Just like that, another trade deadline season has come and gone in the National Hockey League. Although we didn’t set any records this time around, it was another entertaining day in the NHL. After 23 trades went down a year ago, there were officially 26 swaps made on March 7, 2025, according to the official NHL Trade Tracker — and many more in the days and weeks leading up to the deadline.
Of course, there were no shortage of storylines as the clock ticked down on Friday afternoon. Most of the big names unsurprisingly got a change of scenery ahead of the 3 p.m. ET deadline. Mikko Rantanen was the headliner, moving for the second time this season — from Raleigh to Texas — while Brock Nelson went to Colorado, Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo joined Toronto, Jake Walman moved north to Edmonton, and in maybe the most stunning deal of the deadline, Brad Marchand headed south to Florida.
Every single move was tracked by ClutchPoints’ Tristin McKinstry and consolidated in our 2025 Trade Deadline Tracker.
There were a few surprises on deadline day as well — and this time around, it was the guys who weren’t moved. St. Louis’ captain Brayden Schenn is staying put as the Blues eye a playoff spot down the stretch (the same can’t be said for his brother), while Brock Boeser remains in Vancouver, Rickard Rakell is still a Penguin, and Ryan Donato continues to call the Windy City home. That’s just the nature of the business, and a couple guys who must have been sure they were on the move instead were not frantically packing their bags over the weekend.
With the trade deadline in the rearview, the stretch run has officially begun in the National. With just over a month until the conclusion of the 2024-25 campaign, a lot of teams look a lot different than they did last week. And, as always, the latest edition of the NHL Power Rankings has you covered. No team has under 20 games in their respective regular-season; are we already tanking for the 2025 draft, fighting tooth and nail for a postseason berth, or jockeying for position ahead of the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
It’s going to be a race to the finish either way, and it’ll only get better once the best tournament in all of sports begins at the end of April. Time to take the training wheels off and lock in. Here’s the latest edition of CP’s PR’s.
Previous 2024-25 NHL Power Rankings: Week 21 | Week 20 | Week 19 | Week 18 | Week 17 | Week 16 | Week 15 | Week 14 | Week 13 | Week 12 | Week 11 | Week 10 | Week 9 | Week 8 | Week 7 | Week 6 | Week 5 | Week 4 | Week 3 | Week 2 | Week 1
1. Dallas Stars (+1)
After 22 long weeks, it’s finally time for the Stars to claim their rightful place — at least for now — at the top of the NHL Power Rankings leaderboard. It’s hard to argue that Dallas wasn’t the big winner of the 2025 deadline, adding Mikael Granlund and Cody Cedi earlier in the season and snagging Rantanen on Friday afternoon. And all it cost was Logan Stankoven and a couple of high draft picks, which this franchise won’t have any need for over the next few years. With both Rantanaen and Wyatt Johnston locked up long-term, the Stars are all-in in 2024-25, and looking at the roster on paper, it’s an absolute powerhouse. Potentially getting Tyler Seguin and Miro Heiskanen back for the postseason is also ridiculous, and as of right now, this is your Stanley Cup favorite. It’s hard to win in the National, but GM Jim Nill and the front office have done everything they can to put the Stars in the best position to succeed as they look to break a championship drought that dates back to 1999.
2. Washington Capitals (+1)
A few more wins for the Capitals, a few more goals for Alex Ovechkin, and Washington continues to look like the best team in the Eastern Conference. Although management stayed pat for the most part at the deadline, the rationale was that the front office didn’t want to mess with the obvious chemistry this roster has built in 2024-25. That’s fair, but also a bold move; the Caps certainly could have added a rental or two in their quest to win a first title since 2018. Still, Washington has won four games in a row, improving to 42-14-8 and looking as playoff ready as they possibly can — and they’re being rewarded in the NHL Power Rankings. The magic number for The Great Eight to break Wayne Gretzky’s record is down to nine, and with 18 games left, you’d be hard-pressed to find a hockey fan who doesn’t think it’ll happen this season. And it’s going to be just electric when it does. As it stands, this is a true Stanley Cup contender, which hasn’t been the case in the nation’s capital for nearly the last half-decade.
