NHL Network analyst and former All-Star Jeremy Roenick will be penning a weekly blog for NHL.com this season. Look for new entries from "World According to JR," every Wednesday. Roenick will offer sharp, can't-miss opinions on What's Clicking and What's Missing in the National Hockey League.

A rising rookie and a falling superstar highlight my blog this week. Read on to find out what's on my mind:

What's clicking?

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Center - EDM

GOALS: 12 | ASST: 17 | PTS: 29
SOG: 55 | +/-: 4

With the instant impact of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, it just amazes me that the Edmonton Oilers even considered sending this kid back to junior instead of keeping him for the season. At 18 years old and being the No. 1 draft pick, and then to come in and make such an instant impact while making things look so easy is totally amazing to me.

This kid has impressed me with his maturity, with his sense of the game, with how knowledgeable he is, the way he reads the game. For a rookie to have 29 points in 27 games, with 12 goals and 17 assists -- I don't know if we've seen a rookie this good in a long time. 

NHL analyst and former All-Star Jeremy Roenick will be penning a weekly blog for NHL.com this season. Look for new entries from, "World According to JR," every Wednesday.

In the wake of the decisions made in Washington and Carolina earlier this week, I have decided to change up the format of my blog for this week. Instead of giving you my opinions on What's Clicking and What's Missing in the National Hockey League, I wanted to give you my opinions on the moves made by Capitals GM George McPhee and Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford.

Let's first start this thing off by saying I don't think anybody was surprised by the firing of Bruce Boudreau and Paul Maurice. But I do think they were the byproduct of separate issues in that one team is talented enough but wasn't responding, and the other just doesn't have enough talent to be able to respond.

Here's what I mean:

Dale Hunter for Bruce Boudreau

Boudreau did a wonderful job in Washington. He was the fastest coach in the modern era to reach 200 wins. He really seemed to have a good rapport with the players and had the Capitals looking like one of the top teams in the League.

So, no, I don't know why the players stopped responding to Boudreau, but ultimately it started with Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin -- two of the most talented guys not only on their team, but in the League. For example, when Ovechkin was sat by Boudreau against Anaheim and followed that up by muttering some unflattering words about his coach, I think it was obvious then that something bad was starting to brew in Washington.

McPhee said that his players stopped responding to Boudreau, so they had to make a coaching change. One thing you never like to hear about is players not responding to the coach. That's just a total lack of respect toward a coach and toward the job he's trying to do to win games and ultimately a Stanley Cup.

But McPhee and the Capitals had to make this change. They couldn't keep wallowing in mediocrity, and worse yet, accepting it. If they continue to lose and have Ovechkin go pointless for games at a time, they're going to find themselves battling for a playoff spot come April.

Yes, I do think this was a necessary desperation move by McPhee to try to salvage the season early and spark some life and attention into his players. And bringing in a very hard-nosed, disciplinarian-style coach in Hunter seems to be a good fit.

The players have to look at themselves for why Boudreau got fired, and Hunter will make them do just that.

He was one of the fiercest competitors that I ever played against. It seemed like he wanted to eat me every time I was on the ice against him. He was always one of those awe-inspiring players. And he played like he looked -- hard, in your face, and always with either black eyes or cuts with blood on his face.

I'm sure he's going to be able to coach the same way he played. He is going to demand hard work and respect from his players.

Kirk Muller for Paul Maurice

Maurice fell victim to not being able to have the team to compete every single night. He didn't have enough horses to compete for a playoff spot.

Carolina let Erik Cole walk to Montreal. Cory Stillman retired. Joe Corvo was traded. And GM Jim Rutherford didn't bring anybody in of substance that was going to replace those players and help Maurice get this team to a higher level.

But again, just like Ovechkin in Washington, another star player in Eric Staal is having a very tough year and that did not help.

However, by no means do I think Staal's struggles have anything to do with Maurice. Staal is battling a confidence problem right now that he has to work his way out of himself. He seems to be too much on the outside and not going into those real heavy octane areas to score goals. Maurice couldn't make him do that and Muller won't be able to either.

That said, hopefully Muller does a good job with this limited team because unfortunately Rutherford did not put enough into place during the offseason.

It'll also be interesting to see how Muller deals with NHL players as a head coach considering he doesn't have much head coaching experience. He was a head coach in Milwaukee earlier this season, but that's it.

He is a tactical, smart and very easygoing coach, a great people person always with a smile on his face. His message to the boys will be something like, "Let's go have fun first, and if we're having fun and working hard we're going to win."

I'm curious to see if Carolina can have fun and win hockey games under Kirk Muller, just as I am to see if Washington can get back into contention under Dale Hunter.

NHL analyst and former All-Star Jeremy Roenick will be penning a weekly blog for NHL.com this season. Look for new entries from, "World According to JR," every Wednesday. Roenick will offer sharp, can't-miss opinions on What's Clicking and What's Missing in the National Hockey League.

There are a lot of guys making a lot of money in the NHL. One of them once again started to earn every penny of his salary on Monday night, but there are others that I believe just aren't pulling their weight. It's all below in this week's blog entry:

What's clicking?

We absolutely have to talk about Sidney Crosby and the much, much, much anticipated return of No. 87 to the Penguins lineup.

