NHL Power Rankings: Rangers Jump Up as Bruins Return to No. 1
The New York Rangers find themselves behind only the Boston Bruins in the NHL power rankings after a perfect week and big trade. Jason Chen ranks the teams.
“There and Back Again” was the title of Bilbo Baggins’ book, but that may as well describe the Bruins’ season.
After falling out of the top spot for two weeks, the Bruins have returned to the top of the power rankings after registering their league-leading 40th win in an overtime win against the Stars on Tuesday, and it’s only February. The Bruins’ .802 points percentage is the best in the cap era and currently ranks tied for fifth(!) in NHL history and tied for third all-time in the post-1970 expansion era.
With a perfect 3-0-0 over the past week, including an impressive 6-2 win against the Canes, the Rangers move into the second spot on the strength of their acquisition of Vladimir Tarasenko. The Lightning also move into the top five with a two-game sweep of the Avs, avenging their Stanley Cup final loss and showing they’re still a force to be reckoned with.
The middle class remains very tight. The Panthers moved up with four wins in their past six games, including a big win against the Lightning, while the Sabres drop with four straight losses and seriously hurting their chances of making the playoffs.
Here’s this week’s THN power rankings.
(All fancy stats are 5v5 and courtesy naturalstattrick.com. CF% stands for Corsi For Percentage and xGF% represents Expected Goals For Percentage.)
1. Boston Bruins (40-8-5, +81. CF% league rank: 13, xGF% league rank: 5)
We’re running out of superlatives to describe the Bruins, and what’s crazy is they have only one player in the top 50 in scoring.
2. New York Rangers (31-14-8, +37. CF%: 11, xGF%: 21)
Tarasenko was a great addition, and there might be more to come with Vitali Kravtsov requesting a trade. They’ve won five straight, including an emphatic 6-2 victory against the Canes on their ice.
3. Carolina Hurricanes (35-10-8, +34. CF%: 1, xGF%: 1)
They bounced back from the loss to the Rangers with a one-goal win against the Caps sans Alex Ovechkin, which is a little less impressive because it’s like playing against your little brother who’s blindfolded and with one arm tied behind their back.
4. New Jersey Devils (35-13-5, +43. CF%: 3, xGF%: 2)
Vitek Vanecek is on a roll and has not lost in regulation in 2023. Ondrej Palat’s return (10 points in 10 games) and Jesper Bratt’s continuing dominance have stemmed a big loss from Jack Hughes’ injury.
5. Tampa Bay Lightning (35-16-2, +35. CF%: 9, xGF%: 8)
Those two wins against the Avs showed the rest of the league the Lightning should still be respected as a top-tier Cup contender. One of their biggest strengths has been their ability to win games multiple ways, and they did that against the Avs, cruising to a 5-0 in one game and then grinding out a 4-3 shootout win in the other.
6. Toronto Maple Leafs (32-14-8, +36. CF%: 8, xGF%: 4)
They’ve alternated wins and losses in their past five games, and two of their three losses were very uncharacteristic. They should’ve swept the Jackets in their home-and-home series. Good news: Auston Matthews could return Wednesday.
7. Winnipeg Jets (34-19-1, +33. CF%: 18, xGF%: 19)
The competition was not stiff, but it was a good sign the Jets could still pull off a win against the Kraken with Connor Hellebuyck out with an illness. However, if the Jets are the best the West has to offer, it will not be enough to compete against the East’s best.
8. Dallas Stars (30-14-11, +41. CF%: 17, xGF%: 14)
Four of their past five losses have come in overtime, which is bad luck and a little concerning. As a testament to how strong the East has been, the Stars have lost to the Canes, Devils, Lightning and Bruins over the past three weeks.
9. Vegas Golden Knights (32-18-4, +25. CF%: 20, xGF%: 6)
Amazing what the Knights can accomplish when Jack Eichel plays like, y’know, a true No. 1 center. They’ve outscored their opponents 17-4 over their past three games, but the big wonder is how much they can rely on Adin Hill as their starter.
10. Los Angeles Kings (30-18-7, -1. CF%: 12, xGF%: 13)
There’s scuttlebutt the Kings are going big-name hunting at the deadline, and they’ve won five of their past seven, with the two losses coming against the Lightning and Canes on the road. Pheonix Copley has been their savior once again, allowing two goals on 54 shots in his past two games. The North Pole native has been like Santa to the Kings but the Grinch to everyone else.
11. Colorado Avalanche (28-19-5, +13. CF%: 6, xGF%: 16)
Not having Cale Makar might be a good excuse for the Avs’ woes, but the fact remains they’ve lost four of their past six. They’re too good not to bust their slump, but it’s been difficult for the Avs to maintain positive momentum all season.
12. Edmonton Oilers (30-19-5, +26. CF%: 14, xGF%: 11)
Erik Karlsson would work for the Oilers if they don’t plan on playing defense and just want to score as many goals as possible. Oh, wait, that’s what they do already.
13. Seattle Kraken (30-18-6, +17. CF%: 5, xGF%: 17)
The Kraken have three regulation wins in 12 games since their eight-game winning streak was snapped, and all three wins were against bad teams (Canucks, Jackets, Flyers). Remind me why we think this team is legitimately good again?
