Weekly Western Final Leaders (to May 16th, 2021) – in bold leads the NHL

Goals – 33 –  Connor McDavid  (41 – Auston Matthews)

Assists – 72 – Connor McDavid – Edmonton

Primary Assists – 50 –  Connor McDavid – Edmonton

Secondary Assists – 27 – Tyson Barrie – Edmonton

Points – 105 – Connor McDavid – Edmonton

PPP – 37 – Connor McDavid – Edmonton

Shots on Goal – 206 – Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado (222 – Auston Matthews)

Shooting % (min 60 SOG) – 22.1 – Brandon Saad – Colorado

PIM – 73 – Brendan Lemieux – Los Angeles (96 – Tom Wilson)

Best plus/minus – plus 30 – Mikko Rantanen – Colorado

Worst plus/minus – minus 23 – Quinn Hughes – Vancouver (minus 36 – Rasmus Dahlin)

Hits – 192 – Josh Archibald – Edmonton (250 – Radko Gudas)

Blocked shots – 165 – Alec Martinez – Vegas

FOW – 704 – Ryan O’Reilly – St. Louis (715 – Patrice Bergeron)

FOL – 548 – Bo Horvat – Vancouver  (586 – Sidney Crosby)

Best FO% (min 245 FO) – 60.7 – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Colorado (62.3 – Patrice Bergeron)

Worst FO% (min 245 FO) – 41.1 – Philipp Kurashev – Chicago (35.4 – Jack Hughes)

Giveaways – 71 – Leon Draisaitl – Edmonton (82 – Thomas Chabot)

Takeaways – 58 – Mark Stone – Vegas

Highest CF% (min 33 GP) – 63.4 – Mikko Rantanen – Colorado

Lowest CF% (min 33 GP) – 38.3 – Devin Shore – Edmonton (37.5 – Libor Hajek)

Highest PDO (min 33 GP) – 107.4 – Carson Soucy – Minnesota

Lowest PDO (min 33 GP) – 93.6 – Ryan Carpenter – Chicago (90.8 – Nolan Patrick)

Goalie wins – 30 – Philipp Grubauer – Colorado (31 – Andrei Vasilevskiy)

Highest Save percentage (min 23 starts) – 92.8 – Marc-Andre Fleury – Vegas (93.2 – Alex Nedeljkovic)

Lowest Save percentage (min 23 starts) – 89.6 – Martin Jones – San Jose (87.7 – Carter Hart)

Quality starts – 26 – Marc-Andre Fleury – Vegas, Philipp Grubauer – Colorado

Best Quality start % (min 23 starts) – 72.2 – Marc-Andre Fleury – Vegas

Worst Quality start % (min 23 starts) – 41.4 – Jake Oettinger – Dallas (33.3 – Carter Hart)

Shutouts – 7 – Philipp Grubauer – Colorado (7 – Semyon Varlamov – NY Islanders)

All stats above from Dobber's Frozen Tools

I looked at who I considered being the Core Three from each of the Western teams in March 2020 here and here. I was curious to see what changes there would be in each club, so we will look at each team once again in 2021.

Anaheim

Trevor Zegras (C) (Age – 20)– The Ducks have taken what I consider the wise approach with Zegras and given him time to develop at the center ice position. He played 24 games this season and had three goals and 13 points, so the offense was there at 0.54 pts/game, which bodes well for the future. He should have an elevated role next season.

Jamie Drysdale (D) (19)  – Drysdale who was the 6th overall draft pick in 2020 has replaced Cam Fowler on this list. He played 24 games and had three goals and eight points and averaged 19:34 of ice time. He was a little over his head as his CF% was 42.3 and his net xG (expected goals) at even strength was negative 9.19. He will only improve.

John Gibson (G) (27) – He had another year of struggles in net with a career-low save percentage of 90.3 and his second consecutive year in the negative for Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA) of -5.41. Like I mentioned last year, the Ducks have him signed until 2026-27 with a limited NTC, so he is a core piece like it or not.

Compared to last season, at least the Ducks should improve their core three with the ceiling that Drysdale has over Fowler who is a capable top-four defender but not a 1A.

The average age of core three: 22.00 (24.33 last year)

Arizona

Clayton Keller (W) (22) – After a stellar rookie season with 65 points in 2017-18, Keller now 22 years of age has had three disappointing seasons all between 0.57 and 0.63 pts/game. The concerning thing is his deployment has decreased in the past two seasons as he is seeing less PP time and almost a minute and a half less ice time per game overall.

