NHL

Post Trade Deadline NHL Power Rankings

Which team is in pole position for the stretch run of the regular season?

The NHL Trade Deadline has officially passed with a flurry of trades that has made some teams better and others worse. Below are my power rankings for the entire league now that rosters have gone final. Keep in mind these rankings have almost nothing to do with recent form and are entirely dependent on how good I think each team is on paper. 

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  1. Boston Bruins

-This is a historically great team as the Bruins have been breaking NHL records left and right this season. The only thing that seems destined to stop them is the President’s Trophy curse which comes for every great team at some point. Hopefully they take a page out of the 2019 Tampa Bay Lightning and come ready to play in round 1 of the playoffs. 

  1. New York Rangers

-Elite goaltending, solid defensive core, and loads of firepower on offense. These are the hallmarks of a Stanley Cup contender. They likely won’t win the Metro but they are the best team in that division. In fact, I nearly had them #1 overall until this past weekend when they lost to the Bruins rather easily. 

  1. Tampa Bay Lightning

-This team has gone to three straight Stanley Cup Finals, don't doubt them. Much like the Rangers they boast the strong trio of elite goaltending, solid defense, and great forwards. Whatever mini skid they are on right now will be long forgotten by the time the playoffs come around. Jon Cooper and the boys know what it takes to win in the NHL and they will flip the switch.

  1. Colorado Avalanche

-Speaking of long forgotten, has the NHL community forgotten who the champs are? The disparity between the two conferences is all anyone can talk about but as long as the Avalanche have this core group of players, they are contenders. The goaltending hasn’t seen a massive drop off with the departure of Darcy Kuemper and the team is getting healthier with Cale Makar back and Gabriel Landeskog nearing a return to action. 

  1. Carolina Hurricanes

-”The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” That seems to be the philosophy behind the Carolina Hurricanes, and it works…in the regular season. They are on pace for their 3rd straight first place division finish in a row and another 100+ point season. Yet for all that regular season success they have done hardly anything in the playoffs. They are the closest an NHL team has gotten to the MLB’s version of Moneyball. They are heavily leveraged in analytics and have a team full of good players but no stars. But let's not forget that the 2001 Oakland Athletics won their division too, and won nothing in the playoffs…

  1. New Jersey Devils

-I’ve never believed in the Devils this year until a week ago when they got Timo Meier. That addition secures an elite top-6 forward group that can score with the best of them. Perhaps the most underrated part of their forwards is their ability to create turnovers on the forecheck and play a 200-foot game. They will not be an easy out for any team but in the end what will doom them is a lack of confidence in goal where Vitek Vanecek and Mackenzie Blackwood leave much to be desired.

  1. Toronto Maple Leafs

-Speaking of a team that will be doomed by poor goaltending, here are the Toronto Maple Leafs! I could talk up their elite forwards, I could praise their deep defensive core, or I could compliment Kyle Dubas on going all-in at the trade deadline. Instead, I will say this: their ceiling is losing in the second round this year instead of the first.

  1. Dallas Stars

-They are the Western Conference version of the Carolina Hurricanes but with more star players and weaker depth. Jake Oettinger is an elite NHL goaltender now and Miro Heiskanen is the best player the casual fan doesn’t know about. The Stars mostly rely upon their top line of Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz to score goals which is what worries me about their chances to make a run. But if Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin can turn back the clock just enough, the Stars could go far. Also, don’t sleep on their home ice advantage. Dallas shows out for playoff hockey and it will be on display this spring.

  1. Edmonton Oilers

-McNasty. McJesus. McCheatCode. It doesn’t matter what you call him, Connor McDavid is the best in the world and frankly, it isn’t close. He has already scored 50+ goals this season and could hit 70 if he keeps it up. The man is so good that he can will his team to victory in a way that only goalies can for other teams. The Oilers failure to ever get him a good goalie and an equally good defensive core is that only thing that has stopped the next Great One from playing on the games greatest stage. 

  1. New York Islanders

-I hate to say this, but watch out for the Islanders. If they make the playoffs as a wild card team I could seriously see them knocking off the Bruins or Hurricanes. They possess the one thing that is required of a dark horse: great goaltending. Ilya Sorokin is among the worlds best in net and the Islanders play style of strong defense and constant forechecking makes them a nightmare matchup. If Mat Barzal can come back and secure that strong 1-2 center punch with Bo Horvat then the Islanders could go on a run.

