NHL Power Rankings: Where Every Team Stands 1 Week Before the End of the Season

It's official. Crunch time in the NHL has arrived.

Though 12 of the 16 teams in the playoffs have been determined, there's still frenetic jockeying for position among them and an even more desperate chase involving the eight teams still alive for the final four spots.

No team has helped themselves more lately than the New York Islanders and Winnipeg Jets, who've won five and four straight games, respectively, and sit in third place in the Metropolitan and Central divisions. Washington and Pittsburgh are doggedly pursuing the Islanders, while the Jets are two points behind Colorado for second.

It hasn't changed things at the top of the pack, though, where the Dallas Stars lead the B/R Power Rankings for the second straight week after garnering 60 percent of the first-place nods from the voting panel.

The New York Rangers, who lead the Stars by a point in the overall standings, are tied for second with Carolina after receiving the remaining first-place votes, while the Hurricanes got three second-place votes and two-thirds.

The top five is rounded out by the Boston Bruins, who held onto their fourth-place spot; and the Vancouver Canucks, who climbed a spot from sixth to fifth.

The Islanders were the week's biggest movers with a climb to 15th from last week's 20th-place tie.

Scroll through to see where your favorite team wound up and drop a thought of your own in the comments.

Statistics were up to date and votes tallied before games on Wednesday, April 10.

Previous Ranking: 32

Overall Record: 18-51-9

It's not always an easy competitive life for the No. 1 goalie on the league's worst team and it's been no different for Mackenzie Blackwood, who made 38 saves in an OT loss to Calgary on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old has had a .925 save percentage in his last five starts while going 1-3-1.

Previous Ranking: 31

Overall Record: 23-49-5

Chicago's fortunes are on the rise thanks to Connor Bedard and presumably another premium draft pick on the way, but goal scoring is a primary issue to address after the Blackhawks were shut out for the 13th time on Sunday.

Their 2.18 goals per game rate is last in the league.

Previous Ranking: 30

Overall Record: 26-48-5

Just when it seemed the Ducks had packed it in, they showed a spark and beat neighborhood rival Los Angeles, 3-1, to stop a stretch of seven losses in eight games (1-5-2).

"We play hard all the time, and we're a tough team to play against," Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. "We've flirted with that throughout the year."

Previous Ranking: 29

Overall Record: 26-41-12

There's not much to celebrate for the Blue Jackets these days, and a 1-3-0 rankings week was no different.

However, 2018 second-round pick Kirill Marchenko is red hot, scoring five times in his last six games for a career-high 23 for the season.

Previous Ranking: 28

Overall Record: 33-40-5

Goalie Karel Vejmelka is getting a taste of how fleeting NHL success can be, having allowed 15 goals on 79 shots across his last three starts (.810 save percentage) after allowing just six on 122 shots (.950 save percentage) in his previous four starts, in which he was 3-1-0.

Previous Ranking: 26

Overall Record: 34-40-4

The play-out-the-string ending to the 2023-24 season continued for the Senators, which won once in four games during the rankings week and have lost four of five overall.

They've scored eight goals in those five games, well under their season average of 3.09 per game.

Previous Ranking: 27

Overall Record: 30-36-12

Reaching individual goals and playing the spoiler as a team are what's left for the Canadiens this season, and both happened on Tuesday.

A 9-3 defeat of playoff-chasing Philadelphia yielded the first NHL hat trick for Juraj Slafkovsky, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft.

Previous Ranking: 25

Overall Record: 35-37-5

A trip to San Jose was just what the late-season doctor ordered for the skidding Flames, which had lost three straight and eight of nine before beating the Sharks in OT.

Nevertheless, Andrei Kuzmenko has been hot, producing five goals and 11 points in his last six games.

Previous Ranking: 23

Overall Record: 37-37-5

There have been myriad reasons why it occurred, but it's pretty safe to say the Devils are the biggest disappointment of the 2023-24 season, which effectively ended for them Tuesday when they were eliminated from playoff contention after finishing third overall last season.

Jack Hughes is out for the season and will undergo shoulder surgery.

Previous Ranking: 22

Overall Record: 37-37-5

Frustration was a buzzword for the Sabres after their elimination from playoff contention. Buffalo has one less regulation win than Vegas and only four fewer than Boston.

"Those teams were able to lock it down a little better defensively and force games into overtime and get that point," forward Alex Tuch said.

Previous Ranking: 24

Overall Record: 33-31-13

Getting Shane Wright with the fourth overall pick in 2022 was considered a coup for the Kraken, but he struggled to make an immediate impact in only eight NHL games last season.

The 20-year-old has been finding his way lately, though, with four goals in seven games since arriving from Coachella Valley of the AHL.

Previous Ranking: 19

Overall Record: 36-32-11

Not much was expected of the Flyers this season, but the takeaway might end up being disappointment as they continue to slide from a playoff slot that looked safe a few weeks back.

Philadelphia's Tuesday loss was No. 8 in a row, and the team has gone 5-9-4 since March 1.

Previous Ranking: 17

Overall Record: 37-32-9

The chances weren't great anyway, but a 1-3-0 week and Tuesday's loss at Colorado made it official that the Wild will miss the playoffs for the first time since they finished seventh in the Central in 2018-19.

Minnesota has still not won a postseason series since 2014-15.

Previous Ranking: 18

Overall Record: 37-30-11

To call them safe would be a colossal overstatement, but the Capitals did regain a playoff toehold with a defeat of Detroit on Tuesday.

It was their first win of the week, though, and another 1-2-1 run across the final four games won't do much to secure them.

