January continues to slog on by, but things in the NHL have never been faster. Last week continued to show the increased speed and scoring we have seen over the 2020s.
The year of the hat trick
There has been an equal amount of hat tricks as days in 2026 so far (as of Jan. 27). Currently, there have been 27 hat tricks to open the year.
The list includes some unusual names from, Justin Sourdif to, Marat Khusnutdinov to, Alexandre Texier to, Pavol Regenda and others you look at and just say, those guys are scoring?
It is an a fun phenomenon to see and it is a part of a larger scoring trend that has occurred over the last 10 years.
Exactly a year ago, the league’s leading scorer was Patrick Kane with 73 points, following him was Jamie Benn 58. Kane would finish the season with 106 points and Benn with 89.
You look to today, the top two scorers are Connor McDavid with 90 and Nathan McKinnon with 88, both well on their way to smashing Kane’s 106 total to end the season.
Last we alone we saw six different 100 plus point getters. Ten years ago, we saw only Kane.
Being able to witness a new NHL golden age is fantastic, the product on the ice has never been better.
It is time to part from Thatcher Demko
The Vancouver Canucks have shutdown star goalie Thatcher Demko once again, announcing that he will undergo hip surgery that will keep him out of the rest of the season.
Over the last three seasons, Demko has only played in 95 out of a possible 258 games for the Canucks, that is only 36.8% of games for Vancouver, way less than you expect a superstar goalie to play.
Over his nine year NHL career, Demko has been injured in the ballpark of seven times, with most of them being long term. With this latest injury, you have to take a look at the situation and ask yourself, is Demko part of the rebuild?
To me, there is no world where Vancouver should hold on to Demko past this season. If the team is truly serious about a rebuild, you do not keep a 30-year old goalie with injury problems around, no matter how good he is.
From a managerial prospective, it is unfortunate that this is the last year on Demko’s deal. Now, because of this injury, you can not trade him at the deadline and get something to expedite your rebuild. You might be able to do what Toronto did with Mitch Marner in a sign and trade, but that scenario is not that likely.
Demko has been one of my favorite Canucks ever since his 2020 playoff bubble performance, but no matter how much of a fan favorite he is, it is time to move on.
If Quinn Hughes was expendable, Demko most certainly is, no matter how talented he is through all his injuries.
So far, I am 1/1 on the Rangers retool
The first domino fell in the New York Rangers retool and last week, I called that Carson Soucy would be one of the most likely to me moved.
Soucy was traded on Jan. 26, to the New York Islanders of all teams. The two New York teams have only traded with each other four times, with this deal being only the second to involve an NHL player.
The Rangers got back exactly what they gave up for Soucy less than a year ago. The Islanders sent their own 2026 third round pick to the Rangers.
Honestly, I am surprised that the Rangers got a third round pick for Soucy, who has been on a decline since January of last year.
Soucy is certainly a serviceable defenseman, but he is not a needle mover by any means. The Islanders’ defense is banged up right now with Alexander Romanov and Ryan Pulock being injured, Soucy slots right in.
For the Rangers it is a sign of things to come. There has been a lot of talk about the incoming Artemi Panarin move, so things are about to get wild for the Rangers.
I suspect, that nothing major will happen before the Olympic roster freeze on Feb. 4, but when the freeze is over on Feb. 22, things are going to explode.
My prediction, the Rangers continue to sell off in division and Panarin is shipped to Washington, to join up with fellow Russian Alexander Ovechkin.
