Photo: NY Post

With the quarter mark of 2023-24 NHL season approaching, NoVa Caps takes a look at where all 32 teams stand in their second of six league-wide power rankings this season. (⬆️Up, ⬇️Down, ➡️No Change represent spaces moved since offseason power rankings).

LOTTERY CONTENDERS

32. San Jose Sharks

San Jose has a -49 goal-differential, only three wins, and is the only team with a points percentage below .310 (.194). ⬇️1

31. Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus has dropped nine games in a row after back-to-back losses at the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers over the weekend. Right-wing Patrik Laine was a healthy scratch on Sunday and left-wing Johnny Gaudreau has just two goals and seven points in 19 contests. ⬇️6

30. Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago has lost four in a row and eight of their last 11. Center Connor Bedard has eight goals and 12 points in his past 11. ⬇️1

29. Minnesota Wild

Minnesota has lost five in a row (0-4-1) while both of their goaltenders have save percentages below .885. Left-wing Kirill Kaprizov has just two goals and six points over his last 11. ⬇️20

28. Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton may be 5-11-1 but won three straight before dropping back-to-back contests in the Sunshine state. Captain Connor McDavid is off to a slow start but Edmonton has a team that could string together a lengthy winning streak to power to the top of the West. ⬇️26

27. Nashville Predators

Nashville fell short in seven of their previous nine before a 4-2 win over Chicago on Saturday and a 4-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. On the bright side, left-wing Filip Forsberg has been off to a nice start with 12 assists and 21 points in 17 games. ⬇️11

26. Montreal Canadiens

Montreal has lost four in a row and is 2-7-1 over their last 10 despite starting 5-2-1. ⬆️4

ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN BUT NOT GOD AWFUL

25. Calgary Flames

Calgary has gone 5-1-2 over their last seven after a 2-7-1 start to the season. Left-wing Jonathan Huberdeau has continued to underperform as he has tallied just eight assists and 11 points in 17 games. ⬇️2

24. Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo ended a three-game losing-streak, where they were outscored 12-4, with a 3-2 victory in Chicago on Sunday. ⬇️9

23. Seattle Kraken

Seattle has started to turn it around with points in four straight (2-0-2) and is tied for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference despite having a record below .500 (7-8-5). ⬇️9

22. New York Islanders

New York ended a seven-game skid (0-4-3) with a 5-4 shootout win in Calgary on Saturday and has lost five overtime contests this season. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov has started the season hot with a .934 save percentage in six games to date. ⬇️11

21. Anaheim Ducks

After a nice start, Anaheim has lost three in a row. Right-wing Frank Vatrano’s 12 goals are currently tied for third in the NHL. ⬆️7

BUBBLE TEAMS

20. Arizona Coyotes

Arizona is currently a point out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference but is just a game above .500. Connor Ingram has shined in net with a 6-1-0 record and .911 save percentage. ⬆️6

19. New Jersey Devils

New Jersey has been one of the league’s biggest disappointments to date but missed center Jack Hughes for five games and center Nico Hischier has sat out nine straight due to injury. The goaltending tandem of Akira Schmid and Vitek Vanecek has also been lackluster to start, combining for an .887 save percentage. ⬇️18

18. Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh has won six of their last eight while center Sidney Crosby has had a nice start with 12 goals and 22 points in 17 games. Defenseman Erik Karlsson has also fit right in with five goals and 17 points. ⬇️1

17. Ottawa Senators

Ottawa has won four of its last five and has the second-best goal-differential in the Atlantic Division (+8). Center Tim Stutzle’s 20 points are tied for 10th in the league and 16 assists are tied for fifth while right-wing Brady Tkachuk’s 10 goals are tied for fifth. ⬆️1

16. St. Louis Blues

St. Louis has taken six of their last nine decisions and hold the first wild-card spot in the West. Goaltender Jordan Binnington has enjoyed a renaissance campaign with a .922 save percentage and 2.47 goals-against average in 12 outings while center Robert Thomas has at least six more points than any other Blue. ⬆️8

15. Detroit Red Wings

Detroit has fallen down to earth after a 5-1-1 start, going 3-5-2 since. Right-wing Alex DeBrincat has fit in beautifully with 11 goals (tied for fourth) and 17 points in 17 games. ⬆️6

14. Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay has won three in a row, including a 5-4 overtime win over the Boston Bruins on Monday, after losing three straight (were outscored 9-0 in two of them) and is hanging around as goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy could make his season debut soon. Right-wing Nikita Kucherov’s 13 goals are one short of the NHL-lead and 28 points are two. ⬇️1

13. Philadelphia Flyers

Philadelphia has arguably been the most surprising team this season with a 10-7-1 record (fourth in the Metropolitan Division in points percentage – .583). They have won five in a row. Defenseman Travis Sanheim (14 assists, 16 points) and right-wing Travis Konecny (11 goals, 15 points) have both led the way. ⬆️19

