NHL Power Rankings: The Top 15 teams before the Trade Deadline

Teams in the NHL are gearing up to enter the last quarter of the regular season, with plans for big trades surely being made across the league. Let’s take a look a the best 15 teams in hockey right now!

The Lightning have struggled to put together a sustained period of good play this season and struggle when matching up against the best teams in hockey. Still, they are still in the hunt for the playoffs and will be all year.

The Flyers continue to battle in every game they play and currently sit third in the Metropolitan Division. As the NHL’s Super 16 points out, they are a team desperate for a backup goalie with some experience given Samuel Ersson and Cal Petersen’s lack of playing time in the NHL, could they address this at the deadline?

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The Red Wings are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, per Hockey Reference, and will be looking to continue their red-hot streak. The Daily Faceoff has poured some hot water on their streak, given their ‘outrageous PDO,’ but for Detroit fans, just enjoy the run for now and deal with the advanced stats later.

The defending Stanley Cup champions are struggling to keep shots out of the net at the moment, conceding 12 in their past three games, including four to the Senators... They’ll need to drastically improve this if they want to compete in the playoffs again.

Like the Red Wings, the Kings are in the midst of an incredible streak, going 7-3 in their last 10. As ESPN put it, “Interim bench boss Jim Hiller has helped right the ship,” following a disastrous January that nearly saw them slip out of playoff contention altogether.

The Canes continue to win consistently, but can’t string enough results together to push the Rangers to the top of the Metropolitan Division, that being said, they have a loaded roster and should be looking to make a deep run come playoff time.

As the Daily Faceoff puts it, “Every Oilers game is fun to watch,” and they’re not wrong. They are a chaotic team with some great players (including the best player on the planet) but they lack depth in some key areas. For now at least…

The Avs are going to make the playoffs and with Nathan MacKinnon’s otherworldly playing driving them forward, no one is going to want to face them in a seven-game series. Recently they have been a little inconsistent, otherwise we would have a few ranks higher.

The Jets continue to win and continue to look like one of the elite teams in hockey, but as Kristen Shilton for ESPN asks, “have we seen the best of the Jets already?” For a team with little recent experience of deep playoff runs, when they peak is going to be key.

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Could it be the Leafs' year? Well, they’ve won seven in a row and eight of their last ten suggesting that when they get hot, they’re a tough team to spot. Just using basic statistics (we think?), at some point, they have to win the Stanley Cup again, so we’re going to assume this will, in fact, be the Leafs' year.

The Rangers have the most exciting player in hockey right now in Matt Rempe, the 6’7”, 241 lbs forward seemingly intent on fighting everyone in the NHL within his first season, just unbelievable to watch. Outside of that, they are leading the Metropolitan Division and look tough to beat. But boy, that Rempe kid!

Amalie Benjamin, writing for NHL media points out the Bruins’ offense only ranks at, “No. 13 in the NHL at 3.32 goals per game,” suggesting their record may be slightly belying their on-ice play. Still, this is a great team, maybe they’ll even get out of the first round this year…

The Daily Faceoff has the Stars at two in their rankings, which is a little high for us, but their reasoning, “there’s no weaknesses in this lineup,” is sound. The Stars can beat anyone on their day and will be there or thereabouts come Finals time.

The Canucks are an absolute force this season, with a +52 goal differential (the best in the league) and 82 points through 60 games. They look set to finish first in the Pacific and should really be aiming for at least the Conference Finals.

The consensus number-one team in hockey right now, the Panthers are elite and have been all year. They seem to roll through teams at times with little effort, such is their talent level. Another Stanley Cup appearance is on the cards, and this time, they could pull off the win!

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