If you are a regular visitor at Notinhalloffame.com, you know that we created the Notinhalloffame NHL Cup, where in every regular season game, we award points (5-4-3-2-1) to the top five performers.  This is the third year that we have done this, and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid won the first two.

To keep everyone regularly in the loop this time, we have decided to give regular updates, starting at Thanksgiving, and tell all of you the top ten.  We will be doing updates every Monday. (note, with it being New YEars, and only one game scheduled, we waited a day!)

Here is the fifth current top ten in Notinhalloffame Cup Points:

1. David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins. 71 Cup Points:  35 Games, 22 G, 28 A, 50 P, +7, 6.1 PS. (#1 Last Week)

The Boston Bruins (like last year) have been the best team early in the season, and it is David Pastrnak who has led their offensive threat.  He is the league-leader in Shots (163), is third in Points (50), sixth in Goals (22), and is Boston’s leading scorer, and is in the top ten in most essential offensive categories.  Could he win his first Hart?

2. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning.  67 Cup Points, 37 Games, 26 G, 35 A, 61 P, +1, 7.0 PS.  (#2 Last Week)

Kucherov is in his tenth season in Tampa, and is putting forth a season that could gain him another Hart or Art Ross.  He is leading the NHL in Points (61) and is second in both Goals (26) and Assists (35).  It is a minor surprise that he is not first in Cup Points, but he is getting closer and closer.

3.  Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs, 58 Cup Points:  33 Games, 29 G, 15 A, 44 P, +5, 5.8 PS. (#3 Last Week)

The American sniper is back as the league’s top goal-scorer, holding the lead in that (29) and Even-Strength Goals (21).  If he holds that, Matthews will win his third Rocket Richard Trophy.

4. Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators, 55 Cup Points:  37 Games, 18 G, 23 A, 41 P, +4, 4.7 PS (#4 Last Week)

Forsberg is off to the best start of his career and should make his second All-Star Game, though other than Even-Strength Goals (3^rd with 16) and Game-Winning Goals (6^th with 4), he is not in the top ten in any major offensive category. 

5.  Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche, 54 Cup Points:  37 Games, 19 G, 26 A, 45 P, +2, 4.8 PS. (#6 Last Week)

Rantanen is currently eighth in Point (45), ninth in Goals (19) and Points (42), and is second in Game-Winning Goals (5).

6. (TIE). Sam Reinhart, Florida Panthers, 53 Cup Points:  36 Games, 23 G, 21 A, 44 P, +15, 5.9 PS.  (#6 Last Week)

Reinhart makes his return to the top ten, and is the current leader in Power Play Goals (10).  He is also fourth in Goals (23), tenth in Points 44), and the veteran is on pace to finish in the top in those categories for the first time in his ten-year career.

6 (TIE). Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils, 53 Cup Points:  30 Games, 15 G, 29 A, 44 P, -4, 4.7 PS.  (#6 Last Week)

Hughes is currently fourthh in Points per Game (1.47) and is on pace for a third straight All-Star selection.

8 (TIE). Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers, 52 Cup Points:  32 Games, 13 G, 35 A, 48 P, +6, 4.9 PS.  (Not in the Top Ten Last Week)

Look who finally arrived!   The Edmonton Oilers have been a disappointment thus far, and McDavid has not been lighting the lamp like he did last year.  He has however been a great playmaker, and is second in Assists (35) and fifth in Points (48).  Can he make it back to the top of the mountain?

8 (TIE). Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators.  52 Cup Points:  27 Games, 15-13-1 Record, .901 Save Percentage, 3.02 GAA, 4.6 GPS. (#5 Last Week)

Saros remains a shock to be the highest ranked Goalie and to be in the top ten in general.  How he got here is by being a workhorse.  Saros is third in Saves (740), second in Minutes (1,612), and is also fifth in Wins (15) and eighth in Goalie Point Shares (4.6).  Saros’ rank means that it is the Predators that are the first squad with two ranked players.

10. Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers.  51 Cup Points, 35 Games, 23 G, 27 A, 50 P, 0, 5.9 PS. (Not in the Top Ten Last Week)

Panarin returns to the top ten, and is strange to think that he fell out of it at all.  The Russian Left Wing is third in Points (50) and fourth in Goals (23), and is poised to have his best goal-scoring campaign to date.

Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko fell out of the top ten.

Our next update will be next Monday.

The Winnipeg Jets were very fortunate to have traded for Defenseman, Dylan DeMelo at the 2020 Trade Deadline.  This was not just because of defensive skills, but because they had a player who wanted to be in the tundra of Winnipeg.

DeMelo plays hockey with a simple credo: protect your end of the ice.  An excellent penalty killer, DeMelo rarely puts the puck in the net, but can provide solid passing when needed.  In 2022/23, DeMelo had his 27 Points, with 120 Hits, and two years ago, he had his best offensive season to date with career-highs in Points (31), plus/Minus (+46, which was second overall), Blocked Shots (139), and Hits (167).   He has also been in the top five in Defensive Point Shares the last two seasons.

Going into this year, DeMelo is a quiet contributor to a very good team and has posted a Plus/Minus of +77 over the last two years.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022/23 revision of our top 50 Toronto Maple Leafs.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, Toronto finally broke through and made it to the second round of the playoffs, but in “Six” it is all about winning it all.  Last year yielded several elevations and two new entrants, which is impressive considering we are talking about an organization that is over a century old. 

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:

1. Syl Apps

2. Turk Broda

3. Tim Horton

4. Charlie Conacher

5. Borje Salming

You can find the entire list here.

Former Hart Trophy winner, Auston Matthews, continues his ascension, as he is now ranked at #15, having risen from #18.

Right Wing, Mitch Marner, climbed to #36 from #43.

Former #1 Draft Pick, John Tavares makes his debut at #40.

Defenseman. Morgan Reilly, advanced to #42 from #47.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

From Sweden, William Nylander was the 8^th Overall Pick in the 2014 Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it did not take long for him to be a top forward for the club.

After he was drafted, Nylander spent the next two years switching from the Swedish League and the AHL, and he made his NHL debut in February of 2016, finishing with 13 Points in 21 Games, proving that he belonged permanently on the main roster.  Nylander scored 61 Points in each of the next two years, but a pay dispute led to a late start in 2018/19, and he was off all year, producing only 27 Points in 54 Games, leading to concern among the fan base.   They needn’t have worried.

Nylander bounced back with his first 30-plus year (31) in 2019/20, and in 2021/22, broke out with his first 80 Point campaign.   The Swedish Center improved his numbers in 2022-23 Goals (40), Assists (47), and Points (87), and in 2023-24 he came close to 100 Points (98) with his second straight 40 Goal year.  His performance was so good that he finally made it to the All-Star Game.  Last year, Nylander's success continued with his third straight 40-Goal and second straight 90-Point year.

While Auston Matthews gains the most attention, much of Toronto's offensive power comes from Nylander.