After a quick break, hockey is back on the agenda with every team done partaking in their holiday festivities, and right now there’s even more hockey thanks to the World Juniors. The good news for some teams is that if there’s ever a time to go on a slump, it’s when the hockey world has half their gaze on the U20 tournament, but the bad news is that no one escapes the wrath of Hunter Crowther and me.

Hunter and I continue to navigate through the results so far this season with another week of our co-op power rankings. I have my same old system in which I aggregate six stats (points %, 5-on-5 goal differential, 5-on-5 xGF/60, 5-on-5 xGA/60, power play xGF/60, and shorthanded xGA/60, all coming courtesy of Natural Stat Trick) to come up with a list that eliminates my own biases, along with a rule that no team can be above a team that’s more than five points ahead of them in the standings, regardless of where the aggregate places them. On the other hand, Hunter goes off his own intellect and pure vibes, and together we find a way to combine it and meet in the middle.

1. New Jersey Devils

Record: 24-12-3, +32
Last Week: 1st (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 1st
Scott’s Rank: 1st

Scott: As if we didn’t already know who is currently in control of the Hudson River, the Devils laid another smackdown on the Rangers with a 5-0 win right before the holiday break, just to really solidify where both teams stand right now. This past weekend saw them play a home-and-home with a Canes team also looking to stay in the fight for the Metropolitan Division title, so naturally the two teams split their games like the high-end teams that they are, but the Devils still look like one of, if not the best team in the league right now.

2. Vegas Golden Knights

Record: 25-8-3, +30
Last Week: 3rd (+1)
Hunter’s Rank: 2nd
Scott’s Rank: 3rd

Hunter: The Golden Knights have six straight wins, a ridiculous 13-2-1 record against the Pacific Division, and are consistently one of the toughest in the league. Their Friday night 6-3 win against the Sharks was one of the best third-period efforts of the year — yeah yeah, it’s the Sharks — but going into the third period down 3-2 and almost immediately taking a penalty, it’s like something snapped and they realized, “Oh yeah, we’re among hockey’s elite franchises, enough of this garbage,” then scored two shorthanded goals in 23 seconds to retake the lead. Vegas plays the Canadiens on Tuesday and has a chance to go into 2025 with a seven-game winning streak.

3. Washington Capitals

Record: 24-10-2, +37
Last Week: 2nd (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 3rd
Scott’s Rank: 2nd

Hunter: Guess who’s back? Back again. Ovi’s back. Tell a friend. Alex Ovechkin broke his leg and returned after just five weeks, scoring goals in his first two games, something that would sound unbelievable if he wasn’t about to break one of hockey’s most hallowed records. Their first period against the Red Wings Sunday was atrocious, but I’ll give it a pass when you consider they had just beaten the Maple Leafs 5-2 just 20 hours earlier. The back and forth between them and the Devils at the top of the Metropolitan Division will be fun to watch in 2025.

Scott: How are you going to quote “Without You” by Eminem in reference to Ovechkin and not say “You can get stomped by Ovi” (see: Verse 3, Line 5).

Hunter: Scott, you don’t know me, you’re too old, let go, it’s over.

4. Winnipeg Jets

Record: 26-10-1, +46
Last Week: 6th (+2)
Hunter’s Rank: 4th
Scott’s Rank: 5th

Hunter: Check out the big brain on Scooott! Is that the Jets in the top five? Are you guys seeing this? Winners of three straight and 7-3-1 in their last 10 games, and they haven’t allowed more than three goals in eight straight games. Kyle Connor is on one, scoring three goals and six points last week, and has recorded at least one point in 10 of his last 11 games. Ride the wave, folks, and give Scott Arniel the credit he deserves.

Scott: I actually had them ranked 13th (which is still higher than usual), and the only reason they made the top five is because there are only four teams within that coveted five-point range, so don’t get too big for your britches Jets fans.

Hunter: Nobody has bigger britches than me, no one has done more for britches than me. People say to me, they say, “Wow, you love britches,” and I do, we do. Lotta britches.

5. Los Angeles Kings

Record: 21-10-5, +18
Last Week: 9th (+4)
Hunter’s Rank: 6th
Scott’s Rank: 6th

Scott: It was a light week for the Kings, as they didn’t get in a game on Monday before the holiday break, so they finally kicked back into the season with back-to-back games against the Oilers and Flyers, and won both games by scores of 4-3 and 5-4. The Oilers win is particularly interesting, because it certainly entertains the question about what another rematch between them would look like, and if the Kings could actually put up a fight this time around. They’ll need Kevin Fiala to bounce back if that’s the case, and he’s on a bit of a heater right now with four goals in five games.

