NHL Power Rankings: Where Every Team Stands After the Christmas Break

Some NHL teams are celebrating Christmas cheer. Others have coal in their stockings.

The Vegas Golden Knights and New Jersey Devils looked primed to be top teams in their respective conferences and have been the class of the NHL for most of the 2024-25 season so far.

The New York Rangers continue to be plagued by internal turmoil and seem on the verge of a complete overhaul just months after being two wins away from the Stanley Cup Final.

Regardless, it's back to action on the ice Friday as teams continue to shuffle for position ahead of the new year. As always, the B/R NHL team got together to provide their thoughts in our Weekly Power Rankings.

Disagree with our expert opinions? Share your thoughts now in the comments section of the B/R app!

*Votes were tallied after games played on Monday, Dec. 23

Previous Ranking: 5

Overall Record: 23-8-3

All hail the new No. 1 team in the Bleacher Report Weekly NHL Power Rankings, the Vegas Golden Knights.

Winners of nine out of their last 11 games, Vegas is riding a current four-game winning streak and sits atop the Pacific Division.

Previous Ranking: 1

Overall Record: 25-10-1

The Jets sit atop the NHL in terms of overall points but find themselves out of the No. 1 spot in Bleacher Report's Power Rankings. It's a harsh demotion, considering Winnipeg is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games.

Kyle Connor has a five-game points streak and 11 points during that stretch.

Previous Ranking: 2

Overall Record: 23-11-3

The Devils have taken over the lead in the Metropolitan Division after a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games and back-to-back shutouts of the rival Penguins and Rangers.

Jack Hughes continued his domination of New Jersey's cross-river rivals with a monster four-point performance over the Blueshirts in Monday's win.

Previous Ranking: 3

Overall Record: 23-9-2

Are we finally getting closer to the return of the Great 8?

Alexander Ovechkin has missed over a month since suffering a broken fibula on Nov. 18, but the Capitals' captain has been inching closer to a return. That day could come on Dec. 28 against Toronto.

Previous Ranking: 12

Overall Record: 21-11-2

Were you actually worried about the Oilers when they started the season slowly?

If you were, your lack of faith was foolish. Edmonton has an 8-2-0 record in its last 10 games and has won four in a row.

Zach Hyman has scored a goal in six straight games and has a points streak of nine games.

Previous Ranking: 10

Overall Record: 22-12-2

Something to worry about or nothing at all?

The Panthers are leading the Atlantic Division, but their goaltending play has been far from stellar.

Both Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight have save percentages under .900, with Bobrovsky's struggles concerning considering he had a .915 save percentage last season.

Previous Ranking: 4

Overall Record: 21-10-4

The Wild put a four-game skid to an end on Monday by beating hapless Chicago on home ice.

It'll help to have the returning Filip Gustavsson, who made his first start since Dec. 12 after missing four games with a lower-body injury.

Previous Ranking: 5

Overall Record: 21-12-1

After starting the season on fire, Martin Necas has gone the last four games without a point. The Hurricanes find themselves behind the Devils and Capitals in the Metropolitan Division and are 5-5-0 in their last 10.

Previous Ranking: 7

Overall Record: 19-10-5

A season-long seven-game road trip came to an end on Sunday with a loss to Washington, but the Kings will undoubtedly be happy with their 3-2-2 record away from L.A.

One thing the Kings would like to change is the eventuality of a playoff matchup with the Oilers. If the season ended today, the Kings would be taking on Edmonton yet again.

Previous Ranking: 11

Overall Record: 19-11-2

Nikita Kucherov is making a case for another Hart Trophy campaign as NHL MVP and also drawing the ire of Panthers fans.

The 2019 Hart winner received a game-misconduct penalty in Tampa's Monday night 4-0 win over Florida.

He did manage to score against Florida for his 50th point of the season and currently sits tied for fourth in the NHL in total points this season.

Previous Ranking: 9

Overall Record: 21-12-2

It's been a free-agent signing that has had its critics, but it's hard to say that John Tavares hasn't been a good player for the Maple Leafs.

The former Leaf captain scored his 200th goal with Toronto in Monday's loss to the Jets and is the fifth player in NHL history to record at least 200 goals with two franchises, according to NHL.com.

Previous Ranking: 8

Overall Record: 20-13-0

Roope Hintz has provided the Stars with some big goals this season.

The Finnish center leads Dallas with 15 goals and has helped carry the offense with the likes of Jason Robertson struggling to score.

Previous Ranking: 17

Overall Record: 21-15-0

Cale Makar is pretty darn good at hockey.

The 2022 Norris Trophy winner is making another case to win another Best Defenseman award with a monster campaign so far—he leads all D-Men in the NHL with 45 points and was named the NHL's First Star of the Week on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Avs have won their past three games and are back in the thick of things in the Central Division.

Previous Ranking: 13

Overall Record: 17-10-7

There's been a lot of drama between J.T. Miller and Elias Petersson lately in Vancouver.

But the one constant is team captain Quinn Hughes. The 2024 Norris Trophy winner is making another case to win the award for best defenseman. Hughes is second among NHL defensemen with 42 points in 34 games and has points in four out of his last five games.

Previous Ranking: 14

Overall Record: 19-13-4

Despite having a negative goal differential, the Bruins have managed to turn things around this season and are back in the playoff mix with a 7-2-1 mark in their last 10.

The only negative lately was losing David Pastrňák to an upper-body injury in Monday's win over Washington.

Previous Ranking: 16

Overall Record: 16-11-7

It might be time to give Jonathan Huberdeau his flowers.

After struggling mightily in his time in Calgary so far, the former Panthers forward leads the Flames this season with 25 points in 34 games. Huberdeau's 13 goals have already surpassed his season total of 12 last season.

