Best team in nhl 19
All they’ve done so far is post the league’s fourth-best goals-per-game differential (+1.27) with goalie Philipp Grubauer (.934 save percentage) and defenseman Cale Makar (12 points, +9 rating) joining reigning MVP runner-up Nathan MacKinnon (14 points in 10 games) among the league’s elite players in the early part of the season. After last year’s big breakout - with the league’s eighth-youngest roster (according to an average weighted by goals above replacement) 3 - hopes were even higher in Denver this year with the Avs anointed as consensus Cup favorites. Nobody necessarily expected otherwise, but the Colorado Avalanche (7-3-1) and Vegas Golden Knights (5-1-1) are both living up to their lofty preseason expectations. Source: The Avs and Knights are legit - and so are the Bruins and Flyers The Carolina Hurricanes (6-1-0) and Florida Panthers (5-0-1) are also off to sizzling starts, 2 and while we won’t really know anything about the relative quality of divisions until the third round of the playoffs, the Central has the best combined odds of any division at producing the eventual Stanley Cup winner, according to my simulations: The Central has a strong Stanley Cup chanceĢ021 NHL divisions ranked by odds of producing the Stanley Cup champion, based on 1,000 season simulations using Elo ratings Division And in part because the Stars and Lightning have each looked so good, 2021’s incarnation of the Central Division is shaping up to be maybe the league’s strongest. It’s tough to see Pavelski continuing to do his Mario Lemieux impression all season at age 36, though.īut in a short season, a strong start - or even simply fending off regression - gives the Stars an edge in their quest for a repeat finals appearance. At best, Klingberg might have a John Carlson-esque career season Gurianov and Hintz are also young enough to break through to another level. If that all seems unsustainable … well, it probably is. The power play is scoring at a 41 percent clip. Forwards Alexander Radulov, Denis Gurianov, Jamie Benn and Roope Hintz are all above a point-per-game average of 1. How? Veteran center Joe Pavelski is currently averaging a Gretzky-like 2.0 points per game, while defenseman John Klingberg (two goals, eight assists) isn’t too far off that pace either.
But the big development from last year - when Dallas mostly profiled as a defensive-minded team that struggled to score - is that it now ranks second in goals scored per game despite the absence of Seguin, last season’s points leader. Netminder Anton Khudobin (.922 save percentage) has picked up the slack for Bishop, the other half of last year’s strong goaltending committee, and the Stars’ D has remained plenty stingy with shots allowed. Meanwhile, once it was finally able to start the season after a COVID-19 delay, Dallas (5-1-1) has been unfazed by any notion of backsliding. The Lightning, Bruins and Avs are looking strongĢ021 NHL Elo rankings and Stanley Cup odds based on 1,000 simulations of the remaining regular-season schedule and playoffs, through Feb. With holdovers like D-man Victor Hedman and Brayden Point also performing as well as ever, there’s nothing to indicate the Bolts shouldn’t at least be Cup co-favorites yet again. And it’s covering for the loss of Kucherov offensively with captain Steven Stamkos bouncing back from injury to produce 10 points in eight games, while center Anthony Cirelli (8 points in eight games) continues to improve, and Yanni Gourde (three goals, two assists) is playing his best hockey in years.
And yet, both teams have come out strong in 2021 so far.Īfter sliding just under the salary cap in its offseason signings, Tampa Bay (6-1-1) has gotten phenomenal goaltending from Andrei Vasilevskiy, who ranks fourth in goals saved above average in the early going.
Best team in nhl 19 series#
Dallas was also staring at the prospect of regression to the mean after riding three series upsets to a surprising finals appearance. The Lightning lost high-scoring right wing Nikita Kucherov for at least the regular season with a hip injury, along with defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (who signed with Anaheim), while the Stars were down goalie Ben Bishop and center Tyler Seguin with injuries of their own.
In our season preview, my colleague Terrence Doyle and I noted how both Stanley Cup finalists from a year ago - the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars - were potentially weakened for 2021.
The Lightning - and Stars! - haven’t missed a beat