6. Edmonton Oilers

Record: 21-12-3, +13
Last Week: 4th (-2)
Hunter’s Rank: 5th
Scott’s Rank: 8th

Hunter: Sure, they’ve lost two straight to California teams, but I wouldn’t look too far into it, especially considering nothing that happens between Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 is actually real. Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid continue to produce, and beyond allowing four goals against the Kings and a barnburner against the Panthers, Stuart Skinner has looked great this month, posting a .907 save percentage (SV%) and 2.50 goals against average (GAA).

7. Minnesota Wild

Record: 22-11-4, +7
Last Week: 7th (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 10th
Scott’s Rank: 4th

Scott: Many have cited that the Wild’s success has been heavily reliant on the play of Kirill Kaprizov, so with the winger out of the lineup this weekend, it was a great opportunity to prove that they could win without him. The result? They overcame a 2-0 deficit to the Stars to win in overtime on Friday, and then lost to the Sens on Sunday. For now, I’m going to say they haven’t proved us wrong yet.

Hunter: Even without Kaprizov, there are still pieces on this team that I like and I think they have several paths to earning a playoff spot. But losing someone like Jake Middleton leaves a massive hole on your blueline, and the lack of an elite scoring threat beyond Kaprizov could leave them gasping for offense if the injury is long term. Like Scott, I still rank them high, but they should tread lightly.

8. Tampa Bay Lightning

Record: 20-12-2, +37
Last Week: 10th (+2)
Hunter’s Rank: 8th
Scott’s Rank: 9th

Hunter: The good: the Lightning made up for a recent loss to the Panthers with a 4-0 win on Monday. The bad: Jake Guentzel missed Sunday’s game against the Canadiens and is listed as “day to day” with an upper-body injury. The ugly: they lost to Montreal 5-2, despite offense from Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel. Tampa can get back on track next Thursday against the struggling Sharks.

9. Florida Panthers

Record: 22-13-2, +10
Last Week: 5th (-4)
Hunter’s Rank: 7th
Scott’s Rank: 13th

Hunter: Losing back-to-back games by a score of 4-0? Not great, Bob! It doesn’t help that the first of those Panthers’ losses were your arch rival in the Lightning, and the second was against a basement dweller like the Habs. Sergei Bobrovsky has looked better in his last three starts, even after giving up a three-spot against Tampa, but backup Spencer Knight has struggled in December, giving up at least four goals on three occasions.

10. Dallas Stars

Record: 21-13-1, +23
Last Week: 13th (+3)
Hunter’s Rank: 14th
Scott’s Rank: 7th

Hunter: The Stars beat up on the Blackhawks on Sunday night but they’ve played inconsistently for most of December. Losing Tyler Seguin for likely the rest of the season already hurt, but now they could be without Mason Marchment for the foreseeable future. Matt Duchene continues to drink from the fountain of youth, producing his third three-point game of the year over the weekend.

11. Colorado Avalanche

Record: 22-15-0, +4
Last Week: 12th (+1)
Hunter’s Rank: 9th
Scott’s Rank: 14th

Scott: Things are too normal in Colorado these days. They’ve won eight of their last 10 games, their new goalies have proven to be up to the task, and outside of Jonathan Drouin and, to a lesser extent, Gabriel Landeskog, they’re rocking a healthy lineup. They did make some news by locking up Mackenzie Blackwood to a five-year extension, which still feels a tad bit risky at this point. It’s not an outrageous reach, but I’m just not a fan of signing a goalie to a new contract shortly after acquiring him and not exactly knowing how he’ll look in your system. But, the Avs seem to think they have their goalie here.

Hunter: What I don’t understand is why they wouldn’t just wait until the end of the year to lock up Blackwood. No one is doubting what he’s added to this lineup since they acquired him, but he’s appeared in five games with the club. Do you honestly believe that .940 SV% and 1.82 GAA are going to last through June? Then again, maybe they see Blackwood from 2019-20 and think he’ll be their franchise netminder. If that’s the case, alla salute.

Scott: I understand wanting to jump on an extension before his value increases playing for a Cup contender instead of a lottery contender, but the risk feels just as high as the reward right now.

12. Boston Bruins

Record: 20-14-4, -14
Last Week: 14th (+2)
Hunter’s Rank: 13th
Scott’s Rank: 10th

Hunter: I’ll be honest, since losing by a combined score of 13-2 against the Jets and Kraken earlier in December, the Bruins have consistently looked like one of the better teams in the league, with wins in five of their last seven games. Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak have a combined 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points this month. Another player to watch who’s producing is Mason Lohrei, the second-year defender who has 15 assists and 16 points this season and is getting quality shifts with the man advantage.

