Canucks' GM search, Lightning striking again, and NHL's elite forward lines

Over to you, Mr. Rutherford.

On Thursday, Jim Rutherford - the trade-loving architect of three Stanley Cup-winning teams in the salary-cap era - was named the Vancouver Canucks' new president of hockey operations. The soon-to-be 73-year-old also holds the title of interim general manager while he searches for a permanent replacement for Jim Benning, who was fired Sunday.

Rutherford has yet to speak at length with the media, so it's unclear how he'll attack the search. There are a handful of paths he can take here, including:

• Hiring a former NHL GM
• Hiring a current assistant GM with close ties to Rutherford
• Hiring a current assistant GM with little-to-no ties to Rutherford
• Hiring from within the Canucks' front office
• Hiring an atypical GM candidate

The first option, which winks at the possibility of chasing recently fired Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, would be counterproductive. Considering Rutherford and his new GM will be leading the hockey ops department in tandem, there should be a diversity of thought and background. Rutherford brings an old-school approach, institutional credibility, and a history of making bold decisions. The Canucks don't need another Rutherford.

As for convincing a familiar assistant GM currently employed elsewhere to come work for the Canucks … well, that's much more palatable. Rutherford's management tree includes several high-profile names, including the Buffalo Sabres' Jason Karmanos and the Seattle Kraken's Jason Botterill. Would the mix of familiarity and differing skill sets (Karmanos and Botterill, both in their 40s, are considered modern execs) make for a solid fit? Probably. Going this route would be relatively safe because Rutherford will know exactly what he's getting.

If you remove the familiarity aspect from the equation, Rutherford's talent pool expands. For instance, the Colorado Avalanche's Chris MacFarland, who's been on the rise for a number of years, is an interesting name. A capologist and scout with a strong belief in analytics, MacFarland could be the type of well-respected executive who's worth taking a chance on. Also, MacFarland presumably wouldn't be a "yes man," which is something Rutherford should want in this arrangement.

There are also a few notable internal candidates. One is interim AGM Ryan Johnson, who, like MacFarland, is on track to become an NHL GM someday. Rutherford could see Johnson as somebody who has the pulse of the club, can be mentored, and won't command a hefty salary from ownership, which is now paying two top hockey ops execs (Benning had handled both roles). Meanwhile, franchise icons and senior advisors Henrik and Daniel Sedin seem destined to become Canucks co-GMs down the road. Do you start the succession plan earlier than planned, or do you let them continue to learn the hockey ops ropes? Probably the latter.

Lastly, Rutherford, who's known for his shocking trades, could hire somebody out of left field, like super agent J.P. Barry or broadcaster Ray Ferraro. This is a highly unlikely scenario, and who knows if either of those guys, or their contemporaries, would even be interested. But, as Rutherford has shown over the years, expect the unexpected when he's in charge.

Lightning striking again

The two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning are on fire, with a 5-0-0 start to December vaulting them into a three-way tie for the Atlantic Division's top spot.

On the surface, of course the Lightning are killing it. After all, over the past five-plus years, no team has accumulated as many regular-season points as Tampa Bay, and the club's enviable core of superstars remains intact.

That said, achieving this level of success through the first quarter of the campaign hasn't been easy, nor was it a foregone conclusion.

For starters, the capped-out squad entered the season with fewer impactful depth pieces. The Lightning lost, among others, all three members of the highly effective Barclay Goodrow-Yanni Gourde-Blake Coleman line. Tampa Bay has also been without the services of Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point for 23 and 10 games, respectively. Neither world-class player is replaceable. And, let's face it, the entire organization must be feeling at least slightly fatigued after competing in an NHL-high 200 total games since the start of 2019-20.

"I've gotta give them credit, they're finding ways to win," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters Tuesday after his players pulled out a 3-2 comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Two nights later, the Lightning took down the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 while yet another invaluable piece, center Anthony Cirelli, was forced to watch from the press box due to injury.

Ten of Tampa Bay's 26 games have ended in overtime or a shootout. The Lightning have won six, giving them 16 of a possible 20 points in that scenario. Those kinds of early-season tests - and triumphs - are undoubtedly beneficial to a shorthanded group trying to become the first team in four decades to win three consecutive Stanley Cups.

