The NHL season has rolled into 2024! For some teams, the goal is clear. For others, it may not be so obvious right now. To go along with the new year, we’ve got a special, updated edition of the NHL Power Rankings. For every team in the top ten, we’ll tell you what their resolution should be heading into the second half of the season.
1 – Boston Bruins (23-7-6)
Resolution: Don’t Change Much
For a season and a half, the Boston Bruins have been the best regular season team in the NHL by a considerable margin. Since the first game of the 2022/23 campaign, they’ve won 88 of 118 games and have lost just 19 in regulation. However, everyone knows what happened in the postseason a year ago, and this year’s playoffs will once again ultimately decide the success of the season. For now, they just have to keep rolling. With their quality of defence and goaltending, don’t expect to see a fall from the top.
2 – Vancouver Canucks (24-10-3)
Resolution: Get Andrei Kuzmenko Going
Last year, Andrei Kuzmenko had 39 goals and 74 points for the Canucks in his first NHL season. This year, he’s scored just eight goals in 32 games and has been scratched five times by Rick Tocchet. Clearly, the Canucks’ new coach isn’t as big a fan of Kuzmenko as Bruce Boudreau was, but if Vancouver is serious about a playoff run this year, the Russian winger could still play a huge role offensively for them. He may never be great defensively, but there’s no doubt that the lineup misses him on the other end of the ice when he’s watching from the press box.
3 – Winnipeg Jets (23-9-4)
Resolution: Stay Hot
Winnipeg has been one of the bigger surprises of the season so far and they’re playing their best hockey right now. The team is 11-1-2 in their last fourteen games and with contests against San Jose, Anaheim, Arizona, Columbus and Chicago coming up, there’s a good chance they’ll keep winning. With the Central Division being so close this year, three points could make the difference between winning the division and being the third seed. It won’t be easy to keep pace with Dallas and Colorado, but staying hot right now will go a long way toward their placement at the end of the season.
4 – New York Rangers (25-10-1)
Resolution: Get Igor Shesterkin Going
Igor Shesterkin certainly hasn’t had a BAD season so far, but he’s currently at a career-low in save percentage and GAA. Thankfully for the Rangers, Johnathan Quick has enjoyed quite the resurgence, but if Shesterkin can also find his A-game in 2024, the Rangers will be even tougher to beat. Come playoff time, the two-goalie system could be huge for New York, especially with a two-time Cup Champion in Quick being the likely second option. Again, Shesterkin has been solid, but we know there’s still room for improvement this season and he probably knows it too.
5 – Colorado Avalanche (24-11-3)
Resolution: Be Better on the Road
With a record of 16-4-0 in Colorado, the Avs have the best home point percentage in the NHL. However, on the road, the story has not been the same. The team is currently 8-7-3 away from home with one win in their last seven contests, and if they don’t work to find more success in 2024, it could keep them out of the top seed in the Central Division. You could also say that the team needs to find more depth scoring, but clearly, they’re still getting the job done at Ball Arena. Whatever they’re doing in front of their home fans needs to start translating everywhere else now.
6 – Dallas Stars (22-10-4)
Resolution: Keep Pace in the Central
As we’ve already said, keeping pace in the Central Division will not be easy. There’s a reason that Dallas is already the third team in the division on this list, and because of that, the top two seeds will gain a serious advantage come playoff time. Given the current standings, it’s probably the only division where we can say the top three spots are pretty much locked up, and now, Dallas will be in a race to the finish line with Colorado and Winnipeg. The Stars are solid everywhere, but if they want to go the distance this year, it’ll be a lot easier with home ice advantage in the postseason.
7 – Vegas Golden Knights (22-11-5)
Resolution: Get Out of the Current Slump / Get Adin Hill Healthy
Vegas will almost certainly be just fine heading into playoffs, but for now, they’ll be focusing on stacking some wins. In their last eight games, the team has a record of 2-6-0 and has let in at least three goals in seven of those contests. Of course, a big reason for that is goaltender Adin Hill being on the IR for all of those losses, but regardless of his health, the team and Logan Thompson need to be better. It’s better go through injury issues now than in May, but there’s no doubt Vegas’ last stretch to end 2023 has hurt the team.
8 – Carolina Hurricanes (21-13-4)
Resolution: Keep the Big Dogs Eating
The Canes weren’t terrific to start the season this year, but they’re currently on a four-game winning streak and sitting in second in the Metro Division. In these four games, star forwards Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov have exploded for 8 goals and 21 points combined. It’s no secret that getting your best players on the board more often leads to more wins, and hopefully for Carolina, this is just the start of a great stretch for the two. After missing the first fifteen games of the season recovering from injury, it seems like Svechnikov is just now really starting to get into the groove of things. For a team that may lack some star power, that’s a very exciting development.
9 – Los Angeles Kings (20-9-5)
Resolution: Get PLD Going
Things have been mostly positive for the Kings again this year, but Pierre-Luc Dubois is one guy they’ll be looking to get going in the new year. Dubois isn’t expected to be a main offensive contributor on this team like he’s been in the past, but if Los Angeles can get him producing a little more, they’ll be that much tougher to beat. After putting up back-to-back 60-point seasons with more than 25 goals in both, PLD has just seven goals and seven helpers in 34 games with his new team. Getting acclimated to the new system can take a while for guys, but by now, Dubois should be ready to kick things into a higher gear.
10 – Florida Panthers (23-12-2)
Resolution: Keep Beating the East
No team is better at beating their conference opponents than Florida, and that’s definitely something they’ll want to see continue in 2024. Overall, the Panthers are 13-2-2 against the Eastern Conference and 6-1-2 against teams in their own division. If they can keep that kind of dominance up, they’ll definitely have a mental edge against teams they’ve beaten all year in the postseason. However, Florida won’t have the element of surprise this year. Teams know how good they are, and the Cinderella run is never easy to duplicate.
There’s still time to start a hockey pool this year! Create your own now at officepools.com.