  1. Vegas Golden Knights

-Injuries cloud my judgment of this team. The Golden Knights two most valuable players, Mark Stone and Logan Thompson, are both currently out with the former being out indefinitely. When healthy they are as deadly as any team in the West but there are just too many question marks to trust them at this time.

  1. Minnesota Wild

-The only man that can hold a candle to Connor McDavid’s MVP bid is Kirill Kaprisov. Without him the Wild would be closer to the NHL Draft Lottery than the playoffs. He is over a point-per-game and will finish with a 40+ goal season despite the Wild being a bottom-7 team in goals-per-game. He wills them to victory more often than not, and that can work for a playoff round, maybe two, before it runs out.

  1. Winnipeg Jets

-In true Winnipeg fashion the Jets have been extremely quiet this season despite being extremely good. A recent skid has knocked them out of contention for the top spot in the Central Division but this team is still built for the playoffs. Connor Hellebuyck is an elite goalie who will be at the NHL awards hoping to hear his name called for the Vezina Trophy. Next to him at the awards show will be defenseman Josh Morrissey anxiously waiting for the Norris Trophy announcement. They won’t blow you away but they will win more games 3-2 than you can count. 

  1. Los Angeles Kings

-I thought them qualifying for the playoffs last year was a fluke, turns out maybe it wasn’t. But if this team was in the Eastern Conference I doubt they would be in position to play in the postseason. They play committed hockey, and the Pheonix Copley revival has been a great storyline, but I can’t see them getting past Edmonton or Vegas in the Pacific Division.

  1. Ottawa Senators

-The pesky Sens have graduated to dangerous in my opinion. The young core that has blossomed out of the post-2017 rebuild has finally arrived. If Ottawa can secure a playoff bid I will be firmly on their bandwagon. The addition of Jakob Chychrun is a massive help to what was previously a below average blue line. Also, watch Tim Stutzle next time you turn the Senators on. He deserves to be mentioned alongside Jack Hughes as one of the best young players in the game.

  1. Buffalo Sabres

-Offense, offense, and more offense. That is the Sabres style. Tage Thompson has had the best glow up since a millennial man with poor facial bone structure discovered the beard. His towering presence is equally terrifying in the corner boards as it is on the half wall ripping one timers. Speaking of the game's best young players, the “Workhorse from Whitehouse ™” Dylan Cozens has broken out this year and is a big reason for why Buffalo is even in the playoff race.

  1. Seattle Kraken

-I don’t believe in this team, and much like my analysis of the Kings, I just don’t see how they get past Edmonton or Vegas. When your top goal scorer is Jared McCann, a guy who couldn’t get out of the bottom-6 in Pittsburgh, I just don’t trust you. When your top goalie is Martin Jones in the year of our lord 2023, I just don’t trust you. 

  1. Pittsburgh Penguins

-There were 3 teams in the Eastern Conference who were old and contending for a wild card position. The Islanders splashed big and got one of the best trade deadline pieces in Bo Horvat. The Capitals threw in the towel and decided to rebuild, acquiring picks and good young players. The Penguins got older by trading for Mikael Granlund, Dmitry Kulikov, and Nick Bonino. Those three players would make up an elite trade deadline in 2016 but now instead it makes up tons of articles asking what the hell the Penguins are doing. Their ceiling is making the playoffs as a wild card team and losing in the first round. Their floor is missing the playoffs all together and having no picks or prospects to build around for the future. 

  1. Florida Panthers

-From President’s Trophy winners to playoffs hopefuls. It has been quite the fall from grace for the Panthers this season. Florida has struggled to score at the rate they did last year and have started to concede more goals as well. The only positive from their season is that the Huberdeau for Tkachuk swap looks to have been a massive win.

  1. Calgary Flames

-Speaking of falls from grace, the Flames went from Pacific Division champs last year to a team clinging on to very slim playoff chances. It seems as if the players have tuned out their old head coach Daryl Sutter and his system has done no benefits to offensive players like Jonathan Huberdeau. On paper they are better than their record indicates but a wise man once said that the games aren’t played on paper.

  1. Washington Capitals

-The great retool experiment is on in Washington. One of the NHLs most consistent playoff teams has decided next year is a better year to contend. They flipped expiring free agents into assets and snagged a great young defender in Rasmus Sandin. For the Caps, the rest of the season is all about getting Alex Ovechkin as many goals as possible so he can pass Wayne Gretzky for the all time record. Oh, and don’t forget about scrolling CapFriendly to see which free agents they will sign in the offseason to come back stronger next year.

