NHL Power Rankings: B/R Experts' Week 26 Poll

This is it. This is where we go our separate ways. This is the final installment of the NHL power rankings.

We had some good times, didn't we? We ranked teams and did so in a powerful fashion. You agreed. You disagreed. We moved teams up. We moved teams down. There was just no stopping the rankings...until now.

Last week, the Minnesota Wild ascended to No. 1. Will they stay there for a second week in a row? Will the New York Rangers, who sit atop the NHL standings, take over No. 1? Will it be someone else?

Those questions and more will be answered in this fond farewell to the NHL regular season, which ends next Sunday.

As always, the panel (this week consisting of Jonathan Willis, Allan Mitchell, Lyle Richardson, Carol Schram and myself) is here to vote and determine the rankings of the league's 30 teams, with those rankings based on an assessment of each of these teams rather than a pure look at the standings. 

Read on to see where all 30 teams are ranked and which rise to the top this week. 

News and statistics are courtesy of NHL.com, Hockey-Reference, war-on-ice.com and BehindTheNet.ca and are current through the start of action on April 5. 

Our experts participate in weekly voting for B/R's NHL power rankings. Once a vote is cast for a specific team, it's assigned a value—30 points for the No. 1 team in the rankings, 29 points for the second spot and so on. The totals are then added up to create the power ranking.

30-26: Buffalo Sabres-New Jersey Devils

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

30. Buffalo Sabres (Last week: 30): There have been a lot of “Is tanking bad?” think pieces of late thanks to the Sabres, who are one regulation loss away from clinching 30th place and a top-two pick. The Sabres, despite an obvious tank from day one, have played to 97.3 percent capacity at home. Fans are cheering losses. They get it. They support it. That should be the beginning and end to all those pieces.

29. Arizona Coyotes (Last week: 29): Meanwhile, the Coyotes waited too long to throw in the towel and will likely fall just short of 30th place. If they had been honest with themselves in early February, maybe they could’ve sunk to the bottom. If anyone above them in the standings wins the lottery, there will be sadness in the desert.

28. Edmonton Oilers (Last week: 27): The Oilers lost three in a row last week by a combined 17-2 and will now look to win the draft lottery. This marks the ninth consecutive season the Oilers have missed the playoffs, and they don’t look like a team with much of a shot at getting there next year.

27. Toronto Maple Leafs (Last week: 28): The Leafs played spoiler Sunday night by beating the Senators in a shootout. They allowed 45 shots in that game and 50 the night before in a shootout loss to Boston. The Leafs giving up tons of shots and still earning points? It's great to finally have them back again.

26. New Jersey Devils (Last week: 26): The Devils have lost seven of eight. Adam Henrique, who is 25 years old, leads the team with 41 points; the ages of the next five leading scorers are 32, 38, 35, 43 and 30. The Devils are an aging team that seems headed for years of mediocrity at best.

25-21: Carolina Hurricanes-Dallas Stars

Gregg Forwerck/Getty Images

25. Carolina Hurricanes (Last week: 24): The Hurricanes are 3-3 in their past six games. While the Blue Jackets will receive a lot of well-deserved love next season for playing well this season, the Hurricanes should get some of that love too. They are 19-15-7 since January, which is merely OK, but they may be able to help themselves in the draft too.

24. Philadelphia Flyers (Last week: 25): The Flyers have four wins in their past 14 games, but two of them have been against the Penguins. Even when the Flyers are bad, they still find ways to deliver season-crippling blows to their rivals. Steve Mason is third in the NHL in save percentage at .929, although he has made just 46 starts.

23. Colorado Avalanche (Last week: 23): The Avs have lost three of four, including a 4-1 defeat against the Oilers. They’ve fallen far in the standings since last season, but their young core should give fans hope for a return to the playoffs next season.

22. Florida Panthers (Last week: 20): The playoffs aren’t coming to South Florida, as injuries (Roberto Luongo, Nick Bjugstad) really hampered the playoff push. There’s reason for optimism, though, as this young team isn’t far off from being perennial playoff contenders.

21. Dallas Stars (Last week: 18): The Stars are 6-3-0 in their past nine games, but their late-season playoff push came up just short. Goaltending has been an issue all season, but the Stars went 3-5-2 after Tyler Seguin injured his knee on Feb. 13. If the Stars finish five to seven points out of the playoffs, that low hit from Dmitry Kulikov of the Panthers will hurt into the offseason.

20-16: San Jose Sharks-Detroit Red Wings

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20. San Jose Sharks (Last Week: 22): The playoffs are close to an impossibility after a humiliating loss in Arizona on Sunday. The best the Sharks can do is 95 points, while the Flames have 93 points with three games remaining and the Kings have 92 points with four games remaining. Both the Kings and Flames own the tiebreakers, too. Maybe the Sharks can strip their players of alternate captaincy in the offseason.

