This won’t be super conventional being it’s my first piece here at Pop Culture Pros. Going to talk some about the seasons these teams have had and try and somewhat justify why I have them where they are. The goal is to update these weekly.
Power Rankings
1. Boston Bruins– Did you really expect anyone else to be here? They are easily the deepest team in hockey and you can probably still say that even though they are currently missing top 6 forward Taylor Hall and one of their physical leaders in Nick Foligno (both expected back in time for the postseason). They have the top 3 defensemen in +/- this season (Hampus Lindholm +40, Matt Grzelcyk +34, Brandon Carlo +34) as well as Charlie McAvoy who ranks in the top 10 with a +24 rating in only 50 games. Linus Ullmark is having one of the better seasons we have seen from a goaltender in recent memory. He currently leads the league in Wins, Sv% and GAA. As a team they have the 2nd most points goals scored, and the LEAST goals allowed. Everyone knows the playoffs are a different animal compared to regular season hockey but with this team’s depth and versatility, they have the ability to play different styles on a night-to-night basis and be very good at it. They are going to flirt with the best record in NHL history, but it doesn’t seem like their priority. They should steamroll whichever of the Penguins, Islanders, or Panthers draws this daunting first-round matchup.
Last 10 Games 9-1-0
2. Carolina Hurricanes– While Carolina is having a fine season it seems almost impossible, they run down the Bruins. Both teams have 18 games to play but an 11-point separation in the standings seems insurmountable. Nevertheless, the hurricanes have had a great season currently sitting atop the Metropolitan division with a 43-13-8 (94 pts) record. They didn’t have the loud splashy deadline that so many people thought they would. They added Shayne “Ghost” Gostisbehere and Jesse Puljujarvi at the deadline and didn’t give up very much. Ghost has jumped right back into running the point on their 2nd powerplay unit similar to how Tony DeAngelo had the last couple of years. He has done well in this role putting up 4 points in 5 games (all on the powerplay). Puljujarvi on the other hand finally got to play in his first game for Carolina last night after having some Visa issues. They don’t have quite the depth Boston does in their forward group or on defense. Their goaltending isn’t playing anywhere near as good as Boston’s yet they still find themselves allowing the 2nd least goals in the entire league. This is still a very good team with a nice blend of youth and veteran presence. Lucky for them the earliest they can see Boston in the playoffs would be the Eastern Conference Finals. Also please note whichever of those wild card teams avoids Boston isn’t exactly winning a great prize if Carolina holds onto the Metro.
Last 10 games 7-3-0
3. New Jersey Devils– While Carolina had a quieter deadline the Devils landed arguably the biggest fish in the pond in 26-year-old forward Timo Meier. Adding another scoring threat was considered a need for this team (even though they rank 4th in the league in goals scored). Meier hasn’t quite gotten his sea legs under him yet in Jersey only scoring 1 point (a goal) in his first 4 games with the team but I feel pretty confident it will come around, especially with the abundance of offensive talent Jersey has. Despite the team having some injuries in goal, Mackenzie Blackwood is currently on IR and Johnathan Bernier has not suited up for them this year and may not at all. They have had the 22-year-old Swiss goaltender Akira Schmid come in and perform quite well for them (.927 Sv% and 1.91 GAA) in the 14 games he’s played in. Also, Vitek Vanecek has held down the regular starting spot while posting a .907 Sv% and 2.55 GAA. This as well as formidable play defensively has them currently allowing the 5th LEAST goals in all of hockey. The Devils and the Bruins are the only 2 teams currently ranking in the top 5 for both Goals scored and the Fewest goals allowed.
