Around the NHL…
By Jason Gregor
8 years ago
Upon completion of tonight’s four games the NHL will reach the 60% mark of the season (740 of 1230 games) as they head into the All-Star break. It is interesting to see which teams have improved as the season has progressed, and which ones have fallen back after a decent start.
The Oilers have been near the bottom of the standings all season, although since November 26th they have improved averaging a .500 point percentage. I choose this date because Montreal Canadiens fans woke up that morning knowing they would be without the reigning MVP, Carey Price, and I’m sure none of them expected their team would drop from first place to 20th place in a span of two months.
The Habs picked up five points in the first three games without Price, but they’ve only managed eleven in their last 23 games. That is last place hockey and the Canadiens are on their way to one of the most epic collapses in NHL history.
The Habs were in first place with a record of 17-4-2 on November 25th. Price was 10-2 and the Habs were 7-4-2 in games he didn’t dress, but since he re-injured himself on the 25th, the Habs have fallen apart.
They’ve amassed only 16 points since his injury and now sit 20th in the NHL, three points out of a playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
Start of season to Nov 26 | GP | Points | GP | Points | Nov 26th to now | ||
Montreal Canadiens | 23 | 36 | 1st | Washington Capitals | 46 | 73 | 42 pts in 25 games |
Dallas Stars | 22 | 34 | Chicago Blackhawks | 53 | 70 | 44 in 31 games | |
New York Rangers | 22 | 34 | Dallas Stars | 50 | 67 | 33 in 28 games | |
Washington Capitals | 21 | 31 | St. Louis Blues | 52 | 64 | 33 in 29 games | |
St. Louis Blues | 23 | 31 | Los Angeles Kings | 48 | 63 | 36 in 26 games | |
Ottawa Senators | 22 | 29 | Florida Panthers | 49 | 63 | 43 in 28 games | |
Los Angeles Kings | 22 | 27 | New York Rangers | 49 | 59 | 25 in 27 games | |
Nashville Predators | 21 | 27 | Detroit Red Wings | 49 | 58 | 33 in27 games | |
Pittsburgh Penguins | 21 | 26 | Boston Bruins | 49 | 57 | 32 in 28 games | |
Chicago Blackhawks | 22 | 26 | 10th | New York Islanders | 47 | 56 | 31 in 25 games |
San Jose Sharks | 22 | 26 | San Jose Sharks | 48 | 56 | 30 in 26 games | |
Minnesota Wild | 20 | 25 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 48 | 56 | 31 in 25 games | |
Boston Bruins | 21 | 25 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 48 | 55 | 29 in 27 games | |
Detroit Red Wings | 22 | 25 | Minnesota Wild | 49 | 55 | 30 in 29 games | |
New York Islanders | 22 | 25 | New Jersey Devils | 50 | 55 | 32 in 29 games | |
Tampa Bay Lightning | 23 | 25 | Colorado Avalanche | 51 | 55 | 38 in 28 games | |
Vancouver Canucks | 23 | 24 | Nashville Predators | 49 | 54 | 27 in 28 games | |
Arizona Coyotes | 21 | 23 | Carolina Hurricanes | 51 | 54 | 34 in 29 games | |
New Jersey Devils | 21 | 23 | Arizona Coyotes | 49 | 53 | 30 in 28 games | |
Winnipeg Jets | 23 | 22 | 20th | Montreal Canadiens | 49 | 52 | 16 in 26 games |
Florida Panthers | 21 | 20 | Ottawa Senators | 50 | 52 | 23 in 28 games | |
Carolina Hurricanes | 22 | 20 | Anaheim Ducks | 47 | 51 | 31 in 24 games | |
Anaheim Ducks | 23 | 20 | Vancouver Canucks | 50 | 51 | 27 in 27 games | |
Philadelphia Flyers | 22 | 19 | Philadelphia Flyers | 46 | 48 | 29 in 24 games | |
Toronto Maple Leafs | 22 | 19 | Winnipeg Jets | 49 | 47 | 25 in 26 games | |
Buffalo Sabres | 22 | 18 | Calgary Flames | 47 | 45 | 28 in 25 games | |
Columbus Blue Jackets | 23 | 18 | Buffalo Sabres | 50 | 44 | 26 in 28 games | |
Calgary Flames | 22 | 17 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 47 | 43 | 24 in 25 games | |
Colorado Avalanche | 22 | 17 | Edmonton Oilers | 50 | 43 | 28 in 28 games | |
Edmonton Oilers | 22 | 15 | 30th | Columbus Blue Jackets | 51 | 43 | 25 in 28 games |
- On November 26th we’d watched 26.7% of the season, and some teams have made a significant improvement or drop over the next 33.3% of the campaign.
