NHL Power Rankings: Florida Panthers Retain No. 1 Spot

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This just in: The NHL’s best team is based in Florida.

OK, that’s not breaking news given that the Tampa Bay Lightning have hung two straight banners.

But here’s the thing. The preeminent team is not based in Tampa.

Instead, it’s the comparative upstart Florida Panthers, who’ve made one Stanley Cup Final since arriving to the league in 1993 and haven’t won a playoff series since that prolonged playoff run in 1996.

These days, though, the times are changing in metropolitan Miami.

The Panthers were a league-best 7-0 after Wednesday night’s games and sported a league-best plus-18 goal differential, having netted 31 goals while allowing only 13.

The early-season uptick has suitably impressed a voting panel of B/R’s hockey types, who provided Florida a unanimous nod for the No. 1 spot in the third installment of the weekly NHL power rankings.

It’s the second straight top spot for the Panthers, who started the year at No. 6 but have vaulted ahead of a streaking top-five group that also includes the Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals and sported a combined 25-0-2 record heading into Wednesday’s games.

Click through to see how the remaining spots were filled, and feel free to drop a note or two in the comments section to let our puck heads know where they got it right, and perhaps otherwise.

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32. Chicago Blackhawks (Last Week: 31st)

Losing two games by a combined 10-4 score was the least of the worries for the organization this week. On Tuesday, law firm Jenner & Block released its findings into the organization’s handling of sexual assault allegations made against then-video coach Brad Aldrich by former Blackhawks player Kyle Beach in 2010. General manager and president of hockey operations Stan Bowman and senior vice president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac each resigned after it was found they did little to protect Beach and others in the hockey community from Aldrich, who went on to serve jail time for sexual conduct with a high school hockey player after being allowed to leave the Blackhawks both with his career intact and without police being notified of Beach’s allegations.

     

31. Arizona Coyotes (Last Week: 30th)

Dreadful might be too positive a word to describe the start in Arizona, where the Coyotes have lost six in a row, scored as many as three goals just twice and have already run up a minus-19 goal differential.

      

30. Montreal Canadiens (Last Week: 32nd)

The Canadiens finished a four-game homestand with their first win of the season, but the needle plunged back toward dismal with a 5-1 loss that provided the Seattle Kraken their first-ever win on home ice.

     

29. Los Angeles Kings (Last Week: 26th)

Injury news created a cloud at Kings HQ, as the team lost two defensemen to knee injuries. Drew Doughty will miss eight weeks with a bruise, and Sean Walker is out for the season with a torn ACL and MCL.

     

28. Seattle Kraken (Last Week: 28th)

Sledding is predictably tough for the Kraken, but they’ve lost once by more than two goals and broke through for the win over Montreal. Expansion draft pickup Jared McCann has seven points in seven games.

     

27. Anaheim Ducks (Last Week: 24th)

Three losses extended a skid to four games, but winger Troy Terry has been a bright spot with seven points in six games. Rookie Trevor Zegras had a goal and an assist on Tuesday against Winnipeg. 

     

26. Ottawa Senators (Last Week: 21st)

The Senators placed goalie Matt Murray on injured reserve with a head/neck picked up against injury against the New York Rangers, but they welcomed center Dylan Gambrell to the fold after a trade with the San Jose Sharks.

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25. Nashville Predators (Last Week: 27th)

A 192-game sellout streak at Bridgestone Arena ended with Nashville’s 3-1 victory over San Jose, but the good news is that the Predators are producing on the power play at a 31.8-percent clip, which is third in the NHL.

      

24. Detroit Red Wings (Last Week: 13th)

The Red Wings managed one total goal in losses to the Calgary Flames and Montreal to start the week but broke through for six in a win at Chicago Sunday. Winger Tyler Bertuzzi has six goals in six games.

     

23. Dallas Stars (Last Week: 19th)

It’s been a travel-heavy start for the Stars, who’d played five of six games on the road through Tuesday—winning twice. Braden Holtby has continued a hot start in goal, posting a .939 save percentage in five games.

     

22. Toronto Maple Leafs (Last Week: 9th)

Three losses through Tuesday stretched a skid to four games as the vultures in Toronto began circling. “The true test of a group is how you react to this type of adversity,” veteran Jason Spezza told the Toronto Sun.

     

21. Vancouver Canucks (Last Week: 23rd)

Inconsistency is the rule thus far for the Canucks, who’ve lost four and won three. Still, two players, Conor Garland and J.T. Miller, have eight points.

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20. New Jersey Devils (Last Week: 10th)

A five-game homestand ended with a 5-3 loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday as goalie Nico Daws was lifted after allowing three goals on seven shots. The team’s 15 goals allowed are tied for sixth in the league, though they have played up to two games fewer than some. 

