NHL Power Rankings: 1-32 poll, expectations vs. reality

Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporterApr 12, 2024, 07:30 AM ET

CloseKristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.

Less than a week remains in the 2023-24 NHL season, so we have a great sense of which teams overperformed, which teams underperformed and which teams were who we thought they were.

For this week’s edition of the power rankings — closing out the regular season — we’re comparing each club’s preseason expectation (using the standings point over/under totals from ESPN BET as a proxy) to their actual number of standings points on April 12.

How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors sends in a 1-32 poll based on the games through Wednesday, which generates our master list here.

Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the previous edition, published April 5. Points percentages and standings points are through Thursday’s games.

Previous ranking: 1
Points percentage: 68.13%

Preseason O/U: 105.5
Actual: 109

There were high expectations for this club, and Dallas stayed slightly above pace all season. It’s made the Stars into an odds-on favorite to compete for the Stanley Cup. Will they exceed expectations on that journey as well?

Remaining games: vs. SEA (April 13), vs. STL (April 17)

Previous ranking: 2
Points percentage: 68.75%

Preseason O/U: 103.5
Actual: 110

This team was supposed to be good; in reality, the Rangers have been great. Whether it was the coaching change or star performances (from Artemi Panarin in particular) or New York settling into a solid identity early on, the Rangers found a formula to set them apart.

Remaining games: vs. NYI (April 13), vs. OTT (April 15)

Previous ranking: 3
Points percentage: 67.72%

Editor’s Picks

1 Related

Preseason O/U: 108.5
Actual: 107

Carolina began this regular season in such strange fashion — allowing 33 goals in their first seven games? Yikes! — that we couldn’t help but wonder whether the Hurricanes were tracking towards disaster. Hardly. Carolina corrected to meet expectations…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39922130/nhl-power-rankings-2023-2024-best-teams-standings-final-grades

Author : Kristen Shilton

Publish date : 2024-04-12 11:58:42

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.