Coast to Coast: NHL’s Top Contenders Starting to Show as Calendar Flips to November
The Florida Panthers have some elite company atop the NHL as the calendar flips to November.
As the calendar flips to November, the NHL’s top contenders are beginning to distance themselves from the rest of the pack.
The Florida Panthers made it clear they are still one of them, soaring off to a 9-3-1 start while earning points in nine of their past 10 games, but there are a few other teams in the elite upper class of the league.
Connor Hellebuyck and the Winnipeg Jets currently lead the league with an 11-1-0 record, with Hellebuyck picking up where he left off from his dominant Vezina Trophy campaign last year with an 8-1-0 record, a .917 save percentage and a 2.33 goals-against average.
He is joined in the (very early) Vezina Trophy race by Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson (6-1-1/.924/2.12) and New York’s Igor Shesterkin (6-2-1/.933/2.22), who both have their teams positioned to be contenders.
Minnesota has been a surprise to start the season after a disappointing campaign that saw them miss the playoffs last year, starting the season 8-1-2 with star Kirill Kaprizov sharing the league-lead in points with Sam Reinhart and Cale Makar (21).
The Rangers have arguably been as deep as ever following their Presidents’ Trophy-winning campaign, with 10 players recording at least seven points in their 8-2-1 start to the season.
The Vegas Golden Knights lead the Pacific Division with an 8-3-1 record, even after the departure of 2023 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Marchesault, with six players recording at least 10 points for them this season, including the emergence of 24-year-old Pavel Dorofeyev, who has seven goals and 10 points in 12 games for them. Stars Mark Stone (20 points), Jack Eichel (12 points), Tomas Hertl (12 points) and Alex Pietrangelo (12 points) have also kept that Vegas engine humming.
Those top tier teams are joined in the Top 10 by the Carolina Hurricanes (8-2-0), Washington Capitals (8-3-0), New Jersey Devils (7-5-2), Los Angeles Kings (6-3-3) and Dallas Stars (7-4-0), with the new-look Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs rounding out the playoff picture in the Atlantic Divison.
The Edmonton Oilers have managed to hang on to the tune of a 6-5-1 record with Connor McDavid out of the lineup with an ankle injury, even after a rough start to the season.
Washington has been the biggest surprise from that pack, with youngsters Connor McMichael (12 points) and Aliaksei Protas (11 points) off to hot starts and new additions Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jakob Chychrun bolstering a team that was swept out of the playoffs by the Rangers last year.
There is still time to solidified before Thanksgiving hits and the playoff picture becomes a lot more serious, but these are the teams to watch so far.
Must-Watch Games This Week
With the Panthers having a few days off before returning to action on Thursday against the Nashville Predators, South Florida hockey fans have a few quality hockey games to enjoy earlier in the week.
McDavid’s injury is a bummer, because the Oilers have a couple of quality opponents coming to town in the Devils on Monday and the Golden Knights on Wednesday. Perhaps that will be a good test to see Leon Draisaitl and their depth pieces can hold down the fort until he returns.
Tuesday’s slate features a few interesting games, including the good ole Bruins-Maple Leafs rivalry, a matchup between the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins featuring two teams who fancied themselves as playoff contenders but have seemingly had everything go wrong this year and the Utah Hockey Club taking on the league-leading Jets.
But the game to watch from that litter, at least in my opinion, is the Kings taking on the Wild. Both are teams that figured to be on the outskirts of the playoff bubble that are off to a torrid start this year, and both look to remain atop the Western Conference playoff picture. That game will be available on Tuesday at 8 p.m. on ESPN+.
The old Detroit Red Wings-Chicago Blackhawks rivarly is TNT’s Wednesday night game, and even with the Blackhawks near the bottom of the West’s playoff picture, Connor Bedard (3-9-12) is always fun to watch.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Hockey has a rather long-standing relationship with the Movember Foundation, where players often shave their beards into mustaches and raise funds to support men’s health — both for mental health and for diseases like testicular cancer.
It’s a cause that is near and dear to my heart, as well, so I will be participating in the form of donating 10 percent of the November earnings from PucksAndPalms.com to the Movember Foundation.
(And I also swallowed my pride and shaved my beard into a mustache.)
If you want to support a great cause and my work, upgrade to a paid subscription if you have not already. I will make it worth your while.
