[text_output]With training camp opening, and preseason just around the corner, the chaos and confusion of the offseason is now a distant memory. Instead, it is replaced by the chaos and confusion of preseason. On each team, dozens of players, both veterans and youngsters, will be battling it out for spots in the big leagues. Most will come up short: teams invite nearly double the amount of players as they can have on their day one roster. But, now that rosters are mostly settled, this is the time to make real predictions about where the 31 NHL teams currently are at. In short, it’s time for the first 2018 Blueshirts Breakaway Power Ranking!
First, my method: It’s totally subjective, obviously. But I am basing this off of where these teams are NOW. Last years results have very little bearing. Simply because they won the Cup a year ago, Washington is not #1 by default. If I feel that another team is better going into this season (spoiler alert: I do) then they will be ranked higher. Also, the teams are divided into tiers. This will provide more clarity to where the gaps in the rankings are. For example, I feel that there is a bigger gap between ranks 3 and 4, then there is between 5 and 6. This is reflected in the tier rankings, which will indicate where I feel the big gaps are. So without further ado, let’s begin.[/text_output]
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Tier 1- Elite
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#1: Tampa Bay Lightning
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[text_output]Somehow, missing out on John Tavares and Erik Karlsson doesn’t diminish their standing among NHL rosters. This team has the perfect mix of depth on super cheap deals (Point, Gourde, Sergachev) and Superstar talent also on team friendly deals (Hedman, Stamkos, Kucherov). Their hesitance to give Louis Domingue starts late last season, even after Andrei Vasilevsky began struggling and admitted he was tired, indicates that backup goaltending is an area of concern for the Bolts. Assuming they make the playoffs, their stars MUST perform better in a game 7.[/text_output]
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#2: San Jose Sharks
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[text_output]The Sharks were among the best teams in the NHL before trading for Erik Karlsson. The fact they did so without losing much of anything from their roster is unthinkable. The Sharks will now have Norris trophy winners on their top two pairings. I look forward to the debates as to whether it is better to use both Brent Burns and Karlsson at the same time on the Power Play or not. In two seasons, the only core members of the Sharks that will be under 30 are Evander Kane and Tomas Hertl, so the Sharks made the smart play to push all their chips into the middle of the table. We will see if it pays off.[/text_output]
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#3: Winnipeg Jets
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[text_output]Is there a more overlooked Top Center in the league than Mark Scheifele? All he’s done is score .97 points per game over the last three years, and at 25, he’s only just entering his prime. Even though they lost Paul Stastny, the Jets may have the best forward group in the NHL. Consider that 29 goal scorer, Nikolaj Ehlers and the Rocket Richard runner-up Patrik Laine were on their second line in the playoffs last season. Most teams would kill for that production on their top line, but the Jets just happen to have that luxury. A year ago, Winnipeg acquired Steve Mason, since Connor Hellebuyck was considered not good enough to be the team’s top starter. This off season he was rewarded with a six year extension. He must prove that he is still the Vezina caliber player he was in 2017-18 if Winnipeg is to compete this year.[/text_output]
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Tier 2- Contenders
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#4: Toronto Maple Leafs
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[text_output]If a team is going to compete with Winnipeg for the title of best forwards, it is Toronto. John Tavares makes an already loaded group truly elite. Adding another quality right-handed defenseman must be near the top of new GM Kyle Dubas’ to-do list. However, with William Nylander still unsigned, and Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Kasperi Kapanen on expiring ELCs, that will have to wait. The Leafs fancy themselves a candidate to move into the Elite tier, but they must patch the holes on their blueline first, as Fredrik Andersen cannot face the number of shots he did a year ago. That will be hard to do with a potential cap crunch looming.[/text_output]
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#5: Pittsburgh Penguins
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[text_output]This is likely the last chance for this core to make a Cup run. It will be difficult to retain all of the depth that helped them win back to back championships. However, between Oleksiak, Schultz and Dumoulin, the defense is very talented, particularly if Kris Letang can return to pre injury form. That will help Matt Murray return to form, as he was simply not good enough in his first season as a full-time starter. Plus they have these two guys, Crosby and Malkin, who Pierre McGuire tells me are pretty good Centers.[/text_output]
