10 things to watch before All-Star break

Break? What break?
Three days without NHL games might provide a nice getaway from the grind for players and coaches, and even a respite for fans who have spent the first 557 games of the season on the edge of their seats. But for us it's an opportunity to do some forward thinking.

What stories will dominate the NHL headlines in the next month, between now and the next break, the one for the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Jan. 27-28?
Which teams will rise? Which will drop? What are the milestone watches we're monitoring? Any big events to talk about? Predictions?
The NHL returns from its holiday timeout with 11 games Wednesday. Before we get there, let's take a dive into the future and look at the 10 storylines that will be keeping our attention before we get to Tampa Bay for the League's 63rd all-star celebration:

1. Monitoring the best story in hockey, the Vegas Golden Knights

There they are, the Golden Knights, leading the Pacific Division with 23 wins and 48 points; they have three games in hand on the Los Angeles Kings, who also have 48 points. The deeper into the season we go, the better the Golden Knights look.
They went into the Christmas break riding a four-game winning streak and an 8-0-1 record since Dec. 3. But it's about to get tougher.
The Golden Knights play eight of their next 12 games on the road, where they are 8-7-1 compared to 15-2-1 at home. They play 10 of their 14 games before the All-Star break against teams currently in a playoff position, including their next five.
The next month presents yet another challenge for the Golden Knights, who have proven capable of handling every challenge thrown their way so far. What's to say they won't cruise through this one too?

2. Trade winds

The time between the end of the holiday roster freeze and the All-Star break typically isn't filled with impactful trades, but it typically is when we start zeroing in on trade targets and identifying the teams that could be buyers and sellers before Feb. 26, the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline.
It wouldn't be surprising if trade talk involving Buffalo Sabres forward Evander Kane and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Mike Green heats up in the next month.
The Sabres and Red Wings are at or near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and Kane and Green can become unrestricted free agents July 1.
If the San Jose Sharks drop out of the playoff race, look for center Joe Thornton to get some attention. He's also a pending unrestricted free agent. So too is New York Rangers forward Rick Nash.
January isn't a hot month for trades -- five were made last year, none that were impactful -- but it's a hot month for trade talk.

3. Penguins, Blackhawks under pressure

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks have combined to win the Stanley Cup three seasons in a row, four times in the past five seasons and six times in the past nine seasons. They're both in jeopardy of missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season.
The Penguins are seventh in the Metropolitan Division, three points behind the fifth-place New York Islanders, who currently occupy the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They are eight points behind the first-place New Jersey Devils.
The Blackhawks are fifth in the Central Division, which features the top three teams (St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets) separated by two points, and the next three teams, the Dallas Stars, Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild, separated by four points.

The Penguins play 14 games from Dec. 27-Jan. 25, including seven against Metropolitan Division teams, six against teams currently ahead of them in the standings (Columbus Blue Jackets, Islanders, New York Rangers and three against the Carolina Hurricanes).
The Blackhawks also play 14 games before the break, but two against divisional opponents (Wild, Jets).

4. Alex Ovechkin's climb to 600 goals

The Washington Capitals forward will have to score 19 goals in 12 games to reach 600 for his career before the All-Star break. So that's probably not happening, not even for Ovechkin, who is averaging 0.62 goals per game this season (23 in 37 games).
Regardless, Ovechkin's pursuit of becoming the 20th member of the NHL's 600-goal club will gain more traction in the coming weeks if he continues to score at his current pace.
In fact, he's probably due for a hot streak considering he hasn't scored in three straight games and has two goals in the past eight. The last time Ovechkin went cold, six straight games without a goal from Nov. 10-20, he broke out with eight goals in his next seven games.
Ovechkin, who has played 958 games, needs 19 goals in his next 41 games to become the fourth NHL player with 600 in fewer than 1,000 games. The others are Wayne Gretzky (718 games), Mario Lemieux (719) and Brett Hull (900), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

5. Winter Classic

The Sabres might not be having the season they were hoping to have, but at least they can give their fans a memorable afternoon, even if it is about 400 miles from home.
The Sabres will be the home team against the Rangers in the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, on Jan. 1 (1 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV).
It will be the 10th anniversary of the first NHL Winter Classic, hosted by the Sabres at New Era Field, then known as Ralph Wilson Stadium, the home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills.

6. All-Star debate

Expect the annual All-Star debate to pick up steam in the next two weeks before the NHL announces the rosters for NHL All-Star Weekend.
The NHL Fan Vote ends Jan. 1, and the top vote getter from each division will be an All-Star captain. The leaders through Dec. 20 were Ovechkin (Metropolitan), Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos (Atlantic), Predators defenseman P.K. Subban (Central) and Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (Pacific).
The debate will center on the remaining 40 all-stars, 10 from each division, who will be selected to fill out the rosters. There must be at least one representative from all 31 teams and each roster will feature six forwards, three defensemen and two goalies.

7. Jagr aims for another milestone

Jaromir Jagr will tie Ron Francis for third on the NHL's all-time games played list with 1,731 when he plays his next game. He'll also move within 25 games of tying Mark Messier for second place and to within 36 of tying Gordie Howe for the most games played in NHL history.
Jagr, a right wing with the Calgary Flames, his ninth NHL team, has missed the past two games and six of the past eight because of a lower-body injury.
If Jagr ties Francis on Thursday, when the Flames play at the San Jose Sharks (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, SNW, NHL.TV), he'll have a chance to get to 1,743 games by the All-Star break. The earliest he then could tie Messier is Feb. 22, when Calgary is at the Arizona Coyotes. The earliest he then could tie Howe would be March 18, when the Flames play at the Golden Knights.

8. Ducks getting healthy

The Anaheim Ducks lead the NHL with 217 man-games lost to injury, according to ManGamesLost.com, but they climbed into the second wild card in the Western Conference with a 4-0 win against the Penguins on Saturday. They have won two in a row and are 5-2-2 in their past nine games.
There also might be good news on the injury front coming soon, because center Ryan Kesler is getting close to making his season debut after offseason hip surgery, and right wing Corey Perry, who has missed the past six games because of a lower-body injury, isn't far off either.
An early January return is possible for them. That would be huge news for the Ducks, who play their next seven games against Pacific Division opponents and 11 of their next 13 games against teams from the Western Conference.

9. Surging Bruins

The Boston Bruins are making sure the Toronto Maple Leafs won't cruise to a second-place finish in the Atlantic Division.
The Bruins are two points behind the Maple Leafs with three games in hand. They have won four in a row and are 13-3-1 since Nov. 16.
The schedule also is relatively kind to Boston, which plays nine of its 14 games before the All-Star break against teams currently out of the playoff picture, including three games each against the struggling Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens.
The Bruins have a chance to put even more pressure on the Maple Leafs while also creating further distance between themselves and the bottom five teams in the Atlantic Division.

10. Oilers on the rise

Will we be welcoming the Edmonton Oilers back into the playoff race before the calendar flips to 2018?
It's certainly possible now, because the Oilers have put themselves in position to be a contender with wins in four straight games, seven of their past 10 (7-3-0) and 10 of their past 15 (10-5-0).

The Oilers, as they should have been from the beginning of the season, have become a team to watch in the Western Conference. They are four points out of a playoff position but with five teams to climb. They play their next 11 games against Western Conference teams, including nine against teams ahead of them in the standings.
We'll know by the All-Star break if the Oilers are going to be legitimate playoff contenders. We'll know more about a lot of teams, in fact.
Break's over.