Jets
Connor Hellebuyck simply retains outdoing himself. The Jets’ goaltender leads the NHL with 27.2 targets saved above common, and that is 9.03 targets greater than the subsequent greatest participant. His .858 high-danger save proportion is first amongst goalies with greater than 10 appearances. There’s nonetheless time for issues to vary, however I feel we will begin etching Hellebuyck’s title on the Vezina Trophy once more. 2 38-14-3
2

Stars
Accidents are piling up for the Stars, regardless that they hold piling up wins. Miro Heiskanen is now month-to-month after present process knee surgical procedure. That is horrible information for Dallas, but when Heiskanen lands on LTIR, that would give GM Jim Nill much more wage cap aid. Nill has already added Mikael Granlund from the Sharks, and he may hold loading up as Heiskanen tries to get better in time for the playoffs. 2 34-18-1
3

Capitals
With 0.1 seconds left within the Capitals’ win over the Panthers on Tuesday night time, Alex Ovechkin hit the empty web for purpose No. 878 of his profession. Ovechkin is now simply 17 targets away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time purpose file, and Washington has one of the best file in hockey. Issues could not presumably be going any higher for the Capitals. 2 36-11-7
4

Oilers
Evan Bouchard will get a repute as an all-gas, no-brakes offensive defenseman. Nonetheless, his five-on-five numbers do not actually assist that. Edmonton permits simply 2.23 xGA/60 with Bouchard on the ice in these conditions, and his plus-16 purpose differential is without doubt one of the greatest marks on the group. Bouchard has advanced into a powerful all-around defenseman over the past couple years, and that is made the Oilers true Stanley Cup contenders. 2 34-16-4
5

Panthers
Matthew Tkachuk has gone by some quiet spells at instances, however he has been very loud over the past couple of weeks. In his final six video games, Tkachuk has 5 targets and 5 assists. Tkachuk appears to work himself right into a lather because the season progresses, so I might count on him to maintain getting higher as he will get a whiff of playoff hockey on the horizon. 3 33-20-3
6

Hurricanes
Frederik Andersen not too long ago returned after a prolonged absence resulting from harm, and he is struggled to shake off the rust. In 4 begins, Andersen has allowed 11 targets on 95 pictures towards for a .884 save proportion. A type of 4 appearances was a shutout towards the Rangers, so maybe that is one thing to construct on. Carolina simply must solidify its goaltending as a result of that is certainly one of only a few query marks on this roster. 1 32-19-4
7

Maple Leafs
Toronto paid as much as get Chris Tanev final summer season, particularly when it got here to time period, however that call seems fairly smart proper now. Tanev has been a wonderful shutdown defenseman, permitting simply 2.12 xGA/60 at five-on-five, which is the second-best quantity on the group. He may be precisely what the Leafs have been lacking in earlier postseasons. 1 33-19-2
8

Avalanche
Exterior of Cale Makar and Devon Toews, the Avalanche blue line leaves lots to be desired. With these two on the ice at five-on-five, Colorado has a plus-9 purpose differential and a 56.1% anticipated targets share. When these two are sucking wind on the bench, the Avs have a minus-14 purpose differential and a 48.7% anticipated targets share. 3 32-22-2
9

Crimson Wings
Cam Talbot has quietly given the Crimson Wings some dependable goaltending. His .909 save proportion and 5.68 targets saved above common will not blow anybody away, however that represents an enormous improve over what Detroit obtained out of Alex Lyon, Ville Husso and James Reimer final 12 months. It is a surprise what barely above common goaltending can do for a group. 5 28-21-5
10

Senators
The Senators are pink scorching, and so is Jake Sanderson, who has been driving play from the blue line. Sanderson is using a six-game level streak with three targets and 7 assists in that span. On the entire, Sanderson’s five-on-five numbers look poor resulting from horrific puck luck, however he has elevated his sport as Ottawa pushes for a playoff spot. 6 29-22-4
11

Devils
Jack Hughes has heard your complaints about his inconsistent scoring. Following a two-goal efficiency towards the Penguins on Tuesday, Hughes now has 5 targets in his final 5 video games, which places him at 23 for the season. Hughes is monitoring for 34 targets, and that will be the second-highest whole of his younger profession. If he may ever creep nearer to 40 on an annual foundation, Hughes can be a top-five participant within the league. 4 30-20-6
12