3. Florida Panthers (+1)
After advancing to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals in each of the last two campaigns — and winning the franchise’s inaugural championship last year — the Panthers are once again looking like the team to team to beat in the Eastern Conference. GM Bill Zito, who has just done a terrific job with this roster, made a couple of savvy moves both before the deadline and on Friday. Of course, the shocking move was acquiring Marchand from the Bruins, who Florida knocked out of the postseason each of the last two years. Imagine a line of Marchand, Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett in the playoffs?! That is just absurd. Zito also went out and added Seth Jones, who is desperate to win after playing on an awful Blackhawks team over the last few years. All that to say, the Cats are a wagon again, and although matchups against the Lightning or Leafs would be a bloodbath, this is going to be as tough an out as any team come postseason time.
4. Winnipeg Jets (-3)
Rarely have we seen a tumble of this magnitude from a team that has been entrenched in a top two slot in the NHL Power Rankings for basically the entire season. And no, the Jets don’t really deserve to be all the way down at No. 4 in Week 22. But the Stars and Panthers both got a ton better at the deadline, while Winnipeg only added a couple of depth pieces in Brandon Tanev and Luke Schenn. This is still undoubtedly a wagon, and all it would take is a great week or two to get them back into a top-two slot. But they’ve lost four of six and are having a hard time scoring goals as of late, which doesn’t bode well with only 17 games left in their regular-season. This is the year for the Jets to finally get over the postseason hump, and to be honest, it doesn’t really matter what happens the rest of the campaign. Yes, they’d love to win the division for a second straight year, but they entered the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs on an eight-game heater and lost in five games to the Avalanche in Round 1. This might be a little dramatic, but this could be the most important postseason in the history of the Jets’ franchise.
5. Colorado Avalanche (+3)
When the Avalanche shockingly traded Rantanen away at the end of January, it looked like the roster would be significantly worse over the final half of the season. Instead, Martin Necas has been terrific — and Carolina was unable to re-sign the Finn anyways. Chris MacFarland and Joe Sakic did some phenomenal work on and ahead of the deadline to give Colorado the best possible chance if (and probably when) they meet Rantanen and the Stars in the postseason. Joining Necas and Jack Drury is a proven goal scorer in Nelson, a strong two-way presence in Charlie Coyle and a hard-nosed defender in Ryan Lindgren. All in all, the Avalanche look a ton better now than they did two months ago, and that’s pretty surprising considering Rantanen is no longer part of the equation. As it stands, Colorado has won five games in a row and emerged into one of the teams to beat in the Western Conference. The center depth of Nathan MacKinnon, Nelson, Coyle and Drury is terrific, and the blue line also looks a lot better than it did at the start of the year. Keep an eye on the Nova Scotia-born superstar this week; MacKinnon leads the league with 100 points and is just a single point away from hitting the 1,000 mark — he’ll be the 100th NHL player to get there when it happens. Poetic.
6. Vegas Golden Knights (-1)
For once, the Golden Knights didn’t make a massive splash at the NHL trade deadline. Last year, two key players came to the strip in Tomas Hertl and Noah Hanifin. And although the pair are a huge part of the roster today, GM Kelly McCrimmon was suspiciously quiet this time around. The re-acquisition of Stanley Cup champion Reilly Smith from the Rangers was a nice add, but that’s literally all Vegas did. This is still a Stanley Cup contender, and if they had beaten Dallas in Game 7 of Round 1 last year, they could have went all the way again. Working to their advantage is the fact that the Knights play in a relatively weak division; none of the Oilers, Kings, Canucks or Flames look to be on their level right now. But assuming they win the Pacific, they could face a tough challenge in the first round in 2025. You can never count out the ‘Golden Misfits’ — and they have won seven of their last nine after a four-game losing streak — but they’re going to have to prove some doubters wrong if they hope to advance to a second championship series in three years come June.
7. Tampa Bay Lightning (no change)
Although the Lightning play in a gauntlet of an Atlantic Division, they look well-positioned for the postseason after bringing back two-time champion Yanni Gourde, along with Oliver Bjorkstrand, from the Kraken. This is one of the league’s best top-six forward groups with 19 games left, although they’re going to be hard-pressed to win the division the way the Panthers and Leafs are playing. Still, Andrei Vasilevskiy is back to superstar form, Nikita Kucherov is still one of the top players in the league, and Tampa Bay has won 11 of its last 14 games since the calendar flipped to February. This is a team that knows how to win come playoff time, and despite not being past the first-round after back-to-back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final, they can still beat anyone in the league in a seven-game series.
