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The Columbus Blue Jackets are on the road to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at Scotiabank Arena. 

The Maple Leafs come into this game sitting at 9-9-2 with 20 points. They've gone 4-5-1 in their last 10 and are 1-4-1 in their last 6 games. Not exactly what you expect to see out of the Maple Leafs, but then again, this entire season has been wacky around the league. They also currently sit 7th in the Atlantic Division and 15th in the East. I know, mind blown right?

Everyone knew when Mitch Marner bolted for Vegas that they'd have a tough time replacing those 100 points, but I don't think anyone expected this. There are some mitigating circumstances though. Auston Matthews, Scott Laughton, Chris Tanev, Brandon Carlo, and Anthony Stolarz are all on IR, with Matthew Knies and Nicolas Roy also out. This is not an ideal situation for a team always expected to compete for a Stanley Cup. 

With all that being said, the Blue Jackets won't feel sorry for them, as they're dealing with injuries of their own. The Blue Jackets have historically played well in Toronto and will be looking to get back to winning and earn some points in this wacky Eastern Conference. 

The CBJ currently sits 5th in the Metro, 10th in the East, and 20th in the league. 

Blue Jackets Stats

• Power Play - 17.4% - 22nd in NHL
• Penalty Kill - 72.0% - 28th in NHL
• Goals For - 59 - 18th in NHL
• Goals Against - 64 - 23rd in NHL

Maple Leafs Stats

• Power Play - 15.1% - 28th in NHL
• Penalty Kill - 78.3% - 20th in NHL
• Goals For - 70 - 2nd in NHL
• Goals Against - 74 - 30th in NHL

Series History vs. The Maple Leafs

• Columbus is 22-20-1 all-time, and 12-9-1 on the road vs. Toronto.
• The Jackets are 5-2 in the last 7 against the Maple Leafs, and have scored 5-plus goals in every win.
• The Blue Jackets are 12-6 inside Scotiabank Arena in the last 18 games.
• The CBJ went 2-1 vs. the Leafs last season.

Who To Watch For TheMaple Leafs

• John Tavares leads the Leafs with 11 goals.
• William Nylander leads the team with 18 assists and 27 points.
• Goalie Joseph Woll is 1-1 with a SV% of .934. He last played on November 18 and won.
• Dennis Hildeby is 2-0-2 with a SV% of .904.

CBJ Player Notes vs.Maple Leafs

• Zach Werenski has 17 points in 18 career games against Toronto.
• Charlie Coyle has 25 points in 31 games.
• Sean Monahan has 18 points in 29 games vs. the Maple Leafs.
• Mathieu Olivier has 8 points in 6 games.

Injuries 

• Erik Gudbranson - Upper Body - Missed 12 games - IR
• Boone Jenner - Upper Body - Missed 4 Games - IR

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 28

How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on FanDuel Sports Network. Steve Mears will be on the play-by-play. The radio broadcast will be on 93.3 The Bus, with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play. 

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A tough test awaits the Florida Panthers as they continue their five-game homestand on Thursday.

Florida, fresh off a wild 8-5 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday, will welcome Nico Hischier and the New Jersey Devils to Sunrise.

The Devils are off to a hot start this season, jumping out to a strong 13-5-1 record.

This will be the second of three meetings between the Panthers and Devils this season.

New Jersey defeated the Cats 3-1 back on Oct. 16.

Despite Florida jumping out to an early 1-0 lead, the Devils clawed their way back on goals by Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Hischier.

While the Devils are one of the league’s best teams on home ice so far this season – New Jersey is the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss at home – they’ve been much more average on the road.

Following Monday’s 5-1 loss in Tampa, the Devils are 6-5-0 on the road, which is nothing to sneeze at but pales in comparison to their 7-0-1 mark at Prudential Center.

Florida, similarly, has been quite good on home ice.

Their three-goal win over Vancouver earlier this week improved the Cats’ record at Amerant Bank Arena to 7-2-1.