  1. Detroit Red Wings

-General Manager Steve Yzerman threw in the towel after losing back to back games against the Ottawa Senators and you honestly can’t blame him. This team was always still one year away from jumping out of their rebuild and the worst thing a team can do is accelerate a rebuild and end up holding the bag. Look out next year for these young bucks spearheaded by captain Dylan Larkin who just signed a long term extension.

  1. St. Louis Blues

-The Western Conference version of the Washington Capitals in the sense that they expected to contend coming into this season but have decided to retool instead. The Blues have a much younger core than the Capitals but how they fix their glaring weaknesses is the big question. Another big question is who should lead the rebuild. Head Coach Craig Berube won them a Stanley Cup but he called out top players Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou a few weeks ago and with their new long term contracts it's no secret they will be around longer than he will be. 

  1. Vancouver Canucks

-Don’t buy into the Canucks. Don’t buy into the Canucks. Don’t buy into the Canucks.

That is what I will tell myself next year. This team is full of exciting young talent but they never can seem to put it together. The owner is almost too hands on with the team and the front office can’t differentiate their hands from their feet. I’m not sure if Rick Tocchet was the right hire for a team that isn’t sure where they are nor where they are going.

  1. Nashville Predators

-The Predators are sneakily one of the worst teams in the NHL after this trade deadline. The only thing that keeps them from a true tank is the fact that Juuse Saros is still one of the top goalies in the league. This team is likely headed towards a rebuild and it will be interesting to see how it goes considering that long time head coach Barry Trotz will now be the guy in charge after GM David Poile announced his retirement.

  1. Philadelphia Flyers

-Sometimes I honestly forget the Flyers exist. If it wasn’t for some headline worthy content from John Tortorella every month I would not think of them at all. A truly below average team with no future who is ruining the goodwill they once had with a die hard fan base. I would love to sit down with a Flyers fan and ask them what the best case scenario is with this team because right now I would just say tear it all down.

  1. Montreal Canadiens

-Montreal has the most delusional fan base in the NHL. If you ask them where they are at they would tell you a year away from a Stanley Cup. They acquired Denis Gurianov at the deadline, who Habs fans are so sure will suddenly become a 30+ goal scorer because head coach Martin St Louis will unlock something in him that wasn’t there in his other 250+ NHL games. I seriously think that this team will be right back at the bottom next year, and the year after that.

  1. Columbus Blue Jackets

-Yes, injuries have decimated this team. Yes, the goaltending has been bad. But really, what were the expectations for the Blue Jackets this year? People saw the Patrik Laine extension and the Johnny Gaudreau signing and thought about the playoffs before looking at the rest of their roster. General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen has a lot of work to do in the offseason, including a decision on what to do in goal where Elvis Merzlikins hasn’t been good for two seasons now and Joonas Korpisalo plays for the Kings.

  1. San Jose Sharks

-This is lowkey the worst team in the league. They only have 6(!) home ice wins all season and they give up nearly 4 goals against a game. The Sharks were always destined for the lottery this season but they have been truly bad. It could be years until we see the Shark Tank sold out again.

  1. Arizona Coyotes

-If it weren’t for Karel Vejmelka I think this team would have less than 10 wins. He is actually one of the better goalies in the league and hopefully he moves to a real NHL franchise soon enough. 

  1. Anaheim Ducks

-So when do we have the Trevor Zegras conversation? He was a high draft pick who was highly touted after great World Junior performances. He was a rookie of the year finalist last season during a strong first season in the league too. But what is his true ceiling? For a team to come out of a rebuild they need their top selections, especially those at center, to become top caliber players. Zegras does not do enough on the ice to elevate the play of his team. If you could win games on highlights and jaw dropping plays then Zegras would be elite. Instead you win games in the faceoff circle, on the backcheck, and by blocking shots, things he doesn’t do well at all.

  1. Chicago Blackhawks

-Patrick Kane is gone. Jonathan Toews is closer to retiring than playing another NHL game. Max Domi was shipped off. Sam Lafferty and Jake McCabe are in Toronto now. This team is bare bones and is fully committed to the tank job. The only thing Blackhawks fans have to look forward to is photoshops of Connor Bedard in black and red.

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