NHL Power Rankings: Where Every Team Stands on Opening Night
It's official, hockey fans.
Our 119-day national nightmare is over.
The 2023-24 NHL season gets underway Tuesday night with three games, including the Vegas Golden Knights opening defense of their Stanley Cup championship.
Each of the league's 31 wannabe banner-hoisters have gone through an offseason and a training camp with designs on keeping the Golden Knights from becoming the second recent titleholder to repeat—following the Tampa Bay Lightning of 2019-20 and 2020-21.
The B/R hockey team is primed and ready for action, too, producing a new round of Power Rankings that establish where each team stands on opening night. Click through to see what our panelists came up with and drop a thought or two of your own in the comments.
32. San Jose Sharks
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The race for next summer's first overall pick begins for the San Jose Sharks on Thursday when they host the defending champion Golden Knights. It'll be an introduction to life without Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson after he was dealt to Pittsburgh and the likely beginning of Mackenzie Blackwood's stint as the starting goalie after he arrived from New Jersey.
31. Anaheim Ducks
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It'll be a challenging welcome to the league for first-time NHL coach Greg Cronin, who takes over for Dallas Eakins after spending five seasons with Colorado's AHL affiliate. He's got a pedigree of successfully working with young talent, which is something the Anaheim Ducks have plenty of in the forms of Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish and Jamie Drysdale, among others.
30. Philadelphia Flyers
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It'll be a welcome sight for Philadelphia Flyers fans when healthy versions of Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson take the ice at Columbus on Thursday. Couturier hasn't played since December 2021 with back issues and Atkinson has been idle since April 2022 with neck problems. Both, however, participated fully during Philadelphia's training camp.
.png?w=256 "Playoff Winners and Losers")
29. Chicago Blackhawks
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Have you heard? The Chicago Blackhawks used their first draft pick on some kid named Connor Bedard, and word on the street is that he's pretty good at hockey. The 18-year-old finished the preseason with a goal and four assists in four games. If you're the wagering type, DraftKings has him at +6000 (bet $100, win $6,000) to win the Hart Trophy.
28. Montreal Canadiens
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Staying healthy is among the priorities for the Canadiens as they follow up on a 2022-23 season in which only one forward, Nick Suzuki, played in 70 games and only one defenseman, Johnathan Kovacevic, exceeded 65. Top-six forwards Cole Caufield, Sean Monahan and Kirby Dach combined to play just 129 of a possible 246 games.
27. Columbus Blue Jackets
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A new coach is one thing. But a new coach who enters the gig in the circumstances faced by Pascal Vincent is something else. The would-be associate coach was elevated when Mike Babcock resigned in mid-September after having taken the job two months earlier. It's a tough ask in Columbus, which was 30th in offense and 31st in defense last season.
26. Arizona Coyotes
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He's not getting hyped like that kid named Bedard, but the arrival of Logan Cooley in Arizona has Coyotes fans feeling, gasp...optimism. He was picked third overall in 2022 and signed his entry-level pro deal rather than returning to the University of Minnesota, where he had 60 points in 39 games as a freshman. Arizona was 27th overall with 225 goals last season.
25. St. Louis Blues
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What will the St. Louis Blues get from their veterans this season? Defenseman Torey Krug signed a seven-year deal in 2020 but has missed 50 games across two seasons. In goal, former Stanley Cup hero Jordan Binnington skidded to a 3.31 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage, both career worsts, while playing in a career-high 61 games.
24. Washington Capitals
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There could be a conflict between the uptempo pace desired by new coach Spencer Carbery and just how much juice can be wrung from a Washington Capitals team still largely relying on five high-profile players aged 31 or beyond. Alex Ovechkin, 38, will resume the chase for Wayne Gretzky's goal-scoring record on Friday. He's 72 away from tying the "Great One" at 894.
23. Vancouver Canucks
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It's hardly a game-changer, but the Vancouver Canucks did add a warm NHL body on Monday when they acquired 28-year-old forward Sam Lafferty from Toronto for a fifth-round pick. Lafferty scored 12 goals in 70 games last season while splitting time between the Maple Leafs and the Chicago Blackhawks, and he'll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2023-24.
22. Detroit Red Wings
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Alex DeBrincat's mission in Detroit is simple: Score goals. The Red Wings were 24th in the league in goals last season and DeBrincat is a proven commodity having reached 41 two times with the Chicago Blackhawks. He arrived in July for two players and two draft picks after scoring 27 goals in one season with Ottawa.
21. Nashville Predators
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The Nashville Predators have rarely been labeled either "entertaining" or particularly "offensive," but that's precisely the description new general manager Barry Trotz has promised for 2023-24. New coach Andrew Brunette arrives after most recently working in Florida, where the Panthers averaged 4.11 goals per game and won a Presidents' Trophy on his watch.
20. New York Islanders
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The days of Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy lighting things up on the power play are long gone on Long Island, where the New York Islanders skidded from 12th to 30th with the man advantage last season. They followed it up with an abysmal 1-of-18 performance in a predictably brief first-round playoff stint against the Carolina Hurricanes.
19. Winnipeg Jets
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Just when it seemed Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck were a sure bet to be dealt out of Winnipeg before walking as free agents next summer, the Jets went all-in. The teammates were signed to matching seven-year deals worth $59.5 million apiece on Monday that'll keep them in Manitoba through the end of the 2030-31 season.
18. Ottawa Senators
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The Josh Norris injury saga isn't quite complete in Ottawa, where the forward remains out indefinitely after playing just eight games in 2022-23. He was slated to play on the second line alongside Vladimir Tarasenko and Drake Batherson for the Senators, but he did not play in training camp and hasn't played a regular-season game since January 21.
