[rhaums]

Eastern

New Jersey Devils (17-6-1, 2nd in East)
Rob Schuderi has been excellent in his first two months as an NHL head coach. Reigning Vezina winner Akira Schmid is having as good, if not better, a season as last year, with a .925 SV% and 2.65 GAA in his 22 GP. Timo Meier (24 GP, 10 G, 17 A), Jesper Bratt (24 GP, 13 G, 12 A) and Jack Hughes (21 GP, 18 A, 13 A) have all been regular appearances on Devils scoresheets.

Tampa Bay Lightning (15-6-1, 5th in East)
Vasilevskiy has been strong for Tampa as the Lightning with a .908 SV % and 3.20 GAA. Kucherov's 9 G 18 A from 22 games is also making headlines. However december may be a tough month for them, with Luke Glendening, Brandon Hagel and Mikhail Sergachev all on IR for a decent chunk of September. With their AHL depth not being particularly strong, there are questions who will fill in the lineup for Tampa.

Washington Capitals (9-12-1, 15th in East)
The Joe Sakic era in Washington begins with a rebuild. On the ice the focus of games becomes less about wins or losses and more about Alex Ovechkin, now only 25 goals away from the NHL goals record. Andrew Cristall, a 2023 2nd round draft pick, is one of the main young prospects on the team, with 2 G and 2 A from his 15 games. With a lot of expected room to grow, Cristall could be the face of Capitals hockey in a few years.

Western

Minnesota Wild (15-5-1, 2nd in West)
Minnesota are coming into december wanting to be one of the best teams in the west. This year, another 1st round exit would be considered a failure. Kaprizov (23 GP 7 G 12 A) is not having the same strong year he had last season, but is still doing more than enough to keep the team playing well. Ryan Hartman is also getting a lot of eyeballs with a 15 G 13 A start in his 23 GP.

Edmonton Oilers (13-12-0, 5th in West)
Business as usual for the Oilers, McDavid (25 GP, 26 G, 23 A) is well on pace for his 3rd straight Hart trophy. Draisaitl (25 GP, 20 G, 23 A) is also on incredible pace. With both of them free agents over the next couple of years. Edmonton needs to consider if they really can make deep runs with the cap hit from two of the best players in the league at the same time. A lack of young talent may also hurt them, as the Oilers continue in a years long win-now mode.

Seattle Kraken (8-11-3, 12th in West)
A team with a talented young core, Seattle are getting close to their first playoff run. Matty Beniers (22 GP, 13 G, 10 A) is ready to be the star of a team and Shane Wright (21 GP, 7 G, 7 A) is a Calder frontrunner. While this team may have to unload some veterans over the next few years, Seattle has a very exciting future ahead of them.