NHL Power Rankings: Where Every Team Stands One Day Before the Trade Deadline
Another week. Another tale of the haves and have-nots in the NHL.
The Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers are battling for the final two spots in the Eastern Conference playoffs and gaining momentum while doing so, as reflected by matching three-spot jumps in this week's B/R Power Rankings.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Kings and Detroit Red Wings are experiencing life on the other side of the rankings coin, with plummets of six and five spots, respectively, after this week's voting, in which B/R's hockey staff awarded 32 points for a first-place vote down to a single point for last.
Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.
Votes were tallied after games played on Tuesday, March 4.
32. San Jose Sharks
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Previous Ranking: 32
Overall Record: 17-37-9
The Sharks dipped their toes in the trade-deadline waters on Tuesday when goalie Vitek Vanecek was shipped to Florida for forward Patrick Giles.
Vanecek was in the final season of a three-year, $10.2 million contract and had gone 3-10-3 in 18 games with San Jose in 2024-25.
Giles has played nine NHL games in his brief career and has seven points in 39 games in the AHL this season.
31. Chicago Blackhawks
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Previous Ranking: 31
Overall Record: 19-35-7
The long-term jury is still out, but the short-term verdict on goalie Spencer Knight was outstanding after he stopped 41 shots in his Chicago debut.
The 23-year-old, a first-round pick of Florida in 2019, was acquired from the Panthers with a conditional 2026 draft pick for defenseman Seth Jones.
Knight was 12-8-1 in 23 games with the Panthers this season.
30. Nashville Predators
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Previous Ranking: 30
Overall Record: 22-32-7
The Predators were almost universally crowned the champions of last summer, but they'll approach the deadline with a double-digit points gap between them and the Western Conference playoff cutline.
"As a player you want two things: You want team success and you want to feel like you're contributing towards that success," forward Steven Stamkos said. "This year hasn't worked out in both degrees."
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29. Buffalo Sabres
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Previous Ranking: 27
Overall Record: 24-30-5
It's another downturn on the roller coaster for a Sabres team that lost a 6-2 decision to visiting San Jose on Tuesday and is 0-3-1 in its last four after having won six of the previous seven.
"You can sit here and try to make all the excuses in the world, but when you lace them up in the locker room and go out you better battle, you better compete," forward Tage Thompson said. "We didn't."
28. Seattle Kraken
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Previous Ranking: 29
Overall Record: 26-32-4
A 4-3 loss to visiting Minnesota on Tuesday was the third in four games for the reeling Kraken. However, they did trade forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand to Tampa Bay and landed two-first-round picks as part of the three-team deal.
While this doesn't help the team in these rankings, Seattle knew it was a seller and acted as such by cashing in the two veterans and looking toward the future.
27. Pittsburgh Penguins
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Previous Ranking: 28
Overall Record: 24-30-10
The plummet continues for the Penguins, who lost 4-1 at Colorado on Tuesday for their third straight defeat and seventh in eight games (1-6-1).
Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 21 of 23 shots in his second appearance since being pulled in the second period of a loss to Philadelphia on Feb. 27.
The 29-year-old hasn't won since Feb. 7, but he has two straight games with above-.900 save percentages after three starts with a combined .765 mark.
26. Philadelphia Flyers
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Previous Ranking: 24
Overall Record: 27-27-8
The 6-3 result in the other direction wasn't ideal, but Andrei Kuzmenko had a strong showing in his first game with the Flyers against his former Calgary teammates.
The 29-year-old forward had a goal and an assist against the Flames and has five points in six games since he was dealt to Philadelphia on Jan. 30.
Kuzmenko has six goals in 43 overall games this season and is still searching for the form that yielded 39 goals in his initial NHL season with Vancouver in 2022-23.
25. Anaheim Ducks
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Previous Ranking: 25
Overall Record: 27-26-7
If you don't believe consistent effort leads to positive results eventually, you'll have to answer to the Ducks.
Anaheim headed into Wednesday having won two of its last three to climb above "NHL .500," including a 6-2 rout at Edmonton on Tuesday night.
"It was a good bounce-back win for our group,” forward Mason McTavish said. “I think I've been getting a lot of chances recently, which is always a good sign. The biggest thing is making sure you're skating and competing."
24. Boston Bruins
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Previous Ranking: 21
Overall Record: 28-27-8
Things haven't worked out as expected this season for the Bruins, and they took another turn for the worse on Saturday when Brad Marchand was helped off the ice after going face-first into the boards against Pittsburgh.
The Boston captain, who's produced 47 points in 61 games, is described as "week to week."
23. New York Islanders
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Previous Ranking: 26
Overall Record: 28-26-7
It was all hands on deck to stop the bleeding for the Islanders, who halted a skid of five losses in seven games with a home defeat of league-leading Winnipeg on Tuesday.
"It was a great team effort," coach Patrick Roy said. "Even in our meeting, before the game, I could tell that the guys were ready."
