The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in full swing, with Game 5s taking center stage on Monday night.
While we are all looking for forward to the rest of the playoffs, we thought we would take a look back at the 2022-23 through the assessment Hall of Famer Brett Hull.
Hull sat own with our partners at Betway Insider for a review of the season.
Two teams stood out to Hull as the season concluded.
“The Seattle Kraken. They didn’t make the playoffs in their first year, but what they’ve done to create the chemistry they have in their second year, with a number of expansion players and some draft picks, has been very impressive” Hull said.
“Also the Devils”, he added. “I don’t think anyone thought they could be doing what they’re doing. To have had the start they had, after a few games they were yelling to fire their coach, and then they rifled off 13 wins in a row.”
The Kraken are facing off against the Colorado Avalanche, defending Stanley Cup Champions in the first round, the Devils are facing their cross river rivals, the New York Rangers.
The Kraken were competitive in their first year in the league, in 2021-22, but failed to make the post season tournament.
“They have done a phenomenal job,” Hull said of Seattle. “When you see what it takes to do that, you really have to tip your hat to their scouting staff to be able to go out and understand what type of players these guys are. Some were run-of-the-mill players on the franchises they were with, but Seattle knew if they got a chance, a little more playing time, playing with some better players, what kind of players they would become.
“They’ve obviously made some great choices, like Vegas did a few years ago. To do that, and find a good coach to put them together and be patient, it’s quite a feat.”
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Hull was asked his opinion on individual players in the NHL this, and which ones stood out for him.
“(Jason) Robertson for the Dallas Stars is having a year,” Hull said. “You can’t say enough about those two guys in Edmonton, (Leon) Draisaitl and (Connor) McDavid. It’s scary if they could surround them with a little more talent and some goaltending. Edmonton could be back to the glory days with Gretzky and Messier and Grant Fuhr.
“(David) Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins are having a crazy year. And Tage Thompson in Buffalo. I think it’s his fifth year after he was traded from the St. Louis Blues, but you can see what he’s doing now and his potential. The Buffalo Sabres are a team to be reckoned with in the near future”
It’s difficult to review a season, and not discuss the exploits of Alex Ovechkin, and his chase for the scoring title.
“It’s really incredible,” Hull said. “You look at other sports and usually consistency is a guy getting 20 or 25 goals for six or seven seasons. Well, this guy’s been getting 50 goals for 18 years. It’s incredible. He’s a marvel to watch. He’s never changed the way he’s played. He’s a beast out there.
“No one can shoot harder. But you still can’t stop him after all these years. He is a freak of nature and I have really enjoyed watching him.”
The obvious question for Betway to ask is whether whether or not Hull believes Ovechkin can chase down the goals record.
“It’s incredible because I got 741 goals myself and I don’t think I could have scored another goal. I thought that was about as close as anyone could get to Gordie Howe with 801 and Wayne way up with 894,” Hull added. “In all seriousness, 80 goals for him is two seasons, and he’s got plenty of life left in him. So, unless something happens, he looks unstoppable to catch Wayne’s goal record, although that’ll be the only record of Wayne’s which will ever be broken because all the other ones are crazy.’
The Dallas Stars are currently embroiled in their first round series with the Minnesota Wild, and Hull was asked his thoughts on the Dallas roster.
“They’re a solid team,” Hull responded. “They’ve had some injuries as well, but they’ve got great goaltending, they’ve got great players and they’re gonna be right in there till the very end in the playoffs.”
Hull was also asked about the Detroit Red Wings, and their troubles this season, and the outlook moving forward.
“They’re coming. They’ve got some good young players,” Hull said of the roster.
“When you have to rebuild, it is a tedious process and drafting is so important,” Hull added. “If you miss on a couple of draft picks, it can set you back a couple of years. It looks like they’ve picked well so now it just takes time for those guys to mature and then to fill the roster around them. You can get good really fast. So, they’re on their way up, I can see that.”
It’s no secret, Canadians teams have been without a Stanley Cup Trophy for years. So, Hull was asked his thoughts on the issues facing Canadian hockey franchises.
“Playing for a Canadian team is a double-edged sword. It’s the life bed of hockey, it’s the national sport, it’s everything up there apart from the Blue Jays and the Raptors,” Hull started off. “Playing there is spectacular, and you become almost a household name. You look at [Auston] Matthews and [Mitch] Marner in Toronto and [Leon] Draisaitl and [Connor] McDavid in Edmonton. They’re all household names and they become very famous, but there’s also a lot of pressure on you to win for those Canadian teams.
“Looking at it from a team’s point of view, with the economy, the taxes, the weather, it’s hard to get superstar free agents to come and play for your team because of where they’re situated. It’s great to be a part of a Canadian franchise, but there’s also a lot of great teams in the United States and a lot of states that have no state tax. So that’s part of the problem, and that’s probably one of the reasons why it’s been such a drought.”
Hull was asked what the Canadians franchises need to do to make themselves more comptetit5ive with their US-based rivals.
“They somehow have to be able to make it financially more suitable for players to come up there and play. To me, that’s about it,” Hull said. “The cities, the people, are fantastic. Being a part of a Canadian team, you’re treated like gold. But I just think it’s hard to lure free agents and it’s hard to keep people into multi-year contracts because they just want to play theirs out and leave. That’s the biggest problem.”
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To close the sit down, Hull was asked his prediction for the next Stanley Cup Champion.
“It looks like Boston’s gonna be very hard to beat in the East,” Hull said. “I think it’s anybody’s game out West. I’m gonna lean Dallas to make it to the Finals, and we’ll have a Boston-Dallas Finals.”
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