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Early 2020-21 NHL power rankings

First and early pass at this seasons power rankings

Getty Images/Pete Rogers Illustrations

Attached are a very early rendition of the upcoming 2020-21 NHL season power rankings. I will try to update this monthly as the season progresses. There will assuredly be some effects off the bubble and covid will still have it’s effects on this season.

Teams I think are on the upswing

Nashville Predators — There is something to be said for things staying the same. Nashville had a horrible year on the power play and typically, a solid team like Nashville will spend the whole offseason addressing that and show improvement the next season (see Columbus a few years back, with a little help from Martin St. Louis as a coach).

Toronto Maple Leafs — They were horrible in winning one goal games, you get 9th worst team shooting percentage up a few spots (which should happen with this talent) and you have a number of more regular season wins

Teams that are on the downside

Arizona Coyotes — The window has closed and I doubt we see Darcy Kuemper stand on his head as well as he did last year.

Minnesota Wild — Age and uncertainty on what their plan forward is has me down on the Wild this season.

2021 NHL Power Rankings (as of November 2020)

Rank Team Notes
Rank Team Notes
1 Tamp Bay Lightning The core pieces of the championship team are locked down for the forseeable future
2 Boston Bruins It's an older team but a very talented one who is a threat from all fronts
3 Colorado Avalanche Very top heavy team with Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar carrying a bulk of the weight
4 St. Louis Blues Added Torey Krug to a team that was +32 in goal differential last year
5 Toronto Maple Leafs Group of young players entering prime now have strong veteran adds in offseason
6 Washington Capitals New head coach Peter Laviolette will take some getting used to but it's still an elite team
7 Vegas Golden Knights This is a not a knock on them, they are built more for the playoffs than regular season
8 Philadelphia Flyers Solved the defense and goalie gap, now they need to prove consistency
9 Vancouver Canucks An elite group of young talent who doesn't get tripped up during regular season
10 Nashville Predators Consider me on the Predators bandwagon for 2021 with a bounce back season
11 Pittsbugh Penguins They might just rebuild on the fly which would be amazing. Still have an old roster
12 Calgary Flames They seemingly fixed the goalie situation; led the league in shootout wins last year
13 Dallas Stars Still good (especially in playoffs) but Stanley Cup hangover hits hard
14 New York Islanders Proved their mettle in the playoffs but offense will continue to be an issue
15 Columbus Blue Jackets I think the Jackets benefitted from goalie after goalie standing on their head
16 Buffalo Sabres The drought stops this season with the help of Taylor Hall
17 Carolina Hurricanes Their goaltending situation is a giant question mark
18 Florida Panthers It's something, there's quality pieces but it feels slapped together
19 Winnipeg Jets I think their window is starting to close as they will be deciding what the future holds
20 Edmonton Oilers It took a duo-MVP caliber year to finish 17th last year
21 New York Rangers A young roster makes the future bright but they might have some hiccups along the way
22 Montreal Canadiens I'm not sold on the Canadiens team as is, they had a -8 goal differential last year
23 New Jersey Devils Nothing splashy but the moves they made improved a team with young talent
24 Minnesota Wild Minnesota is equally sub average and looks to have one of the 3 oldest rosters
25 San Jose Sharks On the continued decline with a rebuild still to come after that
26 Chicago Blackhawks They were clearly competitive in the playoffs last year but are also rebuilding
27 Arizona Coyotes I thought the build was in motion but losing Taylor Hall is a step back
28 Los Angeles Kings In the midst of an attempted rebuild but has one of the oldest rosters
29 Ottawa Senators Additions of Matt Murray & Evgenii Dadonov could be great but I'm skeptical
30 Anaheim Ducks They continue to need A LOT of help offensively; I expect John Gibson to bounce back
31 Detroit Red Wings Good things are happening but it's going to be a while before they are competitive again