Last 10 games 7-2-1
4. Dallas Stars– Yes, they could easily be ranked lower. Yes, I know they followed up their domination of the Avalanche last Saturday by losing a tight one to the Flames on Monday. They then followed that up with a 10-4 DEMOLISHING of the Buffalo Sabers and a 4-3 OT WIN against the current playoff-bound Seattle Kraken. This has more to do with watching this team play. When they are clicking as we saw against Colorado last Saturday and Buffalo on Thursday, they are the toughest team to beat in the West. If not for some kid in Edmonton named McDavid, Jason Robertson would be talked about as a Hart trophy contender. Jamie Benn has his first 60-point season since 2017-2018 which will likely result in his first 30-goal season in that same amount of time. Jake Oettinger is currently 4th in the league in Sv% (.920) and in games, he has started for them this year they are allowing .51 goals less than when he doesn’t start (that’s A LOT). Their 28-9-10 record with Oettinger and 9-8-3 without says a lot. This team is built for playoff hockey they are big and physical but also have more than enough skill to really put the pressure on teams to defend.
Last 10 games 6-3-1
5. New York Rangers– How dare you think I am putting them here because the guy writing the checks here is a Rangers fan. No, instead let’s paint a picture together. What team boasts the best top 3 lines in hockey? Each line setup with a playmaker and legit scorer? Which team has a top 6 forward rotation that boasts 4 Stanley cup championships, 2 hart trophies, 2 Calder trophies, and numerous other award finalists on it? Which team has a goalie who won a Vezina last year while also posting a .929 Sv% in the playoffs? This team. And they were right there last year making the Eastern Conference Final and they have added in major ways. That experience of their deep playoff run last year for the younger kids should not go unnoticed either. They haven’t had a monster regular season and have even seemed shaky at times post-trade deadline. A lot of that has to do with the roster and cap gymnastics they’ve had to do to make all this work. So, if anything you can say I have them too high based on what we haven’t exactly “seen” yet but you can’t deny what they have.
Last 10 Games 4-5-1
6. Toronto Maple Leafs– What happened to Auston Matthews? Nothing, yes the goals are down some from last year but he scored 60 last year so it was probably unrealistic to expect him to once again hit that plateau. His career high before last year was 47 and on a per-game basis seems fairly in line with his career average in Goals despite the slight drop in shot percentage. As a team, they’ve been very good though. John Taveras is having his best season in Toronto since his first year there. Michael Bunting has shown last season wasn’t a fluke and Mitch Marner and William Nylander are doing what they normally do. Despite a rash of injuries in net and on defense they are having their best Goals against season in 10 years (minus 2 shortened seasons 2012-2013 and 2020-2021). So, why aren’t they higher? Well, the track record and the injuries are why. Big deadline acquisition Ryan O’Rielly suffered a broken finger that required surgery. They are hopeful he can return for the playoffs but for a newly acquired player to miss all this possible chemistry building time is tough on the player and the team. They are 27-0-1 when scoring 4 or more goals this year is incredibly impressive. Equally unimpressive is their 13-17-7 record when scoring 3 or fewer goals. Playoff hockey certainly doesn’t make it EASIER for teams to score and their struggle in lower-scoring games is extremely alarming to me. I really want to put them lower but that’s hard to do.
Last 10 Games 7-3-0
7. Los Angeles Kings– This team doesn’t have the top-end talent as some of the teams higher on this list, but they also don’t really have any holes. Offseason acquisition Kevin Fiala is replicating his career year from a last year. While I don’t condone trading franchise cornerstone Johnathan Quick, Joonas Korpisalo is having his best season since his rookie year and should sure up their goaltending situation for the rest of the season. The roster is a fun blend of veterans, young talent coming into their own, and prospects getting their footing the combo is working. While they do have the worst goal differential of any of the 10 best teams record-wise in hockey (+7) as I just mentioned Joonas should help solidify that. With the west being so wide open this year it wouldn’t shock me if this team got hot at the right time and made a run.
