With just weeks remaining in the 2015-16 season, there is still a logjam at the top end of the NHL[1] standings. The Washington Capitals have pulled away as the inevitable Presidents' Trophy winners for the best regular-season record, but only seven points separate second from 10th as of Tuesday morning, plus a few others are just a couple of points behind them. Which of these teams are true Stanley Cup contenders? That's the question we're going to try to answer with a look at the top 10 NHL clubs as of the league standings following the action on March 21. After looking at each team's strengths and weaknesses, we'll suggest whether we are buying and selling its chances for contention. Is your team a contender? Click ahead to find out and feel free to add your bubble teams to the conversation. Strengths: Sidney Crosby, Sidney Crosby and Sidney Crosby. The Pittsburgh Penguins go as far as the captain can take them. He has 20 points in his last dozen games, and the Pens have turned from wild-card competitor into the Metropolitan Division's second seed with six straight wins and 11 victories in their last 14. Crosby has helped the offense into the top six, while Marc-Andre Fleury's goaltending has helped the defense stay in the top five. Weaknesses: The power play isn't very effective, and the team could use some more jam from winger Phil Kessel, who hasn't been the player most thought he could be in his first year with the Pens. The team lacks depth on offense beyond the top two lines, and after the top pairing on defense, the back end is unspectacular at best. Buying or selling: With all due respect to Crosby, we're selling on these Penguins. They have the star power to surprise with a round or two in the playoffs but not the depth to make a championship run—even if Crosby continues his torrid pace. Strengths: Believe it or not, the San Jose Sharks have the second-highest goal differential in the Western Conference at plus-29, just behind the Chicago Blackhawks. A big reason for this is the league's third-ranked offense[6] led by Joe Pavelski, a still productive Joe Thornton and defenseman Brent Burns. Those characters also bolster the league's third-best pow er play[7]. The Sharks have a balanced group with plenty of veterans who have playoff experience. Weaknesses: Martin Jones doesn't have any playoff experience as a starter, and James Reimer's limited appearances in the postseason ended badly with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sharks continue to show confidence in Jones, but he'd be on a short leash in the postseason. The defensive depth isn't up to Stanley Cup standards behind Marc-Edouard Vlasic (who is currently hurt), Paul Martin and Justin Braun. San Jose brought in Roman Polak, but if he's playing in one of your top two pairings, you're missing something. Buying or selling: Selling. The Sharks don't inspire much confidence, even though the forwards have been stellar this season. Defense is just too important, and you can't have question marks in goal and on the back end. Winning a round might be possible, but the Western Conference is so strong that it will be a tough road to the final. Strengths: The Florida Panthers thrive on balance. They boast one of the top 10 offenses and are in the top five defensively. Six players—all forwards—have at least 40 points on the season, with veteran Jaromir Jagr leading the way with 24 goals and 55 points. His pal Roberto Luongo has been a throwback performer as well while re-living his glory days with a .921 save percentage and 2.37 goals-against average. Weaknesses: The Panthers have a high shooting percentage and actually average the third-fewest shots on goal per game this season. If they run into some tougher luck, the difference in offensive production could knock them out. Adding fuel to that fire is how inept the power play has been, clicking at 17 percent. That means the five-on-five shooting percentage is even higher than the all-inclusive—and is likely unsustainable. Buying or selling: Give this team a couple of more years, and we might be more committed to buying. For now, it has done a great job on a low budget thanks to the great performances from a couple of veterans and a promising group of youngsters. Goals are a lot tougher to score in the postseason, and the Panthers don't have the experience to get it done yet. Strengths: The Anaheim Ducks have an impressive collection of puck-moving defensemen who contribute to the team's above-average possession numbers. The fact they always seem to have the puck helps keep the goals-against down, but the Frederik Andersen and John Gibson goaltending tandem is one of the best in the NHL and in the hunt for the William M. Jennings Trophy this