January 7, 2022
By Tab Bamford

CHICAGO, IL — Welcome to 2022, hockey fans! We’re voting for an All-Star Game and rescheduling games daily to fill what was supposed to be an Olympic break all while trying to accommodate travel restrictions and COVID outbreaks.

Missed games and missing key players makes truly evaluating the quality of a team’s play hard. And the middle of the NHL is a mess with teams getting hot/cold for a week and then flipping the script.

While the league continues chasing Tampa, there are a number of teams starting the new year white-hot. And there are others, where we’ll start our Power Rankings at the bottom, who are struggling to define themselves.

Let’s jump into our first Power Rankings of the new calendar year. Who’s your No. 1 team this week? Let us know!

[View the Power Rankings from Week 10]

32. Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago is riding a league-worst six-game losing streak into the weekend and allowed six (6!) goals in Arizona on Thursday night. Things are bad for the Blackhawks right now, and the “for sale” sign should be out.

31. Arizona Coyotes

Congrats to the Yotes for picking up their third home win of the season on Thursday. They’re 3-11-1 on home ice and have an NHL-worst minus-54 goal differential.

30. Montreal Canadiens

They actually lead the Coyotes by just one point heading into Friday, but Arizona has two games in-hand, so Montreal is in the mix for the worst record in hockey. They’re 2-13-3 away from home and have a stunning minus-50 goal differential.

29. Ottawa Senators

With only 29 games played because of COVID, it’s hard to truly judge just how bad this team is. But when they’ve been on the ice, it hasn’t been good; the Sens have won five of 14 home games thus far.

28. Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres’ five-game losing streak has them sprinting to the cellar. They have won twice in their last ten games and have won six of 18 home starts this season.

27. Seattle Kraken

The Kraken have also lost their last five games, but their ten regulation wins are two more than the Sabres with Seattle having one game in-hand. They aren’t good; Seattle is reminding us of what we used to expect from expansion teams.

26. Philadelphia Flyers

Owners of a four-game losing streak and miserable 6-7-2 record on home ice, the Flyers – like the Blackhawks – made moves over the summer to improve and make a playoff run. Those moves have backfired, and they’re in a bad spot.

25. Columbus Blue Jackets

The Jackets have lost their last three and their 31 points are in the bottom third of the league despite being 10-5-1 at home. They’re the lowest-ranked team this week with at least 100 goals scored this season.

24. New Jersey Devils

Dougie Hamilton having jaw surgery is a huge blow to their blue line. The Devils have a minus-20 goal differential in 35 games and have won four of their last ten.

23. New York Islanders

The Isles get a modest bump this week after winning their last two and having points in eight of their last ten (5-2-3). They have played a league-low 28 games thus far, so the schedule is going to start making life tough for an Islanders team that has completely underwhelmed this year.

22. Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers are 2-6-2 in their last ten and the fans/media in Edmonton are ready to revolt. The goaltending has been mediocre, the defense has left a lot to be desired and the offense outside of McDavid and Draisaitl has been inconsistent.

21. Detroit Red Wings

Detroit has points in 14 of 19 games on home ice this season and Lucas Raymond is going to be in the conversation for the Calder. But their 4-10-1 record away from home is what we expect from a young, rebuilding team.

20. San Jose Sharks

The Sharks gave up way too many goals to the Coyotes after the holiday break but, unlike the Blackhawks, were able to escape with a win. Their minus-11 goal differential isn’t good, but they continue to be the definition of a .500 team.

19. Dallas Stars

The story with Dallas is similar with most of the middle-third of our Power Rankings: solid on home ice (12-3-1) but bad on the road (4-9-1). They’re 5-5-0 in their last ten. The Stars’ offense needs to do more; they’ve scored 88 times in 30 games.

18. Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks are 8-1-1 in their last ten and have sprinted to being a middle-of-the-pack team. They started the season so poorly that even with their talent now playing to expectations the climb to the playoffs is going to take a lot of hard work.

