East Top Three as of 3/9
Capitals – 37%
Penguins- 39%
Sabres– 54%

Bottom 3
Leafs – 26%
Islanders – 39%
Carolina – 33%

I took a snapshot of the teams in the East to see what I could find out. After looking at this I would have to say the magic number is anything over 30%. Now all this does is guarantee some form of regular season success. Why? Continuity. The lower the percentage the less familiarity linemates have with each other.

The Islanders percentage will probably grow yet they are an aberration because they are a franchise that’s rebuilding.

Now the Sabres percentage is probably too high because they generally don’t dip too heavily in the free agent market. The X-factor here are players that are “undrafted” and teams like the Red Wings have really excelled in that area, so have the Devils.

The Leafs are the oddball here because GM Brian Burke inherited a pretty weak farm system and he has traded away some high draft picks, so this is the team to watch. I suspect their percentage will stay right around this number and it will potentially drop a bit more. This doesn’t mean they won’t have any regular season success in the future it just means that they are bucking the current trend.