Previous Ranking: 15

Overall Record: 18-14-2

Just when things were looking up for the Senators, they lost Linus Ullmark to an upper-body injury in Sunday's loss to the Oilers.

It's a huge blow if Ullmark can't get back soon, as Ottawa has gone 8-2-0 in its last 10 games to be on the verge of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Previous Ranking: 18

Overall Record: 16-12-6

Will Team USA regret not taking Clayton Keller?

The 26-year-old Utah captain has a five-game points streak going and has tallied 36 points in 34 games for the newest NHL franchise.

Utah sits just two points outside the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference and has a 6-2-2 record in its last 10 games.

Previous Ranking: 21

Overall Record: 16-15-5

Death, taxes and Sidney Crosby setting another record.

The Penguins' captain tied mentor Mario Lemieux for the franchise record for career assists with his 1,033rd helper in Monday's win over Philadelphia. It was also a four-point night for No. 87, who was reflective after achieving yet another milestone.

Previous Ranking: 20

Overall Record: 16-16-4

Dylan Holloway hadn't recorded a point since Dec. 10, and then he got a chance to play the Red Wings.

The offseason signing erupted for his first career hat trick on Monday in Detroit, which helped end a three-game losing streak.

Previous Ranking: 26

Overall Record: 14-15-6

Patrik Laine made some comments about his time in Columbus, and the Blue Jackets took it personally.

After saying that he was tired of losing in his return to Columbus, his former teammates took out their frustrations on the Canadiens and won 5-4 on Monday.

After the game, Zach Werenski sounded off on his former teammate.

Previous Ranking: 19

Overall Record: 15-16-4

Has Matvei Michkov hit a rookie wall?

The exciting forward hasn't recorded a point since Dec. 10 when the Russian recorded two points against the Blue Jackets.

The Flyers have hit a wall themselves, losing four out of the last five contests.

Previous Ranking: 24

Overall Record: 13-15-7

After a heartening win in Toronto, the Isles followed up that performance with a dud on home ice, getting crushed 7-1 by the Sabres.

Bo Horvat didn't hold back on his disappointment in his post-game comments to the media.

"We should be embarrassed, obviously, in front of our fans to do that," he said to the New York Post. "In front of [Ilya Sorokin], who's bailed us out a lot over his career. It was just an unacceptable effort by us tonight."

Previous Ranking: 27

Overall Record: 14-17-3

It's a loaded rookie class, but there has to be some Calder consideration for Lane Hutson.

The Canadiens' defenseman has a four-game points streak and is tied for eighth overall for points for a defenseman with 26.

Previous Ranking: 28

Overall Record: 13-16-4

It was a painful loss for the Ducks on Monday night in Vegas.

Anaheim lost the game 3-1, but it also lost goalie John Gibson to an eye injury after he took a stick blade under the mask.

Gibson and Lukas Dostal have been one of the bright spots for Anaheim, with the Ducks getting passable goaltending from the tandem.

Previous Ranking: 22

Overall Record: 15-19-2

Good news: Kaapo Kakko scored his first goal as a member of the Seattle Kraken in Saturday's game against the Avs.

Bad news: Seattle has lost five straight games and hasn't scored more than two goals in a game since a seven-goal outburst on Dec. 8 against the Rangers.

Previous Ranking: 23

Overall Record: 16-17-1

There doesn't seem to be any solution to the continuing Rangers slide, with New York losing back-to-back games to division rivals Carolina and New Jersey.

If head coach Peter Laviolette thought scratching Chris Kreider would spark his team, it didn't show in Monday's matinee 5-0 drubbing by the Devils, as the Blueshirts were humiliated in Newark.

The power forward has already been in trade rumors earlier this season, and it wouldn't be a surprise if the longest-tenured Ranger is plying his trade somewhere else.

Previous Ranking: 32

Overall Record: 11-17-7

A little bit of life back in Music City?

The Preds finished their four-game homestand with a 3-0-1 record and back-to-back wins over the Kings and Hurricanes before the holiday break.

Despite the awful start to the season and the hefty spending in the offseason, don't expect Nashville to be sellers even if they're unable to turn it around.

"We're not selling off," general manager Barry Trotz said to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. "We are resetting. We know where we are. It's not where we thought we would be."

Previous Ranking: 25

Overall Record: 13-17-4

Steve Yzerman had seen enough.

After three straight losses, the Red Wings general manager pulled the plug on Derek Lalonde as Detroit's head coach and brought it veteran bench boss Todd McLellan on Thursday.

Previous Ranking: 29

Overall Record: 11-20-6

If you look at just wins and losses, it hasn't been a great year for the Sharks.

But if you want to see development, it's been an outstanding start, especially for Macklin Celebrini.

The 18-year-old has 25 points in 25 games (11 goals, 14 assists) and has been carrying play with a 55.71 percent expected goal percentage when he's on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick.

The future is bright in San Jose with the Vancouver native as the team's foundation.

Previous Ranking: 31

Overall Record: 12-19-4

Come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant.

The Sabres ended a 13-winless streak on Monday with a resounding 7-1 win on Long Island over the Islanders. It was their first win since a 4-2 Nov. 23 victory in San Jose.

The win doesn't mask Buffalo's reality: They're last in the Eastern Conference with 28 points, and trade rumors are still swirling around players such as Dylan Cozens and Bowen Byram.

Previous Ranking: 32

It might seem like a "down" year for Connor Bedard, but the teenage sensation has been the one bright light for struggling Chicago.

According to NHL.com, Bedard recorded 58 points in 67 games during the calendar year 2024, which is the third-most points in a calendar year for a Blackhawks teenager behind Bobby Hull and Eddie Olcyzk.

Still, Bedard and Co. find themselves at the bottom of the NHL standings and look far from contention.