22. Utah Hockey Club
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Previous Ranking: 20
Overall Record: 27-25-9
The artists formerly known as the Coyotes held on to one of their own amid the trade-deadline tumult, inking defenseman Olli Maatta to a three-year deal that will extend through the 2027-28 season.
The 30-year-old was in the final season of a two-year contract he'd signed with Detroit in 2023 and could have become an unrestricted free agent this summer. He has averaged 20:41 of ice time per game since coming to Utah in an October trade.
21. St. Louis Blues
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Previous Ranking: 23
Overall Record: 29-27-6
A 6-3 loss is hard enough to take, but it's even more difficult when four of the goals against come on power plays, which is what the Blues experienced in a Sunday loss to Dallas.
The team's 70.3 percent penalty-killing rate is 30th in the league.
"(If) you give a good power play like that time and space, they're going to make tic-tac-toe plays, and they did that to us," coach Jim Montgomery said. "Our 5-on-5 game was pretty good, our special teams game we didn't match."
20. Montreal Canadiens
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Previous Ranking: 22
Overall Record: 30-26-5
A transaction this week involving 28-year-old center Jake Evans would have been no surprise, particularly given his imminent UFA status.
But the Canadiens managed to keep their ace penalty killer off the trade market by locking him down with a four-year, $11.4 million contract that will presumably keep him in Montreal into 2029.
19. Detroit Red Wings
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Previous Ranking: 14
Overall Record: 30-25-6
The league's hottest team has suddenly turned into one of its coldest after Detroit lost its third straight game on Tuesday and is just 2-4-1 in its last seven.
The Red Wings are typically competitive in the face-off dot with a season-long success rate of 50.5 percent, but they won just 19 of 48 draws against visiting Carolina, a 40 percent clip.
18. Vancouver Canucks
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Previous Ranking: 17
Overall Record: 27-22-11
Four losses in five games heading into Wednesday were bad enough for a recently reeling Canucks team, but it's more concerning that defensive star Quinn Hughes was unavailable against Anaheim after leaving Saturday's game against Seattle.
The reigning Norris Trophy winner practiced briefly Tuesday and had already missed 10 of Vancouver's first 60 games. He is the team's leading scorer with 60 points and leads in average ice time with 25:07 per game.
17. Ottawa Senators
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Previous Ranking: 18
Overall Record: 30-25-5
It's all gone wrong at once for the Senators, who reached Wednesday night's games having won just once in seven outings dating back to Feb. 4.
Ottawa's 2.43 goals per game in that stretch was 24th in the league, and its 4.29 goals-against average was 31st.
Veteran Linus Ullmark was just 1-4-1 in six starts and allowed 22 goals on 215 shots, a .902 save percentage.
16. New York Rangers
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Previous Ranking: 19
Overall Record: 31-26-4
The Rangers are an Original Six franchise, but they managed a little history on Sunday and Monday with shutouts from goalies Jonathan Quick (against Nashville) and Igor Shesterkin (against the Islanders).
The goalies stopped a combined 55 shots for New York, which got back-to-back shutouts on consecutive days for just the seventh time in team history.
The Rangers' 3.00 goals-against average through Monday's games was tied for 18th in the league.
15. Calgary Flames
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Previous Ranking: 15
Overall Record: 29-23-8
The dam finally broke for the offense-starved Flames, who had scored just once over a three-game stretch in which they were 0-2-1 before erupting for six in a Tuesday win at Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, Calgary's special teams have experienced something of a renaissance with 14 straight successful penalty kills. The team is 27th in the league with a 74.5 percent success rate.
14. New Jersey Devils
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Previous Ranking: 12
Overall Record: 33-24-6
A Tuesday loss at Dallas was Game 1 of an extended stretch without leading goal-scorer Jack Hughes, who left Sunday's game at Vegas holding his right arm and shoulder after going hard into the boards.
And the 23-year-old center will miss the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
The top overall pick from 2019 missed 20 games last season but had played in all 62 in 2024-25 before Sunday's injury.
13. Columbus Blue Jackets
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Previous Ranking: 16
Overall Record: 30-23-8
A Tuesday loss at Tampa Bay couldn't steal all the shine away from the Blue Jackets, who'd won four in a row, including a defeat of Detroit in an outdoor matchup at Ohio State's famous football stadium.
Zach Werenski had two goals against the Lightning and entered Wednesday's games just two points behind Cale Makar for the league lead in points among defensemen.
Werenski's 20 goals are also second to Makar at the position.
12. Los Angeles Kings
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Previous Ranking: 6
Overall Record: 31-20-8
It's the little things that have been bedeviling the Kings, who'd dropped four straight games (0-3-1) heading into Wednesday night and fell closer to the Western cutline than to first place in the Pacific Division.
"Details, giving up way too many chances against," defenseman Drew Doughty said. "It’s not us. We need to have guys more dialed into the D-zone, sticking to what the game plan is."
