February NHL News, Standings and Opinion (Week of 2/1)
By Jim Lynch
The NHL Season is already in February! I cannot believe how fast the year is going. The way the standings are shaking up the playoffs are going to have some pretty good series right off the bat. January was a busy month around the NHL, the All-Star Game rosters were introduced, the new schedule for February and March was introduced, and the league is now one month closer to the postseason.
We now have over 50 percent of the season done. We now have an understanding of the top five defensemen in the league and have our eyes on a few goalies as favorites for the Vezina Trophy. This year has been great, and there has been a lot of change around the league during the first half.
The Montreal Canadiens have a new general manager, the Vancouver Canucks have a new coach, and the New York Rangers added a jersey number to the rafters. There has been a lot of great news around the league that has led to some fun results on the ice. A lot of the fun on the ice does go through one team, the Anaheim Ducks.
The Anaheim Ducks are having an amazing year. They find themselves in second place within the Pacific Division and have created some amazing highlight-reel goals, primarily through one player, Trevor Zegras.
Check out this goal from earlier this year in December:
And this one from just a few days ago in Montreal:
Top News In The Atlantic Division:
Jonathan Huberdeau leads the league in points entering February. He has passed up players like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl that had the top spots locked earlier this year. The race is still really close, and it will be interesting to see who will lead the charge by the end of the year.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are continuing to be a real threat within the NHL despite losing so many important pieces of their championship run the past few years. Right now their potential first-round matchup would be against the Toronto Maple Leafs, boy wouldn’t that be an amazing series for fans around the league.
Top News Around The Metropolitan Division:
I think the big thing everyone cares about right now has to be Alex Ovechkin and his scoring race. Ovechkin currently has 29 goals on the year which is behind Leon Draisaitl and Chris Kreider who both have 31. Ovechkin has been the player of the year continuing to score amazing goals, and hopefully, he continues to lead the charge in February.
Top News Around The Central Division:
The Nashville Predators‘ rise and dominance in the standings has been some of the most surprising news within the Central. After falling in the first round last year to the Carolina Hurricanes it seemed like it was time to throw in the towel but David Poile and the rest of the crew continue to get another chance at a Stanley Cup.
This could be the first year in a long time that the Central Division doesn’t send four teams to the postseason. The Pacific Division definitely is a weak division compared to the central, but if they continue to get good performances out of teams like Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose then maybe the Pacific will hold both of the wild cards this year.
Top News Around The Pacific Division:
Let’s be honest the biggest news in the Pacific has to be Jack Eichel. Chances are the Vegas Golden Knights are going to have Jack Eichel on the ice sooner rather than later, and it will be interesting to see how they work that out with the salary cap.
In other big news, the fall of the Edmonton Oilers in the past two months has been tough to see for fans of the Oilers. How they head forward with the trade deadline coming up will be interesting to see, the Oilers have two of the best players in the league, and they are wasting their prime.
Eastern Conference Standings (Wins-Losses-Points) [As of 2/1/22]
Atlantic
Florida Panthers: 32-9-5
Tampa Bay Lightning: 29-10-6
Toronto Maple Leafs: 28-10-3
Boston Bruins: 25-14-3
Detroit Red Wings: 20-20-6
Buffalo Sabres: 14-23-7
Ottawa Senators: 14-21-4
Montreal Canadiens: 8-29-7
Metropolitan
Carolina Hurricanes: 31-9-2
New York Rangers: 29-13-4
Pittsburgh Penguins: 27-11-7
Washington Capitals: 24-12-9
Columbus Blue Jackets: 20-22-1
New York Islanders: 15-16-6
Philadelphia Flyers: 14-22-8
New Jersey Devils: 15-24-5
Western Conference Standings (Wins-Losses-Points) [As of 2/1/22]
Central
Colorado Avalanche: 32-8-3
Nashville Predators: 27-14-4
Minnesota Wild: 27-10-3
St. Louis Blues: 26-13-5
Dallas Stars: 23-17-2
Winnipeg Jets: 18-16-7
Chicago Blackhawks: 16-22-7
Arizona Coyotes: 10-29-4
Pacific
Vegas Golden Knights: 26-16-3
Anaheim Ducks: 23-16-9
Los Angeles Kings: 23-16-7
Calgary Flames: 21-13-6
Edmonton Oilers: 22-16-3
San Jose Sharks: 22-20-3
Vancouver Canucks: 20-19-6
Seattle Kraken: 14-26-4
Notable Bullet Points Coming Up:
The NHL is heading to Vegas! The All-Star Game is this coming weekend on Saturday, February 5th in Las Vegas. The event is scheduled to kick off at 3 PM ET on ABC or ESPN+. Fans will also want to check out the skills competition this coming Friday, February 4th to see some of the best players around compete in competitions like the shootout challenge and the hardest shot.