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With the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline behind us, teams made their final call on whether to pursue a Stanley Cup, play the season out with their current rosters, or pack it in for the campaign and start thinking towards 2023-24. NoVa Caps does their monthly power rankings after the deadline passed last week.
32. Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus has points in six of their last nine (4-3-2) but they still trail 15th place in the Eastern Conference by 10 points. They offloaded pending unrestricted free agent goaltender Jonathan Quick, defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, right-wing Gustav Nyquist, goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, and right-wing Jakub Voracek last week. ➡️
31. San Jose Sharks
With right-wing Timo Meier gone, San Jose has just four players with at least 40 point scorers front this season (defenseman Erik Karlsson: 82, center Logan Couture, 53, center Tomas Hertl: 50, left-wing Alexander Barabanov: 40). Defenseman Erik Karlsson, who ranks third in the NHL with 59 assists and sixth in points this season, remains on the roster. ⬇️2
30. Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago lost three straight before blowing out the Ottawa Senators, 5-0, on Monday. With left-wing Patrick Kane and center Max Domi gone, center defenseman Seth Jones leads the team with just 31 points this season. ⬇️3
29. Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim went 4-0-1 during a five-game point-streak before of 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday but is still flirting with the bottom of the West. Defensemen John Klingberg and Dmitry Kulikov are both gone. ⬆️2
28. Arizona Coyotes
Arizona, who lost five of their previous six before a commanding 6-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, traded defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, left-wing Nick Ritchie, defenseman Troy Stetcher, center Nick Bjugstad, defenseman Dysin Mayo, and defenseman Jakob Chychrun. They also took on Voracek. ⬆️2
27. Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver, who dealt defenseman Luke Schenn, center Curtis Lazar, and defenseman Riley Stillman, lost six of nine before consecutive wins over the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators. They also acquired defenseman Filip Hronek from the Detroit Red Wings and right-wing Vitali Kravtsov, the ninth overall pick in 2018, from the New York Rangers. ⬆️1
26. Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia is 2-7-2 in their last 11. They acquired right-wing Brenden Lemieux from the Los Angeles Kings. ⬇️4
25. Montreal Canadiens
Montreal, who made a right-winger swap with the Dallas Stars in trading Evgenii Dadonov for Denis Gurianov, has dropped five of their last six. ⬆️1
24. St. Louis Blues
St. Louis is 1-6-2 in their last nine. The team brought in left-wing Jakub Vrana but traded left-wing Vladimir Tarasenko, defenseman Niko Mikkola, center Ryan O’Reilly, center Ivan Barbashev, and center Noel Acciari. ⬆️1
23. Detroit Red Wings
Detroit is 0-5-1 over a six-game losing streak, which included getting outscored a combined 12-3 on back-to-back nights by the Ottawa Senators, to fall eight points out of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They traded Hronek, right-wing Oskar Sundqvist, and left-wing Tyler Bertuzzi. ⬆️1
22. Calgary Flames
Calgary lost four in a row (0-2-2) before beating the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild on back-to-back nights and acquired Stetcher, Ritchie, and center Dryden Hunt at the trade deadline. They are currently four points out of the final wild-card spot in the West. ⬇️3
Washington, who has lost eight of their last 11 in regulation, dealt defenseman Dmitry Orlov, right-wing Garnet Hathaway, right-wing Marcus Johansson, defenseman Erik Gustafsson, and center Lars Eller. They brought in defenseman Rasmus Sandin from the Toronto Maple Leafs and right-wing Craig Smith from the Boston Bruins. ⬇️6
20. Nashville Predators
Nashville is 5-1-1 in their past seven but lost left-wing Tanner Jeannot, center Mikael Granlund, defenseman Mattias Ekholm, and right-wing Nino Neidereitter before the deadline. The acquisitions of defenseman Tyson Barrie and right-wing Rasmus Asplund should help but they definitely got worse. ⬇️2
19. Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo went 6-3-0 in their last nine before losing on back-to-back nights this week while center Tage Thompson (42 goals, 83 points in 63 games) and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (49 assists, 63 points in 59) continue their sensational campaigns. Though, their lone move at the trade deadline was bringing in left-wing Jordan Greenway from the Minnesota Wild. Will their inactivity cost them in the Eastern Conference postseason race? ⬇️5
18. Florida Panthers
Florida traded wins and losses for nine games since a three-game winning streak before beating the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vegas Golden Knights at home. They are currently three points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference but Pittsburgh has two games in hand. ⬆️3
17. New York Islanders
