One Month In - The Pacific

Finally we've made it all the way from the East Coast to the West Coast as we get to examine how the teams in the Pacific Division have been fairing so far this year.  This is a division that has been very strong and competitive for over a decade and seen many Stanley Cup Champions and runners up in that time.  So far this year the teams have truly shocked the hockey world both with good performances and bad ones.  They have also had the first coach fired this season as well just a few days ago.  So lets break it down.

Pacific Division Standings as of 11-6-18 @ 7:30 P.M.

Sitting in 1st place is not a team one would have expected coming into the season as the Calgary Flames are the current owners of that spot.  Now I had them as an honorable mention for most improved teams coming into the season.  And in my preseason power rankings I had them very low, at spot 24.  They had been my team to make the playoffs finally the last few years and make some noise but after disappointing over and over, I just had to drop them.  But alas here we are!  The Flames are currently tied for the league lead in goals for at 52. Factoring in on a majority of their goals are all the familiar names in Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, and Lindholm up front and Giordano on the back end.  After that there is a steep fall off though.  The PP is mediocre though at best and the PK is the worst in the division, once again, numbers that must improve in the long run.  The somewhat surprising play has been in goal though and it ain't in the form of Mike Smith (told ya).  Smith is basically a .500 goalie with horrible numbers (3.71GAA/.871SV%) but David Rittich has stepped in and all but stolen the starting role.  Rittich has been carrying the team like a true starter posting a 2.23GAA and a .927SV%.

2nd place may be a bigger surprise that the current 1st place team.  Sitting in 2nd are the Vancouver Canucks!  Who?!  Yeah...the Canucks.  This is a team that was meant to challenge for worst team in the league and fight for that number one pick this coming summer...but not so fast.  They're being led by what looks to be the run away favorite for the Calder Trophy this year in Elias Pettersson (Who literally just blasted a rocket past Jimmy Howard).  They're getting some solid production as well out of Horvat and Boeser who both have 11pts, but it wont be enough to hold them this high in the standings.  Their special teams have definitely been keeping them in it though.  The PP is 3rd in the division at 20.5% and the PK is 3rd at 82.1% .  These are good numbers and they'll have to keep them up since they're generally being out shot by about 5 shots per game at this point...a bad trend.

3rd place is home to the Edmonton Oilers, a team we would have expected to be there.  Carried obviously by Connor McJesus, he is basically willing the team to be competitive.  The Nuge and Draisaitl have been performing well too though, with 16 and 15 pts respectively so far.  After that though, another team with a steep fall of in production.  A fun one to notice though is Alex Chiasson who has 6 goals in only 9 games...they may have something there.  Lucic surely isn't helping the cause though with 4 pts and a minus-6 in 14 games.  And though the team has the best PP in the division at 22% their PK is the 2nd worst at 72.1%.  Even more troubling is the play of Cam Talbot. He has 5-5-1 record with a 2.93 GAA and a .899 SV%.  Rookie goaltender Mikko Koskinen has posted some solid numbers so far though, albeit in only 3 games.  With all 3 games being wins he has a 2.01 GAA and a .935 SV%.  Great numbers...very small sample size.

In 4th place we have the San Jose Sharks.  On of those long time contender teams that has never really gotten over the hump, they should still be feared and respected.   This is a team full of veterans and game breakers and it shows in the balance results up and down this line up.  Would anyone have guessed that Tiemo Meier would be tied for the team lead in points?  Probably not, most would be asking who that is.  The summers 2nd biggest acquisition, Karlsson, has not really performed to expectation though.  His 7pts in 14 games isn't bad, but as a d-man, that minus- 9 certainly is.But the team is 2nd in goals for in the Pacific with 46.  The have the 2nd best PP and PK with 21.3% and 87.8%, and that's good for the 3rd best PK in the entire league as well.  They're even out shooting their opponents by almost 10 sots per game.  If these trends continue expect them to replace one of these current teams in the top-3.  Note as well that their current position in the standings is not good enough for either wild card playoff spot at the current moment.