It was well worth the wait.

Nobody knew what we were going to get from him, and I think everybody was astounded by the level of play that Sidney showed against the Islanders.

If there was any question, any doubt who the best player in the world was before, I don't think there should be now after Sidney Crosby dominated from start to finish in his first game back in more than 10 months. To be out for more than 10 months and stay dedicated to his conditioning and dedicated to his recovery, and to come back with that confidence and in that good of shape is a remarkable feat.

I loved the way the Pittsburgh fans embraced him. The emotion and the adrenaline in that building was as good as I've ever seen it in Pittsburgh, and that's a team that has won multiple Stanley Cups. That building was electric as any time I have ever seen it in Pittsburgh, and that shows me how much the fans love hockey in that city. 

NHL analyst and former All-Star Jeremy Roenick will be penning a weekly blog for NHL.com this season. Look for new entries from "World According to JR" every Wednesday. Roenick will offer sharp, can't-miss opinions on What's Clicking and What's Missing in the National Hockey League.

There are two controversial issues in the National Hockey League this week and the general managers touched on both at their meeting in Toronto on Tuesday. Now it's my turn, so here are my thoughts on goalie protection and the 1-3-1:

What's clicking?

Milan Lucic

Left Wing - BOS

GOALS: 8 | ASST: 6 | PTS: 14
SOG: 33 | +/-: 6

Let's start with one of the more controversial issues in the NHL today, the Milan Lucic hit on Ryan Miller.

I don't mind the fact that Lucic didn't get a suspension. I'm a true believer in old-fashioned hockey and I do believe goalies should be protected, but they are protected in their blue paint, which is the no-touch zone. Yes, there is a rule that you can't run goaltenders, and yes, you have to protect goaltenders because there are only 60 in the League, but the goalies should also have to protect themselves.

NHL analyst and former All-Star Jeremy Roenick will be penning a weekly blog for NHL.com this season. Look for new entries from, "World According to JR," every Wednesday. Roenick will offer sharp, can't-miss opinions on What's Clicking and What's Missing in the National Hockey League.

A surprising team that just continues to impress, a goalie on a mission, and a team with its own goaltending woes are all on my mind this week. Read on to see who and what I'm talking about:

What's clicking?

The most surprising team at this point in the season is the Dallas Stars. They went into Washington last night to play the Capitals, a team that hadn't lost in regulation at home since Feb. 25, and they dominated the hockey game. The Capitals didn't even have a chance to win because of the amount of mistakes they made, but also because of the pressure, hard work and consistency that Dallas again showed on the road. 

NHL analyst and former All-Star Jeremy Roenick will be penning a weekly blog for NHL.com this season. Look for new entries from the "World According to JR," every Wednesday. Roenick will offer sharp, can't-miss opinions on What's Clicking and What's Missing in the National Hockey League.

The Rangers recalled a guy who could and should help them, and the dynastic team in Hockeytown is going down an unfamiliar path. Read on to see what I think about Sean Avery and the Detroit Red Wings.

NHL analyst and former All-Star Jeremy Roenick will be penning a weekly blog for NHL.com this season. Look for new entries from "The World According to JR" every Wednesday. Roenick will offer sharp, can't-miss opinions on What's Clicking and What's Missing in the National Hockey League.

I've got two players in mind who have impressed me and two teams that have totally fallen flat to start the season. Read on for my takes on what's clicking and what's missing in the NHL this week.

NHL analyst and former All-Star Jeremy Roenick will be penning a weekly blog for NHL.com this season. Look for new entries from JR's blog, "World According to JR," every Wednesday afternoon. He'll offer sharp, can't-miss opinions on What's Clicking and What's Missing in the National Hockey League.

For my first NHL.com blog, I'm diving into the Western Conference to write about two teams that have caught my eye for far different reasons.

What's clicking?

I did not know what to expect from the Colorado Avalanche in the beginning of the year, especially after the way they finished last season. They had an atrocious second half of the season. I felt bad for coach Joe Sacco, who is a very good friend of mine, and gave his team zero chance to make the playoffs at the beginning of this season.

Semyon Varlamov

Goalie - COL

RECORD: 3-1-0
GAA: 2.17 | SVP: 0.938

Oh boy, did I make a big mistake. No team has played harder for their coach, and played within a system and a structure, as well as the Colorado Avalanche have in the first two weeks of the season. With the addition of Semyon Varlamov to give them a solid net presence, it's very impressive to see a whole team buying into the coach's mentality.

I'm glad they're making me eat my words.

The Avs are young, but they are experienced. They have kids that have been around. They started early and have been around for a couple of years, and because of that experience, they are getting it. They understand it. They know what to expect. And after the losing streak they went on last year, they don't take anything for granted.

To go on the road for five games and sweep is an amazing accomplishment for this team, but I know Sacco and the rest of the boys are not going to take this win streak for granted. They're going to understand why they won hockey games and also remember what happened to them at the end of last season, when they went 5-26-2 over their final 33 games.

That was embarrassing to them, and none of them want to go through that again.

I think they're going to do some great things this year, and it was unbeknownst to me in the beginning of the season because I was the lame brain who gave them zero chance. I like to be proven wrong, and they are proving me wrong.