NHL 2022-23 Season Weekly Power Rankings: Monday 11/7
Another week of hockey is in the books, which means that it’s time for our next round of power rankings for the 2022-2023 NHL season.
This list is a combination of my rankings and rankings done by Jim Lynch, and for the second straight week, we’ve got a new team at the bottom and a new team at the top, with plenty of shuffling in between.
Where do teams stand four weeks into the NHL season?
It’s been a whacky start to the NHL season, so no team is safe from a massive drop on our list, and no team is out of the running to be bumped up several spots. Without further ado, let’s dive in with the bottom four.
32. Columbus Blue Jackets (Previous Rank: 27)
The Blue Jackets are in last place in the NHL standings, and they’re in last place here too. Columbus is 3-9 and on a five-game losing during which they’ve surrendered four goals or more in each loss. Enough said.
31. San Jose Sharks (30)
The San Jose Sharks are Erik Karlsson. Without him, this team would easily be the worst in the NHL. Even with him, the Sharks are flirting with last place. If San Jose is 3-8-3 with Karlsson playing like an MVP candidate, I’m afraid to see what it’ll look like if he cools off.
30. Arizona Coyotes (31)
Arizona has not been good this year by any stretch of the imagination, but they’ve at least been more respectable than the teams below them here. You might get some decent games out of the Yotes, even if we shouldn’t expect much from them.
29. Anaheim Ducks (32)
After going seven games without a win, the Ducks pieced together a winning record last week. I’d love to say that Anaheim has figured it out and will now creep back into playoff contention, but I’ll settle for moving them up from last place to 29th in our power rankings.
28. Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have figured out how to get into the win column, but defending leads continues to stump this team. Things have certainly gotten better over the last couple of weeks for Vancouver, but that doesn’t mean that all of the problems have been solved.
27. Ottawa Senators (15)
Things started well for the Senators, but that has changed dramatically in the last two weeks. A two-game skid to end week three has now turned into a five-game losing streak. As a result, Ottawa has fallen to 4-7 and 27th in our rankings.
26. St. Louis Blues (17)
Like the Senators, the Blues take a significant tumble this week. The season started so well for St. Louis, but after winning its first three games of the season, this team has been unable to end its string of losses, which is now up to six in a row.
The Blues haven’t played many games, so their position near the bottom of the standings is a bit exaggerated, but there’s still no denying that they’re in desperate need of a win.
25. Montreal Canadiens (25)
The Canadiens have sort of owned this spot in our power rankings. As a team that came into the year with minimal expectations, it’s hard for the Habs to gain much traction.
They’ve won enough games to avoid being at the very bottom of the list, but they’ve not yet done enough to move too far up.
24. Chicago Blackhawks (28)
The Blackhawks find themselves in a playoff spot a month into the season, which is more than most expected from Chicago. As a result, the Hawks move up a handful of spots. Can Chicago win enough games to hold off some very good teams that are lingering behind them?
23. Pittsburgh Penguins (14)
Yet another team to take a major fall in these rankings, the Penguins can’t buy a win right now. Since starting the season 4-0-1, Sidney Crosby and company are 0-6-1.
They haven’t been able to hold leads, their games have featured major momentum swings, and it seems like no matter what they try, it doesn’t work.
22. Nashville Predators (23)
The Predators are beginning to play some better hockey, though there’s still plenty left to be desired in Nashville. This team isn’t at risk of falling to the bottom of our rankings, but they’ve also not yet done anything to warrant a move closer to the top.
21. Washington Capitals (20)
This week wasn’t a total bust for the Capitals, as they picked up a couple of points in the standings, but they still went winless in their four games. Outside of Alex Ovechkin scoring a history-making goal, there wasn’t much to write home about for the Caps in week four.
20. New York Islanders (16)
The Islanders enter week five at 7-5, just outside of the postseason picture. That feels pretty fitting for New York. Last week, they beat a pair of struggling teams before losing their only real test of the week.
19. Philadelphia Flyers (19)
The Flyers stunned everyone when they started this season as one of the NHL’s hottest teams. Since then, Philly has started to cool off. Winning only one of three games played last week is no reason to panic, but it could signal that we’re about to see the Flyers come back down to earth.
18. Minnesota Wild (12)
Minnesota has been a difficult team to gauge so far this season. They’ve undoubtedly righted the ship after a horrific start to the year, but at 5-5-1 overall, there’s been nothing firm to latch onto.
Check back next week to see if Minnesota makes a significant move in one direction or the other.
17. Los Angeles Kings (26)
The Kings are starting to get things figured out. In the last two weeks, LA has lost only two games in regulation while emerging victorious in four contests in that period.
We’re still waiting to see exactly what type of team the Kings will prove to be this season, but so far, it seems like things are trending in a positive direction.
16. Buffalo Sabres (22)
Week four was a tale of two weeks for the Sabres. They kicked things off with high-scoring wins over the Red Wings and Penguins, but the end of the week saw the team drop back-to-back contests against the Hurricanes and Lightning.
