SV’s 2019 Annual NHL Power Rankings: 21-11

21. Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks’ talented young core of forwards exploded onto the scene last season, led by Elias Petterson, Bo Horvat, and Brock Boeser. The young sniper Petterson won the Calder Trophy for the top rookie in 2019. Defenseman Quinn Hughes – selected 7th overall by Vancouver in 2018 – should see regular playing time this season, which could have a big effect on the Canuck’s overall defensive shape.

That being said, the young forwards still have a long way to go in terms of playing a “total hockey” style – backchecking and being responsible in their own own zone, as well as being consistent offensively. If the Canucks can get quality goaltending out of Jacob Markstrom – who has the physical tools but has never been able to put it all together – it could be a game-changer for their prospects this season.

20. Arizona Coyotes

The Coyotes were a scrappy defensive team in 2018, and with the addition of Phil Kessel, they may get the scoring punch they’ve desperately needed. This team saw a lot of changes in the offseason, at the same time also dealt with a number of injuries last year. So it’s fair to say this will be a much different Coyotes team up front.

Darcy Kuemper has proven to be a very good NHL goaltender, and will be playing behind a deep defensive core led by the sensational Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who scores goals at the rate of second-line forward. If the Coyotes’ new-look forwards can produce some consistent offense, along with better luck in the health department, this team is close to making the playoffs again this year.

19. Minnesota Wild

Like the Coyotes, the Wild are a stingy defensive team with a battler in net, 10-year-veteran Devan Dubnyk. The imposing 6’6 netminder is sporting a .920 save percentage in his five seasons with Minnesota. In the playoffs, that number slips to .904, where Dubnyk has a record of 8-18. Dubnyk has two years left on his contract, so he’ll need to show the Wild he can get it done when it matters most.

Offensively, the Wild struggled to score consistently, averaging just 2.56 goals per game (27th) in 2018. The addition of Mats Zuccarello is huge for the secondary scoring of this team, which has been a problem for years now. If Bruce Boudreau could just convince his teams to not choke in the playoffs…

18. Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens barely missed out on the playoffs last season, falling short by two points. They come into this season featuring one of the more talented, young groups of forwards in the league that includes Max Domi, Jonathan Drouin, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Montreal was able to lure physical defenseman Ben Chiarot away from the Jets. Chiarot set career-highs for himself across the board last season and should be a much-needed addition.

The concern for this team is consistency on both ends of the ice. Shea Weber had a solid season in 2018, but has missed nearly a season’s worth of games to injury in the past two years. Carey Price remains a top-5 goaltender with the ability to lead Montreal to its first Stanley Cup in nearly 30 years. If that’s going to happen, the Canadiens still need to shore up their overall defensive play, and help their supreme goaltender out with some consistent scoring.

17. New York Islanders

The decision to let Vezina Trophy finalist Robin Lehner walk in free agency was certainly peculiar if not outright questionable. The Islanders, according to Lehner, gave him an ultimatum offer, then moved on before he could even give them a response. New York decided to sign Semyon Varlamov, who is smaller, and statistically less consistent than Lehner in nearly every major category. While Varlamov has always been a solid NHL netminder, he has issues with filling the net, which wasn’t as much of a problem in his younger days when his quickness allowed him to make up for positional mistakes.

The Islanders were also in the running to sign Artemi Panarin and missed out to their New York rival Rangers. They settled for Derick Brassard, who’s been a bit of village bicycle lately – the Islanders being the fourth different team he’s played with in the past 12 months. We’ll see how everything works out, but for a team that had such an amazing turnaround in their first year under Barry Trotz, it feels like the Islanders took a step back this offseason. In the Metropolitan division, the margins are so slim that any delay in progression from season to season can be acutely consequential.

