OUTSIDER SPORTS BUZZ: NHL WEEKLY REPORT

Welcome to Outsider Sports Buzz, NHL edition. Here we break down the biggest news over the course of the week and we give the Outsider Sports staff power rankings.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are officially upon us. For this week’s report, we will focus on our power rankings, ranking all 16 teams remaining. For the first round preview, click here.

Image credit to Fox News

OUTSIDER SPORTS POWER RANKINGS

Members of the Outsider Sports Hockey Podcast Tom Leone and Mikey D, myself and Outsider Sports writer Arianna Fariss each provided rankings for the remaining teams in the NHL. How we ranked them? Where we ranked each team was by how many points assigned to them, with first getting 16 points and 16th getting one point. The team with the most points is ranked first. How we ranked each team is underneath our rankings.

1. Boston Bruins (64 points)

The Bruins are the President’s Trophy winners and the best team in regular-season history. So it’s no surprise to see them once again represented unanimously as the top team.

2. New Jersey Devils (56 points)

The Devils earned the second spot for the first playoff power rankings despite failing to take the spot in the regular season. They’re the fastest team in the league, and while it doesn’t seem like Luke Hughes will start the playoffs in the lineup, he looked really good in the final game of the season and just his second professional game, picking up his first assist and scoring the game-winner in overtime.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs (55 points)

Toronto came close to New Jersey for the second spot largely because of how much talent this team has. The argument can be made that the only difference between Boston and Toronto is goaltending. The rest of the team stacks up pound-for-pound with the Bruins and in-turn, the rest of the league.

4. New York Rangers (49 points)

The Rangers may be third in the Metropolitan Division, but don’t let that fool you, they are a top-five team. We all thought so, with them climbing back up.

With Igor Shesterkin between the pipes, they don’t need much else. But they added Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane at the deadline to a roster that already had Adam Fox, K’Andre Miller, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. They have a tough first round matchup, but the winner of that series will be expected to face Boston in the Eastern Conference Final as long as they take care of business.

5. Carolina Hurricanes (46 points)

The Hurricanes dropped to a tie for fifth in our rankings with the Colorado Avalanche despite winning the Metropolitan division. The biggest problem for this team has been the injuries and the depth isn’t what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing with Carolina.

They still have Sebastian Aho, but they also have guys like Stefan Noesen on the second line. In his best days he was a glorified fourth liner with New Jersey years ago. 

6. Colorado Avalanche (46 points)

The Avalanche finished a great stretch run over the month and a half of the season to claim the central division. They will start the playoffs of their Stanley Cup defense against Seattle, and while they have injuries, the Avalanche still possess two other worldly talents in Nathan Mackinnon and Cale Makar. Goaltending will be the biggest weakness for Colorado.

7. Vegas Golden Knights (43 points)

Vegas is the best team in the west, at least after the regular season they are. They will be without Logan Thompson as he still hasn’t started skating as of Sunday. Jonathan Quick has been really good, playing well enough to win since coming over from Columbus (technically).

Still, they have a lot of talent up front and should find success and put home ice to use.

8. Edmonton Oilers (41 points)

Connor McDavid has lifted his game to new heights this season and the Oilers have risen all the way to second in the Pacific because of it. There is plenty of talent around him as well, and with teams like Vegas and Colorado having problems in goal, the West could be ripe for the taking.

9. Los Angeles Kings (29 points)

The Kings fell to third in the Pacific thanks to the Oilers late surge over the final month, but this is still a really good hockey team. Veterans like Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar will lead the young guys, but by drawing Edmonton in the first round they will need Phoenix Copley and Joonas Korpisalo to play well.

10. Dallas Stars (28 points)

As I said in the playoff preview, the Stars are the most complete team in the Central division. They don’t have the star power of Colorado, but they have a better goalie in Jake Oettinger, plenty of offense in Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski, Max Domi and Jamie Benn.

11. Tampa Bay Lightning (26 points)

The Lightning don’t have Ondrej Palat and didn’t show the same dominance this season that we had seen in years past, but they are still a dangerous group. As long as Andrei Vasilevsky is in between the pipes, this team has a chance. Plus they still have stars like Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos.

12. Minnesota Wild (20 points)

For Minnesota, they just needed to survive the last stretch of the season without Kirill Kaprizov. He’s back and now this team will get set for a rematch with the Dallas Stars. Marc-Andre Fleury will need to be at his best, but he should have help with Kaprizov, Matthew Boldy, Ryan Hartman and Gustav Nyquist.

13. New York Islanders (16 points)

The Islanders were picked to advance to round two by three of the four of us, but they’re ranked 13 out of the 16 playoff teams. They play well together and match up well with the Hurricanes. New York’s defensive style translates well to the playoffs, but we have to see what Lane Lambert’s system looks like in the playoffs.

14. Seattle Kraken (11 points)

The Kraken had a historic turnaround from season one to season two. It got them into the playoffs, but they have a tough matchup and a few holes. Matthew Benniers has been great, but he isn’t a star in the NHL yet. They still don’t have a star, but they’re depth stacks up with the best.

15. Florida Panthers (10 points)

The Panthers are coming into the playoffs as one of the hottest in the league, all they needed to get hot to make it into the final wild card. Matthew Tkachuk and Alexander Barkov are great players that can lead the charge offensively but they don't have a strong bottom-six and the goaltending will be the biggest concern heading into a series with the Bruins.

16. Winnipeg Jets (4 points)

The Jets come in as the lowest of the playoff teams, but they shouldn’t be disregarded. They have arguably the best goalie in the West in Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele is a trusted veteran to lead the charge.

How we ranked them:

Ben Mandell: Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Vegas Golden Knights, Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders, Seattle Kraken, Florida Panthers, Winnipeg Jets.

Tom Leone: Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, Seattle Kraken, Winnipeg Jets.

Mikey D: Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, New York Islanders, Seattle Kraken, Florida Panthers, Winnipeg Jets.

Arianna Fariss: Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Vegas Golden Knights, New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars, New York Islanders, Minnesota Wild, Seattle Kraken, Florida Panthers, Winnipeg Jets.