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#6: Washington Capitals
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[text_output]Right back to being behind the Penguins, eh Caps fans? In all seriousness, the Capitals surprised everyone last year in winning it all, myself included. Alex Ovechkin will always give this team a chance to go deep in the playoffs, and Evgeny Kuznetsov has blossomed into the Caps next superstar. His performance in the playoffs is certainly one of the most overlooked reasons for Washington’s championship. Promoting Todd Rierden will give the coaching staff continuity after Barry Trotz’s resignation, even if he is a first time head coach. I have concerns about their defense though. The Carlson contract is a potential albatross, though considering the talent drop off on the blueline after him, I can understand the feeling of urgency. Dmitry Orlov and Matt Niskanen are capable, but there is no difference maker among this group.[/text_output]
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#7: Nashville Predators
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[text_output]The Preds were my pick to win it all a year ago. However, the Finnish Roller Coaster known as Pekka Rinne put up one of the worst game 7 performances in recent memory, and they were eliminated by Winnipeg. He still won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender, but at 35 with one year left on his contract, Nashville must prioritize giving presumed successor Juuse Saros playing time. Fortunately, playing behind Nashville’s defense should make that an easy task; Nashville arguably has 4 of the top 25 defensemen in the NHL. However, they need a difference making goal scorer. Viktor Arvidsson, in particular, must continue to improve. Will Eeli Tolvanen live up to the hype after a disappointing playoffs?[/text_output]
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#8: Vegas Golden Knights
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[text_output]The best story in sports of 2018, Vegas is still extremely difficult to figure out. Even they seem to agree, giving 43 goal scoring revelation William Karlsson a one year deal. Max Pacioretty played his heart out in Montreal, and it will be fun to watch play for a team and city that doesn’t irrationally hate him. Vegas turned just about everything (except Tomas Tatar) from lead into gold in 2017-18. It will be great for the sport of hockey if they can continue that magic.[/text_output]
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Tier 3- Pushing For Playoffs
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#9: Boston Bruins
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[text_output]Boston may have a hard time replicating their success from a year ago. The top line of Marchand, Pastrnak and Bergeron was spectacular, but once they started to wear down near the end of the season, their lack of depth became evident. They will need secondary scoring to emerge if they want to succeed in the playoffs. The biggest question facing the Bruins this year, though: Now that Steven Kampfer is in Boston, will Greg Kaplan become a Bruins fan?[/text_output]
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#10: Philadelphia Flyers
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[text_output]The Flyers are a goaltender away from being one of the top teams in the East. Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Sean Couturier are all coming off career best seasons, while Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov are two of the most exciting young defenders in the entire league. However, the relentless goaltender purgatory that has plagued this team shows no sign of relenting. They’ve started 13 goalies since 2011-12. Brian Elliott and Michael Neuvirth showed that they are not long term answers between the pipes in Philly. They should make the playoffs again, but what they do once they get there will hinge on the play of their netminder.[/text_output]
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#11: Columbus Blue Jackets
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[text_output]I believe that, when he is on, Sergei Bobrovsky is the best goaltender in the NHL, bar none. However he has never been on in the playoffs: he is 5-14 with a .891 SV% and 3.49 GAA in his playoff career. This team has elite talent on the blueline, and winger Artemi Panarin is truly among the best in the business. However, the forwards’ talent level falls off after him. Pierre-Luc Dubois may be the future for the Jackets, but Columbus tumbles down these rankings without the breadman, who is a UFA next offseason. Columbus believes their time is now, but if Panarin does not resign in Columbus, then it may be time to start over. [/text_output]
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#12: St. Louis Blues
