2023 Analysis
|
Team |
Average Ranking |
#1 Rankings |
Highest Ranking |
Lowest Ranking |
Standard Deviation |
Commentary |
|
The Favourites |
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| Boston Bruins | 2.49 | 18 | 1 | 12 | 2.26 | The Bruins not only won the President's Trophy this year, they set an NHL record for the most wins ever, so it probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise that they top nearly half of all entries... |
| Edmonton Oilers | 3.51 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 3.10 | Lots of people seem to think that McDavid & Draisaitl & co will finally pull it off this year, with the highest average ranking in the west and eight picks to win the Cup... |
| Colorado Avalanche | 3.81 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 2.45 | The defending Cup champions barely secured the top seed in the Central division, but they get the third-highest average ranking overall and three picks to repeat... |
|
The
Dark Horses |
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| Carolina Hurricanes | 5.59 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 2.74 | The Canes are the marginal favourites to emerge from the Metro division, but only get one pick to win the Cup... |
| New York Rangers | 5.86 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 3.41 | The only consensus first-round upset, the Rangers surprisingly enough also get the third-most picks to win the Cup! |
|
The
Longshots |
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| Dallas Stars | 7.49 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 2.73 | With the fourth-lowest standard deviation, and the smallest range between highest ranking and lowest ranking in the pool, the Stars may not have a huge impact on the pool outcome... |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 8.24 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 3.65 | Finishing second in the Atlantic, I expected to see the Leafs a little higher on this list, and certainly with more than just one pick to win it all...in any case, with the highest standard deviation, they will presumably have a significant impact in the pool... |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 8.68 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 3.52 | The Lightning are the lowest average-ranked team to get a pick to win the Cup, but it seems most entries have them losing in the first round... |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 8.73 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 3.64 | Despite finishing atop the western conference, only two entries have Vegas winning the conference, and neither of those has them winning the Cup... |
| New Jersey Devils | 9.78 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 3.52 | Most entries have the Devils losing in the first round, but four have them winning the Metro division, and one the Eastern conference... |
| Winnipeg Jets | 9.89 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 3.62 | Perhaps because of Canadian bias, and perhaps because they won that first game before the pool deadline, the Jets emerge as the top average-ranked wild card team in the pool... |
|
The
Faint Hopes |
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| Minnesota Wild | 10.57 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 2.73 | The Wild have the lowest standard deviation of the middle half of teams, indicating that several entries have them in the third quartile and their impact on the pool may not be significant... |
| Los Angeles Kings | 11.54 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 2.97 | Facing the Oilers in the first round, the Kings aren't given much hope to advance, although two entries do have them winning the Pacific division... |
| New York Islanders | 11.78 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 2.91 | The Islanders have the second-lowest highest ranking, and the third-lowest average ranking, so nobody's expecting them to make much noise this year... |
| Seattle Kraken | 13.70 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 2.39 | With the second-lowest standard deviation, and facing the defending Cup champs in the first round, there appears to be consensus that Seattle won't do much, with the exception of one entry (Erin) who has them going to the conference final... |
| Florida Panthers | 14.32 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 3.07 | Only one entry (Erin again) has the Panthers getting out of the first round, which doesn't seem so surprising given that they face the record-setting Bruins out of the gate... |