NHL power rankings: Three straight wins have New York Islanders back in playoff hunt

‘Twas the week of the trade deadline when all through the league, not a team was stirring… until Jim Nill finally traded for Chris Tanev last week. That, the Leafs acquisition of Ilya Lyubushkin and the smaller trade involving Kurtis MacDermid to the Devils has doubled the number of trades post-All Star break from three to six. Will we see any more action, or will this deadline be just as underwhelming as it’s been projected to be? Only time will tell.

Oh, and Mike’s back. Yay.

Mike Gould and I continue to navigate through the results so far with another week of our co-op power rankings. I have my same old system in which I aggregate six stats (points %, 5-on-5 goal differential, 5-on-5 xGF/60, 5-on-5 xGA/60, power play xGF/60, and shorthanded xGA/60, all coming courtesy of Natural Stat Trick) to come up with a list that eliminates my own biases, along with a rule that no team can be above a team that’s more than five points ahead of them in the standings, regardless of where the aggregate places them. On the other hand, Mike goes off his own intellect and pure vibes, and together we find a way to combine it and meet in the middle.

1. Florida Panthers

Record: 41-16-4, +57
Last Week: 1st (0)
Mike’s Rank: 1st
Scott’s Rank: 1st

Mike: The Panthers have come a long way. They’ve won four in a row and are 9-1-0 in their last 10, defeating the Red Wings in convincing fashion on Saturday to move into the top spot in the league standings. Matthew Tkachuk looks very much like his old self again and Sam Reinhart simply refuses to stop scoring goals. And with Noah Hanifin reportedly angling for a move from Calgary to one of the two Florida teams, it’d make a lot of sense for the Panthers to get in on that action at some point between now and the deadline. It’s downright scary to imagine a defensive group of Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montour, Gustav Forsling, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Hanifin in the playoffs.

2. Dallas Stars

Record: 37-17-9, +35
Last Week: 2nd (0)
Mike’s Rank: 3rd
Scott’s Rank: 2nd

Scott: The Stars have quietly been looking like the best team in the West in recent weeks before a stretch of six losses in seven games, and they really needed a pick-me-up. That arrived a day before they snapped that stretch when they addressed their biggest need by bringing in Chris Tanev to really go all in on this season. Tanev hasn’t gotten into any games yet for the Stars, but things have already improved with them winning back-to-back games since the trade.

Mike: I am fully enamored with the prospect of Dallas putting Tanev on a pairing with young hotshot Thomas Harley. Talk about the yin to someone else’s yang!

3. Vancouver Canucks

Record: 39-17-7, +48
Last Week: 3rd (0)
Mike’s Rank: 4th
Scott’s Rank: 3rd

Mike: The Canucks have been merely so-so since acquiring Elias Lindholm last month. The veteran center hasn’t really picked up the pace at all since arriving in Vancouver, collecting just four goals and six points in 16 games since the trade. For a guy who’s angling for a big payday as an unrestricted free agent this summer, Lindholm sure isn’t showing a whole lot of urgency — he has just one point in his last eight games and his underlying numbers are among the worst on the team. With four very tough games coming up, the Canucks will need No. 23 to get back on track.

4. New York Rangers

Record: 40-17-4, +36
Last Week: 4th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 2nd
Scott’s Rank: 5th

Scott: I’m still not fully sold on this Rangers team as a top-tier Cup contender, as even with the recent hot streak, their underlying numbers have been very underwhelming. But Igor Shesterkin seems to have finally found some consistency again, and we’ve seen how far this Rangers core can go when Shesterkin is on his game. Much like in previous recent seasons, this team’s biggest issue is their forward depth, so we’ll see how they address that at the deadline.

5. Boston Bruins

Record: 35-13-14, +34
Last Week: 5th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 5th
Scott’s Rank: 4th

Mike: The Bruins’ depth has really been tested this season, particularly with Hampus Lindholm, Matt Poitras, and Matt Grzelcyk all currently on the shelf. Here’s a look at Boston’s current depth chart of left-handed defenders: Parker Wotherspoon, Mason Lohrei, and Derek Forbort. Yikes. Well, guess who just so happens to be from Boston? None other than Noah Hanifin, who might just end up back in his hometown ahead of the March 8 trade deadline. Just saying: It’d make a ton of sense for both sides.

Scott: And then there’s their center depth, which was already struggling before Pavel Zacha left Saturday’s game with an injury.

