More than a quarter of the way through the season, we have started to see which teams are the most competitive and which teams have struggled. The Tampa Bay Lightning broke the Buffalo Sabres 10-game win streak showing that they are the best in the league. The performance by teams such as the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights in their past 10 games have shown their strength. Such players as Anze Kopitar and Neil Pionk have had major impacts on their teams this season.
1: Tampa Bay Lightning
Overall record: 18-7-1
Last 10 games: 6-4-0
Top Performer: Brayden Point- Poins has a total of 32 points, second on team behind Nikita Kucherov. He also has 18 goals and 15 assists proving to Head Coach Jon Cooper that he can be a score and playmaker.
2: Nashville Predators
Overall record: 17-8-1
Last 10 games: 4-5-1
Top Performer: Pekka Rinne- Rinne has been in all-star goaltender this season. Averaging a league high .938 save percentage, as well as a 1.77 goals against average, the lowest allowed in the league.
3: Toronto Maple Leafs
Overall record: 18-8-0
Last 10 games: 7-3-0
Top Performer: Mitchell Marner- Marner has a total of 30 assists this season, second most assists in the league. With scorers like John Tavares and Auston Mathews, Marner has been and will continue to be a crucial part of playmaking with this team.
4: Buffalo Sabres
Overall record: 17-7-2
Last 10 games: 9-1-0
Top Performer: Jack Eichel- Eichel leads the team in assists (25) as well as in points (28). Eichel also leads the team in shots with 103, 22 more shots than the next player on the team.
5: Colorado Avalanche
Overall record: 15-6-4
Last 10 games: 8-1-1
Top Performer: Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon- Rantanen leads league in points with 42, MacKinnon is right behind him with 41 points. Nathan MacKinnon has 18 goals so far this season and has 23 assists. Mikko Rantanen is leading the league with 32 assists.
6: Washington Capitals
Overall record: 14-7-3
Last 10 games: 7-3-0
Top Performer: Alexander Ovechkin- Ovechkin leads the team in goals with 18. He has a physical presence that is known throughout the league. Ovechkin is also one of the most dangerous scorers in the league, especially with the help of Niklas Backstrom and John Carlson.
7. Minnesota Wild
Overall record: 14-9-2
Last 10 games: 5-5-0
Top Performer: Zach Parise- The past five games, Parise has averaged a point per game. Of those five games, he has scored a goal in four of them. Parise could be heating up, tallying only 15 goals last season in 42 games, he has 12 goals in only 23 games so far this season.
8: Boston Bruins
Overall record: 14-7-4
Last 10 games: 6-2-2
Top Performer: David Pastrnak- He is one of the top scorers in the NHL with 19 goals, only behind Patrik Laine. Seems to be one of the best forwards on the Bruins at the moment, as he leads the whole team in goals, points and in total shots.
10: Winnipeg Jets
Overall record: 14-8-2
Last 10 games: 6-3-1
Top Performer: Patrik Laine- Laine leads the league with 21 goals this season. He has tallied 13 goals in last 6 games, including a 5-goal night in the Nov. 24 game against the St. Louis Blues.
10: Columbus Blue Jackets
Overall record: 15-8-2
Last 10 games: 7-2-1
Top Performer: Cam Atkinson- Atkinson has had momentum these last few games, averaging 1.5 point in last 6 games, netting 7 goals and 3 assists in those games. Atkinson leads the Blue Jackets in goals (16), and is almost halfway to his career high of number of goals in a single season.
11: San Jose Sharks
Overall record: 12-9-5
Last 10 games: 4-4-2
Top Performer: Brent Burns- Leading the San Jose Sharks, Burns has tallied 23 assists. He has shown that he is still a playmaking defenseman and is not slowing down, even though he is playing in his fifteenth season.
12: Calgary Flames
Overall record: 14-9-2
Last 10 games: 5-4-1
Top Performer: Matthew Tkachuk- This season Tkachuk currently has 27 points, 12 goals and 15 assists. In his two previous season, he has only had 48-49 points. Tkachuk is on track to have a career best in points during this current season, already almost having more goals (12) 25 games into this season than he had in 76 games played during the 2016-2017 season, where he had 13 goals.
13: Vegas Golden Knights
Overall record: 14-12-1
Last 10 games: 7-3-0
Top Performer: Marc-Andre Fleury- With the struggle that Malcom Subban has had this season, going 0-4-0 in all his starts, Fleury has stepped up to take 23 starts so far this season. Of those 23 starts, he has a league high 5 shutouts, more than he has had in the past two seasons combined.
14: Dallas Stars
Overall record: 13-10-3
Last 10 games: 4-4-2
Top Performer: Alexander Radulov- Radulov has only played 16 games so far this season, missing 10 games due to a lower-body injury in late October to early November. He has 20 points, 8 goals and 12 assists, so far in only 16 games, averaging 1.25 PPG. He could have one of his best seasons so far, as Radulov is seen as one of the Stars top forwards and will continue to be.
15: New York Islanders
Overall record: 12-9-3
Last 10 games: 4-5-1
Top Performer: Mathew Barzal- Tied for most points on the team with Josh Bailey, he has 21 total points. Barzal also leads the team with 18 assists. Ending with 85 points last season, Barzal won the Calder Trophy. Barzal is on track for a similar season as last.
