Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporterNov 17, 2023, 06:30 AM ET
CloseKristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.
There have been some significant surprises during the 2023-24 NHL season thus far: the Edmonton Oilers being the first team to fire its head coach (thanks to hanging out near the bottom of the standings); the Vegas Golden Knights encountering anything but a Stanley Cup hangover; the Vancouver Canucks being all over the scoring leaderboard and early-season awards ballots.
What have been the biggest positive surprises for each team? That’s what we aim to explore this week, along with unveiling a new 1-32 order in the Power Rankings, led by a new team at No. 1.
How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors each send in a 1-32 poll based on the games through Wednesday, which generates our master list here.
Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the previous edition, published Nov. 10. Points percentages are through Thursday’s games.
Previous ranking: 2
Points percentage: 86.67%
Next seven days: vs. MTL (Nov. 18), @ TB (Nov. 20), @ FLA (Nov. 22)
Boston surprised us all — again! — by rocketing up the standings and then refusing to budge. The Bruins defied all preseason predictions and projections about their age and depth and loss of key personnel. Boston is a beast once more. We should have seen that coming.
Previous ranking: 1
Points percentage: 79.41%
Next seven days: @ PHI (Nov. 18), @ PIT (Nov. 19), @ DAL (Nov. 22)
Vegas has been almost entirely healthy to start this season — and frankly, that’s a surprise. Has any team dealt with compounding injuries like the Golden Knights’ in seasons past? In the early going this season, Vegas is at basically full strength — and holds a top spot in the standings to prove it.
Previous ranking: 3
Points percentage: 82.14%
Next seven days: @ NJ (Nov. 18), @ DAL (Nov. 20), @ PIT (Nov. 22)
New York is enjoying some of Jonathan Quick’s best work in years — and that’s a surprise. Less…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/38914356/nhl-power-rankings-2023-2024-best-teams-standings-surprises
Author : Kristen Shilton
Publish date : 2023-11-17 11:05:51
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