Previous Ranking: 16

Overall Record: 38-32-8

They have four games remaining to amend the narrative, but if the season ends with the Red Wings on the outside of the tournament, they'll go down as one of the league's biggest flops of 2023-24.

Detroit was seven points ahead of the cutline on March 1 and is 5-11-2 since.

Previous Ranking: 15

Overall Record: 41-32-5

A pedestrian 1-1-1 week came at precisely the wrong time for the Blues, which fell to the brink of official playoff extinction entering Wednesday's game.

However, it wasn't because of Robert Thomas, who reached a career-high 81 points and became only the second 80-point man for the franchise in the last 20 years.

Previous Ranking: 20 (tie)

Overall Record: 36-30-12

This just in: Sidney Crosby is pretty good. And it's no secret.

The 36-year-old was voted the league's most complete player in the annual Players' Association poll for the fifth straight season. His 1,588 career points are two away from tying for 10th of all time with Phil Esposito.

Previous Ranking: 20 (tie)

Overall Record: 36-27-15

Suddenly, the Islanders are not only in an Eastern playoff spot but also moderately safe if they can finish the season with some success.

One of just two teams to max out on points during the rankings week, their defeat of the Rangers Tuesday was its fifth straight win.

Previous Ranking: 14

Overall Record: 41-26-11

The Kings had a 3-1-0 rankings week but the loss, a 3-1 decision to lowly Anaheim, could cost them when it comes to playoff positioning. Los Angeles led Vegas by a point for third in the Pacific entering Wednesday.

"We thought it might be easy," interim coach Jim Hiller said. "It is never easy in the National Hockey League."

Previous Ranking: 10

Overall Record: 42-27-8

The Golden Knights added to a loaded roster at the deadline when they acquired forward Tomáš Hertl from San Jose, but they had to wait a while to see him in action.

The 30-year-old debuted with Vegas on Monday and had an assist after rehabbing from surgery on his left knee.

Previous Ranking: 13

Overall Record: 45-29-5

They've not torn up the league since the end of a franchise-record 18-game (16-0-2) point streak, but the Predators did lock up a playoff spot by getting to OT in a Tuesday loss to Winnipeg.

Nashville is 2-4-1 since the final win of the streak, against Vegas, on March 26.

Previous Ranking: 12

Overall Record: 44-27-7

If the names Steven Stamkos and Andrei Vasilevskiy are familiar to you, it's no surprise. The Lightning veterans have played a big role in their recent 11-2-1 run, with the former scoring 10 goals in his last six games and the latter allowing no more than two goals in four of his last starts (.924 save percentage).

Previous Ranking: 9

Overall Record: 46-23-9

It's time for cautious optimism again in Toronto, where the game in which Auston Matthews reached 66 goals was also the third win in the rankings week and their sixth in seven games.

Matthews' total is the highest in the NHL since Mario Lemieux scored 69 in 1995-96.

Previous Ranking: 11

Overall Record: 48-24-6

It's been tough to figure out the Jets lately as they've careened from a top spot in the rankings to last week's No. 11 berth.

They were back on point this week, though, coming in as the second of two teams to max out across seven days and locking in a first-round series with Colorado.

Previous Ranking: 7

Overall Record: 47-24-5

Wins against Colorado and Calgary helped erase the sting of a 5-0 flop in Dallas, but all that's really on the minds of Oilers fans at the moment is the playoff status of Connor McDavid.

The 27-year-old missed a second straight practice on Tuesday and has been labeled day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Previous Ranking: 8

Overall Record: 49-24-6

The Panthers may not have enough runway left to clear a three-point Atlantic Division deficit to the Bruins, but they regained their game with a 2-0-1 week and finished an odd run of domination over Ottawa, shutting them out Tuesday for the third time this season.

Previous Ranking: 5

Overall Record: 49-24-6

There'll be arguments made in Toronto, Tampa Bay and Edmonton, but Nathan MacKinnon probably sealed the MVP for 2023-24 with his 50th goal of the season in Tuesday's defeat of Minnesota.

It's the first time the 28-year-old has hit 50, and his 137 points are already a career high.

Previous Ranking: 6

Overall Record: 48-22-8

Forward Elias Lindholm was a headline-making pickup at the trade deadline, but he's not had the best luck with the Canucks, posting just nine points in 22 games and missing significant time with an upper-body issue.

"In the regular season it hasn't worked out, so I'm pretty excited to get this thing going," he said.

Previous Ranking: 4

Overall Record: 46-18-15

Another Atlantic Division title and a second seed in the upcoming tournament are within a short reach for the Bruins, which had won four straight before a Tuesday home loss to Carolina.

The 4-1 defeat was the first time they had allowed more than three goals since March 21 (5-2-0).

Previous Ranking: 3

Overall Record: 50-22-7

Both their final standings position and first-round playoff opponent are still in question, but there's no doubt the Hurricanes are revving at the right time.

They have gone 3-1-0 for the week and 7-2-1 in their last 10 to climb to a tie for third overall in the league.

Previous Ranking: 2

Overall Record: 53-22-4

A 3-1-0 week kept the Rangers in front of both the Metropolitan Division and the overall standings, but it's no gimme for either thanks to charges from both Carolina (three points behind, 7-2-1 in their last 10) and Dallas (one point behind, 9-1-0 in their last 10).

Elsewhere, keep an eye on the Saturday rematch with the Islanders after Mika Zibanejad left the ice in some distress Tuesday following a hit from Adam Pelech.

Previous Ranking: 1

Overall Record: 50-20-9

The Stars have been on a short list of Stanley Cup contenders all season, but there was some concern about the inconsistency of goalie Jake Oettinger.

The 25-year-old has calmed those worries recently, though, winning eight straight starts and allowing more than two goals once.