Floating aimlessly in their pond are the 5th place Anaheim Ducks.  This is a team that simple cant put the puck in the net...but they're not even the worst team in the division at that!  Their true leader in Ryan Getzlaf has 10pts in 9 games, but the problem is keeping him in the line up these last few years.  Officially Rakell has the team lead in points with just 11 in 15 games.  In goal both Gibson and Miller have post solid SV% with .935 and .932 respectively.  But the overall GAA are a little high at 2.36 and 2.44 each.  Reason being for the high GAA with the lower SV% is that they're allowing 37 shots against per game which is the 2nd most in the league.  But this is made much worse by the fact they're hardly getting 25 shots themselves per night.  For those keeping track, that's 12 more shots against per night!  The PP and PK are actually respectable though and that is what has been helping to keep them afloat at this point, but don't expect it to last long.

6th place is where the Arizona Coyotes sit.  They're in a weird spot mostly due to the fact that they were shut out in 3 of their 1st 4 games of the season but since then have been on a tear for the most part, in all their wins they've scored 4 or more goals.  The overall stat lines don't jump out at you as Keller who is their leading scorer only has 10 pts thus far.  Galchenyuk who is back in the line up after an injury has 5 pts in his 6 games so that is certainly helping the team as well.  Most impressively though is that the team has 7 short hand goals already this season!  To go along with that they have the 2nd best PK in the league with a 90.2% (90.4% is the best).  And they've allowed a league low 29 GA!  If you take a look at their goal tending too those are fantastic numbers!  In Kuempers 4 games he has a 2.02 GAA and a .936SV% and in Raanta's 9 games he has a 2.10 GAA and a .929 SV%.  If they can get their PP working and find a bit more 5-on-5 offense I would expect them to jump a few spots and push for a wild card spot.

Last years history making Cinderella story currently is in the 7th place spot, they'd be your Vegas Golden Knights.  After last years season where they all came in with a chip on their shoulder and out worked just about every team they played...things are going basically in the complete opposite direction.  They let a few key players walk, but also replaced them this off season with arguably better players.  On of those is Paul Stastny who is on the IR and is expected to be for a while.  The other key pick up in Pacioretty has not been able to meet expectation just yet either with only 2 goals in 10 games.  They're led though by the same trio as last year though in Marchy, Karlsson, and Smith.  Alex Tuch has only managed 6 games this season but has 5pts in those games.  The Flower has not been the same either and can you blame him? He is putting up a 2.51 GAA and a 901 SV% currently.  That's a bit below where you'd expect him to be.  As a team they're just snake bitten though.  They're averaging 33.5 SF/G but only scoring 2.3 GF/G.  All while only allowing 25.2 SA/G, but they have a 2.7 GA/G.  And while the PK is middle of the pack, the PP is 4th worst in the league.  Maybe if they can get the PP fixed that will fix most of their problems and get them back i the playoff hunt.

And finally team 31 of 31...your Los Angeles Kings!  They're the 1st team this season to fire their coach,  followed shortly by Chicago.  But lets keep this on the Kings shall we. A league worst (at the moment anyway) goal differential of minus-17.  A league worst in GF/G with only 28 goals scored all season long.  The 6th worst PP in the league at 14.9%.  The PK is actually middle of the pack at 81.1%.  In goal Jonathan Quick is out of the line up once again...don't think it will be much of a difference though as he was win less in 4 games with a 4.55 GAA and a .845 SV%.  Jack Campbell has taken over though and has been somewhat respectable with a 2.67 GAA and a .912 SV%.  Upfront there is not a single plus player in the line up and Ilya Kovalchuk is their leading producer with 11pts in 13 games. I guess the only thing left to so here is start analyzing the trade bait and find a fit for some of these guys.

And that will finally conclude the breakdown of the standings at this point and how each team has gotten to where they are now.  I know I may not have covered everything or every story line with every team, it'd be damn near impossible!  But I'll be damned if I didn't cover a lot more than I expected to at the same time! The only thing left to do is sit back now and watch the rest of the season unfold and see what changes and what doesn't.  As I've said, there certainly have been plenty of surprises both good and bad this season and it is only one month in, we're far from finished!

One Month In - The Central

Now we take a look at arguably the toughest division in the league, the Central.  This is a division that is home to some absolute power house teams and has nothing but contenders when the season starts up.  But with all these high expectations, inevitably many fan bases end their season in disappointment. So lets take a look now and see who's fan bases should be happy and who's are on the brink of tears.

