Hal Gill, who played 1,108 NHL games as a defenseman before becoming a Predators radio analyst, gave some of his thoughts on the topic when he joined co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke on the newest edition of NHL @TheRink this week.
"It seems like every game there's something else and I don't know how to put my finger on it sometimes," Gill said. "They started off, offensively, they were flying and (Matt) Duchene looked fantastic playing with (Filip) Forsberg. Then Forsberg got hurt and they just haven't had all the guns blazing at the same time. (Ryan) Ellis and Roman] Josi have been fantastic. Mattias Ekholm has been very, very good. The goaltending, I think has been good. [Pekka
, and if he is the biggest driving force behind the top line when he, Bergeron and Brad Marchand are all healthy and playing together.
"The funniest thing is someone on Twitter recently said, 'Is it possible that Patrice Bergeron is the worst player on that line?'" Benjamin said. "You step back and say, 'No,' but is it possible? It's a fun argument. Patrice Bergeron, this all-time great player who is headed for the Hall of Fame, could be the worst player playing on his line when he's healthy, which is unbelievable."
In addition, Rosen and Roarke talked about the good that can come from Akim Aliu's meeting with the NHL earlier this week, the issues facing the Toronto Maple Leafs and Taylor Hall's future with the New Jersey Devils after they fired coach John Hynes on Tuesday.
Other topics included Artemi Panarin's impact on the New York Rangers and his return to play against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, the Philadelphia Flyers' push up the standings, and the 2020 NHL All-Star Fan Vote and why they disagree on who should be the captains for the Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions.
The podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.
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