When we launched our NHL prediction model going into this season, one of the big questions we had to answer was what to do with the expansion Seattle Kraken. While the history of expansion teams is generally ugly, littered with some of the worst performances in professional league histories, that appeared to change forever (in […]
One of the big themes of the NHL in 2021-22 has been change between the pipes. There was no shortage of goalies — some quite accomplished — on the move over the offseason: Among teams near the top of our final 2020-21 Elo rankings, the Colorado Avalanche (who lost Philipp Grubauer), Vegas Golden Knights (Marc-André […]
Twenty-four years ago, the Philadelphia Flyers made the Stanley Cup Final with a talented roster of big, physical skaters — including future Hall of Famer Eric Lindros at center and 50-goal scorer John LeClair at left wing. The oddsmakers had Philly favored to beat the smaller, faster Detroit Red Wings for the Cup … until […]
When the NHL playoffs began, the bookmakers didn’t give the Dallas Stars much of a chance to win the Stanley Cup. The Stars had a decent regular season, buttressed by their excellent goaltending tandem of Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin, who each ranked among the league’s top 10 in terms of save percentage and quality […]
We all know that a strong performance from a goaltender is crucial for Stanley Cup playoff success. But shelling out the most money for a goaltender might not be the answer. As we are well into the third round of the National Hockey League’s pandemic postseason, we’ve seen less and less star power in net. […]