We’re at an interesting juncture in the NHL season: teams have played roughly 35% of their schedule and yet there’s hardly any separation in the standings. That’s especially true in the East, where 14 of 16 teams sit within six points of each other. (Kudos to Washington above the pack and… sorry to Buffalo below it.)

So in many ways, it feels like the season is just starting now.

If that's the case, we’re staring at a 50-plus game sprint with a three-week Olympic break right in the middle —a natural reset point. We saw a similar (but shorter) version of this last year during the 4 Nations break, and the Blues exploded out of it and made the playoffs.

With tight standings and another reset coming, anything can happen. But we also have a meaningful sample to assess who these teams reall

See Full Page