Jakub Chychrun (D) (23) – I had Chychrun as the number four core piece last season and he has emerged as perhaps the number one core piece for this team. He is the 1A defenseman on this roster now after an 18-goal and 41 point effort in 56 games this season. At 23-years of age, he is in his prime and I'm sure the Coyotes are glad he dropped to 16th overall in 2016.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson (D) (29) – Ekman-Larsson is signed with the Coyotes till the end of the 2026-27 season and has an NMC clause that went into effect before this past season. Before the clause went into effect, there were rumours that Boston and Vancouver were in on him, but nothing came to be.

A case could be made for Conor Garland and/or Barrett Hayton (who was listed last year), but Garland is an RFA now and Hayton is coming off a season of struggles at both the NHL and AHL levels. If not for the play of Jakub Chychrun and the resurgence of Conor Garland, this team has taken a step back from last season.

The average age of core three: 24.67 (22.67 last year)

Calgary

Matthew Tkachuk (W) (23) – After Tkachuk had 77 points in 2018-19, I was convinced that he would improve upon that total and become a 90-100 point player. He's gone in the opposite direction and become more of a 55-65 point player. He's still a very valuable player on this team and the Flames would be foolish to do anything that involves him not being in a Flames uniform next season.

Elias Lindholm (C) (26) – We now know that Sean Monahan requires surgery and this can explain to a degree his struggles this season and perhaps last. Having said that, Lindholm has emerged this season as perhaps the best all-around player on the Flames and is signed until the end of the 2023-24 season. He has replaced Monahan in my mind.

Johnny Gaudreau (W) (27) – I think it is likely that Calgary moves on from Gaudreau before he becomes a UFA at the end of next season but I'm still including him here because the team is sorely lacking someone else to fill the role in either Sean Monahan or Jacob Markstrom. If moved, his return should be fairly valuable.

Two years of struggle with a core three of Gaudreau, Tkachuk and Monahan that have all seen regression is never a good sign for the future.

The average age of core three: 25.33 (24.33 last year)

Chicago

Kirby Dach (C) (20) – It was unfortunate that Dach went down with an injury before the season as the team was relying on him to shoulder a bigger load in his second season. He did manage to play the last 18 games and did have 10 points but still needs some work without the puck.

Patrick Kane (W) (32) – Kane put up 66 points in 56 games good for 1.18 pts/game this season. He slowed down a little in the second half with only four goals and 25 points in 27 games, but he is still the engine that runs this team.

Alex DeBrincat (W) (23) – After only 18 goals last season after scoring 41 the year before, I thought DeBrincat would never see north of 35 goals again. I was wrong as he put up 32 goals in 52 games which is just over a 50 goal pace. He has cemented himself into the core three of this team for a few years. He has replaced Jonathan Toews who is uncertain when or if he will return.

There should be optimism in Chicago as they have some good young players and without Jonathan Toews this season, the team relied on the likes of Dominik Kubalik, Pius Suter, Brandon Hagel to provide some positivity. Adam Boqvist could easily enter into this core next season if he continues to progress as he did have 16 points in 35 games but needs to improve without the puck like most young defenders.

The average age of core three: 25.0 (27.0 last year)

Colorado

Nathan MacKinnon (C) (25) – He matched his output of last season (1.35 pts/game) with 65 points in 48 games, but more importantly he had 14 goals and 42 points in his last 27 games as Colorado heads into the playoffs.

Cale Makar (D) (22) – Makar has missed 12 games this season but has played 44 games and put up eight goals and 44 points, which is a better pace than last season. His net xG at even strength is 14.26 and his CF% is an impressive 60.8. He controls play and is surrounded by others that do the same.

Mikko Rantanen (W) (24) – On most teams, Rantanen would be the star but here he will need to hold on to the number three ranking with all his fingernails. Not a problem when you can post 30 goals and 66 points in 52 games which in an 82-game season is 47 goals and 104 points.

This is a team that could arguably include Gabriel Landeskog, Devon Toews, Samuel Girard, Alex Newhook, Bowen Byram and Philipp Grubauer as they could all be core pieces on some teams and they are all just depth on this team. Impressive to say the least when you look at the average age below..