Central Division Standings as of  10 A.M. on 11/4/2018

Well surprise, surprise.  The Nashville Predators are 1st in the division and beginning to pull themselves away from the pack just a bit.  Fresh off a shut out against Boston and new contract on his birthday, Pekka Rinne has been a rock in goal for them the last 3 years.  And with a viable back up, who could be a starter on any other team, Juuse Saros gives the Preds a 1-2 in goal that no other team can compete with.  They also have one of the best lines in the league right now, with the best nickname as well.  The JOFA line composed of Johansen, Forsberg, and Arvidsson has been nothing but spectacular. They lead the way in points on the team, in that order as well, and are followed by Turris who is almost a forgotten player but still has 11pts through 14 games.  After the 4 forwards though their big-4 on defense are all contributing on offense as well, led by Subban with 10pts.  They're not a perfect team by any means though.  Their PP and PK are abysmal at best. They're tied for last place in PP percentage in the entire league, and the PK is last in the division.  If they expect to make a deep run in the playoffs and be a true contender this must change.

The Minnesota Wild are holding down the 2nd place spot in the division, which shouldn't be a surprise, but still is to me. The Wild are like Boston to me.  I see good players and a competitive team, but I can never really figure out how they're always as good as they are because they just shouldn't be, usually.  Starting from the back end,  Dubnyk seems to have regained his form after a bit of a rougher season last year posting a 2.07 GAA and a .937 SV% so far this year.  Those are elite numbers, Stalock on the other hand has not been nearly as sharp.  On defense they're led but Suter and Dumba with 12 and 7 pts respectively but Dumba is 2nd on the team in hits with 30.  Up front Grandlund, Parise, and Staal (who must've found the fountain of youth) are all just trucking along and pulling the rest of the team with them as they are the scoring leaders, yet their is balanced scoring up and down the line up.  Their most important stat line though is their PK, which is 85.2%, good for 5th in the league and 1st in the division.  If they can improve the below average PP then they could be a real dark horse favorite to win the Central. 

In 3rd place, the last promised playoff spot, we have the Winnipeg Jets.  To say that the Jets being in 3rd place is a shocker is fair, but on the other side of the coin they are tired with the Wild in pts.  Though they have extra game played at this point, therefore the nod goes to the Wild for 2nd.  Though they are being plagued a bit by some "slow starts".  Laine only has 7 goals at this point, and scored most of them in the 2 games recently against Florida over in Finland. And Connor Hellebuyck in net has not looked like himself this year as he has a 3.01 GAA and a .907 SV%.  It is more important to the team that Hellebuyck finds his game than Laine, but both would be fantastic. In the mean time though they're led up front by their captain Blake Wheeler who has become a dish master with 14 of his 16 pts being assists.  Their PP is absolutely on fire as it is the 2nd ranked unit in the league with a 33.3%. Which funny enough, 33 is the number Dustin Byfuglien wears, and he is 2nd on the team in PP pts with 7...fun little connection there.  The PK is underwhelming though and definitely needs improvement. 

In 4th place and the 1st Wild Card spot in the Western Conference at the moment are the upstart Colorado Avalanche.  Led by one of the best lines in hockey with MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Rantanen, the Avalanche are showing some dynamic and explosive prowess on the offense side of things.  Did I mention that out of that top line, all 3 of them are in the top 10 of league scoring and that Rantanen actually leads everyone with 24 pts?  Well now I have. In net Varlamov has returned to the form of a Vezina Candidate post a 2.12 GAA and a .936 SV%.  As a team their GF/G is 2nd in the league at 3.7, while only allowing 2.8, a damn good ratio there. Their PK is tied for 6th in the league currently and the PP is 7th in the league.  A good place to be and a strong indicator of how the team is playing.  If these numbers keep up then look for the Av's to finish in one of the top 3 spots in division, not a Wild Card spot. 

The confusing Dallas Stars are sitting in 5th place. I say they're confusing because they looks like they have all the talent in the world and should have a breakout season any year now, but they never do. Currently though they're only 1 pt out of a Wild Card spot so they're not out of it yet, not by a long shot.  They're getting balanced production up and down the line up and are led by the big guns as expected.  Problem is they're not getting enough production...yet.  They only have scored 40 goals so far as as team and that is tied for last in the division with the Wild, and they're 2nd in goals against only allowing 34.  The most important improvements though come defensively and in goal.  While the PP is clicking along at a respectable 23.7%, the PK seems pretty dominate at 85%.  That's good for 6th in the league and one spot behind the Wild.  In goal Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin are both playing pretty stellar.  Bishop has a 2.32 GAA, while Khudobin has a 2.35 GAA, and both have a .923 SV%...not a bad combo.  If things keep up and they can find a bit more offense while maintaining the defense side of things they should reach a playoff spot. 

