We’re almost at the pseudo-what would have been All-Star break for the 2024-2025 NHL season. The Hockey News ran an interesting article on Tuesday about Ken Hitchcock’s “100 rule.” For those who haven’t heard, Hitchcock believed that for a team to be successful their power play and penalty kill percentages must add up to at least 100%. Anything below that meant a team could be in trouble.

Hitchcock also had most of his most successful coaching years in the 1990s and early 2000s prior to the 2005 lockout. The lockout, and the rule changes that were adopted in that new CBA, are cited as the changing point for NHL offense to increase after the 1990s “dead puck” era. The point is the “100 rule” is not a perfect rule, it might even be outdated.

Even if it’s over-simplified it still is a good measure of team success. Let’s take a look at the Devils, the rest of the Metropolitan Division, as well as recent conference finalist to see how the 2024-2025 Devils stack up.

Note, the Hockey News published their article on Tuesday afternoon. All of our statistics are entering Wednesday morning.

The Devils and The Metropolitan Division

The Devils are second in the entire league when it comes to the “100 rule” with a combined score of 110.20 by way of their 28.1% power play and 82.10% penalty kill. The only team ahead of them is the Winnipeg Jets with a score of 112.40 thanks to their 33.30% power play and 79.10% penalty kill. The Jets and Devils are the league’s only two teams with a score over the 110 benchmark. The Devils entered Wednesday with the league’s third-ranked power play and fifth-ranked penalty kill.

Next highest in the Metropolitan Division are the Washington Capitals at No. 4 overall. They scored 107.40 with their 22.60% power play and 84.80% penalty kill. Right behind them at fifth are the Carolina Hurricanes, scoring 106.80 with their 21.10% power play and 85.70% penalty kill. A few spots down at No. 7 in the league are the Pittsburgh Penguins with 105.50 by way of their 26.20% power play and 79.30% penalty kill. The New York Rangers were the last Metropolitan team with a score above 100. They ranked 11^th with 103.70 because of their 20.30% power play and 83.40% penalty kill.

The three remaining Metropolitan Division teams found themselves south of the line of demarcation below the 100 threshold. Ranking 21^st in the league are the Columbus Blue Jackets at 97.40 because of their 22.60% power play and 74.80% penalty kill. The Philadelphia Flyers rank in the bottom third at 24^th with a score of 94.90 with a 16.40% power play and 78.50% penalty kill. All the way at the bottom at 32^nd is the New York Islanders. Not only are they last in the league, but they’re the only team with a score below 85 with a score of 80.20. The Islanders have an 11.90% power play and 68.30% penalty kill.

How It Compares To Devils Stanley Cup Finals Appearances?

Now that we know how the Devils stack up to others around the league currently, how about some historical comparisons? Below are a list of Devils teams who made it to the Stanley Cup:

• 1995: 94.60 (13.4% power play and 81.20% penalty kill)
• 2000: 107.60 (20.10% power play and 87.50% penalty kill)
• 2001: 107.60 (22.9% power play and 84.70% penalty kill)
• 2003: 99.80 (11.90% power play and 87.90% penalty kill)
• 2012: 106.80 (17.20% power play and 89.60% penalty kill)

Remember, almost all of these were pre-2005 lockout when scoring was at a much lower rate than it is now. This year’s power play numbers (so far) are significantly higher than the Devils cup winning years.

Interesting note, 2003 saw the Devils finish with the league’s lowest ranked power play, but highest ranked penalty kill.

How That Compares To Recent Cup Contenders

Since the prior data may not be too helpful, how about some present day comparisons? How does the Devils’ 110.20 mark compare to recent cup contenders? We decided to look at conference finalists since the 2020-2021 season to give us a big enough sample size. All statistics are from that respective season’s regular season.

Note, the 2019-2020 season because due to the long layoff in between the resumption of the season those numbers and how things were classified. The other season with less than an 82 game schedule (2020-2021) was included because since those games were played with the same pace of a “normal” NHL season they still have a good degree of reliability. The 2021 season was also included even if it didn’t have a “traditional” conference final.

2021

• Vegas Golden Knights: 104.6 (17.80% power play and 86.80% penalty kill)
• Montreal Canadiens: 97.70 (19.20% power play and 78.50% penalty kill)
• Tampa Bay Lightning: 106.40 (22.2% power play and 84.2% penalty kill)
• New York islanders: 102.50 (1880% power play and 83.70% penalty kill)

2022

• Tampa Bay Lightning: 104.5 (23.90% power play and 80.60% penalty kill)
• New York Rangers: 107.5 (25.2% power play and 82.30% penalty kill)
• Colorado Avalanche: 103.70 (24% power play and 79.70% penalty kill)
• Edmonton Oilers: 105.40 (26% power play and 79.40% penalty kill)

2023

• Florida Panthers: 98.80 (22.80% power play and 82.50% penalty kill)
• Carolina Hurricanes: 104.20 (19.80% power play and 84.40% penalty kill)
• Dallas Stars: 108.50 (25% power play and 83.5% penalty kill)
• Vegas Golden Knights: 97.7 (20.30% power play and 77.40% penalty kill)

2024

• Florida Panthers: 106 (23.5% power play and 82.50% penalty kill)
• New York Rangers: 110.90 (26.40% power play and 84.50% penalty kill)
• Dallas Stars: 106.20 (24.20% power play and 82% penalty kill
• Edmonton Oilers: 105.80 (26.30% power play and 79.50% penalty kill)

The only team to exceed the threshold 110 that the Devils and Jets currently sit at is last year’s New York Rangers who lost in six games of the Eastern Conference final to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. The Devils current mark on the power play is higher than both the Rangers and Panthers last season, while their penalty kill is slightly behind both. Going back to the 2013 playoffs (after the 2012-2013 NHL lockout) no other team ended the season past the 110 threshold.

Granted, all the above may mean nothing. However, it is interesting to look at what was once a very important measuring stick to any successful team.