season. Weaknesses: This year's offense is still a work in progress. A really slow start for both Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry is part of the reason the team sits 24th in goals per game. The Ducks have been better since Christmas but are still looking for the right line combinations to boost that average. Buying or selling: With Getzlaf and Perry able to take over games when needed, the offensive concern isn't enough to dissuade us from banking on the Ducks to make a serious run at the Stanley Cup this spring. That might not have been the case just a few months ago, but they look more like the preseason favorites we expected to see this year. Strengths: Known more traditionally for their defensive abilities and the play of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, the New York Rangers are more of an offensive team this season. Despite having star sniper Rick Nash healthy for just 51 games so far, the team is among the top six in scoring with an average of 2.76 goals per game. The addition of Eric Staal at the trade deadline has given the team some tremendous forward depth. Weaknesses: The defensive side of things hasn't been as solid as usual for the Blueshirts. Lundqvist has a solid .922 save percentage but less impressive 2.41 goals-against average. The team is surrendering more than 30 shots against per game and is among the worst few teams in possession metrics like Corsi and Fenwick. Buying or selling: Lundqvist is 34 and may not be able to carry the team deep into the playoffs if the offense dries up. The power play and forwards have been good enough to keep the Rangers in the top third of the league standings, but the penalty kill is subpar and the defensive game too inconsistent to count on. We're selling here. Strengths: The Chicago Blackhawks have the league's most exciting player this season in Patrick Kane, who leads the scoring race with 92 points in 73 games so far. The team also boasts one of the best two-way centers in the league in Jonathan Toews and minute-munching defenseman Duncan Keith, who won the Conn Smythe last spring. Corey Crawford has become an elite netminder worthy of Vezina chatter thanks to his .926 save percentage and league-leading seven shutouts, despite facing an average of more than 30 shots against per game. Weaknesses: No team relies as heavily on one player for offense, so an injury to Kane would be devastating. The same can be said for a defense that lacks depth behind Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson. The team added Christian Ehrhoff at the trade deadline for peanuts, but he should no longer be in a top-four role. Buying or selling: It's impossible to count the defending Stanley Cup champs out, given their ability to stay competitive even after making significant changes to stay under the salary-cap ceiling after every title, especially when the top players remain. We're buying. Strengths: The St. Louis Blues do all the little things right. Their special teams rank in the top handful in both the penalty kill and the power play, and their success in the faceoff circles is one of the major reasons they are among the NHL's < a href="http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/teamstats.php?disp=1&db=201516&sit=5v5&sort=FFPCT&sortdir=DESC" target="_blank" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none;" name="readabilityLink-22">best possession teams, according to Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com. Goaltending is a huge strength, with veteran Brian Elliott and the younger Jake Allen combining for top-10 goals-against numbers. Weaknesses: When healthy, the Blues boast some strong scorers such as Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Paul Stastny, David Backes and Alex Steen. But, likely due to injuries to Schwartz, Steen and Stastny at times this year, the Blues are barely in the top 20 in goals per game. The Blues will need to prove their offense is more than just Tarasenko. Buying or selling: A championship? Not likely in St. Louis, where little has changed over the past few seasons—which have ended in three straight disappointing first-round losses. The team always looks great on paper but not in practice. Strengths: A physically grinding team, the Los Angeles Kings wear down opponents in the playoffs and take advantage of a stingy defensive system and goaltender Jonathan Quick, which have combined to lead the league with a 2.23 goals-against average. Drew Doughty is one of the best two-way defensemen in the game and has been a game-changer in the postseason in the past. Weaknesses: The offense has been opportunistic this season, and Milan Lucic has been hot of late. But with Marian Gaborik out with an injury, there