Opening Analysis

Jets-Leafs final, anyone? While Colorado narrowly leads a cluster of six favoured teams with 564 picks, it is Winnipeg and Toronto that have the most Cup hopes with 97 and 93 respectively. It is a matchup that surely would be sweet for Canadian hockey fans. While Tampa Bay will challenge the Leafs in the East, Edmonton and Vegas will have something to say in the West.

Team	Players	%	Cups	%
Colorado	564	45.6	62	15.1
Winnipeg	517	41.8	97	23.5
Toronto	510	41.3	93	22.6
Edmonton	448	36.3	22	5.3
Tampa Bay	435	35.2	44	10.7
Vegas	407	32.9	30	7.3
Washington	228	18.5	16	3.9
Florida	174	14.1	11	2.7
Dallas	125	10.1	16	3.9
Carolina	109	8.8	8	1.9
Los Angeles	67	5.4	5	1.2
Montreal	48	3.9	4	1.0
Ottawa	31	2.5	3	0.7
St Louis	22	1.8	1	0.2
Minnesota	16	1.3	0	0
New Jersey	7	0.6	0	0

Colorado's 45.6% pick rate is by far the lowest for a "top" team in pool history, and with only 157 picks separating first from sixth it's really anyone's guess who should be considered the favourite.

Cale Makar has established his all-time Lord Stanley's Pool dominance.

Top overall pick Makar extends generational records
Cale Makar has done it again. After a 30-goal season, the likely Norris-trophy winner is the top overall pick for the second time in his young career. This matches him with first-ballot Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom, who also led overall player picks twice as a defenseman (albeit both times tied with the lead forwards). Makar has been the top defence pick all six years since his rookie season in 2019, bettering Lidstrom's six times in 14 seasons. Lids was a top-2 D pick 12 times, something Makar is well on his way to. At only 26 years old, this generational player will have plenty more to show for a long time.

Forward options
Lots of forwards are potential impact players this year, with nine players picked over 100 times and 15 at 60-plus. Nathan MacKinnon (208 picks) is the top forward pick for the fourth time, and first since 2022, denying Connor McDavid (176) his third straight. Close behind them, Nikita Kucherov, Kyle Connor, Jack Eichel, Leon Draisaitl, and Mitch Marner all have between 150-155 picks.

Hellebuyck leads goalies, Cup-favourite Jets
The Jets are the top Cup pick team, and accordingly their goaltender, likely Vezina (if not Hart) Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck is the top pick at this position. Connor's 140 picks is 34% of entries, which is sizeable but not dominant; Tampa's Andrei Vasilevskiy (66 picks) and Leaf Anthony Stolarz (53) could also have an impact in the tournament.

Speaking of the Leafs...
Despite being a close 3rd in picks and 2nd in Cup bets, no Leafs players are among the top players at any position, as seen in the common player card below. They remain just below the surface, with Matthews and Marner 7th and 8th among forwards. I'm not quite sure of the strategy of picking the Leafs to win without topping up on their players, but leave it to Toronto fans to figure out a way.

Common Player Card:
Here are the most common players in this year's pool.

F:
Nathan MacKinnon, COL (208)
Connor McDavid, EDM (176)
Nikita Kucherov, TBL (155)
Kyle Connor, WPG (152)
Jack Eichel, VGK (152)
Leon Draisaitl, EDM (151)
D:
Cale Makar, COL (226)
Evan Bouchard, EDM (106)
G:
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG (140)
Team to win: Winnipeg (97)
Total entries: 412

2024:
F:
Connor McDavid, EDM (257)
Leon Draisaitl, EDM (188)
Artemi Panarin, NYR (169)
Nathan MacKinnon, COL (151)
Sebastian Aho, CAR (104)
Matthew Tkachuk, FLA (95)
D:
Cale Makar, COL (133)
Adam Fox, NYR (127)
G:
Igor Shesterkin, NYR (89)
Team to win: NY Rangers (64)
Total entries: 349