Last 10 games 6-2-2
8. Vegas Golden Knights– This is another team I am really just unsure of. They rank middle of the pack in goals yet somehow with a plethora of goaltending and defensive injuries have allowed the 8th fewest goals. The Mark Stone injury could end up being a huge one for them. He underwent Back surgery on January 31st and there have been zero updates on him since. While in years past they have done things like hold out players via LTIR to avoid the salary cap this one seems different. No timetable has been given for Stone and with his history of back injuries you must wonder when he suits up again for Vegas. Former Bruins and now Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy deserves some credit for how he has managed to keep the ship chugging along despite all of this. Something to keep an eye on, Johnathan Quick was not happy about how his exit from Los Angeles was handled. Since joining Vegas he’s sporting a 1.97 GAA and a .939 Sv%. It’s only 3 games but if Quick can bring back the magic of his 2011-2012 playoff run (which seems unlikely) maybe this team could shock the world.
Last 10 games 6-2-2
9. Colorado Avalanche– I refuse to put them outside of the top 10 based solely on the fact they won last year and basically that entire core is still here. They do have some HUGE injuries currently. Josh Manson and Erik Johnson on the back end as well as team captain Gabriel Landeskog. Its possible none return but based on their more quiet deadline I’d be willing to bet at least 2 of these guys are back in time for the playoffs. Star Nathan MacKinnon is matching his best points per 60 min of his career (4.0). While Cale Makar has missed time with injuries he is back now and also having a pretty solid season. JT Compher being “the guy” to center the 2nd line seems like a bit of a stretch they’ve replaced the bottom 6 roles with former Capitals (and Stanley cup champion) center Lars Eller. They’ve also managed to basically get the same production from Alexander Georgiev as they did last year from Darcy Kuemper. Yet to be seen is if he can keep it up for the playoff run.
Last 10 games 6-3-1
10. Tampa Bay Lighting– This is another team I really want to put lower, especially with their recent struggles but as long as this core remains it’s really hard to do. We all know once the postseason rolls around this team flicks the metaphorical switch and turns back into the team we’ve seen dominate the east the last 3 years. Can they do it again despite their worst regular season stretch in 9 years? Maybe. They gave up a TON at the deadline to acquire career bottom 6 checking forward Tanner Jeannot from Nashville. That big bet has not exactly paid off as of yet. In the 7 games since the trade Jeannot has 3 pts (all assists), a -1 rating, and 14 penalty minutes while playing roughly 12 minutes a night. Not exactly what you’d expect from what was sold as their big deadline pickup. However Jeannot was a 20+ goal scorer just a year ago on a far inferior team in the Predators, and his physical brand of hockey projects very well for post-season play. Only 2-5 since that trade and 3-4-3 over their last 10 could the fatigue of 3 straight finals appearances finally be weighing on them? Or is this just another year in which the Lighting do what they must to get into the playoffs then turn on that switch and make another cup run?
Last 10 games 3-4-3
11. Minnesota Wild– They could have easily slotted as high as 7 they’ve been on a real tear 8-0-2 in their last 10 games and 10-1-4 in their last 15 games. Joel Eriksson Ek is putting up the best production of his career, and Mats Zuccarrelo is following up the best year of his career last year with what looks to be the 2nd best year of his career this year. Let’s not kid ourselves though this team lives and dies by “The Thrill” and what I mean by that is Kirill Kaprizov. The 25-year-old is having a Hart-caliber season in only his 3rd year in the NHL. His recent injury though is certainly one to generate pause for this team. He is expected to miss 3-4 weeks for their sake hopefully it’s on the lesser end of that scale. The other big reason for this team’s success this year has been 24-year-old goaltender Filip Gustavsson. He is having an unbelievable season with a .935 Sv% and 1.91 GAA. He is still splitting time with future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury but you have to think if he keeps playing like this come playoff time he is going to be in net.