17. Calgary Flames
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Will the real Jonathan Huberdeau please stand up? The 200-pound center was all smiles after posting a career-best 115 points with the Florida Panthers in 2021-22, but to say his initial season after a trade to Calgary was disappointing is an MVP-level understatement. Regaining form after just 55 points in 79 games is key to the Flames' prospects this season.
16. Buffalo Sabres
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The young, talented Buffalo Sabres open the season with a key piece of their future locked down after 23-year-old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin signed an eight-year extension worth $11 million per year that'll kick in at the start of the 2024-25 schedule and run through 2032.
15. Pittsburgh Penguins
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The trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang will make North American sports history when the puck drops on Tuesday's game with Chicago. They'll officially begin their 18th season as teammates and break a tie with the trio of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, who were together with baseball's New York Yankees from 1995 to 2011.
14. Minnesota Wild
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It's time to make a competitive jump in Minnesota, where the Wild have been consistent to the tune of 10 playoff appearances in 11 seasons but haven't won a series since 2015. They were 11th overall last season with 46 wins and 103 points but were dumped in six games by the Dallas Stars, leaving them 4-13 in 17 playoff series since 2000.
13. Florida Panthers
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Top-four defensemen Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad were key performers in Florida's unlikely run to the Cup Final last spring, but the Panthers will have to do without them for several months after each underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason. Blue liner Oliver Ekman-Larsson arrived on a one-year deal in July and will play important minutes right away.
12. Tampa Bay Lightning
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It's red-alert time in Tampa, where the Lightning face the prospect of playing for two months without the league's premier money goaltender in Andrei Vasilevskiy. The 29-year-old is on injured reserve after undergoing back surgery in late September, and it'll be up to the collection of Jonas Johansson, Hugo Alnefelt and Matt Tomkins to keep the ship upright.
11. Boston Bruins
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It was a stunningly long offseason for the Boston Bruins following a first-round playoff exit that came on the heels of a historic run that included 65 wins and 135 points. The good news? Each of the last two teams to set NHL wins records, Detroit in 1996 and Tampa Bay in 2019, won Stanley Cups the seasons following their statistical spikes.
10. Seattle Kraken
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There won't be any sneaking up on opponents in 2023-24 for the Seattle Kraken, who went from victimized expansion team to playoff participant with a 40-point standings improvement in year two. Seattle dismissed the defending Cup champs in the opening round before falling to Dallas, but it'll be a tough ride in a top-heavy Pacific Division this season.
9. Los Angeles Kings
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The trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois made headlines in the offseason, but the biggest key to the Kings' chances come playoff time is the goaltending duo of Cam Talbot and Pheonix Copley. Copley was a revelation last season with a 24-6-3 record and Talbot arrived on a one-year deal following a 17-14-2 run in 36 games with Ottawa. As they go, so goes L.A.
8. New York Rangers
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The getting-to-know you curve is steep for coach Peter Laviolette, who was hired in June to replace Gerard Gallant. Laviolette was a Cup winner with Carolina in 2006 and most recently spent three seasons with Washington, making the playoffs twice but winning no series. His teams have made the postseason 13 times, with three finals appearances.
7. Colorado Avalanche
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The Colorado Avalanche were heavy favorites to repeat at this time last year before injuries up and down the roster scuttled their plans. Spark-plug forward Gabriel Landeskog is still on the shelf following knee surgery and all-galaxy defenseman Cale Makar is no guarantee to be in the lineup when Colorado opens play on Wednesday. He missed 22 games last season.
6. Edmonton Oilers
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The best news in Alberta during the preseason has been the resurgent play of goalie Jack Campbell, whose first season with the Edmonton Oilers was, in a word, disappointing. Campbell stopped 101 of 104 shots in three preseason starts, all victories, for Edmonton and may have regained the No. 1 standing he'd lost to rookie Stuart Skinner in 2022-23.
5. Toronto Maple Leafs
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The Ilya Samsonov era in the Toronto Maple Leafs' net officially began Monday when the team announced veteran Matt Murray would be out six to eight months after having bilateral hip surgery. Murray was dealt to the Maple Leafs in July 2022 but played just 26 games last season and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2023-24.
4. Vegas Golden Knights
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There's no better way to start a season than as a defending champion, so any issues the Vegas Golden Knights face are tinged with success. That said, it'll be up to new No. 1 goalie Adin Hill to back up his playoff heroics now that he's signed a two-year deal at $4.9 million per season. He's never started more than 25 games in an NHL campaign.
3. Dallas Stars
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The Dallas Stars are a popular pick to win the West and vie for the Stanley Cup, but whether they're able to do so depends on the play of goalie Jake Oettinger. The 24-year-old started 61 of 82 games last season before another 19 starts in the playoffs. He's backed up again by journeyman Scott Wedgewood, who's made 86 starts for three teams in five seasons.
2. New Jersey Devils
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Can the New Jersey Devils duplicate the 19-4 run they went on to begin the 2022-23 season? That'd go a long way toward proving a vault from 26th to third overall was legit. There's a real battle for the No. 1 goalie spot between Vitek Vanecek, who was 33-11-4 last season, and second-year man Akira Schmid, who went 9-5-2 down the stretch and made eight playoff starts.
1. Carolina Hurricanes
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It's a welcome sight for Carolina Hurricanes fans to see the return of 23-year-old forward Andrei Svechnikov, who didn't play after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee on March 11. He's the team's second-leading scorer with 112 goals and 264 points over the past five seasons, good for 13th in goals and 14th in points among all NHL right wingers.
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.jpg?w=600 "NFL Not Investigating Mike Vrabel")
.jpg?w=600 "Jeremiyah Love on Giants' Radar")