The average age of core three: 23.67 (last year 22.33)

Dallas

Jamie Benn (W) (31) – Benn slowed the roll a little on the prior three seasons of decline by improving over his 39 points in 69 games with a season of 35 points in 52 games. If a 31-year-old 55-point winger is what you are building a team around, there are issues. Benn is signed at $9.5 million AAV until the end of the 2024-25 season.

Tyler Seguin (C) (29) – It was encouraging to see Seguin lace up for the last three games of the year after missing 53 games. It is tough to predict how he will fare next season after missing so much time, but he is by default a core three player on this team because of his contract. Seguin is signed at $9.85 million AAV until the end of 2026-27.

Miro Heiskanen (D) (21) – After his playoff performance from last season, I did not see his offensive peaking at just 0.5 points per game. I thought he would get up in the 0.7 to 0.8 range, but it wasn't to be. He still generates play at even strength as his net xG is positive 4.69 and he had a 52.6 CF%. He should still get to the production level that Makar, Shea Theodore and Adam Fox are at.

The Stars went from the Stanley Cup Finals to missing the playoffs for the third time in the past five seasons and they are stuck with an ageing core that goes beyond the two above, when you consider Joe Pavelski, Alexander Radulov, Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin as well.

The average age of core three: 27.0 (26.0 last year)

Edmonton

Connor McDavid (C) (24) – McDavid finished the season with 33 goals and 105 points in 56 games, which is his best production per game so far in his career. He improved his faceoff winning percentage from 47.8 to 49.5 as well. He's polishing his game up in every area which is a scary proposition for the opposition.

Leon Draisaitl (W) (25) – He looks like he has improved his play at even strength a little from prior years and still posted 31 goals and 84 points in 56 games this season so he's not giving up the offense as well. I'd put the duo of McDavid and Draisaitl up against any other in the NHL.

Darnell Nurse (D) (26) – Evan Bouchard might get here in a year or two, but right now I think you have to put Nurse here after his season, even though he might be unrestricted after next season. His 16 goals and 36 points in 56 games have elevated him to the upper echelon of the NHL. Even more impressive is the fact that 15 of his 16 goals were at even strength.

The Oilers should be better prepared this season in the playoffs if their goaltending can be average at worse. They do have some good young defenders in the pipeline with Bouchard and Phillip Broberg so it will be interesting to see what they do with Tyson Barrie next season. I assume they will let him walk as he will be looking for longer-term and more money.

The average age of core three: 25.00 (22.33 last year)

Los Angeles

Quinton Byfield (C) (18)– The Kings did the right thing with the second overall pick from the 2020 NHL draft and are being very patient with him. They let him play in the World Juniors and kept him in the AHL for 31 games where he had eight goals and 20 points. He did dress for the last six games of the season and had one assist while averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time. He's not even 19 years old until August. He replaces the 33-year old Anze Kopitar on this list.

Drew Doughty (D) (31)– With Doughty signed until the end of the 2025-26 season, he is part of this core three until the Kings develop or acquire another defenseman that can replace Doughty. Doughty had a great first half with 22 points in his first 26 games but in his last 30 games came down to earth with two goals and 11 points.

Alex Turcotte (C) (20) – As with Byfield, the Kings are being patient with Turcotte and unlike other years, both players were allowed to play in the AHL. Turcotte played 32 games and had six goals and 21 points. I expect both Turcotte and Byfield to get legitimate chances to stick with the Kings next season.

The team needs to move on from Kopitar, Doughty, Jonathan Quick and Dustin Brown. We already saw them move Jeff Carter to open up space for younger players but Brown is signed until 2022, Quick till 2023, Kopitar till 2024 and Doughty till 2026, so it will be gradual as it should be.

The average age of core three: 23.00 (27.00 last year)

Minnesota

Kevin Fiala (W) (24) – Fiala struggled in the first half with only 11 points in his first 22 games but had an excellent second half with 29 points in 28 games to establish his place on this list. He has three 20-goal seasons at the age of 24.

Kirill Kaprizov (W) (24) – Kaprizov replaces Ryan Suter on this list and even though Suter is signed to the end of 2025, he is now 36-years old. Kaprizov came into the league this season with a lot of hype and delivered with 27 goals and 51 points in 55 games and should be the Calder Trophy winner. He is a restricted free agent at the end of this season, so it will be interesting to see what the Wild pay him and for how many years.

