NHL 2022-23 Season Weekly Power Rankings: Monday 12/19

8. Vegas Golden Knights (7)

Vegas was 2-2 last week and has been overall unimpressive in the last several weeks. With that said, the Golden Knights’ 45 points in the standings are difficult to ignore, and for as long as they are pacing the West, they’ll stay inside the top ten here.

7. Winnipeg Jets (5)

The Jets are another team that posted an average record last week. Like the Golden Knights, though, Winnipeg is in a favorable spot within the Central Division, and its four-game winning streak entering last week keeps them high on this list.

6. New Jersey Devils (1)

Most fans probably could have predicted that the Devils would take a step backward and come back down to earth at some point. After all, their pace was unsustainable for any team, and this is not a club that has maintained success in recent years.

With that said, people probably were not ready for a drop-off this steep, as the team that held the top spot in these power rankings for the last three weeks now finds itself outside of the top five.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs (2)

Last week at this time, I was thrilled with the way the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing. After starting the week with a dominant 7-0 win, however, the Leafs dropped games against the Rangers and Capitals.

Toronto’s goal-scoring cooled off and Mitch Marner’s point streak came to an end, so they’ll look to get back on track offensively this week.