This week’s NHL Power Rankings take a unique look at the standings. Which teams are tanking the hardest and who could use JackHughes the most?
It’s that time of the NHL season. For Stanley Cup contenders, it’s the home stretch before the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But for losing teams, it’s the start of the annual tank wars. They’re just waiting for the season to be over.
However, in the NHL, there’s a reward for losing – the chance to get a high draft pick. This season, the top prize is consensus first overall pick Jack Hughes. Obviously, finishing with the worst record doesn’t guarantee you the first pick because of the draft lottery. But it sure as heck helps. And, at the very least, finishing last will get you nothing lower than the fourth overall pick.
The cutoff point is eight points or more out of a playoff spot. So let’s take a look at who’s tanking and who could use Hughes the most!
Dishonorable Mentions
- Vancouver Canucks
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Arizona Coyotes
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Buffalo Sabres
- Ottawa Senators (no first-round pick)
The Florida Panthers already have two strikes against them in the tank war for Hughes. First of all, they’re a semi-decent team. A team with Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mike Hoffman, a maybe healthy Vincent Trocheck, and Evgeni Dadonov is going to have trouble losing games even if they want to.
They’re also putting up way too much of a fight. I mean, come on. Nine overtime/shootout losses? Just lose in regulation and don’t gain a point! The Panthers are simply too darn competitive to win a tank war.
Secondly, Florida already won the draft lottery in 2014. The Panthers play in one of the NHL’s smallest markets. So if you’re one of those folks who think the draft lottery is fixed, Florida’s pretty low on the list of “which teams would the NHL want Hughes to play on”.
The Panthers could use Hughes because who the heck doesn’t want a franchise center. But they’re actually in fairly good shape. The Panthers already have Barkov and Trocheck, which is a pretty solid duo down the middle. Sure, Hughes would give them one of the best trios down the middle, but it’s not like Florida desperately needs him.