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Steve Yzerman can't ask for a better start from his big offseason swing.  After his first game without a point as a Red Wing, Alex DeBrincat followed it up with a hat trick and an assist with five shots in Sunday's win over the Flames.  That brings DeBrincat to a whopping eight goals and four assists in his first six games with Detroit.  He's clicked with Dylan Larkin (two goals and three assists over two games) to give Detroit an elite first line.  We've seen DeBrincat score 41 goals twice before playing with Kane, so it's not like this is completely out of nowhere.  While this shooting percentage won't last, given how much Detroit is rolling the first line, I'm expecting career highs across the board for DeBrincat.  There's a real chance Detroit plays its way into the playoff picture this season if the first line can win its matchups on a regular basis.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
This year couldn't be going any worse for the Columbus Blue Jackets.  A horrible record, terrible injuries to key players, and dreadful goaltending have sunk them from the beginning.  Now that they're in the Bedard race, their fans probably aren't even happy that they won on Tuesday night.  Their prize free agent signing, Johnny Gaudreau, dominated the game with two goals and three assists, plus six shots on goal.  That brings him up to 62 points in 64 games, a far cry from last season, but not a complete disaster.  The question isn't about what to expect from Gaudreau for the rest of this season, but going forward.  He turns 30 in the summer, but I'm not expecting drop off in the short term.  Can he approach 100 points again?  I have my doubts, but if Columbus is lucky enough to get Bedard, it can't be ruled out.  Bedard would be the perfect compliment, and Fantilli wouldn't be a bad consolation prize.  I was lower on Gaudreau than consensus so I don't have any of him this year, but there's always a chance that with his talent, he makes a huge difference over the last month.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
From an individual standpoint, this season couldn't be going any better for John Tavares.  That continued on Monday night as Tavares scored 4 goals in the 7-5 win over Florida.  That brings Tavares to 45 goals and 86 points, both career highs.  Obviously we know to roll Tavares every time out, but where does he rank going into next season?  He's bumped his shot rate back up to an elite level and his plus-minus is by far a career best.  Is that sustainable?  It might be given how good Toronto is.  This, of course, assumes that Marner returns next season.  I don't think he'll make my top 10, but it will be very close.  At the least, Tavares will be in consideration for the wheel in a 12 team draft come September.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights: