NHL Power Rankings: Where Does Your Favorite Team Stand Right Now?

And now it’s time for the POWER RANKINGS!!! (Imagine Bruce Buffer saying that and you’ll understand why it’s in all caps.)

Yes, they’re back.

I know, I know, it’s like 155 degrees outside and by the time the NHL season starts in December (post-lockout) they’re going to play 10 games, and then we’ll all be burnt to a crisp as the Mayan Apocalypse eliminates us all from the earth…

Just kidding.

I’ll be positive.

It should be an exciting season and I’m really hoping that the season starts on time because it should, in fact, be tons of fun for hockey fans everywhere, except for on Long Island and Columbus.

Free agency has shifted the balance of power in many locations. Minnesota got significantly better. Tampa Bay got significantly better. And Dallas might have done enough to make the leap this season.

Certainly fans in Nashville and New Jersey are missing their favorite players (although I haven’t seen any burning Suter or Parise jerseys yet), and Hockeytown has to be fuming because in one year they lost the seemingly immortal Nick Lidstrom and GM Ken Holland did not land any big names.

But hey, life goes on.

Curious what the NHL landscape looks like right now?

Well, for most fanbases it looks pretty lush.

But for others it might look, well, post-apocalyptic.

30. Columbus Blue Jackets

Last year: fifth in Central, 15^th in West

Notable Additions: G Sergei Bobrovsky, F Nick Foligno, D Adrian Aucoin

Projection: fifth in Central, 15^th in West

Do I really need to explain this?

This team finished last in the West last year…

And they’re going to lose Rick Nash.

29. New York Islanders

Last year: fifth in Atlantic, 14^th in East

Notable Additions: D Matt Carkner, RW Brad Boyes, D Lubomir Visnovsky, LW Eric Boulton

Projection: fifth in Atlantic, 15^th in East

Call ‘em Columbus East.

The unfortunate thing here is that this was a proud franchise at one time and there’s diehard fans on the Island that remember the good ol' days.

Those are long gone though. The Islanders have been a moribund franchise for quite some time now.

28. Calgary Flames

Last year: second in Northwest, ninth in West

Notable Additions: LW Jiri Hudler, C Roman Cervenka, D Dennis Wideman

Projection: fifth in Northwest, 14^th in West

Umm…yeah.

A really old team just added a bunch of older dudes for another run.

That’s probably not going to work out…

27. Winnipeg Jets

Last year: fourth in Southeast, 11^th in East

Notable Additions: LW Olli Jokinen, LW Alexei Ponikarovsky, G Al Montoya

Projection: fifth in Southeast, 12^th in East

It’s going to be another year of growing pains for the Jets, but they’re still on a honeymoon, and by the time they get off of it, they should be in a division with teams that, god forbid, are actually located near them.

Fans in Winnipeg are going to have to grind it out with this young team for a little bit, but this young corps should improve drastically in time.

26. Nashville Predators

Last year: second in Central, fourth in West

Notable Additions: G Chris Mason

Projection: fourth in Central, 13^th in West

It’s tough to see a well-run franchise with a small but diehard fanbase take a hit like this, but with no Suter and possibly no Weber, it’s going to be tough for the Preds.

Their best bet is doing what they do best, draft-and-develop and hope the youth they have got get good quickly before they become expensive and become old enough to leave town.

25. Florida Panthers

Last year: first in Southeast, third in East

Notable Additions: D Filip Kuba, RW George Parros, F Peter Mueller

Projection: fourth in Southeast, 13^th in East

Yeah, it’s a big drop.

But you had to see it coming.

This team backed into the playoffs last year and while they made good pickups in the offseason—Kuba can play D, Parros is scary as it gets, and Mueller has upside—this is a fundamentally flawed team without a go-to scorer.

They’ll be playing against better completion in the Southeast Division next year.

24. Montreal Canadiens

Last year: fifth in Northeast, 15^th in East

Notable Additions: LW Brandon Prust, D Francis Bouillon, RW Colby Armstrong

Projection: fifth in Northeast, 14^th in East

This team will improve… marginally.

They have addressed some needs, especially on D with Bouillon, but not enough to make a significant leap.

It’s got to be tough being a Habs fan right now.

23. Anaheim Ducks

Last year: fifth in Pacific, 13^th in West

Notable Additions: D Sheldon Souray, D Bryan Allen, RW Brad Staubitz

Projection: fifth in Pacific, 12^th in West

GM Bob Murray didn’t sit on his hands in the offseason; he did go out and upgrade a putrid defense, but it’s hardly enough for this team to rise in the Pacific.

Expect the Bobby Ryan rumors to continue throughout the season.

22. Phoenix Coyotes

Last year: first in Pacific, third in West

Notable Additions: D Zbynek Michalek, LW Steve Sullivan

Projection: fourth in Pacific, 11^th in West

It’s a big drop, but for a team that benefited from a weak division, has unstable ownership and could potentially lose their captain, a big drop is to be expected.

21. Toronto Maple Leafs

Last year: fourth in Northeast, 13^th in East

Notable Additions: LW James van Riemsdyk, C Jay McClement

Projection: fourth in Northeast, 11^th in East

I’ve kinda been doing this all along, but I’m making it official:

I’m not going to make fun of the Leafs. In fact, I’m just going to act like they don’t exist until they demand my attention (win games on a consistent basis).

20. Carolina Hurricanes

Last year: fifth in Southeast, 12^th in East

Notable Additions: C Jordan Staal, D Joe Corvo

Projection: third in Southeast, 10^th in East

This is a team on the rise.

Unless you think Jordan Staal will turn them into a playoff team (he might, who knows?), I see a young team that improved but that is not ready for big boy hockey just yet.

19. Edmonton Oilers

Last year: fifth in Northwest, 14^th in West

Notable Additions: D Justin Schultz

Projection: fourth in Northwest, 10^th in West

Schultz was a big pickup and Hall, Eberle, Nuge and Co. will all get better with time, but this team is not there yet.

Expect one more year on the outside of the playoff bubble before this team becomes a playoff team.

(Adding a little beef on defense would not hurt either.)

18. Colorado Avalanche

Last year: third in Northwest, 11^th in West

Notable Additions: RW PA Parenteau, D Greg Zanon, C John Mitchell

Projection: third in Northwest, ninth in West

I’m going to be called a hater, but come on, this team underachieves.

If the young guys (I’m looking at you Matt Duchene and Erik Johnson), step up then this team could be a late seed and make a run in the playoffs.

If they don’t, they’ll be on the outside looking in.

17. New Jersey Devils

Last year: fourth in Atlantic, sixth in East

Notable Additions: None

Projection: fourth in Atlantic, ninth in East

No Parise, big problems.

Yes, Lou and his Devils are always crafty and seem to do better than everyone thinks, but it’s hard to see New Jersey competing in a difficult Atlantic Division sans Zach Parise.

16. Ottawa Senators

Last year: second in Northeast, eighth in East

Notable Additions: D Marc Methot, RW Guillaume Latendresse, D Mike Lundin

Projection: third in Northeast, eighth in East

The Senators improved but only marginally.

Buffalo should be a better team next year and pass them in the division. The Sens will make the playoffs, but once again they will be bounced by the No. 1 seed.

15. Dallas Stars

Last year: fourth in Pacific, 10^th in West

Notable Additions: LW Ray Whitney, RW Jaromir Jagr, D Aaron Rome, C Derek Roy, C Cody Eakin

Projection: third in Pacific, eighth in West

This team is always almost there and then gets booted from the playoff picture in the final week.

They added some veteran leadership with Whitney and Jagr, and Roy has upside.

Don’t count out the hockey team from the Big D this year.

14. Minnesota Wild

Last year: fourth in Northwest, 12^th in West

Notable Additions: LW Zach Parise, D Ryan Suter, C Torrey Mitchell, C Zenon Konopka, C Jake Dowell

Projection: second in Northwest, seventh in West

Parise and Suter are a big upgrade—there’s no way around that.

Minnesota has become a playoff team overnight, and with a new stock of young talent, they should only get better from there.

13. Tampa Bay Lightning

Last year: third in Southeast, 10^th in East

Notable Additions: D Matt Carle, G Anders Lindback, D Sami Salo, RW BJ Crombeen, LW Benoit Pouliot

Projection: second in Southeast, seventh in East

Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman addressed the team needs: goaltending (Lindback), defense (Carle) and veteran leadership (Salo) while adding a tough guy (Crombeen) and a guy that should have a lot of upside (Pouliot).

Last year was a letdown after an Eastern Conference Finals appearance.

Expect this team to erase that poor showing from the memory of their fans this year.

12. Philadelphia Flyers

Last year: third in Atlantic, sixth in East

Notable Additions: D Luke Schenn, LW Ruslan Fedotenko, D Bruno Gervais

Projection: third in Atlantic, sixth in East

There is a lot of promise with this team, and both Luke Schenn and JVR should benefit from a change in scenery (and Luke’s got his brother Brayden), but Pittsburgh and New York are still better teams in that division.

11. San Jose Sharks

Last year: second in Pacific, seventh in West

Notable Additions: D Brad Stuart, C Adam Burish

Projection: second in Pacific, sixth in West

That-team-in-California-that-hasn’t-won-a-Stanley-Cup (but always seems to make the playoffs) has to be fuming right now.

