NHL Power Rankings: Rangers Reach Top 5 After Blockbuster Vladimir Tarasenko Trade
It's official: The New York Rangers are in it to win it.
The team that makes its home at the world's most famous arena dove headfirst into the NHL's trading pool with a deal that brought longtime St. Louis Blues sniper Vladimir Tarasenko to Midtown Manhattan with defenseman Niko Mikkola for two players and two draft picks.
The prolific winger is in the final throes of an eight-year, $60 million contract and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn't sign a new deal with New York.
"The [Garden], it's always exciting to play there," Tarasenko said. "It's a good team, obviously. They have a goal here to win a Cup, which is very exciting."
The 31-year-old scored a goal in his first game with the Rangers on Friday, and the team has won twice with him in the lineup to stretch its current winning streak to five games.
The surge gained New York access to the top five in B/R's Power Rankings, which are topped by the Boston Bruins for the 14th consecutive week.
Joining Boston and New York are the Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bruins, Hurricanes and Devils are holdovers from last week at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, while the Rangers (fifth) and Tampa Bay Lightning (fourth) displaced the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs, respectively.
The B/R voting panel awarded 32 points for first place and one point for 32nd to come up with the weekly list. Teams' last rankings and how they moved are shown alongside each updated placement. Scroll through to see where your favorites landed, and drop a thought or two of your own in the comments.
Nos. 32-26: Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, Ducks, Coyotes, Sharks, Canucks, Flyers
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32. Columbus Blue Jackets (Last Week: 32/Move: 0)
A loss to New Jersey with 1.4 seconds left was the fifth defeat in six games for the perpetually skidding Blue Jackets, who scratched defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov against the Devils for trade-related reasons.
31. Chicago Blackhawks (Last Week: 31/Move: 0)
The Blackhawks began a Canada trip badly, scoring once total in defeats at Winnipeg and Montréal. "We were weak tonight overall and didn't battle," defenseman Connor Murphy said after Tuesday's 4-0 loss to the Canadiens.
30. Anaheim Ducks (Last Week: 30/Move: 0)
The Ducks allowed five goals in the third period of a 7-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, and their 4.07 goals-against average is worst in the league, as are their 220 goals allowed through 54 games.
29. Arizona Coyotes (Last Week: 29/Move: 0)
A 4-2 win at Nashville on Monday was the first road victory since November for the Coyotes, who'd gone 0-13-5 in their last 18 games away from Mullett Arena. Their 7-20-6 road mark is 30th in the league.
28. San Jose Sharks (Last Week: 28/Move: 0)
A 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday was the first time the Sharks had played at home since January 18, a stretch of eight games in which San Jose went 3-3-2. Their 12-14-4 road record is 24th in the league.
27. Vancouver Canucks (Last Week: 26/Move: -1)
A 6-1 loss to Detroit on Monday was the 25th time in 54 games that the Canucks had allowed at least five goals. "We're going to have to go back to grade school on how to defend," coach Rick Tocchet said.
26. Philadelphia Flyers (Last Week: 25/Move: -1)
Philadelphia's 3-4-3 record over its last 10 games was 15th in the Eastern Conference heading into Wednesday and ill-timed. "I don't think we were good enough," coach John Tortorella said after Sunday's loss to the Seattle Kraken.
Nos. 25-21: Canadiens, Blues, Senators, Panthers, Islanders
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25. Montréal Canadiens (Last Week: 27/Move: +2)
Tuesday's 4-0 shutout of Chicago was the team's first since last February, Jake Allen's first since November 2021 and gave Montréal its first three-game win streak since early November.
24. St. Louis Blues (Last Week: 24/Move: 0)
Lose five straight then win two while scoring 12 goals. Just another stretch for the 2022-23 Blues, who did get ominous news when both Torey Krug and Brandon Saad left Tuesday's game with injuries.
23. Ottawa Senators (Last Week: 22/Move: -1)
No goalies? No problem. The Senators needed AHL call-up Kevin Mandolese after injuries to Cam Talbot and Anton Forsberg, but the 22-year-old delivered a 46-save win in his NHL debut against the New York Islanders.
22. Florida Panthers (Last Week: 21/Move: -1)
The Panthers' run of four wins in five games was stalled by a Tuesday loss in St. Louis, but the game did include the first appearance since January 8 by goalie Spencer Knight, who's now 9-8-3 in 20 starts.
21. New York Islanders (Last Week: 17/Move: -4)
The Islanders won their first two after the break but have since gone 0-1-2 and fallen a point off the Eastern playoff cutline pace. They face Pittsburgh, which holds the top wild-card spot, on Friday.
Nos. 20-16: Red Wings, Sabres, Predators, Flames, Capitals
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20. Detroit Red Wings (Last Week: 23/Move: +3)
Playoffs in Detroit? It could happen. Four straight wins powered by sixth total goals from Dylan Larkin during that stretch has the Red Wings just four points off the second wild-card spot.
19. Buffalo Sabres (Last Week 19/Move: 0)
The return from the break didn't start out well for the Sabres, who dropped games to Calgary and Los Angeles in which they were outscored 12-4. They righted the ship on Wednesday night with a resounding 7-3 win in Anaheim.
