Hey everyone. Like most here I am a new NHL fan and I've been following the Stanley Cup Qualifiers very closely. I even subscribed to NHLtv and have watched parts of every game, and plenty of full games as well. It's been exciting, but something is bothering me.
As a Kraken fan I care about how good the competition is within our division (Pacific for those that are new) and, to a lesser extent, our conference (Western). Just a quick recap of the basics for those that haven't looked into it too much.

Pacific Division
There are two divisions in the Western Conference. The Central and the Pacific (where the Kraken will play). Within the Pacific we will play each team 4 or 5 times, and where we place among them is what determines if we will go to the Stanley Cup playoffs in a normal season.
The teams in our division are:

Vegas Golden Knights (Currently competing to be the #1 seed in the Western Conference for 2019-2020 Stanley Cup tournament). The game that will determine this is on right now as of this writing.
Edmonton Oilers (we will get back to them, but they were a #5 seed and were knocked out by the #12 Chicago Blackhawks)
Calgary Flames (#8 seed who beat Winnepeg in 4 games and will proceed to the tournament)
Vancouver Canucks (F*** these stupid whales who were #7 and beat Minnesota in 4 to proceed to the tournament)
Arizona Coyotes (Who are moving out of our division to the Central to make room for the Kraken but beat Nashville in 4 to proceed to the tournament as an #11 seed).
Anaheim Ducks (who are rebuilding and were not invited to the qualifiers)
L.A. Kings (also rebuilding, also were not invited)
San Jose Sharks (who some think underperformed and will be better next season)

The Kraken, as noted above, will replace Arizona in this division starting in 2021.

The Normal Draft Lottery
In the NHL there is a draft lottery. In a normal season 16 teams will make it to the playoffs and the 15 that do not (16 once we enter the league) will be in the lottery. The lottery is only to determine the first 3 picks of the draft. It works like this normally:
The worst team in the league based on record (Detroit this year) has the highest odds of drawing the #1 pick. Because if there wasn't a lottery they would normally get the #1 pick. The odds are exceptionally-low, but they could be moved BACK as far as #4 with the lottery. Because any of the bottom 15 teams can draw into spots 1-3. Here are the normal odds of getting the #1 overall pick for each of the bottom 15 teams from 2019. This is based on their pre-lottery position.

18.5 percent
13.5 percent
11.5 percent
9.5 percent
8.5 percent
7.5 percent
6.5 percent
6.0 percent
5.0 percent
3.5 percent
3.0 percent
2.5 percent
2.0 percent
1.5 percent
1.0 percent

The 2020 COVID-edition Lottery
This year the 2019-2020 season got cut short because of the pandemic. But the NHL season "restarted" this past week with the new "Stanley Cup Qualifiers." It's essentially a playoff to get into the playoffs. All but the bottom 3 teams (all from California) were invited from our conference. Each team was seeded based on their season record when play stopped in March.
As mentioned earlier, normally only 16 teams make the playoffs but 24 teams were in this new tournament starting with an elimination round best-of-5 series between a bunch of teams (again, see above).
Because there wasn't a normal "bottom 15" for the lottery, the NHL did something out-of-the-ordinary this year.
They did a draft lotto before this tournament started. 7 total teams were not in this playoff and made up the bottom 7 teams (with Detroit having the best odds of #1 overall). The other 8 teams would come from the 8 teams knocked out of this Qualifier tournament that has been played this week.
To simulate this, the NHL had placeholder spots for Qualifier teams at lotto odds numbers 8-15 from above). Let's tune in and see how that went, shall we?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh4o-HddIj8
As you can see, one of those 8 teams ended up with the #1 overall pick. Much love to the Senators who had the absolutely stacked odds to get #1 overall and got 3 and 5.
So now the NHL has to have a SECOND lottery (scheduled for this Monday 8/10) of just the 8 teams that were knocked out of the Qualifiers to see who gets #1 overall and how the other 7 will fill in 9-15.

Why is that a problem?
Well, the short answer is it might not be. But given we don't have a team yet it's something fun to talk about while we wait to start. First, let's look at who got knocked out.

Oilers (the topic of this thread and I promise we'll get to them) [Western #5 Seed]. Regular season record of 37-25-9.
Penguins [Eastern #5 Seed]. 40-23-6
Predators [Western #6 Seed]. 35-26-8
Rangers [Eastern #11 Seed]. 37-28-5
Wild [Western #10 Seed]. 35-27-7
Panthers [Eastern #10 Seed]. 35-26-8
Jets [Western #9 Seed]. 37-28-6
The loser of Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets [Eastern #8 vs #9]

Some of these teams have very good records, very good teams, and normally wouldn't have a shot at the #1 overall pick. See Edmonton and Pittsburgh as prime examples. We were most of the way through the season before the pause, and these would have been playoff teams. They would not have been in the bottom 15. But due to this odd tournament format they couldn't put it together for a series and now have lower draft placement than would normally be possible.
What's more, all 8 of these teams have an EVEN chance to get the #1 overall pick. The second lottery doesn't have stacked odds like the first. All 8 teams have a 12.5% chance of the #1 overall pick (which, as stated above, was already designated for a TBD team from this pool).
Here's a deeper dive into the 12.5% problem: https://thehockeywriters.com/2020-nhl-draft-lottery-round-2-explained/

Ok, so who cares? What does it mean for the Kraken?
The right question is to ask what it means for the Kraken's division. If you look back at the first section you can see that the only team in our division that got knocked out of the first round was Edmonton. LA is getting #2 overall and Anaheim is getting #6 overall. San Jose had already traded their pick to Ottawa, so they don't pick in the top 8 this year despite their record.
That means Edmonton has a 12.5% chance at the #1 overall pick. As a reminder, we play them 4-5 times a year and they matter more than a non-divisional opponent when it comes to determining playoff eligibility going forward.
Why am I picking on Edmonton? Because they already have the hockey equivalent of Mike Trout who is only 23 years old and some say is the most realistic player to someday challenge Gretzky as The Great One. His name is Connor McDavid. https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/mcdavco01.html
So the issue is that Edmonton already has a great team overall, the absolute best player in the world, and a shot at picking up the best player in this draft, who many say is this guy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Lafreni%C3%A8re
The Kraken will play these guys a lot for the forseeable future, their team is young, good, and could get really stacked.

Discuss.

Edit: Since writing this Vegas did beat Colorado and got the #1 overall seed in the West. They will take on Chicago in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting next week.

Edit 2: Here's the information about Lottery 2, which will take place Monday 8/10 at 3pm PDT. https://www.nhl.com/news/2020-nhl-draft-no-1-pick-to-be-awarded-in-second-phase/c-318343480

Edit 3: Crisis averted. The lottery just took place and the New York Rangers got the #1 overall pick.

Key points for the NHL's Return to Play Plan for 2019-20 NHL Season, including confirmed playoff format and draft lottery procedure

24 clubs will resume play (confirmed).
2019-20 Regular Season is now complete.
Each conference will be assigned to two different Hub Cities that will be announced at a later date (approximately 3 weeks time). Bill Daly notes that the NHL "won't be in position to use" a Canadian city (EDM, TOR or VAN) as a hub city if Canada's 14-day quarantine requirement is still in place by then, for those entering the country.
Each team with be limited to 50 personnel in each Hub City.
Comprehensive system of testing will be in place (players will be tested every evening once they reach hub cites, Bill Daly says).
Phase 2 will commence in early June where clubs will return to home facilities for voluntary, small-group on- and off-ice training.
Phase 3: Formal training camp (no earlier than July 1st).
Phase 4: Clubs in 2 Hub Cities for conference-based round-robins, qualifying rounds and Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Bettman: "At this time, we are not fixing dates because the schedule of our Return to play will be determined both by developing circumstances and the and needs of our players."
Bettman also commented that Hub Cities have not been determined as of yet. However, these cities are under consideration: Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, LA, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver. "Final determination will depend on COVID-19 conditions, testing availability and government regulations."
Standings are based on points percentages at the time of the pause.
Top 4 teams in each conference will claim automatic berths in first round (confirmed). Those teams will play each other to determined seeds in first round. These games will be played with regular season OT and shootout rules with ties in the final standings broken by regular season points percentage.
The remaining 8 teams will play in best-of-5 qualifying round series (confirmed) with playoff overtime rules.
After the preliminary round, each qualifying round winner will play top seeds in the first round. The match-ups for the first round series remain to be set as the Return to Play Committee (RTPC) is still discussing whether to determined them via seeding or a bracket.
RTPC is still discussing whether the lengths of the 1st and 2nd round series (either best-of-5 or best-of-7). In any scenario, the Conference and Stanley Cup Finals will be best-of-7, which will likely be played in one of the two Hub Cities.
Toronto is confirmed to play Columbus.
EDIT: Via Pierre LeBrun: "NHL says the round-robin/play-in are considered Qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs. And while this could still change, the NHL as of now considers that round a special set of games and not actual playoffs. So for record-keeping purposes, the playoffs weren't expanded from 16."

Draft lottery

Lottery will be conducted in 1 or 2 phases.
7 teams that will not resume play and the 8 teams eliminated in the qualifying round will enter draft lottery.
"At the time of the first phase draws, we won't know which 8 teams won't advance from the qualifying round. So, we have designated temporary place-holders with the odds that the collective groups would've had."
Phase 1 draws will be conducted on June 26th, prior to the round robins and qualifying rounds.
There will be 3 separate draws to determine which clubs posses the first 3 selections in the draft. Each will include the 7 non-resuming teams and 8 place-over teams. If any draw is won by one of the 7 teams, that team (or the team to which their 1st round pick was traded) gets that selection.
If all 3 draws are won by one of those 7 teams, there will not be a need for phase 2.
Should any of the 3 draws not be won by a non-resuming club, the league will conduct a phase 2 before the Conference Quarter-Finals. At that point, the assignment of the remaining top 3 selections will be determined through draws, including only the qualifying round clubs that failed to advance. For any and all phase 2 draws, all teams involved will have the same odds of winning. Once the top 3 selections are determined, all remaining clubs will be slotted in reverse order of their 2019-20 points percentage.
If it gets to phase 2, those teams will all have a 12.5% chance of winning the lottery.
No dates will be set by the NHL until they are approved to do so.

Is drafting a goalie in the first round risky, worth it, or somewhere in-between? An in-depth analysis.

How often do first-round goalies actually work out? Are they good, or is it risky to take one?
After some discussion in a hockey discord I’m in regarding Ilya Samsonov in relation to other first-round netminders, I decided to find out the result for myself. Hence, this chart of all first-round goalies from the 2000 draft onwards, with their draft team and pick, a short career breakdown, and a verdict on whether they were a good or bad pick for said team.