19. Columbus Blue Jackets (Last week: 21): Columbus has won nine straight, which is both great and perhaps frustrating. If only the Blue Jackets could’ve avoided some of their catastrophic injuries, this would be a team closing strong before starting the playoffs next week. If they somehow win the draft lottery and add Connor McDavid, look out.

18. Pittsburgh Penguins (Last week: 10): Luckily for the Penguins, falling out of the top 16 in the power rankings doesn't mean you're out of an NHL playoff spot. The Penguins have lost three straight and are 3-8-1 in their past 12 games. It looks bad, but Evgeni Malkin is back and Sidney Crosby is healthy too. With the Sabres on the schedule to end the season, the Pens shouldn't miss the playoffs.

17. Winnipeg Jets (Last week: 14): The Jets stopped the bleeding with a 5-4 win against Vancouver on Saturday, as they had previously lost three of four. Three of the Jets’ final four games are on the road, with a season finale at home against the Flames. The Jets’ playoff hopes may come down to Ondrej Pavelec winning three of four games, which is a scary proposition.

16. Detroit Red Wings (Last Week: 13): The Red Wings are suddenly on the cusp of a collapse that will end their streak of 23 seasons with a playoff berth. They are 5-10-2 in their past 17 games and have the Senators nipping at their heels.

15-11: Calgary Flames-Boston Bruins

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

15. Calgary Flames (Last week: 19): After winning three of four, the Flames have three games remaining, and boy are they interesting. The first one is at home with the Coyotes, who should roll over. Then it’s at home against the Kings and on the road against the Jets, the two teams battling for playoff berths in the West. If the Flames overlook the Coyotes on Tuesday, it may be a season-killing loss.

14. Vancouver Canucks (Last Week: 16): The Canucks continue to confound. They made the Blues look bad in a 4-1 victory in St. Louis but have dropped four of six overall. Two of their final three games are against Edmonton and Arizona, so they should be able to protect the No. 2 seed in the Pacific.

13. Ottawa Senators (Last week: 17): The Sens are 3-0-1 in their past four games but let a point slip away in a shootout loss to Toronto on Sunday night. Ottawa is two points behind three teams, and they all have three games remaining. The Sens lack the ROW tiebreaker on any of them. They will likely need to win all three games or at the very least get five points in those games to reach the playoffs.

12. New York Islanders (Last Week: 11): After losing seven of eight, the Islanders are 2-0-1 in their past three games. They still have their issues, but they have three games to get it together before the playoffs begin.

11. Boston Bruins (Last week: 15): The Bruins have won five straight but can’t shake the Senators, who sit three points back with a game in hand. Boston concludes the season with three road games, in Tampa, Washington and Florida. There’s nothing guaranteed for the Bruins with one week to go.

10. Los Angeles Kings

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Record: 39-25-14, 92 points

Last Week: 12

Recent Trend: The Kings have won two straight by a combined 11-3, which included holding the Avs to 10 shots. They are 5-2-0 in their past seven games.

Big Picture: There are two playoff spots for three teams—the Kings, Flames and Jets. The Kings face the Flames in Calgary on Thursday in a game that could knock out the loser. At the end of this week, the Kings could be hosting a Game 1 as the Pacific's No. 2 seed or watching the playoffs from home.

By the Numbers: Should Jonathan Quick start the Kings' final four games, a pretty good bet, he will tie his career high for starts with 72. He made 49 starts last season and 69 in 2012, the years the Kings won the Cup. When Quick made 72 starts in 2009-10, the Kings were knocked out in the first round by Vancouver.

9. Washington Capitals

Francois Lacasse/Getty Images

Record: 44-25-11, 99 points

Last Week: 9

Recent Trend: The Capitals are 4-0-1 in their past five games. They are also 8-2-1 in their past 11. 

Big Picture: With their regulation win in Detroit on Sunday, the Capitals moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division, which is their regular-season ceiling. The Islanders can finish second by winning their final three games.

By the Numbers: Since November 8, the Capitals have won 38 games; Braden Holtby has won 35 of them. Justin Peters has two of the other wins. Holtby needed medical attention Sunday, although he said afterward it was just a cramp. But if the Caps were to lose Holtby before or during the playoffs, they may as well call it a season.

8. Montreal Canadiens

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Record: 48-22-10, 106 points

Last Week: 6

Recent Trend: Despite five losses in seven games, the Canadiens are amassing points thanks to three post-regulation losses. 

Big Picture: The Presidents' Trophy isn't out of the question, as they are one point behind the league-leading Rangers with two games remaining. But the Rangers have four games left, which means the Habs must win out and get help. With a two-point lead on the Lightning, the Habs' first priority is winning the division.