Jared Spurgeon (D) (31) – I went back and forth on Eriksson-Ek and Jared Spurgeon for this last core spot and in the end chose Spurgeon for the time being. Spurgeon might not even be the best defenseman on the Wild, let alone on most teams in the NHL, but he is signed until the end of 2027 and is an important part of the blue line along with Ryan Suter, Matt Dumba and Jonas Brodin. His inclusion is almost a representation for all four of these defenders who should all be in Minnesota for the next two seasons.

The Wild will more than likely have Marco Rossi join this list next season as he appears to have the green light to play again.

The average age of core three: 26.33 (29.33 last year)

Nashville

Roman Josi (D) (30) – Things didn't come as easily this season for Josi as they did the year before and he came down to his normal level of production with eight goals and 33 points (0.69 pts/game) in 48 games which are still pretty damn good. Signed until the end of 2028, the Predators need about four or five more seasons like this.

Juuse Saros (G) (26) – Saros has replaced Ryan Ellis on the list and this is a risky inclusion because he is a restricted free agent after this season. I admit that I was wrong about Saros and never thought he would play as well as he did this past season. I don't think I was necessarily alone (The Predators did draft Yaroslav Askarov 11th overall in 2020), but credit must be given. The Predators will need Saros to steady the ship in the next two or three years until Askarov is ready.

Filip Forsberg (W) (26) – It is tough to include a player that has missed 15 games or more four seasons in a row, but that is where the Predators find themselves with their core. Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen should be competing for these spots but they aren't even close. Forsberg did manage 32 points in 39 games and is healthy for the playoffs.

I've said the window was closing on this team for a few years in a row, but this season is it. They only made the playoffs because they won 20 of their last 27 games and somehow squeaked in. The team has some good young players in Eeli Tolvanen, David Farrance, Luke Kunin and perhaps Philip Tomasino, but the step for any of those four to become a core piece is a huge leap of faith.

The average age of core three: 27.33 (27.67 last year)

St. Louis

Torey Krug (D) (30) – When the Blues signed Krug until the end of the 2027 season, he automatically became a core player no matter how he did. He managed two goals and 32 points in 51 games which is ok production for Krug, but the Blues have forced him to become much less sheltered than the Bruins ever did and the results have been mixed at even strength. Ultimately he should become a better defender and a better player.

Ryan O’Reilly (C) (30) – O'Reilly had a very good year with 24 goals and 54 points in 56 games and once again was up with the league leaders in faceoff wins and percentage. One stat that surprised me was his net xG at 5 on 5 was a negative 3.29, but perhaps when you are matching up against the other team's best lines it’s par for the course. Signed until the end of 2023, which is the length of time this team has for this core.

Jordan Binnington (G) (27) – Since his improbable run in his rookie season that saw him hoist the Stanley Cup, Binnington has been just slightly above average. His rookie season saw him post a 14.44 GSAA while the past two seasons have been 2.70 and 2.40. That didn't stop the Blues from signing him until the end of the 2027 season and forcing him as a core piece.

The Stanley Cup win in 2019 did mask some deficiencies the Blues had with their roster, but they were still a good team the next season, but have definitely taken another step backwards and have slipped into the playoffs as the bottom seed once again but we all know what happened in 2019. It is unfortunate that one of their core pieces, Vladimir Tarasenko is unable to recover from his shoulder injury and there must be some concern with his future.

The average age of core three: 29.00 (29.00 last year)

San Jose

Erik Karlsson (D) (30)– Karlsson had his worst production (0.42 pts/game) in his 12 years in the NHL. It was great to see him play 52 of the 56 games, but he is a shell of his former self and I'm not sure what he can get back in the next year or two. This is not a great use of a core piece. He is signed at $11.5 million AAV until the end of the 2027 season.

Logan Couture (C) (32) – Couture had four goals and nine points in his last 28 games of this season where overall he had 17 goals and 31 points in 53 games. He is signed until the end of the 2027 season at $8 million AAV.

Evander Kane (W) (29) – With 49 points (0.88) in 56 games and his eighth 20-goal season in the NHL, Kane has given the Sharks something they desperately need. A core piece that is producing to a level he should be at. Kane has some issues off the ice with bankruptcy, but it didn't seem to bother him this year, so perhaps he has a few more good seasons in him. He is signed till the end of the 2025 season at $7 million AAV.

I'm not even sure how the Sharks get out of what they have gotten themselves into. How do you move the contracts of Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Evander Kane, Logan Couture, Martin Jones and Marc-Edouard Vlasic? Maybe you can move Kane or Couture, but the others? These are buy-outs but even then they are limited. Wow.

