Top-5 mid-season Stanley Cup contenders

There's still plenty of hockey left though for teams to either bolster their lineup, or for teams looking to make that trade or two to give them the advantage to help them make it into the playoffs.

Here are the NHL's top-5 mid-season contenders thus far, from ESPN and NHL.com.

The Carolina Hurricanes earned some playoff experience last season beating out the Nashville Predators in 6 games. They would go on to be eliminated by the defending champs the Tampa Bay Lightning in 5 games.

The growing pains will help them going forward, with superstar Sebastian Aho and the addition of goaltender Freddy Andersen the Hurricanes look to take a run at the Stanley Cup this season.

What can we say about the Colorado Avalanche? They are so loaded with talent it's scary. Having superstars Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar leading the way, as well as Nazem Kadri having the best season of his career, the Avalanche are looking to bring the Stanley Cup back to Avalanche county.

The Florida Panthers never get the attention they deserve, they have one of the most complete teams in the NHL. The Panthers are lead by Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, as well as Anthony Duclair and Sam Bennett turning their careers around with the Panthers, and the goaltending duo of Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight. The Panthers are ready to take a run at the Stanley Cup.

Click next page to see the remaining teams. 👇