Fueling Florida’s offense for much of this season has been Brad Marchand, and of late Sam Reinhart has also stepped up his game.

Marchand is currently riding an 11-game point streak during which he’s racked up an impressive 10 goals and 17 points.

Reinhart has three goals and eight points over a modest four-game point streak, but he’s also accumulated eight goals and 13 points over his past 11 outings.

The potent pair will certainly be trying to keep the good times rolling against the Devils, knowing that Florida will be entering the game as shorthanded as they’ve been all season.

Joining the team’s already extensive injured list this week were Eetu Luostarinen and Cole Schwindt, which caused the Cats to call up promising young forward Jack Devine from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.

Devine will make his NHL debut on Thursday.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Thursday’s battle with the Canucks:

Mackie Samoskevich – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand

Jesper Boqvist – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – A.J. Greer

Noah Gregor – Luke Kunin – Jack Devine

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones

Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry

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Photo caption: Nov 1, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Dallas Stars during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

For a second year in a row, the Montreal Canadiens top TSN’s core-four under-24 ranking. This year, the Habs’ core four used in the rankings is made up of Lane Hutson, Ivan Demidov, Jacob Fowler and Juraj Slafkovsky. Last year, Cole Caufield was part of that ranking, but now that he’s no longer eligible because of his age, they’ve slotted in Jacob Fowler instead.

To make up these standings, TSN rates players with grades going from AAA for superstars, AA for elite players, A for number one goaltender, first-line forward, or first pairing defenseman, B for tandem goalie, top-four defenseman or top-six forward and C for back-up goalies, depth defenseman or bottom-six forward.

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For TSN, both Hutson, the reigning Calder Trophy winner, and Demidov, a serious candidate for the Calder this year, deserve an AAA grade as superstars in the making. As for Fowler, who they believe will be the Canadiens’ starter sooner or later, they give him an A, just like Slafkovsky, who’s been a mainstay on the Canadiens’ first line over the last few years, and up until the previous game, really.

It's interesting to note that in these rankings, Hutson was labelled a B player in 2023 and an A player in 2024. It took time, but the young defenseman has finally earned the panel's respect.

Fowler’s inclusion was a logical move given the fact that he already has three shutouts in the AHL this season, and he’s sporting a .924 save percentage. TSN’s Chris Peters calls him “ as close as you get to a sure thing in goal”. Given the state of goaltending in Montreal this season, this will be music to the fans’ ears.

The Canadiens edged the Chicago Blackhawks in the rankings (the Hawks have only one AAA player, Conor Bedard),  and the San Jose Sharks  for the same reason. The complete rankings can be found here.

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The Vancouver Canucks (9-10-2) return home for a two-game homestand, starting with a matchup against the Dallas Stars (12-5-3). This will be the second meeting between these two Pacific Division teams, with Vancouver picking up a 5-3 victory earlier in the season. Both the Canucks and the Stars are coming off losses and will be motivated to get back in the win column on Thursday night. 

This game is shaping up to be a memorable one as Quinn Hughes hits the 450 mark for his NHL career. When the puck drops, he will become just the 13th defenceman to play 450 regular-season games for Vancouver. While he is only 26, Hughes is already considered the best defender in franchise history and is in the conversation for best defenceman currently playing in the NHL.

If the Canucks are going to win this game, they need to find a way to shut down Dallas' power play. The Stars come into this game ranked second in the NHL with a 31.9% power play rate. If Vancouver's penalty kill can't find a way to step up, they could be playing from behind late in the game. 

Players To Watch:

David Kämpf:

Thursday will be the first time fans at Rogers Arena get to see David Kämpf in action. The 30-year-old had a rough first game with the Canucks, as he was on the ice for five goals against in 14:08. Projected to play on a line with Conor Garland and Brock Boeser, Kämpf should get plenty of minutes Thursday against Dallas. 

