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The two biggest NHL powers this season are the current conference chiefs: the Washington Capitals of the eastern conference and Winnipeg jets from the Western Conference.
The two teams are at least seven points ahead of the best team of their conference. Unless you pass out at the end of the season, jets and caps will have a home advantage in the Stanley Cup qualifiers and the opportunity to have a deep race after the season.
Washington and Winnipeg could take a long race in the playoff series. Maybe they will compete in the Stanley Cup final, although the last time two conference leaders met in the final, it was in 2001 when the Colorado avalanche beat the Devils New Jersey.
But which of the two conference chiefs is better constructed to win a cup? From the point of view of this writer, these are the jets. Their list is a little deeper overall and has some of the best players of this season.
It starts with the goalkeeper. Connor Hellebuyck is a lasting NHL goalkeeper of the elite who has a file of 33-7-2, an average of goals to 2.04 goals and 0.925 for a percentage of stops this season. It doesn’t get much better than that. If he can avoid the difficulties of the last season, when he had a GAA 5.23 and plays closer to his regular season statistics, no team should want to face him. And the backup .912 SP and 2.58 from Eric Comrie are also respectable.
Logan Thompson de Washington is also one of the best NHL guards this season, with a huge record of 24-2-4, .923 SP and 2.18 GAA. No team should want to face her best either, but Hellebuyck is just more proven at this stage. And .903 SP of Charlie Lindgren and 2.61 GAA are the weakest of the four goalkeepers.
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In attack, the capitals currently have six attackers with at least 39 points and seven with at least 21 points before the match on Thursday evening. Their most marked advantage – the Dylan Strome center – had 51 points before Thursday and added a pass against the flyers for 52 now. Then there is Alex Ovechkin, of course, who scored 25 goals and 39 points in 37 games before registering his 26th goal on Thursday.
While Winnipeg has five attackers who generated at least 33 points, they have eight with at least 26 points. The jets also have two players – Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor – who generated 61 points and 67 points, respectively. Again, we see Winnipeg having the best attackers between the two teams at the moment, and the quality depth will be a manufacturer of difference in the playoffs.
“Say what you want in the disc and empty nose goals … What I see is an incredible capacity to read where the washer goes.”
Capitals discuss Alex Ovechkin, the way empty threads are embarking on its pursuit and importance at 5-sur 6:https://t.co/8lfjfonaed
– Sammi Silber 🏒 (@sammisilber) February 5, 2025
Capitals Defense Group benefits from the addition of Jakob Chychrun, who leads in the defense score, with 34 points. Each of their best Blueliners has at least 13 points, while Winnipeg has four with at least 12.
But Josh Morrissey of the jets at 46 points, while Neal Pionk has 36 points. These two, Dylan Demelo and Dylan Samberg on average more than 20 minutes in time of ice, compared to the two of Washington. Defense groups are close, but Morrissey is the best in the group this season, and this shows how Winnipeg can count on a large part of their team in all positions.
Jets and capital can increase their alignments on the commercial deadline of March 7 of the NHL. But in all areas, Winnipeg has the best player compared to Washington and a slightly better depth as a whole. Things can change depending on who they face at the start of the playoffs, and it would not be surprising to see one or the other team fight. But the jets deserve to be the favorites at the moment.
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