11. Edmonton Oilers
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Previous Ranking: 10
Overall Record: 35-22-4
All eyes in northern Alberta have turned toward Oilers GM Stan Bowman, who will need to pull some rabbits out of the trade-deadline hat to ease the suffering created by recent stretches of six losses in seven games and just three wins in 11 (3-7-1).
Concerns about goaltending have gone from whispers to shouts since the 11-game run started Jan. 30.
Stuart Skinner is 1-4-1 with a 3.70 goals-against average in eight subsequent games and Calvin Pickard, who was pulled after allowing four on 11 shots on Tuesday, is 2-3 with a 4.03 goals-against average.
10. Colorado Avalanche
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Previous Ranking: 13
Overall Record: 36-24-2
It's not always been pretty, but the Avalanche have strung together some success lately in the form of three straight wins and seven in 10 games.
A Tuesday defeat of Pittsburgh was the 1,200th regular-season win for the franchise since it relocated from Quebec in 1995.
Colorado is 1,200-820-165 across 2,286 games as the artists formerly known as the Nordiques.
9. Minnesota Wild
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Previous Ranking: 9
Overall Record: 36-22-4
Sometimes, it just feels better away from home and that's clearly a feeling with the Wild, whose Tuesday win at Seattle was their league-leading 22nd on the road.
Minnesota is just 14-13-1 in 28 games at home. Twenty-four teams had won more home games heading into Wednesday's schedule.
8. Carolina Hurricanes
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Previous Ranking: 11
Overall Record: 36-22-4
Only an unsightly loss to free-falling Edmonton has dulled a recent stretch for the Hurricanes, who have won three of four after a 2-1 decision at Detroit on Tuesday.
Frederik Andersen made 24 saves in the win and (weird stat alert) is 12-1-1 in 14 career starts against the Red Wings. He's 4-4-0 in eight starts this season since returning from an injury that kept him sidelined from late October through mid-January.
7. Tampa Bay Lightning
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Previous Ranking: 8
Overall Record: 36-21-4
Go ahead and take your bows if you thought the Lightning would not only be a factor in the playoff race but also be surging as the calendar reached March.
Tampa Bay's 6-2 defeat of Columbus on Tuesday was its ninth in 10 games and pulled it within three points of first place in the Atlantic Division heading into Wednesday's games.
No team in the league has been better since Feb. 1.
6. Toronto Maple Leafs
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Previous Ranking: 4
Overall Record: 38-20-3
An already-prolific Toronto offense was even more productive during the team's five-game winning streak, netting 25 goals from Feb. 22 through March 2.
Four players had six points apiece for the Maple Leafs during the run, including 25-year-old Swedish winger Pontus Holmberg, whose four goals lifted him to six overall in 49 games this season.
5. Florida Panthers
28 of 32
Previous Ranking: 7
Overall Record: 38-21-3
Matthew Tkachuk was a heart-and-soul player for the U.S. team in the 4 Nations Face-Off, but it's going to cost the Panthers in the aftermath.
The forward is going to be out for an "extended period of time" with the lower-body injured sustained in the tournament, according to general manager Bill Zito, who added that the "hope" is Tkachuk will be available for the playoffs for the Stanley Cup champions.
4. Vegas Golden Knights
29 of 32
Previous Ranking: 5
Overall Record: 36-18-6
Trade-deadline strategy is a moving target for Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon, whose low-profile moves in 2023 yielded a Stanley Cup while bigger moves in 2024 only led to a first-round playoff exit.
"Championships are won on how those teams are built," he said. "Sometimes you need the big splash, sometimes you just need that one piece."
3. Dallas Stars
30 of 32
Previous Ranking: 3
Overall Record: 40-19-2
The deep, talented Stars are difficult to contend with in any venue, but it's gotten particularly challenging to beat them at the American Airlines Center, where the team has won six in a row after a Tuesday victory over New Jersey.
Dallas has won 23 times in 31 home dates, tying it for the league lead in home wins with Winnipeg and Carolina through Tuesday's games.
2. Washington Capitals
31 of 32
Previous Ranking: 2
Overall Record: 39-14-8
The Capitals aimed to maintain goaltending success into the future by signing Charlie Lindgren to a three-year contract that will maintain a tandem with Logan Thompson.
"Both guys are such capable 1A goalies in this league," coach Spencer Carbery said, "it gives us a luxury of being able to utilize both guys."
1. Winnipeg Jets
32 of 32
Previous Ranking: 1
Overall Record: 42-16-4
There hasn't been much cause for alarm in what has been a magical season for the Jets, but losses in three straight games (0-2-1) have at least registered as a blip on the radar.
Winnipeg, which reached Wednesday's games as the league's third-most prolific goal-scoring team (3.47 goals per game), has netted just four combined in losses to Nashville, Philadelphia and the New York Islanders.
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