NHL Power Rankings Ahead of Regular Season Start

32. Arizona Coyotes

As I alluded to in the opening slide, the Coyotes will be fighting an uphill battle throughout the 2022-2023 season. It’s been a long time since the Yotes were relevant, and this will be another season where this team will be forgotten about.

31. Chicago Blackhawks

Years of playoff appearances and Stanley Cup victories have finally caught up with the Blackhawks. Any team in the NHL would take some bad years if it meant winning championships, but unfortunately for the Hawks, they’ve reached the ugly part of that trade-off.

30. Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers are lacking talent and now have a head coach whose coaching methods come straight from 2004. Nothing about this team seems competitive, especially in an Eastern Conference that has only gotten better since the end of last season.

29. Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens did re-sign Jake Allen to man the crease, but with no Carey Price, this team is missing its backbone. Montreal followed up its 2021 Stanley Cup Final appearance with a last-place finish in 2022, and this time around, I’m expecting a repeat performance.

28. San Jose Sharks

To me, the Sharks are clearly the bottom feeder in the Pacific Division. While their division rivals have either elite talent or rising stars, San Jose is aging out of its championship window and will struggle mightily this year.

27. Buffalo Sabres

Every year I want to see the Sabres improve, but this year feels like one for most of their division rivals to thrive instead. Buffalo got left behind this offseason, and it’ll be another disappointing season in western New York as a result.

26. New Jersey Devils

Like the Sabres, the Devils should be taking steps forward, and maybe this will be the season that they do, but I’m skeptical. Things in the Metropolitan Division could get interesting, and the Devils could hang around, but until I actually see that, they’ll stay closer to the bottom of this list.