Blue Jackets
There is no such thing as a justice on this world. With the Blue Jackets within the thick of a playoff race, Kirill Marchenko will miss vital time with a damaged jaw. He joins Sean Monahan and Yegor Chinakhov on IR, and Zach Werenski has been listed as day-to-day. If there’s any excellent news for Columbus, it is that the 4 Nations Face-Off will give these gamers an opportunity to get wholesome. — 26-21-8
13

Lightning
Six gamers have accounted for 135 of the Lightnings’s 180 targets. Nobody else has greater than 9, and simply three gamers have greater than 5. Tampa continues to be a really formidable group, but it surely depends closely on its star energy on the prime of the lineup. Will the Bolts improve their bottom-six earlier than the commerce deadline, or will they roll the cube towards deeper groups within the playoffs? — 29-20-4
14

Wild
Creating offense with out Kirill Kaprizov simply obtained even more durable as a result of Ryan Hartman selected to present Tim Stutzle’s head a Individuals’s Elbow into the ice. Hartman was suspended 10 video games, and Minnesota has now been shutout in back-to-back video games. The Wild need to discover a strategy to scrape collectively a number of targets as a result of they’re in jeopardy of falling again into the wild card race. 5 32-19-4
15

Islanders
The Isles have now received eight of their final 9 video games, and Ilya Sorokin is enjoying them again into the wild card races, as he’s wont to do. Since begin of the brand new 12 months, Sorokin leads the league with 10.2 targets saved above common in 11 appearances, and that’s accompanied by a glowing .942 save proportion. Sorokin has a Vezina-caliber ceiling, and we’re seeing it proper now. 3 25-21-7
16

Golden Knights
Vegas has now received three of its final 14 video games, and its offense has utterly frozen over. Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev have not had a depressing time discovering the again of the web, and it is changing into way more obvious that the Golden Knights have a depth scoring drawback. The difficulty there’s they do not have numerous wage cap house to make an improve, and so they haven’t got an apparent LTIR candidate to create some. 9 32-17-6
17

Canadiens
After an unbelievable run, the Canadiens have lastly began to chill off, however that does not imply it is all unhealthy information. Jakub Dobes, a 23-year-old former fifth-round decide, has been terrific in his restricted motion up to now. Dobes has appeared in seven video games, posting a .927 save proportion and 5.08 targets saved above common. He ought to steal some begins from Sam Montembeault down the stretch. 7 25-24-5
18

Flames
The Flames made an interesting commerce with the Flyers, taking a shot on Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee, a pair of 25-and-under gamers who’ve proven some potential on the NHL stage. As Calgary continues to rebuild its roster, Frost and Farabee will get loads of alternatives to indicate that they need to stay with the group for the lengthy haul. 2 26-21-7
19

Rangers
New York’s curiosity in JT Miller was one of many worst-kept secrets and techniques within the NHL, and the deal lastly went down final Friday. GM Chris Drury obtained his man, and now we’ll need to see whether or not Miller may give the Rangers the enhance crucial for them to climb again into the playoffs. This was a giant threat for New York as a result of Miller, 31, nonetheless has 5 years left on his contract at $8 million per 12 months. — 26-23-4
20

Bruins
Morgan Geekie has instantly become a goal-scoring machine. Geekie now has 16 targets in 50 video games, which is nice for an 82-game tempo of 26. Previous to this 12 months, Geekie had by no means scored greater than 17 in a single season. Can Geekie maintain this? His 16.5% capturing proportion is elevated, but it surely’s not too far above his profession common of 12.5%. 1 27-23-6
21

Canucks
With Miller now gone, we’ll see if group chemistry improves in any respect. I simply discover it arduous to consider that eliminating a participant like Miller, irrespective of how badly his feud with Pettersson affected the locker room, goes to make the Canucks extra of a contender. Vancouver does have just a little extra wage cap house to play with, so maybe the group goes out and makes a splashy addition earlier than the deadline. 3 25-18-11
22

