After only one week of action, an elite group of teams have already begun to seperate themselves from the pack. Tampa Bay, Detroit, Montreal, Chicago and the New York Rangers make up the top five teams that are looking like Stanley Cup contenders, but what about the rest of the NHL?
1. Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1-0
They might have lost a game, but the Lightning has to be seen as the most complete team in the league. They have already proven they can win low scoring (4-1 against Buffalo), high scoring (6-3 against Boston) and close (OT against Philly) games. Victor Hedman is putting up an assist a game right now, and could be heading towards his best season yet.
2. Detroit Red Wings 3-0-0
They won the most important game of the season so far, handing Tampa Bay their only loss. Henrik Zetterberg, who has 7 points this season, was the first star. The Red Wings may have the rookie of the year in Dylan Larkin, who leads the league in +/-.
3. Montreal Canadians 4-0-0
They have the most points in the league right now with four wins. A lot of that has to do with the play of new captain Max Pacioretty, who already has four goals and six points. The best player on the planet right now could be Carey Price, who is undefeated in net so far this year.
4. Chicago Blackhawks 2-1-0
Despite a rocky offseason, the Blackhawks have proven that they will not allow distractions to lead to a rough start. Patrick Kane has been electric, scoring three goals and putting up six points.
5. New York Rangers 3-1-0
The Rangers were the team to hand the Blackhawks their only defeat. Oscar Lindberg is up there with Dylan Larkin as the best rookies in the NHL right now. Their game against Montreal could allow them to move further into the top five.
6. Vancouver Canucks 3-0-1
Their seven points makes them the top team in the west right now. In their first game, they make a statement by blowing out the up and coming Calgary Flames 5-1. They then disposed of supposed Western Conference powerhouses Anaheim and Los Angeles. Brandon Prust has been a great pick up so far, proving grit and three points for the Canucks.
7. Nashville Predators 3-0-0
They have done a great job of taking advantage of an easy early schedule. Carolina, Edmonton and New Jersey are not expected to make the playoffs, but it is easy to fall into trap games. This Thursday, the Predators will get their biggest test so far this season against the New York Islanders.
8. San Jose Sharks 3-0-0
Martin Jones has been a revelation so far this season for the Sharks. In three games, he has only allowed one goal. The two shutouts came against Anaheim and Los Angeles. They are 2nd in GPG and 1st in GAA, further proving they are the hottest team in the NHL right now.
9. Minnesota Wild 2-0-0
Zach Parise is leading the charge this year for the Wild. In only two games, Parise has four goals in the Wilds first two games, including a hat trick against Colorado. The Wild have a great opportunity to move up in the top 10 because the teams they are playing next week aren’t off to great starts.
10. Anaheim Ducks 0-1-1
While it is true the Ducks have no wins right now, they have only played in two games and have been snake bitten. Their loss against the Canucks in a shootout easily could have gone their way if they had just a little more luck. They need to start winning games, though, if they want to stay in the top 10.
11. Dallas Stars 2-1-0
The Stars are a team that entered the season with a lot of expectations after arguably the busiest off season in the NHL. Jason Spezza leads the way after scoring a hat trick against Edmonton. The team also has an impressive shutout against Pittsburg and will get a chance to crack the top 10 against Tampa Bay.
12. Winnipeg Jets 3-1-0
The Winnipeg Jets have had an impressive start to the season. They have three wins, with their most impressive one against the New York Rangers. They are tied for the lead in the ultra competitive Central Division and could definitely crack the top 10 if they continue to out play the teams already in the top 10.
13. Florida Panthers 2-1-0
Their 7-1 route of the Flyers was a massive statement game from a team that has been getting closer and closer to a playoff spot. Young players such as Aaron Ekblad and Aleksander Barkov have gotten off to quick starts. Jaromir Jagr is playing at a point a game level, which is even more impressive considering he is 43 years old.
14. St Louis Blues 2-1-0
Vladimir Tarasenko leads the team with 2 goals and 4 points. The Blues have a couple wins, but those wins came against teams that haven’t gotten off to good starts. Their game against Vancouver will be a good early season measure of how good they really are.
15. Colorado Avalanche 1-1-0
Both of the Avalanches games this season have been high scorers. They will need to sure up their blue line if they do not want to fall down this list.
16. Arizona Coyotes 2-0-0
The Coyotes pulled off the shocker of the year so far when they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins. Max Domi already has a goal and an assist and is looking like the future for the Coyotes.
17. Ottawa Senators 2-1-0
The Senators opened the season with a couple wins against lesser competition. The loss to Montreal is not necessarily a bad thing, considering the fact that Montreal has the most wins in the league and it was a one goal game heading into the third. They need to continue to take advantage of easy games and play good teams tough to keep moving up in the standings.
18. New York Islanders 1-1-1
They were unfortunate in that they had to face the Blackhawks twice in the opening week. Their next two opponents, Nashville and San Jose, are good and will give the Islanders a good benchmark on where they currently stand.
19. Washington Capitals 1-1-0
They were able to win their game against the Devils easily enough, but ran into a brick wall when they played the Sharks. Braden Holtby has been shaky so far, and it will be interesting to see how he responds to the slow start.
20. Philadelphia Flyers 1-1-1
Michal Neuvirth’s shutout prevented the Flyers from going winless in their first three games. Giroux and Voracek are going to need to start scoring if the Flyers plan on being competitive this year.
21. Calgary Flames 1-2-0
Their slow start is one of the more suprising stories of the beginning of the season. Both goaltenders are at sub .900 SV% and will need to improve in order to avoid the Flames fall deeper in the ranking.
22. Pittsburgh Penguins 0-3-0
Bad does not even begin to describe the Penguins start to the season. They should rise when their star forwards start to produce like they normally do.
23. Buffalo Sabres 1-2-0
The Sabres have a win against Columbus to their merit, but they will need to be more consistent in order to move up the rankings. Jack Eichel has two goals this season and is proving why he has so much hype around him.
24. Toronto Maple Leafs 0-2-1
Toronto has had a series of tough opponents to start off the season. Their schedule gets lighter starting this week, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can pick up any wins.
25. Columbus Blue Jackets 0-3-0
An abysmal start to the season for a team that was expected to contend for the playoffs. They will continue to head further down the rankings if they cannot perform like the team that made the playoffs two years ago.
26. Boston Bruins 0-3-0
The Bruins have already given up 16 goals in only three games. They have the worst defense in the league right now and they could hit the rebuild button if the season continues this way.
27. Carolina Hurricanes 0-3-0
Carolina gave good efforts against Detroit and Nashville, but still came up short. Their schedule only gets harder from here, and it is hard to see them improving their record much over the next couple weeks.
28. New Jersey Devils 0-3-0
The Devils scoring difficulties have continued into this season. 1.7 GPG isn’t going to cut it if the Devils want to get out of the bottom of the Metropolitan Division.
29. Edmonton Oilers 0-3-0
They are averaging goal a game so far this season and nobody is surprised that they are at the bottom of the Pacific Division again. They have lost by multiple goals to Pacific Division rivals in each of their first three games.
30. Los Angles Kings 0-3-0
Mike Richards is sitting at home right now laughing. Not only have the Kings gotten soundly beaten in each of their first three games, but they also have to pay him until 2031. Jonathan Quick has a .861 SV% and the Kings are averaging .7 GPG. The best thing the Kings can do at this point is flush the tape of their first three games down the toilet and pretend that their game this Friday against Minnesota is their season opener.