NHL Power Rankings: Preseason Rankings Updated with Nash, Semin, Weber Deals

The NHL community has learned of three big transactions since my last power rankings:

1. Rick Nash is a New York Ranger.
2. Alexander Semin is a Carolina Hurricane.
3. Shea Weber will remain with the Nashville Predators.

The Blueshirts did not blow up their young core to get Nash.

Obviously Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov and Tim Erixon are good players and everyone likes having first-round draft picks, but Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonough, Michael Del Zotto and Co. remain in Manhattan.

Columbus probably got the short end of the stick here, but, hey, the guy had to go and they weren’t going anywhere anyway. This organization is years away from doing anything special.

To be frank, having a Jackets sweater hanging in Vince Vaughn’s pimped-out Ohio sports basement in The Watch was probably the most exposure this team has gotten since its inception.

The Semin-to-Canes deal is also pretty huge.

Carolina was a bit of an afterthought last season, but decided to keep the core together and improved their team by adding Jordan Staal and now bringing Semin aboard.

I’m digging this team right now.

The Preds were about to become an afterthought this season. Suter is obviously in Minnesota and I thought Weber was going to be a Flyer. His agent’s comments certainly suggested so.

But he’s in Nashville and that will impact where I put the Preds and Flyers.

If this looks a lot like last week’s power rankings that’s because, well, they are.

I’ve indicated where changes have been made.

30. Columbus Blue Jackets

Last week I said they’d lose Rick Nash. This week they did.

Last year: 5th in Central, 15th in West

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

Projection: 5th in Central, 15th in West

This team is awful. Just awful. I hope for hockey fans in Columbus that this turns around sooner than we all think.

29. New York Islanders

Calling them Columbus East was absurd. My bad. They’re more Edmonton East: a young team with talented players that’s not ready for the big-time yet.

Last year: 5th in Atlantic, 14th in East

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

Projection: 5th in Atlantic, 15th in East

So… think Edmonton, except with only one No. 1 overall pick.

28. Calgary Flames

Yes, I’m a little harsh on the Flames (I certainly heard it from those guys last week) but, really, how do you expect to get better with an aging core that wasn’t playoff-worthy last year?

From last week:

Last year: 2nd in Northwest, 9th in West

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

Projection: 5th in Northwest, 14th 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

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 4th in Southeast, 11th in East

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

Projection: 5th in Southeast, 12th 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 their young corps should improve drastically given time.

26. Anaheim Ducks

Now that we know Weber is a Predator, it’s safe to say that’s a better team than the Ducks. Last week Nashville was No. 13 and Anaheim was No. 12. Changes have been made.

Last year: 5th in Pacific, 13th in West

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

Projection: 5th in Pacific, 13th in West

This isn’t going to make fans in the OC happy, but they know it’s true:

No matter how much high-end talent this team has, they are not going anywhere until they add some depth.

And, safe to say, this team hasn’t done enough of that this offseason.

25. Florida Panthers

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 1st in Southeast, 3rd in East

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

Projection: 4th in Southeast, 13th 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

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 5th in Northeast, 15th in East

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

Projection: 5th in Northeast, 14th in East

This team will improve… marginally.

They’ve 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. Phoenix Coyotes

Phoenix didn’t do anything wrong this week, but Nashville improved by ensuring that Weber remains a Predator. Word is still out on whether Shane Doan will be a Coyote. Therefore, they dropped from 12th in the West to 13th and lost a spot in the overall rankings (23 to 22).

Last year: 1st in Pacific, 3rd in West

Notable Additions: D Zbynek Michalek, LW Steve Sullivan

Projection: 4th in Pacific, 12th in West

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

22. Nashville Predators

I put Nashville at 13th in the West (26 overall) because I had a hunch that they wouldn’t match Philly’s offer for Weber. It seemed too steep.

I was wrong. Therefore they moved to No. 11 in the West and No. 22 overall.

Last year: 2nd in Central, 4th in West

Notable Additions: G Chris Mason

Projection: 4th in Central, 11th in West

Now that we know Weber will remain in Nashville, this team looks alright.

They are still going to miss Suter and because their division is so tough, they’ll probably fall behind St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit.

Still, they’ll become a better team more quickly by keeping Weber, their team captain, in the music city.

21. Toronto Maple Leafs

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 4th in Northeast, 13th in East

Notable Additions: LW James van Riemsdyk, C Jay McClement

Projection: 4th in Northeast, 11th 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 (read: win games on a consistent basis).

20. Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton drops a spot in the rankings: Carolina is now 16, Ottawa is now 17, Colorado remains at 18 and New Jersey is still a better team than Edmonton right now, even if they got worse and the Oilers improved in the offseason.

From last week:

Last year: 5th in Northwest, 14th in West

Notable Additions: D Justin Schultz

Projection: 4th in Northwest, 10th 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 wouldn’t hurt either.)

19. New Jersey Devils

The Devils drop a spot because of the Semin-to-Carolina deal.

Last year: 4th in Atlantic, 6th in East

Notable Additions: None

Projection: 4th in Atlantic, 10th in East

It’s a double-whammy:

This team loses Parise and other teams in the East have improved. This will keep New Jersey from redeeming themselves after a cup run.

18. Colorado Avalanche

A lot of change with teams around them, but Colorado remains at 18. From last week:

Last year: 3rd in Northwest, 11th in West

Notable Additions: RW P.A. Parenteau, D Greg Zanon, C John Mitchell

Projection: 3rd Northwest, 9th in West

I’m going to be called a hater, but c’mon, this team underachieves.

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

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

17. Ottawa Senators

With the Canes adding Semin, Ottawa drops out of the playoff picture as well.

Last year: 2nd in Northeast, 8th in East

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

Projection: 3rd Northeast, 9th East

The Senators improved, but marginally.

Buffalo should be a better team next year and you would be hard-pressed to find a hockey fan outside of Ottawa that didn’t consider this team rebuilding, even with their playoff appearance last year and the fact that they gave the Rangers a run for their money.

16. Carolina Hurricanes

Big changes here because of the Semin deal. Obviously they got better on paper.

Last year: 5th in Southeast, 12th in East

Notable Additions: C Jordan Staal, D Joe Corvo, RW Alexander Semin

Projection: 3rd in Southeast, 8th in East

The Semin acquisition makes the Canes a playoff team.

Now they’ve got the Staal boys, a proven goaltender (Cam Ward) and young talent in Jeff Skinner and Jamie McBain.

The thing with Carolina is that they don’t need that top seed. They always seem to make a splash as a late seed.

15. Dallas Stars

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 4th in Pacific, 10th in West

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

Projection: 3rd in Pacific, 8th 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

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 4th in Northwest, 12th in West

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

Projection: 2nd in Northwest, 7th 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

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 3rd in Southeast, 10th in East

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

Projection: 2nd in Southeast, 7th 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. Buffalo Sabres

Okay, I was a little high on Buffalo. I’ve dropped them one spot in the rankings. Philadelphia deserves to be higher than them.

From last week:

Last year: 3rd in Northeast, 9th in East

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

Projection: 2nd in Northeast, 6th in East

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

It’s not as much about who they’ve 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.

11. San Jose Sharks

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 2nd in Pacific, 7th in West

Notable Additions: D Brad Stuart, C Adam Burish

Projection: 2nd in Pacific, 6th 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 tizzy.

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. Philadelphia Flyers

This team took the Sabres’ spot from last week. They deserve it. While they missed out on Weber, lost Carle and we have yet to see how the Schenn brothers will do together, I like the team they’ve got in Philly.

A healthy Pittsburgh team is still better than them.

Last year: 3rd in Atlantic, 5th in East

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

Projection: 3rd in Atlantic, 5th 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.

9. Detroit Red Wings

No big changes here other than that we know Weber and Nash will not be in Detroit.

From last week:

Last year: 3rd in Central, 5th in West

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

Projection: 3rd in Central, 5th in West

They’re going to make the playoffs because, hey, they’re the Red Wings. But the loss of Nick Lidstrom, the missing-out on Suter and Parise and Weber is going to cost the Elderly Men of the Winged Wheel dearly.

8. Washington Capitals

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 2nd in Southeast, 7th in East

Notable Additions: C Mike Ribeiro, RW Joey Crabb

Projection: 1st in Southeast, 3rd 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 one again be considered a contender.

7. Chicago Blackhawks

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 4th in Central, 6th in West

Notable Additions: D Sheldon Brookbank

Projection: 2nd in Central, 4th 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’ve got another shot in them.

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

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

(By the way, piggybacking off my The Watch reference in the first slide, I imagine Vince Vaughn’s basement to look like it does in that movie, only with Chicago paraphernalia all over rather than the Cleveland/Columbus-based stuff).

6. Los Angeles Kings

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 3rd in Pacific, 8th in West

Notable Additions: None

Projection: 1st in Pacific, 3rd in West

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

They’ve 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

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 1st in Central, 2nd in West

Notable Additions: None

Projection: 1st in Central, 2nd in West

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

A sweep hurts, but, hey, the Kings did 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

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 2nd in Atlantic, 4th in East

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

Projection: 2nd in Atlantic, 4th in East

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

No they weren’t 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

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 1st in Northwest, 1st in West

Notable Additions: D Jason Garrison, D Derek Joslin

Projection: 1st in Northwest, 1st 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, it’s a win-now situation for a team that’s dominated the division for quite some time now.

2. Boston Bruins

No changes here. From last week:

Last year: 1st  in Northeast, 2nd in East

Notable Additions: None

Projection: 1st in Northeast, 2nd 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’ve got to think that Toronto and Montreal, two big hockey cities, are going to build contenders eventually…

1. New York Rangers

I had the Rangers at No. 1 last week and they got better with Nash, so I’m leaving them where they were (duh!).

Last year: 1st in Atlantic, 1st in East

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

Projection: 1st Atlantic, 1st East

This is a damn good team that just got better.

The young guys (Derek Stepan, Michael Del Zotto) compliment the big-name pickups (Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik and Rick Nash) 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.