NHL 2022-23 Season Weekly Power Rankings: Monday 2/6
28. Anaheim Ducks
Although they haven’t played in over a week, the Anaheim Ducks are on a three-game winning streak. That ultimately won’t mean much this season, but any bit of confidence that this young team can muster is useful in the long run.
27. Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are in last place in the Western Conference, and they really only get to 27 in these rankings because there are several poor teams in the NHL this season. If and when the Hawks start trading star players, they’ll fall further down this list.
26. Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens have not won a hockey game since January 21, and only the Blue Jackets have a worse record than the Canadiens in the Eastern Conference. Things have been difficult this season, and I don’t see them getting any easier for the Habs.
25. Ottawa Senators
Unlike most of the other teams listed so far, the Ottawa Senators have been playing some better hockey recently. They went into All-Star Weekend on a four-game winning streak and posted an 8-6 record in January.
Looking at the playoffs is probably a bit far-fetched still, but for a team that had postseason aspirations when the season began, six points back could be manageable.
24. Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers picked up quite a few points in January, making them competitive enough that fans have to at least consider them when looking at the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
With that said, Philadelphia making the playoffs is a long shot, and I think it’s more likely that the Flyers fall off and end up closer to the bottom of the standings.
23. Detroit Red Wings
Things once looked so promising for the Detroit Red Wings in 2022, but that has slowly changed this season and now in 2023, the discussion for the Wings will revolve more around players that could be traded than chances of returning to the playoffs.
22. St. Louis Blues
Remember the streaky St. Louis Blues that showed up at the beginning of the season? Well, it looks like they’re back. The Blues lost five straight games before the All-Star break, but the good news is that they don’t play until Saturday and can hopefully forget all about the end of January.
21. Florida Panthers
Matthew Tkachuk winning the All-Star Game MVP is probably the most exciting thing that has happened this year to a team that was exciting every time it took the ice last season.
Florida is one of those teams that will have its fate decided by what it does and does not do at the trade deadline.
20. Nashville Predators
Nashville is another team that was playing well ahead of All-Star Weekend, as the Predators had won three straight games and five of their last six. At 24-18-6 on the season, the Preds are three points out of a playoff spot in the West.
19. New York Islanders
No team was a bigger winner last week than the New York Islanders. They made the first major splash of the NHL’s trade season by acquiring Bo Horvat from the Canucks and subsequently signing him to an eight-year contract extension.
The Isles needed a boost to get back into the playoff race, and they got it, setting the tone for the next month in the NHL in the process.
18. Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are the first team out in the East and were playing well before the All-Star break. Unfortunately, star forward Tage Thompson was injured, so the duration and lasting effect of his ailment could have a dramatic impact on the rest of Buffalo’s season.
17. Calgary Flames
It seems to be the same story every week for the Calgary Flames. This is a team that has lingered near the middle of the pack all season, yet I find myself still waiting for things to click and for this squad to show that it’s capable of making a push in the postseason.
16. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the middle of the pack in these rankings, just like they’re in the middle of the pack in the NHL standings. As they get set to return from the break, the Penguins are in the second wild card spot in the East with a record of 24-16-9.
15. Washington Capitals
Just ahead of the Penguins are the Washington Capitals. The Caps have played four more games than the Pens and have a three-point advantage in the standings. As has been the case for more than a decade, these two clubs will be battling it out for a playoff spot in 2023.
14. Minnesota Wild
Every week I have to rank the Minnesota Wild, and every week I have no real feelings about this team. I’ve seen nothing overwhelmingly good and nothing overwhelmingly bad this season, so the Wild slot in at 14 because of their third-place position in the Central Division.
13. Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights continue to slowly descend the power rankings as their hot start from the season’s opening month has faded.
Coming out of the All-Star break, Vegas finds itself behind both the Los Angeles Kings and Seattle Kraken in the Pacific Division, and it will now have to navigate the remainder of the season without captain Mark Stone.
12. Los Angeles Kings
The next two teams on this list feel like complete opposites. Starting with the Los Angeles Kings, this is a team that, statistically, should probably be worse than it is.
LA is the only NHL team in the top 19 in the standings that has a negative goal differential (-10), yet it’s consistently been a top-three team in the Pacific Division this season. At 28-18-7, only the Seattle Kraken currently sit above the Kings in the division standings.
11. Edmonton Oilers
On the flip side, the Edmonton Oilers have a +25 goal differential and have slowly been establishing themselves as a playoff team again this season.
While things are trending up, the play of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl should have Edmonton significantly higher in the standings than they are. This is another team that is in need of a big move at the trade deadline.
10. Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets continue to be a pleasantly surprising team. They are only one point behind the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central, and if All-Stars like Connor Hellebuyck and Josh Morrissey can continue to lead the way, the Jets could be scary come the spring.
9. New York Rangers
An 8-2-2 record in January has the New York Rangers looking more like the team that they did a year ago. They’ll dive head-first into a four-game week this week after the All-Star break, including an important tilt with the first-place Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
8. Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche won seven of their final eight games before the All-Star break and appear to be getting stronger as the season goes on. This isn’t the juggernaut that it was a year ago, but you’d better believe that the Avs are putting it all together in preparation for a title defense.
7. Seattle Kraken
I don’t think anyone expected the Seattle Kraken to be a division leader at the beginning of February, but here we are. With 63 points in the standings, Seattle has already surpassed its point total from a year ago.
The race for the Pacific crown is extremely tight, so the Kraken might be playing some playoff-style games before making their debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
6. Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars, like the Jets, have been a surprising team in the Central. With the fifth-best record in the NHL, the Stars are tied for the second-best goal differential (+40) and have not yet experienced any type of drop-off that would be a cause for concern.
5. Toronto Maple Leafs
You can never read too much into one game, but the Toronto Maple Leafs went into the All-Star break on a sour note, dropping their first game of February to the Boston Bruins, 5-2. To me, this game is symbolic of where the Maple Leafs stand in the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division.
This team has been really good all season long, but so far, nothing has indicated that this team will be able to contend with the very top teams in the league.
4. New Jersey Devils
Unlike the Maple Leafs, the New Jersey Devils have been able to recently overcome the team they’re chasing in the division. New Jersey went 1-0-1 against the Carolina Hurricanes in January and continues to hold a steady lead for the second position in the Metropolitan Division.
3. Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning, like the Avalanche, seem to be getting better and better as the season progresses. No team in the NHL has less interest in the regular season than the Lightning, as their recent success has set a standard of making a deep run through the playoffs.
What the Bolts do between now and April is irrelevant as long as they stay healthy and in a playoff spot.
2. Boston Bruins
I feel like a broken record, but the Boston Bruins have been unbelievable this season. The B’s are on pace for one of the highest team point totals in NHL history, as they are 39-7-5 on the year, seven points clear of every other team in the league.
What keeps Boston at number two is a loss last weekend to the number one team on this list.
1. Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina has not been as impressive throughout this season as Boston, but the Canes have still been elite, and a win over the Bruins, plus two wins in last week’s abbreviated action, returns them to a spot that they have owned at other points in this season.
More. Having both Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin at ASG was amazing. light
The Metro-leading Hurricanes are 34-9-8 coming out of the All-Star break, and they’ll attempt to put some pressure on the Bruins in the final 30 games of the campaign.