8. Toronto Maple Leafs (-2)
To Leafs GM Brad Treliving’s credit, he didn’t sit back and watch as the Panthers and Lightning got better. The addition of Laughton from the Flyers will be huge come playoff time, and although he overpaid for Carlo — how did the blue liner recoup a first-rounder but Marchand didn’t? — the hard-nosed defenseman should fit well on Toronto’s blue line. As has been the case for the last few years, the Leafs will be playing a powerhouse in the first round unless they win the division, which is going to be difficult considering they’ve lost three games in a row. With Mitch Marner and John Tavares at the end of their respective contracts, this truly could be the Last Dance for the core. And it’s going to be a huge challenge to get out of the first two rounds. But this is still one of the league’s best teams, and it just got even better thanks to some savvy work by the front office.
9. Carolina Hurricanes (+2)
The Rantanen gamble turned out to be a disaster for Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky. Not only was he unable to sign the superstar, he also lost Necas in the midst of a career year, along with Drury. Although he was able to get a serious young talent back in Logan Stankoven, along with some extra draft capital for the future, what does that matter for a team that is in its win-now window, now? This just seems like a move that former GM Don Waddell would not make, and Carolina is not in a great spot ahead of the stretch run. That being said, this squad is still a contender, and they’ve drowned out the critics by winning four games in a row and five of six, proving to everyone they still have a Stanley Cup on their mind. And how about the debut of Mark Jankowski? After being acquired from the Predators, he scored two goals in his Raleigh debut, a 4-2 victory over the Jets on Sunday night. He should be a nice depth piece as this core once again tries to capture a championship — and the NHL Power Rankings is taking notice.
10. Edmonton Oilers (no change)
After losing five games in a row over a three-week stretch on either side of the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Oilers have finally started to turn things around. With three wins in their last four games, Edmonton is just four points back of the Golden Knights for the Pacific Division lead — but also just eight points ahead of the final wild card slot in the Western Conference. Losing Evander Kane for at least the rest of the regular-season is disappointing, but former Bruin Trent Frederic should help to fill that hole once he’s ready to return from injury. GM Stan Bowman didn’t do much at the deadline, but Walman was a great add to the blue line, and he should be a key piece of the team for the rest of the season. After a devastating loss in Game 7 of the 2024 Finals, Connor McDavid and co. look to be rounding back into form, but they don’t look to be quite at a Stanley Cup level just yet.
11. Columbus Blue Jackets (+1)
The Blue Jackets continue to hold onto a playoff spot for dear life, but that’s been the case for multiple weeks now. It might be time to accept that anything less than a postseason berth would be a disappointment despite the pre-campaign expectations that pencilled this team in for a bottom-three finish in the Eastern Conference. Waddell said the roster deserves a chance to make a run, and he stayed true to his word by holding onto pending UFA Ivan Provorov and adding Luke Kunin from the Sharks to the bottom-six. With five wins in their last seven games — including a statement 7-3 triumph over the Rangers on Sunday night — Columbus continues to look like a team that should be one of the last eight standing come mid-April. And after being devastated by injuries, besides Sean Monahan and Cole Sillinger, this roster is nearly 100 percent healthy for what should be a highly entertaining stretch run in Ohio.
12. Minnesota Wild (-3)
Not only did the Wild not make any significant moves at the trade deadline — besides adding Gustav Nyquist from the Preds — Minnesota has lost two games in a row and five of seven dating back to February 25. They’ve conceded third place in the Central Division to the Avalanche, and the way Colorado, Dallas and Winnipeg are playing, it would be a miracle if they were able to finish top-three. Their main concern right now is just getting into the dance; they’re currently only seven points up on the Canucks, and Vancouver has a game in hand. Without Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek, things have begun to implode in the State of Hockey — and after losing at home to the lowly Penguins, there isn’t a lot of hope they can turn things around over their last 18 games.
13. Los Angeles Kings (+2)
After an abysmal stretch at the end of February — the Kings lost five straight over a week-and-a-half — LA has finally begun to right the ship, winning two games in a row to end Week 21. It’s not much, but it’s a start for a team that still occupies the third seed in the Pacific Division. That hold is precarious, with Vancouver and Calgary hot on the trail, but this squad is certainly good enough to remain there over the last 20 games. Andrei Kuzmenko was an interesting add, and he should add a little offense to a team that is desperate for it — especially on the powerplay. The Kings are at home for all three of their games this week, and with two non-playoff teams on the schedule in the Islanders and Predators, those are games LA needs to win if they hope to continue having at least a little bit of breathing room on the wild card teams.
