E.3 Nov 28

Welcome to the 3rd edition of What's hot and What's Not. This week we'll be talking about a struggling eastern team,  a struggling eastern division and the scoring race. 

What's Not:  New Jersey Devils

What to make of the devils bad stretch? Are they now playing to their skill level?  Tough schedule?  Just a rut?   Losers of 4 in a row, they dont look like the same team from the start of the season.  Sorokin doesnt look good out there and its not helping that the offence has dried up.    Pavelski and Tarasenko have combined for 2 pts in those 4 games, not the kind of numbers you expect from these vets.   Newcomer Matt Duchene collected his 1st pts with the devils and should help them along the way.  Its not gonna get any easier for them, they dont face a sub 500 team for another 7 games.  

What's Not: Atlantic Division 

First off, lets exclude the defending champion Buffalo Sabres out of this segment. Its a strong team again over there and they should go far in the playoffs.

Looking at the rest of the division, everything looks somewhat decent in the standings,  none of the team have an awful record, tampa are currently last with a 7-11-2 which isnt horrible.  When you look deeper, thats when you notice the issues.  None of the teams have a playoff quality team. Boston has the 2nd best team in there but he'd most likely struggle in the metro.  Adding Smith was a big move for this year.  It'll be an interesting division to keep an eye on because it'll create scenarios that are unexpected and thats when we might see gms do either good or bad decisions for their franchise.

What's Hot:  Scoring race

Who will end up on top? its still quite early to pick a favorite as were only 1/4 of the way through the season but the race for the points lead is a good one so far.  The top 5 in seperated by only 2 pts, has 5 players from 5 different teams and there's still a defenceman in there.   Bergeron currently leads with 28 pts in 21 games followed by Vincent Trochek and Evander Kane.  My money, as of today, is on bergeron and zibanejad who ranks 5th, to battle for the lead come year's end.  It would be great to see 2 divisional rivals battle it out, espacially if theyre also battling for the divsion and maybe the president's trophy.   Yes the central has great teams but they dont on seattle to feast on all year. 

Thanks for tuning in, 
You stay classy, Dchl