Which Of The NHL's Best Teams So Far Are For Real?
It's been about three weeks since the puck dropped on the NHL's abbreviated 2021 regular season, which somehow means nearly 20 percent of the schedule is now complete. The league still has a lot of work cut out for it with a large number of COVID-19 schedule adjustments -- something plenty of sports have had to grapple with over the past year. But the on-ice product has been plenty exciting, with rivalries already beginning to form between teams thrust into new divisions by realignment. Here are some of the elements that have stood out most in the early season data, with an assist from my Elo ratings (and season simulations based on them):
The Lightning -- and Stars! -- haven't missed a beat
In our season preview, my colleague Terrence Doyle and I noted how both Stanley Cup finalists from a year ago -- the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars -- were potentially weakened for 2021. The Lightning lost high-scoring right wing Nikita Kucherov for at least the regular season with a hip injury, along with defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (who signed with Anaheim), while the Stars were down goalie Ben Bishop and center Tyler Seguin with injuries of their own. Dallas was also staring at the prospect of regression to the mean after riding three series upsets to a surprising finals appearance. And yet, both teams have come out...