The average age of core three: 30.33 (27.33 last year)

Vancouver

Quinn Hughes (D) (21) – There is a perception that Hughes has had a disappointing season and while his wow moments are fewer in number he is a better defender than he was a year ago. His production this season (0.70) is almost on par with last year (0.78) and his ice time has increased by close to a minute per game. He might have lost a step with Cale Makar, Shea Theodore and Adam Fox, but he is still a pretty special player. The Canucks will need to pay some pretty big money this off-season to sign him and Elias Pettersson.

Elias Pettersson (C) (22) – Pettersson had a slow start to this season and struggled out of the gates but had found his game when he was injured after 26 games. He managed 10 goals and 21 points, but with any wrist injury, you just hope that he is 100% going forward. His injury might save the Canucks a few cents on his new contract.

Thatcher Demko (G) (25) – The Canucks re-signed Demko to the end of the 2026 season at $5 million AAV and have secured him as a core piece. He replaces J.T. Miller on this list and it's not so much that Miller hasn't been the player he was last season, but clearly, the team has taken a few steps back as well and Demko has been more than a suitable replacement for Jacob Markstrom. After a slow start, Demko has been 'Bubble Demko' in quite a few games.

For all that is crashing around them this season in Vancouver, the core remains young and strong and in addition, they still have Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser. J.T. Miller and Nils Hoglander until the end of 2023 and perhaps Vasily Podkolzin for next season. The results this season were not part of the growth curve and one must consider whether the GM or coach survive this season. A new GM or coach will have plenty to work with.

The average age of core three: 22.67 (22.33 last year)

Vegas

Mark Stone (W) (29)– Stone had his most productive season in the NHL with his 61 points (1.11) in 55 games and over 82 games it would be a 91-point season. He somehow just continues to improve at the age of 29. He is signed to the end of the 2027 season at $9.5 million AAV.

Shea Theodore (D) (25) –Theodore exceeded my expectations this season with his eight goals and 42 points (0.79) in his 53 games. I thought that the addition of Pietrangelo would take away a bit more of his offense but that wasn't the case and it bodes well for the playoffs and next season. Theodore is signed until the end of the 2025 season at only $5.2 million AAV.

Alex Pietrangelo (D) (31) – When Vegas signed Pietrangelo to the end of the 2027 season at $8.8 million AAV it cemented him as a core three. He has battled through some injuries this season and managed 23 points (0.56) in 41 games but his leadership and overall addition to the blue line has made Vegas that much better a team.

A lesson in doing this exercise is that a core piece of a franchise still has to earn it. By putting Cody Glass here last season, I was putting the cart before the horse a little, but the premise does remain that the core three should be the three players the team builds around in the next two to five seasons. Vegas just went out and got another core piece which is not something usually available. Their window to win is probably from now to the end of the 2023-24 season for this roster.

The average age of core three: 28.33 (23.67 last year)

Winnipeg

Mark Scheifele (C) (28) – After posting 21 goals and 61 points in 55 games this season, Scheifele has put up a point per game in each of the past five seasons. That makes him pretty close to the elite in my mind. He is signed until the end of the 2024 season at $6.125 million AAV.

Kyle Connor (W) (24) – Connor has taken a small step back after his first season of a point per game last year where he had 38 goals and 73 points (1.03) in 71 games. This year he has 26 goals and 50 points (0.89) in 56 games but has gone through some dry spells at times. This would have been his fourth 30-goal season in his four years in the league if he had played a full schedule. He is signed until the end of the 2026 season at $7.14 million AAV.

Nikolaj Ehlers (W) (25) – With Patrick Laine being dealt to Columbus, Ehlers has replaced him on this list and would have even if he wasn't traded. Ehlers had 21 goals and 46 points (0.98) in 47 games before being injured. There is hope that he will be able to return for the playoffs but shoulder injuries are tricky and can plague a player for many years (Tarasenko). Ehlers is signed until the end of the 2025 season at $6 million AAV.

The Jets have floundered a little coming into the playoffs this year and will be hard-pressed to get by the Oilers in the first round. They will need Ehlers back at some point and Connor Hellebuyck to steal the series. Goaltending is their edge.

The average age of core three: 25.66 (23.33 last year)

Most of the core players have stayed the same and only a few were traded or let go to free agency from 2020. I'm convinced this exercise gives a pretty good idea of what direction each team is going for the next two to three years.

Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know below and/or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15.