NHL Weekly Power Rankings: The Champs Start Out On Top After Week 1
Today is the first day of the 2023-24 NHL weekly power rankings here at Puck Prose! The start of a new year often leads to some big surprises the first few weeks in the power rankings, so let’s dive in with the list!
NHL Weekly Power Rankings: The Champs Start Out On Top After Week 1
32. San Jose Sharks
Through four games the Shark look bad. Which might be the plan for the season, but at the same time the players that need to be playing well on this team have looked pretty bad.
Through four games, Anthony Duclair has just four shots on goal and one goal. Mike Hoffman has just one assist and Alexander Barabanov has just two shots on goal despite playing on average 16:23 minutes a night.
The Sharks were supposed to struggle, but at the same time, the players that were added to potentially be used as trade bait later in the season have not looked good. At least Filip Zadina has two goals.
31. Montreal Canadiens
Gotta feel for the Canadiens. Obviously this was not going to be a playoff team, but the Canadiens were looking to take a step forward this season with their young players building more chemistry and competing. Now, Kirby Dach is out for the year after suffering a season ending lower body injury.
30. Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets might have beat the Rangers, but losing to the Red Wings and Flyers is a bad start for a team hoping to make the postseason this year. Out of all the teams in the bottom four I think the Jackets have the most potential to rise in the rankings, but they haven’t looked great so far.
29. Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals have not looked good through three games, but that is not the big issue in Washington. Alex Ovechkin has not registered a shot on goal in each of the last two games. This might not be something to worry about just yet, but if he has not registered a goal by next week the Capitals might be in trouble.
28. Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes have played four games so far and have been in every one of them. They beat the Blues and Devils and only lost by a goal to the Islanders and Rangers. Not a bad start for the Yotes.
27. Seattle Kraken
It is too early to write out the Seattle Kraken but through five games this team has looked bad. This team is struggling to find the back of the net, and unless that changes they might be back in the bottom eight again next week.
26. Chicago Blackhawks
The
Connor Bedards
Chicago Blackhawks finished up a five game road trip in week one. Bedard has looked pretty good through the first five games, the main issue in Chicago has to be that they only have one good line so Bedard is facing off against the best of the best every night.
Another positive for the Hawks has to be how good Arvid Soderblom has looked in his matchups. He has put up a .956 save percentage in his two games played.
25. Anaheim Ducks
Last night Leo Carlsson made his NHL debut and registered his first NHL goal. The Ducks look like a better team on the ice this season, and it will be interesting to see where they finish.
24. Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are supposed to be bad, but through four games it seems as though they forgot that. However the Flyers have only beaten the Jackets, Canucks and Oilers so it will be interesting to see what they do this upcoming week with games against the Stars, Golden Knights and Wild to come.
23. Winnipeg Jets
The Jets have looked pretty bad through four games. After signing a long term extension Connor Hellebuyck has a goals against average of 4.38 and a save percentage of .843, not great.
22. St. Louis Blues
The Blues have lost two divisional games against the Dallas Stars and Arizona Coyotes. Through three games, scoring goals has been a tough task in St. Louis.
21. Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres usually start out hot winning their first five to ten games before falling back to earth. Maybe struggling early will lead to good results down the line. Hopefully this team can figure it out sooner rather than later.
20. Nashville Predators
The Predators are entering a transition season under new general manager Barry Trotz. Through five games the team has looked about as expected going 2-3-0 during that time. It is worth mentioning here Roman Josi has just two points through five games. Josi has been a monster offensively in the past, it is only a matter of time before he finds the back of the net.
19. Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks started off the season strong beating the Edmonton Oilers in back to back games but after losing to the Flyers and Lightning in their two most recent games, they fall to number 19 on our rankings.
18. Calgary Flames
The Flames look to be a better team now without Darryl Sutter behind the bench. Through their first four games they are 2-1-1, and if the Seattle Kraken really are as bad as they have been, the Flames could jump back into the postseason this year.
17. Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton has had the worst start of all the teams expected to contend for the Stanley Cup this spring. Their 1-3-0 start has lowered them down to number 17 after starting the preseason at number six in our rankings. I do think they will bounce back this upcoming week, Connor McDavid is still Connor McDavid after all.
16. Florida Panthers
Sergei Bobrovsky has a .908 save percentage through the first four games of the season as well as a 2.81 save percentage. The big question for this team has to be goaltending and so far Bobrovsky has done a fine job in net. It is also worth mentioning that Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk have failed to find the back of the net through four games.
15. Minnesota Wild
The Wild have given up seven goals in each of their losses to kick off the season. Overall, this team still looks to be one of the top three in the Central Division, but they need to do a better job defensively.
14. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins might have lost to the Blackhawks and Red Wings, but they have also had good wins against the Flames and Capitals. Overall this Penguins team looks to be better than the one fans saw last season. The big thing that still remains to be unseen is how Letang and Karlsson will mesh together as two star defensemen that expect to play on the power play. Neither Letang or Karlsson has a power play point yet.
13. New York Rangers
The Rangers are 2-2-0, and have been led by Artemi Panarin through four games. Panarin has five points and the main positive has to be that Alexis Lafreniere has registered a point. This is a big season for the Rangers and some of their young stars in Lafreniere, Chytil and Kakko.
12. Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning are 2-2-1 and look like the contender fans either love or love to hate. The reason they are so low in the rankings though has to do with how many other teams in the East have looked great. Tampa has lost all three of their games against Eastern Conference opponents, and with a matchup against Toronto on Saturday, the Bolts still have a lot to prove.
11. Ottawa Senators
The Senators are 3-1-0 and have been playing some great hockey lead by Stutzle, Tarasenko and Sanderson. This team does have a tough week ahead though so we will see where they are by next Friday.
10. Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings have been one of the best offensive teams through the first week. Adding Alex DeBrincat has looked like the best move of the offseason, and now the Red Wings have a big showdown on Saturday when they face off against the Sens.
9. New York Islanders
The Islanders are undefeated through two games. Sorokin looks great and the Islanders could very well find themselves back in a playoff spot this season. The next week should be a better test with matchups against the Devils, Sabres, Senators and Avalanche.
8. Los Angeles Kings
The Kings have a lot of depth down the middle after adding Pierre-Luc Dubois in the offseason. This could be the very best group of centers in the league with Danault, Kopitar and Dubois. So far the Kings have looked good, but it will be interesting to see how they do against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
7. Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have not had the best start, but Auston Matthews has found the back of the net again. Matthews looks like the player who put up 60 goals two years ago, and only time will tell if he can repeat that effort again this season.
6. Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are 2-0-1 through their first three games, despite Jason Robertson having no goals and just two shots on goal. Dallas could contend for the top spot in the Central Division, all they need is to do is get Jason Robertson going.
5. Boston Bruins
The Bruins have looked really good to start the season. Personally, I thought all the change in the offseason was going to hurt them a lot more than it appears to have. Boston still looks like one of the top ten teams in the NHL.
4. New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils main problem right now is Timo Meier struggling to start the season, but that should work itself out in the coming games. The Devils have depth, speed and skill, it won’t be long before they go on a long winning streak.
3. Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes are scoring a lot of goals. The Hurricanes have had 14 different players score goals through five games and honestly that is pretty impressive. This should be one of the top teams in the league, but the Devils could contend for the top spot in the Metro.
2. Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche look like a team that won the Stanley Cup two years ago. MacKinnon and Makar have been great and all around this team looks fast and ready to compete for the top spot in the league once again.
1. Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights look like a power house, undefeated in their first five games. The offense looks great and the goaltending seems to be just fine with Adin Hill and Logan Thompson. With matchups against the Flyers and Blackhawks this upcoming week there is a good chance Vegas could still be undefeated the next time the rankings come around.