6. Toronto Maple Leafs

Record: 35-17-8, +34
Last Week: 7th (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 6th
Scott’s Rank: 7th

Scott: The Leafs may have seen their seven-game winning streak come to an end to start the week in a rough 6-2 loss to the Golden Knights, but they’ve still improved to 9-1 in their last 10 with wins over the Coyotes and Rangers. In other good news, Joseph Woll is back in the lineup, so their goaltending will get another boost. And that’s it, nothing else happened… oh right, they re-acquired Ilya Lyubushkin for some reason. And then he got hurt not even two periods into his first game. It’s an okay acquisition on its own, but if that’s the Leafs’ only deadline move, that’s a big failure on management.

7. Carolina Hurricanes

Record: 36-19-6, +29
Last Week: 9th (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 8th
Scott’s Rank: 6th

Mike: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman dropped an enormous bombshell last week, reporting that the Hurricanes were involved in Elias Pettersson trade talks before the star forward re-engaged in contract discussions with the Canucks. By my count, Pettersson is the second big star forward the Hurricanes have fruitlessly pursued in the last couple of seasons (the other, of course, being Matthew Tkachuk). Carolina is a good team with a strong record but you have to wonder what this team would look like with a bit more firepower. 

8. Winnipeg Jets

Record: 39-16-5, +43
Last Week: 6th (-2)
Mike’s Rank: 7th
Scott’s Rank: 9th

Scott: The Jets have now won nine of their last 11 games since that five-game losing streak around the All-Star break, so any concerns that the team was experiencing a second-half collapse again seem to have gone away. Sean Monahan has fit like a glove there too, with eight goals and nine points through his first 12 games. It’ll be interesting to see if Winnipeg does anything else at the deadline, but if they don’t, they’ve already done a great job.

9. Colorado Avalanche

Record: 37-20-5, +33
Last Week: 8th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 10th
Scott’s Rank: 8th

Mike: What will Colorado’s big deadline move be? The Avs have kept a pretty low profile on the trade front for most of the season, making the odd minor move like acquiring Caleb Jones or trading away Tomas Tatar and Kurtis MacDermid. But this is a group with legit championship aspirations. Heck, they’ve already won one! They can’t possibly go into the playoffs with Ross Colton or Ryan Johansen as their No. 2 center. We also know that the Avs poked around Chris Tanev when the Flames made him available. Anything could happen in Denver.

10. Edmonton Oilers

Record: 37-20-2, +40
Last Week: 10th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 9th
Scott’s Rank: 10th

Scott: The Oilers had a forgettable February for the most part, going just 4-5-1 right after winning 16 games in a row, but they’ve managed to clean up a bit with four wins in a row. Only one of those wins has come against a playoff team, though, so there are certainly some question marks hanging over this team as the deadline approaches.

Mike: Pavel Buchnevich really does feel like a perfect fit for this Oilers team. It’s so easy to imagine him going off for 10 goals in a single series against L.A. or Vancouver. But do the Oilers have the assets to pry him away from St. Louis?

Scott: As someone who owns him in fantasy, I would love him on that top power play unit, although would they actually take Ryan Nugent-Hopkins off it to make that happen?

11. Nashville Predators

Record: 35-25-2, +9
Last Week: 13th (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 11th
Scott’s Rank: 12th

Mike: What a turn of events in Nashville! Remember when these guys were fighting with Arizona and St. Louis for the final Wildcard spot? Not anymore, as they’ve rattled off eight wins in a row, while effectively putting an end to the Western Conference playoff race. They’ve even managed to catch up to the Kings, who also have 72 points (but two games in hand). Rookie Preds GM Barry Trotz probably won’t be an aggressive buyer at the deadline but it’d make sense for him to add a depth forward. An extension for Tommy Novak is likely in the offing, too. And will anyone take a flier on Tyson Barrie for the stretch drive? Expect Nashville to tinker, tinker, tinker.

Scott: Quick question: did you think this Preds team would be as bad as the Sharks and Blackhawks, or worse than those teams at the start of the season?

Mike: I definitely did not see them being even remotely good. They’ve proven me quite wrong on that.

Scott: I didn’t think they’d be quite this good either, but I knew that Roman Josi and Juuse Saros were too good for this team to be lottery contenders.

12. Los Angeles Kings

Record: 31-19-10, +26
Last Week: 11th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 13th
Scott’s Rank: 11th

Scott: The Kings didn’t have an ideal start to their Western Canada road trip, as they were hit with back-to-back 4-2 losses to the Oilers and Flames. They managed to salvage the trip with a 5-1 win over the Canucks before going back home and beating the Devils by the same score, so at least they’ve been consistent with how they’ve won and lost. I feel like the Kings haven’t really been in a lot of the rumours for the trade deadline this year, so I don’t even know what they might be in on outside of some potential goaltending depth, especially with injured Adrian Kempe expected back during the regular season, as that means they can’t stash his cap hit on LTIR.

