NHL

Every Team's X-Factor for the 2022-23 Season

If there's one thing we know about hockey, it is extremely unpredictable. Teams rocket up the standings or collapse with little to no warning, often due to nothing more than bad injury luck or a hot goaltender. Getting deeper into analytics has only made me understand that more.

With that in mind, I thought it might be a good idea to identify some of the more consequential hinge points for the coming season, the x-factors that could prove to make or break each team's performance in 2022-23. While "injury luck," "shooting luck," and "goaltending" could feasibly be the right answer for all of these, I've tried to be a bit more thoughtful and consider some of the real spots to watch for all 32 squads.

Access this article by registering

FREE account required to access
this article

Register as a free user at eliteprospects.com to get access to this article and more quality, in-depth coverage at EP Rinkside.

(only name and email address are required)

This article is about:
NHL Anaheim Ducks Arizona Coyotes Boston Bruins Buffalo Sabres Calgary Flames Carolina Hurricanes Chicago Blackhawks Colorado Avalanche Columbus Blue Jackets Dallas Stars Edmonton Oilers Florida Panthers Los Angeles Kings Minnesota Wild Montréal Canadiens Nashville Predators New Jersey Devils New York Islanders New York Rangers Ottawa Senators Philadelphia Flyers Pittsburgh Penguins San Jose Sharks Seattle Kraken St. Louis Blues Tampa Bay Lightning Toronto Maple Leafs Vancouver Canucks Vegas Golden Knights Washington Capitals Winnipeg Jets NHL Mathew Barzal Jordan Binnington Mackenzie Blackwood Matt Boldy André Burakovsky Quinton Byfield Bowen Byram Sean Couturier Sidney Crosby Kirby Dach Ryan Ellis Filip Forsberg Johnny Gaudreau Jonathan Huberdeau Ville Husso Seth Jarvis Roman Josi Patrick Kane Kris Letang Yevgeni Malkin Timo Meier Matt Murray Alex Nedeljkovic Alex Newhook Max Pacioretty Elias Pettersson Owen Power Jason Robertson Marco Rossi Mikhail Sergachyov Igor Shestyorkin Mark Stone Dylan Strome Nick Suzuki Andrei Svechnikov Jonathan Toews Alex Turcotte Trevor Zegras Bill Armstrong Rick Bowness Pierre Dorion Kyle Dubas Paul Maurice Darryl Sutter Jay Woodcroft
Scoring Leaders