With the NHL All-Star Break coming to a close, the league will pick up action with teams fighting for their postseason lives on Monday night. NoVa Caps takes a look at where all 32 teams currently stand as regular-season action resumes. (⬆️Up, ⬇️Down, ➡️No Change represent spaces moved since our power rankings at the holiday break).
LOTTERY CONTENDERS
32. San Jose Sharks
San Jose won four of their last five before the break but has just 14 wins in 51 games and an NHL-worst -92 goal differential. No player on their team has hit the 35-point mark. ⬇️1
31. Chicago Blackhawks
With Connor Bedard out, Chicago was shut out in their final two games prior to the break and has lost 20 straight road games (0-19-1). Bedard is the only player on the team with more than 25 points. ⬆️1
30. Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim has points in three straight (2-0-1) and a comfortable lead over San Jose in the standings but is left behind in the dust. ➡️
29. Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus went 4-7-2 in January but picked up three of a possible four points over the NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks. Johnny Gaudreau is the only Columbus player with at least 30 points. ➡️
28. Ottawa Senators
Ottawa has turned it around, going 6-2-2 over their last 10 games, but are they doing more harm to themselves than good? The team has five 30-point scorers, including three who have hit 40. ➡️
27. Minnesota Wild
Minnesota followed up a string of three straight wins with losses to Anaheim and the Nashville Predators. Kirill Kaprizov leads the team with 45 points while Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello are closing in to 40. ⬇️1
26. Montreal Canadiens
Montreal has dropped four of their last five and has an Eastern Conference-worst -39 goal-differential. Juraj Slafkovsky has been a disappointment since going first overall in 2022, earning just 11 goals and 30 points in 88 career NHL games. ⬇️1
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN BUT NOT GOD AWFUL
25. Calgary Flames
Before trading center Elias Lindholm on Tuesday, Calgary ended a four-game slide with a 1-0 win over Chicago on Saturday. Jacob Markstrom has found his groove, going 5-3-0 with a .931 save percentage and 2.27 goals-against average in eight games since 2024 began. After seeing Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov go, Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin could be on deck. ➡️
24. Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo won seven of 11 in January. J.J. Peterka leads the team with 18 goals in 49 games and already beat his point total from last season by two (34) in 28 fewer games. ⬆️3
23. Arizona Coyotes
Arizona lost their final three games before the break to fall five points out of a wild-card spot. Clayton Keller has at least 13 more points than anyone else on the roster. ⬇️5
22. New York Islanders
New York has lost an NHL-high 12 games past regulation and is 1-2-1 since replacing head coach Lane Lambert with Patrick Roy. Going back even further, they are 1-5-2 over their last eight to spiral out of the Eastern Conference wild-card race. Noah Dobson leads the team with 46 assists and 52 points. ⬇️11
21. Nashville Predators
Nashville is 1-3-1 over their last five, including a detrimental 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in the final night before the break. They are tied for the final wild-card spot in the West, but the St. Louis Blues have two games in hand. Filip Forsberg has 24 goals and 51 points in 51 games. ⬇️7
BUBBLE TEAMS
20. Seattle Kraken
Since a franchise-record nine-game winning streak ended, Seattle has gone 2-5-1 but is just two points behind St. Louis and Nashville. They got shut out by San Jose in their last game prior to the break. This team has not gotten the depth scoring they got a year ago as Jarred McCann (20) has at least seven more goals than any other Kraken and they only have four players with double-digit goal totals. ⬆️6
19. Washington Capitals
Washington went 0-3-1 on a four-game Central Division road trip, where they were outscored 19-9, before going on break and is 5-9-2 (tied for third-worst in the NHL) since winning three straight over division rivals before the holidays to fall five points out of a postseason spot. Their young players have cooled off since hot starts but Anthony Mantha has upped his trade value this season with 15 goals in 43 games. ⬇️9
18. Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh halted a three-game skid (0-2-1) with a 3-2 overtime victory over Montreal on Saturday. Sidney Crosby has five goals and nine points over a seven-game point-streak but the team is still five points out of a postseason spot. What will they do with pending unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel leading up to March 8’s trade deadline? ⬆️1
17. New Jersey Devils
New Jersey dropped seven of their final 10 games (3-6-1) last month, including a devastating 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. This team is jockeying with New York, Pittsburgh, and Washington in the Metropolitan Division race. Will New Jersey get a goaltender before the trade deadline? ⬇️2
16. Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia went into their bye week with a five-game regulation losing streak and the rest 0f the Metropolitan on their heels. They will also be missing starter Carter Hart out for the forseeable future. ⬇️4
15. Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles lost 14 of their previous 16 (2-8-6) before a big win over Nashville prior to the break. Cam Talbot has cooled off since a hot start to the season and the team will have Jim Hiller taking over for head coach Todd McLellan when they return. Los Angeles has six players to hit 30 points already. ⬇️13
14. St. Louis Blues
St. Louis has taken advantage of Arizona, Seattle, Nashville, and Los Angeles sputtering out of the wild-card race, winning five in a row before a 1-0 loss to Columbus on Tuesday. Brayden Schenn and Robert Thomas, who has at least 13 more points than any other Blue, both had five-game point-streaks snapped. ⬆️10
13. Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay won eight of their final nine games before the break to vault comfortably into postseason position. Nikita Kucherov leads the league with 53 assists and 85 points in 49 games. ⬆️3
LOOKING GOOD
12. Detroit Red Wings
Detroit has won six of their last eight to secure a wild-card spot at the break and Dylan Larkin has nine goals and 15 points over an 11-game point-streak. They earned huge wins over Tampa Bay and Philadelphia last week where Detroit outscored them by a combined total of 5-1. ⬆️8
11. Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto won four of their last five, including the final three, before their break and Auston Matthews leads the league with 40 goals in 46 games. ⬇️3
10. New York Rangers
New York dropped consecutive games and nine of their previous 13 (4-7-2) before defeating Ottawa, 7-2, on Saturday. Jonathan Quick has come back down to earth after a hot start but Artemi Panarin already has 30 goals. ⬇️9
9. Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas’ six-game point-streak (5-0-1) ended with a 5-2 loss to Detroit before the break. Ivan Barbashev has gotten hot with four goals and 11 points over a six-game point-streak and Adin Hill leads the NHL with a .936 save percentage and 1.94 goals-against average in 17 games. The team will jump right in after their bye week with a crucial game against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. ⬇️4
8. Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina has figured things out, going 11-2-1 over their last 14 and winning their last three to push New York for the division lead. Sebastian Aho’s 1.52 points-per-game (32 in 21) since December 11 ranks fifth league-wide. ⬆️9
CONTENDERS
7. Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton will be pushing Pittsburgh’s NHL record of 17 straight wins in 1992-93 as they are currently at 16. Connor McDavid has had points in 18 straight home contests and the team has not allowed more than two in a game in any of their last 14. ⬆️14
6. Dallas Stars
Dallas won three in a row and had points in five straight (4-0-1) entering the break. Thomas Harley has enjoyed a breakout season with 12 goals and 29 points in 46 games. ⬆️1
THE CREAM OF THE CROP
5. Florida Panthers
Florida has won four straight and is 13-2-2 over their last 17. Sam Reinhart’s 37 goals in 49 games rank second in the NHL while Matthew Tkachuk has heated up with 20 assists and 31 points over his last 20. ⬆️8
4. Colorado Avalanche
Colorado won their last three and four of their final five before the break. Nathan MacKinnon, who co-leads the NHL with 53 assists, has at least a point in every one of the team’s 25 home games and 13 straight overall (12 goals, 28 points). Alexandar Georgiev also leads the league with 27 wins. ⬆️5
3. Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg dropped four of their final six (2-2-2) before the break since a franchise-record eight-game winning-streak ended. Connor Hellebuyck is in the NHL’s top three in wins (23: tied for third), save percentage (.924, tied for second), and goals-against average (2.20, second) in 35 games. ⬆️3
2. Boston Bruins
Boston has won seven of their last eight and is the only team that has yet to lose 10 regulation games with a record of 31-9-9 (.724 points percentage, tied for the NHL’s best). David Pastrnak’s 33 goals and 72 points in 49 games both rank third while Jeremy Swayman’s .924 save percentage is second and 2.30 goals-against average ranks third. ⬆️2
1. Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver is 9-0-2 during an 11-game point-streak, co-leads the NHL with a .724 points percentage, and lead the league with 33 wins and a +59 goal differential. They rank second with an average of 3.80 goals-per-game and 2.55 goals-against per game. Four Canucks (J.T. Miller: 67, Elias Pettersson: 64, Quinn Hughes: 62, Brock Boeser: 52) are among the NHL’s top-18 in scoring and Thatcher Demko ranks second with 26 wins. They just added Lindholm as well. ⬆️2
Previous 2023-24 NHL Power Rankings
By Harrison Brown