Each Friday, NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will provide readers with games he is looking forward to that weekend:
Minnesota Wild at Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday, 7 p.m. ET; CBC, SNO, SNP, BSN, BSWI)
I think Kirill Kaprizov will have an MVP-type season. He's electrifying and the best player they've had in their franchise history. The top line now is locked up with his linemates Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello each signing contracts prior to the season. It will be tough for them to start the season without defenseman and captain Jared Spurgeon, who is out week to week because of an upper-body injury, but they did defeat the Panthers 2-0 on Thursday behind a 41-save shutout from Filip Gustavsson. He and Marc-Andre Fleury are one of the best goalie tandems in the NHL.
Auston Matthews started his season with a hat trick in a 6-5 shootout win against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday. If he stays healthy the whole season, I don't see how Matthews scores fewer than 60 goals. Then you add John Tavares, Mitchell Marner and William Nylander and the Maple Leafs have four players who each can get 30 goals and 100 points. My questions concerning them are about their defense corps and goaltending, which we'll have to keep an eye on. But this should be a good matchup between one of the best offensive teams in Toronto and one of the best defensive teams in Minnesota.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Ottawa Senators (Sunday, 7 p.m. ET; NHLN, BSSUN, RDS2, TSN5)
The Lightning won their season opener 5-3 against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, but will have to find different ways to win this season, especially with goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy out two months after back surgery. Jonas Johansson made 28 saves in the win and likely will be the workhorse until Vasilevskiy returns. Coach Jon Cooper told us on the ESPN broadcast during that game that they will need to be more defensively conscious and convert on those offensive chances when they are there. Nicholas Paul (two goals, one assist) and Brayden Point (three assists) each had three points and Nikita Kucherov scored two goals in the win, and the Lightning were 2-for-5 on the power play.
The Senators are one of the most exciting young teams in the League. Tim Stützle had 90 points last season after 58 in 2021-22 and I think he can get to 100 this season. I think Brady Tkachuk scores 35-40 goals this season. Claude Giroux was almost a point per game player last season (79 in 82 games), and Vladimir Tarasenko also brings some offense. They have stabilized things on the back end, signing goalie Joonas Korpisalo during the offseason. Their challenge could be cleaning things up defensively, and they did allow five goals in a season-opening 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday.
