NHL top storylines for stretch run toward Stanley Cup Playoffs

The 2022 NHL Trade Deadline was intense. Teams made 33 trades (a record) involving 54 players (one short of the record) and 28 draft picks (a record).

And that was just Monday, deadline day.
The period started Feb. 14, when the Calgary Flames acquired forward Tyler Toffoli from the Montreal Canadiens, and heated up over the weekend, when several other players and picks changed hands.
Now comes the stretch drive toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here are some top storylines:
Goalie controversy in Minnesota
OK, we're kidding about a controversy.
But after the Minnesota Wild acquired Marc-Andre Fleury from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, he backed up Cam Talbot against the Vegas Golden Knights. Talbot won his sixth straight start with a 28-save shutout in a 3-0 victory.
It will be interesting to see how the Wild handle Fleury and Talbot down the stretch.
The Wild acquired Fleury for a reason: They obviously felt they needed to improve their goaltending and Fleury comes with an accomplished resume. But he has been hot and cold in his NHL career, like Talbot has been this season.
General manager Bill Guerin said each goalie would play "a significant amount."
Chemistry experiment in Florida
The Florida Panthers should be excited. They're second in the NHL with 90 points and declared themselves all in by the deadline, adding forward Claude Giroux and defensemen
Ben Chiarot
and Robert Hagg.
But how often have big deadline moves not lived up to the hype? Too often.
It looks great on paper to pencil Giroux, Chiarot and Hagg into the lineup with forwards Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau and defensemen Aaron Ekblad and MacKenzie Weegar. (Ekblad also has to come back like the Panthers expect he will after what looked like a scary knee injury.)
The challenge now is to develop actual chemistry on the ice and not disrupt what has been one of the best teams in the NHL.
Vegas in playoff peril
The Vegas Golden Knights are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since joining the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18, despite the addition of center Jack Eichel, who arrived via trade with the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 4 and returned from neck surgery Feb. 16.
Vegas holds the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, but the Golden Knights are one point ahead of the Dallas Stars and 2-6-0 in their past eight games.
Injuries have been a plague. Missing at Minnesota on Monday were goalie Robin Lehner, defensemen Nicolas Hague, Brayden McNabb and Zach Whitecloud and forwards Max Pacioretty, Reilly Smith and Mark Stone.
This is a team that made the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season and returned to the third round each of the past two seasons, a team that expects to compete for the Cup. Will Vegas' luck run out?
Playoff positioning
We know who will make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, barring a miracle. The Washington Capitals hold the second wild card and a 13-point lead on their closest pursuers, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Three of the four division leaders also have wide leads. The Panthers hold a six-point lead in the Atlantic, the Calgary Flames an eight-point lead in the Pacific and the Colorado Avalanche a 17-point lead in the Central.
But Carolina Hurricanes' lead in the Metropolitan is three points, and there are battles for positioning behind the leaders.
The New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins are tied for second in the Metropolitan. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins are within one point in the Atlantic. So are the Wild, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues in the Central, and the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific.
Hart Trophy race
The Professional Hockey Writers Association could have a difficult time voting for the Hart Trophy, which goes to the most valuable player in the NHL.
The Hart doesn't necessarily go to the most outstanding player; that's the Ted Lindsay Award elected by the members of the NHL Players' Association. The Hart goes to the player "adjudged to be the most valuable to his team."
Who has been the biggest difference-maker for his team this season?
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin? Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews or Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau?
Oilers centers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are always in the discussion, and rightfully so, but defensemen rarely seem to be. What about Roman Josi of the Predators or Cale Makar of the Avalanche?
Who will separate himself down the stretch?
Numbers games
Matthews leads the NHL in goals with 46 in 57 games. That's 0.81 goals per game. Toronto has 20 games remaining. If Matthews keeps up this pace, he will score 62 goals.
No one has scored that many since 2007-08, when Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin scored 65. The most anyone has scored for Toronto is 54 (Rick Vaive in 1981-82), and the Maple Leafs have been in the NHL since its birth in 1917-18.
Josi has scored 77 points (18 goals, 59 assists) in 61 games (1.26 points per game). Nashville has 19 games remaining. At this pace, Josi will become the first defenseman to reach 100 points in one season since Brian Leetch scored 102 points (22 goals, 80 assists) for the Rangers in 1991-92.
Makar has scored 22 goals in 59 games (0.37 goals per game). Colorado has 19 games remaining. If Makar picks up the pace slightly, he will become the first defenseman to reach 30 goals in one season since Mike Green scored 31 for the Capitals in 2008-09.
Chara's farewell?
Zdeno Chara set the record for games played (1,659) by an NHL defenseman when he passed Chris Chelios (1,651) on Feb. 24.
He's seventh in NHL history in games played behind Patrick Marleau (1,779), Gordie Howe (1,767), Mark Messier (1,756), Jagr (1,733), Ron Francis (1,731) and Joe Thornton (1,707).
The question now is: How many more games he will play? He turned 45 on March 18 and is on a one-year contract. The New York Islanders are sixth in the Metropolitan Division and didn't trade him to a contender before the deadline.
In case this is it for Chara, it's time to take one last look and appreciate a likely Hockey Hall of Famer who played for the Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Bruins and Capitals over a quarter century, won the Norris Trophy voted as the best defenseman in the NHL with the Bruins in 2008-09 and won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011.