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First LHH NHL Power Rankings of 2015-16

This just in: The Isles have been pretty good so far.

By ICanSeeForIslesAndIsles

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I like this one.
I like this one.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Hi there, and welcome back to another year of useless opinions and equally useless number crunching!

I'm a bit strapped for time this week, so expect a longer article next week, which will explain to all newcomers how the rankings are tabulated (and a quick refresher for those of you who've been here all along). For now, let's just shake the rust off...

Roundup of Weekly Opinion Polls

Where sites decide how the Isles stack up to everyone else, mostly by using the precise measuring instrument known as their gut feelings:

Site Updated New Ranking Prior Ranking Comments
CBS 10/27/2015 10 12 The Barclays Center has become Fort Rarely Lose as the Isles are 4-1-1 to start the year in their new home. Most importantly, they're getting balanced scoring and strong goaltending as Jaroslav Halak has looked sharp since returning from injury.
ESPN 10/26/2015 6 6 The Isles continue to impress with a nice road win Saturday in St. Louis. Maybe fans in Brooklyn will take note, as the Islanders are 3-1-1 at Barclays Center.
TSN 10/27/2015 12 6 The goaltending has been great and the Islanders have some good depth up front, even if a few are underachieving, but there is some concern with their possession drop, to where they are currently 23rd using score-adjusted metrics.
Fox 10/26/2015 5 5 Top to bottom, the Islanders don’t have a clear weak spot. They are strong offensively and strong defensively. They match up well with virtually every team, and everyone contributes. Every forward with at least two games played has at least two points this season.
USA Today 10/26/2015 8 10 Is this the year John Tavares captures the Hart Trophy? He is off to a fast start with five goals and 11 points.
Average 8.2 7.8 We don't have to make fun of the sight lines if the team is actually good.

Pundits have the Isles a little lower than our own rankings (shown below). Could it be that they are still disrespecting the Isles, after all those years of basement dwelling? Probably not.

As you can see in at least one comment (from TSN), there is some recognition that the Isles haven't been too good in the possession game as of yet. Still, the Isles are placed solidly within the upper third of the league. Not too shabby.

LHH Power Rankings

For games through 10/27/15. Excluded games past that date so as to make a fair comparison with the opinion polls, who published on the 26th and 27th.

(6) (4) (3) (2) (0)
Reg OT OT Reg LHH LHH
GP W W SO L L Pts Rating
1 Montreal Canadiens 10 9 0 0 0 1 54 155
2 Dallas Stars 9 7 0 0 0 2 42 130
3 Winnipeg Jets 9 5 0 0 1 3 32 129
4 San Jose Sharks 8 4 0 1 0 3 27 129
5 New York Islanders 9 5 1 0 1 2 36 127
6 Boston Bruins 8 4 0 0 1 3 26 123
7 Los Angeles Kings 9 5 1 0 0 3 34 122
8 Washington Capitals 7 6 0 0 0 1 36 121
9 St. Louis Blues 9 6 0 0 1 2 38 118
10 Chicago Blackhawks 9 3 3 0 0 3 30 118
11 Philadelphia Flyers 8 2 1 1 2 2 23 115
12 Florida Panthers 9 5 0 0 1 3 32 114
13 Tampa Bay Lightning 10 3 2 1 1 3 31 112
14 New York Rangers 10 6 0 1 1 2 41 109
15 Minnesota Wild 9 6 0 0 1 2 38 106
16 Vancouver Canucks 9 3 0 1 3 2 27 104
17 Arizona Coyotes 10 5 0 0 1 4 32 101
18 Pittsburgh Penguins 8 2 2 0 0 4 20 101
19 New Jersey Devils 9 1 2 2 0 4 20 93
20 Nashville Predators 8 4 0 2 1 1 32 91
21 Carolina Hurricanes 9 2 1 0 0 6 16 78
22 Anaheim Ducks 9 1 0 1 1 6 11 78
23 Detroit Red Wings 9 3 1 0 1 4 24 76
24 Colorado Avalanche 8 2 0 0 1 5 14 75
25 Edmonton Oilers 10 2 1 0 0 7 16 73
26 Ottawa Senators 8 2 0 3 0 3 21 72
27 Calgary Flames 9 0 2 0 0 7 8 63
28 Toronto Maple Leafs 8 1 0 2 0 5 12 58
29 Columbus Blue Jackets 10 2 0 0 0 8 12 55
30 Buffalo Sabres 9 1 1 1 0 6 13 55

For those who are new, a full explanation will be given next week. For now, focus on the last column. 100 is average. Suffice to say for now that these standings are based purely on results, with higher marks given for doing good things, such as win in regulation instead of the (now two different) skills competitions. Points gained against quality opponents also help more.

So the Isles are a few places ahead of the opinion polls, although I think we can all agree that they've been a bit lucky this year. The Rangers (to pick one example) are lower more because they're a victim of the schedule that's been dealt to them. They've played a good number of lower ranked teams.

I'll be happy to answer any questions in the comments whenever I have the chance.

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