January 22, 2024 by Bob Schmidt

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

1. New York Rangers – (40 game record: 26-12-2, 54 Pts. Games 31-40: 4-5-1, 9 Pts. Previous ranking: 1). The Rangers came back down to Earth a bit during this ten-game segment. In each of the previous three segments, the boys from Broadway finished six, five, and four games above .500 respectively. Though they completed this segment one game below .500, they remain at the top of the list due to their torrid run through the first thirty games. Artemi Panarin is on pace for a 50 goal/114 point season, both of which would be career highs. That would certainly put him in the Hart Trophy conversation. New York’s special teams remain a strength, ranking second on the powerplay and ninth on the penalty kill. As of the time of writing for this article, they are one of four teams that are in the top ten in both special teams categories along with the Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, and Edmonton Oilers. Head coach Peter Laviolette has his team especially prepared to face the top teams in the league, as they have the second-best winning percentage (75%) versus the top ten teams in the NHL at the time they’ve played them.
2. Winnipeg Jets – (40 game record: 27-9-4, 58 Pts. Games 31-40: 9-0-1, 19 Pts. Previous ranking: 8). Yes, that’s right. The Jets’ only loss during this ten-game segment was a 2-1 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks (ranked #30) on Dec. 27. Winnipeg took advantage of a fairly weak part of their schedule in which seven of their games were against teams in the bottom third of the league. They finished off this segment with a seven-game win streak, which eventually was stretched to eight in their 41st game. The strength of this team is their defensive game. It starts with the Vezina caliber goaltending of Connor Hellebuyck, and it’s complemented by the puck moving ability of defenceman Josh Morrissey and the shutdown defense provided by Dylan DeMelo. The Jets held the opposition to fifteen goals against during this segment and their 2.28 goals against per game is the best in the league.
3. Florida Panthers – (40 game record: 26-12-2, 54 Pts. Games 31-40: 8-2-0, 16 Pts. Previous ranking: 11). The Panthers make their first appearance on this list thanks in large part to an eight-game win streak to conclude the segment. Impressive enough as an eight-game winning streak is, four of those wins were against teams on this list. Sam Reinhart has already matched his career single season high of 33 goals, and he’s on pace for a 62 goal, 104 point season. The 28-year-old sniper could very well be in the Hart Trophy mix at seasons’ end. Besides their fifth ranked penalty kill, Florida isn’t really anything special on paper. They are in the middle of the pack in pretty much every other statistical category, but head coach, Paul Maurice, keeps finding ways for his team to win games. The Panthers seem determined to prove that last season’s Stanley Cup finals run was no fluke.
4. Vancouver Canucks – (40 game record: 26-11-3, 55 Pts. Games 31-40: 6-2-2, 14 Pts. Previous rank: 9) Well, we’re at the halfway point of the season and the Canucks are still a top ten NHL team. Does this mean they’re for real? Apparently so. Head coach Rick Tocchet is getting the most out of his troops on an almost nightly basis and he has his team exceeding the expectations of most pre-season predictors. You can’t speak about elite NHL defencemen this season without mentioning Quinn Hughes. The Canucks captain has already reached double digits in goals for the first time in his career, but his added offensive contributions have not taken away from his defensive game at all. He is second only to Gustav Forsling of the Florida Panthers in defensive point shares as per Hockey Reference. At the halfway point of the season, Quinn Hughes would be my choice for the Hart Trophy.
5. Colorado Avalanche – (40 game record: 25-12-3, 53 Pts. Games 31-40: 7-2-1, 15 Pts. Previous rank: 10). The Avalanche continue to show that they are a team to be reckoned with. During this ten-game segment, Colorado had a stretch where they won six of seven games, capped off by an impressive 5-4 overtime win against their division rivals, the Dallas Stars, on January 4. That contest featured two goal games from the resurgent Jonathan Drouin and perennial All-Star Nathan MacKinnon. The Avs already have three players that have reached the twenty-goal mark in MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Valeri Nichushkin. They boast the number two offense in the league; but it will be interesting to see how the loss of Nichushkin, who has stepped away for the moment to take care of some personal matters, will affect the potency of their offense.
