NHL 2022-23 Season Weekly Power Rankings: Monday 3/27
Another week of hockey is in the books, which means that it’s time for the 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 stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Eastern Conference still owns the top spot.
Where does each NHL team stand as March enters its final week?
By now, all non-contenders are awaiting the offseason, and the playoff teams have their rosters in place. Some know where they will stand, while others battle for position. Here are the updated NHL power rankings.
32. San Jose Sharks (Previous Rank: 32)
For as bad as things looked for the Sharks in the early stages of the season, they look a lot worse now. San Jose has officially fallen to last place in the NHL standings, and nothing suggests that that’s going to change any time soon.
31. Columbus Blue Jackets (31)
With the Sharks moving to last place in the standings, the Columbus Blue Jackets get to abandon the position that they’ve known for most of the year. Being 31st in the league doesn’t do much for the Jackets, though, so they earn a matching position here.
30. Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks have not been winning many games recently. The depleted Chicago roster is probably the worst in the NHL, and they just barely avoid being at the very bottom of these rankings.
29. Anaheim Ducks (28)
Last week, the Anaheim Ducks went 0-4, continuing what has been an absolutely dreadful season. I hope that the Ducks and their young stars come back next year with some fight, but for now, this is a first-slide type of team in the power rankings.
28. Montreal Canadiens (29)
The Montreal Canadiens enjoyed a solid week. They went 2-1, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning and smoking the Columbus Blue Jackets. It’s not much for one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference, but it’s good enough to bump the Habs up one position.
27. Arizona Coyotes (22)
After going through a week with four wins and zero losses, the Arizona Coyotes racked up nothing except for losses last week. Yes, the Yotes played exclusively playoff teams, but that doesn’t make the week any less disappointing for a squad that had been playing pretty well.
26. Detroit Red Wings (25)
If they hadn’t already, the wheels have officially come off for the Detroit Red Wings. They showed a lot of promise early in the campaign, but a 1-3 week is just the latest in a long line of setbacks that have dropped the Red Wings well out of the race for the postseason.
25. Philadelphia Flyers (27)
It won’t count for much, but the Philadelphia Flyers are on a five-game point streak. Last week, John Tortorella’s team went 3-0, including wins over the Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild. With the wins, Philly moves within three points of the aforementioned Red Wings.
24. Vancouver Canucks (21)
The Vancouver Canucks had a decent showing this past week, but it’s hard to keep a team that is out of the playoff hunt above teams that are still alive. As a result, the Canucks fall a few spots despite a winning week.
23. Buffalo Sabres (24)
The Buffalo Sabres are one of those teams that’s still clinging to hope thanks to a pair of important wins at the end of last week. Victories over the playoff-bound New Jersey Devils and wild-card-leading New York Islanders washed out an ugly start to the week for Buffalo.
22. St. Louis Blues (26)
Like some of the other teams on this slide, the St. Louis Blues had a respectable week. Some key games came against other teams that have already been listed here, which helps the Blues move up a few spots.
21. Ottawa Senators (23)
A 2-2 week with two wins against important teams in the East moves the Ottawa Senators up, but it’s most likely too little too late. The Sens have a lot of work left to do if they want to remain in the playoff chase, and they’ll have to do it without defenseman Jakob Chychrun.
20. Washington Capitals (19)
For a team that needs every game to yield two points, last week was not ideal for the Washington Capitals. All of the struggles early in the week could have been erased, and almost were, by upsetting the Pittsburgh Penguins, but with that not coming to fruition, the Caps are in trouble.
19. Nashville Predators (18)
The door into the final wild card spot in the West seems to be wide open, yet the Nashville Predators can’t manage to walk through it. Outside of an impressive win over the Sabres, last week was a bust for a Predators team that is quickly running out of time.
18. Winnipeg Jets (20)
Are the Winnipeg Jets still in a playoff spot? Yes. Should they feel good about that? No. A 2-2 week was good enough to fend off the flailing Predators, but the Jets are nowhere close to being in the clear.
17. Calgary Flames (17)
The team that poses the biggest threat to Winnipeg is the Calgary Flames, though they too did not exceed .500 last week. Calgary beat the bad teams and lost to the good teams and still has work to do if it wants to catch the Jets and return to the playoffs.