Year	Team	Pick	Goalie	Breakdown	Verdict (Good/Meh/Bad/Strange Case/Too early to call)
2000	New York Islanders	1st	Rick DiPietro	Honestly a good goalie when he wasn’t hurt; made the All-Star Game once, and put up solid numbers. However, he was picked way too high, made of glass, signed to an albatross of a contract and caused the Isles to trade away an eventual near-HOFer in Roberto Luongo. Bad pick.	Bad
2000	Calgary Flames	7th	Brent Krahn	Career AHLer, dealt with knee injuries and played in a total of 1 NHL game (for Dallas in 2008-09, in which he played 1 period and gave up 3 goals on 9 shots). Bad pick.	Bad
2001	Columbus Blue Jackets	8th	Pascal Leclaire	Mainly played as a backup in Columbus and Ottawa outside one season where he played 54 games and honestly put up decent numbers. Still a bad pick though, considering outside that year he never started more than 34 games and never developed into a full-time starter.	Bad
2001	New York Rangers	10th	Dan Blackburn	Played 63 regular season games for the Rangers with rather poor stats (<.900 SV% and >3 GAA) before being forced into early retirement in 2005 due to a nerve injury in his shoulder and a strained MCL. Bad pick.	Bad
2001	Dallas Stars	26th	Jason Bacashihua	Bounced around the AHL for most of his career outside of 38 rather poor starts for St. Louis over two seasons (<.900 SV% and >3 GAA), currently playing in Europe. Bad pick, though impressive longevity.	Bad
2001	Chicago Blackhawks	29th	Adam Munro	Bounced around the AHL for a while, played 17 games for the Blackhawks over two years (once again, poor stats). Played in the KHL and Europe for a few years, now playing senior hockey in the ACH. Bad pick.	Bad
2002	Atlanta Thrashers	2nd	Kari Lehtonen	Had a decent-but-unspectacular career as a long-term starter in Atlanta and Dallas, stats were serviceable. Did go to the playoffs a few times. Drafted too high, but not a bad pick all things considered, although he did only play for Atlanta for four years. Started 60+ games 4 times.	Meh
2002	Carolina Hurricanes	25th	Cam Ward	Had a 14-year career with Carolina, providing them solid-but-not-great goaltending but also winning them a cup in his rookie year. Did miss the playoffs most of his career, and rather inconsistent, but a cup’s a cup. Good pick.	Good
2002	Boston Bruins	29th	Hannu Toivonen	Bounced between the AHL and NHL, playing 61 games for Boston and St. Louis with mediocre-to-bad stats. Suffered a high ankle sprain in January 2006 that he never seemed to recover from, spent the remainder of his career jumping between Europe, the ECHL, and the AHL. Currently a free agent after playing in the ECHL last year. Bad pick.	Bad
2003	Pittsburgh Penguins	1st	Marc-Andre Fleury	Longtime starter and then backup for Pittsburgh and incumbent starter in Vegas. Led Pittsburgh to two Finals and one Cup as starter, then played a large role in Pittsburgh’s 2017 cup run splitting time with Matt Murray. Led Vegas to the Finals in their first year, has started at least one playoff game for 13 consecutive seasons. Overall a long-term quality starter. Very good pick.	Good
2004	New York Rangers	6th	Al Montoya	Spent a lot of time in the AHL and played 5 games for the Coyotes before finally getting a consistent backup role with the Islanders. Served as a backup for the Isles, Jets, Panthers, Canadiens, and briefly they Oilers, never playing more than 31 games in a season. Last played for the Oilers’ AHL team last year. Not an awful career, but a bust for how high he was drafted, and he started a grand total of zero games for the Rangers. Bad pick.	Bad
2004	Edmonton Oilers	14th	Devan Dubnyk	Has has a weird career. Was a solid backup and starter for Edmonton for a little while, before bouncing between Nashville, Montreal, and Arizona. Traded to the Wild in 2015 and has seemingly broken out since, entrenching himself as Minnesota’s starter and finishing as a 2015 Vezina Trophy finalist while making the All-Star Game three times in four seasons. Has started 60+ games in all four full seasons in Minnesota. Talent-wise a very good pick, but considering he didn’t blossom until long after he left Edmonton it’s an odd example.	Strange Case
2004	St. Louis Blues	17th	Marek Schwarz	Had a few unspectacular years in the AHL and Czech league, only played 4 games for St. Louis and was mediocre at best. Currently playing in the Czech league. Bad pick.	Bad
2004	Vancouver Canucks	26th	Cory Schneider	Broke into the league a bit late due to spending some extra years in college. Was a high-quality backup for Roberto Luongo for several years before being traded to New Jersey for a first-round pick. Was a good starter for the Devils for a few more years before seemingly falling off a cliff in 2018-19, and now playing in the AHL. Good pick, as he was very good for Vancouver and also netted them the pick that became incumbent Nucks captain Bo Horvat.	Good
2005	Montreal Canadiens	5th	Carey Price	Longtime starter for the Canadiens, good-to-great stats almost his entire career, seven-time All-Star, has won the Vezina, Jennings, Hart, and Lindsay trophies, Olympic gold, World Cup of Hockey gold, etc etc. Carey Price is one of the best first-round goalies arguably of all time. Fantastic pick.	Good
2005	Toronto Maple Leafs	21st	Tuukka Rask	Almost immediately traded to Boston for Andrew Raycroft. Rask has since won a cup (as a backup), a Vezina, led the Bruins to two Stanley Cup Finals as the starter, made the All-Star Game, and become arguably the best goalie in Bruins history. Similar to Dubnyk, great pick talent-wise, but considering the immediate trade and aftermath it’s in a weird middle position.	Strange Case
2006	Los Angeles Kings	11th	Jonathan Bernier	Didn’t do much for the Kings, never playing more than 25 games in a season for them over seven seasons under contract, although winning a ring with the 2012 team. Put up solid numbers in his limited action and was traded to Toronto in 2013, where he was the starter for the next two years including a good 2013-14 season. Has since been the backup in Anaheim, Colorado, and currently Detroit. Similar situation to Lehtonen, not a great pick for his original team but he’s turned out a solid career.	Meh
2006	Tampa Bay Lightning	15th	Riku Helenius	Spent almost his entire career in the ECHL, AHL, and Europe with the exception of seeing 7 minutes of ice time for Tampa in 2009. Never made it in the bigs and currently plays in the Finnish league. Bad pick.	Bad
2006	Washington Capitals	23rd	Semyon Varlamov	Quality backup for the Capitals for several years, albeit with injury problems. Traded to Colorado in 2011 and became their long-time starter, playing at least 49 games for them every year except for the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season and an injury-riddled 2016-17. Signed with the Islanders this past offseason and has been a solid goalie there, splitting time with Thomas Greiss. Good pick, especially considering the Caps got a first-round pick for him.	Good
2006	Calgary Flames	26th	Leland Irving	Spent almost his entire time with Calgary in the AHL and ECHL, only playing 13 total games for the Flames. Has since bounced between European leagues, the KHL, and the AHL, currently playing in Austria. Bad pick.	Bad
2008	Nashville Predators	18th	Chet Pickard	Played a total of zero career NHL games, bouncing between the AHL and ECHL until going to Europe in 2014. Has spent five years as a backup/half-time starter in the DEL. Massive bust, and very bad pick. *The only goalie on this list to never even appear* in an NHL game** excluding two “too early to call” goalies.	Bad
2008	Detroit Red Wings	30th	Tom McCollum	Only played 3 games for the Red Wings; otherwise, he’s spent his entire career in the AHL (with a few ECHL stints). Currently playing in the ECHL under contract to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. Bad pick.	Bad
2010	Dallas Stars	11th	Jack Campbell	Only played in a single game for Dallas, which ended in a 6-3 loss. Spent the rest of his time with Dallas in the AHL and ECHL before being traded to the Kings in 2016. Spent the next two seasons mostly on the Kings’ AHL affiliate, seeing action in 6 NHL games, before posting impressive stats over 31 starts for the Kings in 2018-19. Currently the backup to Jonathan Quick; has posted rather poor stats this year. Bad pick for Dallas. Remains to be seen how he truly turns out with LA.	Bad
2010	Phoenix Coyotes	27th	Mark Visentin	Had an incredibly short career. Spent five seasons alternating between the AHL and ECHL, only playing one game for Phoenix, before signing with an Austrian team in 2017. However, his contract was terminated via injury after only one game, and he announced his retirement about a year later. Bad pick.	Bad
2012	Tampa Bay Lightning	19th	Andrei Vasilevsky	Barely spent any time in the AHL before getting shot into the pros, playing in four playoff games in his rookie season. Entrenched himself as Tampa’s starter in 2016 and has continuously improved since then, leading the Bolts to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2018, then winning the Vezina Trophy and helping the Lightning to a historic 62-win season the next year. Very good pick.	Good
2012	Boston Bruins	24th	Malcolm Subban	Spent almost his entire early career in the AHL, only playing two games for the Bruins while under contract. Waived at the start of the 2017-18 season and claimed by the then-brand-new Golden Knights, where he’s evolved into a somewhat-solid backup to fellow first-rounder Marc-Andre Fleury. Bad pick for the Bruins, but not terrible talent-wise provided his current Vegas numbers hold up.	Bad
2015	Washington Capitals	22nd	Ilya Samsonov	Made his NHL debut as Braden Holtby’s backup this season, and figures to be the starter in the future if/when Holtby leaves. Quite early into his career, but he’s putting up solid numbers this season against quality opponents. Too early to judge, but leaning good pick.	Too early to call
2017	Dallas Stars	26th	Jake Oettinger	Only turned pro late last season, currently in the AHL. Too early to call.	Too early to call
2019	Florida Panthers	13th	Spencer Knight	Currently playing his first college season. Too early to call.	Too early to call

And some stats…

Stat number	Stat breakdown
29	First-round goalies since 2000
7	First round goalies since 2010, therefore...
22	First round goalies picked between 2000 and 2010. GMs seem to have gotten scared in the last decade, and with justified reason, becuase...
16	Bad picks, of the 29 goalies analyzed.
2	"Meh" picks, those being Lehtonen and Bernier. Not good for their draft position, but not bad enough to call them a truly bad pick.
6	Good picks, those being Ward, Fleury, Schneider, Price, Varlamov, and Vasilevsky.
3	Too early to call, with Samsonov only debuting this year, Oettinger having barely turned pro, and Knight still in college.
2	Strange Case picks; Dubnyk and Rask can’t be called bad picks as they’re respectively great goalies, and purely talent-wise are great picks, but their success came with a team other than the drafting one, which clouds what they can truly be called.
3	Vezina winners, those being Price, Rask, and Vasilevsky.
8	Quality drafted goalies overall, those being the six good picks plus Rask and Dubnyk.
7	Drafts with no first-round goalies (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018), five of which have happened since 2010. Once again, GMs are scared.
8	Goalies who played less than 20 NHL games (Krahn, Munro, Schwarz, Helenius, Irving, Pickard, McCollum, Visentin)
13	Goalies who played less than 20 games with the team that drafted them (the prior eight plus Bacashihua, Montoya, Rask, Campbell, and Subban). Note: This and the prior category do not count Samsonov, who will likely hit 20 this year, as well as Oettinger and Knight, who are too early to call.
1	Draft with zero goalie busts (2005, with Vezina winners Carey Price and Tuukka Rask). No years with no bad picks, although 2015 may be the first.
4	Drafts with all bad picks and/or busts (2000, 2001 (an incredible four busts), 2008, 2010)
5	Teams who drafted two first-round goalies in this time period, ...
3	Of which drafted two bad picks (NY Rangers, Calgary, Boston).
1	Of which whiffed on one pick and hit on the other (Tampa Bay).
1	Of which hit on both picks, or at least it seems that way so far (Washington).
Dallas Stars	Drafted three first-round goalies, two of which busted badly and one of which is too early to call.

Conclusion

More often than not, first-round goalies don’t turn out too well, with only eight of 26 goalies drafted (excluding the three “too early” picks) being “good,” and only six turning out well for the team that actually drafted them. That’s 77% of drafted first-round goalies doing poorly for their original team, and 69% busting entirely. It seems to make sense that the number of first-round goalies has steadily decreased over our time period.
In total,

It is very risky to draft a goalie in the first round and GMs have the right to be wary of it.

Thanks for reading!
Edit: To placate some specific anger I’ve updated the chart. New category added.

Analysis on Conference Finalists and a look at the "surprise" teams that have made appearances.

So lately I have been curious about just how many "surprise" teams advance far into the playoffs. We often hear "anything can happen" type arguments along the lines of "you just have to get in". Which, yeah is true. But that isn't a statement for just one season. It should be the goal for multiple seasons. Repeatedly making the playoffs and giving yourself kicks at the can is how you're going to get luck on your side, not by going all in on this one season when you haven't had any success prior. I'm obviously thinking about the Vancouver Canucks and maybe even Arizona Coyotes here who have made big moves to go into the playoffs this year despite not having made the playoffs at all for some time, let a lone have even minimal playoff success. The teams that actually advance far are teams that have been at it for some time, not just out of the blue.
What I did was look at the 4 Conference Finalists (2 in the East, 2 in the West) over the past 11 seasons (there's a reason for this number) and look at what they accomplished in the playoffs over the prior 3 seasons. Did they make the playoffs? Did they win at least a round in the playoffs? I looked at these 11 seasons because in looking at the prior year results, any further back and we're diving into pre-lockout times and I did not want to do that due to the massive changes in rosters and the game with the change in rules and a gap in play. The major thing we lose with this cut off is that, spoiler, the Pittsburgh Penguins were really fucking good.
My overall thinking here is that teams that tend to make the playoffs or are legitimately good are the ones who make it far. Rarely do teams actually just show up and make it far. Basically, we really don't have as many "surprises" as you might think. In the case of St. Louis, last year was a surprise for them because of how they started the season. Not because they never made the playoffs and had a history of being a really good team. Spoiler: They were a really good team and accomplished a fair amount in the postseason before winning the Cup. The surprises, with hindsight, are mostly either easily explained or turned into great teams.
1 or 0 playoff appearances in 3 years
Carolina in 2019 - 0 Appearances - They were previously an analytics darling, but couldn't finish and couldn't get a save. Rod the Bod came in and they got both. For now, I'd say they maybe peaked early or this is the start of more to come as they have a good young core. Really, too early to make a call.
Winnipeg in 2018 - 1 Appearance - Years of not being able to get a save and when they did, they made the playoffs twice and once advanced far.
Vegas in 2018 - 0 Appearances - Beginning of a great team
Ottawa in 2017 - 1 Appearance - Decent team that got on a PDO bender and went through a weak divisional format
Tampa Bay in 2015 - 1 Appearance - All really good teams start somewhere. This was the start of something great for Tampa.
Tampa Bay in 2011 - 0 Appearances - Weird occurance here, can chalk this one up to being kind of random and the old guys doing it one last time as they turn it over to Stamkos and Hedman. Those "old guys" were okay, having won a Cup themselves.
Chicago in 2010 - 1 Appearance - Won the Stanley Cup, beginning their dynasty (if we measure dynasty by Cups)
Chicago in 2009 - 0 Appearances - Beginning of their dynasty if we count Conference Final appearances
Carolina in 2009 - 1 Appearance - The team that if they make the playoffs, they get to the Conference Final. Weird. Again, lots of players on their 2006 Cup Winning team on this team(3 years prior).
Never won a playoff round in 3 years
Carolina in 2019 - Hard to categorize
Winnipeg in 2018 - Good team, peaked, maybe went away?
Vegas in 2018 - Good teams start somewhere
Ottawa in 2017 - PDO Bender
St. Louis in 2016 - First one that isn't a repeat, St. Louis had made the playoffs in the three prior seasons, peaked in this fourth one, won a Cup three years later. I'm confident calling them a "good" team here and not a flash in the pan.
Tampa Bay in 2015 - Start of a Dynasty/Great Team
Montreal in 2014 - Good team that played great in April. Carey Price's injury here really hurts.
Okay so something kinda crazy happened in 2012. All four teams that made the Conference Finals had never won a playoff round in the 3 prior years.
NY Rangers in 2012 - New York would make the semis in 2 of the next 3 years and in the 3 years prior to this made the playoffs twice. They were and continued to be a very good team.
New Jersey in 2012 - This was their second time in three years making the playoffs. You make it in that long, you increase your odds. Although, lol this is about as close to "anything can happen" as we'll get.
Los Angeles in 2012 - They would make it to the Conference Final in the two years after this, made the playoffs twice before this, and would win the Cup this year and two years later. Legitimately good team.
Arizona in 2012 - Like New Jersey, a good team that peaked. They made the playoffs the two years prior and beat a lot of good teams all three of those years.
Tampa Bay in 2011 - Another repeat, chalk this one up to the old guys having one last kick at the can as Stammer and Hedman took over.
Chicago in 2009 - They'd lose to Detroit, then become possibly the best modern-day NHL dynasty.
So as I add things up, here's how I classify the 15 unique occurrences we have here:
2 - Too early to call - Carolina in 2019, Winnipeg in 2018
1 - Anything can happen - Ottawa in 2017
3 - Make it in enough, good things happen - Montreal in 2014, New Jersey in 2012, Arizona in 2012
2 - Cup winning leftovers - Tampa Bay in 2011, Carolina in 2009
2 - Legitimately good teams - Vegas in 2018, NY Rangers in 2012
5 - Great teams - St. Louis in 2016, Tampa Bay in 2015, Los Angeles in 2012, Chicago in 2010 and 2009
Conclusion
I'm curious what others think about this data and what it says. To me, if you are a team with little to no postseason experience (because your team hasn't been good), you should really think twice about loading up for a playoff run. The teams that make it far are the good teams that are always there. The exceptions tend to be truly great teams. Are you a truly great team? If the answer is no, maybe hold off on acquiring assets and let your good younger players and future draft picks mature and add to your already good team to make them great. Make the postseason a few times, let your younger players get to your roster and contribute, as opposed to trading them now. Load up and trade futures when you know what you have.
Specific to the teams this year, below are teams still in the playoff hunt that would fall under either category above:
1 or 0 playoff appearances in 3 years
Carolina, Dallas, Edmonton, NY Islanders, Philadelphia, Arizona, Florida, Vancouver
Never won a playoff round in 3 years
Toronto, Calgary, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Arizona, Florida, Vancouver
Philadelphia, Arizona, Florida, and Vancouver will all fall under both, and with the exception of Vancouver, do any have the type of core that would say they are like Chicago and Tampa? And even with Vancouver, they're not close because of some of the bad contracts that will hurt them over the next few years. Young core is great, rest is meh. Also, the odds any of these teams are presently good enough to do anything meaningful is next to none. That doesn't mean in the future they can't be good, but right now, no. These teams would be sacrificing far too much future for no realistic good right now.
As for Carolina, Toronto, Edmonton, we can probably say that they have a good current core, good future and with hindsight make sense of why they went so far. That probably means they wouldn't hurt to try and improve their team now and gear up.
I'm not sure this is a good future predictor, but I think really hits hard on which teams should and should not load up. Carolina, Toronto, Dallas, Edmonton, Calgary are playoff experienced and can load up. The others? If they sacrifice their future, they may pay for it dearly as teams like them don't often make it far.
Here is a link to the table where I counted everything up if anyone wants to look at it.
Here is a link to a table where I graded each team current team based on the above criteria to judge it's "contender worthiness".
tl;dr - When teams come out of "nowhere" and have little playoff experience and win two rounds in the post-season, it's usually teams that are about to be really good or teams that have been good for a while and haven't gotten over the hump. Very rarely does a bad team advance far in the playoffs, a la "just get in and then anything can happen". What is true, is that teams that make it to the playoffs a lot tend to advance pretty far some times even if they aren't great teams. But very rarely do bad teams make as much "noise" out of luck as we seem to often think happens.

