Teams are starting to upgrade and separate from the NHL pack. The Kraken, however, are drifting back toward the non-elite group in our Week 17 power rankings — we skipped last week due to All-Star Game — accounting for games through Friday.
1. (1) Boston Bruins, 39-7-5
Second overall in goals scored per game at 3.75 and fewest goals allowed at 2.12 adds up to the league’s best record and team.
2. (3) Carolina Hurricanes, 34-9-8
Seven consecutive wins and beat the Bruins in regulation, showing they plan to make the conference race interesting.
3. (6) New Jersey Devils, 34-13-4
Have won five out of six, but will be without young star Jack Hughes for at least two or three weeks.
4. (2) Toronto Maple Leafs, 32-13-8
Auston Matthews’ injury has led to inconsistent performance overall, though he could be back sooner than expected.
5. (4) Tampa Bay Lightning, 33-16-2
Blanked Colorado 5-0 in a rematch of Stanley Cup finalists and extended home points streak to franchise-record 14 games.
6. (7) Dallas Stars, 30-13-10
If you can look past Jason Robertson’s goal scoring for a second, Jamie Benn just notched his 20th for the 10th time in his career.
7. (9) New York Rangers, 30-14-8
Vladimir Tarasenko addition shows they mean business in the East.
8. (11) Edmonton Oilers, 29-18-5
Have gone 10 straight without a regulation loss while Connor McDavid has a 14-game points streak.
9. (8) Vegas Golden Knights, 31-18-4
Lost their unquestioned leader Mark Stone indefinitely after back surgery.
10. (5) Seattle Kraken, 29-18-5
Their goal scoring regressed as expected after posting league-high shooting percentages the opening four months. Losing Andre Burakovsky won’t help.
11. (12) Winnipeg Jets 32-19-1
All eyes are on trade deadline as fans ponder whether conservative team will go all-in on more goal scoring after hanging around top of division a surprisingly long time.
12. (10) Colorado Avalanche, 27-19-4
Dropped three of four after six-game win streak and got smacked down by Tampa Bay.
13. (13) Los Angeles Kings, 28-18-7
Trade rumors have them eyeing Montreal Canadiens defenseman Joel Edmundson to bolster porous blue line that’s begot NHL’s seventh-worst goals allowed average.
14. (15) Pittsburgh Penguins, 26-16-9
Bottom two lines are accounting for just one-third of their goal production, leading to GM Ron Hextall calling out team’s inconsistency.
15. (16) Calgary Flames, 24-18-10
Everybody keeps waiting for them to make a standings move, but it’s mostly been a sideways shuffle the past month.
16. (17) Washington Capitals, 27-20-6
Still treading water as they await injured players to return and help mount a playoff push.
17. (14) Minnesota Wild, 27-20-4
Marc-Andre Fleury appeared in his 972nd career game, surpassing Terry Sawchuk for fourth place all-time among goalies.
18. (21) Florida Panthers, 26-22-6
Everybody knows they can score, but got some actual goaltending with only five goals allowed their past three games.
19. (18) Buffalo Sabres, 26-20-4
Locked up young centerman Dylan Cozens for seven years, $49.7 million.
20. (25) New York Islanders, 27-23-5
Traded for Bo Horvat, beat the Kraken for fourth straight win and then … lost to his awful former team.
21. (23) Philadelphia Flyers, 22-22-9
Only three goals allowed their past three games, just in time to face a Kraken squad that’s had trouble scoring.
22. (20) Nashville Predators, 24-19-6
Their top prospect, Zachary L’Heureux, just got suspended indefinitely by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for spearing a 16-year-old fan. He’ll fit right in at 2 a.m. on Broadway Street.
23. (24) Ottawa Senators, 24-23-3
They’ve won four in a row, though two of those were back-to-back against Montreal so they don’t really count.
24. (20) Detroit Red Wings, 22-20-8
Filip Zadina returns after missing three months to a broken leg and scores go-ahead goal to beat Flames.
25. (22) St. Louis Blues, 23-25-3
Have lost five straight and officially waved the playoff surrender flag by trading Tarasenko to the Rangers.
26. (27) Vancouver Canucks, 21-27-4
Hey, at least they one-upped the Kraken by beating now-traded Horvat and the Islanders.
27. (26) Montreal Canadiens, 20-27-4
These guys were three wins away from a Stanley Cup two seasons ago.
28. (28) Chicago Blackhawks, 16-29-5
Beat the Coyotes in a thriller nobody in their right mind would pay to see.
29. (29) Arizona Coyotes, 17-28-7
Sent Dylan Guenther to the Seattle Thunderbirds’ junior powerhouse and took the dive against Chicago to keep slim Connor Bedard hopes alive.
30. (30) San Jose Sharks 16-26-11
Have started selling off players – including Jaycob Megna to the Kraken – but the world waits to see what happens with Timo Meier and Erik Karlsson.
31. (31) Anaheim Ducks, 17-30-6
Gave up 25 shots in opening period to Pittsburgh on Friday and 59 (!!!) overall.
32. (32) Columbus Blue Jackets, 15-33-4
Even Johnny Gaudreau has to like another four straight losses to solidify Bedard draft odds and get him somebody else that can score.