Sitting just 1 point back of the Stars sits the Chicago Blackhawks.  I would say this was unexpected, but to do that is kind of like betting against the house, you just cant count them out.  They have to much talent and have won to much to have two bad years in a row, even though they're in 6th place out of a possible 7.  Leading the way is the one and only Patrick Kane.  Say what you want about him as a person off the ice, the guy has some of the best skill we've ever seen in the game and probably the 2nd best back hand behind only Crosby.  They, like many other teams, have pretty balanced scoring but like the Stars, they aren't getting enough of it right now.  They're in a 3-way (giggity?) tie with 3.1 GF/G.  But unlike the teams they're tied with they're allowing 3.7 GA/G,  definitely not a winning strategy.  They have the 5th worst PP in the league at 14% and their PK is the 10th worst at 76.6%.  These are not winning numbers, expect the Hawks to fall away from the pack in the next month or so. 

And last but not least...or maybe so... the St. Louis Blues.  Now I'll admit, this one upsets me as I had them as one of my improved teams.  The additions of O'Reilly and Bozak up the middle make for some great center depth but it seems that only O'Reilly (who seems to have a nice highlight every night) has taken off.  Looking at the players stats lines as well, its hard to ignore the collective group of minuses on the team.  That's something of a shock based on the fact that as a team they're 2nd in the division and tied for 3rd in the league in GF/G at 3.5.  But the GA/G is tied for 2nd worst in the league at 3.9.  The also have the 3rd best PP in the league with a 31.3% and the PK is at 80%, which is respectable but needs some improvement for sure.  Obviously goal tending is the biggest problem though.  Jake Allen seems to have fallen off his horse so to speak as he has a horrendous 3.99 GAA and a .879 SV% which is the 2nd worst SV% out of starting goalie in the league, only Mike Smith of Calgary is worse.  Expect talk to heat up about who from the Blue could be Trade Deadline Trade Bait. 

And with that we conclude our look at the Central Division exactly one month into the season!  Its a heated race to the playoffs for sure and I would expect some shuffling from a few of these teams before it is all said and done.  There will especially be a heated race for those Wild Card positions as these teams are surely not slouches and the teams we'll look at next in the Pacific are not either. And boy oh boy are there some shocking out comes there so far, and I'll be back to examine them next!

One Month In - The Metro

So now its time to take a look at the Metro Division standings and see what been happening there.  The Metro is known as one of the toughest divisions in the league and has recently sent 5 teams to the playoffs in recent years as opposed to the Atlantic.  Will that be the case this year?  Time will tell.  But here are the standings as of November 1st.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are leading the way and is that any surprise at all?  Looking at the teams in this division does any team really match up with them?  Not really.  Led by the best player in the league by far, Sidney Crosby, the Pens are just trucking along like always.   But it is never just Crosby, the also have Malkin who is one of the scariest players in the entire league; and he sits tied for 2nd in points with 19 (5 more that Crosby).  Playing with Malkin is Phil "The Thrill" Kessel who has a respectable 15pts in 10 games as well.  As a team, the PK is 7th in the league at 86.2% and the PP is 9th at 25.9, both great places to be.  Only concern is that Murrays numbers at the moment, but I have faith that he'll find his game.

Sitting in 2nd place very surprisingly are the New York Islanders.   After losing their Captain to Toronto this off season, they're playing like he never existed.  The biggest difference in this team as opposed to last season is their Goals, Against (GA), which is the lowest in the division with 30.  Last year they could score 4+ goals per game...but they seemed to always allow 6.  Now they're putting the puck in the net by committee and keeping it out.  Goal tending has been by committee as well so far.  Greiss has slightly better numbers, but Lehner has the Wins.