Last 10 games 8-0-2
12. Edmonton Oilers– Connor McDavid is good at hockey end quote. Its fascinating to see how a team with arguably the most dynamic player we have ever seen step foot on the ice still somehow struggles. McDavid has 127 points through 67 games (he leads the league in Points goals and assists). He has 29 more points than the player in 2nd place. That player just so happens to be his teammate, Leon Draisaitl. Once McDavid passes 129 points he will have one of the 50 highest-scoring seasons by a player ever and the first player to enter that list since Mario Lemieux in the 1995-96 season (69 Goals, 91 Assists in 70 games). Yet with all of this, the team is still only in a wild card spot. They made a big move to pick up Left handed lock-down defenseman Mattias Ekholm at the deadline and while he has performed as well as to be expected (6 games, 1 Goal, 2 Assists, and a +7 Rating) this team still gives up a ton of goals. They have allowed 23 goals over their last 6 games. Jack Campbell was brought in to sure up their goaltending situation and has lost the strong side of the platoon it would seem to the young Stuart Skinner. Connor McDavid is good enough to carry this team in the playoffs (we saw it last season) but if they run into some of the more complete teams it may be just too much to ask of him.
Last 10 games 6-4-0
13. Seattle Kraken– In only its 2nd year of existence it seems the Kraken is prepared to punch its first-ever post-season ticket. Vince Dunn has gone from a solid 30-ish point defense-first defenseman to a player who should put up a 60+ point season. Offensively they have scored the 4th most goals in hockey and it has really been a team effort. Only one player (Jared McCann 33 Goals) over 20 goals but 12 players over 10 goals this mosh posh of offensive spare parts from other teams is proving they are more than that. It is a shame however their goaltending is just not there this year. They somehow rank only 18th in goals against this season despite having the 4th worst team save percentage in all of hockey. It has for sure been a fun story for Seattle this year and having the likely Calder winner Matty Beniers will certainly add to that but this team is not built for a deep playoff run.
Last 10 Games 5-4-1
14. New York Islanders – What a weird story. Soon-to-be Predators General Manager Barry Trotz was relieved of his Head Coach role this off-season. They brought in Lane Lambert to replace him. They also signed prized young forward Mathew Barzal to a big new extension that starts next year. They started the year 21-14-2 and things seemed to be going well. Then they had a dreadful January going 4-8-3. Then during the All-Star break, they traded for Bo Horvat. While Horvat hasn’t really kept up his scoring touch with the Isles (5 goals and 4 assists through 16 games compared to 31 goals and 23 assists in 49 games with the Canucks). The team has responded by going 9-4-3 since. Matthew Barzal went down with an injury on February 18th and while many thought that could have been the nail in the coffin that is their season they’ve responded by going 6-2-1 since then. Combine this with the fact Ilya Sorokin has been arguably the 2nd best goalie in hockey behind only Linus Ullmark and you have a team fighting for one of those coveted wild card spots. However, even if they get one of those spots the reward of facing off against Boston or Carolina doesn’t sound very appealing.
Last 10 games 6-3-1
15. Pittsburgh Penguins– Not really a lot to say here. They are one of the other teams in the east fighting for one of those wild card spots. Sydney Crosby is good etc. etc. Their Goaltending is doing well. They have the worst goal differential of any team currently in a playoff spot. Their deadline pickups angered fans (mainly for giving up a 2nd round pick for Mikael Granlund but not having the Preds retain any of his remaining salary that runs for 2 more years after this one). Maybe they have more in the tank than it seems come playoff time but most likely drawing Boston or Carolina gives me little hope or expectation this team can do much more than just make the playoffs. The rebuild is coming for this team at some point in time as Crosby, Letang, and Malkin are getting pretty long in the tooth but hey at least they got some banners from it.
Last 10 games 6-3-1
16. Florida Panthers– I guess some people were hoping for more from this team coming off a President’s trophy but in reality after the trade that send out McKenzie Weager along with Johnathan Huberdeau to bring in Matthew Tkachuk. This year was more about them biting the bullet on the financial trouble they had gotten themselves into. They were not going to be able to keep both Huberdeau and Weager who were impending UFA following this season. So, turning those players into Tkachuk who is easily a top 3 winger in the game right now (and also only 25-years old) seems like a win. Yes, it meant the team wasn’t going to be as good this year which it hasn’t been (currently 3 points out of a wild card spot in the east) but overall mission accomplished. Most people probably thought they’d still be a locked-in playoff team but with injuries to Alex Barkov (he missed 14 games) and Aaron Ekblad (he missed 11) it was an uphill battle. Added on to the average goaltending they have gotten from Bobrovsky, Knight (currently in the NHL Player assistance program), and journeyman Alex Lyon its probably better to just get a better pick and move on. Oh wait, they don’t have their pick….. OOOPS!