13. Carolina Hurricanes

Record: 22-13-1, +23
Last Week: 11th (-2)
Hunter’s Rank: 13th
Scott’s Rank: 11th

Hunter: It’s one thing to split a home-and-home with the Devils, arguably the best team in the league, but it’s another to be down 4-0 and lose 5-2 to the Predators. “Ooohh but the Preds are turning things around!” Stop it, they’re cooked. Let’s chalk up the loss to players focused on which plane they’re hopping on to celebrate the holidays. Also, shoutout to Jack Roslovic, who now has 16 goals in 36 games and is on pace to pass his career high of 22 in a month or so. Now on his fourth team at 27, it’s nice to see the former first-round pick find some success.

14. Toronto Maple Leafs

Record: 22-13-2, +10
Last Week: 8th (-6)
Hunter’s Rank: 12th
Scott’s Rank: 12th

Scott: The sky seems to be falling in Leafland again, and you know what? I think it’s a little bit deserved, but not for the reasons that people are acting like it is. Sure, three losses in four games isn’t ideal, but this team has drifted back into mediocrity in the last few weeks under the hood. They’re only 15th in 5v5 expected goals per 60 minutes, and after all the talk about how much this team has improved defensively, their 5v5 expected goals against per 60 has dropped to 18th. Long story short, they’ve drifted back to playing like the same average team as last year, and among the recent Leafs teams, that one was probably the worst of the bunch. They’re certainly in need of some depth scoring and a defenseman to pair with Morgan Rielly among a couple other things if they want to make any noise come playoff time.

Hunter: You’re right, the sky is falling, and I need to rewatch Skyfall. It’s amazing how far they’ve dropped in our power rankings, yet they’re sitting at the top of a division that has three of the last five Stanley Cup champions in it. I think the lack of Anthony Stolarz has hurt this group, considering he was about as hot as any goalie in the league when he was injured. Every team in the league has positions of weakness, but Toronto’s holes — lack of depth on the wing, lack of secondary scoring, at least one more true top-four blueliner — really stick out when they lose a string of games.

15. Pittsburgh Penguins

Record: 17-16-5, -23
Last Week: 15th (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 14th
Scott’s Rank: 15th

Scott: The Penguins have continued to hang around in the playoff conversation, much to the surprise of everyone who had written them off in the first few weeks of the season (that includes Hunter and I). They’re the only team outside of a playoff spot with an above .500 record, and are a point behind the Sens for the final spot, although Ottawa has two games in hand. Although with Sidney Crosby on a bender with 10 points in his last six games (including eight assists to break the all-time franchise record for assists), maybe they can keep it interesting all season.

Hunter: They haven’t just been winning the last few weeks, but they’re fun to watch. Crosby looks like he’s really enjoying himself for the first time since they won in 2017, and having linemates like Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust, who are holding up their end of the bargain, makes that possible. Hell, even Michael Bunting is finding some of the offensive flair he had with the Leafs that earned him that contract.

16. Vancouver Canucks

Record: 17-10-8, -1
Last Week: 17th (+1)
Hunter’s Rank: 18th
Scott’s Rank: 16th

Scott: The Canucks got some good news and some bad news out of the holiday break. The good news is that they got their Canucks-related Christmas wish, and the Elias Pettersson/J.T. Miller feud was no longer the top storyline in Vancouver. The bad news is that that is because Pettersson and Quinn Hughes are out with injuries, with Pettersson being a week away and Hughes being week-to-week. And in their first game without both players in over five years, the Canucks didn’t alleviate any concern, as they blew a 4-1 lead in the final five minutes against the Kraken, and lost in overtime.

17. Calgary Flames

Record: 17-12-7, -12
Last Week: 19th (+2)
Hunter’s Rank: 17th
Scott’s Rank: 19th

Hunter: I want to dedicate this week’s blurb on the Flames to Jonathan Huberdeau, who is on pace for more than 30 goals and his best offensive season since his time with the Panthers. Since being dealt to Calgary, there were stretches of time where he looked like he’d be nothing more than a second-line winger, and that the Flames were stuck with the worst contract in hockey. Don’t get it twisted: he’s still greatly overpaid, but Huberdeau leads the team in goals and points, and overall looks more motivated in all facets of the game. That’s a lot better than the alternative.

