With NHL training camps a week old — and the regular season less than two weeks away — the urge to rate things is becoming overwhelming.
So, hockey fans, welcome to our pre-season Power Rankings.
Even if we never really stop talking or thinking about the sport in the off-season, it’s nice to channel your focus once again. It’s one thing to yak about who might be on the rise or who could take a fall; it’s another altogether to dive in and assign numbers from 1 to 32.
So, without further delay, let’s get after it and drop our first Power Rankings of the 2023-24 season.
1. Colorado Avalanche The 2022 champs had to deal with the Stanley Cup hangover to start last season, then travelled to Europe early on in the calendar. They also didn’t really know the status of captain Gabriel Landeskog until games were played. While they still don’t have Landeskog back, at least they knew entering the off-season that would be the case and could game-plan. The game-changers — Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen — are still firmly in their prime, Ryan Johansen and Ross Colton change the complexion up the middle and Alexandar Georgiev was solid as a No. 1 last season. Throw in a nice four-month summer stretch to heal and get hungry again, and the Avs should be ready to rock.
2. Carolina Hurricanes There was a world in which the Canes entered the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs with Andrei Svechnikov and Max Pacioretty as scoring threats on the wing. Instead, they lost both to injury and it was too much to overcome. Still, Carolina advanced to the conference final before being stopped by a Florida Panthers squad on a serious heater. One of these years, the Canes’ number will get pulled.
3. Toronto Maple Leafs The forward group undeniably has a different element to it with Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi and — even if he’s on the fourth line — Ryan Reaves. New GM Brad Treliving wasted no time putting his preferred flavours in this stew. If you’re a naysayer, you’re well within your rights to bring up the past failures. But even the biggest detractor has to acknowledge there’s way too much raw material here to say they won’t one day hit on the winning formula.
4. Edmonton Oilers Analyzing the Oilers’ chances has, increasingly, become about one thing: Even in an egalitarian sport such as hockey, a team led by a player such as Connor McDavid eventually gets its championship. Is 2024 that time for Edmonton?
5. New Jersey Devils The team that keeps coming to mind when I think of this Devils squad is the Chicago Blackhawks in the early days of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. The first time that Hawks team made the post-season, in 2009, it won two rounds. On its second trip, Chicago won the 2010 Cup. The Devils made such a huge leap last season before bowing out in Round 1. You could very much see this team going all the way this season.
6. Dallas Stars You don’t always think of the Stars as a top-tier contender. Then you remember Dallas has actually been a final-four team or better twice in the past four playoffs. Its young guys — Jason Robertson, Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz, Jake Oettinger — are in the early stages of their prime. Their old guys — Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn — either never stopped being good (Pavelski) or rediscovered something last year (Benn). The Stars could absolutely take this down.
7. Vegas Golden Knights There is still a lot to like here and we have seen teams such as the 2017 Penguins and 2021 Lighting come right back and win it again. Still, the default posture on defending champs is, it’s really, really tough to repeat.
8. Boston Bruins Losing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci is a body blow. But this Bruins squad is defined by having the type of infrastructure that can absorb a shot — even a heavy one. My guess is they get by with Pavel Zacha as the top-line centre, then pounce if one of the UFA-to-be pivots such as Mark Sheifele or Elias Lindholm hit the trade market.
9. Los Angeles Kings This team is loaded, but when you’re entering the season with 36-year-old Cam Talbot and very unproven Pheonix Copley as your goalie battery, you’re just inviting questions. This team is loaded, especially up the middle. Until we see it from the ‘tenders, though, L.A. is operating with a big question mark floating above it.
10. Tampa Bay Lighting Nobody is going to argue it’s a good harbinger when the season starts with captain Steven Stamkos saying he’s a little miffed there have been no contract extension talk yet. Fair enough. Still, let’s not sleep on the Bolts. First off, no team in hockey needed a long rest more than Tampa after its three straight trips to the final. Also, Stamkos is the senior citizen of this squad and he’s still only 34. Nikita Kucherov just hit 30, Andrei Vasilevskiy won’t get there until next summer and the likes of Brayden Point, Mikhail Sergachev and Anthony Cirelli are firmly in their prime.
11. New York Rangers It will be fascinating to see what we make of Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko in six months. Let’s see how they fare under new coach Peter Laviolette.
12. Pittsburgh Penguins We’ll talk a lot about the Big Four of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson, and justifiably so. Karlsson will certainly be counted on to unlock what’s been a middling power play in Pittsburgh the past couple seasons. As much as anything, though, the Pens making a return to the post-season might come down to whether or not goalie Tristan Jarry can have a nice, healthy 60-start campaign.
13. Minnesota Wild Boston is the first team you think of when considering teams that would aggressively pursue top centres on the trade market. But the Wild also have the need, the prospect pipeline and the aggressive GM to get in mix, too.
14. Calgary Flames Everything from 101 points and firmly in the playoffs to a serious sell on UFAs-to-be Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov feels fully in play. There may not be a more fascinating squad to monitor in the league.