13. Vegas Golden Knights

Record: 33-21-7, +19
Last Week: 12th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 12th
Scott’s Rank: 14th

Mike: In a lot of ways, it feels like Brendan Brisson’s current tour of duty on the Knights’ top line is him auditioning to play for another team. With Mark Stone and Jack Eichel both on the shelf, Vegas has a boatload of room to make a huge splash ahead of the trade deadline — and Brisson could be the main piece involved in any deal. Whether it’s Jake Guentzel, Pavel Buchnevich, or anyone else, expect Vegas to sniff around pretty much everyone between now and March 8. Given that they’ve lost seven of their last 10, they could really use a spark.

14. Philadelphia Flyers

Record: 32-23-7, +5
Last Week: 16th (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 15th
Scott’s Rank: 13th

Scott: The Flyers are definitely the most interesting team to follow this week heading into the trade deadline, considering that we still don’t fully know what this team is going to do considering they’re sitting somewhat comfily in a playoff spot while trying to rebuild. Most rumors indicate they’re still looking to move some of their blueline, but then with long-term injuries to Jamie Drysdale and Rasmus Ristolainen, moving on from Nick Seeler and Sean Walker will decimate their blueline and hurt their chances of making the dance.

15. Tampa Bay Lightning

Record: 33-24-6, +1
Last Week: 15th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 14th
Scott’s Rank: 15th

Scott: Every time the Lightning start to convince me that they may be their old selves, they have weeks like this previous one, where they lose badly to another playoff team in the Flyers, drop one to a beatable team in the Sabres, and barely squeak out a shootout win over the Canadiens. That alone might convince a lot of people to vote for Kucherov for the Hart Trophy, although he was relatively quiet with only a point in each of those three games. This team needs some help, and while they have the cap space thanks to Mikhail Sergachev’s injury, they don’t have too many assets to make it work. Good thing Noah Hanifin is more or less forcing the Flames at gunpoint to trade him there, so they may not need to worry about assets.

16. Detroit Red Wings

Record: 33-22-6, +21
Last Week: 14th (-2)
Mike’s Rank: 16th
Scott’s Rank: 16th

Mike: The Red Wings are a perplexing team. By pretty much every metric to which we have access, they’ve been vastly outplayed for the majority of the season to date. It’s gotten significantly worse in recent weeks, with the team conceding more 5-on-5 expected goals than they’ve generated in an eye-popping 18 of their last 22 games (via Natural Stat Trick). Inconceivably, they’ve gone 14-6-2 over that stretch. But with a tough March schedule looming, the Red Wings really need to figure out their defensive woes if they want to hold onto their current spot. Fortunately, the Wings only have to worry about the hapless Penguins and Devils chasing them, but that doesn’t mean their overall play isn’t rife with red flags.

Scott: While I do agree that this Wings team is not that good (they’ve consistently sat around the 25 mark in the aggregate for me this season), I look at who’s directly below them in the playoff race and would gladly take this terrible but high-octane group over the Islanders or Caps.

Mike: Sure, and they’ve built up a ton of breathing room. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit at this point to see the Red Wings win or lose the next 10 in a row.

17. Calgary Flames

Record: 30-25-5, +2
Last Week: 18th (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 17th
Scott’s Rank: 19th

Mike: The Flames have won five consecutive games. The only reason they’re not in a playoff spot right now is because Nashville, the team they’re chasing, has won eight straight. No, the Flames probably aren’t making the playoffs this year, but they have to feel good about how they’ve performed amidst all the trade chatter in Calgary this season. Connor Zary, Yegor Sharangovich, and Oliver Kylington may not be cornerstone pieces, but they’ve emerged as fan favorites for good reason. The next steps are to trade Noah Hanifin and Jacob Markstrom, re-sign Kylington and Sharangovich, and make as many high picks as possible over the next three or four years.

18. New Jersey Devils

Record: 30-27-4, -12
Last Week: 17th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 20th
Scott’s Rank: 18th

Scott: Has a coach ever been fired this late into the season (outside of the year-end firings when a team is cleaning house)? Lindy Ruff may find himself in that position pretty soon, because outside of making a trade for a goaltender (which doesn’t look great considering that the Preds and Flames aren’t likely to move Juuse Saros and Jacob Markstrom, leaving… Jake Allen as their best option), firing the coach is really this team’s last hope. Even Jack Hughes has seemed human recently with just 12 points in 13 games, which is still good, but not what we saw earlier this year. The clock’s ticking.