18. Nashville Predators (Last Week: 20/Move: +2)
The two losses in three games since the break have been a switch for the Predators, who'd won five of six before the All-Star Game. They were five points below the West cutline entering Wednesday,
17. Calgary Flames (Last Week: 16/Move: -1)
It's three losses in four games since the break for the Flames, though they have managed two OT points in the 1-1-2 stretch. Calgary entered Wednesday a point up on Colorado for the second West wild card.
16. Washington Capitals (Last Week: 18/Move: +2)
The chase for Wayne Gretzky's goal-scoring record has hit a temporary roadblock with Alex Ovechkin sidelined for the remainder of the week to deal with what the team labeled "a family matter."
.png?w=256 "Playoff Winners and Losers")
Nos. 15-11: Wild, Avalanche, Penguins, Oilers, Kings
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15. Minnesota Wild (Last Week: 15/Move: 0)
A Monday goal against Florida got Kirill Kaprizov to 30 for the season and made him the third Wild player to reach that number in consecutive seasons, joining Marián Gáborík and Brian Rolston.
14. Colorado Avalanche (Last Week: 12/Move: -2)
The streaky Avalanche continued to confound, dropping three of four games after they'd won seven of eight before the break. They entered Wednesday sitting exactly on the Western playoff cutline, but a thrilling win over Minnesota has them back in the Top 3 of the Central division.
13. Pittsburgh Penguins (Last Week: 14/Move: +1)
A three-point night at San Jose was particularly eventful for Sidney Crosby, who reached 40 assists for the 14th time. The Sharks are also the 30th team against whom he's had three points on the road.
12. Edmonton Oilers (Last Week: 11/Move: -1)
The Oilers had earned a point in 11 straight games (9-0-2) before a 6-2 loss at Montréal on Sunday that also ended Connor McDavid's point streak at 15. McDavid had 10 goals and 15 assists during the streak.
11. Los Angeles Kings (Last Week: 13/Move: +2)
Red-hot forward Adrian Kempe scored the final four goals of a 6-0 defeat of Pittsburgh and the first in a 7-2 defeat of Buffalo, becoming the third King to get five straight (Tomas Sandström, Luc Robitaille).
Nos. 10-6: Kraken, Golden Knights, Jets, Stars, Maple Leafs
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10. Seattle Kraken (Last Week: 8/Move: -2)
The Kraken went 1-3-1 on a five-game road trip to start the second half but will play four of their next five at Climate Pledge Arena, though their 13-10-3 record there is just 21st-best in the league.
9. Vegas Golden Knights (Last Week: 10/Move: +1)
Vegas scored five combined goals in four straight losses before the break but has erupted for 17 goals in three victories since. While the offense has been clicking, the story in the last three games has been goalie Adin Hill. With Logan Thompson week-to-week with a lower-body injury, Hill has a 1.30 goals-against average in February with a sparkling .935 save percentage.
8. Winnipeg Jets (Last Week: 9/Move: +1)
It's now two wins in two games since the break for the Jets, who skidded into it with three losses in four games. The spike has them just two points behind first-place Dallas in the Central.
7. Dallas Stars (Last Week: 5/Move: -2)
The Stars bagged 10 of a possible 16 points on an eight-game homestand with a 3-1-4 run that ended with Tuesday's OT loss to Boston. The Stars reached Wednesday with a two-point lead in the Central.
6. Toronto Maple Leafs (Last Week: 4/Move: -2)
A stretch of three losses in five games heading into Wednesday—including a loss to Boston—wasn't an ideal way for the Maple Leafs to pursue the Bruins, but getting Auston Matthews (knee) back helped last night in the win over Chicago. The Arizona native tallied a goal and an assist in the victory.
Nos. 5-1: Rangers, Lightning, Devils, Hurricanes, Bruins
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5. New York Rangers (Last Week: 6/Move: +1)
The Rangers' trade for Vladimir Tarasenko may have indirectly ignited Artemi Panarin's ability to put the puck in the net. The "Breadman" scorched the Hurricanes for four goals on Saturday and followed that up with a two-goal night in Vancouver.
4. Tampa Bay Lightning (Last Week: 7/Move: +3)
The Lightning beat Colorado twice in their first meetings since last season's Stanley Cup Final and outscored the defending champs 9-3. "There's no revenge wins. It's a new season," Steven Stamkos said.
3. New Jersey Devils (Last Week: 3/Move: 0)
The Devils stayed red-hot with a late win at Columbus that got them to 3-0-1 since the break and 11-1-2 in their last 14 games. They reached Wednesday three points back of Carolina in the Metropolitan.
2. Carolina Hurricanes (Last Week: 2/Move: 0)
The Hurricanes flopped in their post-All-Star return but recovered to defeat Washington thanks to 34 saves from Frederik Andersen. "We're just slowly finding it more and more the past couple games," forward Paul Stastny said.
1. Boston Bruins (Last Week: 1/Move: 0)
The Bruins defeated the Stars 3-2 in coach Jim Montgomery's first trip to Dallas since being fired in 2019, and the win allowed Boston to tie a record for the fewest games (53) to reach 40 wins. The mark was initially established by the 2015-16 Washington Capitals.
Statistics accurate through Tuesday, February 14.
.png?w=480 "Playoff Winners and Losers")
.jpg?w=600 "Coached Stunned by Lawrence Trade")
.jpg?w=600 "Burrow's IG Story Before Trade")