Breakout team of the year?  The Hurricanes sit in 3rd place.  I had them as an honorable mention in my most improved teams post, and here they are!  Unfortunately I don't think it will last long term.  Goal tending has been an issue.  Mrazek and McElhinney both have under .9 Save Percentages and over 2.5 Goal Against, that's not gonna cut it.  The PP and PK are not good either sitting at 14.3% and 66.7% respectively (that PK is last in the entire league). They're fun to watch though.  Aho has been great and Ferland has been awesome!  But outside of that...not so much.  Look for them to fall back into about 5th place by Thanksgiving if they don't figure out those special teams.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are sitting in 4th, outside of the playoffs and looking in.  This is a team that was expected to compete for The Cup this year and make some real noise in the playoffs...for some reason there is a lot of inconsistent play out of the team.  That isn't very characteristic of a team coached by Torts.  Atkinson and Panarin have been the bright spots offensively for the team, and Duclair has quickly become the never fan favorite as well (just scored his wrap-around goal against SJ as I write this).  But once again special teams and goal tending are holding a team back and drowning them.  The PP is at 13.6% and PK sitting at 71.4%, neither are good enough.  In goal Korpisalo has managed to get some wins, but his numbers are worse than Bobrovsky's (who seems to be getting kicked off the force soon).  If they don't get it together quick and in a hurry expect Bob and Panarin to be sent packing at the trade deadline.

In 5th place we have the reigning, defending, Stanley Cup Champions of the Wooooooorld!  The Washington Capitals.  And so far the repeat doesn't look to promising.  You're getting production from all the guys you'd expect, Ovi, Kuzy, Backstrom (does he even have a nickname?  Backy?), and Oshie all lead the way up front.  And another thing that may not shock you, the PP is 1st in the league at 37.1%, though the PK is at 72.5...it could be better.  But the real trouble comes in goal as Holtby has not looked to great this year with a 3.6 GAA and .887 SV%.  And Copley is only better by .05 in GAA...The Defending Champs are in trouble.

6th place is home to the New Jersey Devils.  A surprise team who made the playoffs last year led by league MVP Taylor Hall, they are expecting to make the playoffs again and actually make some noise.  But after a shaky start to the season their time is running out fast.  They do have a positive goal differential but it is only a plus 2, and they're very strong at home going 5-1-1.  They're led offensively by everyone you'd expect in Palmieri, Hall, Hischier, and Zajac, but only Zajac is a plus player.  In goal Schneider is just coming back from hip surgery so we will see how he fairs as the season goes on, because when he is on he is one of the best in the league.  Kinkaid has proved to be starter material after last season and has been doing what he can to hold the team in the playoff race with a .910 SV%.  But the GAA is at 2.74 which leads one to believe that team is not playing well defensively as a whole. It is a bit perplexing to be honest as they have the 3rd best PP in the division and 2nd best PK, all while not being out shot really in any games.  Time will tell where they finish.

The Flyers, led by Gritty, sit in 7th.  But Gritty being the new face of the organization is not nearly as scary as their goalies performances.  To start on the goalies it is important to know that they're giving up the 2nd least amount of shots against per game in the division at 28.5.  That should be enough to tell you that the team in front of the goalies is doing their jobs pretty well.  So for your number one goalie to have a .893 SV% and a 3.10 GAA is unacceptable.  And this is really all that is needed to show that they're being held back and likely playing without trust and a belief that they can really let loose and take a chance offensively.  Giroux and Voracek lead the way for the forwards but it will help much more if Sean Couturier can get back to the level he was at last year.  But I would expect the Flyers to remain at the bottom of their division for the remainder of the year with that goal tending.

And finally we have the New York Rangers sitting all the way in the basement holding down the 8th spot.   And no matter who you are you cant but help to feel bad for Henrik Lundqvist.  One of the best goalies of his generation and at 36 years old now will likely end up without a championship to his name.  On a rebuilding team he is doing all that he can though and maintaining a .917 SV%.  The problem lies with the players in front of him.  While they're getting some decently balance contributions up and down the line up with 9 players having 5 or more points (up to 10pts at the most), it just isn't enough.  Their PP and PK are both in the middle of the pack but they're being out shot virtually every game which is not a good trend and has led to a goal differential of minus -11.  And this falls heavily on their high priced D-men.  They're all just clearly being beaten game in and game out and I would not expect that to change any time soon.  But with Skjei being only 24 years old, hopefully this will be a good learning experience for him.

And with that this wraps up the Eastern Conference.  As of now we have a lot of tight races for the playoffs in both divisions. And with only 3 weeks from that Thanksgiving date, in which roughly 80% of teams who are in a playoff position maintain it, teams will begin to separate themselves from the pack quickly.  And the nightly shows of speed and talent that we're seeing and the unpredictable-ness of the games every night are what make this the best game in the world.

But next I'm moving on to cover the Western Conference, starting with the toughest division in the league, The Central, before moving on to the Pacific.  So keep an eye out for those as they will be out sooner rather than later.  Until then, Arrivederci.