NHL Power Rankings: Where Every Team Stands in the New Year

When it comes to forecasting, an 83.3-percent success rate doesn't lie.

So it's easy to understand why the 16 teams in playoff positions as the calendar flips from 2024 to 2025 are happy, given that 40 of 48 teams in that spot on January 1 over the last three seasons wound up making the postseason tournament.

That holds true for the teams atop B/R's Power Rankings, too.

The Winnipeg Jets are ebullient to start the New Year given their return to the top spot in the weekly poll, which they secured by just two points over the Vegas Golden Knights, reversing their 1-2 order from last week. The Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils also flip-flopped but maintained their positions in the top five, where they were joined by the Minnesota Wild.

The Wild moved up from seventh last week and displaced the Edmonton Oilers, who had the week's biggest tumble from fifth place to ninth. The Montreal Canadiens were the biggest positive movers of the week, jumping four spots from 24th to 20th.

Votes were cast that awarded 32 points for first place all the way down to a single point for No. 32. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.

*Votes were tallied after games played on Tuesday, Dec. 31.

Previous Ranking: 32

Overall Record: 12-24-2

Well, at least the Wrigley Field thing was cool, eh?

A change of scenery didn't help the skidding Blackhawks, though, as a 6-2 loss to St. Louis before 40,000-plus at the Winter Classic was their league-high fifth straight defeat.

"It seems we've lost a little bit of confidence, a little bit of the swagger we had for a few games there," forward Taylor Hall said. "We're a young group, so that can be a bit fickle at times to keep that mojo high. But it seems like we have a bad games and it takes us three games to get it back."

Previous Ranking: 30

Overall Record: 11-23-6

2025 couldn't come quickly enough for the Sharks, who lost their last four games in 2024, went 1-8-1 in their last 10 and were a league-worst 2-10-1 for the month of December. They had the second-lowest goals-per-game average (2.08) in that stretch while toting the fourth-worst goals-against average (3.85).

Previous Ranking: 28

Overall Record: 11-20-7

Just when you thought it was safe to start believing in the Predators after a devastatingly bad start to 2024-25, they reverted to character and dropped three straight to end the year.

The champions of the offseason have somehow scored fewer goals than every team but Anaheim (which tied them at 91, but in two fewer games) and they've been a dreadful 3-13-4 away from home after a 24-14-3 mark in 2023-24.

Previous Ranking: 27

Overall Record: 16-19-1

Who's got it better than the New York Rangers? Well, pretty much everyone in the NHL these days after the Blueshirts plunged to a 3-10-0 mark in December, including losses in their last four games.

And just when you think it couldn't get worse, it has. Goalie Igor Shesterkin is headed to injured reserve with an upper-body issue, less than a month after signing an eight-year, $92 million extension that made him the highest-paid goalie in the league by overall salary.

Previous Ranking: 31

Overall Record: 14-20-4

Where did it go wrong for the Sabres?

Buffalo was a respectable if not transcendent 11-11-2 upon arrival to December but sputtered to a 3-9-2 mark through 14 games in the year's final month. As a result, the Sabres are last in the Eastern Conference and look like a long shot at best to end a playoff drought that stretches back to their last appearance in the spring of 2011.

Previous Ranking: 29

Overall Record: 15-18-4

It's a small sample size, of course, but a 2-1-0 record through three games can't help but be a positive for the Red Wings, who hired veteran coach Todd McLellan the day after Christmas to take over a competitive ship that had foundered under Derek Lalonde.

McLellan has a Stanley Cup ring from his days as an assistant with Detroit in 2007-08.

"You can tell that he's been around," forward Andrew Copp said. "He's been around 20 years as a head coach. Lot of experience there. So there's that, but just how he's explaining things, and video, drawing things up and drills, and getting us to trust ourselves again a little bit instinctually, which is huge. It's been good."

Previous Ranking: 23

Overall Record: 14-17-7

It wasn't a particularly good month for the Islanders, who didn't score enough (2.77 goals per game, 24th in the league), didn't defend enough (3.62 goals per game, 26th in the league) and thus didn't win enough while going 5-7-1 across 13 games.

