American Thanksgiving is coming up in just a couple days and the day before Thanksgiving is absolutely loaded with games. That means I probably won't have much to talk about for Thursday's Ramblings, as I will be busy relaying the info from the games.

To that end, I want to take today and talk about some things I'm thankful for with the NHL. I often complain – and, as we've seen with the Blackhawks and others, complaints are warranted – but there are still some parts about hockey I just love. Here are some things I'm thankful for in the NHL.

The Olympics

Time for a bit of honesty: I am looking forward to the 2022 Winter Olympics more than I was the 2021-22 NHL season. As someone who makes a living writing, making videos about, and betting on the NHL, maybe not the best thing to admit? But from a pure hockey-watching perspective, I am beyond excited for this edition of the Winter Olympics.

Just think about the storylines we have:

• Crosby and McDavid on the same team
• Team USA with its best roster in 20 years
• Team Russia is deeper on the blue line/in net than any point in the last 15 years
• Sweden looks elite
• Final international hurrahs for Crosby and Ovechkin?
• Emergence of Germany

And that doesn't even start to get into the nitty-gritty of the roster compositions. Even as a man in his 30s, I feel like a little kid again making a dream team of my favourite Canadian players. And this is a great era for Canadian hockey. But it's also a great era for Russian, American, Swedish hockey, and others. That is what makes me so excited for the tournament.

While I am Canadian and clearly have my rooting interest, I did write about a potential Team USA roster back in the summer. This team, from top to bottom, is very deep offensively and there are elite puck-movers all over the blue line. This is going to be a very fun American team to watch, provided they don't stub their toes like they did in 2014 with the roster selection.

I don't even think they're a dark horse anymore: it'll be fun to watch Team Germany. They aren't in that upper-echelon of Canada/USA/Sweden of course, but I think they've definitely climbed into that Czech/Slovakia/Swiss tier below them and that tier is a threat for a medal. It will be fun watching all of the elite German NHLers play together.

The 2022 Winter Olympics are a political and social nightmare. Hockey-wise, though, I cannot wait.

Crosby/Ovechkin and McDavid/Draisaitl

Anyone under, say, the age of 25 could be forgiven if they don't remember that there was a time we all pined to see Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin play together. We knew it would never happen, so we had to wait for things like the All Star Game, which could never replicate what we would get in a game.

We are getting to watch Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl play together, though. And while the better parallel might be if we got to watch McDavid and Auston Matthews on the same team, we have to stop expecting perfection and appreciate goodness.

One of my bigger misses  in fantasy over the years is Draisaitl (along with Kyle Connor and Andrei Vasilevskiy). I never thought he'd turn into a perennial 50-goal, 100-point threat, even with McDavid there. If he could get 30 goals and 70 points, that would be a good season. I was clearly wrong about that, and being able to watch two elite offensive talents work together in their primes is something I don't want to miss.

Whether the Oilers win Cups or not, for me, is irrelevant. I know that's not the case for most people, but it's unfair to put those expectations on those players with management. It's like blaming Mike Trout for the Anaheim Angels never having postseason success. It is a team game for a reason.

We still get to watch McDavid and Draisaitl play every second or third day, and that's just swell to me.

Los Angeles Kings turnaround

I'm a Habs fan, but one thing I root for are teams that try to turn things around on the fly, intelligently. Not going out and signing Seth Jones for a billion dollars, for example. Rather, realizing when your window is closing, loading prospects, and hoping for a second window in the back-half of your superstars' careers. Tampa Bay did that to an extent, Pittsburgh certainly did that, Chicago is trying that, and now Los Angeles is doing that. They have had COVID/health problems, but they have a great top-6 when healthy, one of the best fourth lines in hockey, and a goaltending tandem that seems to pick up each other when the other is faltering. There are questions about the third line, blue line, and overall depth, but that's where the prospects come in handy. Turcotte, Fagemo, Tkachev, and Grans all look varying levels of good in the AHL this year with others in development. Hopefully they are one year away from a very good top-9, add in that fourth line with Clarke/Grans on the blue line, and they're good to go.

It is a bit of a shame that some of the players aren't ready this year because the West looks a bit weak and maybe LA could make a run. Even if they don't, the kids are looking good – I'll write about Arthur Kaliyev later this week – and they have two years of Kopitar left. The Kings' turnaround is in full swing and is looking good. This is an exciting development.

Just watching Cale Makar

Growing up, my favourite player to watch was Scott Niedermayer. I wore #27 playing hockey – when available – because of him. Looking back, I think it was because he was doing what very few, if no other, defencemen were doing at the time. The end-to-end rushing defenceman wasn't a big thing in the late-90s, early aughts. Players like Bourque, Murphy, and Leetch were in the back-half of their careers while guys like Ozolinsh were great but not quite the same calibre. There was Nicklas Lidstrom, but he was more of a controller than a rusher.

