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Sunday, September 29 Updated: September 30, 6:09 PM ET Rankings: Avs top West, Devils get their due ESPN.com |
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What is the sum of each NHL team's parts? We decided to find out. We broke teams into conferences and ranked each position -- forwards, defensemen and goalies -- 1-15, in quality and depth to come up with each team's position index. We then combined each team's position index to arrive at an overall index (below). The best possible score is 1.00, the worst is 15.00. Example: Phoenix Coyotes Q D Index Forwards 9 6 7.50 Defensemen 10 6 8.00 Goalies 2 5 3.50 Overall 6.33 These are strictly personnel rankings. We didn't take into account coaching, chemistry or scheduling. We also didn't go back and fix our "mistakes" after doing the math -- the Carolina Hurricanes are tied for third in the Eastern Conference because they have talent and depth at each position. Sure, there are teams that are better in certain areas, but those teams are also weaker in others. Plus, the Hurricanes have to stick to their system -- just like the Rangers need to kill penalties and the Flyers need to score on the power play -- to finish where they're ranked.
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