Sizing up tanking teams, Gudas punishment too light, more NHL hot topics

Combining his own perspective with what he's been hearing from those in and around the game, senior NHL writer John Matisz breaks down the hot topics across the hockey landscape.

Tanking SZN: Sizing up woeful teams

Parity was a defining feature of 2025-26's first half. The vast majority of teams were well within striking distance of a playoff spot through November.

Then, in mid-December, Vancouver sent superstar Quinn Hughes to Minnesota in a seismic trade that changed the trajectories of two franchises.

The Canucks began sinking to the bottom of the standings. Others followed in the lead-up to the March 6 trade deadline. And now, a week later and with roughly 20% of the season remaining, the tanking competition is officially on. The Eastern Conference's Maple Leafs, Devils, and Rangers are miserable viewing experiences. The West's futility runs four teams deep: Jets, Blackhawks, Flames, and last-place Canucks. The Blues will surely join soon.

Finishing with a bottom-three record is key. The 32nd-place team receives 25.1% odds of landing the No. 1 pick and is guaranteed a top-three pick. The 31st and 30th teams are guaranteed top-four and top-five picks, respectively.

Strength of schedule is extremely important. Among the teams with the 10 lowest points percentages Saturday morning, St. Louis, Nashville, and Seattle are scheduled to face the weakest competition, according to Tankathon.

Here are those 10 down-bad teams' projected point totals, from MoneyPuck:

My prediction: the Canucks win the draft lottery (huge lead right now) and have a difficult time deciding between top prospects Ivar Stenberg, Gavin McKenna, and Keaton Verhoeff. St. Louis and Calgary, two big deadline sellers who desperately need high-end talent, end up with top-three picks.

Gudas suspension indeed 'laughable'

Auston Matthews will miss the Maple Leafs' remaining 16 games with a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion. Radko Gudas, the Ducks captain who injured Matthews on a reckless knee-on-knee hit Thursday, will miss five games.

It's Gudas' fifth career suspension totaling 26 games. On top of the hit itself, track record and injury severity should play significant roles in determining suspension length. The NHL's Department of Player Safety downplayed both.

"In light of the obvious severity of the play, I am disappointed and shocked the league would allow such a ruling," Matthews' longtime agent, Judd Moldaver, said in a strongly worded statement to theScore and other media outlets.

"A phone hearing and five games is laughable and preposterous. While the process is set in our CBA, that this was the discipline is reckless and ridiculous. This decision results in a further loss of confidence in the disciplinary process for all players. Players and fans deserve better. The Player Safety Department should be suspended."

I more or less agree with Moldaver's sentiments here. I believe Gudas should have been suspended for a minimum of 10 games. Five doesn't send a strong enough message to a player who has clearly not learned his lesson.

Luke 'Scoops' Schenn moves again

When Luke Schenn was traded to Buffalo last Friday, my initial thought had nothing to do with the 36-year-old defenseman's place on the Sabres' depth chart. Instead, I wondered how Schenn, one of the most well-connected and curious players in the league, learned about his own deal.

Schenn, who after debuting for the Sabres on Thursday has now suited up for 10 different franchises over 18 seasons, is a popular teammate. A steakhouse aficionado, he's known for spearheading big group dinners on the road.

He has two nicknames: "Schenner" and "Scoops." The latter developed over time as teammates came to realize Schenn always has his finger on the pulse.

"Every day, he's got something new for me, where he's talked to somebody around the league or something like that," former Predators teammate Ryan O'Reilly told me last season. "He'll look at me, raise his eyebrows, smile, and go, 'Hey, guess what?'

"Before a coach is fired - before (the news is) released publicly, anyway - somehow Schenner will know, and he'll be the first one to break it to the boys," O'Reilly added. "Same with trades: He'll be like, 'Hey, I'm hearing a rumor that this guy is going here or there.' It's pretty funny. He knows so many people in so many different roles because he's been in the league so long."