The Time Kevin Made a Sports Bet

So my friend Kevin has a bit of a drinking problem. If he ever ends up with extra money, it's usually just a matter of time before he gets drunk and spends it. He's not a rich man, and often he gets drunk and spends money he doesn't really have to spend. It's sad, but unfortunately Kevin refuses to get any help, and he surrounds himself with a lot of people who enable him and discourage him from improving himself. You know, the sort of friend that when you tell them you've been sober for a week and how proud you feel about it they make it their personal mission to badger you into having a drink with them? That's unfortunately most of Kevin's friends. The rest of us just try not to enable him, but there's really not much more we can do to help him.
Back to the story though, one night a few months back, near the beginning of the hockey season, Kevin went out drinking and got, well, very shitfaced in a casino. In his drunken stupor Kevin decided that he wanted to show some civic pride, so he stumbled over to the race and sports book and made a $200 bet on the home team, the Vegas Golden Knights, to win the Stanley Cup.
Now if you're not into American Hockey, the Vegas Golden Knights are a brand new NHL team that just finished their first season. Las Vegas has had some college teams and minor league teams in the past, but the Golden Knights are the city's, and actually the state's, first professional sports team, so it's a pretty big deal for a lot of people. Being a first year team, they weren't expected to do all that well, and when Kevin made his bet the odds of them winning the Stanley Cup were about 400 to 1.
When Kevin sobered up in the morning he realized that he spent $200 he couldn't afford on a long shot bet that would almost certainly lose, and even if it didn't he still wouldn't see that money for months. Being a Kevin though, this isn't the first time he's done this, and it probably won't be the last. So Kevin takes his ticket, he puts it in a plastic sandwich bag, and he throws it in the back of his freezer for safekeeping, you know, just in case it wins. Then Kevin goes about his Kevin day and forgets about it.
Now Kevin isn't really a sports guy. Occasionally he gets drunk and makes a sports bet or talks about going to see a team play, but he doesn't follow any sports, and he doesn't even sometimes watch them on TV. In fact I don't think he understand the rules to most sports very well.
For example, I've known Kevin for a very long time, like 25 years now, and we play video games sometimes, and in all the time I've known him he's never beaten me at a football game. He thinks the only good offensive formation is the shotgun formation, and the first thing you should do after hiking the ball in the shotgun formation on a passing play is run the quarterback another ten to thirty yards back to buy as much time as possible before throwing the ball. Once though he bought a brand new football game, and he insisted I play it with him.
The reason he wanted to play that particular football game so bad was that he had been playing it for a few days, and he realized that there was an exploit where if you did it just right an onside kick would succeed almost 100% of the time. In his mind, Kevin could finally beat me with this new found cheat, because he could make it so I almost never got the ball. He lost the game because he kept doing onside kicks on fourth down instead of punting, and he couldn't understand why that didn't work.
So, anyways, if you don't follow American hockey, the Vegas Golden Knights did surprisingly well last season. They did way better than anyone expected and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup. As they made their way through the playoffs and it started looking more and more like they might win the Stanley Cup, Kevin was getting more and more excited. If they won, that $200 bet he made becomes $80,000. Like I said, Kevin's not a rich man. Eighty thousand is a lot of money to him, and it's more than he's ever won gambling. Kevin started feeling like it was fate he got drunk that night and made that stupid bet, and the Golden Knights were destined to win the Stanley Cup, and he was destined to get that eighty grand.
So naturally, Kevin started bragging about his good fortune to everyone. As the Golden Knights were having a phenomenal post season, he would tell anyone who would listen that he got drunk and made this $200 bet, because he's that smart, and that lucky. He tells all of his friends, his family, his coworkers, and all his customers about the ticket.
That in and of itself is a very Kevin thing to do, you know, telling everyone that somewhere you have a piece of paper that might be worth eighty thousand dollars to whoever turns it in. It's especially bad if you're like Kevin, and you have a lot of skeezy friends, and you're well known for getting drunk and spending all your money.
This time though it worked out really good for Kevin. He was in Las Vegas, and everyone in Las Vegas wanted the Golden Knights to win. Everyone was just happy and excited for him, and that he might be coming into this windfall. Every time the Golden Knights won in the playoffs, Kevin felt like he was winning those games. With every win everyone around him was talking about him, and cheering him on, and hoping he'd get his $80K.
Now Kevin's not big on cooking, or grocery shopping, or really doing any kind of domestic chores. To him his freezer is a place to keep important receipts and betting slips. He doesn't keep food in there, and his fridge is just a giant soda chiller. So Kevin hadn't looked at or even checked on his Golden Knights ticket after he first put it in the freezer. After the second game of the Stanley Cup, Kevin thought that maybe he should take a look in the freezer and make sure his eighty thousand dollar ticket was still all right.
So Kevin goes into his freezer and digs out the frozen baggy and pulls his betting slip out of it. This was the first time Kevin had looked at the betting slip without being drunk or hung-over. Several months before Kevin got drunk out of his mind, and to show his civic pride he stumbled over to the race and sports book to bet $200 that the Golden Knights would win the Stanley Cup. Kevin went up to that race and sports book, and with blurry vision and slurred speech he bet $200 that the Golden State Warriors would win the NBA Championship.
If you follow sports, you might have realized that Kevin managed to Kevin his way into an even better situation. The Vegas Golden Knights lost the Stanley Cup, and had Kevin bet on them, he would've lost his $200. At the same time the Vegas Golden Knights were playing in the Stanley Cup though, the Golden State Warriors were playing in the NBA Championship, and unlike the Golden Knights, they won.
Unfortunately the Golden State Warriors weren't a long shot. In fact, they were the favorite, so Kevin's ticket wasn't worth eighty grand. It was, however, still worth the $200 he spent on it, and a bit more because he picked the right team. Like I said Kevin's not a rich man, so a few hundred dollars is still a good amount of money to him. As far as stupid drunken bets go, this one ended as well as it possibly could have for Kevin.
Or it would have, except Kevin doesn't follow sports. Kevin only followed the Golden Knights because he thought he had money on them. At that moment when he was looking at the betting slip, Kevin didn't know that the Golden Warriors were playing in the NBA championship, or that they were favored to win it. All Kevin knew was that a few minutes ago he was going to be eighty thousand dollars rich when the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup, which was destined to happen, but now he wasn't going to be because he bet on the wrong team, and in fact didn't even bet on the right sport. Kevin became filled with rage, and he took that rage out on his betting slip. In a fit of anger, and knowing Kevin I'm sure screaming was involved too, Kevin tore his slip up into the tiniest pieces that he could, and then threw them away.
It wasn't until about a week after the championships that Kevin told my elderly uncle what happened. My uncle is also a Kevin, and he has a very weird relationship with Kevin. I don't understand their relationship, and I refuse to ask any questions that might clarify it for me, because I'm honestly scared of what I'll find out. My Uncle Kevin follows basketball, its his favorite sport, and when Kevin told him what happened, he told him he should cash in his betting slip since it's worth money. That's when Kevin told him what he did with it.

Oh Ye, Of Little Faith...

Ok, bluntly, this subreddit has oftentimes been difficult to read over the last few weeks with all the doom-and-gloom "the sky is falling" Chicken Little type posts and comments. But, I think if people can stop, take a deep breath, and realize that these guys are pros and things WILL change, come playoff time.
More-over, all the odds-makers seem to thinking the exact same thing. And, to a certain extent, I wouldn't be surprised if Doug Wilson and crew are hedging their bets, and not worrying about these last few weeks of the team "shitting the bed" and, it may hopefully lead some to underestimate us, come game time. Sure, it may weigh on team morale, a bit... but, come The Big Show, and having everyone on the team there in the lineup, and hopefully firing on all cylinders, that shouldn't last terribly long.
But, you don't have to believe me. Check out some of the odds-makers around the Internet. No one would appear to be counting the Sharks out of anything, right now. More-over, we are still figured as a dominating force in the West, as we move in to playoffs. Sure, we've taken a hit on playoff odds over the past several weeks, while the Blues have been making headway in to showing they'll likely give us a tough run, once we get to the Western Conference Final. But again, these odds are fairly fluid.
First off, we worry about the making it to the Second Round of the playoffs - which means VGK is on our plates, first. Right now, Las Vegas isn't even in the picture for second round advance, apparently figured for a "historical" one-and-done type exit. Myself, I'm not so quick to dismiss the Knights... but, that is only because we still have a few players out, including one of our top goal scorers and another best play maker. If they come back anywhere close to game shape, we are sure to see a different team - and Vegas, among others, should be scared.
More-specifically, Pav has been shown to hold people accountable in our locker room... he's not shy about laying all the cards on the table, and telling it like it is, period (though he has well-schooled by DW a d company about holding team specifics close to his chest, and not putting his cards on the table with the press). And though Logan and Jumbo are wearing the "A", I really don't think they are as-effective communicators in front of their teammates. I love them both, but my impression is that Jumbo is more of "a butthead" to folks, and tears them down a bit too much... and Logan is still kind of "shy" - not to say he's not honest... he's just not one to really "out" someone, in front of the whole room. At least, those are my impressions from watching what happens (along with having known and talked to a few old "insiders" at some previous moment(s))
Now, here's where things starts to get interesting. The Pacific division race has been pretty tight this season, particularly as we lead up to "the big show." The key finding, here, is that the Western Conference Finals will by attended by whichever team wins between San Jose and VGK. To be blunt, Calgary may win the first round of the playoffs... but chances are, everyone is betting/ forecasting that they will Flame Out come time for the second round. But, ecen still... Sharks above Vegas is still a pretty obvious conclusion.
Now, we are at the Western Conference Finals ... and, odds say this will be a pretty tight race between STL and the Sharks. The interesting part of this is that, up until these last couple of games., the Sharks have remained favorite over St Louis for clinching their trip to another SC Fnal. But, these odds are, again, fluid and subject to change, particularly come the end of the week and start of playoffs.That said, the Blues have been coming on strong for the last week or two... so, don't count them out. One hopes that they have a not too unusual issue, once playoffs come, and they're simply "not yet ready" to deal with the pressure of making a deep run (Lord knows we've seen it, ourselces).
Lastly, what do we expect in the Stanley Cup Final... provided we make it? Well, that's still a bit too far out to really forecast, at this point, and depends on other factors (you know, like TBL and STL making it that far, as their within just a few points of one another). But, I think it's still up for reasonable debate... at least until we see how the Second Round is panning out. But, as I eluded to before: up until just recently, it looked like the favorites were a TBL/SJS final, with San Jose edging them out for all the marbles. These last few weeks have, undoubtedly, cast some shadow on it, and the odds have suffered as a result.
So, can we please just start backing our team a bit more, Sharks fans? I know it feels a bit like "Doom and Gloom," sometimes. But just look at past seasons... we have shown that we aren't intimidated by the playoffs, anymore. And, we have one of our best lineups, ever. Keep the faith, and pray our vets get back in-time to suddenly catch everyone off-guard and, before they realize it, Sharks are chomping on their asses and taking the series away from them.

Go Sharks!!!

Full album of screenshots for tonight, from MoneyPuck.
Also check out Sports Club Stats, if you like numbers and "Big Data" as much as I do... is often more-difficult to read, but has plenty of "What If" scenarios and computer simulations based on past performance.
Disclaimer: I am not associated with either of these sites on any level, other than being a geek whose professional life tends to be filled with unrelated "big data" / data analysis projects.
TLDR: Can we knock it off? Odds still seem to think we are going to be tough to beat, up through the Western Conference Final. We have dropped down to that outcome, before this slide, having previously been forecast to beat TBL in a tight contest, for the Cup. These numbers are not mine.
Edit: Fixed typos from tablet-typing.
Edit 2: Improved hastily-typed "tablet language," and cleared up minor points/ideas.
Edit 3: Why aren't these sites SSL (https) compliant?

