NHL 2024-25 Projected Rosters by Average Age
Jul 20, 2024 20:01:20 GMT -6
hillman, ekjet72, and 1 more like this
Post by bigoljetairliner on Jul 20, 2024 20:01:20 GMT -6
All Is Quiet On The Off-Season Front
Still not much happening with the Winnipeg Jets, so I got bored and decided to take a look at what the average player’s age for each NHL teams’ projected lineup works out to be. Is our squad a veteran group, closer to the league average in age, or will a probable surge of youth in this season’s lineup make them one of the younger squads??
Below are a couple graphics breaking down the NHL by divisions and then as a whole group (sorted by team average age – lowest to highest). Check them out to see where the Jets’ projected lineup stacks up against the other franchises in 2024-25.
When you scan the first graphic, it appears that most of the divisions are pretty much equal in average age. However, Winnipeg’s Central Division does end up being the oldest group of 8 franchises, a full year older on average than the league’s youngest division (Atlantic). The Jets aren’t the cause of that though and will likely be the 2nd youngest squad next season in the division.
With Lambert & Heinola likely to crack the NHL roster in 2024-25, it helped to make the Jets the 12th most youthful team in the entire NHL on the second list.
As expected, the youngest squads are the ones in the grasps of a rebuilds though the Blackhawks’ seem to have gone in the other direction with the NHL’s oldest projected squad (**this is actually an error as I divided by 20 instead of 22 players. The Hawks should be 28.95 yrs, so will jump up 5 spots and make the Penguins the NHL's oldest team). ***Have since updated the images***
The 2nd graphic also seems to suggest that experience matters in hockey’s toughest league, as all 16 of last season’s playoff teams were near league average or older. Of course that doesn’t mean the same squads will qualify this season. It will be interesting to see how teams that were coming off strong seasons but got much older in the off-season will do this season (like Edmonton & Nashville).
Some of the other interesting things I spotted include:
Still not much happening with the Winnipeg Jets, so I got bored and decided to take a look at what the average player’s age for each NHL teams’ projected lineup works out to be. Is our squad a veteran group, closer to the league average in age, or will a probable surge of youth in this season’s lineup make them one of the younger squads??
Below are a couple graphics breaking down the NHL by divisions and then as a whole group (sorted by team average age – lowest to highest). Check them out to see where the Jets’ projected lineup stacks up against the other franchises in 2024-25.
When you scan the first graphic, it appears that most of the divisions are pretty much equal in average age. However, Winnipeg’s Central Division does end up being the oldest group of 8 franchises, a full year older on average than the league’s youngest division (Atlantic). The Jets aren’t the cause of that though and will likely be the 2nd youngest squad next season in the division.
With Lambert & Heinola likely to crack the NHL roster in 2024-25, it helped to make the Jets the 12th most youthful team in the entire NHL on the second list.
As expected, the youngest squads are the ones in the grasps of a rebuilds though the Blackhawks’ seem to have gone in the other direction with the NHL’s oldest projected squad (**this is actually an error as I divided by 20 instead of 22 players. The Hawks should be 28.95 yrs, so will jump up 5 spots and make the Penguins the NHL's oldest team). ***Have since updated the images***
The 2nd graphic also seems to suggest that experience matters in hockey’s toughest league, as all 16 of last season’s playoff teams were near league average or older. Of course that doesn’t mean the same squads will qualify this season. It will be interesting to see how teams that were coming off strong seasons but got much older in the off-season will do this season (like Edmonton & Nashville).
Some of the other interesting things I spotted include:
- Buffalo, Utah, & Columbus will have the youngest forward groups with an average age under 26 yrs. Pittsburgh & Edmonton will ice the oldest forwards in 24-25 with average ages of 30 & 31 yrs respectively.
- The Sabres & Canadiens project to have defensive cores barely out of diapers, with an average age under 25 yrs. To put that into perspective, the nearest groups are at least 1.5 yrs older on average…likely explains why the franchises have struggled to make the post-season in recent years. Four NHL teams have d-groups that average more than 30 yrs (Carolina, Detroit, Pittsburgh, & St. Louis), but it will be the Hurricanes that field the oldest group in 2024-25 (31.5 yrs old average).
- The only category the Jets are above the league average is goaltending, where Winnipeg’s 29 yr old average is slightly (0.08) over that mark. Hellebuyck & Kahkonen sit in a tie for the 14th oldest tandem in the NHL, but they are at least 4 yrs younger than the league’s most elderly goaltending duos (Detroit & NY Rangers = 33 yrs and New Jersey = 33.5 yrs).
