NHL Sliding Doors: My Favorite "What If's" Mid-Way Through The 2020s

A few days ago, as I do every day, I was listening to a new episode of one of my favorite sports podcasts, "The Bill Simmons Podcast," where Simmons and his guest, Ryen Russillo, went over some of their favorite "sliding doors" or "what if" moments in the NBA mid-way through the 2020s. As I was listening, it had me thinking, what are some of the NHL's biggest "what ifs" as we approach the mid-way point of the decade? While I could pick so many, here are five that really stood out to me while thinking about the last five years of the NHL.

What If Gabriel Landeskog Stayed Healthy This Whole Time?

On June 26, 2022, the Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in game six of the Stanley Cup Final to win the Stanley Cup. Captain Gabriel Landeskog has not played an NHL game since due to a knee injury that goes back to the 2020 bubble. We didn't know it at the time, but it would also mark the last time the Avs "Big 4" of Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen would ever play a game together, as Rantanen now resides in Dallas.

Since that championship, the Avalanche have only won one playoff series, including a shocking first-round exit in 2023 at the hands of the Seattle Kraken. If Landeskog was healthy enough to play the last two seasons, it begs the question of how far and how many championships that absurdly talented group of players could have captured together if they had the chance.

What If The Sabres Let Jack Eichel Get His Neck Surgery and Kept Sam Reinhart?

In 2021 the Buffalo Sabres traded Sam Reinhart to the Florida Panthers while they were in a dispute with their franchise player, Jack Eichel, about a neck surgery Eichel wanted to have done that no NHL player had ever had. After the team denied his wishes multiple times, Eichel requested a trade, and he was then dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights, who allowed him to have the surgery.

Since leaving Buffalo, Eichel and Reinhart have been top contributors to the last two teams to win the Stanley Cup, with the Golden Knights and Panthers, and the two of them have played their best hockey since leaving Buffalo. On the other hand, the Sabres are still as dysfunctional as ever despite so much young talent on this roster. With how good Eichel has been since leaving Buffalo and how much Sam Reinhart has improved in Florida, it does make me wonder what if they’d approved Eichel’s surgery and kept Reinhart? Imagine winger Tage Thompson having one of those two centermen along his side while also having an elite young defenseman in Rasmus Dahlin as part of this team. While nothing is simple in Buffalo, I would guess the Sabres would have snapped their long playoff drought by now at the very least.

What If The Jack Eichel For Matthew Tkachuk Trade Happened?

Back to the Eichel trade... Many people forget how close the Calgary Flames were to acquiring Jack Eichel that year. According to some of the league's best insiders, Eichel was either headed to Calgary or Las Vegas. Ultimately, Vegas landed Eichel, but imagine if Buffalo took the Flames offer, which reportedly included Matthew Tkachuk. What if, rather than Vegas, Eichel had gone to Calgary and was paired up with the late great Johnny Gaudreau? Are the Flames able to keep their core in Calgary long-term? Does Tkachuk end up leaving Buffalo like he left Calgary? How does this impact the league in general?

Florida and Las Vegas, the last two Stanley Cup champions, benefited majorly from Eichel going to Vegas as Eichel was probably the best player on that championship-winning team in 2023, and because Tkachuk was so upset about being in trade discussions, it was part of the reason he wanted out of Calgary in the summer of 2022. If Tkachuk is already in Buffalo, I assume the Panthers never get him, as even if the Sabres would trade him, it would never be to a division rival. With no Eichel in Vegas or Tkachuk in Florida, there is no telling how much this could have changed the landscape of the NHL.

What If The Vancouver Canucks Signed Bo Horvat Instead of J.T. Miller?

In 2022, the Vancouver Canucks found themselves in a similar position to the one they were in earlier this season. Canucks management needed to decide which center they were going to sign to a long-term deal, J.T. Miller or the team's captain Bo Horvat. At the time, it seemed like a no-brainer; the Canucks had to re-sign Horvat; he was the heart and soul of the franchise and a fan favorite. It seemed like everything was headed in this direction, as there have been multiple reports that Miller was so close to being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Instead, Vancouver chose Miller, and later that season, Horvat was traded to the New York Islanders. With Miller now in New York, I sometimes wonder, what if Vancouver just kept Horvat and went through with trading Miller to the Penguins? They do avoid the drama that surrounded the team this season with the feud between Miller and Elias Pettersson, meaning they do have their top two centers locked up for a long time; however, I think it also means Canuck fans likely never see as good of a team as they saw last season when the team nearly made the Western Conference Final, as no matter what you say about Miller in Vancouver, when he and Horvat are playing their best, there is no question that Miller is the far better player.

What If The Oilers Completed The Comeback?

After game three of last year's Stanley Cup Final, all hope seemed lost for the Edmonton Oilers; they were down 3-0 in the series, and their dreams of winning the cup seemed like they would have to be put on hold another year. But hey, at least it was a quick death; after three games, it was clear they never stood a chance.

But then, the impossible happened: Connor McDavid and the Oilers won three straight games to force a game seven of the Final and put themselves on the cusp of, in my opinion, completing the greatest comeback in not just the history of the NHL, but in the history of sports, considering the team they were going up against and the round it was taking place in. Unfortunately for the Oilers and McDavid, they came up just short, and the Panthers ripped the hearts out of Oilers players and fans. What if they’d sealed it? What if they won Game 7? Well, Connor McDavid is a champion, and with that pressure off his shoulders, he is essentially playing with house money for the remainder of his career. Does he go to another level? On the other side, what do we say about this Panthers team? How do they respond to being known as the biggest choke artists in the history of hockey had they blown that 3-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final? The one thing I do know is I would have been a couple hundred dollars richer had the Oilers pulled it off in Game 7.