NHL 2022-23 Season Weekly Power Rankings: Monday 12/12

Cole Caufield, #22, Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Power Rankings (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Cole Caufield, #22, Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Power Rankings (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
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Cole Caufield, #22, Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Power Rankings (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Cole Caufield, #22, Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Power Rankings (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Another week, another round of our power rankings to get you caught up with what is going on across the entire NHL. If you are interested in last week’s rankings, you can check them out here. Now let’s dive in with week nine of our power rankings!

NHL 2022-23 Season Weekly Power Rankings: Monday 12/12

32. Chicago Blackhawks

At the bottom of the league, we have the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks sit in last place in the Central Division with just 18 points. They have lost their last three games and have just one win in their last 12 games. The Hawks are not playing great hockey, and they could potentially lose out on their biggest trade piece should either Toews or Kane choose to stay in Chicago through the end of the season.

31. Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks were supposed to be the surprise team of the year, climbing up in the standings and fighting for a potential playoff spot. Now they are just in a battle for the first overall pick. Anaheim played just two games this past week, one of which was a win against the Carolina Hurricanes in OT, so they beat out the Blackhawks for the 31st spot in the rankings.

30. Philadelphia Flyers

Philadelphia has lost three straight games and have gone 2-5-3 in their last ten games. The Flyers most recently lost to the Arizona Coyotes 5-4 in overtime. After starting the year 5-2-0, this season has turned for the worse, with just two wins since Nov. 10.

29. Arizona Coyotes

The Arizona Coyotes are in seventh place in the Central Division and are currently on a two-game win streak. The Coyotes are 9-13-4 on the year with recent wins against the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. Beating Boston 4-3 has helped earn the Coyotes this spot, as well as a recent Clayton Keller hat trick.

Tyson Jost #17, Victor Olofsson #71, Buffalo Sabres (Photo by Joshua Bessex/Getty Images)
Tyson Jost #17, Victor Olofsson #71, Buffalo Sabres (Photo by Joshua Bessex/Getty Images) /

28. San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks are seventh in the Pacific Division and have just one win in their last five games. One thing that is going right for the Sharks: Erik Karlsson. Karlsson has 37 points in 30 games, including 12 goals and 25 assists. The amazing thing for the Sharks is they could potentially end up getting Karlsson off their roster in a trade to clear up cap space and put him on a contender.

27. Ottawa Senators

Ottawa could potentially be lower on this list. They were supposed to be the team of the year, yet here they sit with a record of 11-14-2 and 24 points – the worst in the Atlantic Division. This past week, Ottawa played three games, losing to the Kings and Stars while beating the Predators this past Saturday. Ottawa needs to beat more teams like LA and Dallas if they are going to get back into the mix.

26. Columbus Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets won two of their four games this past week, beating the Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings. Their two losses came to Buffalo and Pittsburgh, losing big to Buffalo 9-4. The Jackets are having a rough season, with both Merzlikins and Korpisalo’s numbers in the net coming down to earth after a few great showings in the past.

25. Buffalo Sabres

The past few games have actually gone alright for the Sabres. In their last ten, they have a record of 5-3-2. However, they just lost back-to-back games to the Pittsburgh Penguins and their last two wins before that came against teams outside of the playoff picture that they should beat in Columbus and San Jose.

Cole Caufield #22, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Cole Caufield #22, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

24. Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks have had a relatively strong last few weeks, but it is deceiving. In their last ten, the Canucks are 6-4-0, but those wins are coming against teams like San Jose, Arizona, and Montreal, to name a few. Sure they did have two big wins against Vegas and Colorado early to start this ten-game win streak, but every other win since then came in overtime against poor teams.

23. Montreal Canadiens

This past week Montreal went 1-1-1 against three Pacific Division teams. They beat the Seattle Kraken, lost in overtime to the Vancouver Canucks, and lost to the LA Kings 4-2 on Saturday. This Canadiens team is really playing above expected in 2022, it will be interesting to see if they can continue to be this good in 2023 or if they will fall down to earth a bit.

22. St. Louis Blues

Wow, the St. Louis Blues are a streaky team. The Blues are 2-7-1 in their last ten games, only the Chicago Blackhawks were worse than that in ten games across the entire league. St. Louis went 1-2-1 in their last four games this past week, beating the New York Islanders while losing to the Rangers and Jets. Yesterday they lost to the Avalanche in overtime. A lot is going wrong for the Blues this season, yet somehow it does not seem completely hopeless if they can go on another streak of winning games.

21. Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators just keep on moving forward as a competitive team. They are currently 12-11-2 with 26 points, good enough for fifth in the Central Division. I am still confused by the decision to put Eeli Tolvanen on waivers, but overall, things are going better than expected in Nashville.

Pheonix Copley #29, Mikey Anderson #44, Los Angeles Kings (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Pheonix Copley #29, Mikey Anderson #44, Los Angeles Kings (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

20. Washington Capitals

Washington has one goal in mind, Alex Ovechkin scoring goals, everything else just does not matter as much. This team is currently on a four-game win streak against teams like Edmonton, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Winnipeg – the main thing being they scored at least three goals in each of those games.

19. Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers have lost their last two games and were 1-3-0 this past week, beating just the Detroit Red Wings. Florida could go from winning the Presidents’ Trophy to missing the playoffs considering they currently sit in fifth place in the Atlantic with Detroit in front of them.

18. Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames went 2-1-1 this past week, their one loss being to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Calgary needs to work on playing more consistent hockey if they are going to make the playoffs, as they currently are an inconsistent team pumping out a few wins only to lose two to three straight the next week.

17. Los Angeles Kings

Despite their goaltending struggles, the Los Angeles Kings still find themselves in a playoff spot with a record of 15-11-5, good enough for third in the Pacific Division. This past week, LA was 2-1-1 with two wins with Phoenix Copley in the net. With Cal Peterson put on waiver over a week ago, this team needs to get their goaltending together before January rolls around.

