Which of these overachieving teams sustain it?

[benfranklin]

Jets - 22GP 18-4
Wild - 21GP 13-4-4
Flames - 22GP 12-7-3
Capitals - 21GP 14-6-1
Sabres - 21GP 11-9-1

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[NoVaCapsFan]

Jets have an elite goaltender, I think they have the best odds to stay in the top echelon.

Capitals are much improved but high shooting percentage suggests some retrenchment especially without Ovechkin short term. (But anything can happen in the playoffs).

Not seeing it for Calgary or Minnesota. But maybe not looking closely enough.

Buffalo could continue to win half its games in a middling Atlantic Division.

 

[Khelandros]

Jets have an elite goaltender, I think they have the best odds to stay in the top echelon.

Capitals are much improved but high shooting percentage suggests some retrenchment especially without Ovechkin short term. (But anything can happen in the playoffs).

Not seeing it for Calgary or Minnesota. But maybe not looking closely enough.

Buffalo could continue to win half its games in a middling Atlantic Division.

You can't say Caps will regress because of high shooting percentage and then not mention the same for Winnipeg.

 

[1specter]

Saying the Sabres are 'overachieving' at 11-9-1 is kinda hilarious. Other Atlantic teams have been disappointing so they stand out positively more, but the Sabres finished with 84 and 91 pts the last two seasons. 11-9-1 is only a .548 pt%, and would put them at a 90 pt pace for the season. Of all the teams here, they are probably the most likely to keep their current pace realistically speaking.

Besides that, Winnipeg finished 4th in the league last season, and have Hellebuyck who is one of the best goalies in the world (in the regular season at least), so while they won't finish with 134 pts as per their current pt pace, they'll probably still end up somewhere between 110-120 pts and be a top regular season team again. The Central is also not very good this year, their only competition are Dallas and Colorado which are two good teams but Colorado has horrendous goaltending while some of Dallas' key players are struggling at the moment.

Edit: I forgot about Minnesota in the Central, so I guess my comment about weak division can be disregarded.

 

[Crow]

Not sure what you mean by sustain it?

Sustain the win percentage or the playoff position?

If I could predict I think the sabres could do both. Calgary does neither and the rest do the latter.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Buffalo is overachieving? They're a slightly above .500 team. That seems pretty accurate to what they are.

Out of those teams I feel like Flames could fall off the most. Winnipeg will likely slow down a bit because it's a long season and you're not gonna win like 85% of your games but they are also just a really good team so if they win the President's trophy no one should be shocked based on how they have started the year.

 

[Keystone]

Wild looked absolutely phenomenal last night even in the loss. Relentless pressure. Looked sustainable to me

 

[MNRube]

Minnesota won’t finish as a Top 2 team, but they clearly have a playoff team. Rossi & Faber have added depth to a core that has always been a wildcardesque group. Safe bet to finish as a playoff team.

Buffalo is not overachieving. They play in a crappy division and should be a playoff team on paper. People are just reactive to their poor start and playoff drought.

Winnipeg is legit. They do need to keep Helle rested though. I think they will finish atop the West for the regular season but I don’t think they are a lock to be favored against Dallas or Vegas in the postseason. Like Minnesota, they play with a structure that really works in the regular season but can be beat in repeated matchups like we will see in playoff format

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Buffalo not overachieving. They only achieving

 

[Breakers]

11-9–1 is essentially 1 game above .500

Not sure that is over achieving

 

[JoVel]

Buffalo is overachieving? They're a slightly above .500 team. That seems pretty accurate to what they are.

They're currently in a playoff spot so they're definitely overachieving.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

How is f*** Minnesota doing so well? Hynes is legitimately one of the worst coaches I've ever seen when he was in NJ, and Preds fans don't look fondly upon his time there either.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Besides that, Winnipeg finished 4th in the league last season, and have Hellebuyck who is one of the best goalies in the world (in the regular season at least), so while they won't finish with 134 pts as per their current pt pace, they'll probably still end up somewhere between 110-120 pts and be a top regular season team again. The Central is also not very good this year, their only competition are Dallas and Colorado which are two good teams but Colorado has horrendous goaltending while some of Dallas' key players are struggling at the moment.

Minnesota is in the Central, and they were 2nd overall in the league before last night's game. They are a very good team.

 

[1specter]

Minnesota is in the Central, and they were 2nd overall in the league before last night's game. They are a very good team.

Woops, totally missed Minny there, fair enough.

 

[SirPaste]

How is f*** Minnesota doing so well? Hynes is legitimately one of the worst coaches I've ever seen when he was in NJ, and Preds fans don't look fondly upon his time there either.

Kaprizov having an MVP type season helps, but really the whole team looks good right now. I would imagine they come back down to earth a little bit at some point, but they are just firing on all cylinders right now, at least in the games Ive watched.

 

[TheBeerNerd]

Kaprizov having an MVP type season helps, but really the whole team looks good right now. I would imagine they come back down to earth a little bit at some point, but they are just firing on all cylinders right now, at least in the games Ive watched.

Wouldn't be the first time the bald man has been helped by unbelievable talent. Happened in NJ with Hall, and again in Nashville with Josi.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Sabres have had the easiest schedule so far and one of the hardest going forward.

Gonna guess they finish outside of a playoff spot but I wouldn’t be shocked if they get in, given the quality of competition for that last WC spot in the East (BOS/DET/NYI/PHI/CBJ.. gross)

 

[BonMorrison]

I believe the Caps are actually this good. Carbery seems like a great coach.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Sabres have had the easiest schedule so far and one of the hardest going forward.

Gonna guess they finish outside of a playoff spot but I wouldn’t be shocked if they get in, given the quality of competition for that last WC spot in the East (BOS/DET/NYI/PHI/CBJ.. gross)

Buffalo is a good team. I think they have a shot to finish 2nd in the Atlantic. They will be in it the whole way.