October 10, 2023
By Tab Bamford

CHICAGO, IL — Welcome to the 2023-24 season, hockey fans! The Vegas Golden Knights will begin their title defense tonight, and Connor Bedard will complete his journey from being one of the most highly-touted prospects in history to the NHL when he and the Chicago Blackhawks skate against his childhood hero, Sidney Crosby, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. What a time to be alive!

There has been a lot of change around the NHL since the end of last season. Some teams have made tough business decisions because of the salary cap, and others have been impacted by training camp injuries. But tonight, everyone starts the year with zero points in the standings. Everyone has hope.

But the landscape is not really flat, is it? There are teams with bona fide championship aspirations and others who are now focusing on the freshman season of Macklin Celebrini at Boston University. So, let’s start the new season with a fresh, new year edition of our Power Rankings.

As I always say, please feel free to let me know what we got right and where we’re terribly, horribly wrong. And, again, happy new year to everyone!

32. San Jose Sharks

Last year wasn’t good for the Sharks, and they’re moving forward without Erik Karlsson. Hop on the ride, Anthony Duclair fans! Because he’ll be a Shark until early March.

31. Philadelphia Flyers

The intentional rebuild might have started just a little too late for some Flyers fans, but they can now focus on building a strong pipeline in advance of Matvei Michkov’s arrival in a few years.

30. Montreal Canadiens

If they don’t have a healthy Cole Caufield and/or Nick Suzuki for most/all of the regular-season, their chances of being out of the top-five picks in the 2024 NHL Draft are significantly lower.

29. St. Louis Blues

I’m really not sure if they’re treading water or getting worse. Their pipeline isn’t bringing much up to support their veterans, so this year will be about Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou taking a big step forward. I can’t see them being a playoff team this year.

28. Anaheim Ducks

The good news is they got deals done with Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale before the start of the season. The bad news is No. 2 overall pick Leo Carlsson got banged up during the preseason, and their NHL roster isn’t a lot better than the one that had them at the top of the lottery last season.

27. Columbus Blue Jackets

It will be fascinating to see how this team starts the season after the summer debacle that was the Mike Babcock Era. The addition of Adam Fantilli should help them offensively, but they’re shopping defensemen as the regular-season begins.

26. Vancouver Canucks

Who are the Canucks? This is another new year with hopes and aspirations… and questions about leadership and if/when their young players are going to emerge as leaders and legit superstars. This is essentially the same team that finished last year.

25. Chicago Blackhawks

Are the Blackhawks getting bumped up just because of Connor Bedard? In part, yes. But GM Kyle Davidson did a savvy job of surrounding him with veterans like Nick Foligno, Corey Perry, Ryan Donato and another former No. 1 overall pick, Taylor Hall. They’re young, but they’ll work hard for Luke Richardson every night.

24. Nashville Predators

New GM Barry Trotz purged some personalities from the roster this summer to reform the culture of the club. But that also took with it some big offensive contributors. This might be a tough season for the skaters in front of Jusse Saros.

23. Washington Capitals

We’ll all watch in awe as every goal and every point moves Alex Ovechkin closer to 99’s records, but the rest of the roster in D.C. leaves a lot to be desired. It might be lottery time in Washington.

22. New York Islanders

They have elite goaltending, Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal. Beyond that, their blueline is going to have to be a brick wall because the offense is going to struggle to put up three goals and get wins.

21. Arizona Coyotes

Congrats to the Coyotes for almost making it all the way out of the 20s to start this year! Usually near the bottom of early season Power Rankings, the injection of Logan Cooley into a young, dynamic lineup is going to make the Coyotes a scary team to gameplan against.

20. Detroit Red Wings

I like the addition of Alex DeBrincat and Jeff Petry should help their blueline. I just wonder about the rest of their summer additions making them good enough to really push for a playoff berth in a loaded Eastern Conference.

19. Winnipeg Jets

They probably would have been lower this week if not for the blockbuster surprise extensions for their two veteran leaders (who are left). However, the roster around them is still a struggle wagon in a top-heavy Central Division.

