December 8, 2023 by Bob Schmidt

Now that each NHL team has played at least 20 games, I have assembled my power rankings chart. I created this chart based only on each team’s overall record, the strength of their schedule, and how they fared against the stronger, mid tier, and weaker teams.

1. New York Rangers – Previous ranking: 2. The Rangers have carried over their momentum from their first 10 games and went 7-2-1 over their next ten. Led by the offensive prowess of Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider, both of whom have double digit goals, and the goaltending tandem of Igor Shesterkin and the revitalized Jonathan Quick, this New York team finds themselves looking down on everyone else from the top of the Metropolitan Division. The 38-year-old Quick has yet to lose a game in regulation in his nine appearances. I have him listed at number five in my December goalie power rankings. One of their more notable wins in their second segment of ten games was on November 25 when the Broadway boys hosted the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden. Led by their usual suspects of Panarin and Kreider, each with three points, the Rangers dispatched the boys from Beantown, 7-4.
2. Los Angeles Kings – Previous ranking: 7. Head Coach Todd McLellan has his squad focused and fired up as they went 7-2-1 in their second 10-game segment, outscoring their opposition 35-16 in the process. Trevor Moore, who’s career high in goals is 17 in a season, is already at 12 goals a quarter of the way into this season, is a big factor in this team’s early success. Moore, along with Adrian Kempe, Anze Kopitar, and Kevin Fiala, have carried the offense by committee in their top six roles. I dare anyone to truthfully admit that they predicted this type of start to the season by Cam Talbot. Seen by many to have been a so-so signing by Kings GM Rob Blake, Talbot has responded with a sub two goals against average and has given his team a chance to win in an almost nightly basis. A key win for the Kings in their second ten game segment came in Las Vegas on November 8. On the strength of two powerplay goals and a 37 save performance from the aforementioned Talbot, Los Angeles downed the Golden Knights 4-1.
3. Colorado Avalanche – Previous Ranking: 6. Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen, are all over the 30-point mark this season already and led their team to a 7-3-0 record in their second 10-game segment. On November 18, the Avalanche were in Dallas to take on the red hot Stars who were riding a four game winning streak at the time. The Stars jumped out to a 3-0 lead and looked like they might be stretching their winning streak to five. That is until Makar entered the conversation. The 2021-22 Norris Trophy winner racked up three assists in guiding his team to a 6-3 comeback win.
4. Boston Bruins – Previous ranking: 3. The Bruins are intent on showing that they are still a team to be reckoned with, despite the departures of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. The duo of David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand remain as constant offensive threats, but their success is led by their defensive game. The Bruins have the best penalty kill in the league and have the third lowest goal against average. Boston took a step backwards from their 9-0-1 start to the season by going 5-3-2 during this ten game segment, but wins such as the 3-2 game against the Dallas Stars, led by a 35-save performance by Jeremy Swayman, on November 6, will go a long way to keeping the Bruins has solid contenders.
5. Vegas Golden Knights – Previous rank: 1. Vegas came out of the gate strong by winning their first seven games of the season and 11 of their first 12. They followed their 9-0-1 first 10-game segment with a 5-4-1 stretch which brought them back down to Earth a bit, but three of those victories came against other teams that cracked this top ten list. The most prominent win in this ten game segment came against the Colorado Avalanche on November 4. Captain Mark Stone recorded a four point night and Adin Hill, who I ranked number one in the December goalie power rankings, made 41 saves for the 7-0 shutout.
6. Washington Capitals – Previous rank: 16. The Capitals are a bit of an anomaly so far this season. They started the season by winning only five of their first 11 games and many were pointing to the fact that it was predominately because star sniper, Alexander Ovechkin, was off to a slow start. Since then, the Caps went on a five game-winning streak and finished 7-2-1 during their second ten game segment. They did this even though Ovechkin still isn’t producing as he normally does, having only scored five goals in the season so far. A key factor has been the emerging play of goaltender, Charlie Lindgren. Lindgren went 4-1-0 during this ten game stretch, including a 35 save shutout against the Vegas Golden Knights on November 14, for the 3-0 win.
7. Dallas Stars – Previous rank: 4. The Stars put up their longest winning streak of four wins and finished 6-3-1 during this 10-game segment. This was a tough part of the schedule for Dallas as six of these ten games were against teams that are in the top ten of this list. They went 3-2-1 against those teams with the most impressive win being the 6-3 win versus the Rangers on November 20, led by a three point performance from Roope Hintz. The Stars are benefitting from the hot hand of the ageless wonder that is Joe Pavelski. The 39 year old veteran is averaging a point per game to start the season.
8. Detroit Red Wings – Previous rank: 8. The Red Wings finished their second 10-game segment on a three-game winning streak to go 5-3-2 during that stretch. Two of those wins came against the Bruins, most impressively, the 5-2 win in Boston on November 24. Goaltender, Alex Lyon, has made the most of his call up after the injury to James Reimer, and went 3-1-0 with a shutout in the month of November, helping Detroit remain relevant in the playoffs conversations.
9. Vancouver Canucks – Previous rank: 5. The Canucks started this 10-game segment in the middle of a five-game winning streak and ended this stretch 6-4-0. Vancouver is led by their fab five of J.T. Miller, Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Filip Hronek, all of whom are on pace for setting career season highs. Thatcher Demko (number three in the December goalie power rankings), is providing the consistent goaltending needed that this franchise hasn’t seen since Roberto Luongo. Demko’s 27-save shutout in the 2-0 win against the powerhouse Stars on November 4, is just another example of such.
10. Winnipeg Jets – Previous rank: 25. The Jets are the biggest movers on this list. After a dismal start to the season in which they only won four of their first 10 games, head coach, Rick Bowness rallied his troops to two different winning streaks, one of three wins and one of five wins, to finish this 10-game segment with an 8-2-0 record. Mark Scheifele is back to being who he is expected to be and Kyle Connor is already halfway to 30 goals. The Jets last win in this segment was an impressive 3-0 against last seasons’ Stanley Cup finalists, Florida Panthers. It was a gritty game but the highlight was the 33-save performance from the 2020 Vezina Trophy winner, and last seasons’ Vezina finalist, Connor Hellebuyck.