14. Florida Panthers (27-24-6, -1. CF%: 4, xGF%: 7)
The Panthers have the same consistency as Flubber, beating the Lightning 7-1 one night and then losing 6-2 to the Blues just a week later. Just when you thought winning their third game in a row – their longest winning streak of the season, by the way – would help generate some real momentum, they come out flat and allowed 50 shots against the Avs.
15. Minnesota Wild (28-20-5, +5. CF%: 19, xGF%: 18)
Dean Evason may be tired of talking about the lack of scoring, but it’s basically been ingrained in the Wild’s DNA since the days of Jacques Lemaire that scoring is basically not allowed.
16. Calgary Flames (25-18-11, +7. CF%: 2, xGF%: 3)
Jacob Markstrom has not won consecutive games since Dec. 18 and 20, when they played in San Jose on both nights. He’s 6-2-1 against the Pacific Division but 8-11-6 against the other three. It’s almost as if the Pacific is really bad or something, but on the bright side, the divisional playoff format really helps the Flames.
17. Pittsburgh Penguins (27-17-9, +8. CF%: 15, xGF%: 10)
Casey DeSmith is (usually) not the answer. His performances and the Pens' defense are just too erratic at times, and they’re another team that has had trouble stringing together wins in 2023.
18. Washington Capitals (28-22-6, +11. CF%: 16, xGF%: 15)
They scored just two goals against the Canes without Ovechkin, and scoring will be a big problem as long as their captain is unavailable. Without Ovechkin, the Caps are one of six teams without a 20-goal scorer in their lineup, with Marcus Johansson (!) leading the way with only 13 goals.
19. Buffalo Sabres (26-22-4, +8. CF%: 7, xGF%: 20)
A four-game losing streak has really hurt the Sabres’ playoff chances, though they do have four games in hand against the Caps, who hold down the final wild-card spot and sit six points ahead. The key for the Sabres is to avoid another extended slide like they did in November, otherwise, there’s just too much ground to make up.
20. Ottawa Senators (26-24-3, -9. CF%: 10, xGF%: 12)
They’ve won six of their past seven, including wins from Mads Sogaard and Kevin Mandolese. Someone please remind the Sens that their playoff hopes were dashed last month.
21. New York Islanders (27-23-7, +6. CF%: 22, xGF%: 23)
The power play’s improved, and Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal are scoring, but they’re also 2-1-2 since the big trade. The good news is the four major contenders in the East’s wild-card race – Isles, Pens, Caps, Panthers – have all stumbled recently.
22. Detroit Red Wings (24-20-8, -9. CF%: 28, xGF%: 27)
Winning two straight against the Canucks by a combined 11-3 score was not difficult. What’s still difficult to understand is how Moritz Seider has still been able to carry Ben Chiarot.
23. St. Louis Blues (25-25-3, -24. CF%: 27, xGF%: 26)
The Blues are 2-0 since re-acquiring Sammy Blais. Clearly, the Blues recognized their mistake after trading him for Pavel Buchnevich.
24. Arizona Coyotes (18-28-8, -45. CF%: 30, xGF%: 30)
This isn’t even the highest ranking the Coyotes have achieved in the power rankings this season. Credit where credit is due; they play hard under Andre Tourigny and, perhaps more importantly, may have finally turned Barrett Hayton into a top-six center?!
25. Nashville Predators (25-20-6, -9. CF%: 21, xGF%: 22)
Copying what I wrote for the Wild last week: c’mon, man, you gotta beat the Coyotes.
26. Philadelphia Flyers (22-23-10, -22. CF%: 25, xGF%: 25)
John Tortorella is really good at pressing buttons, but sometimes he presses them so hard they start to break. Travis Konecny has not scored in eight games, and you wonder if averaging 20 minutes per game is starting to negatively affect him.
27. Montreal Canadiens (23-27-4, -46. CF%: 26, xGF%: 29)
If there’s anybody who knows how to get the most out of undersized scoring forwards hailing from Quebec, it’s Martin St-Louis. Rafael Harvey-Pinard has been a highlight in a season of many lowlights, scoring six goals and eight points in nine games.
28. Vancouver Canucks (21-29-4, -37. CF%: 24, xGF%: 24)
It’s a good thing Rick Tocchet doesn’t have any hair to lose watching the Canucks flub every defensive zone breakout.
29. Chicago Blackhawks (16-31-5, -65. CF%: 32, xGF%: 31)
Years from now, we’ll regale our kids about the legend of Jaxson Stauber and how he managed to win more games than he lost on one of the worst teams in cap era history.
30. San Jose Sharks (17-27-11, -40. CF%: 23, xGF%: 9)
Forget about the Sharks, when’s Erik Karlsson going to hit 100 points?!
31. Columbus Blue Jackets (16-34-4, -70. CF%: 29, xGF%: 28)
It’s always fun to see the Jackets upset teams that start with a ‘T.’ It’s too bad it only includes Toronto and Tampa.
32. Anaheim Ducks (17-31-6, -88. CF%: 31, xGF%: 32)
Here’s a tip for cooking duck: start with a warm (not hot) frying pan and place the duck skin side down, then flip when the skin turns golden brown. (I’ve run out of ways to describe how bad the Ducks are).