LOOKING GOOD

12. Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina has won four of their last six to get themselves into the race after starting the season 3-4-0. Left-wing Teuvo Teravainen leads the team with nine tallies and eight players have posted at least 10 points. ⬇️9

11. Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg has gotten off to a solid start to the season with a 10-5-2 record, three points out of the Central Division lead. Left-wing Kyle Connor’s 14 goals co-lead the NHL but how long can this team stay in this position when goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has an .897 save percentage? ⬆️16

10. Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto will come home from Sweden on a four-game winning-streak while right-wing William Nylander is enjoying a 17-game point-streak (12 goals, 27 points) to open the campaign. ⬇️4

9. Colorado Avalanche

Since back-to-back 4-0 losses at Pittsburgh and Buffalo at the end of last month, Colorado has gone 5-4-0 and won three straight by a combined score of 19-6 before Tuesday’s loss. They are 11-6-0 to date with defenseman Cale Makar (league-leading 23 assists, 27 points – tied for fourth), right-wing Mikko Rantanen (11 goals – tied for fourth, 23 points – tied for seventh), and center Nathan MacKinnon (16 assists – tied for fifth, 22 points – tied for eighth) leading the way. Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev leads the NHL with 10 wins. ⬇️2

8. Washington Capitals

Since a 1-3-1 start, Washington has gone 8-1-1. Captain Alex Ovechkin might not be off to his best start but center Aliaksei Protas (two goals, seven points in 14 games), center Connor McMichael (four goals, seven points in 15), right-wing Sonny Milano (three goals, seven points in 14), center Hendrix Lapierre (one goal, three points in five), right-wing Beck Malenstyn (two goals, three points in 15), right-wing Nicolas Aube-Kubel (one goal, three points in four), and goaltender Charlie Lindgren (.940 save percentage in five) have all helped the team power towards the top half of the Eastern Conference. ⬆️14

CONTENDERS

7. Florida Panthers

After losing their first two, Florida has gone 12-3-1 and is second in the Atlantic Division. Defensemen Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad both made their season debuts over the weekend and center Sam Reinhart’s 13 goals are tied for second and 25 points rank sixth. ⬆️3

6. Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver lost two in a row before Monday’s 3-1 win over San Jose but have still been one of the best in the west to start the season with a 13-5-1 record and NHL-best +32 goal-differential. Three of the top-five leading scorers are Canucks (defenseman Quinn Hughes: 30, first; center J.T. Miller: 29, tied for second; center Elias Pettersson: 28, tied for third). Vancouver also has four of the top-five assist leaders (Hughes: 22, Pettersson: 20, Miller/defenseman Filip Hronek: 17 each) while Thatcher Demko (.929 save percentage, 2.12 goals-against average in 13 games) has been one of the best goalies. ⬆️13

THE CREAM OF THE CROP

5. Vegas Golden Knights

The defending Stanley Cup Champions came out strong, starting 11-0-1, but have gone just 2-4-1 since. Vegas still leads the West with a .737 points percentage. Center William Karlsson leads the way with nine goals and 20 points while 10 different scorers have at least three goals and four have at least 18 points (Karlsson, center Jack Eichel, right-wing Mark Stone, defenseman Shea Theodore). Both Adin Hill (.928 in 11 games) and Logan Thompson (.920 in eight) both rank among the league’s top-ten in save percentage. ⬆️2

4. Dallas Stars

Dallas’ 12-4-1 record is the second-best in the Western Conference. The team has eight double-digit point-scorers with right-wing Joe Pavelski (17) leading the way and six different five goal-scorers (Pavelski, eight; centers Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz, seven each). Goaltender Jake Oettinger has also been a rock with a .920 save percentage and 2.50 goals-against average in 12 contests. ➡️

3. Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles is 11-2-2 since opening the season with back-to-back losses. Right-wing Trevor Moore and center Anze Kopitar both lead the Kings with nine goals while left-wing Kevin Fiala’s 13 assists are tied for eighth in the league. Kempe’s 18 points in 17 games are tied for 12th overall while goaltender Cam Talbot is tied for second with nine wins and ranks third with a .930 save percentage in addition to second with a 2.02 goals-against average. ⬆️2

2. New York Rangers

New York’s 12-3-1 record (.781 points percentage) ranks second in the NHL while left-wings Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider are both among the top-five with 10 goals each. Panarin’s 16 assists and 26 pointsare also top-five in each category. ⬆️10

1. Boston Bruins

Despite losing their top two centers from last season due to retirement, Boston has picked up right where they left off as they lead the NHL with a 13-1-3 record (.853 points percentage). Right-wing David Pastrnak’s 12 goals are tied for third, 17 assists are tied for fourth, and his 29 points are tied for second. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman also ranks second in the league in save percentage (.933) and fourth in goals-against average (2.09) in nine games. ⬆️19

Previous 2023-24 NHL Power Rankings

Offseason

By Harrison Brown