By the Numbers: Carey Price has been...dare I say...not very good in his past five games. Price is 2-1-2 in those games with a .901 save percentage, but maybe that's encouraging: The Canadiens have points in four of five and haven't had Price carrying them.

7. Nashville Predators

John Russell/Getty Images

Record: 47-22-10, 104 points

Last Week: 2

Recent Trend: After ripping off four straight wins, the Predators have lost three straight, although two of those setbacks came after regulation.

Big Picture: Nashville has done enough to right the ship, and now the Predators have a chance at winning the Central and maybe the West, although they could fall as far as third in the Central.

By the Numbers: Filip Forbserg has just three goals in his past 18 games, which is perhaps the result of the rookie finishing his first full NHL season. 

6. Minnesota Wild

Bruce Kluckhohn/Getty Images

Record: 44-26-8, 96 points

Last Week: 1

Recent Trend: Maybe the pressure of holding the top spot in the B/R power rankings was too much, as the Wild lost both of their games last week. 

Big Picture: A wild-card berth appears to be the Wild's fate, as their final four games are all difficult: Winnipeg, Nashville, Chicago and St. Louis. On the other hand, the Wild can climb to the top three in the Central by beating those three teams ahead of them this week.

By the Numbers: Zach Parise has five goals in seven games and has 32 for the season. Parise has scored 30 goals six times in his career and fell one goal short of that mark last season. 

5. St. Louis Blues

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Record: 49-23-7, 105 points

Last Week: 3

Recent Trend: The Blues had dropped five of six, but they have three straight wins.

Big Picture: By beating Chicago in regulation Sunday, the Blues continue to control their destiny. If they win their final three games, they will win the Central and have a very good chance of finishing atop the West. But with one more game against Chicago, finishing as low as third in the division is a possibility.

By the Numbers: The Blues are averaging 2.95 goals per game, fourth in the league. It's their best output since averaging 3.08 goals per game in 2002-03, when the team was led in scoring by Pavol Demitra, who had 36 goals and 93 points.

4. Anaheim Ducks

Debora Robinson/Getty Images

Record: 50-23-7, 107 points

Last Week: 4

Recent Trend: The Ducks have won four of five. In their past 11 games, the Ducks are 8-3-0.

Big Picture: The Ducks have clinched the Pacific, but now they need to hold off whichever team wins the Central to secure the West's best record. If the Ducks win their final two games, they will secure that top spot in the conference.

By the Numbers: In his past 11 games, Frederik Andersen has a .900 save percentage. In his past nine games, John Gibson has a .913 save percentage. Coach Bruce Boudreau had his hands full last year with goaltending in the playoffs, and he may have the same issue this year.

3. Tampa Bay Lightning

Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images

Record: 48-24-8, 104 points

Last Week: 7

Recent Trend: Tampa Bay isn't exactly limping to the finish, although it's not having a strong finish, either. The Lightning are 2-3-1 in their past six games and have just two more to play over the final seven days.

Big Picture: The Lightning will host Game 1 of a first-round playoff series. Earning the top spot in the East seems unlikely, but winning the Atlantic is a strong possibility if the Canadiens stumble.

By the Numbers: Ben Bishop will likely get the start in Game 1 of the Lightning's first-round playoff series. After posting a .910 save percentage in 18 games in February and March, Bishop has stopped 66 of 68 shots in two April contests. 

2. Chicago Blackhawks

Bill Wippert/Getty Images

Record: 48-25-6, 102 points

Last Week: 8

Recent Trend: The Blackhawks had a four-game winning streak snapped Sunday in a 2-1 home loss to St. Louis. 

Big Picture: The Central is a log jam, but by losing in regulation to the Blues, winning the division may be difficult. For that to happen, the Blackhawks will need a regulation win in St. Louis on Thursday. Otherwise, getting the second seed in the division is the best-case scenario for the Blackhawks.

By the Numbers: The Blackhawks' penalty kill hasn't exactly been getting it done of late. In their past 21 times short-handed, the Blackhawks have allowed seven goals. Killing two of every three penalties is a recipe for a first-round exit.

1. New York Rangers

Alex Trautwig/Getty Images

Record: 50-21-7, 107 points

Last Week: 5

Recent Trend: After a hiccup of three losses in four games, the Rangers have won three straight.

Big Picture: The Presidents' Trophy is the Rangers to lose. Their only competition right now is Anaheim and maybe Montreal, but the Rangers have games in hand on all their closest competition. 

By the Numbers: Henrik Lundqvist looked rusty in his first game back against Boston after nearly two months out of the lineup, but he has looked zoned-in over the past three games. Lundqvist is 3-0 while he's stopped 93 of 98 shots (.949) in those three games.