The slog of the regular season is mercifully coming to a close and, in a couple weeks, the best post-season in all of sports begins. Here’s one more Power Rankings before the teams decide who’s worthy and who isn’t. Some contenders started slowly – Edmonton and Carolina, to name two – but eventually the cream rose to the top. It may not be a huge surprise that the B’s will make the playoffs, but the fact their still fighting for the top spot in the division is. Most of the usual suspects, however, are who you suspected they’d be.
1. New York Rangers – Not only are the Rangers on top of the league standings, in the past eight days the Blueshirts have dispatched the Bruins, Panthers, Avalanche and Flyers. They’re hitting their stride at the right moment.
2. Dallas Stars – Can’t say I always come away impressed when watching the Stars. Yet here they are, only one of two teams with 100-plus points.
3. Carolina Hurricanes – If the Jake Guentzel deal doesn’t finally get this team over the top, what will?
4. Colorado Avalanche – Nathan MacKinnon has put himself in the driver’s seat for the Hart Trophy and, though they’ve lost the last couple, the Avs had been on a tear in March.
5. Boston Bruins – Their record says they’ve been a middling team since their surprisingly hot start. Yet they refuse to concede the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
6. Vancouver Canucks – With all due respect to John Tortorella, Rick Tocchet has earned the Jack Adams Award.
7. Florida Panthers – There aren’t many Bruins fans who’d favor their team over the Panthers in a seven-game series and, yes, the Panthers do have that “built for the playoffs” look about them. But Florida has lost 6-of-7 and they’ve still yet to beat the B’s in three tries.
8. Edmonton Oilers – I don’t think Connor McDavid should win the Hart this year. The Conn Smythe Trophy, however, is still very much on the table.
9. Winnipeg Jets – The Jet have hit a rough patch, losing four of their last five. Not the best timing.
10. Nashville Predators – The Preds finally had their 18-game point streak (16-0-2) snapped on Thursday, but they didn’t need to see U2 to find what they’re looking for.
11. Tampa Bay Lightning – Not only are the Bolts 6-0-1 in their last seven, they beat the B’s on a night Nikita Kucherov was quiet. They simply choked off the B’s attack in the last two periods, which should make a potential post-season matchup a concerning one for B’s fans.
12. Toronto Maple Leafs – The Leafs have not yet been overtaken by Tampa in the standings, but they’ve been just muddling along since the B’s beat them twice in a week.
13. Los Angeles Kings – The Oilers cooled them off on Thursday but with their depth at center, the Kings won’t be a palatable matchup for anyone.
14. Vegas Golden Knights – No matter how much high-end talent the Knights added at the deadline, they have not replaced Mark Stone.
15. Philadelphia Flyers – They’re not guaranteed a spot in the post-season but the fact that they’ve hung on to one while half their their D corps is on the shelf is commendable.
16. Washington Capitals –Their minus-30 goal differential is concerning. But as Jim Montgomery pointed out earlier this week, that means the Caps win their close games. Should be a good test for the B’s on Saturday night.
17. St. Louis Blues – If the Blues were in the Eastern Conference, they’d be in the playoffs right now. Instead, they’re most likely headed for a DNQ.
18. Detroit Red Wings – Not making the playoffs would be a bitter pill, especially when they’ve gotten everything they could have hoped for with the Patrick Kane acquisition.
19. Minnesota Wild – Hard to think this team will miss the playoffs this year with the way they played against the B’s this year, but that’s where it’s headed.
20. New York Islanders – It looks like they may have hired Patrick Roy just a little too late.
21. New Jersey Devils – Dougie Hamilton may not be the best defenseman in his own zone, but his loss definitely hurt. And, oh yeah, not having a goalie didn’t help much, either. After beating the Rangers in the playoffs last year, the Devils are probably the NHL’s biggest disappointment
22. Pittsburgh Penguins – For anyone who minimizes the B’s regular-season accomplishments this year, the Pens have proven that making the playoffs is not as easy as it looks.
23. Seattle Kraken – Last year’s Cinderella team never got out of neutral this season.
24. Buffalo Sabres – With yet another late-season tease falling short, Sabres’ fans should sue the team for cruel and unusual punishment.
25. Calgary Flames – How do you build a team when stars keeping running away? GM Craig Conroy has his work cut out for him.
26. Arizona Coyotes – There’s talent here but not enough to prevent another fade-out down the stretch.
27. Ottawa Senators – Again, goalie is kind of an important position.
28. Montreal Canadiens – The Habs play with gumption but not enough skill. With five picks in the first three rounds of the draft, the rebuild marches on.
29. Columbus Blue Jackets – Here the Jackets are, starting over yet again with another GM search. Columbus deserves better.
30. Anaheim Ducks –The Ducks have seven picks in the first three rounds. They could use some meat-and-potatoes skill in the new crop to add to the French pastry type they already have.
31. Chicago Blackhawks – The Hawks will get another high-end pick. They’ll also get Taylor Hall back. Depending on their free agency activity, the Hawks should be ready to move up from the lowest tier of teams.
32. San Jose Sharks – The GM and coach are both Boston University-bred. It would seem only right that the Terriers’ superstar freshman Macklin Celebrini lands in San Jose as well.
