NHL 2022-23 Season Weekly Power Rankings: Tuesday 11/15
Another week, another opportunity to rank the best in the NHL. With so many fun and exciting teams, this week definitely could change things when it comes to our NHL Power Rankings.
I apologize, as we are coming out a day later than expected. Considering I got to watch a top-five team live last night, I thought it was best to wait to release the rankings.
NHL 2022-23 Season Weekly Power Rankings: Tuesday 11/15
32. Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks return to the bottom spot in our rankings. Although, maybe the NHL deserves the bottom spot after disallowing an awesome Zegras lacrosse-style goal against the Wild from his last week.
This is the Ducks’ second time as the bottom team in the league and that really just has to do with their three-game losing streak combined with them holding the worst goal differential in the entire NHL.
31. Columbus Blue Jackets
Next up we have Columbus, another team struggling as of late. The team is going to be without Laine for the foreseeable future, and they have just one win in their last seven games. Johnny Gaudreau’s six goals and 12 points have not been enough to lift this team to the next level.
30. St. Louis Blues
Next up we have the St. Louis Blues. While the Blues might be on a three-game win streak, this team has been one of the biggest surprises of the season thus far, and they are going to need to win a lot more games to change minds.
29. Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks have lost three straight games against original six teams in Toronto, Montreal, and Boston. While their struggles have been immense as of late, at least they saw some fan favorites get into the Hall of Fame.
28. Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators have been struggling. They have won just one game since Oct. 24, when they beat the Dallas Stars. The Senators have backed themselves into a corner, but at least Alex DeBrincat scored a few goals last week.
27. San Jose Sharks
Someone should check on Erik Karlsson to ensure his back is alright from carrying this team. Karlsson has 22 points, including ten goals, in what has been an absolutely incredible run so far for the Sharks. While this team won’t make the playoffs by any means, Karlsson’s points could block San Jose from getting that top prospect they so desperately need.
26. Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks have started to fall down to earth after their incredible 4-2-0 start of the season. They have a 6-6-3 record and their game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday did not spark confidence in the future of the team.
25. Buffalo Sabres
It is the same story every year for the Buffalo Sabres, unfortunately. They start off strong and then fall down to earth by mid-November. The team is on a five-game losing streak however, all but one of those losses were against really good teams like Boston, Vegas, Tampa Bay and Carolina.
24. Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes being this high might have to do more with how poor some other teams have been. In their previous two games, they lost against the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, but before that, they started their long road trip out east with three straight wins against Washington, Buffalo, and the Islanders.
23. Nashville Predators
The Predators played just three games this past week and while they lost against the Kraken and Avalanche, they did show up big in a game against the New York Rangers. That performance is why they find themselves in this spot, as Juuse Saros looked great making 34 saves in a 2-1 win over the Rangers.
22. Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers have fallen back down to earth with three losses in their last three games giving up four to five goals in each matchup. One main issue for this team in their losses has been how many goals they have given up. To this point, the Flyers have lost eight games, including overtime, of those eight games, six of them have been by four or more goals.
21. Washington Capitals
The Capitals might be 7-8-2 and have the third-worst record in the Metropolitan Division, but they do have Alex Ovechkin, who has scored eight goals so far this season. He also has made some great plays besides scoring goals, like this assist below.
20. Pittsburgh Penguins
This past week, the Penguins had three games, winning two against the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs. Getting out of a long losing streak sometimes is not easy, but the Penguins took care of that this past week.
With games coming up against Toronto and Minnesota, it will be interesting to see if the Penguins can start putting together three-game winning streaks or if they will fall back into a losing skid. So far the best run this team has had was a 4-0-1 run to start the season, right now, the team is 2-0-1 in their last three games.
19. Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens have won their last three games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings. While success might not be monitored in making the playoffs this season, the team is doing a good job of staying competitive past November in the standings.
Another good piece of news for the Canadiens has to be how well Kirby Dach has been with the team, as he has four goals and ten assists thus far, including this one in overtime in their last win.
18. Calgary Flames
There is no doubt that the Flames have struggled this season. While they had a great start of the year in October, going 5-2-0, November has not been kind as they now find themselves 7-6-2. Things could have been worse if they did not go 2-2-1 this past week. Winning against Los Angeles and Winnipeg is big as they are two conference opponents also trying to make the playoffs.
17. New York Rangers
The Rangers might have fallen back to earth a bit, but in their past week, they have been pretty good, going 2-0-2 during that time. They beat the Red Wings 8-2, a big score for an NHL game and the Coyotes 4-1. Hopefully, they can find that offense more in the remainder of the games this month.
16. Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are starting their climb back up in the standings. They are 6-3-1 in the last teng names and have beaten teams like Seattle and Anaheim as of late. The Wild have not played a lot of divisional opponents yet so winning on Tuesday against Nashville will be very important for their chances to get back into a competitive position.
15. Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are a top 15 team in the NHL right now. For them I think all they have to do is stay competitive and just make the playoffs and then see what happens. While winning the Presidents’ Trophy is a great accomplishment, they learned the hard way that success in the playoffs works differently.
14. Detroit Red Wings
Detroit has 17 points right now, they are tied with teams like Tampa Bay, Florida, and Montreal for third in the Atlantic Division. While making the playoffs is not going to be easy, this team has shown they have the talent to get there.
13. Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are needing the games they need to win so far. In their last nine games, they are 7-1-1, beating a lot of divisional opponents like Arizona, Chicago and Dallas. So far they have been led by Josh Morrissey on the blue line, who has 14 assists, just three of which were on the power play.
12. New York Islanders
The Islanders have broken into the top 12 for the first time this season with a spot at number 12. This is a big jump from where they started the season at 23. The Islanders have been one of the top teams in the league as of late as they have an 11-6-0 record. I think the only knock against them from this past week was losing to the Arizona Coyotes. However, they did beat the Blue Jackets, Senators and Rangers.
11. Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning do not need to be in the top five or even the top ten this year. All they need to do is make the playoffs and then they can show how good they are. The team followed a tough 5-1 loss to the Capitals in Washington up with a 6-3 win against the same team at home, showing they can bounce back when things get tough.
10. Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken look poised to be a lot better this season as they have been through the first month of the season. Seattle has an 8-5-3 record and while they have lost their last two games, they won their previous five before that against some good teams like Pittsburgh, Calgary and Nashville.
9. Los Angeles Kings
The Kings have managed to stay competitive despite the struggles of a lot of teams that took big steps forward last year, like Calgary and New York. The Kings look like a real threat in the Pacific Division, while Vegas is the top team around, LA very well could be that second team in.
8. Toronto Maple Leafs
In typical Toronto fashion, the Leafs followed up a four game losing streak with three wins against a few really good teams in Boston and Carolina. Now, this past week, they have gone 1-1-1 beating the Canucks, losing to the Penguins and losing to the Golden Knights in overtime. While Auston Matthews does have seven goals, I think a lot of fans would like to see him go on another scoring run like last season as soon as possible.
7. Edmonton Oilers
The biggest issue for Edmonton has to be their goaltending so far this season. While they have two of the best players in the world in Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, Jack Campbell has been mediocre to start this season. The Oilers won two of their last three games, including matchups against Tampa Bay and Florida. However, they did lose to the Carolina Hurricanes 7-2.
6. Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars look like they are the real deal. With a 9-5-1 record, they are tied for first in the Central Division with Winnipeg. This past week they won just one of their three games, but they can bounce back on Tuesday in Tampa Bay against the Lightning.
Watching Jason Robertson go from missing most of training camp to coming into the locker room and putting up 10 goals and 23 points in the team’s first 15 games has been remarkable. Usually, players who miss training camp take a bit more time to get up to speed.
5. Carolina Hurricanes
Yesterday I watched the Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks face off in Chicago, and man did Carolina look good. Brent Burns was a smart addition to their team and has been great from the blueline putting up three goals and nine assists. During their 3-0 win over Chicago on Monday, Burns had two assists, including this shot that was deflected by Martinook to get the first goal of the game.
The Hurricanes look like a top team that could compete for the Stanley Cup late in the playoffs if all goes well.
4. Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche are still the Avalanche. While they are third in the Central Division, they are still a top-four team in our power rankings. In their last five games, they have four wins, including a 4-1 win against Carolina. During their game on Monday night against St. Louis, they ran into a hot goaltender in Jordan Binnington.
3. New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils were my pick for the top spot this week, only seems right when you are on a nine-game win streak to be the top team in the league. new Jersey started the year 3-3-0 and anytime you have your fans chat an apology to your coach it is pretty remarkable.
Wow. “Sorry Lindy” chants at Prudential Center right now.#NJDevils pic.twitter.com/W1LUP0ERnI
— Ryan Novozinsky (@ryannovo62) November 13, 2022
For context, when the season started, the crowd in New Jersey chanted for Lindy Ruff to be fired. During one of their most recent games, the crowd chanted an apology to Ruff as the team has been one of the best to watch since their poor start.
2. Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas looks like the real deal after missing the playoffs in 2021-22. Jack Eichel has nine goals and 19 points and Chandler Stephenson is not that far behind with 16. This team might not be the top team in the league, but they are the top threat in the Western Conference.
1. Boston Bruins
Finally, we get to the Boston Bruins. Boston is our first team to hold the top spot for multiple weeks, as they also were the top team in week three. The team has won all nine of their home games this year, a franchise record and they now have Charlie McAvoy back on the ice after missing the first month of the season. This team is well-positioned for success in 2023.
We will be back on Monday with your week six power rankings!