With a busy holiday week behind us, the NHL rang in the New Year a day early this year, as they hosted the 2025 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field on New Year’s Eve. While there’s no doubt about the spectacle you see from the Winter Classic, this year’s event felt like a bit of an afterthought instead of a marquee event. Between a fairly underwhelming matchup seeing the struggling Chicago Blackhawks take on the St. Louis Blues, a lopsided win by the Blues, and a lack of viewership in the United States, it feels like the event is suffering a slow death if you aren’t in the stadium.
It may be time for the NHL to rethink the Winter Classic format in order to avoid killing off the event entirely. Watching habits have changed over the last 15 years around New Year’s Eve and Day, as a once fairly open time is now filled to the brim with football and other events to eat up a viewer’s time. Now, I’m not advocating getting rid of the event or Stadium Series in general (I still think these are some of the best live games you can attend as a sports fan) but we all agree it can’t keep going as is with the expectation that it will last forever.
Outside the big event this week, there was a full slate of hockey to unpack and consider in the Rankings. I’ve been very surprised by these outcomes, as some of the best and worst teams in the league are swapping spots and pulling off unexpected wins or disappointing losses that are making me reconsider my Rankings. So, with all of this in mind, it’s time to dig into Week 13 of THW’s Power Rankings!
32-20: Canucks’ Struggles Continue
32. Chicago Blackhawks (Previously: 32)
31. San Jose Sharks (Previously: 31)
30. New York Rangers (Previously: 27)
29. Buffalo Sabres (Previously: 29)
28. New York Islanders (Previously: 23)
27. Nashville Predators (Previously: 28)
26. Columbus Blue Jackets (Previously: 26)
25. Seattle Kraken (Previously: 24)
24. Detroit Red Wings (Previously: 30)
23. Philadelphia Flyers (Previously: 22)
22. Anaheim Ducks (Previously: 25)
21. Pittsburgh Penguins (Previously: 21)
20. Vancouver Canucks (Previously: 18)
Well, the Canucks have officially entered the bottom part of the Rankings after starting out the season as one of my teams to beat (even if I was a little bit concerned about their injury situation). Things have not gone as planned in Vancouver, as injuries and locker-room drama have taken over the franchise, which we all thought would be focused on making a postseason run in 2025. Sure, they are right in the middle of the playoff hunt, but their recent 3-4-3 stretch of play has seen their early season points lead fade away. If the drama ends with a superstar trade, I find it hard to imagine this ending as a positive for the franchise. Time will tell if they can sort things out, I guess…
For the other teams at the bottom of the Rankings, the start to the 2024-25 NHL Season has not been a good one. However, over a long 82-game schedule, there will be some bright spots that make you wonder… where has this been all year long? This week, we saw the Predators win two games in convincing fashion, the Sharks pull off two solid wins, the Ducks have a record of 3-1-0 and the struggling Red Wings win four in a row after hitting their potential low last week. With all of this in mind, there may not be enough time to make a run to the playoffs, but there’s still time for a few weeks of competent play to propel these teams back into the picture.
19-11: Canadiens Finding Unexpected Success
19. Tampa Bay Lightning (Previously: 12)
18. Boston Bruins (Previously: 13)
17. Ottawa Senators (Previously: 14)
16. Montreal Canadiens (Previously: 19)
15. Utah Hockey Club (Previously: 17)
14. Calgary Flames (Previously: 15)
13. St. Louis Blues (Previously: 20)
12. Carolina Hurricanes (Previously: 11)
11. Dallas Stars (Previously: 16)
I never would have guessed that the Canadiens would, at any point this season, be one of the hottest teams in the league. Yet, over their last 10 games Montreal is 7-3-0, including big wins against the Lightning, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, and Colorado Avalanche. So here we are, the team that once sat at the bottom of my Rankings earlier this season working their way up it.
While Montreal still has a long way to go, they are playing with a vigor you need to see from a team looking to take that next step as they complete a rebuild and emerge as a real playoff threat. While they realistically are still in the hunt, I think they are a year off from cracking the postseason. However, if the teams in front of them continue to struggle, they may have an open door to walk through with solid on-ice play.
Another team back on their winning ways are the Stars, who pulled off four straight victories after a stretch of mediocre play in recent weeks. These wins put them right back in the hunt for the Central Division, and as long as they keep this up, I will move them back to the top of the Rankings, where they belong.
Speaking of where they belong, the Lightning, Bruins, Flames, and Senators just can’t seem to keep it together long enough to make a real push to get out of this part of the Rankings. I still think these are good teams, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if any of them went on a slide and missed the playoffs. This keeps things interesting during a slow part of the season, I guess.
10-1: Devils Hit a Midseason Speed Bump
10. New Jersey Devils (Previously: 4)
9. Florida Panthers (Previously: 7)
8. Winnipeg Jets (Previously: 3)
7. Colorado Avalanche (Previously: 6)
6. Minnesota Wild (Previously: 10)
5. Toronto Maple Leafs (Previously: 9)
4. Washington Capitals (Previously: 2)
3. Los Angeles Kings (Previously: 8)
2. Edmonton Oilers (Previously: 5)
1. Vegas Golden Knights (Previously: 1)
Sometimes I feel like I’m cursed when I talk about a team playing well, as I give them a shoutout at the top of the Rankings, only for them to go on a skid and slide down it more than I would have expected. A recent recipient of this curse are the Devils, who lost their last four games after I called them one of the NHL’s best teams a few weeks ago.
Now, obviously my talking about New Jersey isn’t why they had a bad few games (right?) but it does make you wonder if they are starting to run out of steam. As we near the halfway point of the season, they have been the team with the most games played since they took on the Sabres as part of the Global Series. I think this will be just a bump in their road and over their next few games they will back to their winning ways again, but in a competitive top part of the Rankings, they saw their stock slip a bit more than expected.
You may have noticed that the Pacific division has taken over the top three spots on the Rankings this week… which I also wasn’t expecting. However, right now the Golden Knights, Oilers, and Kings are playing some of the best hockey in the league, and they have just been churning through their opponents, no matter how good they are supposed to be. I’m not sure how long they will be able to maintain the top three spots on this list, but for the week, at least, it’s a fun anomaly.
Doldrums Taking Place Across the NHL
January is that odd month in the NHL season, where you’re hitting the middle point and things can get a bit repetitive. The excitement of the new season has worn off, the Trade Deadline feels far away, and on top of that, there’s the Four Nations Face-Off to look forward to in February.
Related: Ranking NHL Team Logos
So, whenever January rolls around, I always recommend shaking up your routine and watching a different team in January for a game or three. It can be fun to see different stars take the ice and help with some of the repetition from a long regular season. Plus, depending on where your team is in the standings, it can give you a preview of talent that could be on the move at the trade deadline. Give it a try this week, if you haven’t already.
