I was way too excited to get the next month underway! I am not sure if people are just uninterested in this sort of thing or if the boards are a little more inactive than I thought. Either way I'll continue this project as long as I am having fun doing so!
Without further adieu...
The month of
November saw NHL action start to heat up. Some teams have even started pulling ahead of the pack while others are showing signs of a disappointing year and are falling behind. But, before we discuss the standings and stats, let's look at the monthly injury report and transactions!
There were a number of impactful injuries compared to the previous month of October:
November 7th, 2015
Brent Burns out 25 days with a strained groin
Brad Marchand out 27 days with a fractured foot
Aaron Ekblad out 28 days with a latissimus dorsi strain
November 10th, 2015
Craig Anderson out 25 days with a strained shoulder
November 12th, 2015
David Backes out 24 days with chronic back soreness
Tyler Seguin out 25 days with recurring back spasms
November 14th, 2015
Filip Forsberg out 20 days with shoulder soreness
November 21st, 2015
Andrew Ladd out 130 days with triceps tendinitis
November 23rd, 2015
Paul Stastny out 25 days with shoulder bursitis
November 28th, 2015
Martin Havlat out 328 days with a ruptured medial collateral ligament
And the minor league pickups via the waiver wire:
Reto Berra acquired on waivers by
Kyle Brodziak acquired on waivers by
Viktor Stĺlberg acquired on waivers by
Finally, there is one single trade to report on for the month of November. Unfortunately, however, it does not make as big of a splash as you would expect considering a player involved in the trade will most likely finish the season in the minors (unless injuries occur).
November 17th, 2015
Trades Cam Talbot to 
for Ian Cole
Cam Talbot is on a Standard NHL contract @ $525,000 cap hit for 1 year while Ian Cole has a Standard NHL contract @ $2,100,000 cap hit for 3 years.
How have some of these bigger name players faired with their new teams so far? Let's take a closer look:
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2 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PTS, 0 PIM, 0 +/-, 16:09 AvgTOI, 70 GR
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25 GP, 6 G, 5 A, 11 PTS, 22 PIM, +1, 15:56 AvgTOI, 67 GR
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21 GP, 7 G, 7 A, 14 PTS, 14 PIM, -12, 18:55 AvgTOI, 70 GR
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9 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS, 6 PIM, -2, 21:00 AvgTOI, 67 GR
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Which player has been the bigger asset so far for his new current team?
Now let's take a look at how the month of
November panned out for everyone else:
As of November 30th, 2015
As predicted, the Calgary Flames cooled off, Tampa Bay put together a 9-4-1 record to compete with Montreal and Detroit in the Atlantic, and the Chicago Blackhawks went on a monstrous 11-1-1 tear in the Central. My one incorrect prediction was the New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals switching places in the standings, however, the Capitals have kept the pace with the Metropolitan division leaders.
A number of interesting notes:
- Chris Kunitz now has the most shots without a goal at 57, has he fully recovered from his forearm tendinitis injury at the end of October?
- Martin Havlat (2 GP),
Henrik Samuelsson (3 GP), 
Colin McDonald (8 GP), and 
Daniel Winnick (11 GP), all have a 100% shooting percentage – unfortunately, they all have only registered 1 shot on goal
Ryan Kessler is the King of Faceoffs with a record of 221-145 (60.4%)
Jean-Francois Bčrubč takes over as the best undefeated backup goalie with a 5-0-0 record, however, he currently resides in the AHL
are dominating as they lead the league in G/G (3.56) and GA/G (1.96)- lead the league in short handed goals with 5, Lauri Korpikoski & Mark Letestu both have 2
- have an abysmal home attendance average of 11,876... are fans upset at the Jagr trade?
Looking forward to December, my predictions are:
- The Edmonton Oilers will leap over the Calgary Flames & San Jose Sharks in the Pacific– they have already started picking things up as Connor McDavid kickstarted his rookie dominance
- The Detroit Red Wings to fall behind the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic
- The Chicago Blackhawks to continue their tear in the Central and take the lead for the Presidents' Trophy
- The Pittsburgh Pengins to find their flair and end up in a 3-way battle with the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan
To follow up on October's curiosity, Jhonas Enroth has fallen out of favour in Los Angeles, however, Jonathan Quick continues to put up top 10 numbers. The Boston Bruins struggle to win without Tuukka Rask and Malcolm Subban is struggling to put up comparable numbers to him. Lastly, as mentioned earlier, Connor McDavid has begun to tear up the rookie scoring race with 22 points (7G, 15A), Anthony Duclair a close second with 19 points (12G, 7A), and Jack Eichel pulling up in 3rd place with 16 points (5G, 11A).
It will be interesting to keep up with the rookie scoring race as well as the other scoring races – goals, assists, and points – in the NHL. It's nice to see names like Anders Lee and Max Pacioretty battle for the leaderboards, but will they be able to keep up the pace with the established scorers like Alex Ovechkin, Jonathon Toews, Steven Stamkos and Patrick Kane? Lastly, will the injury bug that the St. Louis Blues have ran into lately effect their standings heading into December?
That's it for the month of November! What are YOUR thoughts on how the season has progressed? And what are YOU looking forward to in the month of December?