidson wants to look out and see what his masterplan could produce, it's the Stars. This team has a fair few number of young players that did serve an apprenticeship with their AHL team in Austin. Roope Hintz spent a season and a half there. Jason Robertson spent one season. Mavrik Bourque two seasons. Thomas Harley totaled about two seasons there. All of it makes for a pretty solid outfit, especially as Harley and Miro Heiskainen are some of the best puck movers in the league, giving the Stars an engine 40-45 minutes per night. But this is also a team counting on a lot of old farts. Matt Dumba is among the top four. The second line still has Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene, and one of them might have to play center again. Jake Oettinger smooths most of that out, though. Likely Central winners again, but they'll be boring as shit because that's what Pete DeBoer does. And his teams also has a habit of falling just short when the real prizes are handed out.

Edmonton Oilers - It's always hard to know how a team that played until the end of June with nothing to show for it is going to bounce back. Yes, the Panthers just sacked up and went one more step last year after losing the Final in 2023. The Lightning then found a way to lose to the Leafs in the playoffs after getting to their third straight Final but also their first real one in that stretch. And this isn't quite the same team as last hear. Viktor Arvidsson is here after missing three quarters of last season through injury. He's only two years removed from potting 26 goals for the Kings and he'll get to ride shotgun with Leon Draisaitl, the best passer in the league. Jeff Skinner will get a chance to prove he can score a goal that actually matters, which he's never done. But the Oil have lost some of their defensive depth, so after the top pairing of Bouchard and Ekholm there's the complete enigma of Darnell Nurse, something called Ty Emberson, Brett Kulak, and Josh Brown. Is Stuart Skinner really an answer? No one knows for sure. The top six is good enough to easily slide the Oilers back into the playoffs, but last year's run is going to be difficult to repeat.

L.A. Kings - It's funny, the Kings have been able to rebound back from their multi-Cup days to the bottom back into the playoffs way faster than the Hawk. But this team is still centered around Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. They tried to alleviate some of that by acquiring P.L. Dubois last year, only to find out Dubois was the same turd he was in Columbus and Winnipeg, so they punted him off to Washington. Everyone who is important on this team is old aside from Quinton Byfield, who is going to move to the middle this year. Brandt Clarke is the hope on the blue line, and averaged a point-per-game in 50 AHL games last year. Also, the goalie situation sucks ass, with a combo of Darcy Kuemper, Pheonix Copley, and David Rittich. Somehow, getting clocked in the first round the past few years feels like the ceiling of this team.

Minnesota Wild - You could write this one. A boring ass team with a boring ass coach that will fade into the background when the calendar turns. About the only story with this team is the goo-goo eyes the Hawks are already making at Kirill Kaprizov and his free agency in 2026. Maybe Marco Rossi, Brock Faber, and Matt Boldy make this a more interesting team than usual, meaning interesting at all. But Ryan Hartman is still the #1 center here, so don't spend more than a few seconds thinking about them. People in Minnesota don't.

Nashville Predators - They're still going to be more annoying that an itch on your nutsack, but now they're old too! Which I'd like to think would matter, you would like to think it would matter, and yet we might as well just accept they'll be around the bottom of the playoff picture again because they always fucking are. Ryan O'Reilly, Gustav Nyquist, Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Colton Sissons are all over 30 and likely past their best. Or so you'd think. But Roman Josi is still here, of course Brady Skjei feels like the perfect Predator d-man, and Juuse Saros will make whatever doesn't work work. We may never be rid of them, but they also probably won't ever win anything important.

San Jose Sharks - They're going to be awful, but if I were to suggest having Mackin Celebrini and Will Smith already entrenched as #1-2 down the middle puts them ahead of the Hawks, is that outlandish? Yeah, probably, but it's closer than any of us would like to think about.

Seattle Kraken - Should a team only in its fourth year be this old? Maybe when it was the Knights and they were immediately a Cup contender it was ok, but what exactly are the Kraken getting at? Matty Beniers and Shane Wright look like the only forwards under 28 in the top 9, and Shane Wright stinks. Eeli Tolvanen is another youngish sort, and I was supposed to lose my mud about him a few years ago, but I didn't, and he's been pretty meh since his shooting percentage flattened out after a spike upon arrival in the PNW. The blue line isn't much younger, though they splashed out for Brandon Montour which helps. Having Vinnie Dunn and Adam Larsson on the other top pairing doesn't. Starting to feel like this might be Pacific Northwest version of the Wild with better unis.

