We are about two-thirds of the way through the 82-game NHL regular season with most teams playing between 55-58 games and it has been a doozy so far. With an average of 25 games to go before the playoffs, today I’m going to take a brief look at one team from each division to see how they’re performing and where they stand. All of these teams will likely make it into the playoffs, however at least one of them is cutting it rather close! That team is the Toronto Maple Leafs
Top NHL teams in each division
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are arguably underperforming in the regular season this year. They have finished the last few seasons with well over 100 points which is a solid record and they’re on track to hit that again this season, but their inconsistency has made all the headlines.
While it’s true that the NHL is the top league in world hockey and that on their day anybody can beat anybody, but poor results against teams that they should be beating, for example, they have played the Senators who currently sit dead last in the Atlantic Division 4 times this season and they have lost 3 of those games. The Senators are a team who have lost more games than they have won and has a negative goal difference too. So the free-scoring Leafs should have no problem with them.
Speaking of free-scoring the Leafs are currently at the time of writing this the third highest scorers in the league with 210 goals, however, their issue comes with conceding, they have conceded 176 when you compare that to the Bruins and the Panthers who both sit above them in the Atlantic Division, that’s 20-40 goals conceded more than the pair of them. However, the highlight of the Leafs season once again is Auston Matthews.
Matthews has played 55 games this NHL season scoring 52 goals and adding 24 assists to his tally equaling 76 points for the season. To put that into perspective, Matthews is on track for 70 goals this season which is just mutant-level scoring, the closest person to his goal-scoring tally for the season is Sam Reinhart from the Panthers who sits on 39 goals. That is an incredible gap! That isn’t the whole story though as the Leafs currently have three players on 70+ points, Matthews with 76 (52G-24A), Nylander with 75 (32G-44A) and Marner with 70 (22G-48A) that is crazy!
The Leafs should make the NHL playoffs, though their record in playoff hockey is nothing to be desired, So perhaps the fact they aren’t storming ahead in the Atlantic Division is a good sign. Demolishing teams in the regular season is all well and good but when it truly matters, they always seem to slip up. Could this season be different? Their form has been picking up towards the end of the season with them currently sitting on a 6 game win streak so Leafs fans will surely hope so.
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers currently find themselves atop the tree in the NHL Metropolitan Division, they also sat third overall in the NHL on 79 points, with only the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks boasting more with 80 points a piece. The difference is however that the Bruins are sort of fading away right now with a record of 4-3-3 in their last 10 and the Canucks are on a 4-game losing streak.
The Rangers on the other hand currently have the longest active win streak in the NHL with 9 games, however now I’ve written that you can guarantee they’ll lose their next game (away Vs the Flyers.) purely because that is what I do. I curse teams, but enough about that.
The Rangers have been playing some great, fluid hockey this season with Artemi Panarin leading the charge, Panarin has 32 goals and 46 assists this season giving him 78 points in total but behind him, they have Chris Kreider on 54 points (29G-25A), Vincent Trocheck also on 54 points (20G-34A) and Mika Zibanejad also on 54 points (19G-35A). While this isn’t astronomical by any stretch of the imagination, they are respectable numbers which show the team isn’t just being carried by one or two players, they are putting in a very solid effort all across the ice. Also shown by their respectable +35 goal difference.
The Rangers are favourites to win the NHL Metropolitan Division and for good reason, they’re a tight unit that seems to truly enjoy their hockey together, they may not score as many goals as some teams, and they may concede more than others, but on the whole, they’re a well-balanced outfit that will look to take this good form into the playoffs and hopefully have a deep run, who knows, they could have what it takes to get their hands on a ‘ship!
Dallas Stars
This is going to be a weird sentence, so bear with me. The Dallas Stars are arguably the team here that may struggle the most in the playoffs. Again, bear with me. The Stars find themselves top of the NHL Central Division on 76 points with a record of 34-16-8 in 58 games and they are scoring for fun, they have 213 goals this season which is insane. But with that amount of goals scored you’d expect an incredible goal difference right? Their goal difference this season is +35, they have conceded 178 goals which shows a very leaky defence. Will that hold up in the playoffs? Only time will tell.
Interesting to point out that much like the Rangers however, when it comes to getting goals the Dallas Stars are an incredible team that works so well together, they have 6 players over 45 points with no players storming lightyears ahead with the goals, unlike the Rangers and the Leafs. Their standout performers however are Jason Robertson who has 56 points (18G-38A), Matt Duchene who not only has an incredible mullet but has 55 points (22G-33A) and Roope Hintz who rounds out the 50s with 50 points (23G-27A). So again they’re a good unit who play what can only be described as ‘hell for leather hockey’.
If nothing else the Stars will set the NHL playoffs on fire so to speak, regardless of how long their stay is they’ll put on a show and they will be hoping their firepower is too much for whoever they find themselves against. But for me, similar to the Leafs, the Stars aren’t the best defensively and that could be a serious flaw. Then again, this is all irrelevant isn’t it because the playoffs are a completely different beast, aren’t they?
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are the final NHL team I’d like to talk about today, they’re currently on a 4-game loss streak, however, they’re sat comfortably top of the Pacific Division with a 10-point gap between them and the Vegas Golden Knights. They have a record of 37-16-6 in 59 games with 215 goals scored (the most in the NHL) while shipping only 164 goals giving them a hefty +51 goal difference.
One thing to point out however is one of their recent losses was a game against the Minnesota Wild where they shipped 10 goals. They lost that game 10-7 after leading 5-2 going into the 3rd period. So, while they’re on fire this season, they do have their moments of weakness, that could be put down to being too relaxed with a 3-goal lead however. Some teams get too complacent, and against a Wild team who aren’t particularly performing well this season, it’s easy to see why that would happen.
But how did they get here? Well, the Canucks have two guys with incredibly similar stats for the season leading the way, those guys are J.T Miller who has 76 points (29G-47A) and Elias Pettersson who has 73 points (29G-44A), but it’s what is behind them that sort of sets the Canucks apart from the rest of the league. They have Quinn Huges rocking a solid 69 (nice) points (12G-57A) and Brock Boeser on 58 points (31G-27A) backing them up.
The Canucks clearly have the talent to go far this season, perhaps the thing that is holding them back is the mentality? The mental fortitude to see out a game, instead of trying to coast and then giving up 7 goals in a period? That isn’t the sign of a NHL Championship winning team in my opinion. But we’ll soon find out once the playoffs arrive!
So there we have it, that’s a brief look at some of the leading or popular teams and their NHL season so far. All of these teams will, almost, certainly make the playoffs but who will go the furthest? As we’ve said, the Leafs and the Stars perhaps leak too many goals at the back, but the Leafs have incredible star power with Matthews Nylander and Marner, while the Stars themselves are more of a tight unit across the board.
The Rangers and the Canucks are just incredible teams, with some standout players but again they’re just super tight units, it’s all going to come down to mentality at this point, who wants it the most? The Leafs have a point to prove with their poor NHL playoff record, while the others are just amongst it fighting for a championship the same as everybody else. Not long to go before we’re in the business end of the season!
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