17. Boston Bruins

The good news is Tuukka Rask may be close to a potential return. The bad news is the Bruins aren’t consistent, Brad Marchand is worried about playing in the Olympics and they have little/no cap space to insert Rask when he wants to join the NHL club.

16. Calgary Flames

The Flames are the inverse of what we said about the Stars and a few other teams; they’re bad in Calgary (4-3-4) and have been terrific on the road (13-6-2). They have lost their last two entering Friday and have four wins in their last ten starts.

15. Winnipeg Jets

The Jets have scored and allowed 99 goals in 33 games, making the math pretty simple to tell if they’re good or bad. They’ve been both this season. But in a Central Division that’s underperformed for most of the first half of the season, the Jets are at least intriguing.

14. Los Angeles Kings

Our Dennis Bernstein reported earlier this week that the Kings could be buyers at the deadline. Like Winnipeg, the Kings have a net-zero goal differential but have only scored/allowed 93 goals in 34 games. This is a fun team to watch when they’re healthy.

13. Minnesota Wild

The Wild have points in 11 of 14 home games and 11 of 18 road games this year. The good news for the Wild is the bottom of the Central Division is awful and 17 of their 20 wins have come in regulation.

12. Anaheim Ducks

They will get energy from their young forwards all year. Troy Terry has been brilliant all year and ranks among the league leaders with 21 goals. But it’s the ancient warrior, Ryan Getzlaf, leading the team with 20 assists.

11. St. Louis Blues

Their pre-Winter Classic team look ranks No. 1 this season. Rolling into the frigid conditions dressed for Hawaii was fun. And the game was solid. With seven wins in their last ten, the Blues are clearly one of the better teams in the Western Conference right now.

10. Colorado Avalanche

Let’s not get it twisted: the Avs are now playing the way we expected them to all year. Cale Makar’s goal in Chicago is one of the best of the year and Colorado is now 8-1-1 in their last ten. This team is scary and just starting to put things together.

9. Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto has won their last four and seven of their last ten but the top of our rankings are just playing that well right now. They have been impressive defensively all year, allowing just 78 goals in 32 games.

8. New York Rangers

The Rangers’ 48 points is tied for third-best in the NHL entering Friday, but they slide a little in our power rankings because they’re 5-4-1 in their last ten. They need to find more offense to help support Chris Kreider, who’s having a career year.

7. Nashville Predators

The Preds are on top of the Central Division by virtue of an 8-1-1 run in their last ten. They, too, made some dramatic changes over the past summer but they’ve worked in Nashville. The Preds have points in 14 of 20 road games.

6. Washington Capitals

With a plus-30 goal differential and Alex Ovechkin playing with the enthusiasm of a 24-year-old, the Caps are playing well despite not having their full roster on the ice very often this season. They have allowed just 89 goals in 34 games.

5. Florida Panthers

Their 49 points rank second in the league, and they have a plus-30 goal differential but we’re sliding them a bit this week because of a few teams riding impressive hot streaks.

4. Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina is 8-2-0 in their last ten and have won their last four games. This is a really good team from top to bottom; they have allowed only 66 goals in 31 games and have a league-best plus-40 goal differential.

3. Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas has been able to play through significant injuries and is on top of the Western Conference entering Friday with 47 points. They do have a cap situation brewing when Jack Eichel is able to return sometime next month, to look for the Knights to be active in the trade market. They’ll need to do it without upsetting their good chemistry, which won’t be easy.

2. Pittsburgh Penguins

Winners of ten straight games, the Pens have become a team to beat in the Eastern Conference. The Pens have won 20 of their 33 games and 19 of those have come in regulation. Suddenly, Pittsburgh is a force.

1. Tampa Bay Lightning

Yup, the defending champs are still on top. They have an NHL-leading 51 points in 36 starts this season, have won 12 of 18 home games and have points in seven of their last ten... and Nikita Kucherov is back.