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[text_output]The Blues missed the playoffs for the first time since 2011, and did not hesitate to make improvements to their roster this off-season. Ryan O’Reilly, and Tyler Bozak will upgrade their offensive arsenal and, along with Brayden Schenn, gives them fantastic depth down the middle. The team will only go as far as Jake Allen can take them, though. Replacing Carter Hutton with Chad Johnson is a huge downgrade of goaltending depth, and Allen must rebound from last year’s disappointment if this team will enjoy any success. Unfortunately for them, Allen will miss the start of training camp with back spasms. If he misses any significant time in the regular season, the Blues will tumble down these rankings.[/text_output]
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Tier 4- The Mushy Middle
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#13: Anaheim Ducks
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[text_output]I find myself overrating the Ducks on an annual basis. At this point, I must admit that the cracks are starting to show in the Ducks foundation. John Gibson and the defense are talented, in their prime, and under contract long term. However, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf are no longer the dynamic duo that can put this team over the top. Ryan Kesler may be missing an extended period of time as well, which is a huge loss for Anaheim. Aside from Rickard Rickell, is there any young forward who is able to pick up the slack?[/text_output]
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#14: New Jersey Devils
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[text_output]The Devils surprised everyone, making an unexpected run to the playoffs on the back of Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall. Hall’s season was unbelievable, at one point he scored in 26 straight games, and he nearly single handedly willed Jersey into the tournament. He will be hard pressed to replicate that level of performance, so if this team is going to return to the postseason, the supporting cast must step up. First overall pick Nico Hischier played well as a rookie, and will be counted on the take the next step this year. The goaltending situation is a mystery though. Keith Kinkaid was better down the stretch and helped the Devils make the playoffs, but was disastrous in the playoffs. Corey Schneider struggled in the regular season but will likely get first crack at the day 1 starting job. It is likely this team comes back to Earth a bit in the highly competitive Metropolitan division.[/text_output]
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#15: Colorado Avalanche
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[text_output]Colorado was basically New Jersey West a year ago. They shocked the world, going from historically bad in 2017, to a playoff appearance in 2018. They live and die by the performance of stars Nathan MacKinnon, and Mikko Rantanen, after whom the roster falls off quite a bit. Personally, I like Semyon Varlamov more than most people do, but he’s a very solid goalie when healthy. Unfortunately that hasn’t been often the last few seasons. The Central division is a bloodbath every year, meaning Colorado will be hard pressed to match their historic 2017-18.[/text_output]
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#16: Florida Panthers
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[text_output]Notoriously inconsistent, the Panthers are legitimately loaded on paper. Ekblad, Barkov, Huberdeau, and Trochek form one of the best young cores in the entire NHL. They missed the playoffs a year ago, when a miserable start proved too deep a hole to climb out of. Roberto Luongo isn’t getting any younger, but he is coming off another fantastic season. One must wonder how much better this team would be had they not fired Jack Adams winner Gerard Gallant.[/text_output]
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#17: Dallas Stars
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[text_output]You must give Dallas credit for trying this offseason. They made hard runs at John Tavares and Erik Karlsson, but came up empty. However, they made it clear that retaining their own stars is a priority by giving Tyler Seguin a massive $78.8 million extension. Regardless, the Stars remain in goaltending purgatory. Ben Bishop and Kari Lehtonen were very average all year long. Anton Khudobin represents a potential upgrade over Lehtonen in terms of depth. Replacing Ken Hitchcock with Jim Montgomery will hopefully prevent another late season collapse, which kept Dallas out of the playoffs a year ago.[/text_output]
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#18: Minnesota Wild
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[text_output]Coming off their sixth straight playoff appearance, things look good on the surface for the Wild. Dig a little deeper and the cause for concern becomes evident. In today’s NHL, where youth and speed rules the day, the average age of their top 6 forwards is 30 years old. Eric Staal cannot be expected to score 40 goals again. Their scoring evaporates quickly after the first two forward lines: Aside from Charlie Coyle, no player on their third or fourth lines scored more than 30 points last season. Of course, depth is hard to add when you are in the sort of cap crunch Minnesota is in. Minnesota will be paying Zach Parise and Ryan Suter $7.5 million until 2025.[/text_output]
