[rhaums]

Eastern:
Philadelphia Flyers (20-13-2, 9th in East)
Thing are going well for the Flyers in the post-Tortarella era. Carter Hart (.923 SV% , 2.78 GAA 24 GP) and rookie Alexei Koloxov (.900 SV%, 3.33GAA) have been a strong pair in net. Travis Konecny (35 GP, 23 G, 18 A) is having a fantastic season offensively and the team are tbe toughest to score against in the league. Their biggest concern is a sluggish scoring on nights where Konecny isn't taking control.

Florida Panthers (10-21-5, 16th in East)
Only two years away from a cup final and things are looking very different in Florida. Bobrovsky is having a weaker season with a .899 SV% and 3.85 GAA. Points are hard to come by, with the Panthers being the lowest scoring team in the entire league. Aleksander Barkov (36 GP, 11 G, 11 A) but with only the one two players on 50 point pace, the Panthers have a rough year ahead of them.

Pittsburgh Penguins (21-16-2, 4th in East)
The Penguins are well on their way to have another run at a cup for Crosby. At age 37 and yet to sign a contract for the 25/26 season, the time is ticking for the Pens to finish off a heavily decorated career with one last cup. Jake Guentzel (39 GP, 26 G, 31 A) has been a key player for them as always. A lack of youth for them is troubling but if they can win soon, the fans will be more likely to accept a rebuild.

Western:
Chicago Blackhawks (18-16-2, 8th in East)
A busy free agency for them has not been particuarly fruitful for them in December. Steven Stamkos (22 GP, 8 G, 14 A) has been out since late november and Brady Skjei (26 GP, 4 G, 9 A) since early december. Despite this Connor Bedard (34 GP, 22 G, 21 A) has been having a very strong second season in the NHL Arid Soderblom (30 GP, .910 SV %, 3.23 GAA) has outperformed expectations and the Blackhawks may be in with a chance for postseason hockey.

Nashville Predators (16-20-0, 12 in East)
Nashville has been struggling with offensive production this year. Filip Forsberg (31 GP, 20 G, 11 A) is the only player on point-per-game pace. Roman Josi (36 GP, 6 G, 13 A) has been fine, but maybe not $9 million worth. Juuse Saros has also been solid this year (29 GP, .909 SV%, 3.05 GAA) but is yet to sign an extension in Nashville. Yaroslav Askarov (9 GP, .978 SV%, 3.63 GAA) has struggled in his rookie season, but has the potential to grow into another strong starting goalie.

Vegas Golden Knights (25-7-2, 3rd in West)
Another dominant team continues their dominant run. Shea Theodore (34 GP, 7 G, 29 A) has been dominant from their blue line for much of the season. Despite missing most of october with a dislocated shoulder, Jack Eichel (21 GP, 18 G, 17 A) has also been really impressive. With a mostly unchanged lineup from last year Vegas are looking to return to the playoffs and make a deeper run this year.

Calder Race:
The race for the Calder trophy is a lot tighter this year. Phillipe Daoust (OTT, 35 GP, 9 G, 23 A) leads all rookies in points while Luca del bel Belluz (32 GP, 15 G, 13 A) leads rookies in scoring and is close on Daoust's heels in points.


Standings as of Jan 2nd