6. Dallas Stars – (40 game record: 24-11-5, 53 Pts. Games 31-40: 6-3-1, 13 Pts. Previous ranking: 7). One of the strengths of this Stars team is capitalizing on the “gimme” points. Dallas has an 80% winning percentage versus the teams that are in the bottom third of the league at the time those games are played. That is the best in the league. Teams often take these games for granted and leave these points on the table. Roope Hintz is probably the quietest thirty-goal man in the league. Coming off back-to-back 37 goal seasons, Hintz is on pace to push for that again. Dallas had moments of offensive explosions during this segment, winning three of their six games by four or more goals and outshooting the opposition by almost 100 shots, 334-244.
7. Vegas Golden Knights – (40 game record: 23-12-5, 51 Pts. Games 31-40: 3-7-0, 6 Pts. Previous rank: 2). This wasn’t a good segment for the Golden Knights. Injuries have caught up to them. They have eight players on the injured reserve list including top six forwards Jack Eichel and William Karlsson, number one defenceman Shea Theodore, and starting goalie Adin Hill. Their team depth keeps them in contention most nights. The only game in this segment where they were badly outplayed was versus the Panthers on December 23 when they were outshot 42-25, but still only lost 4-2 thanks to the heroics of third string goaltender Jiri Patera. Though they did not get the wins in this segment, Vegas remains a team in contention and is expected to get back to their powerhouse ways as their key players return from injuries. The Golden Knights have been a big game team this whole season so far, sporting a league best 78% winning percentage against teams in the top ten at time of play.
8. Edmonton Oilers – (40 game record: 24-15-1, 49 Pts. Games 31-40: 10-0-0, 20 Pts. Previous rank: 21). Well, well, well, look who we have here. After a disastrous start in which they only won two of their first twelve games, the Oilers made a coaching change and started the process of righting the ship. An eight-game winning streak and a current (at the time of writing for this article) thirteen-game winning streak later, Edmonton is back to being the team that they were expected to be at the beginning of the season. Rookie NHL head coach Kris Knoblauch simplified the defensive system and preached the importance of forward lines building chemistry, and it has produced results that are staggering. The blue-and-orange went perfect in this ten-game segment, which began with a 4-3 win in New York versus the Rangers, the number one team on this list. During this stretch, the Oilers outscored the opposition 38-16. Superstar Connor McDavid remains at the top of his game while Zach Hyman is on pace for his first 50-goal season. New assistant coach Paul Coffey has had a profound impact with the Oiler blueliners, most notably Evan Bouchard, who has elevated his play and is also on pace for career season high numbers. Sophomore goaltender Stuart Skinner has begun to provide the stability in the Oiler net that this team has needed for some time.
9. Boston Bruins – (40 game record: 24-8-8, 56 Pts. Games 31-40: 5-3-2, 12 Pts. Previous rank: 6). Boston is see-sawing their way through their schedule at the moment. They followed a four-game losing streak with a four-game winning streak, the latter of which happened in this ten-game segment. The Bruins are getting the job done with a 69% winning percentage against the teams that are out of the top ten at time of games played, but they have the worst winning percentage of the teams on this list against the top ten teams with 25%. Though they are slowly sliding down the power rankings, going from third to fourth to sixth to ninth, they remain a very dangerous team. Elite scorer David Pastrnak is on pace for another 50-plus goal season as well as 119 points, which would be a career high point total. Despite having one of the most dynamic forwards in the league, it’s their team defence that is doing most of the heavy lifting. Boston has the fourth best penalty kill in the NHL and are fifth in least goals against per game at the time of writing for this article.
10. Philadelphia Flyers – (40 game record: 20-14-6, 46 Pts. Games 31-40: 3-4-3, 9 Pts. Previous rank: 4). An unimpressive ten-game segment sees the Flyers drop six spots in the rankings, but they still remain in the top ten. This team is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to special teams. Philadelphia’s league-worst powerplay has only scored eighteen goals; but they have the second-best penalty kill AND they have scored ten shorthanded goals, led by Travis Konecny and his league leading five. Seemingly, they are almost as dangerous a man down as they are a man up. The Flyers rely on their defensive game and they specialize in clamping down the opposition once they have a lead. This is led by the likes of hard-nosed defenceman Nick Seeler and his 124 shot blocks, and first year Flyer Sean Walker who has contributed two shorthanded goals himself, which is tied for the league lead among defencemen.