With Tage Thompson leading the way, there’s reason to be optimistic when it comes to Buffalo, so the Sabres move into the top 16.
15. Winnipeg Jets (21)
The Jets are becoming difficult to ignore. They came into this season with lower expectations than they’ve been accustomed to having in recent years, but that hasn’t stopped them from surging to the top of the standings.
At 7-3-1, the Jets are second to only the Dallas Stars in the Central Division and move up six places accordingly.
14. Florida Panthers (7)
Moving in the opposite direction is the Florida Panthers. Things haven’t totally been bad for the Cats, but it’s been a very underwhelming start to the year for a team that was so exciting to watch a year ago.
13. Toronto Maple Leafs (18)
Toronto had a solid week four, highlighted by snapping a winning streak that belonged to one of their biggest rivals, the Boston Bruins. We expect the Maple Leafs to thrive during the regular season, and after that wasn’t what happened two weeks ago, they got back on track last week.
12. New York Rangers (11)
The Rangers are a team that we didn’t learn much about last week. They beat Arizona and Philadelphia, as they should, and they lost to Boston, as one would expect.
It’s been a fine start to the season, but until something noteworthy happens, New York will hover in this general vicinity in our power rankings.
11. Edmonton Oilers (5)
Edmonton is in the same boat as Toronto when it comes to regular season expectations. The talent on the roster should be more than enough to ensure a successful bid for the playoffs, but the Oilers struggled last week.
Yes, the Devils and Stars are playing well, but the Oilers weren’t great in the losing efforts and fall as a result.
10. Seattle Kraken (24)
No team made a larger jump up the rankings this week than the Seattle Kraken. The second-year franchise is 7-4-2 on the season, and last week, they beat three 2022 Stanley Cup Playoff teams in the Calgary Flames, Wild, and Penguins.
It’s too early to say that this is the new norm for the Kraken, but winning four straight games and five of the last six warrants a leap forward for Seattle.
9. Detroit Red Wings (9)
The Red Wings lost badly to the Sabres early in the week but rebounded with a pair of victories in the ensuing days. Detroit is 7-3-2 overall, which puts them in second place in the Atlantic Division.
Expectations were high coming into the year after a busy offseason, and so far, the work done by general manager Steve Yzerman is paying off.
8. Calgary Flames (2)
Few NHL clubs have more upside than the Flames this season, but the newly-assembled Calgary roster hasn’t quite put everything together yet. They’re on a four-game skid, gaining only one point in the standings last week.
There’s no need to panic if you’re the Flames, but they have to fall out of the top few spots as a result of their current losing streak.
7. New Jersey Devils (13)
The Devils just keep climbing. New Jersey is pacing the Metropolitan Division, one point clear of the Carolina Hurricanes. With a record of 9-3, and a winning streak of six games, the Devils have to be taken seriously.
Like the Kraken, the Devils have taken down several 2022 playoff participants, further justifying their move into the top ten.
6. Colorado Avalanche (6)
Colorado is 6-4-1 on the season after beating the Blue Jackets twice in their only two games last week. We’ve come to expect magic every time the Avalanche take the ice, but just taking care of business is more than acceptable for the defending champions in November.
5. Tampa Bay Lightning (10)
The reigning Eastern Conference champions started slow this season, but did anyone really think that was going to last? Tampa Bay is firmly back on track, as they are on a five-game point streak and are in the top half of the Atlantic, which is exactly where they’re supposed to be.
4. Dallas Stars (8)
Offense has evaded the Dallas Stars for many seasons, but that was not the case in week four. The Stars scored five, seven, and six goals in each of their three games last week.
Their 8-3-1 record is the second-best mark in the Western Conference, and their +19 goal differential is tied for second in the NHL. Moving Dallas into the top five is a no-brainer.
3. Carolina Hurricanes (3)
If not for a wildly impressive start by the Devils, the Hurricanes would be at the top of the Metro, just as we would expect. Instead, they’re one point behind New Jersey but playing very well.
The Canes were supposed to be among the best teams in the NHL, and that’s where they are so far, so they maintain a top-three position here.
2. Boston Bruins (1)
Boston was in the top spot a week ago, but a white-hot team has surged past them. That’s only part of what keeps the Bruins from maintaining the first position in our power rankings.
The B’s made a questionable (to put it nicely) signing last week, and for that reason alone deserve to be bumped out of first place in our power rankings.
1. Vegas Golden Knights (4)
Bad decisions by the Bruins aside, the Golden Knights have earned this top spot. Vegas sits atop the NHL standings with a record of 11-2 and has not lost since October 22 (7-0 in that time).
More. Reviewing The 2023 NHL Winter Classic Team Logos. light
It’s been a complete team effort by the Golden Knights to begin the season, and with all of last season’s turmoil seemingly in the past, this team is the perfect team to earn gold in our week four rankings.