is a big question mark as to whether the Kings can score enough in the postseason. The defense lacks depth, which could become a problem down the stretch and into the playoffs if injuries arise. Buying or selling: We're buying on the Kings based on their regular-season performance so far, but relying so much on Quick in goal and the ability to play flawless defensive hockey makes it a tough purchase in comparison to some of the other teams on this list. A third championship in five seasons is a possibility. Strengths: Dynamic duo Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin leads a potent Dallas Stars offense that is producing an NHL best 3.21 goals per game this season. Benn has already set a career high in goals with 36 and could crack the 90-point mark for the first time after winning the Art Ross Trophy last year with 87 points. Although he injured his Achilles and will probably miss the next few weeks, Seguin is one of just eight NHLers who have played 50 or more games this year to average at least one point per game. Oh, and behind those two snipers are Patrick Sharp and Jason Spezza. Weaknesses: The Stars have done a good job on paper of addressing concerns on defense, with free-agent pickup Johnny Oduya joining in the offseason and Kris Russell coming aboard at the trade deadline. But injuries—including a longer-term loss of key veteran Jason Demers—hurt the depth. Worse, though, the goaltending move to bring Antti Niemi over from the San Jose Sharks to challenge Kari Lehtonen hasn't been working. They have nearly identical (and poor) save percentages a nd goals-against averages. Buying or selling: As spectacular as that offense is, the goaltending alone makes the Stars an easy sell in the competitive Western Conference playoff battle. If they don't win the Central Division and wind up facing the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round, it could be a short spring for the Stars. Strengths: There are a whole lot of these. The Washington Capitals have a Vezina Trophy candidate in goaltender Braden Holtby, the Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy front-runner in Alex Ovechkin and two of the game's most skilled centers in Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Holtby leads the league with 43 wins and is in the top 12 with a 2.26 goals-against average and .921 save percentage. Ovechkin's 42 goals are tops so far, and he, Kuznetsov and Backstrom all rank among the NHL's top 20 scorers. Weaknesses: The group of defensemen lacks the same depth that the forward ranks deploy. Although John Carlson and Matt Niskanen are top-end guys, and Karl Alzner and Brooks Orpik are serviceable, the team wasn't able to add any star power at the trade deadline because of their salary-cap restrictions. If there is a weak link at all, it would be found on the back end. Buying or selling: Despite the fact the Capitals have struggled to get past the second round in the playoffs—something they haven't accomplished since 1998—this team has been a step above the competition in the Eastern Conference. Washington has few flaws and is worth buying as a legitimate Stanley Cup competitor. All stats via NHL.com[30]. Advanced statistics from Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com[31].
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References
- ^ NHL (bleacherreport.com)
- ^ Sidney Crosby (bleacherreport.com)
- ^ top six (www.nhl.com)
- ^ Marc-Andre Fleury's goaltending (www.nhl.com)
- ^ winger Phil Kessel (www.nhl.com)
- ^ third-ranked offense (www.nhl.com)
- ^ < a href="http://www.nhl.com/stats/team?reportType=season&report=teamsummary&season=20152016&gameType=2&sort=ppPctg&aggregate=0" target="_blank" name="readabilityFootnoteLink-7">third-best power play (www.nhl.com)
- ^ currently hurt (www.cbssports.com)
- ^ 10 offenses (www.nhl.com)
- ^< /sup> top five defensively (www.nhl.com)
- ^ above-average possession (stats.hockeyanalysis.com)
- ^ William M. Jennings Trophy (www.nhl.com)
- ^ sits 24th (www.nhl.com)
- ^ 2.76 goals per game (www.nhl.com)
- ^ Corsi (stats.hockeyanalysis.com)
- ^ Fenwick (stats.hockeyanalysis.com)
- ^ scoring race (www.nhl.com)
- ^ more than 30 shots (www.nhl.com)
- ^ penalty kill (www.nhl.com)
- ^ power play (www.nhl.com)
- ^ faceoff circl es (www.nhl.com)
- ^ best possession teams (stats.hockeyanalysis.com)
- ^ barely in the top 20 (www.nhl.com)
- ^ lead the league (www.nhl.com)
- ^ hot of late (kings.nhl.com)
- ^ 3.21 goals per game (www.nhl.com)
- ^ injured his Achilles (sportsday.dallasnews.com)
- ^ Jason Demers (www.defendingbigd.com)
- ^ nearly identical (www.nhl.com)
- ^ NHL.com (www.nhl. com)
- ^ Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com (stats.hockeyanalysis.com)
