NHL Top 10: Feb. 8
NHL action is back after the brief hiatus due to the All-Star Game. We’re closing in on the trade deadline and teams are getting ready for their playoff push. Which teams round out the top 10 this week?
10. Los Angeles Kings
The Kings are tied for first in the Pacific Division with the Seattle Kraken, as both teams have 63 points, but LA has four more games played. Leading the way for the Kings is Kevin Fiala who is a point-per-game player with 53 points in 53 games.
Phoenix Copley has been a surprise this year between the pipes. 15-3-1 with a 2.92 goals against average and .897 save percentage. Not impressive numbers, but good enough to keep the Kings in games and get wins.
9. Seattle Kraken
The leaders of the Pacific with games in hand. A bad inaugural season to a powerhouse in the span of a year, the Kraken have been very impressive. Martin Jones is in the same boat as Copley, not having impressive stats but he’s getting the wins.
The whole roster produces points and rolling all four lines will help down the stretch and in the playoffs.
8. New York Rangers
The Rangers are third in the Metropolitan Division with a four-point cushion from the wild card. Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibjanejad both lead the team with 52 points, and Igor Shesterkin has had another great year in the crease. Philip Chytil has been very underrated with 31 points in 42 games.
Rangers are in contention for Timo Meier, and adding him to the lineup will make an already dangerous offense even more lethal.
7. Winnipeg Jets
The Jets keep on flying with the great year they’ve had. Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey and Pierre-Luc Dubois have been dominating the scoresheet all season long. Connor Hellebuyck will most likely be a Vezina Trophy finalist with his .923 save percentage and 2.45 goals against average.
A Winnipeg native could be coming home this deadline. Jonathan Toews will be a target at the deadline, and with the Blackhawks having a lot of cap space, that $10.5 million contract shouldn’t be a problem.
6. Tampa Bay Lightning
The Bolts suffered an ugly 7-1 loss to their cross-state rival Florida Panthers, but one loss doesn’t take away how good the team has been this year. Nikita Kucherov has 73 points, 17 more than the next closest guy on his team.
Andrei Vasilevskiy is having another Andrei-Vasilevskiy type year with a 2.63 GAA and .916 SV%.
5. Dallas Stars
Jason Robertson is good just in case you didn’t know. He’s got 67 points on the year, 33 of which are goals. Joe Pavelski is aging like fine wine, having 48 points in 52 games, and Jake Oettinger has been fantastic as well.
Players like them are why Dallas is first in the Central Division with three more points than the second-place Jets.
4. Toronto Maple Leafs
The Auston Matthews-less Leafs will continue to try to find a way to succeed after the star player’s injury. William Nylander leads the team in goals with 28 and Mitch Marner leads with 60 points.
After some questionable goaltending decisions in the offseason, the tandem of Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray has been pretty good. Both goalies have a save percentage of just over .910 and a goals against average under three.
3. New Jersey Devils
The young guns aren’t slowing down just yet. Jack Hughes has arguably turned into a superstar with 35 goals and 67 points. Jesper Bratt, Dougie Hamilton, and Nico Hischier have been on the scoresheet almost every night.
Vitek Vanacek might also have a case for the Vezina Trophy with his .916 save percentage and 2.34 goals against average. The Devils are another team looking at Timo Meier, and they have the prospect pool to get it done.
2. Carolina Hurricanes
Raleigh, your team is on a seven game winning streak and controlling the Metro. They have stars like Martin Necas, Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, and 2017 Brent Burns. Fans keep coming to their games and they rarely leave disappointed.
The Canes are chasing Boston down for the No. 1 spot in the league, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they overtake the Bruins at this point.
1. Boston Bruins
After a small skid, the Bruins are back to their winning ways. Though they are now only seven points up on Carolina, they are still on a record-breaking pace. David Pastrnak has 72 points on the year and 38 goals. Linus Ullmark looks like the Vezina favorite with his .937 save percentage and 1.90 goals against average.
This looks like Boston’s last chance to win before seeing the departure of players like Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Anything less than a Stanley Cup would be disappointing.
Anthony Desher is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email acd5698@psu.edu.