- The Habs have struggled the most, while the Ottawa Senators aren’t much better, amassing only 23 points in 28 games after picking up 29 points in the first quarter of the season.
- The Washington Capitals are dominating the NHL. They are on pace for 130 points and if they win tonight they’ll be on pace for 131. The NHL record is 132, set by the 1976/1977 Montreal Canadiens (60-8-12), and while the Capitals have the luxury of two SO wins their record of 35-8-3 is outstanding. They are the best team in the NHL.
- The Florida Panthers have been the second best team (points %) behind the Capitals during the past two months picking up 43 points in 28 games. They are 15-3-1 in their last 19 and all four loses came with Aaron Ekblad injured.
- The Blackhawks played 31 games in the past 62 days and still managed to go 21-8-2. The defending champs have played the most games in the NHL, in some cases six or seven more than other teams, and they will play 29 games over the final 75 games of the season. Fatigue won’t be an issue for them heading into the postseason.
- The Colorado Avalanche salvaged their season going a stellar 17-9-2 since November 26th, the fourth best record over that span. Semyon Varlamov allowed one or fewer goals in 13 of those games. The Avs were in 29th place on November 26th and eight points out of the playoffs. They are currently tied with Minnesota for the two wild card spots, but they are only one point ahead of Nashville and the Preds have two games in hand. The Avs are far from a lock for the playoffs, but an outstanding one-third of the season has them back in the hunt.
- Winnipeg, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Columbus have been in the bottom third of the league all season. The Jets were three points out of a playoff spot after the first quarter, but they are now eight back and look more likely to keep sinking than rebound.
- The Anaheim Ducks are still in the bottom third as well, but 31 points in 24 games has them two back of Arizona for third in the Pacific and they are only four back of Colorado and Minnesota for the wildcard. The Ducks have will have five games in hand on Colorado, three on Nashville and two on Arizona when they return from the All-Star break. The Ducks are trending up and look like they will recover from a ghastly first ten games.
- After scoring nine points in his first 18 games Sidney Crosby has rebounded nicely with 32 points in his last 29 games and he is now tied for 20th in NHL scoring.
- Most of the top scorers have remained in the top-15, although as expected their points-per-game are dropping, except for Patrick Kane. Only seven players are averaging one PPG now: Kane (1.38), Jamie Benn (1.16), Tyler Seguin (1.06), Erik Karlsson (1.04), Evgeny Kuznetzov (1.04), Nicklas Backstrom (1.02) and Joe Pavelski (1.02). Sadly, I expect we might only see five or six players with 82+ points while Kane is the only one on pace to surpass 100 points.
- The Oilers claimed D-man Adam Clendening on waivers from the Ducks earlier today. JW had a good write up on his career. I view him as a better puck moving option than any of the prospects the Oilers have in the system. Today, the best case scenario is that he can be a solid third pairing defender, who can move the puck accurately and efficiently and maybe in the future he can mature and morph into a #4. The Oilers have no young right shot defenders, so taking a risk on Clendening makes sense, but this is a small piece of a bigger puzzle. Clendening will join me at 2:20 MST on TSN 1260 today, if you want to hear him describe his game.
- Does this mean Chiarelli has another trade in the works? Regardless of the waiver claim, I believe Chiarelli was going to make some moves before the deadline. Clendening is not a top-four D-man, so he does not solve the major issue of the Oilers, but I see him as someone who might (key word) be able to provide the same skillset as Justin Schultz at a much lower cap hit.
- Chiarelli did not create the struggles of the Oilers, but he was hired to fix it. I didn’t expect it to be a quick fix, but the time has come for Chiarelli to make major changes.
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