16: New York Rangers
Overall record: 13-11-2
Last 10 games: 7-2-1
Top Performer: Neal Pionk- Only playing in 28 games last season, Pionk has started in 24 out of the 26 games the Rangers have played so far this season. In those 28 games last season Pionk only had 1 goal and 13 assists. So far, he has 4 goals and 11 assists in 24 games this season.
17: Detroit Red Wings
Overall record: 11-11-3
Last 10 games: 6-3-1
Top Performer: Dylan Larkin- The most points that Larkin has had in a season is 63, barely past the quarter mark of the season he already has 21 points and is on pace to pass his career high 63. Larkin has 9 goals and 12 assists so far this season.
18: Anaheim Ducks
Overall record: 12-10-5
Last 10 games: 5-3-2
Top Performer: Ryan Getzlaf- Leading the team in all categories, Getzlaf has 6 goals, 12 assist and 18 points. Currently in his fourteenth season, Getzlaf still can be an offensive weapon to his team that took him 19th overall in the 2003 Draft.
19: Edmonton Oilers
Overall record: 12-11-2
Last 10 games: 4-5-1
Top Performer: Connor McDavid- 1st overall draft pick in 2015, McDavid has been a point producer for the struggling Oilers team. The past two seasons, he has had 100-plus points and won the Ted Lindsay Award last season. Currently this season he has 34 points in 25 games, averaging a 1.36 PPG.
20: Carolina Hurricanes
Overall record: 12-9-3
Last 10 games: 6-3-1
Top Performer: Curtis McElhinney- Coming over from the Toronto Maple Leafs, McElhinney has started off his first season with the Hurricanes by winning seven of the nine games he has started. During those nine games, he has aveaged a .930 save percentage and 2.12 goals against average. Of his past five games, he has won four of them, all of which have come in row. During those five games, he has averaged a .940 save percentage and a low 1.6 goals.
21: Pittsburgh Penguins
Overall record: 10-9-5
Last 10 games: 4-4-2
Top Performer: Jake Guentzel- Scoring 11 goals so far this season, Guentzel is already halfway to the total he had last season (22), but in only 24 games. Only in his third season, he has cemented his place in the offense of the Penguins, even though they have been struggling a bit.
22: Montréal Canadiens
Overall record: 11-9-5
Last 10 games: 3-4-3
Top Performer: Max Domi- In his first season with Canadiens, he has made and impact in their lineup. He already has 11 goals so far this season, more goals than his two previous seasons with the Arizona Coyotes. Domi has a total of 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists).
23: Ottawa Senators
Overall record: 11-12-3
Last 10 games: 5-5-0
Top Performer: Matt Duchene- In his second season with the Senators, after being traded from the Colorado Avalanche last November, he leads his team in goals (12) and points (33). He is an offensive weapon whom the Senators have taken advantage of since parting ways with All-Star defenseman Erik Karlsson.
24: Arizona Coyotes
Overall record: 11-11-2
Last 10 games: 4-5-1
Top Performer: Clayton Keller- In his second season in the NHL, Keller came off a 65 point rookie season and has not slowed down this season. He has 15 points (7 goals and 8 assists) so far this season, leading his team. He is one of the Coyotes best offensive players and is sure to have a similar season as last.
25: Chicago Blackhawks
Overall record: 15-8-2
Last 10 games: 3-5-2
Top Performer: Patrick Kane- Having three Stanley Cups under his belt, Kane knows what it takes to lead a team to the top of the league. Kane leads his team in goals (13), assists (16) and points (29).
26: Philadelphia Flyers
Overall record: 10-12-2
Last 10 games: 4-5-1
Top Performer: Claude Giroux- Leading his team in assists (21) and points (8), Giroux is and his team are not having a great start to their season. In his past five games, Giroux has tallied 1 goal and 6 assists.
27: New Jersey Devils
Overall record: 9-10-4
Last 10 games: 3-4-3
Top Performer: Taylor Hall- After winning the Hart Trophy last season, Hall has proven that he is a high performing offensive play. He has 7 goals and 17 assists so far this season, leading his team in both points (24) and assists. In the past 5 games, Hall averaged a point per game with 2 goals and 3 assists.
28: Florida Panthers
Overall record: 9-10-4
Last 10 games: 4-5-1
Top Performer: Mike Hoffman- Originally traded from the Ottawa Senators to the San Jose Sharks during the offseason, San Jose dealt him to the Panthers. Now in his 23 game with his new team he is in second for points on his team with 23. He leads the team goals with 12.
29: Vancouver Canucks
Overall record: 11-14-3
Last 10 games: 1-8-1
Top Performer: Elias Pettersson- Currently having 13 goals, Pettersson leads his team in goals as a rookie. He also has the second most points on the team with 22 only trailing former first round pick Bo Horvat. Pettersson leads all rookies in points, making his run for this years Calder Trophy.
30: St. Louis Blues
Overall record: 8-12-3
Last 10 games: 3-7-0
Top Performer: Ryan O’Reilly- Coming over from Buffalo, O’Reilly has proven the Blues that he was worth the trade. In his last three games, he has averaged 1.33 points with 2 goals and 2 assists.
31: Los Angeles Kings
Overall record: 9-15-1
Last 10 games: 4-6-0
Top Performer: Anze Kopitar- The Kings are off to a bad start, but Kopitar is starting to heat up. In the past 5 games, he has 8 points, 1 goal and 7 assits, averaging 1.6 PPG. Although he is not on track for back-to-back 90-point seasons, he is going to end up as one of the top three point producers for the team this season.
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