Madison Millionaires. They lead North York 101.25 to 53, a margin of 48.25, and sit at about 71 percent of last week's 142, comfortably ahead of the calendar. Lucas Raymond leads with 16.25, 9.25 of them Thursday night in Vancouver, Adrian Kempe has 13.75, and Evan Bouchard 12.75. Raymond, you will recall, was released by Summerside last Friday to make room for Jack Quinn, who has 3 points this week, all of them on Summerside's bench. Madison claimed the cast-off at 2:26 AM CT Sunday, which is when old money does its shopping. Tuesday the club swapped Gabriel Vilardi for Carter Yakemchuk, effective 10/26, and Vilardi has 7 points on the bench this week, Roope Hintz 10.25 beside him. The Millionaires are leaving a little change on the counter and do not appear to miss it.
North York Shire Pudding. They trail Madison by 48.25 with 53, about 32 percent of last week's 166.25, the steepest fall in the league. Last week Brady Tkachuk, Seth Jones, and Matthew Tkachuk combined for 99.25. This week the same three Panthers have 8.25 between them. Easton Cowan leads with 16, Jake Oettinger has 9.75, and Cole Caufield 8.75, while Yaroslav Askarov sits on the bench with 13.5. Monday's pickup, Elias Lindholm, has 4.5 for his new club, and the man he replaced, Jordan Kyrou, has since been claimed by Regina. Florida plays exactly once this weekend, Sunday afternoon in Chicago, so the pudding has one oven and one shot at it.
Oakville Acorns. They lead Ancaster 65.25 to 33.25, a cushion of 32, at about 53 percent of last week's 123, a hair behind the calendar and nowhere near worried. Leon Draisaitl leads the entire league with 20, thirteen of them Thursday in a shootout win over Carolina, Nico Hischier has 9.5, and John Carlson and Sean Durzi 8 apiece. On the bench sit Jackson Blake with 15.5 and Trevor Zegras with 14.75, a combined 30.25 points of reserve that would lead most clubs' lineups. The Acorns made no moves this week. When the trees are this full, nobody bothers to plant.
Ancaster Avalanche. They trail Oakville by 32 with 33.25, about 43 percent of last week's 76.75. Erik Karlsson leads with 8, Shayne Gostisbehere has 7.25, and Kyle Connor 5.75. Nathan MacKinnon is at minus 2.5, Alex Ovechkin at minus 0.5, and Jaden Schwartz at minus 0.25, which makes three forwards currently paying for the privilege. Brandon Bussi went minus 0.5 Thursday after a shootout loss in Edmonton. Monday's pickup, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, has 3.75 and is, by default, a bright spot. The good news: Ancaster's three Colorado forwards play the actual Avalanche schedule twice this weekend, Friday and Sunday. The snow has been forecast. It has not yet fallen.
Grimsby Guzzlers. They lead Summerside 81.75 to 49, a margin of 32.75, at about 56 percent of last week's 146.5, right on the calendar. Morgan Rielly and Adam Fox are the top two defensemen in the league at 15.5 and 14, and Nikita Kucherov adds 10.5. Last week Grimsby leaned on a man it had fired. This week it leans on its blue line, which is cheaper and does not need a reference letter. Joel Hofer has 16.75 on the bench, more than any active goaltender in the league. Grimsby also has 18 active-lineup games left, the most of any club, six of them on Friday alone.
Summerside Sea Dawgs. They trail Grimsby by 32.75 with 49, about 45 percent of last week's 109. Stuart Skinner leads with 10.25 in goal, Nick Schmaltz has 8.75, and Matthew Schaefer 8.5. Lane Hutson, who had 17.25 at this point last week, has 4.5. Jack Quinn, the prize catch of last Friday morning, has 3 points on the bench, while Lucas Raymond, the man released to make room for him, leads Madison. The Sea Dawgs have 15 games left and a good deal of thinking to do on the long ferry ride home.
Brudenell Black Hawks. They lead Weston 80.5 to 74, a margin of 6.5, at about 61 percent of last week's 131.25, a touch ahead of the calendar. Macklin Celebrini leads with 12.25, Charlie McAvoy has 11.25 after a four-assist Thursday against Nashville, and Kirill Marchenko 11. Matt Boldy, who had 25.5 last week, has 7.5. Andrei Vasilevskiy sits on the bench with 11 while Karel Vejmelka has 0.5 in the active crease, which is a little like keeping the good china in the attic. Brudenell made no moves this week, and with a 6.5-point lead, every one of them will be noticed.