Remember

/r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 7 White & Blue Edition

/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Nov 12, 2018 - Nov 18, 2018

Thank You

Thank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.

Rankers

Spoiler

Organizers

Spoiler

Visualization

The visualization contains historical data, so you can see how your team has done over time. Hopefully, we can run this for many years in hopes that we can see the rise and fall of teams by /hockey opinion.
It automatically updates so feel free to bookmark. You can find it here

Process

How does this work? Throughout the course of the week rankers are able to access an app that will allow them to rank teams. At the end of the period we calculate the average ranking for every team and collate all of the analysis provided by rankers.
The app then generates a post that is first proofread and then posted to /hockey!

Rankings(25/31 Rankers Reporting)

Ranking (avg)	Team	Delta	Overall Record	Record This Week	Comments
1 (2)	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	14-6-0	3-0-0	Great week for the Leafs as they swept the California road trip for the first time since 1995! Dominated a very weak Kings team, outplayed (and outsmarted) a super salty Sharks team, and squeaked out the OT win against the Carlyles despite playing tired vs a rested group. Did I mention they did all this without their top duo of Matthews & Nylander? Quick notes...Tavares is 14th in the league in pts and tied for 6th in goals. He actually has the 3rd lowest shot% among the top 25 goal scorers...Rielly is tied for 6th place overall in pts(still 1st among d-men in pts & goals) and has tied his career high in goals scored (9g) after only 20 games...Marner is tied for 3rd place in pts and leads the league in primary assists with 18 (next closest has 14)...also worth noting is the Leafs depth upping their production. Pre-Matthews injury: Matthews + Marner + JT + Kap = 26 goals--every other F combined = 6 goals. Post-injury: Marner + JT + Kap = 9 goals--every other F combined = 15 goals.
2 (2.19)	Tampa Bay Lightning	-	14-5-1	2-1-0	Over two years ago Brayden Point debuted for the Lightning and I don’t think anyone could have predicted at that time that he would become this great of a player this quickly. Unless of course you are Brayden Point himself. The Lightning organization as a whole has been a masterclass of how to develop young forwards. Of the 12 currently rostered forwards only 2 of them are not home grown and when Palat returns that number could potentially reduce to 1 (sorry Cally but Erne deserves to stay on the roster). The problem with developing all this young talent is somewhere down the line we aren’t going to be able to keep them all. It is a good problem to have and is going to guarantee the Lightning’s continued success well into the future.
3 (2.5)	Nashville Predators	-2	14-5-1	1-2-1	Well... I would say "a week like this was bound to happen eventually, because you can only expect outstanding 5v5 play to bail out abysmal special teams play for so long." But in saying that, I wouldn't have expected a week like this to also include losing Arvidsson for 6-8 weeks with a broken thumb and P.K. being placed on IR with an vague lower body injury. Thankfully the week wasn't all doom and gloom and "the sky is felling" hot takes, as it was closed out with a win featuring two whole PPGs and Jarnkrok's first career hatty. Performances like that are what will make or break this team in the coming weeks; if someone stands up and provides the heart that Arvy usually brings the Preds will be fine, but if they don't get that then expect more games like the beginning of the week.
4 (5.85)	Winnipeg Jets	1	11-5-2	1-0-1	Jets are finally looking like the Jets of last season: dominating puck possession, cycling well, and punishing teams with a killer forecheck and PP. Unfortunately, we're also looking like the Jets of previous seasons: bad stick infractions, Big Buff being called for being Big Buff, and other dumb, needless penalties. A well played Caps game, marred by 2 stupid plays that mercifully only cost a few bucks in the wallet, followed by Hutton turning into a brick wall sums up the rest of the week. Jets finished their homestand 3-0-1, and are headed into a 4 game road trip against (and I quote Beyak here) the "tenacious Canucks, energetic Flames, A strong Wild team, ... and St. Louis". Watch out Nashville, we're back and coming for that top spot
5 (6.35)	Columbus Blue Jackets	6	12-6-2	3-0-0	Something is definitely going right for the Jackets right now. Since writing about their awful power play a few weeks ago, they've jumped to 22nd on the season (16.7%) and in the month of November they're 12th overall with a 20.7%. Bob and Korpi are playing out of their minds. Scoring is the most spread out of any team in the NHL. They're the only team with 10 players with 10+ points and have another two players at 9 points. Oh, this is all during Parnarin's longest goal drought of his career, too.
6 (7.31)	Minnesota Wild	-2	12-7-2	1-3-0	A very uneven week for Minnesota - a letdown home return against Washington, a stomp against a tired Vancouver team, then back-to-back losses in which they threw away two points against Buffalo and dug an early hole against Chicago from which they battled but could not fully recover. Aside from the Washington game, the team still is still playing at a high level but it's worth monitoring what next week will bring for a team trying to stay in the top half of the toughest division in hockey.
7 (7.92)	Buffalo Sabres	6	12-6-2	3-0-0	Five game win streak. Everybody kept saying that they would be happy with four points on the road trip; we've got four points already and two games to go! Every single time we go into the third down by a goal or two I write it off as a loss... AND THEN WE WIN! Against a perennial playoff team in Minnesota and a team in Winnipeg that was one win away from the SCF last spring. RJ may get to call Sabres playoff games again sooner than we thought.
8 (8.35)	Boston Bruins	-2	11-6-3	1-1-1	Oh look, more injuries! Chara ran awkwardly into the boards and is out for about a month. John Moore is day-to-day with an LBI. Bergeron is day-to-day with an UBI. Brad Marchand has already been a "healthy scratch" for a game with a League-leading 66PIM. The Bruins have now dressed 12 D-men this season and goaltending is keeping this team afloat in a competitive Atlantic Division. Secondary scoring is starting to pop up and take pressure off the top lineas well.
9 (9.42)	San Jose Sharks	3	11-7-3	2-1-0	Not a bad week for the Sharks. We had a divisional win against the Flames, comeback against the Preds, loss to the Leafs, and got revenge on the Blues. While our offence is shaping up nicely, defense still needs some work. While there were no overall terrible games this week, defense felt pretty soft against the Preds and especially against the Leafs where the Sharks gave up way too many breakaways and odd man rushes. As soon as the defense tightens up and we get Hertl back in we're fucking set.
10 (9.81)	Calgary Flames	-3	11-8-1	1-1-0	After benching Mike Smith in favour of Big Save Dave, the Flames overpowered the triggered and struggling Oilers on their way to feisty victory on Saturday night. The Flames have a hot goalie, consistently dominant possession and shot metrics, each member of the first line and Matthew Tkachuk all at or over point per game pace, and a D-Core finally living up to expectations. This team is gelling, and are continuing to keep pace at the top of the Pacific Division.
11 (10.96)	Montreal Canadiens	-2	11-6-3	2-1-0	In almost any other division our record would put us in the top two of a division (pending winning the game in hand against the Wild). Instead we currently sit in the final wild card slot. The Atlantic Division is both a terrifying and exciting place to be in this year.
12 (11.12)	Dallas Stars	-2	11-7-2	2-1-0
13 (14.04)	Washington Capitals	3	9-7-3	2-1-0	Everyone's ded and it hurts, but thankfully Nicky B, Ovi, and their son Pheonix are holding down the fort. Oh and Wilson. My goodness Wilson. 3 points in 3 games since coming back, career high in ice time (24:24) against Colorado, and most importantly zero (0) questionable hits. He's the real deal bucko, and I'm going to love him flaws and all because that's what family DO. Our game itself hasn't been perfect but it's safe to say it's improved, I think. our next nine (!) games are against easy prey, Montreal maybe aside, so if we're going to seperate ourselves from the glob of mediocrity that is the Metro this is the time. I'm not holding my breath but I'm hopeful, especially if Kuz, Osh, and Holtby come back soon. Go caps y'all.
14 (14.12)	New York Islanders	4	10-7-2	2-1-0	Anthony Beauvillier finally woke up, but the Islanders bottom 6 took some serious losses with Cizikas, Martin, and Ladd getting hurt. Their goaltending regressed to the mean and will need to improve if they want to be contenders. However, their coaching in what appears to be a week metropolitan division is going to keep them in the hunt for a playoff spot.
15 (14.15)	Colorado Avalanche	2	10-6-4	2-0-1	1000 Wins since the Avs have come to Denver!. This week was solid, the team seems to be righting the ship. Avs are playing better and depth players keep getting points. Biggest question this week was Zadorov. He is a great player and I love watching him, but his style unfortunately clashes with regular season hockey. I hope he keeps playing though cause only 1 of Nemeth or Barberio should see ice time. We played three injured teams this week. The Bruins game saw their AHL defense crumble to our offense and our PP clicked. The Stanley Cup Champions proved they were such powering through injuries and with some nice work from Ovi and Backstrom beat us in OT. Against Anaheim we finally broke the OT curse and the RMLine imposed themselves upon the Ducks.
16 (17.81)	Arizona Coyotes	2	9-9-1	1-2-0
17 (18.19)	Vancouver Canucks	-9	10-10-2	0-4-0	Snagging a player like Pettersson may accelerate your rebuild a bit, but it certainly doesn’t right the ship overnight. Injuries have exposed the Canucks’ lack of depth over the past 2 weeks, particularly when it comes to skilled wingers. The blue line has actually been surprisingly resilient during this period, but the Canucks just haven’t been able to score enough since the 8 – 5 Boston blowout. Silver lining: players like Hutton and Virtanen that need to take a step forward continue to do so, and Bo Horvat is playing some of the best hockey of his life despite extreme deployment of 22 or 23 minutes a night. If this continues, the Pettersson-Horvat 1-2 punch at center doesn’t seem so bad at all. But until more prospects graduate to the NHL and veterans find a way to stay healthy, the lineup is swiss cheese. The team may not be the total dumpster fire many expected, but November has been a reminder that the losing side of mediocrity doesn’t feel that great, either.
18 (18.46)	Carolina Hurricanes	3	9-8-3	2-1-0
19 (19.81)	Philadelphia Flyers	-4	9-9-2	0-2-1	At some point Dave Hakstol needs be fired. The team is absolutely atrocious on defense. Easily the worst penalty kill in the league, almost let in as many goals as the Ottawa Senators and the longer he is coach the more chance he has of ruining all the young players we have on the roster.
20 (20.38)	New York Rangers	3	10-8-2	2-1-0
21 (21.12)	Edmonton Oilers	-1	9-10-1	1-2-0	Oilers have now lost 5 of their last 6 games, and they look poised to lose more. TMac looks like he's run out of ideas, and he'll likely be fired soon (hopefuly Chiarelli is next). Talbot is playing the worst hockey of her entire career. We are bad again. I don't have much to say because it's been horrible. The team looked like they were turning a corner beating Montreal, but one bad third period against Calgary later, and I can confirm that we are indeed bad.
22 (22.15)	Ottawa Senators	5	9-8-3	2-0-0	1 goal and 2 assists in his first 2 NHL games
23 (23.08)	Detroit Red Wings	5	9-9-2	2-1-0	This team is winning a lot of close games but the strength of the completion has not been the most challenging in recent games. The upcoming schedule of Boston, Washington, and Buffalo will be really telling how well this team is going to be. Dylan Larkin has become the heart and soul of this team but will need more help going forward if this team wants to compete long term.
24 (23.65)	Pittsburgh Penguins	-10	7-8-3	0-3-0	Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a Penguin etherized upon a table; Let us go, through certain half-deserted seats, The muttering defeats Of restless nights of four-goal PK fells And losses to the Sens and Jersey Devils, Losses that are followed by a tedious argument About which goalie we should have kept; To lead you to an overwhelming question, Oh, do not ask, "Is this it?" Let us just quit turning over the biscuit. --- We have lingered in the chambers of the East, By Senators wrapped in jerseys red and brown, Till power rankers drop us all the way down.
25 (23.77)	New Jersey Devils	-1	8-9-2	2-1-1	Well, it would been nice to squeeze another point or two out of this week, but it didn't happen. The Bad: Cory is still a mystery. 2 goals in 30 seconds, then a shutout the rest of the game. He seems fine to play, but his ability to steal a game is missing. I think the devils need to will him a win, just shove the puck down the other team's throat, give him a bit of confidence back and see what happens. The power play is trash. 4 for 28 in November and 0 for 7 this week, and we need the powerplay to click to turn this week from 2-1-1 to 4-0-0. The Good: 10 goals by 7 skater, including 2 by Zacha, who looks to have gotten the monkey off his back. Kinkaid is still playing great, stonewalling Philly and looking decent in his 3 games. The penalty kill has continued to impress and Pickles got a nice shorty. The Rookies (Seney, Anderson, Yakalev) all looked decent, and I could see Seney sticking in a lineup spot consistently. The Ugly: All this without Nico at 1C and most of it without the Vatman
26 (25.85)	Florida Panthers	-1	7-7-3	1-2-0	The streak was bound to end at some point, just maybe not like that. 11 goals in two games isn't exactly what we had hoped for when we got Lu back and started winning games. The upside is in games played--we're still about 2 or 3 behind, which means this next week will be huge for positioning going forward.
27 (25.96)	Anaheim Ducks	2	8-9-5	1-1-2	First they push the first unanimous number 1 (in the history of hockey power rankings) team to a shootout. Then they look like a junior team against Vegas who was ranked 26th. Then they look bad and then good and then bad again against the leafs (also a top 3 power ranked team throughout the season, but also now minus Matthews). Full confession I'm about to watch tonight's (Sunday vs. COL) game on dvr, so I cant speak to it, but holy hell are we up and down. Fowler took a puck to the dome and had surgery on Fri (16th). I still have not heard an update on how long he'll be out. But one thing's for sure: For the first time in a long time, Anaheim's defense depth with be seriously tested.
28 (25.96)	Chicago Blackhawks	2	8-8-5	2-0-2	The Blackhawks ended an 8-game losing streak and are now 2-0-2 in the last 4 games. Thanks mostly to the excellent play of Crawford. Toews also has a 4-game point streak.
29 (26.04)	St. Louis Blues	-7	7-8-3	1-2-0	Everything is fine! It's not like we've been consistently picking up weak wins and then responding with lackadaisical efforts all season long or anything. What team could keep that up for 18 games after doing what we did in the off-season? Surely it would click at some point, right? It's not like we're in the most competitive division in the league or anything, right? Not like we've dropped important games to teams we hope to be fighting for a playoff spot against, right? Surely the coach would've been fired, the captain demoted? The players couldn't just keep saying the same thing after every loss, right? Right? RIGHT?!
30 (26.88)	Vegas Golden Knights	-4	9-11-1	2-1-0	Vegas start has been rocky but this week gave us all hope. The Golden Knights are undefeated this season when Nate Schmidt is in the ice! With his addition, defense should start looking up and committing less mistakes. Another important news is that finally the 1st line clicked again, with all 3 players scoring 1 goal on Sunday's game against the Oilers.
31 (30.81)	Los Angeles Kings	-	6-12-1	1-2-0	#lose4hughes Campbell (the lone bright spot in our season) is out for an extended period of time. Welcome to LA Carl Hagelin, who single-handedly doubles the Kings' speed. Good-bye Tanner Pearson.

