NHL 2022-23 Power Rankings: Week 17

Well here we are, the NHL All-Star Break. For the next week, most of the league will be taking some time off to rest and celebrate their best players in Florida. During this time, only a handful of games will be played outside of the All-Star variety, but this doesn’t mean that we won’t have a Power Rankings at our normal time. However, for that week we will have a little bit of fun and try something different.

Today, though, is our final Pre-All-Star Break Ranking on the 2022-23 season. The playoff picture is shifting every day, with some teams climbing quickly up the board, while others are tumbling down after weeks of difficult play. There were a lot of changes, which leads to fun discussions about where the league is at roughly 50 games into the season.

Are they a perfect team? No. But they are fun to watch and keep winning, so I really don’t have a reason to doubt them right now.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs

31-12-8, 70 Points

Last Ranking: 3

Despite winning three of their last four games, it still feels like the Toronto Maple Leafs lost this week when they announced that Auston Matthews would be missing the next three weeks with an injury. On the plus side, this injury timing is about the best-case scenario for the franchise, as they will have some time off during it and are hitting a weak part of their schedule where they will play five-straight games against bottom-feeders coming out of their break.

In theory, the Maple Leafs are a more than talented enough team to survive without Matthews, especially during a fairly unimportant stretch of time in their schedule. Really all that matters is that he comes back healthy and ready to play in the final months of the season leading into the playoffs.

4. New Jersey Devils

32-13-4, 68 Points

Last Ranking: 5

There’s no doubt anymore, the New Jersey Devils are for real. Over their last 10 games, they are a league-best 8-1-1, and they are heading into the All-Star Break still as one of the top-five teams in the league. Given where they were a year ago, this turnaround is incredible and should be a sign of the future when you think about how young the Devils are.

Now, it is worth noting that the Devils are requiring overtime to win a lot of their games lately, which is something that will go away once they reach the postseason. However, I’m not going to count that against them yet, as long as they continue finding ways to scrape together important points.

3. Tampa Bay Lightning

32-15-1, 65 Points

Last Ranking: 8

Despite all of the offseason roster losses, the deep cap constraints holding back their ability to sign new players, and their generally weak prospect pool, the Tampa Bay Lightning still are one of the top contenders for the Stanley Cup. This week alone, they won their 12th straight home game, which set a new franchise record, and they are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games. Not only that, but all three of their wins came against playoff teams, including a rare victory over the Boston Bruins.

The Lightning are here, and they are one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now. As long as this continues, expect them to be a major player at the trade deadline.

2. Boston Bruins

38-7-5, 81 Points

Last Ranking: 1

Well, all good things must come to an end at some point. While the Bruins have been on a historic tear this season, they finally came back down to Earth just a little bit and lost three straight games.

Does this mean that they are in trouble? No, absolutely not. But it does show that they are still human and will have some ebbs to their season. I still expect them to easily win the Presidents’ Trophy, but this week, at least, I think it’s safe to move them off the top position in the rankings.

1. Carolina Hurricanes

32-9-8, 72 Points

Last Ranking: 2

It feels a bit silly having the Carolina Hurricanes in first place this week, considering how far back in the actual standings they are to the Bruins, but they are on a five-game winning streak, which included a dominant effort over Boston.

What you can’t deny about the Hurricanes is how good of a team they are. From top to bottom, they are loaded with high-end talent, and you can argue that they feature a top-five offense, defense, and goaltending tandem. With depth like that, there’s no doubt that they deserve to be tops on this Ranking, especially when their talent is putting it all together on the ice as consistently as they have been.

All-Star Break Brings a Much-Needed Reprieve

After a busy January, it will be nice to have some time to get caught up again as we prepare for the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline in March. As we look forward to February, I expect the deals to start early, especially as teams attempt to get in front of what will likely be a crowded trade market. There’s still a lot to play for, as only a handful of teams can comfortably say they are in a playoff position.