Last 10 games 6-3-1
17. Winnipeg Jets– I feel I’ve said this before. I really wanted to put this team lower. They are in the midst of an epic skid that is allowing a team that sold heavily at the deadline (The Nashville Predators) to somehow stay in the playoff hunt. Since losing a 5-game winning streak to the Red Wings on January 10th they are 11-13-2. On top of all this Connor Hellebuyck is in a bad rut giving up 26 goals across his last 6 starts. This slope has pushed them out of the top 10 in goals allowed. Even with all this its really hard to put them lower. They are almost certainly still going to skate into the playoffs unless Calgary or Nashville goes on a real run here. They have 5 players on a 70+ point pace (Connor, Morrissey, Schiefele, Wheeler and Dubois). Even with this, their recent skid has thrown up quite a few red flags in regards to this team. They still have plenty of time to right the ship, but they need to start doing it NOW.
Last 10 games 3-5-2
18. Ottawa Senators– Ottawa had such an exciting offseason. Trading for Alex Debrincant and bringing in Claude Giroux. A lot of people thought surely this would be enough to push them into the playoffs this year. While Giroux has been solid Debrincant is putting up his worst scoring totals since 2019-2020 (on a per-game basis). All that being said they did sneak in at the deadline and get 25-year-old Star Defenseman Jacob Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes. He has played well in his 5 games for them chipping in 4 points while playing 21:04 minutes per game. Maybe they can make a run here. They’ve won 3 of 5 since getting Chychrun. Most likely though this team will be aiming to make their big leap next year.
Last 10 games 6-4-0
NOTE*- Ok the rest of these will likely not be as long as I don’t see any of these teams having a legitimate playoff shot.
19. Nashville Predators– A rash of news and moves out of Nashville have certainly changed their long term outlook from more of a fringe playoff team to a team looking ahead to future years. They shipped out franchise mainstay Mattis Ekholm to Edmonton. Sent 25-year-old pending arbitration-eligible youngster Tanner Jeannot to Tampa. Off-season signing Nino Niederreiter was flipped to Winnipeg. Former Kevin Fiala trade piece Mikael Granlund was sent to Pittsburgh. While General Manager David Poile did a great job shedding some long-term money and bringing in a number of draft picks and players none of that news was as big as the announcement of his impending retirement following the season. The team has responded to these trades by going 4-2-1 since the first deal was announced. They have kept themselves from bottoming out (at the cost of how high this year’s draft pick could be) but this team was never going to give up and quit. Juuse Saros is one of the 3 best goalies in hockey and he’s essentially carrying this team. He has only faced fewer shots than John Gibson on a per-game basis but is 3rd in the league in goals saved above expected. The future is brighter than it was before and they can be fun to watch now that they have let some of their youth get some ice time but playoffs seem like a stretch.
Last 10 games 6-3-1
20. Buffalo Sabers– Some have criticized GM Kevyn Adams for not pushing some chips in on this team for this season and there is some merit to those comments. However, the team has gotten progressively better under Adams from where they were when he stepped in. He clearly has a plan in place and baring something crazy this year is just not going to be the year for their big playoff jump.
Last 10 games 4-5-1
21. Calgary Flames– As if this past offseason wasn’t bad enough for the flames this year has not gotten much better. They lost franchise cornerstones Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk. They were able to replace these players with Johnathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, and others but they went from one of the best teams in hockey last year to a team needing a lot of help to make the playoffs this year. One has to wonder after losing 2 stars who outright said they didn’t want to be there anymore and now have a new player like Huberdeau having comments made from his agent about how things are there if a coaching change is forthcoming.