14. New Jersey Devils (-1)
The Devils got the devastating news last week that superstar forward Jack Hughes would miss the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery. He suffered the ailment after being accidentally tripped into the boards by 4 Nations teammate Jack Eichel, and that is the absolute worst-case scenario for Sheldon Keefe’s team. Once looking like a Stanley Cup contender, New Jersey is now just trying to stay ahead of Columbus and New York; the Blue Jackets are just four points back with two games in hand. With Dougie Hamilton also suffering an injury and now out indefinitely, it’s truly turning into a nightmare in Newark. It would be surprising if the team made the playoffs at this point, and after only making a few depth adds at the trade deadline, that’s especially true. With only 17 games left, every single one is going to be absolutely crucial if they hope to remain in a playoff spot come mid-April.
15. New York Rangers (+1)
No, the Rangers don’t deserve to be getting a bump up in the NHL Power Rankings after losing three consecutive games. But a couple of the teams below them have been floundering, and considering two of those losses came past regulation, New York is going to get the benefit of the doubt heading into Week 22. It also helps that they had won four of five games before the disappointing skid. The Blueshirts are certainly missing Adam Fox on the blue line, and they’ll forever miss Ryan Lindgren, but they remain just a single point back of the final wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference. They still control their own destiny, and with a couple of ringers up front, the difference might be the play of Igor Shesterkin down the stretch.
16. St. Louis Blues (+5)
What a tear the Blues have been on as of late. Despite devastatingly losing Colton Parayko for six weeks or more, St. Louis has won six of eight, picked up a point in seven of those (the one regulation loss was to the Stars), and roared back into the playoff conversation in the Western Conference. Naturally, they’re getting the biggest jump of any team in the NHL Power Rankings heading into Week 22. Now just a single point out of the playoffs, the roster is looking well-positioned to remain in the hunt right to the bitter end. Schenn not getting traded was huge, and with 17 games left, all of them are going to be crucial as STL looks to rectify back-to-back missed postseasons.
17. Ottawa Senators (+2)
Like the Oilers, the Senators had a horrible month of February, losing three in a row before the 13-day 4 Nations Face-Off break and dropping two more contests on the other side of the terrific tournament. But, also like Edmonton, Ottawa has come alive since, winning three of their last four games, the one loss a tight 5-4 shootout defeat at the hands of the Capitals. Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle have been the catalysts; the former is on a four-game goal streak, while the latter owns one of the longest current point streaks in the league at 14. The additions of Dylan Cozens and Fabian Zetterlund will certainly move the needle down the stretch as Ottawa looks to snap one of the longest postseason droughts in the NHL. Right now, they occupy the second wildcard spot with a couple games in hand on all of the teams below them.
18. Vancouver Canucks (-1)
The Canucks were one of the losers of the trade deadline, not only failing to trade pending UFA Brock Boeser, but also unable to make the team any better for the stretch run. With JT Miller no longer in the equation, and Elias Pettersson still struggling mightily, things are not good in British Columbia right now. It certainly doesn’t help that the team’s best player and goaltender in Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko, respectively, remain on the shelf. But despite it all, the Canucks are just a point out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference after winning three and losing three since February 26, and if they can sneak in and get healthy, they could absolutely make some noise in the postseason. GM Patrik Allvin should not have made the comments he did about Boeser, saying if people knew what he was offered for the American, “you would not believe me.” If the former first-round pick decides to re-sign elsewhere this summer, no one would blame him.
19. Calgary Flames (+1)
The Flames could probably be a little higher in the NHL Power Rankings — they are in a playoff spot right now, after all. But after losing four of their last six, and not making any significant adds at the trade deadline, the chances of them remaining there in mid-April seem to be a bit under 50/50 right now. Dustin Wolf continues to shine, and he shut out the Canadiens in a tight 1-0 win on Saturday night. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but every single one of Calgary’s last 19 games are going to absolutely critical if they hope to advance to the dance for the first time since 2021-22.
20. Detroit Red Wings (-6)
What is Steve Yzerman thinking? After losing Andrew Copp for the season — and having the opportunity to weaponize his cap hit of just over $5 million — the general manager basically did nothing at the deadline, despite the Red Wings being desperate to break a long postseason drought. Not only did Detroit get left in the dust by Florida, Tampa and Toronto, but even the Senators — who they are battling for a wildcard spot with — got better, adding Cozens and Zetterlund. And to make things even worse, the Wings have now lost five games in a row and completely fallen out of a playoff spot, despite racking off two stretches of seven consecutive wins earlier this season. It goes without saying that they’re getting the biggest drop of any team in the NHL Power Rankings in Week 22. While the campaign still has 19 games left, this squad needs to get back in the win column, and fast, or else the second longest postseason drought in the league will be stretching from eight to nine years in 2025.
