Pay attention to these five preseason stats

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It is hard to believe, but the opening of the NHL regular season is just a week away. That means we’re nearing the end of another blistering preseason schedule, and may have learned a thing or two about teams as they experiment in camp.

In preparation for the start of the season next week, I wanted to isolate on five must-know statistics from the September slate of games. Enjoy!

1. Danil Gushchin’s four goals

Sometimes all you need is lightning in a bottle to crack an NHL lineup, and Gushchin may be the best example of that this preseason. The 20-year-old San Jose Sharks winger and former third-round pick in the 2020 draft spent last season scoring at will with the Niagara IceDogs, and he hasn’t slowed down into camp. Gushchin is the only skater with four goals this preseason, playing a chunk of his minutes with journeymen in Andrew Agozzino and Max Veronneau. Keep an eye on Gushchin – scoring bursts like this, even if fleeting, can be rocket fuel for coaches who want to experiment with lines and arm scorers with better playmaking talent.

2. Big ice time for Bean, Brannstrom

Jake Bean is a 24-year-old defenceman with first-round draft pedigree. Erik Brannstrom is a 23-year-old with first-round pedigree. The circumstances are quite different, but the Columbus Blue Jackets need to see a big season from a prospective defensive anchor in Bean the same way the Ottawa Senators need to see Brannstrom establish himself as an NHL-ready two-way defender, one who could entrench himself on a bottom-four pairing and trusted defensively.

Both players have been put through the ringer this preseason – Bean (18:01) and Brannstrom (17.45 ice time per game) have been two of the three most-utilized defenders at even