Last 10 games 3-5-2
22. Vancouver Canucks– Another team with a strange last 8 months. They didn’t trade JT Miller this past off-season. Instead electing to extend him (the new deal doesn’t kick in till next year). Then their captain (Bo Horvat) was in need of a new contract they didn’t extend heading into the season to which he responded by putting up the best numbers of his career pricing him out of Vancouver. They trade Horvat cause they can’t extend him then realize they probably shouldn’t have given Miller a big deal so they’ve been trying to trade him too and they might end up doing it this offseason. As crazy as that sounds it gives you an idea of how poorly this team is run. This isn’t so much a summary as just outright shots at a poorly run franchise. They’ve got some real talent but until they can figure out a direction to take this team it’s probably going to keep being more of the same.
Last 10 Games 7-2-1
23. Washington Capitals– Alex Ovechkin scores a lot of goals. The team isn’t that good though. They made the right choice to start selling off to prepare for next year. A 2-7-0 February made this decision all the easier. Injuries really killed them with guys like Wilson, Backstrom, and Carlson missing large chunks of the year. The core is still there and will try and make another run next year.
Last 10 games 4-5-1
24. Detroit Red Wings– Similar to Ottawa a big offseason and the continued progression of their young pieces were expected to put this team in playoff contention. Doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. Last year’s 60-point scorer Tyler Burtuzzi was shipped to Boston in a deadline deal but hey they got Dylan Larkin extended. Steve Yzerman hasn’t quite had the same success in Detroit as he did in Tampa at least not to this point. They aren’t completely dead yet but making up a 9-point deficit with only 16 to go seems like a tall task.
Last 10 games 3-6-1
25. St. Louis Blues– The Blues traded away numerous pieces leading up to the deadline. Trading away key pieces from their cup run a few years back. The team already has a number of talented youngsters in place but many wonders if they may still not deal a few more players out before it’s all said and done.
Last 10 games 3-5-2
26. Arizona Coyotes– This is going to be another rant about a franchise. This team leads the league with the biggest differential between cap number and actual money spent. They circumvent the cap they play in the smallest venue in the league cause they can’t get an arena deal done. It feels like they haven’t tried to be relevant in years. Can we just get them a new owner and move them to Houston?
Last 10 games- WHO CARES
27. Anaheim Ducks- It is a fun young core. They are still rebuilding for at least another year. Just enjoy watching Trevor Zegras do things video game makers couldn’t come up with.
Last 10 games- I hear they’re fun to use in NHL 23
28- Montreal Canadiens– Carey Price deserved to win a cup. The rebuild is going to take a while but this is a die-hard fan base who will stick with them every step of the way.
Last 10 games- I say again Carey Price deserved to win a cup
29- Philadelphia Flyers– If you call them they may or may not answer. If you offer them a trade they may not be sure you actually offered them a trade. The forthcoming rebuild is going to be long and painful (no pun intended).
Last 10 games- Why did they fire Fletcher AFTER the deadline?
30 through 32- Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, Columbus Blue Jackets– They are all tanking for Bedard. I am not sure if you combined their current rosters in some weird mash-up of some worst teams in the league all-star team if they would have a better record.
Last 10 games- well below .500
Outro and Late Edits
This article was written prior to Sundays games so here is some extra stuff from those.
– Maybe the preds aren’t dead yet?
– The Bruins have lost 2 of their last 3 everyone tell me how they shouldn’t be #1
– The Lighting lost again I knew I shouldn’t have put them in the top 10
– The Devils beat the Hurricanes clearly, I got that one wrong (kidding, OR AM I????)
– The Rangers lost to the Penguins, but Halak started so it doesn’t count
– Clearly, someone leaked my list to the Flames because they smoked the Senators.
I hope everyone has enjoyed my first piece. I am going to work on a playoff sneak peek that I will try and get out this week. My goal is to have these power rankings every Sunday night/Monday morning but they won’t be this robust. If you have questions or anything you liked or didn’t like please feel free to send it in the feedback is welcome (doesn’t mean ill listen to it though).