So far, the Lightning's list of standout performers includes the usual suspects: Steven Stamkos up front (32 points, including 13 goals), Victor Hedman on defense (27 points, plus elite defending), and Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal (.927 save percentage). A second tier - namely forwards Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, and Corey Perry - has provided ample support, especially of late.

Perry, a former star who signed a two-year deal with Tampa Bay this past offseason, has found a niche as a bottom-six winger. He isn't the first player to be seamlessly folded into the team's winning culture.

"Everything he says makes sense," Cooper said Tuesday when asked about the 37-year-old's emerging voice in the dressing room. "There's no fluff to him. There's no BS."

It turns out there's been no BS, period, around the Lightning this season.

NHL's elite forward lines

We're at the point in the season where it's safe to drop the "it's early but … " caveat. Two months of on-ice action offers a big enough sample size.

Here we go: The Calgary Flames' top forward line of Elias Lindholm between Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau has been the NHL's best trio - by far.

In 324 five-on-five minutes, Tkachuk-Lindholm-Gaudreau has obliterated the opposition to the tune of a league-high plus-17 goal differential and an NHL-high goals-for rate of 87%. Territorially, the line is also a cut above the rest, with an expected goals-for rate of 66.9%, according to Evolving Hockey data.

In other words, the Calgary trio is dominating during the run of play and on the scoreboard, nailing down the process and enjoying the results.

Check out who's challenging them on the leaderboard:

You'll notice neither Connor McDavid nor Leon Draisaitl is mentioned above. Their lines don't stack up well here because these metrics exclude special-teams situations - where both players thrive - but include defensive play. It's no secret the Edmonton Oilers - not necessarily McDavid and Draisaitl, specifically - tend to give up plenty of shots, chances, and goals.

Bonus shoutout to the Anaheim Ducks' No. 1 line of Trevor Zegras between Sonny Milano and Rickard Rakell. The three of them have been on the ice together for only 119 five-on-five minutes this season, but they've churned out excellent numbers - 85.7 GF%, 68.8 xGF%, plus-10 goal differential.

Extra credit: Zegras and Milano hooked up Tuesday for an absurdly nice goal.

Wings prospect's off-ice detour

An oft-forgotten part of the transition to North America for players from places like Sweden is the task of getting from Point A to Point B in a foreign country.

I couldn't help but chuckle last month when Jonatan Berggren, a forward in the Detroit Red Wings organization, confirmed a humorous story about his introduction to life in the U.S. during a chat in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (I was there to report this feature about the Wings' extensive rebuild.)

Berggren, a 21-year-old from Uppsala, Sweden, was sent by the Wings to AHL Grand Rapids in early October after drawing into some NHL preseason action. Standard stuff; he wasn't projected to make the opening-day roster.

He and his girlfriend Tilde, who's also from Sweden, hopped in a rental car, Berggren punched the words "Grand Rapids" into the GPS system, and off they went. Two hours later, the couple arrived safely in Grand Rapids … Ohio, a farming town of roughly 1,000 people located 30 miles southwest of Toledo.

"In Sweden, we never have two places where the name is the same," Berggren said, smiling at the bungle, which made headlines back home. "I was thinking there was only one Grand Rapids in the U.S.A. But I was wrong."

For the record, Berggren and Tilde quickly realized the error, turned around, and had no issues finding the "real" Grand Rapids, which is two hours west of Detroit. Berggren's since settled in, posting 16 points in 20 AHL games.

Parting thoughts

Chris Kreider: The New York Rangers winger is at it again. After finishing with 20-10 in 50 games last season, Kreider is challenging for hockey's (totally pretend) Cy Young Award with a stat line of 17 goals and four assists (17-4). Others in the conversation: Andrew Mangiapane at 17-3 and Brandon Saad at 11-3.

Colorado Avalanche: The Avalanche, a popular preseason Cup pick, own a .652 points percentage through 23 games but rank 29th in goaltending. What gives? Well, they're scoring goals at the same rate as the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins, a team with prime-time Mario Lemieux and peak Jaromir Jagr.

Jomboy: The internet personality Jomboy, best known for his MLB lip-reading videos, is now posting breakdowns of notable hockey moments. His blow-by-blow (bite-by-bite?) accounting of the Brendan Lemieux-Brady Tkachuk incident is must-consume content. Trust me.

Takes, Thoughts, and Trends is theScore's biweekly hockey grab bag.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).