Things are starting to get very real across the NHL. With less than three weeks left in the 2023-24 regular season, teams are starting to punch their ticket to the 2024 postseason, while many others are figuring out vacation plans starting in late April.
As of this writing, seven teams have locked in their trip to the 2024 Playoffs: The New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Vancouver Canucks. Behind them, the Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, L.A. Kings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Nashville Predators have all but secured their place as well. So, this means 14 of 16 playoff tickets have been claimed, barring a massive collapse from any of the listed teams.
However, this being the 2023-24 NHL Season, drama has to follow the playoff race. The remaining two spots up for grabs in the Eastern Conference will be a fascinating race to watch as no one seems willing to claim them. A few weeks ago, it looked certain that the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers would grab a ticket, but recent struggles have allowed the surging Washington Capitals to take third place in the Metropolitan Division. Mixed up in this are the languishing New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders, who have failed to take advantage of these opportunities.
This leaves us with a true snail race for who will reach the playoffs. While there are seven teams within seven points of the final spots, realistically it’s going to be a five-horse race between the Capitals, Red Wings, Devils, Flyers, and Islanders.
However, where you are in the standings doesn’t always reflect your position in the Power Rankings. Some of these bubble teams are playing like contenders, while others don’t look interested in playing hockey past April 18th. So, let’s sort out all of this mess by diving into Week 26 of THW’s Power Rankings.
32-20: Senators Find Winning Ways Far Too Late
32. San Jose Sharks (Previously 32nd) – Eliminated
31. Anaheim Ducks (Previously 31st) – Eliminated
30. Seattle Kraken (Previously 29th)
29. Columbus Blue Jackets (Previously 28th) – Eliminated
28. Arizona Coyotes (Previously 24th) – Eliminated
27. Chicago Blackhawks (Previously 30th) – Eliminated
26. Montreal Canadiens (Previously 27th)
25. Calgary Flames (Previously 21st)
24. Pittsburgh Penguins (Previously 25th)
23. Ottawa Senators (Previously 26th)
22. Buffalo Sabres (Previously 22nd)
21. New York Islanders (Previously 20th)
20. New Jersey Devils (Previously 23rd)
Heading into the season, expectations were high for the Senators. After working through a painful rebuild, and finding new ownership that was excited to bring the franchise back in a big way, many thought Ottawa would be playing meaningful games in April. That was, of course, before everything went wrong, with the franchise being out of the hunt by December.
With nothing left to play for other than pride and likely some bonuses, the Senators are finally starting to find their groove. They won five straight games against a mixture of good and bad teams, and they are playing with some swagger in their step for the first time this season. Now, it’s likely too little too late, but hopefully, the franchise can build upon this momentum so they can do more than just win the offseason.
Speaking of teams playing well when it doesn’t matter, the Blackhawks are 6-4-0 in their last ten games, but these winning ways have barely hurt their draft lottery odds, so it’s still a successful season. Also, the Coyotes joined the ranks of eliminated franchises this week. I can say that I’m very disappointed in this outcome for Arizona because they held a playoff as recently as New Year’s Day. As a fan of the NHL, I want to see hockey working in the desert, but if you don’t give fans meaningful games to cheer for, you’re just pushing a boulder uphill.
If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that I’ve moved the Islanders to the bottom section of the Rankings. I was holding on to the idea that Patrick Roy would get the ship righted and they would push for the playoffs, but after getting whomped 5-1 by the Lightning Saturday and with a 2-7-1 record in their last ten games played, I have no reason to believe in them making the playoffs. So, to the bottom of the Rankings they go!
19-13: Capitals Are a Postseason Anomaly
19. Detroit Red Wings (Previously 19th)
18. Philadelphia Flyers (Previously 16h)
17. Minnesota Wild (Previously 18th)
16. Washington Capitals (Previously 14th)
15. Los Angeles Kings (Previously 12th)
14. St. Louis Blues (Previously 15th)
13. Vegas Golden Knights (Previously 17th)
While I’ve spoken plenty about the Red Wings and Flyers already, I do feel the need to dig into the Capitals a little bit more this week, as I find this team fascinating. In 73 games played, they’ve averaged 2.70 goals for per game (6th worst in the NHL), 3.11 goals against per game (14th worst), and are currently rocking a goal differential of minus-31 on the season, which is 15 worse than the next closest playoff team, the struggling Flyers. So, Washington doesn’t score a lot, and when they lose they tend to lose big.
