April 3, 2024 by Bob Schmidt

Now that each NHL team has played at least 70 games this season, I have updated my power rankings chart. I created this chart based only on each team’s first 70 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. New York Rangers (70 game record: 46-20-4, 96 Pts. Games 61-70: 6-3-1, 13 Pts. Previous ranking: 2)

With roughly 85% of the regular season in the books, the Rangers are back at the top. They have never dropped lower than third in these rankings all season, and I have had them atop the list in four of the seven installments. There really are no glaring weaknesses on this team. The Broadway Blueshirts are the only team with winning percentages of over 60% versus all three tiers. Tier one (teams in the top 10 at time of play) 62%, tier two (teams 11-20 at time of play) 61%, tier three (teams 21-32 at time of play) 73%. Are the New York Rangers the Stanley Cup favourite? They just might be.

2. Colorado Avalanche (70 game record: 45-20-5, 95 Pts. Games 61-70: 9-1-0, 18 Pts. Previous ranking: 6)

Colorado jumped up four spots by ending this segment thanks to an eight-game win streak, which eventually ended at nine, including back-to-back overtime wins against strong Western Conference rivals, the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers. The Avalanche showcased their many strengths during this segment. Their defensive game and goaltending (19 goals against and two shutouts), their offense (43 goals for), and special teams (34% PP and 88% PK), were all on display and have many believing that Colorado is the team to beat in the West.

3. Florida Panthers (70 game record: 45-20-5, 95 Pts. Games 61-70: 5-4-1, 11 Pts. Previous ranking: 1)

After a strong start to this segment, winning five of the first six games, the Panthers ended it on a four-game skid. Florida relies on their team defence, as their league leading 2.43 GAA indicates, and capitalizing on their opportunities such as the power-play, which is currently the fifth-best in the league at 25.9%, even though their offense only ranks 13th at 3.22 goals for per game.

4. Carolina Hurricanes (70 game record: 44-20-6, 93 Pts. Games 61-70: 8-2-0, 16 Pts. Previous ranking: 7)

Carolina won all eight of their games in this segment via win streaks of three and five games to close off the segment. The addition of Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins has paid immediate dividends as the 2017 Stanley Cup winner racked up 12 points in the first nine games with his new team. Frederik Andersen, who missed most of the season with a blood clot, is back and has only one loss in his 12 starts. The steadily improving play of 24-year-old netminder Pyotr Kochetkov, coupled with the strong return of Andersen, seems to have silenced the criticism that goaltending was the biggest weakness of the Hurricanes throughout the season. Carolina also had an astounding 97.0% success rate on the PK during this segment.

5. Boston Bruins (70 game record: 41-14-15, 97 Pts. Games 61-70: 7-2-1, 15 Pts. Previous ranking: 9)

At the time of this article, the Bruins had played past regulation time in 21 games this season. That is the second most in the NHL, only behind the Montreal Canadiens (ranked 28) who have done it 22 times. Boston has solid depth at each position. Though David Pastrnak garners the most attention, and justifiably so, in regards to the Bruins’ offence, this team could finish the season with as many as seven 20-goal scorers and already have ten players in double-digit goals. I have said this before, but it bears repeating, the Bruins were my Eastern Conference champion prediction at the beginning of the season, and they have built a season that makes that possibility quite probable.

6. Vancouver Canucks (70 game record: 44-18-8, 96 Pts. Games 61-70: 6-2-2, 14 Pts. Previous ranking: 8)

The Canucks just keep rolling. Throughout the season, Vancouver has only had one losing streak of more than two games. They are in the top five in both goals for per game and goals against per game, showing a good balance of offence and defence. That’s a huge improvement from last season, where they were 13th in goals for per game and 25th in goals against per game. Vancouver’s current points percentage of .681 is their highest since their .713 of 2010-11, when they last reached the Stanley Cup Final.

7. Winnipeg Jets (70 game record: 44-21-5, 93 Pts. Games 61-70: 5-5-0, 10 Pts. Previous ranking: 3)

Is Kyle Connor the most underrated and quietest 30-goal scorer in the NHL? The 27-year-old sniper just reached the 30-goal mark for the sixth time in his eight-year career and yet not much gets heard about him outside of Winnipeg. The three headed scoring monster of Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Nikolaj Ehlers, have helped keep the Jets in the top ten of these rankings since the 20-game mark, but will that translate to playoff success? Winnipeg has only made it past the second round just once in the 12 seasons since they moved to Manitoba from Atlanta.

8. Dallas Stars (70 game record: 42-19-9, 93 Pts. Games 61-70: 7-3-0, 14 Pts. Previous ranking: 10)

Dallas rattled off a five-game win streak during this segment and, at the time of this article, just strung together another five consecutive wins. The Stars seem to be getting hot just at the right time and creating momentum for the playoffs, not that they’ve been cold much at all this season. Dallas has only had two losing streaks all season of more than two games. Depth scoring is definitely a strength on this team as they can boast of having seven 20-goal scorers in the lineup this season and captain Jamie Benn is only three away from being the eighth one.

9. Edmonton Oilers (70 game record: 43-23-4, 90 Pts. Games 61-70: 5-3-2, 12 Pts. Previous ranking: 4)

The Oilers’ turnaround since mid-November can not be overstated. From the 10-game mark power rankings where they were 31st, to now having been in the top 10 for the fourth consecutive installment. Edmonton had a winning percentage of 23% before the coaching change. Under Head Coach Kris Knoblauch, they have a 70% winning percentage. That is sure to get the rookie head coach some Jack Adams votes. This particular segment was a bit of an up and down one but a big up was the power-play. The Oilers scored 11 power-play goals in these ten games and operated at a 32% proficiency rate.

10. Toronto Maple Leafs (70 game record: 40-21-9, 89 Pts. Games 61-70: 5-4-1, 11 Pts. Previous ranking: 5)

This was a tough part of the schedule for the Leafs as they faced a top-ten team for half of this segment and it was their struggles in those games that sees them dropping five spots in the rankings. Toronto went 1-3-1 against Boston (twice), Carolina (twice), and Edmonton. Overall, the Leafs have a winning percentage of 54% vs the top ten-teams at time of play, so it remains to be seen if their recent performances vs the top teams is a cause of concern as the playoffs approach.