5 Hot Takes Headed into the NHL Season

The phrase “hot take,” represents a few things these days. To me, it’s still best defined as something that could happen, but isn’t particularly likely to happen.

For reference, if you were to predict any team that landed in the 2021-22 regular season top five as this year’s Stanley Cup Champion, I’d call that a cold take. If you were to predict any of the bottom five this year’s Stanley Cup Champion, I’d consider that a scorching take.

Takes, of course, exist on a spectrum, and you can always tell the difference between a hot take that someone genuinely believes, and a hot take born for the purpose of being a hot take.

With that said, I like to think of my “hot takes” on a scale from one to five fire emojis. One is a relatively mild take that is debatable, five is something I think most people would disagree with. All takes from 1-5 need to be things I genuinely believe, though.

Without further ado, here are my most passionate hot-but-real takes headed into the 2022-23 season

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The Ottawa Senators make the playoffs

The Ottawa Senators have been going through one of the most bizarrely manufactured quasi-rebuilds ever since their last playoff appearance in 2017. You know it’s bad when the only reason I’m even referring to it as an intentional rebuild is because at this time last year, GM Pierre Dorion publicly declared that not only was a rebuild happening, but that the rebuild was already over.

Spoiler alert: It was not. The Senators ended the season 26th in the league.

At least while the NHL club was falling apart through no fault of the players still left, the organization was building a pipeline of some pretty exciting potential stars. And would you look at that, the Senators gave up one of their favorite stars–cap space–and had one of the strongest off-seasons in the league, acquiring Claude Giroux, Alex DeBrincat and Cam Talbot among others.

Is the rebuild actually over now?

I’m not totally sure, and I will never claim to understand the inner workings of the Ottawa Senators, but things are looking good.

Heat check: 1.5 flame emojis 🔥 (editor's note: just imagine a half-flaming emoji with this one)

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Coyotes University isn't an absolute dumpster fire

Listen, the fact that the Arizona Coyotes will spend at least the next few years playing in a college hockey arena with a 5,000-person capacity is an objective failure on multiple levels.

But we get it at this point.

We’ve read all the think pieces, tweeted all our jokes and rolled our eyes at the Canadian media’s pearl-clutching relocation columns.

It'll be a more intimate setting for the Coyotes' Clayton Keller playing at home. (Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images)

Now that we’ve accepted the reality of the situation, we can make the best of it. I don’t know about you, but I fell in love with this sport growing up around Boston going to college hockey games. There’s nothing like a tightly packed arena full of a few thousand people who actually want to be there. It kind of feels like one of the best-kept secrets you didn’t even realize you were in on.

Not only could the close-knit environment inspire some young Arizonians to get into the sport, but it might give a team dealing with quite a few setbacks a reason to wake up every morning and try.

Besides, who wouldn’t want to attend a hockey game at a place called Mullett Arena?

Heat check: 4 flame emojis 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

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Matt Murray succeeds in Toronto

I’ll start this out by saying the word “succeed” in the context of the Toronto Maple Leafs means different things to different people. This is not a “will-they-won’t-they exit the first round” prediction, and for the record I don’t define a second-round exit as success. (I don’t think they do, either!)

This is more about the trajectory of Murray’s career and the role he could play with the Leafs. Murray has had a few tougher seasons after his strong start with the Penguins, and he hasn’t been able to return to the Cup-winning performance he twice put up. Obviously sharing a net with Marc-Andre Fleury and generally being part of the Penguins dynasty greatly contributed to said Cup-winning performance, but Murray was no passenger in that endeavor.

He’s had a down few years on the Senators, but who among us can blame him? He was also very open about how hard the loss of his father was in 2018. He’s clearly shown us he can handle the spotlight, and the Leafs look better than ever.

This feels like the best chance 28-year-old Murray has at righting the course of his career, and I think he can do it. I don’t think he (or anybody) will single-handedly lift the Leafs past the first round, but I think he will be low on the Totem Pole of blame if they can’t get it done.

Heat check: 4 out of 5 flame emojis 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

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Moritz Seider wins the Norris

This is a good example of a mild take that I believe in so much that it becomes sort of hot. Yes, Seider won the Calder last year and he’s on everyone’s radar. Yes, he’s only expected to get better.

I’m sure he’s on most people’s pre-season Norris watch lists, but how many people think he’s going to win it all? Count me in as one.

We’re in a golden age of young defensemen who can put up points, and let’s be real, the Norris winner has become a defenseman who can score a lot of points. I think Seider is going to be the perfect medium between the modern high-scoring defenseman and the big, gritty shot-blocker, and everyone can agree on a player like that.

Heat check: 1.5 out of 5 flame emojis 🔥

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Elias Pettersson has the best or worst season of his career

Is this multiple hot takes stacked on top of each other in a trench coat? Maybe. After a rough start and a lingering wrist injury last season, 23-year-old Pettersson ended with career highs in games played (80), goals (32) and points (68) in 2021-22. He dipped below his usual point-per-game stats, but he exploded towards the end of the season, which bodes well for 2022-23.

But the Canucks aren’t playing around next season, and they’ve got some healthy competition down the middle with the season J.T. Miller had in 2021-22. Perhaps the Canucks get Pettersson away from top defensive matches on the second line and he flourishes, perhaps the competition works in his favor and he wins the first-line center role then flourishes. Or perhaps Pettersson fades away with less ice time.

There are so many varying possibilities when it comes to his upcoming season, and that’s why I think it’s absolutely crucial for him to have a career year.

Heat check: 3 out of 5 flame emojis 🔥🔥 🔥