With the 2023-24 NHL Season kicking off roughly one month ago, most teams across the league have played between 12-15 games, which should be a large enough sample size to start identifying the contenders. While the 2024 Trade Deadline is still months away, and a slow start won’t always doom your postseason aspirations, the foundation laid in the first month often decides who will buy for a postseason push or sell to build a new future.
However, that’s part of what makes the start of this season so strange, as I really don’t know if I can believe what I’ve seen so far. Are the Edmonton Oilers really the worst team in the league? Are the Vancouver Canucks really one of the best? Are there this many mediocre teams who are struggling through a league-wide cap crunch?
That’s what makes the Power Ranking so tough this week, because I’m not always able to believe my own eyes. Most nights, you’ll see a team alternating between dominant performances that could win a Stanley Cup and a lost franchise you would expect to compete for the first-overall pick in the same game.
Related: NHL 2023-24 Power Rankings: Week 5
Due to this, I think there’s a lot of room for argument in this week’s Power Rankings. I’m not sold on most teams in the NHL right now, and I expect changes to occur much sooner than normal as desperate management looks to get the season back on track. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the big winners and losers in THW’s Week 6 Power Rankings!
32-26: Big Changes For the Oilers
32. Edmonton Oilers (Previously 31st)
31. San Jose Sharks (Previously 32nd)
30. Columbus Blue Jackets (Previously 26th)
29. Seattle Kraken (Previously 28th)
28. Calgary Flames (Previously 30th)
27. Chicago Blackhawks (Previously 29th)
26. Nashville Predators (Previously 18th)
After what was already a nightmare start to the season for the Oilers, over the last week, Edmonton waived their $5 million goaltender, lost against the Sharks in an uninspired game, finally won for the first time in nearly two weeks against the Kraken, but still fired their head coach on Sunday anyways. This change is understandable given how poorly everything was going this season, but was still a surprise given how successful Jay Woodcroft was in his first two seasons behind the bench.
Read Also: Oilers Make Coaching Changes, Woodcroft Out, Knoblauch In
Other teams in this section of the Rankings can also write the start of their seasons off as major disappointments. I was expecting a lot more out of the Predators, Flames, Kraken, and Blue Jackets, but all four franchises have struggled to find their game and are quickly looking like they will be in the Draft Lottery instead of the postseason hunt as many hoped.
However, there was one bright spot this week, which was, against all odds, the Sharks. Last week, San Jose looked like they were going to be one of the worst teams in NHL history with how poorly they were playing. Well, not only did they win their first game of the season, but they also went on a two-game winning streak, which included beating the Oilers before getting shellacked by the Vegas Golden Knights. Given where they were a week ago, I feel like they earned being moved out of last place, even if temporarily.
25-13: Average Teams With High Expectations
25. Minnesota Wild (Previously 22nd)
24. Tampa Bay Lightning (Previously 17th)
23. Ottawa Senators (Previously 27th)
22. New York Islanders (Previously 10th)
21. Philadelphia Flyers (Previously 19th)
20. Arizona Coyotes (Previously 24th)
19. Anaheim Ducks (Previously 13th)
18. Buffalo Sabres (Previously 15th)
17. Montreal Canadiens (Previously 20th)
16. Pittsburgh Penguins (Previously 25th)
15. Washington Capitals (Previously 21st)
14. St. Louis Blues (Previously 16th)
13. Florida Panthers (Previously 23rd)
If you like extremes, then this section of the Rankings will be your favorite. If you look at the standings, all of these teams are within a few points of each other, which can make them difficult to separate purely in terms of their records. On-ice performances, however, have dictated some needed changes this week.
Starting off, the Islanders, Lightning, and Wild might just be bad teams right now. Whether it be due to injuries, talent drain, a flat cap, coaching struggles, or a combination of all of these things, none of these teams looked good this week, especially as they blew leads and gave away points at a shocking rate.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Panthers and Penguins might be back. After a relatively slow start to the season, both teams have started hitting their stride, and they have four game winning streaks under their belts to show for it. Yes, there are plenty of reasons to still be concerned, but they are moving in the right direction again and will firmly be in the playoff hunt if this play continues.
Also, I want to give a shout-out to the Capitals, Canadiens, and Coyotes. I had very low expectations for these teams heading into the season, but they are punching well above expectations, and they are a big reason why this section of the Rankings is so jumbled. I’m still not sure how much I believe in their long-term viability, but the fact that they are winning big games is putting them in a great spot for success throughout the rest of the regular season and potentially the playoffs.
12-1: Stanley Cup Contenders Are Still Human
12. Colorado Avalanche (Previously 7th)
11. Toronto Maple Leafs (Previously 14th)
10. New Jersey Devils (Previously 11th)
9. Detroit Red Wings (Previously 9th)
8. Winnipeg Jets (Previously 12th)
7. Los Angeles Kings (Previously 6th)
6. Carolina Hurricanes (Previously 8th)
5. Dallas Stars (Previously 5th)
4. Vancouver Canucks (Previously 4th)
3. New York Rangers (Previously 3rd)
2. Boston Bruins (Previously 2nd)
1. Vegas Golden Knights (Previously 1st)
Once we get to the top of this week’s Rankings, my main thought is that these are still good teams, but they aren’t as dominant when compared to prior weeks. We have to remind ourselves that the Bruins’ historic regular season was just that: historic. Even the best teams normally don’t win 65 games, and they will go through ebbs and flows.
Related: Every NHL Team’s All-Time Best Goal Scorer
However, I do think some concern is valid about the Devils, Maple Leafs, and Avalanche, as they just haven’t looked right to start the season. While I expect them to sort out these early-season issues, it is easy to overreact at the moment. I also believe the Red Wings are still in that awkward spot of having to prove themselves as contenders before anyone will believe them, so we have to just wait and see how their season continues.
Even with their flaws, however, I think the eventual 2024 Stanley Cup winner will be one of these 12 teams. One or two bad losses doesn’t mean you’re suddenly bad, as long as your team learns from their mistakes and takes the necessary steps to fix them.
The NHL’s Extremes in 2023-24
It’s pretty crazy to think that the first coaching change was made just one month into the season, and it was made by a franchise that was expecting to be a Stanley Cup contender. I guess that’s just a reminder that no one really knows how a season will go, and even your wildest pre-season predictions may not have been crazy enough.
So, I leave you this week with a question. Will another coach be fired before the end of the calendar year, or was Woodcroft’s sudden termination a last-ditch effort made by a franchise that simply must win now? Teams seem a little more desperate to win this season, so perhaps this won’t be the end of the early league-wide chaos.
