This is the second edition of theScore's NHL Power Rankings for the 2022-23 campaign. Check back for updated rankings every other Monday during the regular season.
In this edition, we look at each team's biggest cause for concern through the early part of the season.
1. Vegas Golden Knights (11-2-0)
Previous rank: 10
Can Logan Thompson handle a starter's workload? Thompson has stepped into the
Golden Knights' starting role and performed admirably with a .934 save percentage in eight appearances. The next test for the 25-year-old rookie is maintaining this level of play over a full NHL season.
2. Boston Bruins (10-2-0)
Previous rank: 3
The cap situation. The
Bruins are off to the best start in franchise history and are set to gain
Charlie McAvoy by the end of the month, assuming he recovers on his initial timeline. Boston needs to create about $3 million in space to activate McAvoy, which could result in shipping out a roster player. GM Don Sweeney will have his hands full with this one.
3. New Jersey Devils (9-3-0)
Previous rank: 19
Goaltending. It's the final puzzle piece for the
Devils, who are frankly crushing it in basically every other area on the ice. New Jersey ranks 28th in team save percentage at five-on-five, but
Vitek Vanecek has begun to string together some strong performances. The Devils will be even more dangerous if he keeps it up.
4. Carolina Hurricanes (8-3-1)
Previous rank: 4
Penalty kill. The
Hurricanes have been top five in penalty kill percentage each of the past three seasons and were the league's best unit in 2021-22, but this year, they're a lowly 16th. It feels like it's only a matter of time before Carolina's PK turns it around with minimal personnel changes from last year.
5. Dallas Stars (8-3-1)
Derek Leung / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Previous rank: 7
Is this just a PDO bender? The
Stars have received miraculous goaltending from
Jake Oettinger and top the league in shooting percentage at 5v5. Dallas' 105.2 PDO nearly tops the NHL by a decent margin, meaning the team could be in store for some regression. Oettinger's temporary unavailability won't help either.
6. Colorado Avalanche (6-4-1)
Previous rank: 5
A Stanley Cup hangover. The
Avalanche essentially brought back the same squad, but they haven't been quite as dominant as we're used to seeing. Perhaps a team bonding trip to Finland, which included a two-game sweep over the Blue Jackets, is what they needed to get on track.
7. Tampa Bay Lightning (7-4-1)
Previous rank: 12
Are they running out of gas? Three straight runs to the Stanley Cup Final have to start taking a toll, right? We'd be foolish to ever doubt the
Lightning, but eventually, the grind of those playoff runs could catch up to them.
8. Toronto Maple Leafs (7-4-2)
Previous rank: 9
Goaltending, but for a different reason than the Devils. The
Maple Leafs came into the season rocking with a tandem of
Matt Murray, who hasn't played since Game 1, and
Ilya Samsonov, who has been great but went down with an injury on Saturday. Not ideal.
9. Winnipeg Jets (7-3-1)
Previous rank: 24
Rick Bowness' health. The
Jets' new head coach has barely been behind the bench to begin the season after a bout with COVID. Forget hockey - we just hope the 67-year-old is okay.
10. Edmonton Oilers (7-5-0)
Previous rank: 14
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Jack Campbell. It's never a good thing when the 30-year-old goalie you signed to a five-year, $25-million extension mere months ago refers to his performance so far as "
pathetic." The
Oilers can outscore a ton of their problems, but Campbell has to do better than an .874 save percentage and 4.20 goals against average.
11. Florida Panthers (7-5-1)
Previous rank: 6
Depth on the blue line.
Brandon Montour,
Gustav Forsling, and
Radko Gudas are all averaging career highs in ice time. The
Panthers had Montour playing over 30 minutes against San Jose last week! With
Aaron Ekblad's injury already hard enough to overcome, any more injuries on the back end would leave Florida in a tough spot.
12. Calgary Flames (5-4-1)
Previous rank: 1
Jonathan Huberdeau. What if the prized offseason acquisition isn't a fit in Darryl Sutter's system? The reigning NHL assist leader only has one goal and four helpers so far. The
Flames need him to start producing offense because he isn't exactly a defensive specimen.
13. New York Rangers (6-4-3)
Previous rank: 11
Shooting luck. The
Rangers have converted on just 6.6% of their shots at 5v5, ranking bottom five in the NHL. New York has been a bit too reliant on its power play and will be hoping for some more puck luck at even strength.
14. New York Islanders (7-5-0)
Previous rank: 23
Mathew Barzal's scoring touch. The
Islanders' highest-paid player has 11 assists through 12 games, but he's yet to find twine. Barzal's always been more of a playmaker than a goal-scorer, but they need him to start finding the back of the net.
15. Buffalo Sabres (7-5-0)
Previous rank: 13
Ben Green / National Hockey League / Getty
Is this early success another mirage? The
Sabres have had hot starts to the campaign before. In 2018-19, they were 6-4. In 2019-20, they were 8-1-1. In 2020-21, they were 4-3-2. Last season, they were 5-1-1. All of those years, they finished with a sub-.500 points percentage. Is this the year they break that streak?
16. Philadelphia Flyers (6-3-2)
Previous rank: 16
The reliance on Carter Hart. The
Flyers goalie has easily been his team's most valuable player in the early going - and perhaps even the league MVP. But Philadelphia will have to start playing better in front of its star goalie if it hopes to continue this success. The Flyers are 31st - ahead of only Arizona - in five-on-five expected goals share.
