In this exeercise we are going to look at the top 10 teams in the NHL so far and talk about where we think the Washington Capitals rank. Thank goodness they're within the top 10 is all we can say right now before we dive into this.
10. New York Rangers: How odd is this having New York ranked 10th in the top 10? A year ago they'd be number one but things have been off with them since the Caps humiliated them on National TV before Halloween. But remember it's still way too early to count them out. What's kept the Rangers in the thick of things is the play of Igor Shesterkin who's 6-3-1 with a 2.62 goals against average and a .920 save percentage.
9. Toronto Maple Leafs: Seeing the Capitals on Wednesday night, don't underestimate these guys either as they've now won three games in a row. Auston Matthews has five goals and six assists for 11 points but has been out for a bit with an upper body injury. He's eligible to return on Tuesday Nov. 12 against the Senators per TSN's Mark Masters.
8. Vegas Golden Knights: Leading the Capitals by just two in goal differential, the Golden Knights sit at a comfortable second in the Pacific Divisoiin with Bruce Cassidy behind the bench. Familar face Ilya Samsonov, who was drafted by the Capitals in 2015, sits at 3-1-1 with a 2.95 goals against average and .906 points. On Friday night he did not play due to an undisclosed injury.
7. Washington Capitals: Your Capitals sit at a comfortable seventh out of 10th in the entire league. However if you limit it to just the Eastern Conference they're fourth which is a quality spot to contend for a spot in the playoffs and possibly beyond. We aren't going to speculate anything in November but it was vital for them to get off to the start that they did especially with the offseason additions. Now it's up to them to remain consistent and Saturday night's effort in St. Louis saw them play a full 60 and put up eight on the board. So the offense is already miles better than last year.
6. Carolina Hurricanes: Slightly ahead of the Capitals due to the recent meeting but like we said the season is young. A very good defensive team. Always a tough out in the Metropolitan Division.
5. Los Angles Kings: Off to a solid start under their first year head coach out west, the Kings have formeer Capitals in Darcy Kuemper and Pheonix Copley. Coplay only appeared in one game while Kuemper is 4-1-3. Ironically they're first in the Pacific Division albeit a little early. Anze Kopitar is still going strong with five goals and 12 assists for 17 points.
4. New Jersey Devils: The Devils are much better due to a better goalie situation. Jacob Markstrom is 7-4-1 with a 2.67 goals against average and a .902 save percentage while Jake Allen is 3-1-1 with a .904 save percentage and .904 goals against average. The Devils are also led by the three headed monster of Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hishier.
3. Minnesota Wild: The Wild sit at a comfortable second in the NHL and are led by Kirill Kaprizov with nine goals and 18 assists for 27 points. They also got Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello going strong. In net Filip Gustavsson is 7-2-1 while Marc-Andrew Fleury is 3-0-1.
2. Florida Panthers: The defending Stanley Cup champions sit at a comfortable 11-3-1 record for 23 points. Sam Reinhart leads the way with 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points. Sergei Bobrovsky is 8-2-1 with a 2.95 goals against average and .895 save percentage. Backing him up is Spencer Knight who's 3-1-0 with a .902 save percentage and a 2.79 goals against average.
1. Winnipeg Jets: The Jets got off to a blistering start of 14-1-0 to not only have the best record out west but the entire NHL up to this point heading into Sunday evening's slate of games and the week ahead. Connor Hellebuyck leads the Jets with an 11-1-0 record in goal with three shutouts, a 1.83 goals agaisnt average and a .935 save percentage.