Kings
They did it. With their 4-2 win over the Hurricanes on Saturday, the Kings scored greater than two targets for the primary time in eight video games. Anze Kopitar nonetheless has a reasonably massive monkey on his again, although. The Kings’ captain hasn’t scored in 14 video games, and Los Angeles desperately wants extra offense from someplace. The group is one level away from being out of the playoffs. 5 28-17-6
23

Flyers
It took simply over 50 video games for John Tortorella and Matei Michkov to have a shouting match on the bench. That is not essentially a nasty factor, however how these two personalities mesh might be one thing to look at within the early portion of Michkov’s profession. To Tortorella’s credit score, he has gotten numerous the 20-year-old in his first NHL marketing campaign. 1 23-26-7
24

Blues
One attention-grabbing observe about this Blues season is how a lot Colton Parayko has been contributing on offense. The redwood tree of a defensemen already has 12 targets, which is 2 greater than his earlier profession excessive. With Nick Leddy and Torey Krug lacking substantial time, it looks like Parayko has taken it upon himself to generate extra offense from the blue line. 1 24-26-5
25

Sabres
Tage Thompson practically obtained his head taken off by Stefan Noesen, and the remainder of the Sabres hardly batted an eye fixed. Even in the event you did not see precisely what occurred, at the least feign some anger. As an alternative, Buffalo waited till Tuesday night time’s sport towards Columbus to do a staged combat on the opening puck drop. I will be the primary to confess hockey code is even dumber than baseball’s unwritten guidelines at instances. 3 22-26-5
26

Geese
Mason McTavish obtained off to a painfully gradual begin, however he has began to show a nook of late. McTavish has seven targets and one help in his final seven video games, and people eight factors account for practically a 3rd of his 27 factors. His five-on-five impacts are nonetheless lagging behind his scoring, but it surely’s good to see McTavish beginning to affect the sport on the scoresheet. 1 23-24-6
27

Hockey Membership
Dylan Guenther made his return to the lineup on Tuesday after lacking practically a month resulting from harm, and he instantly made an announcement. Guenther tallied some extent on every of Utah’s three targets towards the Flyers, and he scored the extra time winner with one second left on the clock. Contemplating Guenther was on an 8-game purpose drought when he was sidelined, it was encouraging to see him producing now that he is wholesome once more. 1 23-22-9
28

Kraken
Matty Beniers and Shane Wright, the 2 gamers the Kraken hope could be their long-term future down the center, have had some hassle getting any traction this season. Beniers, now in his third season, has simply 12 targets and 30 factors. Wright, a rookie, has 11 targets and 29 factors. Much more troubling than their precise manufacturing is the truth that neither participant has had a lot luck with regards to driving play at five-on-five. 1 23-29-4
29

Penguins
Any group kicking the tires on Kris Letang forward of the commerce deadline must decide precisely how a lot fuel he has left within the tank. His 20 factors in 48 video games put him on tempo for the least productive full season of his profession since 2009-10, and his 48.7% anticipated targets share at five-on-five can be a pink flag. Letang nonetheless has three extra years left on his contract at $6.1 million per season. 1 22-24-9
30

Predators
The listing of issues which have gone mistaken for the Predators this season may be very lengthy, however Juuse Saros’ struggles may be on the prime of the listing. His save proportion is only a tick over .900, and he is allowed 1.56 targets above common. The 29-year-old goaltender’s eight-year, $61.9 million contract does not even kick in till subsequent season. 5 18-27-7
31

Blackhawks
Should you’re in search of one thing good to say about these Blackhawks, it is that Arvid Soderblom has been actually good in web, particularly contemplating the mess in entrance of him. Soderblom’s .909 save proportion is strong, however his 4.82 targets saved above common paint a extra correct image of his efficiency. — 16-31-6
32

Sharks
I’ve mentioned it already this season, however I am going to say it once more. Macklin Celebrini is such a particular participant. The 18-year-old scored his seventeenth purpose of the season on Tuesday, and his mixture of ability and creativity is a ton of enjoyable to look at. He’ll solely get extra thrilling as he develops and will get a greater supporting solid round him. — 15-34-7