15. New York Islanders So few things are a guarantee on the cusp of a new season, so it’s comforting to know the Isles will be kind of boring, a pain to play against and somewhere between barely in the playoff picture and barely out.
16. Florida Panthers The Panthers come out of the gate lower than you might expect for the defending Eastern Conference champs because top D-men Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour are both expected to be out until at least December. That’s a lot to overcome in an unforgiving division and might mean the Cats will be fighting just to squeak into the post-season, as was the case last year. Of course, Florida still has the mix to do something good once there.
17. Buffalo Sabres It’s boom-or-bust in Western New York, depending on how the goaltending plays out. If one of Devon Levi, Eric Comrie or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen can find a way to be an average NHL goalie this season, Buffalo is going to be heard from. But — despite Levi’s promise as a prospect — there’s just not much you can bank on in that crease just yet.
18. Seattle Kraken It’s easy to forget Seattle had its breakout sophomore season without the benefit of good goaltending. If Philipp Grubauer can rediscover top form, this squad should be right in the thick of the playoff chase.
19. Winnipeg Jets Yes, there’s lots of uncertainty around a squad that’s dealing with a No. 1 centre and No. 1 goalie on the cusp of unrestricted free agency next summer. We don’t yet know how things will play out with Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebucyk, of course, but the questions around this team can obscure the fact there’s still a lot of talent here. It feels critical for Winnipeg to get out to a good start and create some positive vibes. Jets’ fans are hoping both Cole Perfetti — who left Wednesday night’s pre-season game versus Calgary after a hit to the head — and Nik Ehlers (neck spasms) are good to go very soon.
20. Ottawa Senators We’ve officially entered that portion of a pre-season power rankings where you’ve got teams slotted well outside the playoffs you could very much see making the playoffs. That’s basically true from here to the mid-20s. If new goalie Joonas Korpisalo is good, there’s no way Ottawa isn’t in the second-season mix.
21. Washington Capitals The Caps played the first half of the season without top centre Nicklas Backstrom, then had to endure the second half without the services of No. 1 D-man John Carlson. They also dealt with Tom Wilson missing more than half the season with a knee injury. Don’t dismiss this team’s playoff chances just because it’s on the back side of the mountain.
22. Columbus Blue Jackets No team has more potential for a bigger bump points-wise than the Columbus squad that registered just 59 last season. There’s breakout/bounce-back potential all over the lineup, so assuming they can quickly turn the page on the Mike Babcock fiasco, there’s a lot to like in ’Lumbus.
23. Nashville Predators The Preds, in a sense, have a high floor because they have Juuse Saros in net. The really interesting thing in Nashville will be how much kids Luke Evangelista, Philip Tomasino and Juuso Parssinen can develop.
24. St. Louis Blues This season will let us know whether the Blues were OK taking a small step back or if something more major is required to return this club to contender status.
25. Detroit Red Wings There’s no question the Wings are moving in the right direction. What remains up for debate, though, is whether or not that’s enough to save them from remaining the second-worst team in the criminally tough Atlantic.
26. Vancouver Canucks We’re one great Thatcher Demko season away from speaking about this club in a much more positive light.
27. Arizona Coyotes There were, low-key, already some reasons to watch the Coyotes this season. Clayton Keller has become a wonderful player and Barrett Hayton looks like he might yet make good on being the fifth-overall pick in 2018. Now, Logan Cooley is on the scene and he might do the unthinkable and make Arizona appointment viewing.
28. Montreal Canadiens There’s a bit of a paradox in Montreal in that, if the Habs see the growth they want from their youngsters, it’s going to bump them up the standings — and you could easily argue this team’s rebuild still needs another guy you tend to draft with one of the first couple selections.
29. San Jose Sharks This might be the best example of a team you can pass on watching for a year unless you’re a Sharks diehard. There’s no young talent arriving yet and no Erik Karlsson subplot to monitor anymore. Check back in October 2024, when San Jose has 2023 No. 4 overall pick Will Smith in the lineup — along with, possibly, one of the 2024 studs Mack Celebrini or Cole Eiserman.
30. Philadelphia Flyers Question: If Sean Couturier returns and basically looks like the stalwart two-way guy he was when he claimed the 2020 Selke Trophy, does he — with Philly embarking on a scorched-earth rebuild — become a wild card on all trade candidate big boards? He’s inked to a contract through 2029-30, but Couturier will still be just 30 years old when the puck drops on this season. Just sayin’!
31. Anaheim Ducks As soon as the Ducks get RFAs Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale inked, the vibes will pretty quickly turn positive around a young squad that might not be very good yet, but has pretty wicked pieces in place.
32. Chicago Blackhawks In terms of rooting for a potentially last-place team, this is as good as it gets. You already have the generational superstar in your midst in Connor Bedard, which makes watching the team a delight, even if the team is losing a lot. Also, those defeats bring you closer to the next stud, at which point you can really start dreaming big.