Mike: I can name one off the very top of my head: Claude Julien, by these very same New Jersey Devils, in … I want to say, 2007? Lou Lamoriello himself took over with three games left in the regular season because he felt the team wasn’t ready for the playoffs. They lost in the first round.

Scott: Of course, the answer is always Lou.

19. New York Islanders

Record: 26-20-14, -21
Last Week: 23rd (+4)
Mike’s Rank: 20th
Scott’s Rank: 18th

Mike: Speaking of Lou … the Islanders have forced their way back into the playoff race in the Eastern Conference with three consecutive wins. They have two games in hand on the Flyers, the main team they’re chasing, and far stronger underlying numbers than the Red Wings, another bubble team. If either of those two teams starts to slide in March, the Islanders could end up being the team that sneaks into the playoff picture. It wouldn’t be the first time Patrick Roy has elevated a flawed team into contention.

20. Pittsburgh Penguins

Record: 27-24-8, +8
Last Week: 19th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 24th
Scott’s Rank: 17th

Scott: This might be the most Mike and I have disagreed on a team all season. My system is naturally still high on the Penguins because of their strong underlying numbers, but it’s hard to not admit that this Northwestern road trip may have been the straw that breaks their backs this season. It was a solid start by beating the Canucks, but then three straight defeats to the Kraken, Flames and Oilers now sees them nine points out of a playoff spot (albeit with three games in hand). It feels like they have to move Jake Guentzel now, right?

Mike: Guentzel, Reilly Smith, Lars Eller … it should be open season in Pittsburgh.

Scott: Crosby? Malkin?!?

21. Washington Capitals

Record: 28-23-9, -33
Last Week: 22nd (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 19th
Scott’s Rank: 24th

Mike: I evidently have a bit more time for the Capitals than Scott, who put ‘em a full five spots below my own ranking. And I get it. They just lost to Arizona! But the Caps are right there behind the Islanders in the Eastern Conference playoff race, which I maintain is way more open than it looks, and Alex Ovechkin is heating up at exactly the right time. It’s preposterous that Spencer Carbery has been able to keep such an underpowered team in the hunt for a playoff spot, but here we are in March and they’re still right there.

Scott: There’s a bundle of teams for me in the 18 to 24 range for me that are basically a toss-up, they just are the least favorable of that bunch for me.

22. Seattle Kraken

Record: 26-23-11, -5
Last Week: 24th (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 22nd
Scott’s Rank: 22nd

Scott: Even after a stretch of five wins in seven games for the Kraken, they still haven’t managed to get themselves anywhere close to the playoff conversation. Even with two games in hand, that nine-point gap between them and the Preds seems daunting for a team that can’t score to save their lives. It’s probably for the best that they just cut their losses and get some assets at the trade deadline for what they can, and look to improve next season.

23. Minnesota Wild

Record: 29-27-8, -14
Last Week: 20th (-3)
Mike’s Rank: 25th
Scott’s Rank: 20th

Mike: I don’t really get why Scott isn’t lower on the Wild, who have been pretty hopeless this season. They had lost three games in a row against mostly decent opponents before Kirill Kaprizov finally dragged them to a win over the Sharks on Sunday. This is a team that can only do so much with the financial constraints they currently face. Their only real trade chip this year is Brandon Duhaime, a 26-year-old energy winger with eight points in 62 games. It should be a quiet deadline in Minnesota.

Scott: They rank fourth in 5v5 expected goals against and power play expected goals for, which is admittedly carrying a lot of weight in their positioning.

24. St. Louis Blues

Record: 31-26-3, -12
Last Week: 21st (-3)
Mike’s Rank: 21st
Scott’s Rank: 25th

Scott: Those playoff chances really fell off a cliff in these past couple weeks thanks to five losses in six games before they beat the Wild on Saturday. Seven points to gain with two games in hand isn’t the end of the world, but they’d need a lot to go their way, and if they move Pavel Buchnevich at the trade deadline, that’s one fewer talented player on their roster to create that luck.

Mike: This really would be the perfect time for Doug Armstrong to cash in on Buchnevich, whom he acquired from the Rangers for a pittance not that long ago.