21. New York Islanders (-3)
Although the Islanders have been pretty decent as of late, winning four of six, that’s part of a larger stretch that’s seen the team lose six times in 10 tries since February 7. Considering Nelson is no longer part of the equation, along with the news that Mat Barzal will likely be out for the rest of the regular-season, the NHL Power Rankings had to make a hard decision on the Long Island dwellers in Week 22. New York is now four points out of a playoff spot, and all of the Bruins, Canadiens, Red Wings and Rangers stand between them and returning to the postseason. That’s probably just not going to happen, but we’ll see how the next couple of weeks go for Patrick Roy’s group.
22. Montreal Canadiens (no change)
Canadiens fans will be thrilled that GM Kent Hughes decided to hold onto Joel Armia, David Savard and Jake Evans at the deadline instead of moving on from any of the players. The front office also didn’t make the team any better, and it’s now up to the roster as currently constructed to break a playoff drought that dates back to 2020-21. Montreal lost eight of nine, then won five straight, but have now lost consecutive games heading into Week 22. And for that reason, they’re staying right where they are in the NHL Power Rankings — although there is potential for a significant jump if they can string together a couple of wins over the next few weeks. Currently just three points back of the final wildcard spot, the Bell Centre is rocking again. It’s going to take a herculean effort over their last 19 tilts, starting with the tail end of a four-game road trip that takes the Habs through Vancouver on Tuesday and Seattle on Wednesday before they return to Quebec.
23. Utah Hockey Club (+1)
The Utah Hockey Club continues to hang around in the Western Conference, but after making a couple of huge splashes before the season started, it is a bit disappointing that GM Bill Armstrong didn’t do that again ahead of the trade deadline. He’s trusting in the roster to get the job done, and that is certainly a gamble with 19 games left. That being said, Utah has won four of six — and picked up a point in five of those contests. The first campaign in Salt Lake City has been far from a failure, but there’s still a lot of work to do with four points separating them from the final wildcard berth in the conference. A monumental cross-conference tilt with the Maple Leafs awaits at the Delta Center on Monday night.
24. Anaheim Ducks (-1)
Although the Ducks’ forward lines have found some great chemistry — especially the third unit of Mason McTavish, Sam Colangelo and Cutter Gauthier — Anaheim has lost five of eight dating back to February 23. That’s extremely disappointing considering the club had been on a tear before that, winning seven of eight between the end of January and end of February. This roster is oh-so-close to coming out of the rebuild, but things are not looking good; they’ve now fallen to seven points back of the final wildcard slot. General manager Pat Verbeek held firm at the deadline, neither buying or selling. We’ll see how that decision looks in the coming weeks and months, but in the short-term, the squad is focused on a huge back-to-back set against Washington and Utah on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
25. Boston Bruins (no change)
It’s the end of an era in Boston. Despite Marchand having a face-to-face meeting with Bruins management to try to decide on an AAV that worked for everyone — it was reported that a three-year deal made sense for both sides — in the end, Don Sweeney shipped the heart and soul veteran to the Panthers. Florida was the captain’s preferred destination, and he’ll now have a chance to win a second Stanley Cup after capturing a title with Boston back in 2011. Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle were also traded, but management recouped Casey Mittelstadt from Colorado and Henri Jokiharju from Buffalo as replacements. The Bruins have basically waived the white flag on the season, and that’s not surprising considering they’ve been playing without their two best defensemen in Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm for so long. They’ve lost eight of their last 10, but made a statement in a 1-0 Jeremy Swayman shutout victory over the Lightning in their first game after the deadline. They’re not out of it, but it would take a miracle to come out of the logjam in the Eastern Conference the way the roster looks right now.
26. Nashville Predators (+4)
The Predators are well past having a hope and a prayer for a playoff spot — and have been for a while — but the team has decided to save its best hockey of the year for the last month-and-a-half. Nashville has won three games in a row, four of six and six of 10 going back to February 8. It doesn’t really matter, but it’s nice to see a 2023-24 playoff team at least finishing the year strong. Barry Trotz made a couple nice deals ahead of the deadline, as well, getting draft capital for Nyquist and Jankowski and adding a potential new long-term piece to the core in Michael Bunting in the Schenn trade. Although it cost a once promising young player in Tommy Novak, he was struggling mightily in Smashville and a change of scenery is probably just what he needs.