/r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 4 Injury Season Begins Edition

/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Oct 22, 2018 - Oct 28, 2018

Thank You

Thank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.

Rankers

Spoiler

Organizers

Spoiler

Visualization

Process

Rankings (29/31 Rankers Reporting)

Ranking (avg)	Team	Delta	Overall Record	Record This Week	Comments
1 (1.9)	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	8-3-0	2-0-0	Welp. Our Lord and Savior is down and out so please excuse all of Leafs Nation as we collectively panic and offer to sacrifice all of our shoulders for Papi. Kidding aside, this is a big blow to the team and it'll be interesting to see how they adjust. Oddly enough I think the top 2 lines will be fine as Kadri & Tavares are very capable 1Cs. Not so sure about those Lindholm + Gauthier lines though... There's a lot to nitpick in the Leafs' performance this week (and so far this season) but at the end of the day they pulled out two wins against the 2019 Cup Winning Jets^TM and improved to 2nd in the league in PTS%. This was the kind of bounce back most fans were hoping for after a couple of disappointing losses. Now despite the somewhat flukey looking win on Saturday night (3 goals in the last ~15 mins with 2 of those 26 seconds apart) they arguably "deserved" both win
2 (3.41)	Nashville Predators	-1	8-3-0	1-2-0	So you know how last week I said this team looks calm, comfortable, and relaxed? Well, this week they took those things a bit too far, and it bit them in the ass. Okay, maybe I'm just still salty from the two goal lead that was pissed away to the Sharks, but this was still not a good week for the Preds. Some bright spots: Forsberg bagged a hat trick, and was tied for league lead in goals for a day. We also got our first taste of overtime this year, with a win to boot! Oh, and the PP doubled their goals for the year! Actually... that sounds more sad than good now that I've typed it out. Hopefully this was just an off week, because the Preds are heading into what looks to be a tough next 5 games.
3 (3.59)	Tampa Bay Lightning	-	7-2-1	2-1-0	Anytime a team comes off a long road trip with 7 out of 10 points that usually is considered a good outcome. Unfortunately for the Lightning they lost 2017 Norris winner Hedman & valuable (and underrated) two-way forward in Palat in a tough game against Vegas. It clearly showed on Saturday as the Bolts played their 3rd game in 4 nights and got pummeled by the Yotes that the team needs these two back. Of course Cooper will do things and the players will have more than 24 hours to adjust to life without Hedman. Sidenote: Ryan McDonagh is making a strong case fore best defensive defensemen in the league this season. Shutting down the leagues top line as he did in Colorado was no easy feat
4 (4.59)	Pittsburgh Penguins	5	6-1-2	3-0-0	Pens fans have started a petition to move the Penguins to the Pacific division. After a solid performance by Matt Murray last week in Toronto, Pittsburgh has continued through Canada, dismantling the Oilers in OT before cruising through Calgary and Vancouver 9-1 and 5-0. Malkin, Crosby, and Kessel are all firing on all cylinders right now. Malkin especially has been terrifying, with 18 points in 9 games and a 7 game point streak. On another note, I've always thought one of the strongest aspects of sports is the way they bring people together. With that in mind, the Penguins will also be holding a collection during Tuesday's game to benefit victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, as well as a blood drive tomorrow. If you're in the area and want to help, you can find out more here.
5 (6.45)	Winnipeg Jets	-1	7-4-1	2-2-0	As the Jets head to Finland, they do so in the comforting (?) knowledge that they have yet to play a full 60-minute effort in their first 12 games. The result is decent in the standings, but is a real bummer in the eye-test. Laurent Broissoit continues his excellent play, while Morrissey and Connor continue to impress. Patrik Laine is playing on the fourth line, but some argue he'd be in the ECHL if it wasn't his shot -- a shot that has notched only 3 goals so far this season. Let's hope he's out to impress his home country this weekend, or we won't be able to fake winning much longer.
6 (6.72)	Colorado Avalanche	-1	7-3-2	2-2-0	Mikko Rantanen Leads the NHL in Scoring!! He and the rest of the RML (Rocky Mountain Line, Rantanen, Mackinnon, Landeskog) are dominating right now. Landeskog has been on fire scoring goals and Mackinnon is Mackinnon We have problems with our second line. Kerfoot, Jost and Wilson were quiet all week. and Soderberg is once again the bright spot for our Depth. Sakic gave the opportunity and challenged the other guys to try and prove they were second line players in the NHL and they have not so far. Good news Marko Dano is great adding some bite to the line up and a heavy shot. Also Kamenev has looked good so far and can win faceoffs a concept foreign to much of this team. As for the games we had 4 this week. First the top line handled the Flyers. Second we played a playoff like game with the Lightning, but never found the net. Third we Welcomed Duchene back with a four goal third against the Sens and finally we played a tired game against the Wild.
7 (8.14)	Boston Bruins	-1	6-3-2	2-1-0	October Rask is almost over! Yet, the Halakness monster is a top-5 goalie in the League. Don't buy into the media narrative of Halak replacing Rask. Fans should be comfortable with Halak getting more starts and resting Rask more. Not much has changed from this past week. The D-core is still severely injured and the secondary scoring is still nonexistent with Bergeron and Pastrnak combining for 17 of the Bruins' 34 goals. Bruins are beating teams they should and losing to the Habs because I assume the Bruins players stayed up the previous night watching the longest World Series game. When was the last time the Expos won the World Series? Red Sox beat LA and the Power Rankings did too!
8 (9.76)	Carolina Hurricanes	5	6-4-1	2-1-0	Beating the Red Wings isn't anything to write home about these days, but it was the first game our Special Teams really showed up. We continue to be the most fun team to watch and the Storm Surge is evolving quickly. By the end of the season, I'm sure it'll be a full song and dance number.
9 (11.38)	Washington Capitals	-1	5-3-2	2-1-0	#2 cop on the force Pheonix Copley got his first NHL win in a gimme game that almost got away from us. We leave western Canada with 4 of 6 points, a perfectly fine total that feels less than fine thanks to a lethargic effort in Edmonton. Todd's still jumbling lines so I'll give some ratings. Vrana top line: A+. Burakovsky second line A-. Jaskin fourth line A++. Orpik anywhere in the lineup D-. I'm disappointed that with a new coach and mostly new assistant coaches the staff is still rotating rookies on the third pair and keeping Orpik as the rock there. Caps don't play again until November, during which they play 16 times. This feels like a pivotal month coming up, let's hope the Caps separate from the pack in some (positive) way.
10 (11.55)	San Jose Sharks	-	6-3-2	2-0-1	Not a bad week, the Sharks saw a very nice comeback against the Preds and an OT loss to the surprisingly good Canes. Everyone on the team seems to be getting into the flow of things, especially Meier and Hertl who look to be taking big steps this year (hopefully Hertl is ok after leaving the Canes game partway through). Karlsson hasn't been bad with 6 assists in 10 games, but he hasn't been game breaking, hoping he starts developing more chemistry with the team as the season progresses and reaches his full potential.
11 (12.21)	Minnesota Wild	6	6-2-2	2-0-0	All of a sudden, the Wild have a tidy five-game winning streak. There are still glaring issues - giving up the first goal in 7 of their last 8, taking way too many penalties - but this is proving to be a resilient team that can battle back in games. A very long road trip awaits - seven straight including two west coast trips over a period of 17 days - which will prove a challenging test. Battling back on the road is tougher than at home, and two back-to-backs means that early Vezina favorite Devan Dubnyk will not be able to start them all. Backup Alex Stalock is serviceable at best and if he gets an early hook, that could be all it takes to make this team look as pedestrian as they did to start the season.
12 (12.24)	Montreal Canadiens	6	6-2-2	2-1-0	First shutout for Price. Domi already with half the number of goals he had last year. Petry pacing the team with 8 assists. Positive Corsi due to up tempo style. 4th line has not fit in well though.
13 (12.28)	Chicago Blackhawks	-2	6-3-3	2-1-1	Patrick Kane (11G, 7A) leads the NHL in goal and is in second for points. He has only been held off the scoresheet in one game this season. Alex DeBrincat (8G, 6A) continues to produce, while playing a larger role. On the other hand, Jonathan Toews (6G, 5A) has cooled off after a strong start and only has 1G, 0A in the last six games. Marcus Kruger leads the team in PIM with 14, not good for a PK specialist. Team defense remains inconsistent, and special teams ranks near the bottom of the league. Perhaps fatigue set in after 7 games in the past 11 days.
14 (12.9)	Columbus Blue Jackets	-	6-4-0	2-1-0	The goalie situation in Columbus continues to get weirder. Bob loses vs the Yotes and Korpi wins two with a 4.00 GAA. Both goalies right now are <.900 SVA (.897 for Korpi, .872 for Bob). Jackets are also 4-0-0 in front of Korpi and 2-4-0 for Bob. Is this a picture into suffering defensive play, mindset of the goalies, or is it nothing and we'll return to "normal" play soon?
15 (13.17)	New Jersey Devils	-3	5-2-1	1-0-1	Devils started the season off strong 4-0-0 but followed it up with 2 regulation losses and an overtime loss to the Preds. However, they looked very strong in that OT loss and followed it up with a very strong win against the Panthers. So I couldn't justify putting them any higher but I also felt like they have been playing well so I also couldn't justify moving them lower.
16 (16.07)	Dallas Stars	5	5-5-0	2-1-0	Bounceback week against weak teams. We'll see if they can sustain and win on the road.
17 (16.24)	Edmonton Oilers	8	6-3-1	3-0-1	5-1-1 since the first two losses to start the season. This team is on a roll with great goaltending, McDavid, and Nurse and Klefbom stepping up big time. Last week could easily have been 3-0-0, but went 2-0-1. The week started with Crosby burning Strome in OT, but ended with breaking loss streaks against the Capitals and the Predators in regulation. That's right; we beat last week's power rankings number 1 and last year's Stanley Cup champion. Just a note: the Sunday games are not considered for rankings for those interested.
18 (16.86)	Buffalo Sabres	6	6-4-1	1-0-1	I'm excited for hockey in Buffalo...ten games into the season? We played great against Montreal, coming back to tie the game three times and then sinking the winner with a minute left in regulation, then we came out and played great (offensively) against Columbus, coming back from a two goal deficit in the third only to lose in OT. We really could work on not allowing odd man rushes every other minute though, that would be cool. Jason Pominville has returned to 2006 form alongside Captain Jack and Jeff Skinner on the top line; those three have combined for 14 points in the last three games. Dahlin is the real deal, Risto looks great, Reino got his first and Okposo is on fire. LETS GO BUFFALO
19 (19.28)	Arizona Coyotes	11	5-5-0	3-0-0	The supposed story of this team- they just can't bury. In Chicago last week, some puck luck came barreling around the corner as the Coyotes have scored 22 goals in the last 5 games, winning 4 of the last 5, with the most recent win being against Tampa Bay with a whopping 7-1 score, ending one of the NHL's best teams 7 game point streak.The offense seems to be rolling, but the defense and PK have been outstanding, with the Yotes leading the NHL with 5 shorthanded goals, 2nd in the NHL for PK percentage (89.3%), and also leading the NHL with goals allowed, which is a big thanks to Kuemper and Raanta. Not to mention with the return of Alex Galchenyuk (0-2-2, 3GP), and Jakob Chychrun coming off of the shelf soon, this teams future is looking better and better.
20 (19.72)	Calgary Flames	-5	5-5-1	0-2-1
21 (21.14)	Vegas Golden Knights	-5	5-5-1	1-1-1	The Golden Knights have just finished their five-game homestand 3-1-1. We have seen some great scoring coming from the second and fourth line as Tuch has returned and Ryan Reaves has scored goals in back to back games. Things may be challenging for VGK as they head out onto the road with Pacioretty injured. I would rank them higher due to their homestand but the following losses that Vancouver and Tampa had to the Coyotes keeps me from being able to rank them much higher. While important, the wins over the Ducks, Sabres and Senators aren't impressive. Marchessault got himself back on the board which is a must. The team has had trouble getting goals and their first line has to continue to keep the points up. We have finally seen a goal from a defenseman as well so with that in mind and Karlsson showing life the team is showing some promise but perhaps it won't be until Nate Schmidt is finished serving his 20-game suspension for the team to fully click.
22 (21.34)	Anaheim Ducks	-15	5-5-2	0-2-1	The advanced stats have caught up to Anaheim after a hot start. They haven't changed their play and continue to give up an absurd amount of shots against the saving grace of John Gibson. If it weren't for him the Ducks would be in the basement right now. The bright side is their record is still decent for all the poor play. It will get better but it will take time. They are still running a lot of rookies and a new system for the players and coach. Looks like the rookies on the 10gp option are all going to surpass that mark (Lundestrom is currently in the lineup tonight vs. Sharks, typing this 2 hours before that game). That said, Ducks fans are going to have to be patient with this group. Everyone wanted a rebuild because thats the trendy thing to do these days. Everyone wanted us to play more rookies because that too is the new trend. But when we do, the same people complain about letting 50 SOG a game. Can't win.
23 (22.66)	New York Islanders	3	5-4-1	2-0-1	The Islanders are showing clear improvement in many facets thanks to Trotz. They are playing way more organized and responsible than they had in the past, but they are still giving up too many shots and need to improve. The Mitch Korn effect is undeniable as their goaltenders are putting up career best stats (small sample size considered). The offense is also starting to pick up and Anders Lee and Josh Bailey are proving they are top players in the league, and not just products of John Tavares. They need Beau and Eberle to play better but hopefully rekindling them with Barzal on one line will do the trick.
24 (22.72)	Vancouver Canucks	-4	6-6-0	1-3-0	Coming off surprisingly strong start that saw them steal several games against top teams, this week the Vancouver Canucks looked a lot more like basement dweller many expected to start the season. Pettersson and Boeser are back, which is swell, but Tanev and Edler are gone. This development doesn’t look good for anyone hoping for the playoffs (yes, those people exist), but it is ultimately good for those who want to see prospect development this year and a high draft pick in June. This is a great time to invest early in team tank memes. Your highlight of the week is the Rogers Arena Beer Boy catching a puck and tossing it to the crowd.
25 (23.45)	St. Louis Blues	-3	3-4-3	1-1-1	Jake Allen died so Mike Yeo could live. Zach Sanford has 6 points (3G/3A) in his first 5 games this season after missing the last season entirely. This is all going about as one could expect out of Blues hockey. Everyone looked better in our game against Chicago, but it's hard not to have a bad taste in your mouth when you lose that way to Columbus. We're going to need a solid winning streak to get us out of the hole we buried ourselves in, but it's certainly doable..
26 (25.03)	Ottawa Senators	-3	4-4-2	0-2-1	Pretty shit week. Got killed by two good teams in the Bruins and Avalanche, which has shown that this team has absolutely no way to stop top lines. We have one game against Vegas, one game against a pretty hot Coyotes team and two games against a suprisingly good Sabres team next week, so we're going to have to show a pulse for more than half of the game to bounce back.
27 (25.86)	Philadelphia Flyers	-8	4-7-0	0-3-0	This week has been an absolute mess for the flyers (You're welcome, Pens fans). Being outscored 13-2 in the past 3 games, there hasnt been much to like. Many fans are calling for the heads of the front office, others are calling for the players to step up, but most just want them all to get their act together and start bringing some energy and jam to the game. Everyone is frustrated, but no one is doing anything about it. Our 4th line has looked the best over the past 3 games, and Gudas/Sanheim have looked probably the best from the defensive core. Positive news, Sanheim and Hagg have been looking fine recently. Thats pretty much it. We still have Gritty. Gritty help us in these times.
28 (27.41)	Florida Panthers	-	2-4-3	1-2-0	Seems like the team's terrible Powerplay has spread to the PK, goaltending is atrocious too. Until Lu comes back, I don't expect much here
29 (28.38)	New York Rangers	-	3-7-1	1-2-0	The Rangers went through one of the worst weeks in recent memory. Getting a win against the disappointing Panthers felt nice but we were outshot nearly 2:1 that night. Little did we know that this was a preview of the week to come. We followed that up with a 4-1 loss in Chicago where we got only 1 shot on goal in the third period and 19 the whole night. Ending the week with a pathetic collapse in LA that triggered traumatic memories of 2014 was the icing on the cake. The Rangers have a pretty mediocre roster, and they're still managing to play even worse than that.
30 (28.76)	Los Angeles Kings	-3	3-7-1	1-2-0	Good news: The Kings got Dustin Brown back (who scored), Alec Martinez triggered all NYR fans with a GWG, and the Kings got 2 points. Bad News: Quick is hurt again (different injury), and Stevens' firing has likely been postponed with the win.
31 (30.79)	Detroit Red Wings	-	2-7-2	1-2-0