Losses in their final two games of 2024 put five points and four teams between them and the nearest Eastern playoff position. And the Tuesday loss to Toronto was noticeable when coach Patrick Roy pulled goalie Ilya Sorokin before a defensive-zone face-off and saw Toronto score an insurance goal into the empty net.

Previous Ranking: 25

Overall Record: 15-17-4

December wasn't the worst month ever for the Ducks, who defeated both Winnipeg and Edmonton while nearing .500 with a 6-7-1 mark across 14 games.

But reality as a whole isn't as good in Anaheim, where the team sits 13th in the West and 26th overall, has the league's second-worst power-play efficiency, its sixth-worst penalty-killing rate and has scored a league-low 89 goals in 36 games (2.47 per game).

Previous Ranking: 26

Overall Record: 17-19-2

It was a desultory first half as a whole, but two straight wins to finish it weren't so bad. Saturday's 5-4 OT triumph at Vancouver was particularly good given that the Kraken trailed 4-1 heading into the final five minutes of the third period.

Seattle leads the league with five multi-goal comeback wins and became the third team in history to win a regular-season game after trailing by three goals in the final five minutes.

Previous Ranking: 22

Overall Record: 17-17-4

A shared shutout is a rarity in the NHL, but the Flyers got one on Tuesday in San Jose after Samuel Ersson stopped 15 shots in two periods before giving way to Aleksei Kolosov in the third to complete a 4-0 victory.

It was Philadephia's largest margin of victory for the season, but Ersson's status is up in the air and he already missed 13 games earlier in the season with a lower-body injury. He'd stopped 47 of 48 shots across his last five periods before leaving against the Sharks.

Previous Ranking: 19

Overall Record: 17-17-5

A 4-2 loss in Detroit wasn't what anybody in Pittsburgh asked for, but the good news came in the form of forward Drew O'Connor, who scored both of the Penguins' goals after going 32 games since October 18 without one.

Elsewhere, the team waived forward Jesse Puljujarvi on waivers on Monday, the latest stall in the career of a player who was drafted fourth overall in 2016—two spots ahead of Matthew Tkachuk—and is on his third NHL team.

Previous Ranking: 21

Overall Record: 16-16-6

There can't be many who figured the Blue Jackets would be at .500—even the NHL's version of .500—given the torturous offseason they experienced.

So, even though 16-16-6 is still shy of a playoff spot, they finished 2024 with an OT win over Carolina that has coach Dean Evason thinking long-term positive.

"Hopefully, it's a wonderful sign moving forward," he said. "We've handled adversity up to this point (this season), and you're going to have to handle a lot more."

Previous Ranking: 24

Overall Record: 17-17-3

There's a positive vibe in Montreal to begin 2025 after the Canadiens won three straight to finish out December, a month in which their 18 points were just two off the league lead.

A New Year's Eve win in Vegas was the first time the team got a W after trailing through two periods and it followed defeats of Florida and Tampa Bay.

"Winning is way better than losing," forward Juraj Slafkovsky said. "It's a great feeling. You sleep way better, you're happier, everyone's smiling, the atmosphere is so good."

Previous Ranking: 18

Overall Record: 16-15-6

You can take the Hockey Club out of Arizona but you can't take the Arizona out of the Hockey Club.

That's how it seems these days in Utah, where the artists formerly known as the Coyotes dropped their final four games in December after going 4-0-2 in the previous six.

Only six goals have come off Utah sticks in those four losses, and the team will play at Calgary and Dallas before returning home for the first of seven straight on Wednesday.

Previous Ranking: 20

Overall Record: 18-17-4

Outdoors is the place to be for the Blues, who beat the Blackhawks at Wrigley Field on Tuesday and are 3-0 in the elements since their first venture outside of a building.

St. Louis beat Chicago at Busch Stadium in 2017 then topped Minnesota at Target Field in 2022.

"Couldn't ask for anything more from this experience," said veteran Cam Fowler, who scored twice in his 1,000th NHL game. "It was an awesome night for all of us but more special because we got a win. That kind of seals everything for us."