Wyatt Johnston: 

Wyatt Johnston has been virtually unstoppable on the power play this year. Of his 11 goals, eight have come with the man advantage while his 13 power play points ranks second on the team. Johnston is developing into an elite young talent who could haunt Vancouver for years to come. 

 Vancouver Canucks (9–10–2): 

Points: 

Quinn Hughes: 1–19–20

Elias Pettersson: 6–13–19

Kiefer Sherwood: 12–3–15 

Brock Boeser: 8–6–14

Conor Garland: 5–8–13

Goaltenders: 

Thatcher Demko: 5–4–0  

Kevin Lankinen: 4–5–2 

Jiří Patera: 0-1-0

Dallas Stars (12-5-3):

Points: 

Mikko Rantanen: 9-18-27

Jason Robertson: 11-14-25

Wyatt Johnston: 11-10-21

Miro Heiskanen: 3-15-18

Roope Hintz: 4-12-16

Goaltenders: 

Jake Oettinger: 8-4-2

Casey DeSmith: 4-1-1

Game Information: 

Start time: 7:00 pm PT

Venue: Rogers Arena

Television: Sportsnet

Radio: Sportsnet 650 

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The Anaheim Ducks saw the return of their captain, Radko Gudas, in their 3-2 overtime win over the Utah Mammoth. With his return to the lineup, they had seven healthy NHL-caliber defensemen on their roster.

Pavel Mintyukov has served the last two games as the Ducks’ healthy scratch, all too familiar a situation to that which he faced a season ago, when the Ducks had a logjam on their blueline. In that instance, the logjam was caused by bringing on board a plethora of veteran defensemen, which caused Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger to alternate healthy scratch duties until it was finally relieved at the 2025 trade deadline.

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This year, the logjam has been caused by the emergence of Ian Moore, another young defenseman, who is perhaps a bit less volatile, more responsible on the defensive side of the puck, and cleaner during breakouts.

Premier NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported in his latest “32 Thoughts” blog that Mintyukov would prefer to be traded rather than be forced to sit in the press box. “After back-to-back healthy scratches, word filtered that Ducks defenceman Pavel Mintyukov would like to be moved if he’s not going to play,” Friedman reported in his piece. “He has fallen behind Jackson LaCombe and Olen Zellweger on the left side of Anaheim’s defence. Ian Moore, who had a strong camp, was elevated in Mintyukov’s place. This is the 10th overall pick in the 2022 draft, so Ducks GM Pat Verbeek will not be rushed into anything. Something to keep an eye on.”

Mintyukov is 149 games into his NHL career and has scored 50 points (9-41=50), including three points (0-3=3) in 18 games this season. He put together a quality rookie season in 2023-24, scoring 28 points (4-24=28) in 63 games and showing flashes of what he could be at the highest level of the sport.

His 2024-25 was a struggle, as he seemed to be negatively affected by the scratches or the possibility of scratches, limiting his willingness to take chances and involve himself offensively, where he thrives most.

Mintyukov is at his best when he can diagnose a rush, disrupt it, spark a counterattack, and remain involved on the offensive cycle with constant activations. He’s an instinctual player who has the potential to become a true two-way force and fill scoresheets nightly.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t seized the opportunity afforded by Gudas’ absence, and he seemed to be leapfrogged by Moore in the process. It’s simply a numbers game, and he’s been the Ducks’ seventh-best defenseman this season (opinion).

As Friedman mentioned, Verbeek won’t be rushed into a decision, but Mintyukov’s value will only go down from here. His value should still be relatively high, as he’s just four years removed from his draft (when he was Verbeek’s first-ever draft pick), had a decent rookie season, and is still only 21 years old (22 on Nov. 25).

If traded, Mintyukov would be the fourth top-ten pick of the 2022 draft traded after selection and the sixth top-15 pick. This could all be undone with another injury (it is still hockey after all) or if he finds his way into the lineup tomorrow (Thursday), as the Ducks will be on their second game of a back-to-back.

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