Overall, this team has mediocre to bad statistics if you just glance at a page, yet they find themselves firmly in the playoff hunt. In many ways, I think this makes them more dangerous should they secure their spot, because they are used to playing a style of low-event, grinding hockey that can translate well to the postseason as things like scoring slows down. Plus they have elite offensive talent that simply can’t be missed. So, don’t overlook the Capitals if your team ends up facing them in Round 1.
In case you were wondering, the Golden Knights are fully back. After experiencing an injury-fueled slump, the defending Stanley Cup champions have reclaimed third place in the Pacific Division from the Kings. With a 7-2-1 run in their last 10 games played, they have found their groove and will look to improve as players get healthy.
Speaking of the Kings, they’ve hit a slight road bump this week, but falling to the second Wild Card might not be the worst thing for the franchise. They were set to face the Edmonton Oilers for the third-straight postseason if they held their spot in the Pacific Division, which is a tough matchup at the best of times. We will see if they can take it back, or if they will be content to rest and get healthy since they have a five-point lead and game in hand on the Blues.
11-1: Jets’ Slide Spelling Trouble
12. Winnipeg Jets (Previously 11th)
11. Tampa Bay Lightning (Previously 13th)
10. Nashville Predators (Previously 5th)
9. Edmonton Oilers (Previously 10th)
8. Toronto Maple Leafs (Previously 9th)
7. Boston Bruins (Previously 8th)
6. Florida Panthers (Previously 7th)
5. Vancouver Canucks (Previously 6th)
4. Carolina Hurricanes (Previously 3rd)
3. Colorado Avalanche (Previously 1st)
2. Dallas Stars (Previously 4th)
1. New York Rangers (Previously 2nd)
If you’re a fan of the Jets, here’s the good news: Winnipeg has all but guaranteed their spot in the postseason. With a 12-point lead on the Blues, it would take an incredible collapse for them to fall completely out of the running. Now, here’s the bad news. With a six-game losing streak, they look far from ready for the 2024 Playoffs.
Call it a slump, but the Jets have been bad for the better part of two weeks. This is very unusual given how solid their game plan has been all season long, but it’s still concerning as you want to be playing great hockey before the playoffs, not your worst stuff of the season. There’s still time to sort it all out, but it’s worth keeping an eye on as the season wraps up.
In sad news, the Predator’s point streak officially ended after 18 games. This was an incredible run highlighted by a ridiculous come-from-behind win against the Golden Knights on Tuesday. However, all great things must end, and with the streak out of the way Nashville can now focus on their playoff push.
I want to talk more about the NHL scoring race as well. While the top three players have been well-documented, I forgot that fourth place was held by Artemi Panarin. With the Rangers surging back to the top of the Rankings, Panarin has been an absolute stud who’s posted 107 points in 74 games played. In most seasons, this would be enough to get you MVP votes, but in 2024 he will likely be held off the ballots with the top scorers somehow 20 points above him.
Oh, and congratulations to Jonathan Quick for breaking Ryan Miller’s record for the most NHL victories from an American-born goalie. Considering how his career looked a season ago, this is an incredible turnaround for his legacy.
One more thing, Auston Matthews scored his 60th goal for the second time in three seasons. This guy is a mutant who simply can’t be stopped.
NHL Pushing Towards the Playoffs
With the regular season winding down, the NHL world is still finding so much to talk about. This week alone we had all of these incredible records broken, along with unexpected news like Ivan Fedotov having his contract terminated by CSKA Moscow so he could join the Flyers a year after he completed “unexpected” mandatory military service in Russia. Regardless of how he made it to Philadelphia, his presence alone could turn the tide for a team desperately holding onto the playoffs.
Related: 2024 NHL Draft Guide
All I can say is hold on for what I imagine will be a wild ride these final few weeks. If your team is on the bubble, expect anything to happen, as this season has been different when it comes to pure drama. Every week has brought with it so much news, and I expect these final games to be nothing less than stellar for most teams.
