NHL Power Rankings: Preseason
It’s time for hockey. The 2022-23 NHL Season is finally here, and we have our first power rankings to open up the season. It is true, a couple team have played a couple regular season games over seas, but everyone else will wait for tomorrow or the coming days to start their journey to the Stanley Cup. Here’s who the picks for the top-16 teams going into the start of the new season.
#16 Nashville Predators
The Preds were actually a solid club, despite their terrible 1st round exit in sweep fashion. Losing Juuse Saros was massive. But they managed to bring in Ryan McDonagh, a consistent cup winner and adding Nino Niederreiter adds a 20-goal guy to the top 6. This club has a chance to be solid and no one should sleep on the Preds, especially if Saros can be his dominant self.
#15 Boston Bruins
Boston managed to convince their hall of fame Selke man Patrice Bergeron to play another season and managed to bring back David Krejci from the Czech Republic. They start their season without Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand so will just need to tread water for a while. But we know the Boston Bruins will find a way into the postseason, they always do. This is truly a Last Dance season for the Bruins, but I just don’t know if they will have enough to make it to the top.
#14 Dallas Stars
Jason Robertson is back, which is huge. The Dallas Stars were an abosolute thorn in the Flames playoff run in round 1. Jake Oettinger showed us a level that if repeated could bump the Stars into scary territory. The old guys need to do something though. Too many years you are seeing those two rest on their laurels and its about time they earned their contracts, even at their age. The Stars could be great but could be as enigmatic as ever as well.
#13 New York Islanders
I am chalking up the Isles year last year as an annomly given their horrid start and their inability to get back into the winning ways. New Coach and the fresh extension of Matt Barzal will be interesting. Matt Barzal maybe will have a longer leash to be the offensive piece we know he is. Sorokin is a solid goaltender, and this team will be back into the good graces soon enough. The question is can this foundation stand the strength in the division and the conference.
#12 Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles Kings were quite impressive in their 1st round exit against the Oilers. They did give up 2 games back-to-back but they certainly gave a scare to both the Oilers and their fans. Kevin Fiala has joined the fray and it will be interesting if he can actually be visible in a post season run. The Kings rebuild is going very swimmingly and we should expect another push to the end for this aging core. Byfield and Durzi will need to step into even bigger roles if they want to succeed over last year.
#11 Pittsburgh Penguins
We are half a decade removed from the dominance of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and yet even still you can’t bet against Sid and Geno. The Penguins managed to bring back Evgeni Malkin, in what can only be considered a last dance situation with this core. Letang is back on the blue line. This team is old but have no shortage of talent. What can the team do this year? Is their window nearly shut at this point?
#10 St. Louis Blues
St. Louis Blues managed to beat the Wild and gave the Avs their hardest series in round 2. Binnington was his dominant self in the postseason, but his consistency will always be in question. Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou are a year older with another year of experience and it will be interesting how this team builds upon their run. This team needs to find a way to be consistently better night in and night out.
#9 New York Rangers
New York Rangers ran out of steam in the postseason. They probably had the noisiest postseason run that saw glimpses of greatness and weakness between games and even periods at times. If you have Igor Shesterkin in net, you are already riding high. However, the Rangers need their young core to really take a step. Looking at you Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko. I think depth might be a question mark over the long term but we will see.
#8 Minnesota Wild
Minnesota will bring back mostly everyone, save for Kevin Fiala. The Wild have a nice talent pipeline but they need some work to become a contender for the Cup. A step in the right direction is exactly what this fan base needs though. The summer was quite noisy with the Kiril Kaprizov situation. Very thankful he managed to find his way back stateside.
#7 Edmonton Oilers
Oilers, while overshadowed by their rival down south, were very active in the offseason and had one of the best off-seasons in their recent history. They managed to bring in Jack Campbell, whom I think will shine bright under the lights in Edmonton. They need to shake their demons of seasons following strong post-season runs. The Edmonton Oilers have another year of McDavid who’s knee deep in his prime years. This is the year the Oilers need to find their way to the Finals.
#6 Florida Panthers
What a fall from grace for the President’s Trophy team. They got waxed when facing their older, stronger, and better-looking brother. Florida needs to find a way to get theirs when it matters most. Maybe Matthew Tkachuk is the grit they need to compete. I think this team is worse than last years personally but maybe they can find that offensive prowess. Granted not having Huberdeau is going to be a challenge big time. Expect a step back.
#5 Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto always tops these early lists just given their star-studded cast. Auston Matthews will be fresh off his 60 goal season…unreal. This team is dinged up to start and they are going in with another new goaltending situation. I think its going to be a problem but yet I have been proven wrong before.
#4 Calgary Flames
The Flames were certainly the number 1 busiest teams in the offseason. They made the news more than anyone else, mainly due to the loss of both Gaudreau and Tkachuk in a matter of days. Everyone thought the Flames were dying out. But GM Brad Treliving stunned us all, finding a way to bring in Jonathan Huberdeau, Mackenzie Weeger, and sign Nazem Kadri. This team might very well be better than the team that just folded against the Oilers in the 2nd round of the playoffs.
#3 Carolina Hurricanes
The defensive team of the NHL. The Carolina Hurricanes did lose DeAngelo and Max Domi, but brought in solid replacements in Ondrej Kase, Paul Stastny, Max Pacioretty, and Brent Burns. We should expect the same old defense unit from the Canes this year. But the big dogs need to light the lamp when it matters most if they are to shake off their Round 2 demons. Freddie had a killer season and will need to again.
#2 Tampa Bay Lightning
The Bolts made it to yet another Stanley Cup Final appearance but failed to convert their 3rd in a row. They didn’t lose a crazy amount but the loss of Palat and McDonough will be a test to see if they can find guys to step in. This is the Lightning though, another year of this core together, another year of Andrei Vasilevskiy. Expect another contending season. They will need to try and do it without sneaky great Anthony Cirelli for awhile.
#1 Colorado Avalanche
Colorado is fresh off winning the Stanley Cup in very convincing fashion. It has been awhile since we saw just dominance in the post-season, especially after their domination throughout the entire regular season. Avalanche lost a few key pieces including Kadri, Burakovsky, and Darcy Kuemper. Is Gorgeiv and Francouz good enough to push them back into the Finals?