18. Calgary Flames

The issues between the room and head coach have been resolved and they’re going to get a new barn, so that’s all good. But they need huge bounce-back seasons from Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau to make a move up in their division.

17. Tampa Bay Lightning

The page is slowly turning to the next generation in Tampa, but the core is still as good as it gets. However, the contract uncertainty with Steven Stamkos and losing goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for at least a couple months to start the year aren’t good signs.

16. Minnesota Wild

They’re probably a playoff team by virtue of being the third-best team in the Central, but this team didn’t take a big step forward this summer because of their dead money issues. Unless Brock Faber and Marco Rossi emerge as big-time threats immediately, they’ll be looking up at Colorado and Dallas all year.

15. Ottawa Senators

The Sens’ sale is complete and now they can move forward with their future. But… will that future include Shane Pinto? Because as long as Josh Norris’ shoulder is a problem, their center depth will keep them a fringe playoff team at best.

14. Boston Bruins

Who exactly are the Boston Bruins this year? Coming off a historically good regular-season, their disappointing postseason was followed by the summer departures of five of their 12 regular postseason forwards. Their center depth is no longer the envy of the league, and their depth was hurt with the losses of Hall and Foligno to Chicago.

13. Seattle Kraken

The Kraken jumped into the playoffs last year and should challenge for a spot again this year. Matty Beniers looks like the goods and their goaltending settled down in the second half of last year.

12. Florida Panthers

Big injury concerns on their blueline mean they’re going to have to out-score people to get wins early in the year. A short summer means the start of the new year might be tough running for the defending Eastern Conference champs.

11. Buffalo Sabres

They locked-up Rasmus Dahlin long-term and have a fun, fast team that’s going to score a lot of goals. If Devon Levi is as good as advertised, they’ll end their playoff-missing streak this year.

10. Pittsburgh Penguins

They get the first look at Bedard on Tuesday night, but they’ll also look to make amends for Chicago knocking them out of the playoffs late last year. This is an old team that’s all-in for a championship run this year.

9. New York Rangers

There’s a lot to like about this team from top to bottom. But can they score enough at 5-on-5 to stay with the young teams emerging in the East? Their young players need to take a big step forward offensively this year.

8. Los Angeles Kings

The addition of Pierre-Luc Dubois makes their center depth among the best in the league. I like a lot of the additions in LA (I picked them to win the division). My biggest question is their goaltending.

7. Vegas Golden Knights

Yeah, they’re the defending champs. But the playoff teams in their division got better and they’re coming off a short summer. And let’s not ignore the issues they had keeping goaltenders on the ice throughout last year.

6. Edmonton Oilers

They have the best player(s) on the planet. And expectations are that this year is Cup or Bust in Edmonton. But will their defense and goaltending stand up in a tough division?

5. Toronto Maple Leafs

They’re another team that’s really all-in this year. They spent every cent they had left to bolster a lineup around their core, and they found enough money to give Auston Matthews the bag. But what about William Nylander?

4. Carolina Hurricanes

They’re my pick to win the Stanley Cup, but they aren’t No. 1 on my season-opening Power Rankings. They might be the best defensive team in the league, but I’m not sure they win their division or score enough to light people up over 82 games.

3. Colorado Avalanche

So we’re going with Ryan Johansen at 2C to start the year, eh? Everything about the rest of this roster screams championship contender, though, so there will be some pressure on Johansen to settle in and produce quickly.

2. New Jersey Devils

Top to bottom, they might be the fastest team in the league. It’s hard to not love their roster over a regular season. But will they gain enough experience during the regular season to carry their success over into the postseason?

1. Dallas Stars

They were top-five in almost every team statistic last year and return a team that might be better on paper. They’re getting production from young players and their veteran depth is playing their roles incredibly well. Based on how the Cowboys played in San Francisco, the Stars might be Dallas’ best shot at a championship this year.