In the words of Terrell Owens, get your popcorn ready!
Owens, of course, was an NFL receiving star and while there’s plenty of tasty playoff football action to watch this weekend, there’s also a cornucopia of hockey coming on Saturday.
For the final time this season, all 16 squads will be in action and when the Devils and Panthers drop the puck in South Florida at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT for the fourth contest of the day, we’ll officially be at the halfway point of 2023-24 NHL calendar.
If you wanted to get hyperbolic, you could say two of the four division leaders — Winnipeg and Vancouver — are legitimately shocking teams to see in that position, while a third — the Boston Bruins — still registers as a major surprise given the departure of two franchise icons in the summer.
Throw in an absolutely wide-open MVP race and let’s just say it’s been quite a half-year.
With that in mind, we’re using this week’s Power Rankings as a vehicle to identify the top story of the first three months for all 32 NHL clubs.
1. Winnipeg Jets (27-9-4) The story of the first half for Winnipeg is the second quarter of the season. The Jets — considered a playoff bubble team by many — were a very positive story through 22 games, but have ascended to the heavens since. Winnipeg is 15-1-2 in Games 23 through 40, and that’s despite losing top sniper Kyle Connor to a knee injury a month ago in Anaheim.
2. Vancouver Canucks (27-11-3) I’m not sure any team has more individuals in the running for story of the first half. Captain Quinn Hughes is a Norris favourite and MVP candidate; Elias Pettersson — in need of a new contract before next year — could improve on his 102 points from last season; Thatcher Demko is vying for a Vezina; J.T. Miller actually leads the team in scoring and Filip Hronek is having a breakout season on the blue line. Still, the fact Brock Boeser — who at one time seemed absolutely certain to continue his NHL career somewhere other than Vancouver — is tracking a 50-goal season might be the most stunning development through 41 games.
3. Boston Bruins (24-8-8) The train keeps rolling. Even the most brainwashed Bruins acolyte had to expect the club would stumble a bit with the retirement of the team’s top two centres, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. But the infrastructure in Massachusetts is unshakable and the Bruins are one of only two teams — along with the No. 1 squad on this list — to have a .700 points percentage today.
4. Colorado Avalanche (27-12-3) On Wednesday, Nathan MacKinnon matched a franchise record set by Joe Sakic by registering a point in his 23rd consecutive home contest. Six years after Taylor Hall nosed him out for the 2018 Hart Trophy, MacKinnon’s MVP-calibre play is driving the Avs.
5. Florida Panthers (26-12-2) The story of the first quarter was Florida keeping its head above water — and then some — without the services of its top two defencemen, Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour. A lot of that has to do with Sam Reinhart chasing a Rocket Richard Trophy in the final year of his contract.
The late-breaking tale of the first half may be the awakening of Matthew Tkachuk. The rugged winger had just five goals through 34 games, but has gone crazy in his past six outings with six goals and 14 points.
6. New York Rangers (26-11-2) Special special teams. The Rangers have the top-ranked power-play in the NHL (30 per cent) and the sixth-best PK (84.4).
7. Dallas Stars (24-11-5) Meet the only team in the league with six guys who have at least 30 points (thanks to a recent surge by Tyler Seguin). Dallas has flown slightly under the radar this year, but its balanced attack is evidence the Stars will be heard from before all is said and done this year.
8. Toronto Maple Leafs (21-10-7) It’s easy to forget because Joseph Woll has been out since early December, but the Leafs may have found a long-term solution in goal. Woll had a .916 save percentage when he went down with a high-ankle sprain and makes just $765,000 against the cap through next season. That will help take the financial sting out of the other big development for the Leafs, which was locking up ludicrously talented William Nylander to an eight-year, $92-million deal a few days ago.
9. Carolina Hurricanes (22-13-5) Goaltending has been a huge question mark for this team, even if it’s improved in the past month as Carolina has pushed back into a playoff spot. Andrei Svechnikov’s knee injury last March was a season-defining development for the Canes last year; it took a while for him to heal and get up to speed this year, but the Russian has eight goals in his past nine games.
10. Edmonton Oilers (21-15-1) The Oilers’ first half puts me in mind of the ol’ one-liner, “I spent a month there one night.” Through all the madness, Edmonton’s first half is defined by two eight-game winning streaks — the second of which is still live — under new coach Kris Knoblauch after the previous bench boss, Jay Woodcroft, took the fall for a miserable start.
11. Los Angeles Kings (20-10-7) The Kings have just four wins in their past 14 outings, but — for a team that entered this year with serious crease questions — Cam Talbot’s play cannot be overlooked. Among goalies with 20 games this year, Talbot ranks third on Moneypuck’s goals-saved above expected with 11.2.
12. Pittsburgh Penguins (20-15-4) The Penguins have done a nice job climbing back into the playoff race, but the power-play struggles that have plagued them the past couple years have continued with Erik Karlsson in the mix. With all their top-line talent, the Pens are still converting just 14.7 percent of their chances (25th in the league).
13. New Jersey Devils (21-15-2) It’s been the half-season from hell, with Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, Timo Meier, Ondrej Palat and Jonas Siegenthaler all dinged up and the Devils fighting for their playoff lives.
