By: Ella Marrufo

Editor-in-Chief

On Dec. 2, the National Hockey League (NHL) reached the quarter mark of the regular season. Since its start on Oct. 7, predictions for teams’ production, leading point- and goal-scorers, and the Calder Trophy race changed drastically. 

In the preseason, experts from The Athletic predicted that the Dallas Stars were most likely to win the Stanley Cup, followed by the Carolina Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers. The Stars have played well with a stacked lineup of Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski, and incredible goalie Jake Oettinger, to name a few. The Hurricanes and Oilers, however, have failed to live up to the public’s hefty expectations. While the Hurricanes are usually synonymous with an elite defensive game, this aspect of the team has fallen short this season. The Oilers, on the other hand, have fallen apart in every aspect; the team relies heavily on star centers Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid who have only just started to put up points. Though the team started to get back on track with McDavid’s phenomenal 23 points in his last nine games, it is still uncertain whether or not they can be real cup contenders. 

At this point in the season, one thing is clear — the New York Rangers, Vegas Golden Knights, and Boston Bruins are cup favorites. After a high-scoring start that essentially emulated their season last year, the Bruins were finally outscored by the Rangers on Nov. 25, who are currently 7-3-0. The Golden Knights have also played consistently well, topping the Western Conference standings with a record of 6-1-3. It will be interesting to see if they can clinch the cup for the second year in a row, emulating the Tampa Bay Lightning who achieved this feat in 2020 and 2021. 

Predictions for the leading point- and goal-scorers have also shifted significantly since the preseason. While the general consensus was that players like McDavid, Draisaitl, Auston Matthews, and David Pastrnak would dominate these stats, some new faces made their way into the rankings instead. Currently, Nikita Kucherov leads in points, while J.T. Miller is second, Artemi Panarin is third, and Pastrnak and lone defenseman Quinn Hughes — who is having an impressive breakout year, beating out former Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar — are tied for fourth. Leading goal-scorers include Brock Boeser for first, Kucherov and Sam Reinhart tied for second, and Panarin and Matthews tied for fourth. 

As for the rookies in the NHL, the race to the Calder is as tight as ever. Though 2023 number 1 draft pick Connor Bedard seems like the obvious choice with his already outstanding 23-point season for the Chicago Blackhawks, there is still plenty of elite rookie talent in Adam Fantilli, Luke Hughes, and Marco Rossi, who each have 16 points, as well as Logan Cooley with 14 points and Leo Carlsson with 13 points. Perhaps the most exciting player on this list aside from Bedard is Carlsson, who has played significantly fewer games than his competitors but has nearly the same amount of points. The Anaheim Ducks are currently conserving Carlsson and working to develop him, thus limiting his ice time, but if they decide to start playing him consistently, he may become a serious contender to rival even Bedard. 

(Sources: NHL, The Athletic)