Ville Husso #35, Detroit Red Wings (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
Ville Husso #35, Detroit Red Wings (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

16. Minnesota Wild

This past week the Minnesota Wild went 1-2-0, with two losses with Fleury in the net. Their one win came against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday with a shutout for Filip Gustavsson. Minnesota is 14-11-2 on the year with 30 points, tied for third place in the division with Colorado.

15. New York Rangers

The New York Rangers have won three straight games, winning a high scoring 6-4 game against the Blues, then a blowout win 5-1 against the Golden Knights, and a close one against the Avalanche 2-1. This team winning three straight could not come at a better time after losing to the Senators and Blackhawks a week ago. New York needs to work on being more consistent and getting in the win column more often.

14. Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers went 2-1-0 this past week, beating the Arizona Coyotes and Minnesota Wild while losing to the Capitals. The clock is ticking on winning with McDavid and Draisaitl, so if this team wants to be successful, they are going to need to turn it on sooner rather than later.

13. Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings went 1-1-1 this past week, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning while losing to the Florida Panthers and the Dallas Stars. Beating the Lightning and taking the Stars to overtime have to be confidence boosters for the Red Wings that they really do belong amongst the best of the best in this league.

Nikita Kucherov #86, Tampa Bay Lightning (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
Nikita Kucherov #86, Tampa Bay Lightning (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) /

12. New York Islanders

The Islanders had three games this past week, and they went 1-2-0 during that span. Overall in their last six games, the Islanders are 2-4-0 and are going in the wrong direction after playing some really good hockey in November.  While there are a few teams that probably would not care about falling in the rankings and going through a slump in December, I do not think the Islanders are one of them as they are going to need every point possible to make the playoffs.

11. Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche are 14-10-2 on the year, including a 1-2-1 record in their games from this past week. While Colorado is struggling, that does not matter, considering all this team needs to do is make it to the playoffs, and then they can turn it on. Colorado being this low is also not an issue when you realize how many injuries they are dealing with. Being in 11th place without players like MacKinnon, Landeskog, Byram, Manson, and Rodrigues shows how good the Avalanche are.

10. Seattle Kraken

The Seattle Kraken are another slumping team that might not has as much to worry about. The Kraken went 1-2-0 this past week, losing to the Canadiens and Capitals. but they did beat the Florida Panthers on Sunday. The Kraken are making the Pacific Division more challenging and considering they just had their first three-game stretch of the season where they did not collect a single point, I do think this team has nothing to worry about. Let’s hope they perform well this coming week with games against Tampa bay, Carolina and Winnipeg (three competitive teams in the league right now).

9. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning are hitting their stride as of late. Currently, they are in third place within the Atlantic Division, which is a place they are totally fine being as their season does not get going until April and May anyway. This past week the Lightning were 2-1-0 beating the Panthers and Predators while losing to the Red Wings. Winning those division games has to be a point of emphasis for this team, as their last three losses have all been against Atlantic Division rivals in Boston and Detroit.

Blake Wheeler #26, Winnipeg Jets (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
Blake Wheeler #26, Winnipeg Jets (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /

8. Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are tied for first place in the Central Division with the Winnipeg Jets at 37 points. Dallas went 2-1-0 this past week, beating the Red Wings and Senators while losing to the Maple Leafs. With both their wins coming in overtime and including two instances where the Stars gave up the lead, I am a little concerned with the Stars’ ability to lock it down defensively and not focus on their offense to win games. That being said, being in first place within the division is the best situation to be in at this point.

7. Vegas Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights are the Kings of the Pacific Division once again. After not making the playoffs in 2022, this group is back. However, this past week was not great for the Golden Knights. Vegas went 2-2-0 this past week, with both their wins requiring more than 60 minutes. Being a big team with size and skill, I think Vegas is one of those teams more on cruse control till February or March before they will really get excited about the playoffs. So far this season, Vegas has not had more than two games in a row where they did not get at least a point.

6. Pittsburgh Penguins

Gotta hand it to the Pittsburgh Penguins, they are playing some really good hockey as of late. The Penguins are on a five-game winning streak dating back to Dec. 1 when they beat the Golden Knights. The Penguins also saw star defensemen Kris Letang return to the team a few nights ago. As long as this team can continue to be consistent and doesn’t go through another long losing streak, they should be back in the playoffs again in 2023.

5. Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets went 3-1-0 this past week with wins against the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Florida Panthers. The Jets are 18-8-1 on the year and really look like a competitive team after a coaching change this summer.

Auston Matthews #34, Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
Auston Matthews #34, Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

4. Carolina Hurricanes

This past week the Carolina Hurricanes played just two games, they beat the Islanders on Saturday and lost to the Ducks in overtime on Tuesday. Carolina is 5-1-4 in their last ten games and overall has a record of 15-6-6, good enough for 36 points and second place in the Metropolitan Division.

3. Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins have dropped out of the top two for the first time since week two of the power rankings. This team is still one of the best around, with a record of 2-1-1 this past week. However, considering their one regulation loss was against the Arizona Coyotes, they had to drop behind a few other really good teams.

2. Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are making a pretty big jump to the top four this week. They are the second-best team in the league right now, with a record of 8-0-2 in their last ten, including three wins this past week. Mitch Marner is on a long point streak putting him in the record book, and overall, this team is clicking after some struggles early on.

1. New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils went 1-1-0 this past week, beating the Chicago Blackhawks while losing to the New York Islanders. The Devils are 21-5-1 on the year and are 7-2-1 in their last ten. The Devils are having their best season in a handful of years, and the good vibes continue with their third consecutive week as the top team in the NHL.

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