17. Seattle Kraken (7-5-2)
Previous rank: 27
Philipp Grubauer. The
Kraken netminder is currently sidelined with a lower-body injury, but he was sporting an .860 save percentage before he went down. Grubauer's first season in Seattle was a disaster, and the start to this one has been even worse. He's the team's highest-paid player with a $5.9-million cap hit and is on the books through 2026-27.
18. Detroit Red Wings (7-3-2)
Previous rank: 18
A potential sophomore slump for Moritz Seider. The reigning Calder Trophy winner is off to a slow start this season, tallying just five points in 13 games, and his defensive play is lagging, too. If he doesn't turn it around, it'll be tough for the
Red Wings to make the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16.
19. Minnesota Wild (5-5-1)
Previous rank: 22
Ryan Hartman. The 28-year-old flew under the radar in 2021-22, scoring 34 goals and 65 points with the
Wild. He's had trouble repeating that success, with just one goal in nine games this year, and he's now on the shelf for at least the next week. Minnesota needs Hartman to find his rhythm as a top-six center again when he returns.
20. Los Angeles Kings (7-6-1)
Ronald Martinez / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Previous rank: 20
Goaltending. Yes, a lot of teams have issues between the pipes, but the
Kings are on a different level. The tandem of
Jonathan Quick and
Cal Petersen have combined for an .882 save percentage - the second-worst in the league despite Los Angeles being a top-10 team in terms of expected goals allowed. For a team with playoff aspirations, they need more saves.
21. Washington Capitals (5-6-2)
Previous rank: 17
Injuries. Oh god, the injuries. Look, every team deals with wounded players throughout an 82-game season, but come on - this is getting excessive. The
Capitals are still without
Tom Wilson,
Nicklas Backstrom, and
Carl Hagelin, but now
Connor Brown,
T.J. Oshie, and
John Carlson are all joining them on the sidelines. Please, have some mercy.
22. Chicago Blackhawks (5-5-2)
Previous rank: 26
Too good to get Connor Bedard, not good enough to make the playoffs. The
Blackhawks don't look as bad as almost everyone thought they would to start the season. Winning is fun, but Chicago parted ways with large swathes of its young talent and is supposed to be tanking. At this rate, the team may very well play itself out of the draft lottery with a decent campaign that falls short of the postseason.
23. Nashville Predators (5-6-1)
Previous rank: 21
Young talent. The only player under the age of 27 in the
Predators' top-10 scorers is
Tanner Jeannot. A lack of internal progression from the likes of
Philip Tomasino,
Dante Fabbro,
Cody Glass, and
Eeli Tolvanen has left Nashville with underwhelming depth.
24. Ottawa Senators (4-7-0)
Previous rank: 15
D.J. Smith. Ottawa's bench boss is the seventh-longest tenured head coach in the NHL despite never boasting a .500 points percentage in his previous three campaigns. The
Senators created expectations this season after an aggressive summer, so Smith may not be the answer behind the bench.
25. Pittsburgh Penguins (4-6-2)
Joshua Bessex / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Previous rank: 2
What if this is it? The
Penguins have made the playoffs for 16 consecutive seasons and by no means are we counting Pittsburgh out so early in the campaign, but the team looks listless amid a seven-game losing streak.
26. St. Louis Blues (3-6-0)
Previous rank: 8
Maybe lightning can't strike twice. The
Blues were memorably last place in the league midway through the 2018-19 season, but they didn't blow up the team and went on to win the Stanley Cup. St. Louis is in dire straits right now, but there's no guarantee it can recapture that unlikely magic.
27. Vancouver Canucks (3-6-3)
Previous rank: 32
The penalty kill. The
Canucks' penalty kill is operating at just a 60.5% clip - the worst in the league
. A year ago, they were the NHL's third-worst shorthanded team. Vancouver has to sharpen up on the man disadvantage.
28. Anaheim Ducks (4-8-1)
Previous rank: 30
Special teams. The
Ducks have scored four power-play goals and allowed three back the other way. They're a lowly 63.3% on the penalty kill, having given up a score 18 times. You won't win many games when you lose the special teams battle every night.
29. Montreal Canadiens (5-6-1)
Previous rank: 28
Veteran forwards. The kids are alright in Montreal. The veterans, on the other hand, are leaving a lot to be desired.
Brendan Gallagher,
Mike Hoffman,
Jonathan Drouin, and
Evgenii Dadonov have all scored three or fewer points. It's no surprise the
Canadiens are trying to
move a forward.
30. Arizona Coyotes (4-6-1)
Christian Petersen / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Previous rank: 31
This 14-game road trip. The
Coyotes just got acquainted with Mullett Arena, but now they'll be away from home on a grueling trek spanning 35 days. Arizona kicked it off with a win against the Capitals on Saturday, but there's no doubt it'll be a challenging stretch.
31. San Jose Sharks (3-8-3)
Previous rank: 29
Shootouts. Somehow, the
Sharks have gone to a shootout in three straight contests and lost them all. Their shooters are 3-for-11, with successful attempts from
Logan Couture,
Kevin Labanc, and
Nick Bonino. At this point, head coach David Quinn might have to spend a whole practice on just shootouts!
32. Columbus Blue Jackets (3-9-0)
Previous rank: 25
The power play. There's tons of stuff going wrong for the
Blue Jackets right now, but we're going to hone in on their league-worst power play. It's operating at a dreadful success rate of 6.1%, and it took the team until Nov. 4 to get its first goal on the man advantage. A unit boasting both
Patrik Laine and
Johnny Gaudreau shouldn't be this futile.
(Analytics sources:
Evolving Hockey,
Natural Stat Trick)
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