Pluses, minuses for Rangers-Maple Leafs, Blue Jackets-Oilers

NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will offer his thoughts for big games each week throughout the season.

The New York Rangers (26-14-7) visit the Toronto Maple Leafs (29-11-8) at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; TNT, SN). Then the Columbus Blue Jackets (14-30-3) visit the Edmonton Oilers (27-18-3) at Rogers Place (9:30 p.m. ET; TNT, SN360, SNW, TVAS, SN NOW).

Rangers

Pluses: They had a nice 6-2 win against the Florida Panthers on Monday and are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games. Forward Artemi Panarin (50 points; 12 goals, 38 assists), center Mika Zibanejad (49 points; 22 goals, 27 assists) and defenseman Adam Fox (48 points; 10 goals, 38 assists) have led the way offensively. Defenseman K'Andre Miller has been excellent not only in his own zone, but scoring big goals for them as well. He already has set an NHL career high in points (25; five goals, 20 assists). I love his progression and his the pairing with Jacob Trouba. Igor Shesterkin has been great in this recent stretch (3-2-0, 2.21 goals-against average, .927 save percentage) and backup Jaroslav Halak has turned it around after a slow start with four straight wins.
Minuses: Forward Chris Kreider scored 52 goals last season and is not on the same pace, with 19 in 44 games this season. The only reason that's an issue is New York isn't receiving the same secondary scoring from last season, when they had centers Ryan Strome and Andrew Copp and forward Frank Vatrano. The Rangers are middle-of-the-pack in terms of goal scoring (3.17 goals per games played, 15th in the NHL), so they'll need more from players like forwards Kaapo Kakko (22 points; nine goals, 12 assists) and
Alexis Lafreniere
(21 points; six goals, 15 assists).

Maple Leafs

Pluses: The Maple Leafs have the second-best home record in the NHL (18-3-4, behind the 22-1-3 home mark of the Boston Bruins) and goalie Ilya Samsonov has great numbers at home, too (13-0-1, 1.64 GAA, .939 save percentage, two shutouts). Forwards William Nylander (56 points; 26 goals, 30 assists) and Mitchell Marner (56 points; 17 goals, 39 assists) are having great seasons, and center Auston Matthews is beginning to heat up with six goals in his past six games. It also helps to have Morgan Rielly back after the defenseman missed 15 games from Nov. 23-Dec. 27 with a knee injury. He leads Toronto in ice time per game (22:34) and is a huge contributor at both ends of the ice.
Minuses: They're dealing with some injuries, with defensemen TJ Brodie (rib) and Jake Muzzin (neck) out, and forward Nicholas Robertson done for the season with a shoulder injury. The only other negative is the Maple Leafs could be better on the penalty kill (79.1 percent, tied for 15th in the NHL).

Blue Jackets

Pluses: Forward Johnny Gaudreau leads them in points with 46 (13 goals, 33 assists), but other than that, it's been a difficult season for Columbus, which ranks last in the NHL in points percentage (.330). Forward Patrik Laine leads the Blue Jackets with 14 goals. They've had lots of injuries, but the result of that is more minutes for young players like forward Kirill Marchenko, 22, and centers Kent Johnson, 20, and Cole Sillinger, 19.
Minuses: A lot has gone wrong for them this season. Losing their best defenseman in Zach Werenski for the season in November with a torn labrum didn't help. Columbus ranks 31st in the NHL on the power play (16.0 percent), 18th on the penalty kill (77.6 percent), 28th in goals per game (2.57) and in 30th in goals against per game (3.89). The Blue Jackets began the season 3-9-0 and haven't been able to recover, and really need work in all phases of their game right now.

Oilers

Pluses: Edmonton has won a season-high six straight games. Congratulations to Stuart Skinner, who is going to the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game after not even being the No. 1 goalie to start the season. Skinner (13-10-2, 2.92 GAA, .915 save percentage) has outplayed Jack Campbell (14-8-1, 3.35 GAA, .887 save percentage). Center Connor McDavid is on pace for 68 goals and 150 points. Center Leon Draisaitl is second in the NHL in points (73; 28 goals, 45 assists), behind McDavid (88 points; 40 goals, 48 assists). But also, let's not forget forward Zach Hyman and center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Hyman already has set an NHL career high in points (56; 24 goals, 32 assists) and is three goals from his high (27 last season). Nugent-Hopkins has 57 points (22 goals, 35 assists), closing in on his NHL personal best of 69 points (28 goals, 41 assists) in 2018-19. Not surprisingly, the Oilers lead the NHL in power-play percentage (31.0).
Minuses: Prior to its six consecutive victories, Edmonton lacked consistency with two winning streaks longer than two games. We know the Oilers can score, but they also allow a lot of goals (3.23 per game, 19th in the NHL), so while they can win those 6-5, 5-4 games, I'm sure coach Jay Woodcroft wouldn't mind a better defensive effort.