18. Ottawa Senators

Record: 19-15-2, +7
Last Week: 18th (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 16th
Scott’s Rank: 21st

Hunter: It’s time to bring back the We’re So Back Meter, and right now, the arrow looks like the jumbotron graphics arenas show when they want the team to make some noise. In a Saturday night effort, the Senators outshot the Jets 35-23 and controlled play for big chunks of the night, but minor league netminder Mads Sogaard allowed four goals. The next day, they threw everything at the Wild’s Filip Gustavsson and came out with a 3-1 win over Minnesota. It’s Dec. 30 and Ottawa is holding on to a playoff spot. We haven’t been this back since Jump Street.

19. Utah Hockey Club

Record: 16-13-6, 0
Last Week: 16th (-3)
Hunter’s Rank: 20th
Scott’s Rank: 17th

Hunter: I actually liked both their efforts against Central Division rivals in the Stars and Avalanche, even if they didn’t come away with any points. The team is getting good production from the likes of Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenter and Logan Cooley, but the real story for me is Karel Vejmelka, who despite his 8-9-2 record has a .918 SV% and 2.32 GAA. Those numbers get even better when you cut out the first three appearances, with his save percentage climbing to .923 and a GAA of 2.16. Maybe the sun shines brighter in Utah and not Arizona?

20. New York Islanders

Record: 14-16-7, -18
Last Week: 20th (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 19th
Scott’s Rank: 20th

Scott: Imagine being the team that snapped the funk that the Sabres were in by losing to them. That really goes to show the current state of things on Long Island, as they’ll have a good showing against a team like the Maple Leafs, only to get blown out 7-1 by a team like the Sabres. Things at least normalized a bit this past weekend when the Isles split their home-and-home series with the Penguins, with both teams winning their respective home game. And if this was soccer, they would have won the series 8-6 on aggregate!

21. Columbus Blue Jackets

Record: 15-16-6, -10
Last Week: 22nd (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 24th
Scott’s Rank: 18th

Scott: Speaking of splitting home-and-homes, the Blue Jackets did that with the Bruins this past weekend, although the aggregate score was still an even 6-6. Columbus did have one of the more interesting storylines emerge from their 5-4 win over the Canadiens, as Patrik Laine’s pre-game comments about his former team had a few tin foil hats believe that Blue Jackets players were targeting his recently healed clavicle.

22. St. Louis Blues

Record: 17-17-4, -15
Last Week: 24th (+2)
Hunter’s Rank: 21st
Scott’s Rank: 24th

Scott: If you needed another Jim Montgomery update, the Blues have now fallen to 8-4-3 since bringing him in behind the bench after losing four of their last six games. When you consider the fact that the two wins came against struggling teams in the Red Wings and Predators, you can’t even really take a lot of moral victories from those wins amidst this little slump either. St. Louis is still lingering around a playoff spot for now, but you have to wonder if we’ll see the new coach bump end at some point and have them regress back to the team that they were prior to the coaching change – if they haven’t already.

Hunter: The Sabres, Scott! They lost to the Sabres!!

23. New York Rangers

Record: 16-18-1, -10
Last Week: 21st (-2)
Hunter’s Rank: 23rd
Scott’s Rank: 22nd

Hunter: I don’t even know what you can say anymore. I wrote last week that their upcoming schedule provided plenty of opportunity to play poorly and get the coach fired. I’m no mathematician, but losing by a combined 11-2 to the Devils and Lightning seems like a great fuse to light the hot seat for Peter Laviolette. Maybe they’re interviewing candidates as we speak, but they better hurry up, considering Todd McLellan just left the market by joining the Red Wings. Either way, the Rangers are simply a bad team, and they may be beyond the point of a coaching (and management) change, or a big trade. What a waste of a season.

24. Philadelphia Flyers

Record: 16-17-4, -21
Last Week: 23rd (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 22nd
Scott’s Rank: 27th

Hunter: The Flyers have lost five of their last seven games, and some of those defeats have been ugly, e.g. 7-3 losses to the Penguins and Kings. After John Tortorella benched Matvei Michkov for the entire third period during their 3-1 win over the Ducks on Saturday, playing only 9:41 total, Tortorella played him early and often on Sunday against the Kings, where he recorded a goal and assist in 16:35 of ice time. While Tortorella may see this as a reason why benching players can work, I’d argue it’s better to let the rookie make mistakes but continue to take chances, as you never know when he’ll get open and bury one.

