logo
The LeafsNation has no direct affiliation to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Around the NHL: Crosby sets Penguins’ record, Predators trade potential Leafs’ target, Hughes out week-to-week
Pittsburgh Penguins all-time assists leader, Sidney Crosby.
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Shane Seney
Dec 30, 2024, 10:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 30, 2024, 09:38 EST
Comments
Welcome to the last around the NHL of 2024. It’s been a wild calendar year throughout the league, with entertaining storylines, historic moments, and the Florida Panthers forechecking their way to hoisting the 2024 Stanley Cup.
For the last segment of the year, let’s dive into franchise records, to somewhat minor trades with implications on the Maple Leafs, to key injuries coast-to-coast. Here’s the very latest from around the NHL:

Sidney Crosby passes Mario Lemieux as Penguins’ all-time assists leader

Sidney Crosby is the best playmaker in Pittsburgh Penguins’ history, and he has the top spot in the record books to prove it. With his 1,034th career assist against the New York Islanders on Sunday, Crosby moves into top spot, passing Penguins and NHL legend, Mario Lemieux in the process.
Crosby is a generational talent that has lived up to the hype since day one in Pittsburgh. At 37 years old, the Cole Harbour, NS native hasn’t slowed down one bit, collecting 10 goals and 40 points in 38 games this season. Crosby’s has managed to pull his Penguins out of the basement of the Eastern Conference and into the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference, entering the week just one point back of the Ottawa Senators for the second wild-card spot.
After Crosby set the record, the Penguins’ organization did the rest, as head coach Mike Sullivan honored Crosby after the game, with a little help from ex-Maple Leaf Michael Bunting:

Predators trade Juuso Parssinen to Avalanche

The Nashville Predators traded forward Juuso Parssinen and a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for forward Ondrej Pavel and a 2027 third-round pick. Parssinen, 23, had two goals and five points in 15 games so far this season with the Preds, and was someone our very own Michael Mazzei named as someone the Maple Leafs should have interest in Dec.15.
Parssinen was originally a 2019 seventh-round pick. He’s owed $775,000 this season and is a pending restricted free agent. Mazzei felt Parssinen’s style of play could really excel in a Craig Berube-type system. “His large frame, versatility, willingness to play physically, abilities to take draws, and young age would make him an enticing piece for the Leafs to consider,” stated Mazzei a couple of weeks before the trade.
Nashville is 11-18-7 on the year, and there’s little doubt GM Barry Trotz will continue to troll the waters for potential trades, as it’s very likely he’ll be looking to re-tool on the fly, and move some of his pending free agents to cash in on some assets.

Canucks’ Quinn Hughes out week-to-week; Elias Pettersson to return within a week

The Vancouver Canucks are navigating through a couple of key injuries, as captain Quinn Hughes is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Pettersson is expected to return to the lineup sometime this week, after getting hurt in the Canucks last game prior to the holiday break.
The Canucks sit 17-10-8 on the year, good for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, and will look to keep things afloat while they wait for two of their best players to get back to full strength. Hughes leads the Canucks with 42 points, scoring eight goals and 34 assists. He ranks second in the NHL in scoring among defensemen, only trailing Colorado Avalanche star Cale Makar. Pettersson is second on the Vancouver roster behind Hughes with 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points.

Quick hits from Around the NHL:

  • With a goal and an assist on Sunday, Detroit Red Wings forward Patrick Kane reached the 1,300-point mark. Kane becomes the 38th NHL player in history to reach 1,300 points, and is 74 points shy of tying Mike Modano for the 2nd-most for U.S.-born players in NHL history.
  • Former Maple Leaf and now Chicago Blackhawks’ winger Tyler Bertuzzi has been ejected from Sunday’s game against the Dallas Stars for elbowing another former Maple Leaf in Colin Blackwell.
  • Golden Knight’s netminder Ilya Samsonov stopped 31 shots against the Calgary Flames on Sunday, to pick up his sixth straight win. Samsonov is 9-3-1 on the season, with a 2.74 goals against average.
  • Carolina Hurricanes bench boss Rod Brind’Amour made history in a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, becoming the fastest head coach in league history to notch 300 victories.
  • Detroit Red Wings’ GM Steve Yzerman made a coaching change last week, bringing in veteran Todd McLellan. Yzerman admitted in a press conference, he could see on the player’s faces they were ‘zapped out’ and needed something to lift their spirits.
  • Washington Capitals’ legend Alex Ovechkin scored his 870th career goal Sunday, and now sits 25 back from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record.
Content
MORE NEWS. IN YOUR INBOX.
CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Breaking News