By: Justin Homes
- Colorado Avalanche – They currently aren’t playing any games because of COVID-19 protocols”¦But right before they got shut down they made some minor moves that are going to come up big. They traded for Devan Dubnyk who is a proven vet and will give the Avs the depth they needed in last year’s playoffs.
- Carolina Hurricanes – they sit atop of the Central division and have some of the best depth in the league. Not to mention Petr Mrazek doesn’t let pucks in the net. Carolina is a young team that will be in contention for years to come.
- Vegas Golden Knights – They were quiet at the trade deadline, But they made all the noise they needed in the summer by getting Pietrangelo and re-upping Lehner. The matchup of them and the Avs come playoff time could be an all-time series.
- Tampa Bay Lightning – The current champs haven’t slowed down this season. They added some depth at Defense by adding Dennis Savard. Andrei Vasilevskiy is the best goaltender in the league and should be getting more love for the Hart Trophy.
- Washington Capitals – Some may say they got fleeced on the Mantha deal. Although I believe they did overpay, Mantha is a perfect fit for this Capital team and has scored in every game since becoming a Capital.
- Toronto Maple Leafs – The Leafs are another team to go all-in after trading for David Rittich, Nick Foligno, Riley Nash, and Ben Hutton. Lots of insurance for a big playoff run. Now, the question is can they make it past the first round?
- Florida Panthers – Alexander Barkov is one of the best players in this league. They lost Aaron Ekblad for the entire year which is a HUGE blow to the team. But they’ve got the stars and depth to get things done. Adding Sam Bennett will do wonders for this team.
- New York Islanders – The Islanders play the game by the book”¦ and man does it ever work. Adding Kyle Palmeri was just replacing the void that Anders Lee left. This team is built for playoff hockey.
- Boston Bruins – They’ve made it back to the top 10. The Bruins have looked like a different team since the deadline. Taylor Hall is producing and more importantly that second line of David Krejci and Craig Smith has caught fire. Watch for Mike Reilly down the stretch as he has fit in even better than the guys from the Sabres.
- Minnesota Wild – I expected the Wild to do something at the deadline. Yet, it seems like they are happy with what they’ve got after exceeding everyone’s expectations for the season. Kirill Kaprizov has made Wild hockey fun again.
- Winnipeg Jets – The Jets have the forward group to make a run and Connor Hellebuyck could steal a game at any moment. Only adding Jordie Benn at the deadline is concerning to me. As I don’t trust their defensive depth.
- Pittsburgh Penguins – I know they are pretty low on my rankings. But, I just don’t trust their goaltending.
- Edmonton Oilers – You never want to run into the best player in the league. Connor McDavid can take over a game. But do they have the depth around #29 and #97? Not at all.
- New York Rangers – Not often does a team lead their division in goal differential but not sit in a playoff spot. That’s the case for the red hot Rangers. They have been getting scoring from all over the place and are going to need to continue if they want to slip into a playoff spot.
- Nashville Predators – a couple of weeks before the deadline it seemed like everyone could be off this team. But they’ve done a complete 180 and have put themselves in a playoff spot. Juuse Saros has been brilliant as well with a .949 save percentage and 1.60 GAA in the last month.
- Dallas Stars – How was this team just in the Stanley Cup final. Although they looked a lot better as of late with the Robertson – Hintz – Pavelski line leading the way.
- Montreal Canadiens – This team was once leading the way in the power rankings. They are still in a playoff spot, But just aren’t the team that we thought they were. Maybe Cole
Caufield will come up and put some pep in their step.
- Chicago Blackhawks – They have a tough schedule to finish off the year and are going to need to beat some tough teams. But I’ve been impressed with what this team has done this year, playoffs or not.
- St Louis Blues – This team has lost that “it” factor this year. Even with bringing in some big free agents like Torey Krug and Mike Hoffman, they just can’t get it done. I may be on the Binnington is not a good goalie train (But we dont have the time for that).
- Calgary Flames – I could just tell you to read the sentence above. The additions of Markstrom and Tanev haven’t fixed anything in Calgary. I think this team might see a big shakeup come this offseason.
- Arizona Coyotes – Getting Darcy Kuemper back between the pipes will be huge for this team. But I feel like they’re just lacking the star power to put them from an average team to a good one
- Vancouver Canucks – This team has been through hell and back these past couple of weeks and all credit to them as they beat Toronto in a gutsy way. Shocking that they are already playing again though.
- Philadelphia Flyers – What is wrong with this team. One of the worst defensive teams I’ve seen. Can you believe people had them to win the Cup?!? Also, I dont know if Carter Hart will ever recover from this season.
- Detroit Red Wings – This team has the young core to be good in a couple of years. Jakub Vrana is going to be a big part of it.
- San Jose Sharks – They still could sneak into the fourth spot in the west. Other than that this team seems to be stuck in a weird middle place of not re-building but not good enough to go for it. They have way too much money invested in their defense.
- New Jersey Devils – They’ve been struggling as of late but after sending Zajac and Palmeri to the Islanders they could only get worse.
- Los Angeles Kings – I’ve seen a lot of impressive things out of the Kings this season including Cal Petterson. This team has a good future.
- Buffalo Sabres – After that big losing streak they have seemed to be a bit better of a team. Not a good one, but they dont just count as an automatic 2 points anymore.
- Ottawa Senators – Brady Tkachuk is going to lead the league in shots and hits. Something that hasn’t been done before.
- Anaheim Ducks – Young guys like Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale have been impressive in their times in the league. Surprised they didn’t ship out more guys at the deadline.
31. Columbus Blue Jackets – Laine has been bad. Domi has been scratched. They don’t get too much going on over in Columbus
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