Insider Schenn caught Filip Forsberg off guard on July 1, 2024, with a text message about Lightning captain Steven Stamkos signing in Nashville.

"Schenner likes the networking. He likes a good dinner and a good hot stove," said Forsberg, a two-year teammate. "He's just an awesome human being. Everyone wants to be around him, and he really gets to know people."

Every GM looking for next Graf

NHL teams are starting to sign free agents out of U.S. colleges - it's that time of year. Collin Graf is one of the top NCAA success stories of the decade.

Graf, who signed with the Sharks in April 2024 following one year at Union College and two at Quinnipiac University, has established himself as a reliable top-nine winger during his first full NHL season. The undrafted 23-year-old has racked up 17 goals and 36 points in 62 games while moving up and down the five-on-five lineup. He also leads San Jose's 15th-ranked penalty kill.

The Sharks need energetic, puck-retrieving forwards like Graf and recently acquired (and extended) Kiefer Sherwood to make life easier on offensive drivers Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Michael Misa. GM Mike Grier would be wise to offer Graf, a pending restricted free agent, a long-term extension.

Graf didn't kill penalties in college, so the organization deserves props for giving the brainy forward a defined role and letting him learn on the job.

"Last year during training camp, when I went down to the AHL, the coaching staff there wanted me to work on penalty killing. They really wanted me to add that tool to my toolbox," Graf said in December. "Ever since then, it's become an important piece of me trying to make an impact every night in the NHL."

The Sharks have surrendered just 4.5 goals per 60 minutes with Graf on the ice in shorthanded situations this season. That rate ranks seventh among the 77 NHL forwards who've logged 100 or more minutes on the penalty kill.

No followup to 'future considerations'

Twice on deadline day, an NHL team acquired a legitimate NHLer - Nick Foligno in one instance, Vinnie Hinostroza in the other - without forking over a player or draft pick. Both were swapped for "future considerations."

What do "future considerations" typically turn into down the road?

"Future considerations is zero. It's nothing. Absolutely nothing," a Western Conference team executive told theScore.

The league must circle back to the two teams at a later date to ensure an asset has been or will be exchanged, right? Nope, the executive said. One GM is essentially doing a favor for another, and there are no checks and balances.

Nevertheless, the executive continued, the league doesn't like "future considerations" featured in trades involving salary retention. This distinction makes some sense, as the optics of exchanging salary cap space for nothing would look much worse on paper than trading a player for nothing.

"Still, I don't like the inconsistency of it," the executive concluded.

Seven trades involving "future considerations" have occurred since the Stanley Cup was handed out last June. The Wild were part of three - buying twice, selling once - while the Mammoth and Blackhawks have completed two each.

Will NHL ever get rid of trapezoid?

Reader Peter G. recently asked about goalies handling the puck:

Do you think the NHL will ever get rid of the trapezoid behind the net? I'd like to see goalies handle the puck everywhere. I think it's a lost art form. Bringing this up after watching international games (no trapezoid).

The NHL won't be removing the trapezoid-shaped area behind the net anytime soon (probably ever). Introduced following the 2004-05 lockout to facilitate offense, the area continues to serve that purpose in 2025-26.

Also, puckhandling, while less chaotic and flashy today than in previous eras, is not a lost art form, according to former NHL netminder Carter Hutton. "I think it's a controlled art form," he said. "There's still a ton of value in handling the puck behind the net. You're just in a confined space. And there's also plenty of plays to make above the goal line if the other team dumps it in."

Puckhandling was one of Hutton's biggest strengths during a 234-game career from 2013-2021, so much so that he would use the skill as a bargaining chip in contract negotiations.

As Hutton explains, if a goalie handles the puck smoothly and with intent, the trapezoid tends to encourage quicker, craftier touches while reducing much of the risk. "You rarely get caught in no man's land now," he said.

That's the nuanced aspect of goalies trying to move the puck deep in their own zone - sometimes the risk isn't worth the reward. "Good puckhandling only makes a difference if you don't get scored on," is how Hutton put it.

What do you want to know, hockey fans?

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