Weeks 1 and 2 Special Teams Goals Above Average Rankings
Estimated 3 minute read
Welcome to the first edition of the 2024 - 2025 NHL Special Teams rankings!
If you missed it, there’s a detailed explanation of the methodology and a look back at last season here.
Note: Going forward this will be a weekly feature. This first look is two weeks into the season so that each team played at least a handful of games.
A few notes so far:
The Oilers. The Stanley Cup runners up from last season come in dead last so far this year. Their futility is truly shocking. They rank dead last in overall goals above average with a -8 rating. They’ve converted only 1/15 power play opportunities into a goal and have killed only 45% of penalties against them. To make matters worse, they’ve had to kill 20 penalties while only having 15 chances of their own. Goals above average rewards volume and efficiency over time in scoring and prevention, which is why Edmonton clocks in at 32nd.
The Devils and Jets are tied for first, both for different reasons. Winnipeg has been ultra efficient when given the chance to score, scoring at a 44% clip. While Winnipeg is bottom 10 in power play opportunities, their efficiency gives them a 3rd place ranking in power play goals above average. The Jets have a below average penalty kill, but are tied with Islanders for fewest penalties faced, giving them a share of first in goals prevented above average. The Devils are benefiting from volume on offense, getting the most chances, and an uber efficient penalty kill that ranks 3rd.
The Stars rank 25th in power play goals but have killed an insane 95% of man advantages against them, earning them an 8th place overall rank.
Below I have a link to a Google Sheet that will be updated each week. For this first edition, the rankings from last season are shown for the trend colors. Next week it will be this week as the base rank. The cells are color coded in each of the individual components to show different teams’ strengths and weaknesses. I expect more divergence between kills and scoring as the season goes on.