25. Buffalo Sabres

Record: 29-29-4, -4
Last Week: 25th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 23rd
Scott’s Rank: 23rd

Mike: The Sabres likely aren’t looking to move any of their premier young players, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be active between now and March 8. Any and all of Kyle Okposo, Erik Johnson, and Zemgus Girgensons could be on the move from a Sabres team that hasn’t made the playoffs in more than a decade. If the Sabres do collect more futures at this year’s deadline, don’t be surprised if they flip some of them in the summer for some much-needed help on defense.

26. Arizona Coyotes

Record: 25-31-5, -21
Last Week: 28th (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 26th
Scott’s Rank: 27th

Scott: 14 losses in a row. Their losing streak got to 14 before they finally found a team in as sad of a state as them in the Sens to beat. They didn’t win a game in February! It’s hard to believe that this was the same team hovering around that second Wildcard spot for the first few months of the season. That collapse is straight out of the Maple Leafs’ playbook.

Mike: Despite the tough stretch in February, it’s tough not to consider this season a step forward for a Coyotes team that is playing the long game toward getting out of the basement. Dylan Guenther has been an enormous bright spot, collecting 17 points in 24 games since being recalled from AHL Tucson.

27. Ottawa Senators

Record: 25-31-3, -17
Last Week: 26th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 27th
Scott’s Rank: 26th

Mike: The Sens aren’t in session. They’ve lost four in a row, including that embarrassing setback to Arizona that Scott mentioned, and are gearing up to be sellers yet again at this year’s trade deadline. Vladimir Tarasenko still has some value, but Sens GM Steve Staios is limited in what he can do by the Russian winger’s full NTC. On the other hand, Dominik Kubalik has zero trade protection to go along with zero trade value. The Sens shouldn’t be in any rush to move on from Jakob Chychrun, who still has one year left after this one. By all indications, he loves playing in Ottawa and wants to see this whole process through. But how long is that going to take?

28. Montreal Canadiens

Record: 23-28-10, -46
Last Week: 30th (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 28th
Scott’s Rank: 28th

Scott: I want to say that the Habs are finally in the basement where they belong instead of playoff pretenders, but were they ever really in the playoff conversation? Sure, they were mathematically there, but I don’t think anyone ever really viewed them as a threat. Anyways, they now find themselves in that second tier of lottery contenders after the abominations that are the Sharks and Blackhawks, and with a few potential assets to move at the deadline, they could set themselves up well for the future here.

29. Columbus Blue Jackets

Record: 20-30-10, -42
Last Week: 27th (-2)
Mike’s Rank: 29th
Scott’s Rank: 29th

Mike: It is depressing to watch Johnny Gaudreau go to seed on such an underpowered Blue Jackets team. What’s he even supposed to do? After finishing a +64 with the Flames in 2021-22, Gaudreau is -53 over his first two seasons with the Blue Jackets. And with so much of this brutally underwhelming team locked into long-term contracts, it’s hard to imagine things getting much better in Columbus any time soon. It’s no wonder they parted ways with GM Jarmo Kekalainen last month.

30. Anaheim Ducks

Record: 22-36-3, -54
Last Week: 29th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 30th
Scott’s Rank: 30th

Scott: I keep mentally bunching this team up with the Sharks and Ducks, and then I finally looked at the standings and realized they have an 11-point lead on either team? It really does show the talent gap that this Ducks team has over the other two teams, which is a good thing because it means they actually have multiple assets to build around. That said, they will get a bit worse over the next week should they pull the trigger on the likes of Adam Henrique and Frank Vatrano at the trade deadline.

31. San Jose Sharks

Record: 15-39-6, -106
Last Week: 32nd (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 31st
Scott’s Rank: 32nd

Mike: Step right up, step right up! The San Jose Trade Deadline Wholesale Show has something for you! Mikael Granlund with retention for this year and next? SOLD, for a third-round pick! Mike Hoffman to a team with power-play woes? SOLD! Anthony Duclair, Luke Kunin, and Alexander Barabanov? SOLD, SOLD, and SOLD! These offers are only available as quantities last, so call Sharks GM Mike Grier today!!!

32. Chicago Blackhawks

Record: 15-41-5, -93
Last Week: 31st (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 32nd
Scott’s Rank: 31st 

Scott: It really is a matter of picking your poison with either of these bottom two teams in terms of determining the worst team. The Sharks lack any talent or hope at the level of Connor Bedard, but then you could make the case that the Sharks have slightly better depth. That’s admittedly where I see Mike’s case here, because the Blackhawks are poised to do almost nothing at the deadline to get assets because, well, who wants what the Blackhawks actually want to sell.

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