5 Storylines to Watch for the 2nd Half of the 2023-2024 NHL Season

5 Storylines to Watch for the 2nd Half of the 2023-2024 NHL Season0 of 5

Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby.Justin Berl/Getty Images

Welcome back to the 2023-24 NHL season. All-Star Weekend in Toronto was one for the books, with Connor McDavid winning the revamped skills competition for $1 million, players loving the new points-based format, and a pretty electric finish in Saturday’s game from team Auston Matthews/Justin Bieber and all the hometown kids.

It’s time to get reacquainted with the NHL as we ease into the more serious part of the season, though. McDavid and the Oilers will look to tie history as they go for their 17th consecutive win Tuesday night, a record set by the 1992-93 Penguins. The game will have even bigger implications considering the Oilers are right on the heels of the Golden Knights for No. 2 in the Pacific.

Ah, yes. Meaningful hockey. We’re so back.

There are plenty of other questions that teams at all stages will start to answer as the second half begins. Will the Bruins win the Presidents’ Trophy, and will it matter? Will Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov continue to battle it out every single night for the Hart? Does Montreal need to actively get worse?

Let’s dive right back in.

Will the Bruins Win the Presidents’ Trophy Again, and Will It Matter?1 of 5

Brad Marchand.Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Is the curse of the Presidents’ Trophy real? Is the blessing of winning it and then going on a deep run the next year real? What happens if you win it twice in a row?

These are all questions the Bruins seek to answer as they kick off their second half. They currently sit at No. 1 in the East with 71 points, tied for first overall with the Western-leading Canucks.

This year has felt different, of course, without two perennial comforts in Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí. But the success has also felt less flukey. Their best players are stepping up—David Pastrňák is No. 3 in points leaguewide, Brad Marchand is putting together a career year in his first as captain, and Jeremy Swayman is betting on himself in net and taking a notable leap forward (and perhaps the No. 1 spot in the rotation).

Whatever happens with the Bruins, it’ll be an interesting case study on the impact of something kind of intangible like “adversity.” Will they be more battle-tested headed into the playoffs this year, and again, will it matter?

The Edmonton Oilers. What Are They?2 of 5

Connor McDavid, Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images

If I told you before the season that the Oilers would have one of the worst starts in the NHL, would you have believed me?

Would you believe me if I then told you those same Oilers are now riding a 16-game win streak and have a chance to tie the NHL record for the longest winning streak Tuesday vs. the Golden Knights?

How did this turnaround happen, and what should we make of it as the second half of the season begins?

Edmonton (29-15-1) has not lost a game in 2024 and has won 24 of its past 27 games. The Oilers have climbed to No. 3 in the Pacific Division, five points behind Vegas with five games in hand.

McDavid has scored nine goals and 29 points in 16 games, heating up after a slower (and slightly injured) start to the season by his standards. But perhaps this streak has been more about the team stepping up around the best player in the world. Zach Hyman has led the team with 12 goals in the span, and goaltender Stuart Skinner has stolen the show with a 12-0-0 record, a .950 save percentage, and a 1.41 goals-against average.

Considering the coaching change with new bench boss Kris Knoblauch coming in and making an immediate impact and the newfound well-roundedness of the team, maybe we’ll look back and see that the early-season adversity was what finally led the Oilers to a deep playoff run.

The Race for the Hart Trophy3 of 5

Connor McDavid poses with the Hart Trophy.Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

In the weeks leading up to the All-Star break, the race for the Hart Trophy became more interesting than it has been in years.

You’ve got Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov trading the No. 1 scoring spot every other night, and they’re doing it in different ways. MacKinnon, who’s got 32 goals and 85 points in 50 games, has put together the most menacing play of his career all around. He’s making things happen all over the ice, whether that’s an assist due to one of his powerful zone entries, a second-period game-tying goal, or one of his many game-winners. He’s crushing an honest game at even strength.

Then you’ve got the uber-competitive Kucherov, who is keeping the Lightning relevant in the Cup contender conversation. He’s got an identical 32-53-85 stat line, and he’s keeping up his reputation as one of the best to ever do it on the man advantage. The literal interpretation of the Hart is the player most valuable to his team, and thinking of the Avalanche and the Lightning without MacKinnon and Kucherov is almost impossible.

Look, there’s still a second half of a season of hockey to play, and McDavid has entered the chat with a chance to make history immediately upon returning from the break. David Pastrňák deserves a nod for keeping the Bruins steady through the past years of changes and only seeming to get better and better as an elite sniper. Artemi Panarin has carried the Rangers offensively throughout the first half. And when all is said and done, where will the Jets end up—and where would they have ended up without Connor Hellebuyck?

It’s going to be fascinating to watch this race down the stretch.

The Race to the Bottom4 of 5

Tomáš Hertl and Seth Jones.Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

The concept of tanking can be funny, and I feel like I change my mind on the morality of it all every other day. Last year was another example of why I ultimately believe it’s fine—you can actively be the worst team by far and the Chicago Blackhawks can still jump from No. 3 to No. 1 to steal Connor Bedard. Besides, it’s fun when we can kind of break the fourth wall and be real.

The Sharks and their social media team have done a lot of fourth-wall breaking as they started their season with multiple 10-goal losses, and they’re still at it as the team sits in last in the Pacific with 33 points.

San Jose Sharks @SanJoseSharkslet’s not.

But with Bedard out of the lineup recently, the Blackhawks are faring just as brutally. They failed to record a goal in four of their last six games headed into the break, losing five of the six, and they’ve got three fewer points than the Sharks with 30 at the bottom of the Central.

The East has been more competitive, and most notably the Canadiens are in a tricky situation where the team isn’t as brutally awful as anticipated—how dare they!—and the Senators are unexpectedly awful. Of course, the Habs shouldn’t be penalized for being decent, but what are you gonna do? Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets are bringing up the rear with a season cursed from the start.

It might be fun to watch them try to be worse as the second half kicks off. Inspirational stuff.

Will the Penguins Soar or Fall Flat on Their Faces?5 of 5

Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Penguins are in a similar spot to where they were last year, battling in the typically competitive Metropolitan Division, on the fringes of a playoff spot and hanging on to their 17-year-strong core.

Right now, Sidney Crosby and Pittsburgh (51 points) are seven points out of a wild-card spot and five points behind the Flyers for the final playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.

The Penguins saw this go awry last year, when one late-season loss against the Blackhawks determined their fate, as the Panthers played the Cinderella role and surged into the playoffs.

This year, could the Penguins be that surging team? Crosby is playing like he wants that to be the case, but he always does. They’ll need reinforcements all over, and a constant reminder of last year’s nightmare should keep them motivated.

If they don’t get it together, they’ll have to answer uncomfortable questions about pending free agent Jake Guentzel’s future. General manager Kyle Dubas can get a massive haul for the winger, and he’s a proven playoff performer. But a Guentzel trade is essentially waving the white flag for the season and puts the spotlight on 87’s future.

No pressure!