"If we don't get Dahlin, what do we do?" - my informative deep dive on the 2018 Draft

This is it everyone. This is the post I've been working for months. I know there's a TON of stuff here, so if you don't feel like reading it all I can totally respect that. Maybe you just want to go off and read my content, that's okay too. Go ahead and click here. In fact, in case you missed it, I have everything tagged on there. So let's say you want to know about picks in a range, you can search 1-5, 5-10, 10-20, etc... until you hit 50+. You can sort by nationality, league, position, and team name as well. If you feel so inclined to hear my opinions on other things, you can follow me on twitter. For anyone who is sticking around and reading, thanks for joining, I hope you enjoy.
About 4 months ago, there was a post on this sub entitled, "Let's be real and assume we're not getting Dahlin." This topic was really what pushed me over the edge to make content for you guys. My end goal is to become an NHL GM through being a scout, but I've got a long way to go until then. In the interim, I figured I'd take my interest in scouting, develop my own profiles aimed at more casual fans who want to know what these guys can do, and hit the ground running. Even if I never spend a day working for an NHL team, I am so happy to be doing this. It's much more than just a hobby or a passion at this point. So this, in a way, is the first of many gifts I want to give back to this community. You're the reason I'm here, doing what I love. I can't thank you enough.
Without any more gushing, here's the players that I feel are relevant to the Detroit Red Wings draft board. There's going to be a lot more, but those will be available on my website. Anyway, let's get down to business, shall we?
First, let's make it clear where we will be selecting. We can select anywhere in the top 3 as well as 5th-8th with our own 1st round selection. Our late 1st rounder, from Vegas, is predicated on their playoff performance, but we can guarantee the lowest they can possibly select is 27th and caps out at 31st should they win the Stanley Cup. Along with Ottawa's 2nd rounder (acquired from New York last year for Brendan Smith) which is 33rd overall and our own 2nd rounder at 36, there's a lot of room for us to move and make selections, or just keep what we have and end up with 4 selections in the top 40.
Our draft board is predicated on two things, 1 being our team needs and 2 being the players this draft class offers. An example would be the increased likelihood of drafting a defenseman higher in this draft because we have both a strong defensive class at the high end to go along with our need, while it's unlikely to see a goalie picked at all in this draft before the 3rd round because of how weak the class is at that position. Sound fair? This is what I believe our draft board will look like for our first section of picks.

Number	Name	Position
1	Rasmus Dahlin	LHD
2	Andrei Svechnikov	LW/RW
3	Filip Zadina	LW/RW
4A	Quinn Hughes	LHD
4B	Evan Bouchard	RHD
6	Adam Boqvist	RHD
7	Noah Dobson	RHD
8A	Oliver Wahlstrom	RW/C
8B	Joe Veleno	C
10	Ty Smith	LHD

First off, you'll note that I directly left off Brady Tkachuk. I argued with myself about adding him in somewhere for continuity, but the fact is there's no reason for us to draft him. He's not good enough to be taken in the top 3, doesn't fit our needs, plays a role/position that we don't need right now (especially with Rasmussen taken last year, Bertuzzi's play this year, and Mantha shifting his game), but he does fit the needs of teams selecting ahead of us. Montreal, Buffalo, Arizona, and Ottawa all rate him highly and there's a gigantic shift in the coming months, I don't see any reason he falls to us without there being an explicitly better option on the table.
I think it is fair to say that should we not get Dahlin, but we do get the 2nd or 3rd overall selection, we will likely pick one of these two forwards. Some argue that even Svechnikov doesn't fit our needs going forward, and I agree, but I think his talent is worth building around if that's the route we're taking. Zadina is better as a 2 way forward and he's an amazing talent, but I think if this was the selection for us, our best bet would be to trade down or take someone else to maximize our opportunity here. Yes these are great players, but we don't need the offensive skill that badly to the point that it's better than selecting one of these elite defensemen in the top 10 and using our multitude of later picks to focus on restocking our shelves at forward.
From 4-8, it's all defensemen, and for good reason. These guys are all spectacular in their own right. It's a matter of picking your favorite. However, I'll try to explain why I think Hughes and Bouchard should be higher rated than the other two. As I mentioned in a thread earlier today (or technically yesterday), the size argument is a moot point to me. We have a need for a number 1 defenseman and most of these guys here bring that to the table. Boqvist has the highest potential and is between and inch or two from Hughes, but no one is concerned with his size. The concern with him is despite being one of the youngest in this draft class, he's yet to post points in the SHL or Allsvenskan (Swedish league 2). For a guy who is hugely offensively focused, that scares the shit out of me. If I'm picking someone this high up, I want as close to a guarantee as possible, and Boqvist isn't it. Hughes, however, has performed against men in the NCAA, leading the Wolverines to a Frozen Four appearance as a freshman. He was off to a slow start in terms of goal production, but he turned that around too as he got used to playing big minutes and running the Michigan power play. And that's all without touching his best asset, his skates. This kid is the best skater in the entire draft and it's not close. In a league that is seeing defensemen get smaller, skating becoming the main focus, and our desperate need for a defenseman who generates offense, Hughes is the guy. And again, about the size issue, if you think we have too many small guys as is, between Hicketts, Saarijarvi, and Hronek, I'm telling you this right now, those guys won't be around if Hughes continues being this good. Hughes is a talent that you make room for, not pass over in favor of guys you have who are similar but worse. As much as I love those guys, again, it's not close. You pick the better guy here.
Bouchard is the guy I take 2nd of the 4 because if Hughes is everything you want in a defenseman for the future of the NHL, Bouchard is everything the Wings organization has wanted since Lidstrom left. He has size, elite potential (although, not quite as high as Hughes or Boqvist), and leadership qualities at a young age. He's a well composed young man who, oh yeah, has basically been the only good defenseman the London Knights had all season. He plays so many minutes per game that it's no wonder everyone loves him and he dominates the box score. He had 87 points in 67 games this year. That's nothing to gloss over. Again, I'm not mad with either Bouchard or Hughes, but my preference is on Hughes. He has more talent out the gate, is more likely to contribute right away, and a higher potential with a skillset that we know translates to the NHL. Bouchard, for all his positives, has never played higher than the OHL and we can't get that same guarantee that we can with Hughes.
Dobson, as I mentioned, is the poor man's Bouchard. He will take more time to develop and doesn't have the same high end ability, but he's a damn good consolation prize. Another year in the Q, then a year in the AHL would be what I expect for a guy like him. Either way, he's a really good defenseman that will look to make a splash.
Next is Wahlstrom and Veleno, who I have at 9. Frankly, I think Veleno is a top 5 talent who struggled to meet expectations, but he's better than Wall-E. If we somehow end up in the worst time frame where we can't get any of our defensemen, which is damn near impossible, then yeah, give me one of these guys. Should we end up with one, that means we're trading into the top 20 to pick a defenseman.
Ty Smith comes last just by happenstance. He's got the lowest ceiling of any defenseman in the top 10, but still offers a lot to the table. In another draft year, that 7 point performance against Spokane makes him a lock for a top 5 selection.
So... if that's the top 10, what's next? Let's split this into two parts. If we take a defenseman, who do we look at with our next 3 selections and then if we take a forward, what do we do?
First, let's assume a defenseman is taken. Whether it's Dahlin, Hughes, Bouchard, or whomever, we got what we came here for. That leaves us with two options: trade up for a top 20 selection to get another big impact player or just take who we want. If we're trading up, that likely involves us moving to one of the Islanders picks (the have 2 between 10 and 15, unless they get a magic ping pong ball), Philly at 14, 15, or 19 (they have the Blues 1st), the Bruins pick that was sent to the Rangers (could be around 20, should they not make it to the 2nd round), Ottawa at 22, or Minnesota at 24. While it's unlikely, there's definitely options in this area. If we really pay up, or Veleno slips, we could make a huge, un-Holland-like move to get him around the 10-15 mark, but I have trouble believing he will go past Carolina. They need a top center and whether you think so or not, the team feels Larkin is that guy as a true number 1, a la Patrice Bergeron. With Rasmussen in the AHL, I don't see us making a jump that high for Veleno unless we smell blood in the water and we can get him on the cheap. Another, more likely option from 15-25 would be Akil Thomas. He's an incredibly talented center who is, by my estimation, a top 10 talent that isn't getting recognition. If we're focusing on the wings, the two in this same 10-20, 15-25 range would be Grigori Denisenko and Serron Noel. Noel is a power forward with a knack for scoring goals, but doesn't have the speed you'd want in the NHL. Denisenko is a god tier talent offensively that dominates the Russian 2nd league (MHL)... except that he has no points. If he was lighting up Russia, with the tape he produces, he's an easy top 10 selection. Both are good, but again it comes to how far can they fall and how much would we be willing to give up? There's others like Hayton, Lundestrom, Kupari, Kotkaniemi, and Farabee in the teens range, but I don't see them as targets for Detroit.
Should we keep our selections and need forwards, I'd focus on Kurashev, Kravtsov, McBain, and Bokk. Kurashev is my personal favorite, while I would be more cautious with McBain (who is known to take nights off) and Kravtsov (who is incredibly talented, but may not come over from Russia any time soon).
Now let's flip the script and say we need defense. Should we trade up, you're looking at Bode Wilde, Ty Smith, Jared McIsaac, and the almighty divider, Ryan Merkley. All of these would be good guys to have, but either don't have that elite ceiling or aren't terribly flashy. Well, besides Merkley. That kid might actually be a psychopath, but I'll be damned if he doesn't have a top 5 skill set on him. That's part of what makes him so divisive, because there's a very good chance that he entirely falls out of the 1st round due to his off ice issues. If he's going to make it work anywhere, it would be Detroit. Don't even get me started if we manage to right the ship and make him into the star he knows he can become, but that's a whole other topic for discussion.
Should we keep our picks and want a defenseman, because Ken Holland has more picks in the top 40 this year than he had at all between 2000 and 2005 and feels like treating himself, we can add a defensive defenseman like Jett Woo or Mattias Samuelsson to the mix. Perhaps he wants a more offensively talented guy (this is where you'll want to use the Hronek, Hicketts, Saarijarvi argument guys), he can send a parrot up to the announcer's mic with the names of Ryan Merkley, K'Andre Miller, or Rasmus Sandin. There's a ton of good options on the table for us and I feel like this is the year that we really, truly, restock the cupboards. Even if we manage to trade and walk out with something like Hughes, Noel, and Woo, that would be an incredible haul for us going forward.