14. Vegas Golden Knights (23-13-5) After an 11-0-1 start, the defending champs are officially below .500 since then at 12-13-4. Suddenly, the story of this squad is the need to improve fast.
15. Washington Capitals (19-13-6) It’s been a downright bizarre season in Washington, but nothing is more attention-grabbing than the fact Alex Ovechkin is on pace for just 17 goals.
16. New York Islanders (18-12-10) The Isles have left a handful of points on the table, going to overtime on 14 occasions this year but coming away with the extra point just four times.
17. Seattle Kraken (17-14-9) Joey Daccord has saved Seattle’s season. In October and November, Seattle had the 24th-ranked five-on-five save percentage in the league at .903. Since then — when Daccord has made 12 starts — the Kraken are No. 2 in the NHL at .952.
18. Philadelphia Flyers (21-14-6) The way this team responded to prospect Cutter Gauthier indicating he would never suit up in black and orange was quintessentially Philly: “You don’t want to be a Flyer, go fly a kite.” That edge — along with Sean Couturier’s fine play after a nearly two-year NHL absence and Travis Konecny’s sniping ability — has a team many pegged for the league basement firmly in a playoff spot.
19. St. Louis Blues (20-18-1) The Blues are 7-4-0 since Drew Bannister took over the bench from Craig Berube. Because of that, the Blues remain in the Western Conference playoff picture.
20. Nashville Predators (22-18-1) Two months ago, only two teams in the entire league — the Oilers and Sharks — had a worse points percentage than the Preds. Since Nov. 14, the Preds are 17-8-1 — thanks largely to improved play from Juuse Saros — and currently occupy a playoff spot.
21. Tampa Bay Lightning (20-17-5) Nikita Kucherov scored 128 points when he claimed the Hart, Pearson and Ross in 2019. This season, he’s on pace for 134.
22. Detroit Red Wings (20-16-4) Signing Patrick Kane in late November was yet another big move by the Red Wings in the pursuit of a step-forward season. But the 2-8-1 stretch that followed has Detroit fighting for its playoff life.
23. Arizona Coyotes (20-17-2) Connor Ingram’s fine play has been the foundation of Arizona’s surprising playoff push.
24. Montreal Canadiens (17-17-6) Juraj Slafkovsky — whose season ended in January last year — has now played 79 career NHL games, which is obviously the rough equivalent of one NHL campaign. His overall play — even if it hasn’t resulted in huge production — during the second quarter of this season has offered tangible proof there’s reason to believe the 2022 first-overall pick can one day be a multi-faceted force for the Habs.
25. Calgary Flames (18-18-5) The Flames are by no means out of the playoff chase, but with trade chatter ahead of the March 8 deadline picking up, the fact remains Calgary’s season is defined by being the first team out of anybody’s mouth when they speculate about swaps thanks to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding pending-UFAs Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev.
26. Buffalo Sabres (17-20-4) The goaltending Buffalo needed just hasn’t been there. The Sabres have a .901 five-on-five save percentage, worse than all but two clubs in the NHL.
27. Minnesota Wild (17-19-4) For a while, it looked like the coaching change from Dean Evason to John Hynes was going to save Minnesota’s season. But the Wild are 1-6-0 in their past seven and hit the halfway point as the only playoff team from last year that looks very likely to miss in 2024.
On a positive note, the squad may have found its No. 1 defenceman for the next 15 years in Minnesotan Brock Faber.
28. Columbus Blue Jackets (13-20-9) The Mike Babcock fiasco before the season set the tone for what’s been another miserable year in Columbus. Yes, there’s something to wrap your arms around in the arrival of Adam Fantilli, but from Johnny Gaudreau’s continued underwhelming production to Zach Werenksi being injured again to Patrik Laine being a healthy scratch (and also being injured again), it’s been pretty bleak in Central Ohio.
29. Anaheim Ducks (14-25-1) Anaheim is still going through it, but the strong play of rookies Pavel Mintyukov and Leo Carlsson (almost ready to return from a knee injury, it seems), as well as sophomore Mason McTavish make one more losing year easy to stomach.
Also, hat tip to Frank Vatrano for his 40-goal pace.
30. Ottawa Senators (14-22-0) Ottawa was supposed to take a meaningful step forward this year and has, instead, slipped through a sewer grate. From Shane Pinto’s suspension to GM Pierre Dorion being fired for a transaction that took place more than two years ago involving Evgenii Dadonov, to Jacques Martin being the current coach of this club, it’s basically full-on parody in Canada’s capital.
That said — and hear me out — this squad remains loaded with locked-up young talent and is still in the infant stages of being run by a new, do-what-it-takes owner in Michael Andlauer.
31. Chicago Blackhawks (12-27-2) Sadly, the story is now that Connor Bedard is shelved for six-to-eight weeks with a fractured jaw, interrupting a rookie season that could well have ended with an impressive 30-40-70 line for the 18-year-old.
32. San Jose Sharks (9-29-3) It’s grim, no doubt. San Jose lost 11 straight to start the year and “bested” that with the 12-game skid its currently on. This is all in service of having the best odds to draft Macklin Celebrini, though, and even if there will always be about a 75-per-cent shot the Sharks don’t get him, the pain would be worth it to select a game-changing player and person who spent formative years playing hockey in the Bay Area.