       

19. Columbus Blue Jackets (Last Week: 20th)

Four wins in five home games has spiked positivity in Columbus, which spent the offseason in retooling mode. Defenseman Zach Werenski has six points in six games after signing a $57.5 million extension.

      

18. Colorado Avalanche (Last Week: 17th)

The early-season stumbles continued for the Avalanche, who split two games in Florida—beating Tampa Bay, losing to the Panthers—before returning home for a 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

      

17. Calgary Flames (Last Week: 29th)

The Flames had scored 21 goals through Tuesday’s games, with a remarkable 14 of them—seven apiece—coming from the prolific sticks of forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane.

     

16. New York Rangers (Last Week: 18th)

While the Flames have two high scorers in the early season, only one Rangers player has as many as four tallies for a team that’s produced just 15 goals in seven games—a clip that’s 27th in a 32-team league.

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15. Vegas Golden Knights (Last Week: 16th)

Could the Golden Knights’ early-season struggles be helped by the arrival of Jack Eichel? It’s a possibility based on a report from the Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, who said Tuesday trade talks are ramping up. 

      

14. San Jose Sharks (Last Week: 12th)

The kids are all right in northern California, where the Sharks have relied on youngsters during a surprising 4-2 start. San Jose has five goals from rookies after having only six all last season.

     

13. Philadelphia Flyers (Last Week: 15th)

Key offseason arrival Ryan Ellis, who played 562 games with Nashville, has seen a solid start with the Flyers snuffed by an injury. The 30-year-old had four points in three games and is now labeled day-to-day.

     

12. Buffalo Sabres (Last Week: 6th)

Pegged for the lower tier, the Sabres are 4-1-1 through six games, with wins over both Stanley Cup finalists from 2020-21. “We had to change the belief system,” coach Don Granato told the Buffalo News.

     

11. New York Islanders (Last Week: 22nd)

As holdover No. 1 goalie Semyon Varlamov prepares to come off injured reserve, the Islanders have received steady play from 26-year-old Ilya Sorokin, including a .933 save percentage in six games.

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10. Winnipeg Jets (Last Week: 25th)

GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, previously employed by the Blackhawks, has been summoned to meet with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman about the scandal in Chicago, according to Sportsnet. On the ice, the Jets have won three after an 0-2-1 start. 

     

9. Tampa Bay Lightning (Last Week: 14th)

The Lightning will be without Nikita Kucherov for a long stretch, again. The Russian winger is out for eight to 10 weeks after undergoing surgery on a lower-body injury suffered on October 16.

     

8. Pittsburgh Penguins (Last Week: 11th)

The Sidney Crosby watch is entering its final throes after the superstar practiced with the Penguins’ first line on Wednesday. Crosby hasn’t played this season after having wrist surgery in September.

     

7. Minnesota Wild (Last Week: 2nd)

The Wild canceled a practice and called up AHL reinforcements after three coaches and general manager Bill Guerin were placed in COVID-19 protocol, per Michael Russo of The Athletic (h/t sportsnet.ca).

     

6. Boston Bruins (Last Week: 8th)

Veteran Brad Marchand had seven points in his first four games, a rate of 1.75 points each match, but he’s done so while not feeling 100 percent. “I actually don’t think I’ve played my best hockey,” he said.

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5. Washington Capitals (Last Week: 7th)

Did you think Alex Ovechkin was going to slow down at 36?  The sniper scored seven goals and had 12 points in his first six games, a pace that’d put him around 95 goals and 164 points for 82. 

      

4. St. Louis Blues (Last Week: 5th)

The Blues were 5-0-0 through Tuesday’s games, but they’ll have to extend the streak without captain Ryan O’Reilly, who’s been placed into COVID-19 protocol and will miss 10 days, or at least four games. 

     

3. Carolina Hurricanes (Last Week: 4th)

Goalie Frederik Andersen was a risk after an injury-riddled season with Toronto, but he’s been a revelation during a 5-0 start that’s yielded a league-best (among goalies with five starts) .946 save percentage.

     

2. Edmonton Oilers (Last Week: 3rd)

Everyone knows about Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but the Oilers have been buoyed by an uptick from young defenseman Evan Bouchard, who’s drawing No. 1 pairing minutes alongside Darnell Nurse.

      

1. Florida Panthers (Last Week: 1st)

The Panthers became the 14th team in league history to reach 7-0 with Wednesday’s defeat of Boston, but coach Joel Quenneville, former head coach of Chicago, will meet with Bettman on Thursday.