February 19, 2024 by Bob Schmidt

Now that each team has played 50 games, I have updated my power rankings chart. I created this chart based only on each team’s first 50 games, their overall record in those games, the strength of each team’s schedule, and how they fared against the stronger, mid tier, and weaker teams.

1. Colorado Avalanche (50-game record: 32-14-4, 68 Pts. Games 41-50: 7-2-1, 15 Pts. Previous ranking: 5)

Two three-game winning streaks highlight this 10-game segment for the Avalanche. This wasn’t an easy part of the schedule for Colorado as they played four games versus teams featured on this top-ten list, going 2-1-1 in those games. They also played six games on the road during this segment (3-2-1) and impressively were undefeated in the four games at home which included a 4-3 shootout win vs. the Boston Bruins (ranked 5th) on Jan. 8, and a 25-save Alexandar Georgiev shutout win vs. the Vegas Golden Knights (ranked 7th) two nights later. Nathan MacKinnon has already surpassed the 30-goal mark and is on pace to score 133 points, which would be a career-high, and could very realistically win his first Hart Trophy.

2. Vancouver Canucks (50-game record: 34-11-5, 73 Pts. Games 41-50: 8-0-2, 18 Pts. Previous ranking: 4)

The Canucks started off this stretch by winning six of the first seven games and collected 18 of the possible 20 points available in this ten-game segment. These were hard fought points for Vancouver as four of these games went past regulation time and nine of the ten games finished within a two-goal spread. An empty net goal by Dakota Joshua in the 5-2 win vs. the New York Islanders (ranked 22nd) on Jan. 9, was the only exception. The Canucks look poised to win their first division title since the 2012-13 season and should, undoubtedly, make the playoffs this year for only the second time in the past nine seasons.

3. New York Rangers (50-game record: 31-16-3, 65 Pts. Games 41-50: 5-4-1, 11 Pts. Previous ranking: 1)

After holding the top spot on this list for the last three installments, the Rangers’ tough run during this segment sees them knocked down a couple of spots. New York only scored four powerplay goals over this stretch and saw their PP operate at a pitiful 14%. Inconsistency was the name of the game in these ten games as shown by their 3-2 overtime loss to the basement dwelling San Jose Sharks (ranked 31st) on Jan. 23, but then beating the Avalanche (ranked 1st) 2-1 in overtime on Feb. 5. The Rangers overall though are still a force to be reckoned with and it looks like head coach, Peter Laviolette, has his boys back on track as, at the time of this article, the boys from Broadway were on a six-game winning streak.

4. Florida Panthers (50-game record: 31-15-4, 66 Pts. Games 41-50: 5-3-2, 12 Pts. Previous rank: 3)

The Panthers have gone all Jekyll and Hyde since the Christmas break. After a nine-game winning streak which carried over into this segment, Florida went winless in their next four, and then won the next four after that. Half of their games during this 10-game segment went past regulation time including back-to-back 3-2 road wins on consecutive nights, a shootout one in Pittsburgh (ranked 20th) on Jan. 26, and an overtime one on Long Island the following night with Oliver Ekman-Larsson playing the hero. Sam Reinhart has been a 30-goal scorer in all three of his seasons with Florida and, barring injuries or a drastic slump, should reach the 50 goal mark this season for the first time in his career.

5. Boston Bruins (50-game record: 31-10-9, 71 Pts. Games 41-50: 7-2-1, 15 Pts. Previous rank: 9)

After the previous segment where they only won five of their ten games, the Bruins strung together a five-game winning streak and had seven wins in eight games during this segment. Boston keeps finding various ways to win as is very evident in this ten-game stretch where they had two overtime wins, 4-3 vs. St. Louis Blues (ranked 12th) on Jan. 13, and 3-2 vs. Ottawa Senators (ranked 28th) on Jan. 25, a 3-0 blanking of the New Jersey Devils (ranked 19th) on Jan. 15, and exploding for nine goals against the Montreal Canadiens (ranked 25th) on Jan. 20. The Bruins were my pre-season pick as the East representative in the Stanley Cup finals this season and I might still be right.

