Here we are, the Grand Finale of the Power Rankings!!!! So far we've briefly examined the dumpster fires of the league and all the teams who are just in the mix due to all the parity in the league now. For those teams, one thing could make or break their respective seasons. But now we're on to the upper echelon on the league, the true contenders heading into the season. So lets jump in and see who's left.
10: St. Louis Blues - A team that has been in contender status for the last few years starts us off. This is a highly skilled team all around. A few major shake ups the last 2 off-seasons should pay dividends as this season approaches. After bring in Schenn last year and seeing him have a major break out season, can Ryan O'Reilly come in and have more success than he normally does? One of the best face-off men in the league every year, I'd expect him to make a major difference for the Blues. The overall depth is good upfront (though they have just put Jaskin on Waivers) , they even have quite a few young players who would make NHL rosters on teams not as well off. Do I even need to mention Tarasenko and his wicked shot? Didn't think so. The Defense is pretty outstanding as well. Its just solid all around being led by Pietrangelo and Parayko. Most importantly though is Jake Allen in net, once again a common theme. At 28 he is in the ultimate prime of his career and is 1000% solidified as the number one goalie now that Carter Hutton has left to go to Buffalo. With Chad Johnson as a serviceable back up, it will be all firmly on the shoulders of Jake Allen. But as long as he is positional and doesn't allow anything weak, the Blues should be primed and ready for a nice playoff run.
9: Columbus Blue Jackets - This is a team that is a very interesting spot. Heading in, they're a favorite in their division to finish top 3 at least. Unfortunately they're starting off on the wrong foot though. An injury to the ankle of Seth Jones could seriously derail the team right from the start. Jones is a Norris candidate on the blue line with out him the team could suffer greatly the first 5-6 weeks. Depending on where they are in the standings at this point could affect the moves the make at the deadline. They have two high caliber players in Panarin and Bobrovsky who seem to be destined for Free Agency. And it seem almost as a certainty that Panarin will not be back no matter how the team performs. A good team on paper heading in, but many story lines are brewing in Columbus, we'll have the answers sooner than we'll realize though.
8: Pittsburgh Penguins - What do we really need to say about the Pens? They have the greatest player in the world with Crosby, and I'll stand by that for a long time. Follow that with Malkin, Kessel, Letang, Schultz, and Guentzel...just to name a few and this a powerful team...yet they're only at number 8!!! The all around depth is amazing as well. Long time rival turned teammate in Brassard will now have a full year with the team as a 3rd line center and should be able to find his game again. The speed of Hagelin and Rust are almost unmatched this far down on most depth charts. And now dad is back in the form of Matt Cullen who's leadership and influence make a tremendous difference on the 4th line and P.K. The defense is just as stacked with the addition of Jack Johnson in the off-season and Jamie Oleksiak at the deadline last year. Don't forget about Maata and Dumoulin and you have yourselves a very formidable top-6. In net look for Murray to have a more consistent year and be prepared to take the Pens back deep into the playoffs this year.
7: San Jose Sharks - For some reason, on paper, I'm never really a fan of the Sharks up front. But damn there is no arguing the results year after year. A consistent playoff team, the only question we have is how far will the go? Well that's one of the questions anyway...another could be...How will Joe Thornton perform this season? A key cog in the Sharks line up for the last decade, now at age 39, and coming off 2 straight years of ACL injuries, we have to think this will be the last shot at glory for one of the greatest players we've ever seen play the game. And they could be in the best position ever to get it done (though they finally made it to the Cup Final 3 seasons ago now). They've added in Evander Kane for the long term now and he flourished last season after being dealt to the team. One would figure he can only get better still. And now and already good defense has just gotten that much better as they have brought in Erik Karlsson from the Senators! Burns, Vlasic, and Karlsson probably makes up the best top-3 defense men in the league, or at least in the West. And with a consistently solid goalie in Martin Jones behind them...I think Peter Deboer is going to open the cage this year and let the Sharks feed on the rest of the western conference.
6: Tampa Bay Lightning - The usual favorite to win the Atlantic Division but in a tough division I have them in 2nd. A stacked team who in finishing 2nd could be a benefit in the playoffs. I will say though...I don't know where to start in discussing the team. The forwards are absolutely stacked! Stammer, Kucherov, Palat, Miller, Johnson, and Point, just to name a few, make up the core of an incredible forward group. Back on defense they're led by Hedman, McDonagh, and Sergachev. All that and then some playing in front of Vasilevsky makes for one of the most consistent and balanced teams in the entire league. With nothing but Lord Stanley on their minds heading into the season...Could this be their year?
