With the NHL Trade Deadline having been in the rear view mirror for a week, we have seen how teams have upgraded or decimated their rosters and how they mesh together. NoVa Caps takes a look at where all 32 teams currently stand as we get into the stretch run leading up to the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. (⬆️Up, ⬇️Down, ➡️No Change represent spaces moved since our power rankings at the holiday break).
LOTTERY CONTENDERS
32. San Jose Sharks
San Jose has lost 11 of their last 12 and traded two of their best players in Tomas Hertl and Anthony Duclair. They have an NHL-low 16 wins and .300 points percentage. ➡️
31. Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago, who had a quiet deadline as they dealt just Anthony Beauvillier, has won two in a row since losing eight of their previous nine (1-6-2). Connor Bedard has seven assists and 10 points in his last four. ➡️
30. Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim, who offloaded Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick, and Ilya Lybushkin, has dropped four straight. ➡️
29. Columbus Blue Jackets
Jack Roslovic, Andrew Peeke, and Emil Bemstrom are gone but Jakob Zboril and Alex Nylander are in to help Columbus’ rebuild. The team has lost three straight and is dead last in the Eastern Conference. ➡️
28. Arizona Coyotes
Arizona has dropped 17 of their last 21 (4-15-2) and is free floating in the Western Conference as they are 12 points back of the Seattle Kraken and 10 ahead of Anaheim in the wild-card race. Clayton Keller has at least 11 more points and six more goals than any other Coyote. Matt Dumba, Jason Zucker, and Troy Stecher were shipped out of town. ⬇️5
27. Montreal Canadiens
Montreal is 4-9-3 since the NHL All-Star break and six points back of the closest team ahead of them in the Eastern Conference wild-card standings. Nick Suzuki has a 10-point cushion for the team lead in scoring and seven-point pad for Montreal’s goal lead. The team dealt Jake Allen. ⬇️1
26. Ottawa Senators
Ottawa has not won in regulation since February 22 and holds a three-point edge over Columbus. The team dealt Vladimir Tarasenko last week. ⬆️2
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN BUT NOT GOD AWFUL
25. Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh snapped a four-game skid (0-3-1) with a 6-3 win over San Jose on Thursday. Nylander, Chad Ruhwedel, and Jake Guentzel are out but Michael Bunting and Emil Bemstrom came back the other way. ⬇️7
24. Calgary Flames
After trading Elias Lindholm, Calgary continued to sell as Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin got dealt elsewhere and brought in Nikita Okhotiuk and Daniil Miromanov. The team ended a four-game losing-streak with a 4-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. ⬆️1
23. New Jersey Devils
New Jersey pursued a fresh start in net as Vitek Vanecek is out and Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen are in. They also traded Tyler Toffoli and Colin Miller after acquiring Kurtis MacDermid from the Colorado Avalanche. New Jersey had lost five of their previous six before beating the Dallas Stars by a score of 6-2 on Thursday. ⬇️6
22. Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo is sneaking up on teams in the Eastern Conference wild-card race as they have won three in a row and is now just four points out. They parted with Kyle Okposo and Erik Johnson in addition to their blockbuster trade of sending Casey Mittlestadt to Colorado for Bowen Byram, who has uplifted the team so far. ⬆️2
21. Seattle Kraken
Seattle, who had a very quiet deadline as Alex Wennberg was the only player to leave town, has lost three straight to drift nine points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. ⬇️1
BUBBLE TEAMS
20. St. Louis Blues
St. Louis has won two straight since losing three in a row, which dropped them six points behind Vegas for the final wild-card spot in the West. They did not make any changes at the trade deadline. Robert Thomas is having an incredible season with 49 assists and 70 points in 66 games. ⬇️6
19. Detroit Red Wings
Since their six-game winning-streak ended, Detroit has lost seven in a row but is still tied with the New York Islanders for the last postseason spot in the Eastern Conference. Two defensemen have at least 10 goals (Jake Walman: 12, Shayne Gostisbehere: 10) and Dylan Larkin leads the team with 26 goals and 54 points in 55 contests. Detroit acquired Radek Simek in a deal that sent Klim Kostin to San Jose. ⬇️7
18. Minnesota Wild
Minnesota is currently on a three-game winning-streak and six-game point-streak (5-0-1) to creep up on the defending Stanley Cup Champions in the wild-card race. Kirill Kaprizov ranks fifth in the NHL with an average of 1.56 (50, including 26 goals in 32) games since December 17. They lost Nic Petan, Connor Dewar, Pat Maroon, and Brandon Duchaime last week. ⬆️9
17. New York Islanders
New York has been shut out in consecutive games after their six-game winning-streak powered them into the top eight in the East. They have four 20-goal scorers while Noah Dobson’s 56 assists are tied for fifth in the NHL. ⬆️5
