DitchMarner
TheGlitchintheSwitch
How would you rank the teams that have been added to the NHL since the early 1990s?
Those are:
San Jose Sharks
Tampa Bay Lightning
Ottawa Senators
Florida Panthers
Anaheim Ducks
Nashville Predators
Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets
Columbus Blue Jackets
Minnesota Wild
Vegas Golden Knights
Seattle Kraken
You can use whatever method you'd like. Things to consider are Championships, number of good/competitive seasons, great individual player seasons, fan support, profitability.
I think the Lightning are easily number one (basically the Canadiens of these teams). They've had five SCF appearances, winning three of them. The team has had numerous great player seasons and seems to have a good following for a Southern market team.
I'd have Anaheim second. The Ducks have been poor for a while now, but the franchise has had its moments, from the '03 Cinderella playoff run where Giguere had one of the best playoff goaltending performances of all-time to the '07 Cup win, to a stretch of being a tough and competitive team in the 2010s. There was also the Selanne and Kariya era where the team was lackluster but had two of the most skilled and exciting players in the NHL.
I'd say Florida has shot way up the last three years, from being roughly on par with Nashville to having a Cup, three SCF appearances and a dominant 120+ point regular season in 2022. The team doesn't have much outside of the last three years but has certainly been trending in a successful direction as of late. The '96 playoff run is memorable, as is Bure's time with the team.
I would probably already put Vegas fourth. The Golden Knights made it to the Finals in their inaugural season and won the Cup in 2023, destroying FLA in the SCF.
Next would be the Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks, two teams that have mirrored each other. They were both brutal early on and then had lengthy windows of usually making the playoffs and sometimes being a Cup favorite. The Sharks reached the SCF in 2016 and Ottawa almost did so in 2017. The two teams have been irrelevant the last few years, with the Sharks once again being a door mat (Celebrini and Smith should help turn things around, however).
Nashville has clearly been the best of the late 90s/early 00s expansion teams. The team reached the Cup Final in 2017 and won the President's Trophy the following season. The Predators have had a Norris Trophy winner and a number of big goaltending seasons. The fanbase seems really good for a non-traditional market.
I'd have Minnesota ahead of Winnipeg and Columbus. The Wild have been quite thoroughly mediocre. At least the team has a good fan following in the State of Hockey.
I'm putting Columbus over Winnipeg. The Thrashers were pretty dismal. The Jets have been better. The Jackets don't have many positives that stand out; some franchise highlights are a 16 game winning streak, a first round upset over the 128 point Lightning and a series win over Toronto the following year and a pair of Vezina wins for Sergei Bobrovsky. Oh, and Nash tied for the NHL lead in goals once.
The Atlanta experiment was a failure (like the original) as the Thrashers did poorly on and off the ice. The Jets have their fans and the team has had a third round appearance and was considered a contender this past season. Hellebuyck is one of the best goalies in the League and has two Vezina wins.
At the bottom of this list is the NHL's newest team, the Seattle Kraken. The Kraken deserve a lot of credit for their second season, where they had a fun, balanced team that scored a lot. The Kraken upset the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Colorado Avalanche, in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.
Those are:
San Jose Sharks
Tampa Bay Lightning
Ottawa Senators
Florida Panthers
Anaheim Ducks
Nashville Predators
Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets
Columbus Blue Jackets
Minnesota Wild
Vegas Golden Knights
Seattle Kraken
You can use whatever method you'd like. Things to consider are Championships, number of good/competitive seasons, great individual player seasons, fan support, profitability.
I think the Lightning are easily number one (basically the Canadiens of these teams). They've had five SCF appearances, winning three of them. The team has had numerous great player seasons and seems to have a good following for a Southern market team.
I'd have Anaheim second. The Ducks have been poor for a while now, but the franchise has had its moments, from the '03 Cinderella playoff run where Giguere had one of the best playoff goaltending performances of all-time to the '07 Cup win, to a stretch of being a tough and competitive team in the 2010s. There was also the Selanne and Kariya era where the team was lackluster but had two of the most skilled and exciting players in the NHL.
I'd say Florida has shot way up the last three years, from being roughly on par with Nashville to having a Cup, three SCF appearances and a dominant 120+ point regular season in 2022. The team doesn't have much outside of the last three years but has certainly been trending in a successful direction as of late. The '96 playoff run is memorable, as is Bure's time with the team.
I would probably already put Vegas fourth. The Golden Knights made it to the Finals in their inaugural season and won the Cup in 2023, destroying FLA in the SCF.
Next would be the Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks, two teams that have mirrored each other. They were both brutal early on and then had lengthy windows of usually making the playoffs and sometimes being a Cup favorite. The Sharks reached the SCF in 2016 and Ottawa almost did so in 2017. The two teams have been irrelevant the last few years, with the Sharks once again being a door mat (Celebrini and Smith should help turn things around, however).
Nashville has clearly been the best of the late 90s/early 00s expansion teams. The team reached the Cup Final in 2017 and won the President's Trophy the following season. The Predators have had a Norris Trophy winner and a number of big goaltending seasons. The fanbase seems really good for a non-traditional market.
I'd have Minnesota ahead of Winnipeg and Columbus. The Wild have been quite thoroughly mediocre. At least the team has a good fan following in the State of Hockey.
I'm putting Columbus over Winnipeg. The Thrashers were pretty dismal. The Jets have been better. The Jackets don't have many positives that stand out; some franchise highlights are a 16 game winning streak, a first round upset over the 128 point Lightning and a series win over Toronto the following year and a pair of Vezina wins for Sergei Bobrovsky. Oh, and Nash tied for the NHL lead in goals once.
The Atlanta experiment was a failure (like the original) as the Thrashers did poorly on and off the ice. The Jets have their fans and the team has had a third round appearance and was considered a contender this past season. Hellebuyck is one of the best goalies in the League and has two Vezina wins.
At the bottom of this list is the NHL's newest team, the Seattle Kraken. The Kraken deserve a lot of credit for their second season, where they had a fun, balanced team that scored a lot. The Kraken upset the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Colorado Avalanche, in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.