That may be why I love watching Makar play. No one can do what he does from the blue line. As much fun as it can be to watch guys like Hughes, Ekblad, and Hedman for various reasons, Makar looks Kucherov-esque with the puck and straddling the blue line. His edge-work is unparalleled for a defenceman and his vision is second-to-none. It is a real treat to watch someone not only think the game at such a high level, but have the skills to go with it, at a position where even in this modern hockey age isn't as common as we think.

Here's to many, many more years of watching Makar terrorize all our teams as soon as he touches the puck.

Anthony Duclair's role

With all the news that came out about how poor the judgment is of the decision-makers in the NHL, you'll excuse me if I don't buy the supposed-character issues Duclair has had for his career. It seems at least plausible there were other forces at work, like his coaches and general managers being giant pieces of $*&%. That is why it warms the heart to see him back on the top line now that Joel Quenneville is gone, and on the top PP unit in the absence of Aleksander Barkov.

This has been a long-time coming. While he has defensive issues at 5-on-5, Duclair has long been a wonderful offensive player, just stuffed down often in a minimal role. That is no longer the case, averaging north of 16 minutes a night since Quenneville resigned, compared to 12:18 a game before that. He has the role he's earned and is on pace for over 70 points. We love to see it.

Winnipeg Jets as true contenders

I had my doubts the Jets would ever be contenders again following the retirement of Dustin Byfuglien, the non-emergence of Sami Niku and Ville Heinola (so far), and the loss of Bryan Little. They have rebuilt the team, and in particular the blue line, and look great: they are 9-4-4 while being sixth in shot share (just behind Toronto) and seventh in expected goal share.

Cole Perfetti has 10 points in 13 games on the year in the AHL and could honestly make an impact at the end of the season. With Connor Hellebuyck looking great as always, this team is a true contender for the first time in years, and it seems they're, ahem, flying under the radar.

There are a lot of players I like on the Jets. It would be nice to see them succeed. I am thankful they seem to have a legitimate chance at that this season.

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Joel Edmundson's progression:

Joel Edmundson est de l'entraînement complet aujourd'hui. Il arbore un chandail non-contact. @CanadiensMTL @TVASports

— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) November 22, 2021

His return would help the team defensively. They need help everywhere so it's not a moment to soon to see him skating.

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A quick update on Kevin Hayes:

Kevin Hayes is making the trip to Florida with the #Flyers, but he isn't expected to play in the two games.

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) November 22, 2021

It has been a tough year for him, much more off the ice than on, so it's nice to see him be able to travel with his teammates. The best to him as he continues his season.

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Max Pacioretty appears to be on the cusp of returning:

Max Pacioretty has made the trip, but will not play tonight against the Blues. DeBoer hopes he'll be available Wednesday in Nashville.

— Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) November 22, 2021

His return shouldn't be understated. Inserting a top-end winger changes a lot of things for this team. Hopefully, for one, the team defence improves.

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Positive news for Jack Hughes:

Another step in the right direction for #NJDevils Jack Hughes today.

He has joined his teammates in a non-contact jersey for practice and is with the group at practice, though in limited participation.

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) November 22, 2021

I thought New Jersey would slide after his injury but two things happened: Dawson Mercer emerged as an immediate middle-six centre with high-end puck skills, and Nico Hischier returned with a vengeance, looking like the top-line centre he's supposed to be.

Those two things can't be stressed enough. Think back six weeks: this was a team that was going into the season with Hughes, from whom everyone expected a breakout, but then Hischier was returning from serious injury and Mercer was getting a nine-game tryout. In a different universe, Hughes gets hurt and this falls apart. But major credit to both Mercer and Hischier as those two have been key cogs in New Jersey's strong start.

What does this team look like when Hughes comes back? It's a scary thought.

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Shea Theodore returned on Monday night, a Thanksgiving gift for his fantasy owners.

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Max Domi returned for Columbus and both he and Jack Roslovic had three points apiece skating together in the team's 7-4 win over Buffalo. To be fair, two empty-net goals were on Columbus's side and this was an exciting back-and-forth game all night.

Vladislav Gavrikov had a pair of goals, was plus-3, and had three blocks in a career night for him. Zach Werenski had an assist to keep his point streak alive at five.

Tage Thompson had a pair of goals while Dylan Cozens had 1+1 in the loss. Dustin Tokarski was pulled early in the second, though he has been good most of this year.