I’m going to go ahead and get out in front of this one: There are some big shifts in this week’s top five. I thought that last week’s nod to the next five might help settle things down, but it seemed to just make things worse. Oh, and one team I didn’t even have in that expanded top 10 is now unbeatable. I’m not really sure what to do here, to be honest.
While I sort through the options, let’s look back on simpler times, with our annual midseason update on how the rankings have gone so far.
Bonus five: Observations about this year’s rankings so far
5. No team has stayed in the top five all year long: This surprised me, since I feel like I’ve probably been too loyal to a few of the preseason favorites. But Boston didn’t make it in until Week 4, Colorado has missed out five times, Florida and New York had to wait their turn, and other teams have been in and out all year. The closest we got to a consistent contender was Dallas, my preseason Cup pick which held down a spot for the first nine weeks. That’s not all that long, but it’s the longest we got this year. More on that in a minute.
4. That’s certainly not the case in the bottom five: Three teams have been in every bottom five rankings all season long: the Sharks, the Blackhawks and the Blue Jackets. The Ducks got hot enough to escape for a few weeks in November, but otherwise, they’ve been there every week too. The only intrigue was in the fifth spot, which initially belonged to the Habs, rotated through a bunch of teams for a few months, and then saw the Senators lock it down for the past seven weeks. (Spoiler alert: That streak ends today.)
3. So far, we’ve avoided the dreaded “team that shows up on both lists”: The NHL is weird and unexpected things happen, but it’s pretty embarrassing to have a long-range forecast where one team swings so wildly. It did happen last year with the Devils, who showed up in the bottom five in Week 1 based on two games before establishing themselves as legit contenders. So far, it hasn’t happened this year, and it seems like we’re in the clear unless the Wild playoff push turns into something truly crazy.
2. Only eight teams have yet to appear on either list: We’ve had an even dozen teams in each ranking, leaving eight that have yet to show up on either list. That’s at the lower end of most seasons, and of course, we still have time for somebody to break through the rest of the way. But right now, the mediocre eight have been the Penguins, Capitals, Leafs, Lightning, Wings, Blues, Flyers and Islanders.
By the way, the Islanders, Capitals, Wings and Blues didn’t make a list last year either. And both Detroit and New York haven’t appeared in either ranking since the 2020-21 season when the Islanders spent one week in the top five and the Red Wings spent most of the season in the bottom five. Since then, it’s been three years and counting of the mushy middle for both teams.
1. Five different teams have held down the top spot … so far: The Stars, Knights, Rangers, Avalanche and Bruins have all been No. 1 in the top five. There’s been a lot more drama there than in the bottom five, where the Sharks and Hawks have passed the spot back and forth a few times. It’s the exact opposite of how last year finished, when two teams shared the top five honors while five shared the bottom five spot. Based on how things are going, let’s just say it feels like we haven’t seen the last of our new top five leaders. (Is that a spoiler for this week? I’m not even sure, I haven’t written that part yet.)
On to this week’s rankings, where I’m still completely lost at the top and we welcome back familiar friends in the bottom.
Road to the Cup
The five teams with the best chances of winning the Stanley Cup.
The Jets aren’t in the top five this week, but they’re definitely under a spotlight after Mark Chipman’s comments about how things are “not going to work” in Winnipeg without an attendance…
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