16. Washington Capitals
Washington offloaded Anthony Mantha, Joel Edmundson, and Evgeny Kuznetsov last week despite going 9-5-2 over the last five weeks to get within a point of a postseason spot and snapped a short two-game losing-streak in a 2-1 win in Seattle on Thursday. Alex Ovechkin is back to doing Ovechkin things while Connor McMichael, Sonny Milano, and Hendrix Lapierre are among those who have stepped up lately. ⬆️3
15. Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia has gone 5-6-2, including blow out losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs in the past week, since winning four straight in mid-February. They are still four points ahead of the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division. ⬆️1
14. Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles has gone a middling 5-4-1 in their last 10 but have been able to climb the Pacific Division standings with Vegas falling. They have eight players with at least 14 goals. ⬆️1
13. Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay has won two straight but has lost to Washington, Philadelphia, and Buffalo, all teams they are fighting with for postseason spots, in the past month. Nikita Kucherov’s 73 assists are tied for second in the NHL and 112 points are three behind the league lead. They added Dumba and Duclair before the trade deadline passed. ➡️
LOOKING GOOD
12. Vegas Golden Knights
Mark Stone is out for the rest of the regular season but Vegas loaded up at the trade deadline, adding Mantha, Hertl, and Hanifin. Although, they have dropped five of their last seven to fall to eighth in the West. Jonathan Marchessault leads Vegas with 37 goals and 58 points in 66 games. ⬇️3
11. Nashville Predators
Nashville may be the hottest team in hockey right now, going 11-0-2 during a 13-game point-streak. They brought in Zucker and Beauvillier but traded Yakov Trenin. Filip Forsberg has 34 goals and 69 points in 67 games. ⬆️10
10. Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto has won two in a row and five of their last seven to pad their lead for third in the Atlantic but are still nine points from second. Auston Matthews already has 55 goals in just 64 games. Toronto added Edmundson, Dewar, and Lybushkin. ⬆️1
9. Boston Bruins
Boston is 4-1-1 since losing four of their previous five but has just won eight of their 19 games since the All-Star break. David Pastrnak ranks fifth in the NHL with 41 goals and fourth with 95 points. They acquired Peeke and Maroon on trade deadline day. ⬇️7
8. Carolina Hurricanes
A 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday was Carolina’s fourth in their last five. The team added Kuznetsov and Guentzel in the last few hours before the trade deadline. Sebastian Aho has at least 15 more points than any other Hurricane. ➡️
CONTENDERS
7. Dallas Stars
Dallas, who acquired Tanev from Calgary, has dropped their last two since a five-game winning-streak ended. They are still in a dog fight with the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche for first in the Central. The team has nine players with at least 44 points but don’t have a goalie with a save percentage above .900. ⬇️1
6. Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton is 7-1-1 over their last nine and brought in Henrique, Carrick, and Stecher. Connor McDavid leads the NHL with 81 assists and ranks third with 106 points. Zach Hyman’s 46 goals are tied for second. ⬆️1
THE CREAM OF THE CROP
5. Colorado Avalanche
Colorado has won five in a row to climb into first in the Central. They added Trenin, Duchaime, Mittlestadt, and Sean Walker and got rid of Byram and Ryan Johansen. Nathan MacKinnon leads the league with 115 points and ranks second with 73 assists. Meanwhile, Mikko Rantanen is fifth with 90 and 56, respectively. ⬇️1
4. Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg has lost three of five but has the best points percentage in the West by a thread. Connor Hellebuycks leads the league with a .921 save percentage and is just .01 away from the lead in goals-against average (2.33). They brought in Miller and Toffoli at the trade deadline. ⬇️1
3. Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver has points in five straight (4-0-1) and leads the Western Conference standings. They are not dominating the NHL player leaderboard like they did earlier this season but still have three in the top 13, all having at least 76 points. Thatcher Demko is tied with Alexandar Georgiev of Colorado for the NHL lead in wins with 34. ⬇️2
2. New York Rangers
New York’s three-game winning-streak ended in a 6-3 loss at Tampa Bay. Artemi Panarin ranks sixth with 88 points and is tied for eighth with 36 goals. Roslovic, Petan, Ruhwedel, and Wennberg were their additions before the trade deadline. ⬆️8
1. Florida Panthers
Florida, who acquired Okposo and Tarasenko last week, is an NHL-best 18-4-0 since January 20. Sam Reinhart’s 46 goals are tied for second league-wide while his 77 points rank 12th. Sergei Bobrovsky’s 32 wins are third, .918 save percentage is fourth, and 2.32 goals-against average leads the way. ⬆️4
Previous 2023-24 NHL Power Rankings
By Harrison Brown