The Kings now look like a perennial contender, and a series of poor trades (bye, bye young talent, oh hey there overrated old players) has left the Sharkies in a dizzy.

Certainly, the Joes (Pavelski and Thornton) are still on top of their game, and Logan Couture and Brent Burns are going to be superstars in this league for years to come, but Dan Boyle and Douglas Murray are aging, and Martin Havlat was never the same player after being traded away from Chicago.

10. Buffalo Sabres

Last year: third in Northeast, ninth in East

Notable Additions: LW Kevin Porter, F John Scott, C Steve Ott and D Adam Pardy

Projection: second in Northeast, fifth in East

This team was supposed to be a lot better last year.

It’s not as much about who they have added this year (although they have toughened up), as it is about guys like Thomas Vanek, Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino living up to expectations.

If they do, this is a playoff team for sure.

9. Detroit Red Wings

Last year: third in Central, fifth in West

Notable Additions: RW Mikael Samuelsson, RW Jordin Tootoo, G Jonas Gustavsson, F Damien Brunner

Projection: third in Central, fifth in West

They’re going to make the playoffs because, hey, they’re the Red Wings, but the loss of Nick Lidstrom, having missed out on Suter and Parise (and probably Weber with the Flyers’ latest offer) is going to cost the Elderly Men of the Winged Wheel dearly.

8. Washington Capitals

Last year: second in Southeast, seventh in East

Notable Additions: C Mike Ribiero, RW Joey Crabb

Projection: first in Southeast, third in East

This team underachieved last year.

Let’s face it.

They won’t this season, and after a one-year hiatus, the Caps will reclaim their division and should once again be considered a contender.

7. Chicago Blackhawks

Last year: fourth in Central, sixth in West

Notable Additions: D Sheldon Brookbank

Projection: second in Central, fourth in West

There is certainly a population out there that thinks the Hawks got their cup and are moving on.

I happen to believe they have got another shot in them.

Although the Baby Blues look like a better team right now, the Hawks benefited when the Red Wings missed out on Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, when the Preds lost Suter, and they also benefited from the Blue Jackets' inevitable loss of Rick Nash.

The time is now if Chicago wants to take another run at Lord Stanley’s Mug.

6. Los Angeles Kings

Last year: third in Pacific, eighth in West

Notable Additions: None

Projection: first in Pacific, third in West

The Kings know that they can’t go on another miracle run, but next year they won’t have to.

They have got an amazing core that’s young and proven.

This team should be good for a good stretch of time. Hats off to you Mr. Lombardi!

5. St. Louis Blues

Last year: first in Central, second in West

Notable Additions: None

Projection: first in Central, second in West

The Baby Blues ran into the hottest team in the league last year.

A sweep hurts, but hey, the Kings did go on to become Stanley Cup champions.

GM Doug Armstrong has put together a strong young core, and this team will be right back at it next year.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins

Last year: second in Atlantic, fourth in East

Notable Additions: C Brandon Sutter, G Tomas Vokoun, LW Tanner Glass, F Benn Ferriero

Projection: second in Atlantic, fourth in East

Black and yellow, black and yellow—you know what it is.

No, they were not featured in The Dark Knight Rises (or in Wiz Khalifa’s hit song), but everyone in the hockey world knows who these guys are by now.

A healthy Sidney Crosby turns them into a contender. Another injury-plagued year and they’re just a really good team.

3. Vancouver Canucks

Last year: first in Northwest, first in West

Notable Additions: D Jason Garrison, D Derek Joslin

Projection: first in Northwest, first in West

The clock is ticking on the we-almost-win-and-then-disappint-you Canucks.

Minnesota just improved. Edmonton and Colorado are improving. And Calgary…well, they’re not really a threat. They’re probably just going to end up joining a men’s league when Jarome Iginla hits the big four-oh.

But with three legitimate up-and-coming teams in the Northwest, there is a win-now situation for the team that’s dominated the division for quite some time now.

2. Boston Bruins

Last year: first in Northeast, second in East

Notable Additions: None

Projection: first in Northeast, second in East

This Bruins team really could have repeated as champs last year.

They can’t rest on their laurels though. Buffalo and Ottawa are continuing to improve, and you have got to think that Toronto and Montreal, two big hockey cities, are going to build contenders eventually…

1. New York Rangers

Last year: first in Atlantic, first in East

Notable Additions: LW Taylor Pyatt, RW Arron Asham, C Jeff Halpern

Projection: first in Atlantic, first in East

This is a damn good team.

The young guys (Derek Stepan, Michael Del Zotto) compliment the big-name pickups (Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik), and they’re well coached, even if their coach is nuts.

Make no mistake about it: the Rangers are a bona fide contender.

Tom Schreier writes a weekly column for TheFanManifesto.com.

Follow him on Twitter @tschreier3.