Previous Ranking: 17

Overall Record: 19-15-2

Just when you thought it was safe to relegate the Senators to another disappointing season and panic over an injury to goalie Linus Ullmark, they rattle off a 7-3-0 stretch to end December in a playoff position.

A 3-1 win at Minnesota on Sunday featured 30 saves by goalie Leevi Merilainen, who was making his fifth NHL appearance since the team drafted him in the third round in 2020. He played three times in the year's final 10 days and posted a 2.68 goals-against average.

As for Ullmark, who last played on December 22 in Edmonton, hasn't skated since leaving that game thanks to back tightness.

Previous Ranking: 14

Overall Record: 17-11-8

"NHL .500" won't cut it for the long haul in Vancouver, where the Canucks were 3-3-4 for the month and dipped to outside-looking-in status in the early playoff race.

The team dropped a 3-1 decision at Calgary on Tuesday and limped into the New Year without both Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson. Hughes, who has a team-high 42 points, is week to week and Pettersson won't play on the brief road trip that'll take the Canucks to Seattle on Thursday.

Previous Ranking: 15

Overall Record: 20-15-4

The first full month of the Joe Sacco Era was a positive one in Boston, where the Bruins' nine wins in December were one off the league-high shared by Colorado and Vegas.

Charlie Coyle had five goals in the month and his 10 for the season through 39 games could get him close to the career-high 25 he scored in 2023-24. He had just one goal by the end of October and has flourished on a line with Brad Marchand and Elias Lindholm.

Previous Ranking: 16

Overall Record: 18-12-7

You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who expected the Flames to be in a playoff position—albeit tenuously, by a point over Vancouver—at the end of December, so a 3-1 win over the Canucks in 2024's final game was cause for some minor celebration.

"There's a lot of season left to play," forward Nazem Kadri said. "It's great going into the new year with a spot. We'd like to build on that."

Previous Ranking: 10

Overall Record: 20-12-2

The faces change but the results stay stellar in Tampa, where the Lightning have played better than .600 hockey through 34 games and were a solid 8-3-0 in December with the league's best offensive output—4.36 goals per game.

Holdovers Brayden Point (22 points in 11 games) and Nikita Kucherov (20 points in 10 games) were two-point-per-game producers and newcomer Jake Guentzel shared the league lead with 10 goals in the year's final 31 days.

Previous Ranking: 13

Overall Record: 23-15-0

They're still in the middle of the pack standings-wise, but there's no team hotter in the NHL than the streaking Avalanche, who've won five straight, eight of 10 and earned a co-league-high 20 points in December with a 10-3-0 run.

A 5-2 defeat of high-flying Winnipeg on Tuesday included a go-ahead goal from Casey Mittelstadt, his first since mid-November.

Previous Ranking: 8

Overall Record: 22-13-2

It was a meh final month of 2024 for the Hurricanes, who went 6-6-1 through 13 games and were in the middle tier when it came to both offense (2.85 goals per game, 21st in the league) and defense (2.69 goals allowed, 11th in the league).

Martin Necas (45 points) and Sebastian Aho (40 points) are point-per-game producers through 37 games overall, but Necas had only two goals in December after netting 12 through October and November.

Previous Ranking: 12

Overall Record: 22-13-1

There's little reason for concern given their .625 points percentage through the season's first three months, but it is unusual to see the Stars sitting fourth in a division at this point.

Dallas is a point behind Colorado for third in the Central and just three points up on Vancouver in a crowded Western race, and consistent offense may be the missing piece for a team that had just four players with more than three goals in December.

Previous Ranking: 5

Overall Record: 22-12-3

Only two teams—Colorado and Vegas—had a better December in terms of points percentage than the Oilers, who went 9-3-1 (.731) across 13 games while getting high-end production from their highest-end players.

Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman shared the league lead (with four others) with 10 goals for the month, and both Draisaitl and Connor McDavid begin January on 12-game point streaks after a 4-1 win over Utah to finish 2024.

McDavid had two assists to move past Mark Messier and into third on the franchise's all-time points list with 1,036, trailing only Wayne Gretzky (1,669) and Jari Kurri (1,043).