The History of the NHL Over the Last 30 Years

Hi, /hockey, PapiRugby here. I was browsing videos on YouTube when I stumbled upon the SBNation series Chart Party, where narrator John Bois looks at statistics in sports in odd but mildly interesting ways. I found the video "The history of every NFL team" in which he looks at the volatility, how much a team's win total changes from year to year, of NFL teams. As a hockey fan, this got me thinking what the volatility is of NHL teams. So naturally, I went hunting for stats and compiled volatility rankings of all the NHL teams. Please embark with me on the path for obscure knowledge!
Now I had to make a few modifications from the original idea of volatility since the NFL and NHL rank teams differently. The NFL uses wins (W-L) without points, they don't allow for ties like the NHL does (W-L-OT). I therefore used the team's point totals for the year since two teams could finish with the same point totals but have different win-loss records. The NFL season has been 16 games since the 1987-88 season, but the NHL season has had season longer and shorter than the current 82 game season we have now. To account for non-82 game seasons, I adjusted each team's point totals as if they had played 82 games. I adjusted the following seasons:

1987-88 to 1991-92 (80 games)
1992-92 and 1993-94 (84 games)
1994-94 and 2012-13 (48 games, lockout shortened)

Essentially, I used the stat/60 method used for tracking player stats and created the points/82(games) stat for teams. Lastly, for teams relocated after the 1986-87 season, I have included the point totals of the franchise before relocation as well as their modern counterparts:

Arizona (formerly Winnipeg, moved in 1996)
Carolina (formerly Hartford, moved in 1996)
Colorado (formerly Quebec, moved in 1995)
Dallas (formerly Minnesota, moved in 1993)
Winnipeg (formerly Atlanta, moved in 2011)

With all the technical details out of the way, let's look at some teams! I'll be ranking teams from least to greatest volatility. For obvious reasons, the Las Vegas Golden Knights are not included because they've only played one season and therefore have no seasons to compare the 2017-18 season to. I already know somebody will ask why they're not included or try and be funny by saying how they have the lowest volatility of all the teams, so to you I say shut your damn mouth before I tell your mother you're being rude to strangers on the internet.
#30: Minnesota Wild (Volatility index: 8.94)
Minnesota is in an interesting position; too good to tank and draft in the top 10, but also not good enough to win the cup. They entered the league in 2000 and immediately started winning, somehow living the life of an expansion team in reverse. They've been the most stable, consistent team in the league over the last 30 years.
#29: Detroit Red Wings (Volatility index: 9.06)
The Red Wings of the 90s and 00s were an absolute powerhouse, teams built by drafting well and making stellar trades. They treated the 93 point mark as their bottom floor for 23 seasons. Their dynasty was marked by 4 Stanley Cups and very consistent play.
#28: Edmonton Oilers (Volatility index: 9.40)
We all may hate on the Oilers way too much, but they have somehow managed to make winning the draft lottery look like a problem. There are only three certainties in life: death, taxes, and mistreatment of first overall picks by the Oilers.
#27: Calgary Flames (Volatility index: 9.53)
Following their cup win in 1989, they slowly slid down during the turn of the millennium. They found stability in the early to late 00s before having a rocky past few years.
#26: Carolina Hurricanes (Volatility index: 9.57)
Slow ascent to Stanley Cup champions followed by slow descent to the bottom of the Metro. Their rebound from 2002-03 to their cup win in 2006 was marked by a 51 point turnaround, something pretty damn good.
#25: Philadelphia Flyers (Volatility index: 9.93)
Philly has had very consistent play over the last 30 years. They somehow managed to collapse for exactly one season in 2006-07 and rebounded back into a playoff spot, somehow pretending like nothing ever happened.
#24: Vancouver Canucks (Volatility index: 10.49)
From rock bottom to top of the world and back again, Vancouver did it all. While the retirement of the Sedins marked the end of an era for the team, the promising youth in the wings means that the team may not be in the basement for long.
#23: Pittsburgh Penguins (Volatility index: 10.53)
Great in the 90s, bad in the 00s, legendary in the 10s. What else is there to say when you draft two absolute studs?
#22: Toronto Maple Leafs (Volatility index: 10.58)
My team! Growing up, the Leafs were pretty consistent...ly bad. We had (have?) this habit of bouncing back and forth between doing really well and really bad. We went 8 years without a playoff appearance, although we like to pretend the 2013 playoffs never happened, and going on 15 years and counting without winning a series.
#21: New Jersey Devils (Volatility index: 10.60)
The Devils have a few odd seasons where they seems to do the exact opposite of the season before or after, and managed to make winning 3 Stanley Cups and having 100+ point seasons look easy. They've been up and down in recent years, but poised to make a rebound thanks to the help of Taylor Hall and Nico Hischier.
#20: Winnipeg Jets (Volatility index: 10.78)
We see the Jets slow ascent over the last two decades to becoming one of the best teams in the league. No anomalous seasons, no sharp peaks followed by canyons, just slowly improving over the years.
#19: St. Louis Blues (Volatility index: 10.79)
Up, down, up, down, up, down,up, down, up, down, up, down.
#18: Buffalo Sabres (Volatility index: 10.95)
Buffalo went dangerously good to hilariously awful in the span of 7 years, then somehow managed to get worse. I feel sorry for the fans, I know what it's like cheering for a really bad team. All I can say is it will get better soon.
#17: Los Angeles Kings (Volatility index: 11.07)
I don't feel like talking about the Kings. I don't know enough about them to formulate a proper opinion on their volatility. Like what, the mods are gonna delete my post because I refuse to talk about a team? You have no power over me.
#16: New York Rangers (Volatility index: 11.47)
The Rangers do jump up and down, but they also tend to pick a spot in the points column and stay there for a while. Their rebuild should be fun to watch over the next few years, but I have no doubts they'll be back on top soon.
#15: Arizona Coyotes (Volatility index: 11.56)
For most of the entire time I've been watching hockey semi-religiously, I've always known the Coyotes to be the laughing stock of the league. So it was to my surprise when I found out they had a 107-point season and made it to the conference finals three seasons later. Who would've thought?
#14: Columbus Blue Jackets (Volatility index: 11.62)
Columbus took the opposite approach to her expansion sister Minnesota, having to claw and fight to rise from the depths just to make it to mediocrity. What they both have in common, however, is they have yet to have a Finals appearance.
#13: Nashville Predators (Volatility index: 11.66)
Nashville is what happens when you build a team with an impenetrable defensive core and a Vezina-calibre goalie. This brought them to the Stanley Cup Finals as a wild card, much to the surprise of everybody. Their climb isn't over yet, their window to win the cup is now.
#12: Anaheim Ducks (Volatility index: 11.73)
The top of the Pacific for 5 years before being dethroned by the neophyte Golden Knights, the team tends to jump up or down for a year before returning to normal.
#11: Washington Capitals (Volatility index: 12.22)
Ahh, the Capitals. I'm happy they finally managed to not only escape second-round purgatory, but they finally won the Cup after years and years and years of trying.
#10: San Jose Sharks (Volatility index: 12.29)
The regular season means literally nothing to the Sharks, they've missed the playoffs only 6 times in their 27 season history. Their chart looks ironically like a shark, kinda funny.
#9: New York Islanders (Volatility index: 12.74)
What happens when you hire Mike "Shoes" Milbury, the Bruins player who beat a fan with his shoe during a fight, to be your GM? You get a one-way ticket to Instability Station, where you trade away players who end up having amazing careers for pennies on the dollar. Maybe Milbury is the true snake on Long Island after all...
#8: Montreal Canadiens (Volatility index: 12.97)
Do you know the 'H' in the logo stands for 'habitants', the French word for resident? It doesn't, but that joke is where we get the name Habs from. It actually stands for hockey, something I'm convinced the Canadiens forgot how to play in the last decade.
#7: Chicago Blackhawks (Volatility index: 13.05)
NHL highlight of the century: Scott Foster, an accountant who plays beer league hockey in Chicago and served as the emergency backup goalie, played 15 minutes in the third period after the Hawks goalie was injured. He saved all 7 shots faced and earned the first star of the night. When interviewed after the game, he remarked "I think I'm just hitting my prime."
#6: Ottawa Senators (Volatility index: 13.02)
Ottawa reigned supreme at the top of the Northeast in the late 90s and early 00s with the help of Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza. The reign had to end eventually with Ottawa bouncing up and down the standings. I really don't know what to think of the franchise right now, what with Pierre Dorian completely butchering the Mike Hoffman trade and selling Erik Karlsson for a bag of pucks and a Happy Meal, and Eugene Melnyk who everybody on this sub is very familiar with. But I think their future will be exciting because the team gets excited, which gets Mark Borowiecki gets excited, which gets Melnyk excited, which gets the fans excited, and their sponsors.
#5: Boston Bruins (Volatility index: 13.21)
I really do loathe the Bruins for the playoffs this year (2013 never happened, shut up), but I also really do like the squad they put together. They do tend to collapse every now and then, but they've been atop the Atlantic for so long now that it's hard to remember a time when they were a bad team.
#4: Florida Panthers (Volatility index: 13.34)
There really isn't much to say about Florida. Missing the playoff for 10 seasons, topping the Southeast and losing in the first round, missing them again for 3 seasons, topping the Atlantic and losing in the first round again. They don't play hockey, hockey just sort of happens to them.
#3: Dallas Stars (Volatility index: 14.05)
My favourite Starts moments are between Vern Fiddler's Kevin Bieksa impression that left Canuck's coach Alain Vigneault laughing and out of breath, and the announcement of Tyler Seguin's extension, Super Mario Bros style. And I like the the jerseys too, I like the colour palate.
#2: Tampa Bay Lightning (Volatility index: 14.20)
Tanked in the 1997-98 season, won the Cup in 2004, tanked again in 2008-09. Their game plan of relying on Stamkos' legs to stay together didn't help much, all it did was lead to them bouncing in and out of contention.
#1: Colorado Avalanche (Volatility index: 19.96)
Colorado is the epitome of inconsistent. How they finished this year has nothing to do with how they will do next year. The chart of their point totals looks like the Rocky Mountains, jumping up and down absolutely wildly with no real pattern. They are by far the most volatile team in the league, it's not even close.
EDIT: Album

/r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 18: Deadline 2018 Edition

/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Feb 26, 2018 - Mar 4, 2018

Thank You

Thank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.

Rankers

Spoiler

Organizers

Spoiler

Visualization

Process

Rankings (26/31 Rankers Reporting)

