NHL Power Rankings: How did we get here?

We are into the home stretch, with some teams having only 10 games left to play in the regular season. I got to thinking, as I looked at the standings last night… how did we get here? Meaning, after such a long season, what is the biggest reason teams are sitting where they’re sitting now with the season almost over? Let’s take a look, huh?

1. Colorado Avalanche (50-14-6 106 pts)

Last Week – 1

Consistency, consistency, consistency. All season long, maybe with the exception of the first 10 games, you have had a pretty good idea of what you’re going to get from the Avs on a night-in, night-out basis. In the face of injuries, COVID, weird scheduling, long breaks, the Avalanche have just brought it every single night. It really speaks to not only the coaching staff and the system they’ve implemented but the buy-in level from the players as well. Every guy on the roster understands what is expected of him. Consistency is the secret formula every team looks for, and the Avs have found it better than maybe anyone this season. 

2. Florida Panthers (49-15-6 104 pts)

Last Week – 2

Well, if there’s any one team that has been close to the Avalanche in terms of consistency, it’s been the Panthers. Some of their games have maybe been a little more high-event than Colorado, but it just feels like you know the Cats are going to bring a really up-tempo, hard game every night. It also doesn’t hurt that Jonathan Huberdeau is having an unbelievable season, being the first one in the Panthers’ history to break the 100-point mark. 

3. Toronto Maple Leafs (45-19-6 96 pts)

Last Week – 4

Ok, I feel a little silly having them here after blowing a 5-1 lead to Florida on Tuesday, but you can’t write off the run they’ve been on recently because of a bad loss to a very good team. I’m by no means saying Auston Matthews is the sole reason this team is where it is, but he has absolutely set the tone. Just a relentless offensive attack. The Leafs are loaded with skill, and it’s what makes them so hard to contain. There are some big question marks in goal and on D, but right now they’ve shown that they can outscore their problems on a regular basis.

4. Carolina Hurricanes (45-17-8 98 pts)

Last Week – 3

This has to be one of the quietest elite seasons in recent memory. The Hurricanes are LEGIT and are completely overshadowed by the two Florida teams and Toronto in the East. Similar to the Avs, these guys are bought-in. Everyone has a role, and they fill that role perfectly on a nightly basis. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts in Carolina. 

5. Boston Bruins (44-21-5 93 pts)

Last Week – 8

There are going to be a couple of teams like this over the next few spots on the rankings, this is a veteran Bruins team that is dialing it up at the right moment. That’s the biggest reason they’ve pushed Tampa down to a Wild Card spot, The Bruins have been there, done that and were able to flip the switch coming out of the All-Star break. This may be the last run this core has in them, and they’re going for it. 

6. Tampa Bay Lightning (43-20-7 93 pts)

Last Week – 6

I debated on moving them down but given their recent struggles, but in my opinion, as good as Carolina and Florida are, this is still the team to beat out East. They’re the best team until they aren’t kind of thing. This team knows what it takes, and understands the grind. They’ve had some injury luck this season (and they’ve been due for some over the last couple of seasons), and they’re just chugging along until playoffs start. 

7. New York Rangers (45-20-6 96 pts)

Last Week – 7

Igor Shesterkin. They’ve gotten a lot better throughout the season, and the deadline was kind to them, but it’s still Shesterkin or bust for the Blue Shirts. 

8. Pittsburgh Penguins (41-20-10 92 pts)

Last Week – 8

Contributions from throughout the lineup have made this an impressive season for the Pens. They’ve always had sneaky depth, and that’s true once again this year as the Penguins are just a tough team to match up against. Tristan Jarry has had somewhat of a bounce-back season and having Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin doesn’t hurt either. 

9. Calgary Flames (42-19-9 93 pts)

Last Week – 9

Kind of like Carolina, the individual names on this roster don’t really jump out at you but put them all together and you get fantastic results. Their top line has been huge, and Jacob Markstrom has been stellar this season as well.

10. Minnesota Wild (43-21-5 91 pts)

Last Week – 10

Ok, maybe not to the level of the Rangers and Shesterkin, but Kirill Kaprizov is the heart, soul, mind, and body of this team. They’re getting career years out of more than half of their roster, but without Kaprizov, I really don’t know if this is a playoff team. He’s changed everything in Minnesota. 

11. Los Angeles Kings (38-24-10 86 pts)

Last Week – 13

Some teams you have to really take a long look at to figure out what is making things work, for the Kings it really is pretty simple. They work their butts off. Of all the teams currently sitting in a playoff position, you could probably make the argument that LA is the least talented on paper, but they are within (semi)realistic striking distance of the top spot in the pacific with 10 games to go. They believe in themselves right now. 

12. Washington Capitals (38-22-10 86 pts)

Last Week – 11

Kind of the tale of two seasons for Washington, but it hasn’t really been linear. The start of the year they looked like they were poised to make a run at winning the Eastern Conference, then there was a dip, and they’ve kind of bounced back and forth between those two extremes ever since. I am higher on this team than most, but it’s the lack of consistency that has landed them in a wild card spot with just weeks to go. 

13. Edmonton Oilers (41-25-5 87 pts)

Last Week – 17

Ok, ok. You guys know I am not a believer in the Edmonton Oilers, but who can argue with the way they’ve played lately? Give credit where it’s due, they’ve really upped their play recently, but let’s all be honest with ourselves… if not for #97 and #29, this is a bottom-five team in the league. 

14. Nashville Predators (40-25-4 84 pts)

Last Week – 14

The Preds suddenly find themselves fighting every night for their playoff lives. At one point in the season, Nashville had a sizable gap between themselves and the rest of the Central. Not only are they way, way out of the conversation for winning the division (but so is everyone else), they are at legitimate risk of missing the playoffs as they’ve only got a two-point lead on 9th place Vegas right now. The Predators have three games in hand, but still too close for comfort. 