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#19: Calgary Flames
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[text_output]Everything went off the rails in Calgary a year ago. They were in playoff position near mid season, but completely collapsed, winning only 5 of their last 23 games. Glen Gulutzan is gone, as is museum enthusiast Dougie Hamilton. It’s hard to understate the loss of Hamilton. At 24, he is quietly one of the best defenseman in the entire NHL. Nevertheless, don’t underestimate the return Calgary received. Both Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm are young players with very solid underlying stats. If the new coaching regime can keep the locker room from imploding, this team can be in play for a playoff spot.[/text_output]
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#20: Los Angeles Kings
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[text_output] In a league built on youth, speed, and depth, the Kings are keen on bucking that trend, getting older and slower as the years go by. They are expected to start the season with at least 6 forwards over the age of thirty, headlined by 35 year old marquee free agent acquisition Ilya Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk is expected to provide the scoring touch LA was missing in the first round sweep at the hands of Vegas. The Kings excellent defense should be enough to propel them to another deep playoff run, assuming their forwards hold up their end of the deal.[/text_output]
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#21: Carolina Hurricanes
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[text_output]Carolina seems to be the trendy pick for a surprise playoff team each preseason. Instead they end up on the outside looking in, but never bad enough to acquire a franchise altering player. This may be the year that changes, after the luck of the draft lottery went their way. Landing the exceptional Andrei Svechnikov with the second overall pick and acquiring Hamilton, Carolina is arguably the team most improved on draft day. The question mark is in net. Scott Darling was an acquisition I was high on a year ago, but he was abysmal in his first year with the Canes. Petr Mrazek will provide good competition for a team seeking their first playoff appearance in a decade[/text_output]
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Tier 5- The Mediocre Mess
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#22: New York Rangers
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[text_output]The Rangers are unique in that they are at the beginning of a full rebuild, but there is plenty of optimism about what they have done. Flipping multiple assets for draft capital at the deadline, the Rangers accelerated their rebuild timeline and have plenty of quality prospects in their pipeline now. It remains to be seen if any of them can develop into blue-chip stars at the next level, or if they are merely solid players. If the Rangers succeed with this plan, expect other teams to copy the blueprint laid by Jeff Gorton and co.[/text_output]
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#23: Edmonton Oilers
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[text_output]Connor McDavid is a special player, make no mistake about it. But the team around him is a mess. Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are quality pieces to build with, but the rest of the forwards were simply not good enough in 2017-18. The defense was a shadow of itself from the previous year as well. Andrej Sekera will miss several months after his second major surgery, meaning this group will have nearly the same group they did most of last year. Cam Talbot will have to rebound from his poor season to get this team to improve on their poor standing a year ago. [/text_output]
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#24: Chicago Blackhawks
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[text_output]The Blackhawks spent the previous offseason getting the old band back together. Bringing back Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp was supposed to reignite the spark from the ‘Hawks three Stanley cups. Instead they finished in last place in the Central division. Chicago was competitive before starting goalie Corey Crawford went down with a mysterious head injury, which he is still not back from. His status is in question for the regular season opener, and Cam Ward supplies serviceable backup play, though he will inspire little confidence. If they manage to get solid goaltending, there are as many as 6 players on ELCs fighting for a job in Chicago, so they could be an exciting team to watch.[/text_output]
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#25: New York Islanders