5: Vegas Golden Knights - Holy. Shit. An expansion team coming out and doing what they did last season was insane to say the least, and no one expected it. I think I am one of the few who had them being a playoff bubble team and maybe squeaking in. But to run the entire division all year and then make it all the way to the Cup Final, and make it all look easy? No I didn't see that coming one bit. And somehow...I think the got even better. They have given Wild Bill Karlsson a 1 year, show me the money, contract. They brought in Paul Stastny in free agency. And just a few weeks ago added in Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens. Their D-core isn't the best overall, but as a team the play together very well and never get out worked. The only question I have is can Fleury keep up the magic? He has always been a great goaltender but at age 33 how much longer can he keep it up?
4: Toronto Maple Leafs - Maybe I'm a bandwagon fan here, but I have the Leafs taking over the top spot in the Atlantic this year. This was an already solid team offensively and they only got better by adding in John Tavares. I would expect the Leafs to have a top-5 Power Play at the very least this year as they power their way through the conference. And that's all without William Nylander at the moment. Should he ever decide he wants to play hockey again and be apart of a winner, he will make them all the better as the depth will be spread around tremendously up front. And a forgot man in Toronto as well, one of my favorite players in the league, Nazem Kadri, is still in his prime. He has had back to back 32 goal season and been right around 60 points, can he take advantage of some mismatches and push above 70 points this year? They also have a growing defense that should only get better with time. If they can limit the chances against Freddy Andersen a bit more they'll be a cup favorite for sure.
3: Nashville Predators - It was tough to knock the Preds back to the 3rd spot but that's what I had to do. Led up front by Forsberg, Johansen and Arvidsson, the have an great core of forwards. The most important thing is that all of their forwards are under 30's old other than Bonino, and for the most part they're all locked up for a few more years as well. With probably the best top-4 D in the league, all righty/lefty combos and 27-29 years old, they're also all in their primes. The one man who isn't is our most recent Vezina winner in Pekka Rinne. At 35 years old and closing in on 36 quickly I wonder how much is left in the tank. Not to mention it is a contract year for the big Fin, the pressure is really going to be on in Nashville.
2: Winnipeg Jets - The high flying Jets are my favorite to win the West, but its just by a hair! They are fast up front, as well as big. They can score with the best in the league as the have one of the best young goal scorers we've ever seen in Patrik Laine. Mark Scheifele is only 25 and has emerged as one of the best centers in all of hockey, and he is also obsessed with getting better and better. Captain Blake Wheeler is the oldest player in the forward group at 32 and his game brings every thing. At 6'5" and 225lbs he brings high end speed, physicality, finesse, basically...everything. Not bad qualities and skills to have in a leader. The rest of the group is all under 30 as well and quite a few are in contract years, like forgotten rookie goal scorer of last year, Kyle Connor, who wasn't even a Calder candidate and put up 31 goals. Moving on the the defense whats not to like? Led by former Stanley Cup champ in Byfuglien this is a very good top-6. And other than Big Buff, they're all in their mid 20's as well, primed and ready to go prove something. In net they're anchored by one of the best goalies in the league, easily in everyones top-3 league wide, Connor Hellebuyck. After establishing himself last year as the absolute number one goalie in the organization he was rewarded with a nice raise. Now we'll see if he lives up to it, and boy he better. He'll be playing almost 70 games this year as his backup Brossoit, has not shown he could be relied upon while in Edmonton. I don't know for sure if Winnipeg will take the top spot in the West but expect them to be near the top all year long.
1: Washington Capitals - Finally, after all these years, the Washington Capitals are the Stanley Cup Champions! After 14 years Ovi has thrown off the demons and lived up to the expectations (as if he wasn't anyway) and solidified his legacy. Already the greatest goal scorer in the history of the game, yeah I said it and I'll take it to my grave, he now has the most prized possession. But can he and the rest of the Capitals defend it? Led not only by Ovi, but Backstrom, Oshie and Kuzy up front, they have plenty of offensive potential. They will be missing Tom Wilson up front though as he will be starting the season with a suspension of who knows how many games at the time of writing this. I would imagine somewhere in the 10-12 game range. Back on defense the team is very well off. The don't have the superstars of some other teams, but they're in great shape on less. Led by Carlson and Niskanen, they're in good shape. Orlov has become a stud in his own right and Bowey and Djoos are coming into their primes. In net they lost one of the better backups in league in Grubauer to Colorado but they're still in good shape. Led by Holtby in net, the constant Vezina candidate, I'd expect a bounce back season after a bit of a rougher year last year.
All in all I think we're in for one hell of a season to say the least. The game is better than ever, and the competition night in and night out is fierce. Where will all these teams end up by the end of the season is any ones guess. But I am sure its going to be a fun ride with plenty of questions to ask and be answered as we go on throughout the year. Now if we could just drop the puck and get this show started, let the debates end and have the teams battle it out and prove us wrong, or right!
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