St. Louis Blues - Brayden Schenn is now 33. I'm going to go hang myself. Before I do, the Blues aren't going to be much of a spectacular bunch either. Poaching Philip Broberg from EdMo to pair with Justin Faulk was a shrewd move, but the other top pairing is Colton Parayko and Nick Leddy. Robert Thomas is great, but there aren't a lot of wingers here for him to play with and no, Dylan Holloway isn't one. Jake Neighbours popped last year with 27 goals, but is he going to shoot 19 percent again? He almost doubled his expected goals, so no, he isn't. They won't be bad, but they're almost certainly not good enough to displace a playoff team.

Utah - There's a lot of people whose shorts are tightening about this team, but we might want to pump the brakes. Yes, playing in a full and boisterous building all year might have an effect after multiple seasons playing in a Walmart stockroom, but this is still a team that was 23rd in both Corsi and xG% last season. Remember all those people who said Logan Cooley was going to steal the Calder from Bedard? His 44 points didn't quite live up to that. Nick Bjugstad was this team's fourth-leading scorer last year, for fuck's sake. Sure, it's the 43rd straight year when Lawson Crouse might break out. Maybe Cooley does bust out, but there still isn't enough there there. The blue line is more promising with Sean Durzi and my guy John Marino arriving, but they'll probably be undone by a lack of goaltending. Wait your turn, SLC.

Vancouver Canucks - I absolutely refuse to believe in this team, or believe that Rick Tocchet was some unearthed coaching genius who was never allowed to blossom in Arizona. This team surfed the PDO wave last year and that runs out. Quinn Hughes rules, but the rest of this blueline blows chunks. There's a great top line with JT Miller and Brock Boeser, and Elias Pettersson with Jake DeBrusk on the second line is a unique luxury. Thatcher Demko is also a stud in net. There's enough here to return to the playoffs, but winning the division by open lengths again? Nope.

Vegas Golden Knights - Is this finally the downside of their arc? Another Mark Stone injury, and that train is rarely late, and it just might be. There is depth down the middle with Eichel-Hertl-Roy, but they've lost their depth on the wings. Other than Stone, the top six wingers are Ivan Barbashev, Victor Olofsson, and Brett Howden. Shea Theodore is 29 and Alex Pietrangelo will turn 35 in the middle of the season. Everyone sprayed themselves over Noah Hanifin when he arrived last season, but it's still Noah Hanifin who has flattered to deceive with two teams already. Adin Hill was barely ok in net last year. There's probably enough nous to squeak a wildcard spot again, but they'll need health from a lot of guys who don't really do that sort of thing or are getting up there in age.

Winnipeg Jets - The rare squad that was good last year and basically gets to bring everyone back. And yet...it still looks a bit short. Mark Scheifele hasn't produced like a #1 center in years, if the bar for a top tier pivot is 90 points or more. Still, there's a lot of good forwards here, as the Jets go three lines deep. There's a solid top four and Josh Morrissey always ends up being a darkhorse Norris candidate. And they have one of the best goalies in the league in Connor Hellebuyck. There may not be a really high ceiling here but there's one of the more elevated floors in the West here. Comfortably in the playoffs again, and with a little shooting luck or a standout season from Hellebuyck (and they're likely to get it as he'll be auditioning for the #1 USA job in both the upcoming tourneys), could be around the top of the Central again.

The Kickmen - Weston McKennie Is A Tick

I've spent a lot of time not warming up to Weston McKennie. He's an extremely weird player. At least he used to be. It used to be that he was a midfielder that couldn't pass, couldn't carry the ball, couldn't really tackle. He could just score goals. But that's such a valuable skill, THE valuable skill, that he was kind of undroppable, at least for the USMNT.

That's changed over the years as his passing game has grown, and he can tackle when he feels like putting in the effort. And he's had to put in the effort of late. Thiago Motta is the second straight Juventus manager to tell McKennie to leave the club, and he's the second straight Juve manager to then be won over by the Yank and then make him part of the first 11. McKennie can't be extricated from Turin.

Motta has McKennie playing in a double-pivot now, which must be giving Mauricio Pochettino some ideas. McKennie's passing percentage has gone up this season, though that's mostly due to toning down his risk-level in his passes (he's attempting nearly a third more short passes this year from last). He's making more tackles and challenges in midfield than ever, and then simply distributing the ball to someone more creative. Y'know, like this:

If Tyler Adams were ever to locate his legs again, it would make for a very tasty "2" in a 4-2-3-1, which Poch has said he's going to use. We'll find out next week. But big ups to McKennie for continuing to work hard, evolve his game, and keep getting back into the Juventus plans.

Please share and forward and all that stuff. Best way to get the word out to the peeps out in the streets. It's free for awhile yet!