![]() ![]() ![]() If they get everyone back, and one of their 13 goalies gets hot …Ĥ. Still, the Knights are quietly putting together a strong finish, and are the favorites to take the Pacific’s top seed. I still don’t remotely trust the goaltending (even though this was kind of neat), we’re still not sure what Mark Stone’s status is, and those Kings are lurking in the shadows like the unstoppable monster in a horror film. Vegas Golden Knights (46-21-6, +36 true goals differential*) - They’re back in the top five after a month-long absence. “I like your (hockey) teams, except the Leafs!”īiden says he doesn't like them cause the Leafs beat the Flyers in January #cdnpoli /01nxZ3l9Qrĥ. Joe Biden just took a shot at the Toronto Maple Leafs in his speech to Parliament Me: Modern society has become so fractured and hyper-partisan that there is literally nothing any major politician could say that would bring us all together in a spirit of unity and togetherness. The five teams with the best chances of winning the Stanley Cup. (And if you’re a fan of one of these teams and you’re mad at me, just know that they finished sixth every single week.) Or they won’t, and we can all blame him for secretly holding them back. And lately, they’re even doing it without Kirill Kaprizov. They’ve somewhat quietly emerged as a Central front-runner, which would also make them conference favorites. So here they are, the best of the not-quite-best. Minnesota Wild - As longtime readers know, the only time the Wild ever top any sort of ranking is when it’s for being in the middle. Still, when Igor Shesterkin and friends are beating the young Devils in five in Round 1, try to look surprised.ġ. What can I say, we all know sportswriters are biased against big-market Eastern teams. But no, they’ve yet to appear, despite being the defending division champs with a ton of talent and big-name deadline reinforcements. ![]() New York Rangers - I had to double-check because this feels like a team that I would have snuck in at least once or twice. For what it’s worth, the other rankings are getting on board.Ģ. Mix in the fact that we’ll presumably only see Stuart Skinner in the playoffs, and the Oilers start to look like a team that will be good enough to go on a run that will seem predictable once it’s happening. Edmonton Oilers - They’re a deeply flawed team, but Connor McDavid is a very scary man and he’s angry. The disrespect never ends, and at this point maybe that’s how Kings fans like it.ģ. And yet here we are again, with (spoiler alert) a different Pacific team slipping into the top five while the Kings aren’t even the top division team on this consolation prize list. We highlighted them two weeks ago, and they’ve only been better since. Los Angeles Kings - They just keep rolling along. If and when Mathew Barzal makes it back, would you want to face them in Round 1?Ĥ. New York Islanders - It’s still possible that they miss the playoffs, but they’ve been reasonably consistent and have the best goaltender in the league. Top five teams that haven’t cracked the top five this seasonĥ. But today, let’s offer up some accolades to the best five teams that haven’t found a spot even once all season long. We’ve had good teams like the Leafs, Stars and Lightning show up on the list from time to time. Let’s focus on a few of those good teams that haven’t cracked the top five all year long. There are always more than five real contenders in the parity era, after all, and even if these teams aren’t chasing down the Bruins, they still deserve some respect. But it does mean some teams might not be getting the attention they deserve, especially in the top five. That’s life with a long-term view as the long term becomes near term, it shouldn’t be fluctuating all that much. ![]()
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