NHL Power Rankings: 1-32 poll, young core production index

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Tim Kavanagh, ESPN.comDec 15, 2023, 07:00 AM ET

CloseTim Kavanagh is a senior NHL editor for ESPN. He’s a native of upstate New York.

As teams go through their cycles of contention, the importance of having a high-scoring young core can wax and wane. Then again, in a league which has had a relatively flat salary cap in recent seasons, getting production from your players on entry-level contracts (or second deals) is critical.

So in addition to an updated ranking of all 32 teams, this week we’ll take a look at how much point production is coming from each team’s 23-and-under group.

How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors each send in a 1-32 poll based on the games through Wednesday, which generates our master list here.

Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the previous edition, published Dec. 8. Points percentages are through the games of Dec. 14; young core production through the games of Dec. 13.

Previous ranking: 3
Points percentage: 75.00%
Next seven days: vs. BUF (Dec. 15), vs. OTT (Dec. 17), @ CAR (Dec. 19), @ TB (Dec. 21)

23-and-under points pct.: 4.68%
Rank: 28

Kaedan Korczak and Pavel Dorofeyev have chipped in as needed for this team — but as you can tell from those overall numbers, they haven’t been needed as much as young players might be if they were on another club.

Previous ranking: 1
Points percentage: 72.22%
Next seven days: vs. ANA (Dec. 15), @ BOS (Dec. 16), @ TOR (Dec. 19)

23-and-under points pct.: 19.34%
Rank: 15

Like the Kings, the Rangers have a roster with a nice balance between veterans and rising young stars, led by a resurgent Alexis Lafreniere and ever-improving K’Andre Miller.

Previous ranking: 4
Points percentage: 69.23%
Next seven days: @ SEA (Dec. 16), @ SJ (Dec. 19), vs. SEA (Dec. 20)

23-and-under points pct.: 19.28%
Rank: 16

The Kings’ rise up the NHL standings in recent seasons has been driven by a balance between the veteran leadership group that links back to the Cup-winning years and a vaunted…

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Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39113892/nhl-power-rankings-2023-2024-best-teams-standings-scoring

Author : Tim Kavanagh

Publish date : 2023-12-15 11:10:49

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