Weston Steamrollers. They trail Brudenell by 6.5 with 74, about 64 percent of last week's 115.25, the fifth-best pace in the league, which is a kind way of saying the 0-3 Steamrollers are finally rolling. Connor McDavid leads with 17.75, 12.75 of it Thursday, Nikolaj Ehlers has 14.25 in his first week for the club that claimed him, and Dylan Garand has 12.75, tied for the league lead among goaltenders. The front office added Adam Wilsby Monday afternoon and released him Thursday night at 10:08 PM CT for Ryker Evans, effective 10/26. Wilsby has 0.25, which works out to about a nickel a day. Dylan Holloway has 12 on the bench.
London Knights. They trail Milton 105.25 to 29.75, a gap of 75.5, and their 29.75 is the lowest total in the league, about 33 percent of last week's 89.5. William Nylander leads with 12.5, Tim Stutzle has 11.5, and Brayden McNabb 3.25. Carter Hart is at minus 2.25 and Sidney Crosby at 0.25. On the bench sit Brandon Montour with 14.25 and Anthony Stolarz with 12, a combined 26.25, or nearly as much as the starters. The knight is in full armour. Unfortunately, so is the horse, and the horse is in the stable.
Milton Maniacs. They lead the league with 105.25, about 87 percent of last week's 120.75, the best pace of any club, and lead London by 75.5. Auston Matthews has 19.5, Artemi Panarin 17.75, Sergei Bobrovsky 12.75, tied for the goaltending lead, and Mikhail Sergachev 12.5. Last Friday's waiver claim, Aaron Ekblad, has 0.5 on the bench, and Linus Ullmark has 8.25 there with him. CBS projects Milton for 151.4, second only to Madison's 151.7. The Maniacs are no longer maniacs. They are bookkeepers with sticks.
Halifax Hurricanes. They lead Spryfield 72.25 to 61, a margin of 11.25, at about 85 percent of last week's 85.5, the second-best pace in the league. Mikko Rantanen has 19.75, Logan Stankoven 16.5, and Logan Cooley 9. Kirill Kaprizov, who had 28.5 last week, has 8.75, and the club is ahead anyway, a hurricane running happily on its other engines. Last weekend's pickups, Logan Stanley and Trevor Connelly, have 3.25 and 0.25. Jet Greaves is at minus 1.5 in goal. The weather bureau has resumed sending the forecast.
Spryfield Winning Streaks. They trail Halifax by 11.25 with 61, about 46 percent of last week's 132. Philip Broberg leads with 11.25, David Pastrnak has 9.75 after a two-goal Thursday, and Jesper Wallstedt 9. Luke Evangelista has 11 on the bench. Spryfield's season total of 387.2 is the third-highest in the league, yet the club is 1-2, which suggests the Streaks are winning everything except the matchups. They have 15 games left, two more than Halifax.
Hamilton Five Hole. They trail Regina 50 to 49.5, a margin of half a point, at about 42 percent of last week's 118.5. Clayton Keller leads with 8.75, Quinn Hughes has 7.5, and Jack Hughes and MacKenzie Weegar 6.25 apiece. Devon Levi has 10.75 on the bench and Rickard Rakell 8.25, while Lukas Dostal has 2.5 in the active crease. Nineteen points of reserve, half a point behind. Hamilton does have 16 games left to Regina's 12, and CBS projects them for 122.3 to 83.5, so the Five Hole may yet escape. But the photograph has been taken, and it will be in the family album forever.
Regina Grizzlies. They lead Hamilton 50 to 49.5, the first Friday this newspaper has found them in front of anybody, and sit at about 83 percent of last week's 60.25, the third-best pace in the league. Jack Roslovic leads with 12.25, Wyatt Johnston has 8, and Brandt Clarke 7.75, including an overtime goal Thursday on Long Island. Pyotr Kochetkov has 5.5 in goal. The front office has been at it again: Cam Fowler for Jared Spurgeon on Monday, and Jordan Kyrou off waivers for Josh Doan on Wednesday, both effective 10/26. That is two moves this week, which for Regina amounts to a vow of silence.