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[text_output]Losing a franchise superstar always hurts. Losing one while getting nothing in return is devastating. Matt Barzal is expected to fill the shoes of the departed John Tavares, which is possible, but a lofty goal for a 21 year old. Robin Lehner, a goalie I like more than most people do, will be an upgrade over the departed Jaroslav Halak. The biggest development for the Isles is the addition of head coach Barry Trotz. Whether in Washington or Nashville, Trotz has done a very good job of coaching defense, which has been the problem area for this team. Assuming the offense remains potent, that improvement could be enough to get the Islanders back into the playoffs.[/text_output]
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#26: Arizona Coyotes
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[text_output]The Coyotes were a disaster to start the season, not winning their first game until October 30, and not getting a regulation win until November 16. That said, they finished the season by playing well, winning 17 of their last 26, and finished ahead of Ottawa and Buffalo despite giving the entire league a month head start. Antti Raanta would have been a legitimate Vezina candidate had he not missed almost half the season with injury. Alex Galchenyuk is a big improvement over Max Domi as well. Arizona is a candidate to improve dramatically this season. Playoffs are unlikely in 2019, but stranger things have happened. [/text_output]
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#27: Vancouver Canucks
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[text_output]Like their Pacific Division rival Coyotes, the Canucks are likely a year away from being a year away. The future is bright in Vancouver. Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Quinn Hughes combine to form a very exciting young future core for this team. They have big holes to fill with the retirement of the Sedins, and the Canucks faithful will need to be patient as they see this rebuild through. The future is bright in Vancouver, but they will likely need more time to return to being a contender.[/text_output]
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#28: Buffalo Sabres
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[text_output]The Sabres are running out of excuses. Jack Eichel, Casey Mittlestadt and Rasmus Dahlin should be enough to push this team out of the basement they have been trapped in for years. Carter Hutton is expected to solidify their goaltending, an achilles heel for this team the last few years. Conor Sheary is another big addition, who will be expected to lead this team back to the playoffs, although his play may drop off without Crosby and Malkin. On potential alone, this team should be much closer to the top, but I cannot justify moving them higher unless they actually start to put the pieces together for once.[/text_output]
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#29 Detroit Red Wings
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[text_output]The decades-long playoff streak seems like a distant memory now. The offense disappears for long stretches, while the defense is aging and slow. Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Bernier form a very mediocre goalie duo. Making matters worse, the lack of cap space makes it very difficult to make any moves to improve the team. Losing captain Henrik Zetterberg to retirement will help in that regard, once he’s placed on LTIR. There are great prospects on the way in Detroit, namely Filip Zadina and Joe Veleno, but this team is a long way away from being competitive.[/text_output]
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#30: Montreal Canadiens
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[text_output]For a team that desperately needs goal scoring, the Habs were very intent on parting ways with some of their best goal scoring talent. Marc Bergevin did his patented offseason one-for-one downgrade, trading Galchenyuk for Max Domi. Max Pacioretty got a decent return, as Nick Suzuki is a good prospect. Claude Julien’s teams have tended to struggle to score goals, so downgrading the offensive talent does not bode well. A healthy Carey Price has the potential to push this team into the playoffs again, but coming off his worst season as a pro, and having missed most of the last three seasons leaves little room for optimism. [/text_output]
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Tier 6- The Dumpster
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#31: Ottawa Senators
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[text_output]Just when you think you’ve hit rock bottom, Eugene Melnyk opens his mouth again. The team was closer to a reality TV show than an actual sports franchise in 2018. They got completely played in the Mike Hoffman trade. The return for Erik Karlsson was comically low. The roster is a mess. The GM can’t shake the appearance of being spineless and incompetent. The owner won’t stop pissing off fans. Typically the worst team in the league should lose as much as possible to get the highest pick possible, but that belongs to Colorado. But according to the front office, there’s plenty to be optimistic about, including the fact that they’re a team.[/text_output]
Author: Lee Borden
Lee will never know true happiness until the Rangers win the Stanley Cup. He will never find peace until the Jets win the Super Bowl. And he will never sleep soundly until Jonathan Quick and Tom Brady stop haunting his dreams.