Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago Blackhawks

Alex Ovechkin has played 21 seasons in the NHL and recently suited up in his 1,500th game, becoming only the 24th player in league history to reach the milestone. To put Ovechkin's longevity into perspective, ESPN shared a mind-blowing statistic during their telecast of the Capitals-Stars game. Ovechkin has played against 32 percent of all NHL players... ever. Meanwhile, fellow sports legends LeBron James (22 NBA seasons) and Tom Brady (23 NFL seasons) have played against 35 percent and 21 percent of their league's total players.

Coming back to Toronto, you know this Leafs team very well. What do you expect out of them? Lambert: They're a dynamic hockey team with tremendous individual skill. They don't need a lot of opportunities to put the puck in the net. They're dangerous. Watching them play the Rangers, they played fast. They're just a good hockey team that is solid top to bottom. They've got a defense core and good goaltending. Good team.

Eichel is one of the NHL's best, but is it fair to worry he won't be able to replicate that point total? The Golden Knights have a new offensive weapon in Mitch Marner. You can look at it as that's a shiny new toy to help the Eichel scoring machine, or it may disrupt or take time to develop chemistry.

The start of the National Hockey League is only hours away, as we look forward to yet another thrilling season of action and exciting results over the course of the year. The first game of this season in the NHL at 5pm sees the Chicago Blackhawks take on the current back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, in what will be a tough game to start.

The standout player so far for me during the preseason has to be Oliver Moore, scoring a beauty of a goal against St Louis, and showcasing that blistering speed he is known for. Having four assists during his brief stint with the Hawks last season wasn't enough to show us what we really want to know about Oliver Moore, but his preseason performances so far have proved why he is a pending superstar.

We all know about the Leafs and Nick Robertson's position on this team. Especially with the changeover this summer with Mitch Marner's departure and bringing in some more forward talent, there doesn't really seem to be a place for Toronto to use Robertson's talents as a shoot-first, diminutive winger. There have been recent reports that the Leafs are open to the idea of trading the 24-year-old before the season kicks off next month.