Daily Nuggets: Cassidy Unpopular; Zegras, Stars Trade Rumors

The Golden Knights weren’t in action yesterday, but their odds to win the Pacific Division changed nonetheless. So, too, did their position in my weekly Western Conference power rankings. The Athletic released a player poll that reflected poorly on head coach Bruce Cassidy. Elsewhere in the Daily Nuggets, the Trevor Zegras trade rumors just won’t go away. The Dallas Stars aren’t done making moves, and the Canucks extended another Pettersson. 

Golden Knights News

With the Golden Knights floundering, the Edmonton Oilers have pulled ahead in their quest for the Pacific Division title. The Oilers are four points ahead of the Golden Knights, and both teams have played 54 games. The season is far from over, so to quote Douglas Adams: Don’t panic! However, a Golden Knights win tonight would go a long way towards righting the ship.

The first installment of my ‘Best in the West’ weekly power rankings came out yesterday. See where I put the Golden Knights.

The Golden Knights look very, very vulnerable right now. They’re not yet in total freefall, but things have been bad enough that The Hockey Guy made a video about them. That’s probably a good thing; usually, when THG highlights a team in a video, they do a complete 180. 

The Golden Knights’ roster no longer lists forward Raphaël Lavoie. Jonas Røndbjerg has taken his place. The carousel of depth players continues to spin.

The Athletic released their long-awaited annual player survey yesterday. Among other things, NHL players vote on which coaches they’d most/least like to play for. Head coach Bruce Cassidy appeared on both lists.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

The Fourth Period: Insider David Pagnotta reported that the Anaheim Ducks are taking calls on Trevor Zegras. I’m not saying they should– this kid has been on the trade block for almost as long as he’s been in the league, which is a Matador-esque red flag– but if any team can fix Zegras, it’s probably the Golden Knights.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Brandon Saad chose to sign with the Golden Knights, but quite a few teams were interested in his services. The Devils were one of them.

Sportsnet: Losing Miro Heiskanen to injury was less than ideal– well, duh. In his Written 32 Thoughts blog, Elliotte Friedman alleges that the Dallas Stars still hope to improve their defense’s right side.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: It’s the dawn of a new day in Vancouver. JT Miller has been a Ranger for nearly a week– jeez, time flies in this business– and Filip Chytil is living up to expectations in a small sample size. He’s played just two games in a Canucks sweater, but Jim Rutherford loves his guys; the Canucks extended defenseman Marcus Pettersson.

AP News: The NHL Player’s Association filed an appeal on Ryan Hartman’s behalf after the Minnesota Wild winger was handed a 10-game suspension. I’m not sure I like this. Given his history– newest ban included, he’s been suspended four times in the past two years– I’d be genuinely surprised if the Department of Player Safety reduced Hartman’s sentence.