15. St Louis Blues (40-20-10 90 pts)

Last Week – 12

I do not know what to make of this team. Good, high-end pieces at the top, decent (yet inconsistent) depth, and a goaltending tandem that should be at the very least competent. Kind of like Washington, just too inconstant. They’ve benefitted from Nashville stumbling a bit. 

16. Dallas Stars (40-26-3 83 pts)

Last Week – 15

They sure are trying their hardest to make it interesting, eh? Dallas has had games in hand on pretty much everyone around them for weeks now, and while they’re winning games, they’ve dropped a few key ones. I’m gonna stick with the “inconsistency” theme here, as it maybe applies to Dallas more so than anyone else. If this team had been able to find any consistency throughout the season, they’d be nestled comfortably in the playoffs.  

17. Vegas Golden Knights (39-29-4 82 pts)

Last Week – 19

Explaining why the Golden Knights are sitting on the outside looking in with 10 games to go may need its own article. To paraphrase: injuries. Well, I don’t think that’s the ONLY reason, but it’s a massive, huge factor. To me, this team has fully lost its identity. Too many organizational changes in such a short amount of time, and too many voices in the room have come together for the perfect mixture of bad fortune. Their fate is out of their own hands now. 

18. Vancouver Canucks (33-28-10 76 pts)

Last Week – 17

They are *technically* still in the race, sitting five points out, but we all know it’s over for the Canucks this season. Give them a ton of credit, they’re sitting where they’re sitting because of their resiliency. The Canucks had every reason to pack it in once Travis Green was fired, they didn’t and they made it interesting for their fans. 

19. Buffalo Sabres (26-34-11 63 pts)

Last Week – 20

The back half of this season has maybe been the best run of Sabres hockey we’ve seen in a decade. Fun, exciting, entertaining, all words that have not AT ALL been associated with Buffalo since the early 2000s. This has been a different group since knocking off Jack Eichel and the Golden Knights at home.

20. Winnipeg Jets (33-28-10 76 pts)

Last Week – 16

Boy oh boy, why are the Jets where they are? Like Vegas, this one probably needs its own piece to paint a full picture. In short, things just have not clicked this year in the Peg. Injuries, up and down play, and it just took too long for Hellebuyck to settle in. 

21. New York Islanders (32-28-9 73 pts)

Last Week – 18

Hasn’t been a super fun year for Isles fans (sorry, AJ). Maybe the most puzzling team in the league. Two straight trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, and the team is more or less the same. This year’s Islanders is the team the, for whatever reason, things have just not come together for this year for one reason or another. I expect them to bounce back next year. 

22. Anaheim Ducks (28-32-12 68 pts)

Last Week – 21

So, I’m actually going to stray away from the theme bait here to just say congratulations to Ryan Getzlaf on an unbelievable career. So good, for so long. Big, physical, mean, could fight, could hit, great in the circle, and then was a fantastic producer on top of all of that. The game will miss him for sure. 

23. Columbus Blue Jackets (33-32-6 72 pts)

Last Week – 23

It’s a rebuilding year in CBJ. To me, where they are in the standings is a direct reflection of how good the team is. They just aren’t quite good enough to really compete in a stacked East.  

24. San Jose Sharks (29-31-9 67 pts)

Last Week – 22

One of the more interesting teams to keep an eye on over the next couple of years. I think they’re in for some pain. They’ve never really properly committed to a rebuild, and have handed out some pretty ludicrous contracts along the way. It’s all led up to a team stuck in no-man’s land.  

25. Chicago Blackhawks (24-35-11 59 pts)

Last Week – 25

For a lot of folks, this was one of the biggest surprises of the season given the off-season they had last summer. For me though, I saw this coming a mile away. Mostly because of what I saw happen in Denver for years. You can’t shortcut a rebuild, it just doesn’t work. The Hawks tried to do that with a bunch of B and C-list acquisitions last summer, and SHOCKER… it didn’t work. 

26. Ottawa Senators (26-37-6 58 pts)

Last Week – 28

Everyone, including the Senators, knew this would be how the season went. They’re smack-dab in the middle of a rebuild, they’re supposed to be a lottery team. Now they just have to make good use of the draft picks they have. 

27. Philadelphia Flyers (22-37-11 55 pts)

Last Week – 27

“How did we get here?” Is something the top brass in Philly has been asking themselves for the last two seasons. Is it time to completely tear it down to the studs and start over?

28. New Jersey Devils (24-40-6 54 pts)

Last Week – 30

See: Ottawa Senators

29. Seattle Kraken (22-42-6 50 pts)

Last Week – 24

They’re sitting where they’re sitting because of some questionable expansion draft decisions. It’s obvious this team is playing the long-term game here, but I will die on the hill that they could’ve made just one or two different choices and gotten the best of both worlds. Build for the future, but also put a competitive product on the ice.   

30. Detroit Red Wings (28-34-9 65 pts)

Last Week – 32

In the 2019-2020 season, the Red Wings were poised to come in under the 48-point mark, had the season not been interrupted. Give them credit, they’ve come a good way since then, but there’s still so much to do. This season was probably a little disappointing given how the goaltending performed and how high the expectations were for Alex Nedeljkovic. 

31. Montreal Canadiens (19-40-11 49 pts)

Last Week – 29

From Stanley Cup Finals to last place in one season. We all knew the Canadiens were HUGELY over-achieving in last year’s playoffs, but whoa. What a drop-off. Of course, losing your all-world goaltender, and probably your best defenseman (and captain) doesn’t help much either. 

32. Arizona Coyotes (22-43-5 49 pts)

Last Week – 31

Probably the only team that would say this season has gone exactly according to plan. Expect the same next year.