Since acquiring Horvat, New York, who is 6-2-1 in their past nine after a huge 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, added right-wing Pierre Engvall from Toronto. They currently occupy the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. ⬆️3
16. Ottawa Senators
Ottawa, who lured in Chychrun last week, won five in a row before falling apart in Chicago and is 12-4-1 in their last 17 to breathe down the necks of Buffalo, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Long Island. ⬆️10
15. Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg, who acquired center Vladislav Namestnikov and right-wing Nino Niederreiter, ended a five-game losing-streak (0-4-1) with a 7-5 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday before falling in overtime to San Jose at home. Their slide is the only thing giving hope to Calgary and Nashville. ⬇️6
14. Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh lost five of six in regulation before winning five of their next six, though they fell to Florida in a major game in the Eastern Conference wild-card race on Saturday and trailed 4-0 to Columbus at home before rallying back to win on Tuesday. They will face the New York Rangers three times over their next five and one of the other games will be a critical one vs. the Islanders. ⬆️3
13. Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton, who has won three of their last four to pad their lead for a wild-card spot, brought in Ekholm and center Nick Bjugstad. Center Connor McDavid had five consecutive multi-goal outings before tallying two goals and six points in his last three and became the first player in the NHL this season to hit 50 goals. ⬇️2
12. Seattle Kraken
Seattle has won four straight since losing three in a row but were unexpectedly quiet around the trade deadline as their major add was defenseman Jaycob Megna from San Jose. Center Jarred McCann became the first 30-goal scorer in franchise history. ⬇️6
11. Minnesota Wild
Minnesota’s 8-0-2 tear has gotten them within two points of the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division. The team acquired defenseman John Klingberg, right-wing Marcus Johansson, and left-wing Oskar Sundqvist at the deadline. ⬆️1
10. Tampa Bay Lightning
The three-time defending Eastern Conference Champions are showing signs of fatigue (and/or disinterest?) as they lost five straight in regulation, including back-to-back losses to Buffalo and the Carolina Hurricanes where they got outscored 11-3, before a 5-2 win over Philadelphia. Head coach Jon Cooper recently sat right-wing Nikita Kucherov, center Steven Stamkos, and center Brayden Point for an entire period in Western New York. ⬇️6
9. New York Rangers
New York, who had a blockbuster trade deadline by bringing in Tarasenko, Mikkola, Kane, and Motte, is 2-6-1 in their last nine and pretty much locked into third place in the Metropolitan Division. ⬇️1
8. Colorado Avalanche
Colorado, who brought in center Lars Eller and defenseman Jack Johnson, lost three in a row since a six-game winning-streak ended before a commanding 6-0 win over San Jose. Left-wing Mikko Rantanen leads the way with 42 goals. ⬆️2
7. Dallas Stars
Dallas went 4-0-1 during a five-game point-streak, which followed a five-game losing streak (0-3-2), before a wild 5-4 loss to Calgary on Monday. Left-wing Jason Robertson (38), center Roope Hintz (30), and left-wing Jamie Benn (26) all have at least 26 goals this season. ➡️
6. Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles has won four straight and is 9-2-1 since the NHL All-Star break. The team lured in Korpisalo and Gavrikov in the deal that sent Quick to Columbus. ⬆️7
5. Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas is 9-2-2 since the NHL All-Star Break and added Quick, Barbashev, and Blueger. ⬆️11
4. Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto is 8-4-0 since the All-Star Break but has lost to Columbus, Chicago, and Vancouver over that stretch. The team brought in O’Reilly, Acciari, center Sam Lafferty, and defensemen Erik Gustafsson, Jake McCabe, and Luke Schenn in an effort to finally break through this spring. ⬆️1
3. New Jersey Devils
New Jersey made a monster deal for Meier at the trade deadline and went 4-0-1 during a five-game point-streak before a 4-3 loss to Toronto on Tuesday. With a deep offense and defense, star power down the middle, and elite finishers, should this team be considered the favorite to make it out of the East? ➡️
2. Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina has won eight of their last 10, including a 6-0 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday. Center Martin Necas continues to lead the team with 59 points (25 goals) in 62 outings but this team failed to acquire a natural goal scorer at the deadline. The additions of left-wing Jesse Puljujarvi and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere were nice but should they have followed New York and the New Jersey Devils’ lead? ⬇️1
1. Boston Bruins
Boston has won 10 in a row and Orlov has three goals and nine points during a four-game point-streak with his new team. They are 49-8-5 and have a +105 goal differential. Right-wing David Pastrnak’s 44 goals rank second while goaltender Linus Ullmark is first in wins (32), save percentage (.938), and goals-against average (1.89). Will having nothing to play for for months cost this team in the Spring? ⬆️1
Previous 2022-23 Power Rankings
By Harrison Brown