27. Philadelphia Flyers (-1)
Tough, tough stretch for the Flyers, who have lost four games in a row — all in regulation — and five of six, all but ending their slim playoff hopes. Although Matvei Michkov continues to produce, and he will certainly be a finalist to win the Calder Trophy, the rest of the roster is lacking in a big way. Getting a first-round pick for Scott Laughton and a third-rounder for Kuzmenko was a nice piece of business for the front office as it looks to come out of the rebuild sometime in the next few seasons. It won’t be in 2024-25, though, and all Philly will be doing is playing spoiler over their last 17 games.
28. Seattle Kraken (no change)
Another week, another No. 28 showing for the Kraken in the NHL Power Rankings. Although it was rumored that a fire sale was coming out of Seattle, in the end, only Gourde, Bjorkstrand, Tanev and Daniel Sproing ended up getting traded. That is still a solid group of roster players, although some expected a few other veterans — like Jared McCann and Jordan Eberle — to potentially be on the move before the deadline. While that didn’t materialize, the roster was still decimated on and before Friday, and the Kraken look like one of the worst teams in the league on paper right now. With five losses in their last seven games, this team cannot wait for the 2024-25 campaign to end.
29. Pittsburgh Penguins (no change)
Like the Kraken, the Penguins have found a comfortable spot at 29th place in the NHL Power Rankings for yet another week. The losses just keep coming for Pittsburgh; make that eight in their last 10 games dating back to February 8. And Erik Karlsson wasn’t traded, meaning he’ll remain on one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference until at least the end of the regular-season. After four consecutive losses, the Pens finally got a win on Sunday, beating the reeling Wild 3-1. Of course, it was Sidney Crosby leading the way, scoring two goals including the game winner. It’ll be interesting to see if Kyle Dubas and the front office can build anything close to a playoff team before the end of the superstar’s career.
30. Buffalo Sabres (-3)
It’s been an abysmal decade-and-a-half for the Sabres, and none of the moves that GM Kevyn Adams made on deadline day will give much hope for the future. As a 14th straight spring without a playoff appearance looms, Buffalo made a few moves that just don’t really move the needle at all. Swapping Cozens — once considered a key piece of the core — for Norris is a wash, at best, and at worst it’s selling low on a player who still has a high ceiling. The fact the front office also sent a second-rounder to the Senators is just a head scratcher. Bowen Byram, Alex Tuch and Jason Zucker all remaining on the roster make the Sabres one of the big losers of trade deadline season. Considering we have no idea where this franchise is going — and that they’ve lost six games in a row — they’re back to 30th in the NHL Power Rankings after slowly climbing up the leaderboard over the last few weeks. Don’t expect them to be going anywhere the rest of the year, except maybe 31st if the Hawks can string some wins together down the stretch.
31. Chicago Blackhawks (no change)
Hockey fans, buckle up for a monumental tilt on Thursday night when Chicago and San Jose face off at the Shark Tank. These two futile rosters have been holding down the bottom of both overall league standings and the NHL Power Rankings for what feels like forever, but there’s still one thing both the Blackhawks and Sharks are playing for: the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft. Whoever ends up finishing last will have the best chance to select first at 25.5 percent. Chicago is currently only six points ahead of San Jose, and each franchise has had a chance to pick first overall one of the last two years. For the Hawks, it was Connor Bedard in 2023, who is the future in the Windy City despite not even looking like the best player on his team as of late. That title belongs to Ryan Donato, who wasn’t traded at the deadline and should be a priority for GM Kyle Davidson to get re-signed this summer.
32. San Jose Sharks (no change)
Hockey fans, buckle up for a…wait a minute. After holding down the No. 32 slot in the NHL Power Rankings for months, could the Sharks finally leapfrog the Blackhawks at the last? Thursday night’s game will certainly be telling, but although nobody will admit it, you know that neither front office really wants to win anymore. The prospect of selecting first overall in back-to-back years is a mouthwatering prospect for San Jose fans, and that’s especially true after the fantastic rookie season Macklin Celebrini has had on a truly atrocious roster. Let’s see who wins the loser bowl later this week, and whether it will finally be enough to get the California franchise out of the NHL Power Rankings basement.
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