Previous Ranking: 11

Overall Record: 23-13-2

The Maple Leafs were a busy bunch with 15 games in December, but they seemed up to the task if a 9-6-0 record is indicative.

Toronto finished the month with a win over the New York Islanders, won six of its last 10 and reached 2025 tied for first in the Atlantic with the defending champion Panthers with an identical record.

The lingering concern? Auston Matthews has missed five games in a row and is on injured reserve with an upper-body issue that's limited him to just 24 of the team's 38 games.

Previous Ranking: 6

Overall Record: 23-13-2

Tied for first in the Atlantic Division, tied for third in the Eastern Conference, tied for sixth overall. Not a bad way to begin a title defense for the Panthers, who were 8-4-1 in the final month of a calendar year in which they hoisted their first Stanley Cup.

And that's with pedestrian numbers posted by goalies Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight, neither of whom has a save percentage of .900 or better. Sam Reinhart has had their back on the other end, though, reaching team highs of 22 goals and 45 points in the first season of a eight-year contract extension he signed in July.

Previous Ranking: 9

Overall Record: 21-10-5

The Kings played, well...Kings hockey in December while going 7-2-2 and climbing into a second-place tie with Edmonton in a competitive Pacific Division.

Los Angeles was sixth in scoring and ninth in defense for the month and veteran goalie Darcy Kuemper was particularly good, going 5-0-2 in seven starts with a 2.12 goals-against average.

He's got a Cup ring from his time in Washington, and if he maintains that level of play down the stretch, it could be an interesting spring in Southern California.

Previous Ranking: 7

Overall Record: 23-11-4

If there's a team nearly as surprising as the Capitals, it's got to be the Wild.

Minnesota was on the outside of the Western Conference playoff bubble last spring and didn't figure to rise much in a loaded Central Division, but it completed December within range of Winnipeg for first place and sits eight points above the current cut line.

Kirill Kaprizov had "only" 12 points in 11 games in December, but he's put up MVP numbers since opening night with 23 goals and 50 points in 34 games.

Previous Ranking: 3

Overall Record: 24-13-3

A half-season's worth of results can't be wrong. The New Jersey Devils are legit Stanley Cup contenders in 2024-25.

Coach Sheldon Keefe's team went 8-4-1 in December and reached the New Year second in the Eastern Conference and fourth overall after a 2023-24 season that saw them plagued by injuries and subpar goaltending.

Enter Jacob Markstrom, who came over from Calgary in the summer and went 19-7-2 through his first 28 starts with a 2.15 goals-against average that'll be his career best if it holds up for the rest of the season.

Previous Ranking: 4

Overall Record: 25-10-2

It's a no-contest when it comes to the league's most positively surprising team through the unofficial first half. It's the Capitals thanks to a .703 points percentage that's got them atop the Eastern Conference just a few months after they snuck into the 2023-24 playoffs as a No. 8 seed and were quickly bounced in four straight games.

No team scored more than Washington's 135 goals as of Dec. 31, and, though he played just 21 of the team's 37 games thanks to a broken leg, 17 of them came from a reinvigorated Alex Ovechkin. The "Great 8" begins 2025 just 24 goals from tying Wayne Gretzky's all-time mark of 894.

Previous Ranking: 1

Overall Record: 25-9-3

It was "Knight Time" all through December for the residents of the Nevada desert, who tied Colorado with 20 points thanks to a 10-2-0 run through 12 games.

Goaltending was a particularly important part of the year-end story with Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov combining for a stingy 1.92 goals-against average.

Hill had a .919 save percentage in eight starts in the month while Samsonov, acquired as a low-budget free agent in the summer, was even better with a .948 in four starts.

Previous Ranking: 2

Overall Record: 27-11-1

A Tuesday loss at Colorado wasn't the ideal way to end the month, but it was still a strong first half for the Jets, who'd won four straight before arriving in Denver and reached the New Year with more wins (27) and points (55) than any other team.

Their plus-46 goal differential is seven better than the closest competitor and no goalie with at least 13 games played has a better goals-against average (2.00) or save percentage (.930) or more shutouts (five) than Connor Hellebuyck.