NHL Power Rankings After Week 5

All statistics and records were updated on the morning of 11/5/19

1) Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins to this point have been fantastic.  Even with the core of the team continuing to age the Bruins have had both a stellar on offense and defense.  The Bruins have only allowed an average of 2.14 goals against per game, while their offense has averaged 3.71 goals per game.  The Bruins are also having a Vezina-like year from Tuuka Rask so there is no disputing who is number 1 right now.

2) Washington Capitals

The obvious second choice is the Washington Capitals.  The team has played their typical outstanding offense and decent defense.  With Alex Ovechkin leading the way, the Capitals are well on their way to the playoffs.

3) New York Islanders

The Islanders have played outstanding in recent games as they are on a 9-game winning streak.  The reason they are higher on the list is because they have played well and despite having less points than other teams, they have had less games to rack them up.

4) Edmonton Oilers

Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and James Neal have been the story of the Oilers so far this season.  With these three at the helm the Oilers have done very well and are proving themselves to be a real problem for other teams.  The speed of players such as McDavid will be potent in the postseason. 

5) Nashville Predators

Nashville leads the league in goals per game with an astounding 4.00.  Their defense has been doing well and the power play has improved from last year.  It was hard to decide if the Blues, Hurricanes or Predators should go at the number 5 spot because they are all so close together in record and play.  Goaltending was the final deciding factor at the end of the day and Pekka Rhina has been incredible.

6) Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes have played good offense, defense and special teams.  In addition they are very fast and are one team that you can never overlook.  They still have serious potential for first in their division and to go far come playoff time.  

7) St. Louis Blues

With an effective power play, good attack and coming back after a mixed start, the Blues deserve to be here.  Up until recently the Blues were on and off again, however, they have rebounded since the start of the season and are now looking like a much stronger team.

8) Vancouver Canucks

With brilliant special teams play and amazing young talent such as Ellias Patterson the Vancouver Canucks have been significantly better than last year.  The last time the Canucks made the playoffs was in the 2014-2015 season and it looks like they could be changing that this year.

9) Vegas Golden Knights

This may come as a surprise to some that the Golden Knights are this high on the list. The reason for it is quite simple, the special teams play has been phenomenal, the goaltending from Marc Andre Fleury has been Vezina worthy and although their record doesn’t really show it right now, the team has performed well.

10) Arizona Coyotes

The defense for Arizona has been outstanding and if they can avoid the number of injuries that occurred last year will be in good shape.

11) Buffalo Sabres

With players such as Jack Eichel leading the way and with a new hope in a lot of their lineup the Sabres have played good defense and are looking for the missing playoff appearance of past seasons.

12) Pittsburgh Penguins

Sindey Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Matt Murray.  What more is to be said, they are good and will be until those players are gone.

13) Colorado Avalanche

I have a couple concerns with the Avalanche but the upside is so high with this team if the could only stay healthy it would be easier for them.  What the future holds is uncertain as both upside and downside have the possibility of being pretty extreme.

14) Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens have been, interesting.  Their offense has been potent so there is that. Still it is hard to get a good gauge as to exactly what they are yet.  Playoffs are a 50/50 possibility at this point. I would like to see the penalty kill improve if they want playoffs though.

15) Florida Panthers

This team was a little overhyped coming into this season.  They are playing decently, certainly not great hockey. It isn’t pretty, but still it could still lead to playoffs.  That is yet to be seen. Similar to Montreal I would say a 50/50 chance. They need some help keeping pucks out of the net for sure though.

16) Toronto Maple Leafs 

The Maple Leafs continually don’t live up to the hype, season after season this happens.  I think they will improve yes, although all that really matters for them is how they do in April.  However, if they don’t start winning games now they won’t even have to worry about April.

17) Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning were again said to be the frontrunners for the Stanley Cup.  They have the talent. The only thing holding them back is themselves. It’s embarrassing.

18) Anaheim Ducks 

Good goals against average, bad special teams and an offense that hasn’t been up to snuff.  If Anaheim wishes to succeed they need to start with offense and then go on to special teams.

19) Calgary Flames

I mean Calgary hasn’t been bad, even so they haven’t been good either.  They have been, meh. The Flames are trying to prove last season wasn’t a fluke and it is hard to say what the truth of last season was at this point in time.

20) Winnipeg Jets

The Jets need more from the team if they want to make the playoffs.  The Jets have been interesting so far. They really need to prove themselves because of the loss to the Blues in the first round last year.  Improving the penalty kill would be a good place to start.

21) Dallas Stars

Even with the train wreck start for the stars they are on a 3-game winning streak and have life again.  Looking at this team at the beginning of the year Dallas seemed like a cup contender. The team still has this potential so don’t count them out.  I wouldn’t totally invest in them until they prove these winning ways are consistent.

22) Philadelphia Flyers

Unfortunately for the Flyers Carter Hart cannot save the team.  The Flyers definitely need more from their top guys if they want to get any better.  On a better note the Flyers special teams has been good.

23) Columbus Blue jackets

This is what happens when you bet all your money on one season, you suck.  Getting no replacement for Bobrovsky was a huge mistake thus far and it is unlikely to see this team make a run for the playoffs.  They did prove many of us wrong last year so always keep that in mind.

24) New York Rangers 

Don’t let anyone fool you, the Rangers are still in the rebuilding faze and it may take another 1-3 years if done right to come out of the basement of the NHL.  The team’s biggest problem right now is how many goals per game they are allowing. If the team wishes to succeed they should plan ahead and find some people in the draft that could help them with this problem.

25) Blackhawks

The Blackhawks have just been terrible, plain and simple.  Get an offense or keep pucks out of the net or something cause you could improve almost everywhere.

26) New Jersey Devils

No, Jack Hughes, P.K Suban and Taylor Hall are not good enough to not bail out the team.  Repeat what I said about the rebuild process of the Rangers.

27) Minnesota Wild

Someone put Devan Dubnyk on a real team or at least give him some help on offense.  They have been terrible. Maybe the draft will give them a new starting point next season.

28) Los Angeles Kings

Nothing better than last year.  They are sad to watch and a huge mess so far.  Look forward to the draft Kings fans.

29) San Jose Sharks

Cup contender is what many thought.  This is when we all realize losing the team Captain is a big deal and the team has fallen apart.

30) Ottawa Senators

Ottawa somehow managed to get out of the 31st spot but the fact still remains that they are pretty terrible.  Nothing new here.

31) Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings are so bad that they kicked Ottawa out of the worst spot in the league.  It takes some serious amount of suck to get to that point. The Red Wings didn’t reach the low bar, they broke the low bar.  They are horrendous.