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Pre-game reading: Ranking the NHL’s best, young cores

-- Up top, Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg made quite the impassioned plea after an “embarrassing” home loss to Arizona. But it didn’t do much good, as Detroit has lost two of three since. The Wings play tonight at Florida before starting their Christmas break.

-- TSN’s Frank Seravalli took on a neat task, ranking all 30 NHL teams by their four core players under the age of 24. The Edmonton Oilers, with no playoff appearances since 2006, rank first, with a core of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Jesse Puljujarvi and Oscar Klefbom. The Los Angeles Kings, with two Stanley Cup victories in the last five seasons, are last, with a core of Adrian Kempe, Kale Clague, Erik Cernak, and Jacob Moverare. (TSN)

-- NHL.com’s goalie guru, Kevin Woodley, asked a bunch of netminders which of their counterparts’ skills they’d like to receive for Christmas. For example, Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk would take Carey Price’s skating. “Price pushes and stops and he’s set like he’s floating out there.” Carolina’s Eddie Lack, meanwhile, would love to have Dubnyk’s puck-tracking ability. “He’s been the best goalie in the league, he’s really playing great and his biggest strengths are his tracking and patience.” (NHL.com)

-- Speaking of Dubnyk and Price, Pierre LeBrun reached out to a few NHL general managers and asked them which goalie was leading the Vezina Trophy race. Said one GM: “Price, Bobrovsky, Dubnyk. I would say it’s Price’s trophy to lose.” Another also said Price. But another said Dubnyk, so don’t count anybody out yet. The Vezina Trophy is voted on by the 30 NHL GMs, so those opinions aren’t for nothing. (ESPN.com)

-- Should the Washington Capitals be worried about Alex Ovechkin’s production? “Ovechkin is averaging 3.94 shots per game this season, compared to 5.04 a season ago, and while he leads the Washington Capitals with 14 goals, that’s three fewer than he had through 31 games last season. If he maintains his current pace, he could finish with one of the least productive seasons of his high-scoring career.” (Washington Post)

-- If the NHL bails on the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, would it even be allowed to send players to Beijing’s Games in 2022? That’s a pretty good question, because as commissioner Gary Bettman concedes, “China’s a very big country. There seems to be a growing interest in hockey, partly I suppose because they’re hosting the Olympics in 2022. I think there’s a great opportunity to grow the game there.” (Postmedia)

Enjoy the games!