Top 5 best and top 5 worst NHL teams following November
The five best teams in the NHL are really looking clear at this point of the year.
5. Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are one of the strongest teams in the league. They have a little bit of everything that makes up a Stanley Cup contender. Their goaltending with Jake Oettinger is the biggest part but they also have lots of stars up front like Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, and Joe Pavelski.
Of course, it is really helping them now that Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn are scoring in bunches again. Their depth is much better when these two are going.
On defense, they have some studs like Miro Heiskanen, Ryan Suter, and Esa Lindell amongst others. Everyone chips into their wins in a different way and that is why they are so successful.
Right now Dallas leads the Central Division with a record of 13-6-4 but the Winnipeg Jets are on their tail. We’ll see how that finishes.
4. Toronto Maple Leafs
It always feels like there is something wrong with the Toronto Maple Leafs but don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that they aren’t elite. With guys like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares leading the way, they are a great team.
At 15-5-5, the Leafs are really good at winning games and collecting points. Will this be the year that they overcome their first-round demons? All signs point to yes.
3. Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights are the best team in the west right now. They play a team game as well as anyone in the league with guys like Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Alex Pietrangelo, and William Karlsson, amongst others.
Their goaltending has been a question for a while now but Logan Thompson has been getting the job done so far this year. With all of this in mind, it is perfectly clear how they lead the west with a record of 17-6-1 (35 points).
After missing the postseason in 2021-22 and being one of the most disappointing teams in the league, they have bounced back this year now that they are healthy and playing so much better. Don’t be surprised if the West runs through Vegas this year.
2. New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are the most surprising team on this list (good or bad). They were one of the worst teams in 2021-22 and had another lottery win but this one was in second place. Now, they are one of the best teams in the NHL with a record of 19-4-0.
Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt are their big three and the defense is great led by Dougie Hamilton. With some good goaltending, they were always going to take a big step this year but nobody expected a step this big.
Of all the teams on this list, they have the least amount of experience so that will need to be considered when it comes to playoff time but for right now, they have been one of the best. They set an NHL record for the most ever wins in a November month with 13.
1. Boston Bruins
You can make a claim that the New Jersey Devils deserve this spot but the Boston Bruins have been the best team in the league since the beginning and the Devils just haven’t passed them yet. That doesn’t mean that they can’t but it just hasn’t happened yet.
The Bruins got David Krejci back from his year off and he is having a great year along with Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, and Brad Marchand up front. You also can’t discount how great their defense is led by guys like Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, and Brandon Carlo amongst others.
Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman have been brilliant in goal and that is why the Bruins enter December with an NHL-best record of 19-3-0. They play against New Jersey this month which will be very telling.
The worst teams in the league have the 2023 NHL Draft on their minds this year.
28. San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are one of the worst teams in the NHL right now. That is especially odd knowing that they have the future Norris Trophy winner on their roster. Erik Karlsson has been so special and if he keeps it up, he will take that award home with ease.
The Sharks may or may not be able to trade him but they will remain one of the worst teams either way. They can be exciting because they still have good players but they are 8-14-4 for a reason.
29. Arizona Coyotes
This is actually a good place for the Arizona Coyotes with all things considered. They are in dead last going into November and play their home games in a college rink. However, they have been playing okay at times to avoid being a complete embarrassment.
If they can stay the course and start making better decisions in the long term, they will be onto something special. For now, they just need to keep grinding. Maybe they will finally have some lottery luck this year. Every team in this “top five worst” section hopes the same thing.
30. Columbus Blue Jackets
The most surprising team on this part of the list is the Columbus Blue Jackets. After signing Johnny Gaudreau in free agency, it seemed like they would at least be an okay team while some of their prospects develop but they have been horrible.
Can you imagine the Michigan kid Adam Fantilli playing in Columbus? That would be a wild scene. It would also be fun to see Connor Bedard play for them as well. We will see how it all shakes out with them.
31. Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks are bad. They have the least amount of points in the NHL. What keeps them from being in last place is one team being worse at this point in time based on the way that they have played.
The Ducks have some outstanding young players to be excited about and a few of them are already proving it in the NHL. Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, and Mason McTavish lead that pack.
Their farm system is great and it is also only going to get better. They won’t be down here for long. Of all the teams on this part of the list, they have the brightest future as of right now. If they added one of the studs at the top of the 2022 NHL Draft, they’d be pretty much set.
32. Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks, like the Anaheim Ducks, have six wins. The tiebreaker for last in the league is how bad they play in their losses. They don’t have a goalie as good as John Gibson of the Ducks and their farm system is well behind them (although it is improving too).
The Hawks would be smart to trade Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews to try and get even worse. No team is more desperate to win the lottery right now more than them when you factor in what they have at the NHL level and in the system.
It is going to get a little worse before it gets better for Chicago. The good news for fans right now is that Kyle Davidson clearly has a plan to rebuild this team. It appears that he knows what he is doing so far. We will know more in about three years.
The NHL is a strange place sometimes because each list has some surprises but every game in this league is compelling because anyone can win on any night. It should be even more fun to see where each team is after December.
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