Ranking (avg)	Team	Delta	Overall Record	Record This Week	Comments
1 (2.29)	Tampa Bay Lightning	3	43-17-3	4-0-0	The Lightning have won four in a row, but boy has it been ugly. Here's hoping McDonagh helps secure the blue line because it's a glorified sieve right now. On the bright side, Brayden Point continues to shine, scoring all four game winners in the Bolts current streak.
2 (3.13)	Nashville Predators	5	38-14-9	4-0-0	First things first: congrats to Pekka Rinne for notching win number 300 this week! To quickly recap last week: whatever had the Preds in a funk the previous two weeks seems to be gone, as they took care of the Sens, finally beat the Wings after 4 years of losses, and then looked downright dominant against the Sharks and Blues. Okay, on to the TRADE DEADLINE. While the Preds were actually pretty active by number of transactions, they didn't make any big splashes like the Bolts or Bruins. Honestly I'm kinda happy Poile didn't jump into the wavepool; rental prices were fairly high, and while we're certainly in a "win now" mode we're also not racing a closing window to tack on the phrase "at all costs." Looking at our trades holistically, our biggest movement was replacing Pontus Aberg with Ryan Hartman. As much as many Preds fans liked Aberg and wanted him to catch fire with a break out year, it just never happened. He played well when he was in the top 6 while someone was out, but not well enough to displace them permanently. Unfortunately, when he was in the bottom 6 he all but disappeared, leading to him watching more and more games from the press box. That's why the replacement makes sense: if the position open is for a bottom 6 winger, better to have the guy who has a proven ability to produce there and gives you a little more grit than the guy who doesn’t fill that role. I do hope the best for Pontus, and think he could really do well on the Oilers. Aside from that, the only other real “move” at the deadline for the Preds was re-signing Mike Fisher. Bringing him back into the fold just goes to further our forward depth, especially at center, and will give Lavy a lot of flexibility to tinker with the bottom 6. So, overall the Preds look poised to make another deep run: two top lines that can both dominate possession, forward depth with a proven ability to contribute at both ends, arguably the best top 4 D in the league, and a pair of Finntastic goalies. Oh, and if that's not enough, there's the Eeli Tolvanen black ace up Poile's sleeve.
3 (3.38)	Vegas Golden Knights	-2	41-16-5	2-1-1	Winning at home again, and we've added Tatar to give us a real third line. Didn't make the huge splash some expected, but was it really necessary to make a huge splash?
4 (5.04)	Winnipeg Jets	-1	37-16-9	2-1-0	Jets went off the board, as they do, and acquired Stastny from the Blues, as well as picking up some depth D from Montreal. This was a definite positive to the Jets, as depth starts to bottleneck below us, while Wheeler showed his excitement and happiness at Stastny. Centering Laine and Ehlers, a tour de force is on its way. As for the games we played, Keumper left LA, but not before stealing a game from us, while we played our game against Dallas and St. Louis. Next game features a possible playoff preview against Nashville, as well as games against Detroit and Carolina. The Jets are soaring, and there's no signs of them slowing down
5 (5.58)	Toronto Maple Leafs	-	39-20-6	3-0-1	The Leafs acquired Plekanec at the deadline. They have some "r'l gud" pros at centre now. Effective Centre depth isn't something die hard Leaf fans have seen since the early 2000s so that's pretty cool. Plekanec gives the Leafs a shut down line that doesn't have to involve Kadri, freeing him up to play more offensive minutes which I believe to be the plan for Babcock. Plekky is the exact kinda guy our 4th line and PK needed, and a 4th line of Komarov-Plekky-Kapanen is going to be a HARD shutdown 4th line. The "MarKadMar" line is pretty effective so having them take more OZ faceoffs is a good thing. I was in the "trade JvR" camp, not because I think he's bad defensively but because the return for Nash was ridiculous and I believe we could've gotten a similar return. I truly believe the answer to the Leafs D problems falls down to the guys in the system. Liljegren, Holl, Borgman and Rosen. At least one of these guys has to pan out. We feel good about our team, our deadline, we feel fucking GREAT about Nylander moving to centre so well, and we just gotta hope our white-hot streak for the last 20 rolls right into the playoffs.
6 (6.67)	Boston Bruins	-4	37-15-8	2-2-0	Adding both Rick Nash and Nick Holden via separate trades strengthens an already strong team. It will be interesting to see how they implement Nash going forward. Does he use his big body in the front of the net to screen? Does he snipe from the outside? These are the kind of problems that are great to have and causes problems for the opposing teams. On the other hand I have no fucking clue why we signed Gionta
7 (7.29)	Minnesota Wild	4	35-20-7	4-0-0	The Wild did nothing at the trade deadline, and that's perfectly fine. GM Chuck Fletcher needed to have his phone taken away after the last few seasons of deadline deals (cough, Martin Hanzal, Sean Bergenheim, Matt Moulson, insert other overpays here).Waiving Chris Stewart and trading Mike Reilly for a 5th rounder is hardly an exciting deadline day but as a result, top prospects Luke Kunin and Jordan Greenway may both get late-season call-ups. An unofficial deadline addition is Jonas Brodin's return Tuesday against STL after missing almost the entire month with a hand injury. The team is 7-1-2 in their last 10 and controls their playoff destiny - what they do with that control, however, is completely up to them. I'm too Minnesotan to be optimistic.
8 (7.96)	Philadelphia Flyers	5	34-19-10	4-0-0	Hextall continued to preach patience with a quiet deadline day which only saw the Flyers claim Oduya off of waivers from the Sens. With as hot as this team has been since mid December it's hard to argue with that plan as long as the upgrading the other Metro teams did doesn't come back to bite him in the ass. the_fly21 says Petr we love you and will miss you - Detroit.
9 (8.83)	Pittsburgh Penguins	-3	36-23-4	1-1-0	The Penguins traded for Derrick Brassard, one of the best Cs on the market, pre-trade deadline. They then made a splash on Deadline Day by acquiring... Josh Jooris? We still have yet to see how Brassard plays with the team, but I have high hopes for March.
10 (10.88)	Washington Capitals	-	35-21-7	2-3-0	Well the Caps stood pretty much pat at the deadline, adding a depth defenseman who wears #6 again because that always works out. I dunno if that was the right move, but I also dunno if there's any way to fix what ails us. Meanwhile, the Caps' unheralded slide from mediocre to relegation worth continues. This team appears rotten from top to bottom. My bandwagon pick is off the board - the Flyers. Please direct all hate toward u/jakecameraaction thx
11 (11.67)	Dallas Stars	-3	35-23-4	1-2-0	Our biggest acquisition was getting back Methot from IR. Who knows if that will be enough to hold onto an already precarious playoff position
12 (14.38)	Calgary Flames	5	32-22-9	2-1-1	Flames entered the trade deadline as a playoff bubble team with a cluttered Bottom 6 and they left, well... a slightly better team with an even more cluttered Bottom 6. Every game is a must win if the Flames want to get into the postseason.
13 (14.42)	Anaheim Ducks	2	31-21-12	2-1-1	Wait, why are we doing this a day late? I mean, I know the Ducks made that huge Wagner for Chimera deal, but we didn't have to postpone the power rankings just for that did we? Seriously though, the Ducks lack of significant activity at the deadline was probably to be expected. Buying would have meant unloading prospects and picks that will be vital in the near future as the core ages and needs to be replaced. Selling... well, that requires having something you're willing and able to sell, and NMCs / NTCs really limit that ability. That being said, the couple of moves GM Murray made seem odd: why add more age on top of age?
14 (14.5)	San Jose Sharks	-2	33-21-9	1-2-1	The Sharks had a busy deadline being in contention for EK and getting him (Evander Kane of course). Hopefully the Sharks strong leaders can stop any locker room issues that may arise and Kane can fill the scoring gap created by Marleau's departure.
15 (15.17)	Los Angeles Kings	1	34-24-5	3-2-0	John Stevens with the Darryl Sutter-esque quote regarding the drama that ensued against Edmonton "I think the league is so confused that I’m confused, right? I don’t think they know what it is so how the hell are we supposed to know what it is, right?" Kings finished off their road trip with a solid record and then dropped two in a row to Dallas and Edmonton. Glad to have Jeff Carter back though. Kudos to Rob Blake for not going crazy during the trade deadline and holding on to the talent in the pipeline.
16 (16.17)	New Jersey Devils	-2	32-22-8	1-2-0	At the deadline, the Devils appeared to be tentative buyers, and with Schnieder returning from injury, just in time for the playoff push, it appears to be the right move. Unwilling to dig deep into the war chest for big name D-Man, Ray Shero made a pair of relatively low-cost moves for experienced roleplayers in Michael Grabner and Patrick Maroon. Whether this pair will be enough to secure the team's first playoff spot in half a decade remains to be seen.
17 (17.08)	Columbus Blue Jackets	2	32-26-5	3-1-0	Some slick moves. Vanek comes into our team as #2 in points (Panarin has 50, Seth Jones has 37) and the only thing we give up is Tyler Motte (who isn't bad, mind you) and Jokinen who was a waiver pickup anyway. Ian Cole gives us another depth defensemen and since we didn't move Johnson, I'm unsure of where he fits right now. We definitely made moves to push us into the playoffs but I think Tampa and Pittsburgh are the teams to beat in the East and I don't think we stack up to either of them.
18 (18.5)	Colorado Avalanche	-	33-24-5	2-1-1	Well the Avs were all quiet on the Trade Front. One minor deal to keep the streak alive. What this means is the Avs like Comeau and his leadership and they want the guys to try and push with what we have. I would say MacKinnon has at least earned the right to try and be in a playoff push lets see if the rest of the team will join him. Oh and Zadorov is not ready to replace Johnson in anyway what so ever, he has been atrocious the past few games.
19 (18.96)	Florida Panthers	3	28-25-6	2-1-0	The Panthers did nothing during the deadline except acquire Bruins legend Frank Vatrano who has amassed 55 points in 36 games with the Providence Bruins in 2016. He is a welcome addition to the Cats hunting for a playoffs berth.
20 (19.21)	St. Louis Blues	-11	34-25-4	0-3-0	I'm going to miss Stastny, but I'm very happy with this deadline. At our current trajectory we were going to barely miss the playoffs with nothing to show for it. At worst the first rounder gives us some cushion should we miss, and at best the trade could kick the team in their collective ass and get them to score again. It has been downright depressing to watch this team recently. Whether it's due to locker room issues, coaching, or us just not being good enough, we suck right now. We suck from top to bottom. And teams that suck this bad don't win Stanley Cups. I didn't want Armstrong to sit there and pretend like this current roster still has a realistic shot-- something just had to change.
21 (21.88)	New York Islanders	-1	29-27-7	0-2-1	This team didn't make any major moves during the deadline, but their biggest and best was addition by subtraction, losing their worst forward (Jason Chimera), while getting a younger more defensively responsible forward in return (Chris Wagner). Barring a magical change to their defensive system which results in not giving up 40+ shots most nights, this team will miss the playoffs and hold a spot in the 10-12 range going into the lottery. If things change or if they go on a (very very) hot run, they might sneak into the playoffs and be a pest to Tampa, who they beat in Florida, before going golfing. All the focus is now on resigning John Tavares, who has been sluggish for the last few weeks, contributing little on offense, and being a major defensive liability.
22 (22.08)	Detroit Red Wings	1	26-26-10	2-1-1	Vegas did that thing where you start a franchise mode on NHL and trade all your picks away knowing you won't play past one season. Except they will be, and the Wings received a great haul from the Tatar trade. I would prefer that it was Nyquist that was traded, but this will do. Mrazek is Czech and Tatar is Slovakian, and both gone...maybe the Swedish Mafia does run the show in Detroit? adjusts tin foil hat
23 (22.46)	Edmonton Oilers	6	27-31-4	3-1-0
24 (22.67)	Carolina Hurricanes	-3	27-25-10	0-2-0
25 (22.88)	Chicago Blackhawks	-	27-28-8	2-2-0	Nothing to talk about of note gamewise, since we're on a five day break after losing to CBJ, but oh man, the trade deadline. Patrick Sharp's stunt double Ryan Hartman was traded to NSH for a 2018 1st, 4th, and highly-touted prospect Victor Edjsell, who apparently StanBo is very keen on. We're not too crazy about trading to a division rival over in hawks, but it's a damn good trade for both teams regardless. This is the first time since 2001 that the Blackhawks have had two first round picks in what is a very stacked draft class. Also of note, Tommy Wingels went to the Bruins for a 5th/conditional 4th (if the Bs make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs or he re-signs with Boston). Not a bad trade considering Wingels is a UFA this summer. He's a local boy, so the rumor mill is saying he comes back home in the summer. All in all, a decent job done by GM Stan Bowman.
26 (25.67)	New York Rangers	-2	27-30-6	0-2-1	Well... The rebuild is real now. McDonagh's gone, Big Dick Rick's gone, Grabner's gone, Miller's gone, and my will to live is gone. I barely recognize this team as they are now. All jokes aside, though, our future is looking pretty bright. When you look at all the acquisitions we've made it actually looks like Gorton did pretty well. But while our future may look bright, our immediate future, the next couple years... It's looking pretty fucking miserable.
27 (26.13)	Montreal Canadiens	3	23-29-10	1-0-3
28 (26.29)	Vancouver Canucks	-	24-32-7	1-2-1	After a Trade Deadline that could, at best, be described as uneventful, Canuck fans don't have much else to look forward to this season. The Tank Watch is on, and the remaining six weeks will likely see a number of new players given a shot, including Deadline acquisitions Brendan Leipsic and Tyler Motte, along with NCAA star Adam Gaudette. For the most part, fans are already counting down the days to the draft.
29 (27.67)	Buffalo Sabres	2	19-33-11	2-2-0	With Eichel out and the season several months beyond over, Sam Reinhart has really stepped up his game; he has been playing with a lot more confidence lately. He and others are going to have to step up even more now that Kane has been shipped off to California for a second, a fourth, and a player who is neither the scoring winger nor the non-garbage tier defenseman that we actually need.
30 (28.04)	Arizona Coyotes	-3	18-34-10	1-2-0	For a team well out of the playoffs there wasn’t much selling that could be done. Gaining Darcy Kuemper and resigning Raanta will at least stabilize our backend. This team is 6-3-1 in the last 10. Now if we can figure out scoring some goals maybe this team isn’t as far out from competing as people think.
31 (29.17)	Ottawa Senators	-5	21-30-10	0-3-1	The shitty thing about EK65 not being traded at the deadline is that we have to live through the torture of will he stay or he will go for the next whenever the fuck something happens.

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William Hill lists the Boston Bruins as the 11/2 favorites to lift the Stanley Cup, followed by the Vegas Golden Knights at 6/1, Tampa Bay Lightning at 13/2 and the two most recent champions, the... Odds to Win the 2019 Stanley Cup according to Bovada Sportsbook. June 12, 2019. 2019 Stanley Cup - Odds to Win Boston Bruins -170 St. Louis Blues +150 . Bet on the NHL 2019 Stanley Cup Las Vegas Odds at Bovada Sportsbook. See the most recent 2021 Stanley Cup odds for all teams in the NHL; The Colorado Avalanche are the current favorites to win the 2021 Stanley Cup; See how the odds for all 31 teams shift over the course of the 2020-2021 season Stanley Cup 2021: Favorites, Dark Horses, and Their Odds to Win It All Ryan Bristlon - February 9, 2021 The NHL is tentatively expected to return this month and the first puck drop of the season is expected to take place Wednesday, January 13 with five games set to take place Find the latest 2020 Stanley Cup winner odds and NHL betting lines here at Vegas Odds. Who will win the Stanley Cup 2020? Get our best betting picks & tips here NHL September 27, 2020 Stars vs Lightning Game 6 Preview, Odds, Picks (Stanley Cup Final) 09/28/20 The Dallas Stars just don’t want to leave the bubble. Despite being 2-1 down up to 13:15 in the 3rd Period, they managed to get themselves a win after double overtime, pushing the 2020 Stanley Cup Final to Game 6. Odds to Win the 2020 Stanley Cup according to Bovada Sportsbook. Updated on September 24, 2020. 2020 Stanley Cup Tampa Bay Lightning -500 Dallas Stars +350. Bet on the NHL 2020 Stanley Cup Las Vegas Odds at Bovada Sportsbook. Stanley Cup Odds, 2021 Stanley Cup Final Playoff Betting Line 2021 Hockey Headlines & Best Vegas Lines Online 2021 Stanley Cup Odds to Win. There are several good bets to win NHL Playoffs in 2021. The current odds for the top contenders to win the Stanley Cup Finals today are: Colorado Avalanche: +700; Vegas Golden Knights: +750; Tampa Bay Lightning: +800; Toronto Maple Leafs: +1100; Boston Bruins: +1400; Montreal Canadiens: +1400; Philadelphia Flyers: +1600 2021 Daytona 500 Live Odds - The 2021 NASCAR season is here. And while the official start to the Cup Series season is the Daytona 500 but before we have Daytona Speedweeks with the Busch Clash. Bovada Sportsbook currently have Chase Elliott now listed as +170 Favorite. Live Betting Available Here!...

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