16. Florida Panthers (15)
The Florida Panthers had been doing a great job of climbing back into playoff contention until a three-game losing streak last week brought that momentum to a screeching halt. If the Cats want to continue their pursuit of a playoff berth, they’ve got to get back on track immediately.
15. Pittsburgh Penguins (16)
It’s not always pretty for the Penguins, but last week was one of their better weeks in a while. Yes, they only went 2-2, which needs to improve, as points are at a premium, but they played well throughout the week and gained ground on the New York Islanders.
14. New York Islanders (14)
New York went 1-1-1 last week, which isn’t bad and keeps them in the top wild card position for now. The Penguins and Panthers have nearly drawn even with the Islanders in terms of games played, which gives all teams involved insight into just how tight this race is.
13. Seattle Kraken (13)
The Seattle Kraken seem to be the only wild card team in the NHL that actually wants to claim its spot. A 2-0-1 week should make Seattle feel good about its chances at the first playoff berth in franchise history, as it has an edge in points, as well as games remaining.
12. Edmonton Oilers (12)
For the second week in a row, the Edmonton Oilers picked up at least one point in each game they played. With a record of 2-0-1, the Oilers hung tight with the West-leading Vegas Golden Knights and extended their point streak to six games in the process.
11. Tampa Bay Lightning (7)
Conversely, it was not a good week for the Tampa Bay Lightning. I know that this team has been there and done that before, but they’ve got to turn things around before the postseason begins. The Bolts went 0-4 last week and did not score more than two goals in any of their games.
10. Dallas Stars (10)
Not to hit the panic button, but last week was the second in a row that was underwhelming for the Dallas Stars. They were 1-1-1 after going 2-2 the week before, and while that’s far from catastrophic, Dallas now finds itself in third place in the Central Division.
9. Colorado Avalanche (9)
One of the teams that passed the Stars last week was the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs have won nine games this month and have seemingly been getting stronger throughout the month of March.
They may not be at full health, but no team in the West wants to see Colorado in the playoffs.
8. Minnesota Wild (11)
The other team that leapfrogged the Stars in the Central was the Minnesota Wild. This feels like a team that has flown under the radar all year, yet with three weeks left in the season, Minnesota is at the top of the Central.
The Wild are 8-1-3 in March and have become a team that Western Conference rivals cannot ignore.
7. New York Rangers (6)
After starting the week with a 7-0 thumping of the Predators, the New York Rangers split two games with the Carolina Hurricanes and defeated the Panthers. The Blueshirts are playing very well right now and only move down because of some surging teams out west.
6. Toronto Maple Leafs (4)
The Toronto Maple Leafs are very much not one of those surging teams (they’re definitely not west either). Toronto surrendered seven goals to the offensively-challenged Islanders and then five against the Hurricanes. That’s not going to cut it in the playoffs.
5. Los Angeles Kings (8)
The Los Angeles Kings took advantage of having some struggling would-be wild card teams on their schedule last week, beating the Flames and Jets by a combined score of 12-3.
LA has picked up at least a point in each game it’s played this month and is quietly one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now.
4. Carolina Hurricanes (4)
The Hurricanes continue to be good, not great. I still believe that this is one of the deepest, most complete teams in the NHL, and it is one of the few that has punched its ticket to the playoffs, but things have just felt lackluster for the Canes lately.
3. New Jersey Devils (2)
For the first time since 2018, the New Jersey Devils are heading to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Jack Hughes and company clinched a playoff berth over the weekend, thanks to a Panthers loss. The Devils grabbed a win against the Senators on the same day to cap off a 2-1-1 week.
2. Vegas Golden Knights (3)
Don’t look now, but the Golden Knights are hot. Victories over Calgary and Edmonton highlighted a perfect 4-0 week for Vegas, which marks its second four-game winning streak of March.
With an overall record of 11-2 this month, the Golden Knights are emerging as the team to beat in a Western Conference that has felt wide open all year.
1. Boston Bruins (1)
At this point, there’s not much to say about the Boston Bruins. Everyone in the NHL knows how impressive the Bruins are.
More. Toronto Maple Leafs recent struggles without forward Ryan O’Reilly. light
For fans, the next few weeks will be about watching the B’s to see if they can make league history. For the team, it’s about making minor adjustments, getting healthy, and waiting for the games that actually mean something to start being played.