25. Montreal Canadiens

Record: 16-17-3, -15
Last Week: 29th (+4)
Hunter’s Rank: 27th
Scott’s Rank: 23rd

Scott: I admit that the bar is extremely low when I say this, but this might be the best we’ve seen the Habs look this late into a season since their Cup Final run in 2021. They’ve won five of their last six games, aren’t too far out of the playoff discussion, and their underlying numbers during this stretch aren’t bad either. Laine’s insertion into the lineup seems to have given this team a shot in the arm, which is why his injury scare in their lone loss against the Blue Jackets caused a bit of concern for the team. We’ll see where they go from here, but at least they’re fun to watch.

26. Anaheim Ducks

Record: 14-17-4, -21
Last Week: 25th (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 25th
Scott’s Rank: 29th

Scott: With Derek Lalonde finally given the axe in Detroit, I’m now hopping on the Greg Cronin bandwagon for “next coach fired” or at least “the coach that deserves to be fired next”. Yes, the Ducks haven’t been terrible with a 4-3-0 record in their last seven games, but they’re the worst defensive team by a significant margin and they’ve seen most of their young players that are vital to their rebuild regress under Cronin. I’m not sure who the replacement is, and the Ducks season is at least lost to the point where they can wait until the offseason to make the change, but a change is certainly needed here.

27. Detroit Red Wings

Record: 14-18-4, -24
Last Week: 26th (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 28th
Scott’s Rank: 26th

Hunter: Well, the Red Wings finally did it. They fired head coach Lalonde the day after Christmas and replaced him with McLellan. I’m not gonna lie, it was a tad rude of Steve Yzerman to suck up all the oxygen from the Spengler Cup, the most important tournament at this time of the year on the hockey calendar.

28. Nashville Predators

Record: 11-18-7, -26
Last Week: 27th (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 26th
Scott’s Rank: 28th

Scott: The Predators might be one of the few teams that was mad that the holiday break started when it did. Just before the break, they had won back-to-back games for just the second time all season (yes, it’s that bad), and they had done so against two solid teams in the Kings and the Canes. So naturally, in their first game back against a weaker team in the Blues, they lost 7-4. The Preds just can’t catch a break… wait, not a literal break, the metaphorical one. The literal break is part of why they’re in this situation!

29. Buffalo Sabres

Record: 14-19-4, -10
Last Week: 32nd (+3)
Hunter’s Rank: 30th
Scott’s Rank: 25th

Scott: Remember last week when I was gripping over the fact that Josh Allen single-handedly lost me my playoff matchup with a poor performance? Well, the Sabres responded with a blowout 7-1 win over the Islanders,and that’s kicked off a three-game winning streak. It’s a good thing Allen returned to form on Sunday, otherwise I was going to start questioning if the Pegulas had stolen the talent from Allen and given it to the Sabres, a la Space Jam.

30. Seattle Kraken

Record: 16-19-2, -11
Last Week: 28th (-2)
Hunter’s Rank: 29th
Scott’s Rank: 30th

Scott: I’ve been low on the Kraken all season because their underlying numbers have been terrible whether at even strength, on the power play or on the penalty kill. But even I didn’t notice that they were riding a five-game losing streak going into Saturday’s game against the Canucks, and they were very close to making it six if not for that three-goal comeback in the final five minutes of the game. Still, this is a Kraken team starving for a talented player, so perhaps losing and getting a high draft pick in a class with four great picks at the top of the board is better for them in the long run.

31. Chicago Blackhawks

Record: 12-23-2, -29
Last Week: 31st (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 31st
Scott’s Rank: 31st

Hunter: Losers of four straight, you could see the Blackhawks were playing more aggressively under new head coach Anders Sorensen. But they’re a mess defensively, giving up 21 goals in their last four games and losing 6-2 to the lowly Sabres. Here’s hoping Connor Bedard can create some memories in Tuesday’s Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.

32. San Jose Sharks

Record: 11-22-6, -37
Last Week: 30th (-2)
Hunter’s Rank: 32nd
Scott’s Rank: 32nd

Scott: You can tell that the Sharks have perfected the art of losing this season, because they’re currently riding a seven-game winning losing streak and no one is talking about it like it’s an embarrassing thing for them to do. It helps that they continue to be a fun team to watch and keep these losses close for the most part, and even better for the Sharks, Yaroslav Askarov has been playing great for them and they’re still losing. I haven’t seen a tanking season executed this perfectly since the Maple Leafs 2015-16 season that got them Auston Matthews.

Hunter: My God, that team was fun. P.A. Parenteau, Leo Komarov, Jake Gardiner, friend of the Power Rankings. Frankie Corrado. What a time to be alive.

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