6. Dallas Stars (50-game record: 31-13-6, 68 Pts. Games 41-50: 7-2-1, 15 Pts. Previous rank: 6)

Dallas finished this stretch on a four-game win streak and collected 11 of the 12 possible points over the last six games of that stretch. The Stars are led by their offense as their league leading 3.76 goals for per game indicates. Their defensive game is a bit of an anomaly as their 3.00 goals against per game is good for 13th in the league, but their penalty kill of 81.93% sits at seventh overall. The Stars have been a model of consistency all season. They have lost three games in a row only once this season and one of those was in overtime. Their team depth has been quite evident as well. The likes of Matt Duchene and Roope Hintz were carrying the offense early on until, arguably, their top forward, Jason Robertson, found his scoring touch again, and backup goalie, Scott Wedgewood, stood tall between the pipes when starter, Jake Oettinger, had a brief struggle in late November.

7. Vegas Golden Knights (50-game record: 29-15-6, 64 Pts. Games 41-50: 6-3-1, 13 Pts. Previous rank: 7)

Even with long term injuries to Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore, both of whom being key cornerstones of the team, the Golden Knights keep winning games. Though they had a stretch the previous segment where they lost six of seven games, they rebounded during this one, at one point winning five of six and collecting eleven of a possible twelve points. Having a healthy Adin Hill (ranked number one in my February goalie power rankings) with his NHL leading .933 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average, back between the pipes, has been a key reason for the continued winning ways of the Knights. Logan Thompson did a more than adequate job in net while Hill was out, but Vegas is a stronger team with their Stanley Cup winning starter manning the crease. Vegas has won 55% of Thompson’s starts but has won 70% of the games that Hill starts.

8. Winnipeg Jets (50-game record: 31-14-5, 67 Pts. Games 41-50: 4-5-1, 9 Pts. Previous rank: 2)

The Jets were the hottest team in the league during the previous 10-game segment where they went 9-0-1. It was quite the different story during this ten-game segment during which they went on a five-game winless streak. It was a weird part of the schedule where three teams accounted for six of the 10 games. The goaltending duo of Connor Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit did their part as they kept the opposition to under three goals against in six of the ten games and held a 2.30 goals against average. The Jets sputtered on offense, getting shutout in three games and only averaging 1.40 goals scored per game during the segment. The already struggling powerplay, ranked 26th at 14.84%, only scored once during this stretch for an atrocious 3% success rate. Winnipeg is still a strong team. Before the five-game winless streak of this segment, they had only one other winless streak of more than two games way back in October, which leads me to believe that the Jets should experience less turbulence during the next stretch.

9. Carolina Hurricanes (50-game record: 29-16-5, 63 Pts. Games 41-50: 7-3-0, 15 Pts. Previous rank: 12)

The Hurricanes make their first appearance in the top 10 power rankings this season. Carolina has found success in large part due to depth scoring. They currently have seven players with double-digit goals and six more on the cusp with three or less goals away. The Hurricanes closed off this 10-game segment on Feb. 8 with an emphatic 5-2 victory over the Avalanche on the strength of Martin Necas’ first career hat trick. Carolina’s success is somewhat surprising considering the inconsistent goaltending they have been receiving. Their save percentage of .885 is 31st in the league and there’s hope that the imminent return of veteran Frederik Andersen, who has been out with a blood clot since Nov. 6, will bring much needed stability in the crease if this team wants to make any sizeable strides in a potential playoff run.

10. Edmonton Oilers (50 game record: 31-18-1, 63 Pts. Games 41-50: 7-3-0, 14 Pts. Previous rank: 8)

The Oilers started this segment with five straight wins, which were the back end of a historic 16-game win streak. Following that tremendous run, they alternated the losses and wins over the next five games to end the segment, going from producing no offense against the Los Angeles Kings (ranked 16) in 4-0 loss on Feb. 10, to tying their season-high of eight goals in a game in an 8-4 win vs Detroit Red Wings (ranked 11th) three night later. Edmonton has, unquestionably, had the biggest turnaround of any team in the league this season. Head coach, Kris Knoblauch, who took over behind the bench in mid-November, broke the rest of the season into eight game segments and challenged his team to win at least five in each of them to give them a good chance to reach the playoffs. In the first four of those segments, the Oilers have won 8-5-8-5 with four more segments left.