16. Florida Panthers

The Panthers said goodbye to future Hall-of-Famer Roberto Luongo, who played 11 of his 19 years in Florida. Immediately, they got down to business and replaced him with the best goaltender on the open market in Sergei Bobrovsky. Bobrovsky changes everything for Florida, who was by no means the best defensive team in 2018 (28th in goals allowed). However, a fair amount of their goals against could be attributed to poor goaltending. “Bob” provides them with a steady presence in net, which in hockey, affects virtually every aspect of a team. They’ll still need to tweak the defense a bit but Aaron Ekblad is an elite two-way guard to build around.

Offensively, the Panthers have the depth and a top line that can compete with any in the league. The cerebral Jonathan Huberdeau, the dangling power forward Aleksander Barkov, the silky sniper Evgenii Dadonov. The future is bright in Florida, and they could be in for the return of playoff hockey since losing in the first round in 2016.

15. New Jersey Devils

The Devils will see the return of Taylor Hall, who before a season-ending knee injury in 2019, was the reigning league MVP and had 37 points through 33 games. Hall went down, the Devils’ season went down the drain and New Jersey, fortunately, landed the top pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. Sometimes, an injury can be a blessing in disguise, as the Devils now boast one of the best young cores in the league that features three number one overall picks in Hall, Nico Hischier, and Jack Hughes. With the addition of P.K. Subban’s playmaking and booming shot from the point, the Devils could have one of the more dangerous offenses in the league. Defensively, they’re still a piece or two away from seriously contending.

In Cory Schneider’s first three seasons with the Devils, the goalie boasted a stellar .923 save percentage. Over the last three seasons, it fell below an average of .906, as the Devils were transitioning from a team that made the Cup finals in 2015, into a complete rebuild. Schneider will likely give way to the promising backup goalie Mackenzie Blackwood who is entering his second year.

14. Dallas Stars

There are intimidating goalies in the league, and then there is the Stars’ Ben Bishop who stands at 6’7, towering over 99% of the league’s players. Early in his career, because Bishop is so tall the book on him was to go low, with the five-hole being particularly vulnerable. There was some truth to that. However, once Bishop gets into the playoffs, he has performed as well as any goalie has over the past decade. Bishop’s teams have only made the playoffs three times in his career, and he’s not without blame for that. But in those three years, he has played in 36 playoff games including a Stanley Cup Final with the Lightning in 2015. He has a career playoff save percentage of .927 and a GAA of 2.12 – those are champion-like numbers.

It’s hard not to like the Stars’ top-6 forwards – they’re big, physical, skilled veterans led by Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. The Stars have the horses up front to go on a deep playoff run, however, their talented young defensive core still needs time to become seasoned in the ways of winning playoff hockey.

13. Carolina Hurricanes

The Canes magical season came to an end with a 4-0 sweep by the Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals, a series they were outscored 17-5 by an incredibly deep Bruins team. Forward Justin Williams has decided to take a year off from the NHL. That may hurt the Canes’ overall plans for the endgame of this season, as Williams was the emotional leader of this team during their run. Still, they’re a young and talented group, and now have a good amount of playoff experience heading into this season.

They brought even more experience to the roster during the offseason, adding C Erik Haula who reached the Cup Finals with Vegas in 2018, and an even bigger acquisition, D Jake Gardiner, a stellar two-way defenseman from the Maple Leafs. With the Canes young core of forwards led by Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, and Andrei Svechnikov, they have the skill to compete with the better top-6 forwards in the league. After bouncing around a bit the past couple of years, goalie Petr Mrazek seems to have found a home in Carolina for now.

12. Winnipeg Jets

There may not be another line in the league with that combination of size, skill, and finish like the Jets’ top line of Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, and Patrik Laine. It is a force to be reckoned with, especially if Laine can return to his approaching-50-goals-in-a-season form from a couple of seasons ago. Wheeler, one of the more underrated passers in the league, set a career-high with 71 assists last season. Finally, Scheifele provides tremendous two-way play at both ends of the rink.

The Jets lost long-time talented blueliner Jacob Trouba to free agency, which could open up a hole that Winnipeg can’t seal this season. They drafted defenseman Ville Heinola 20th overall this summer, and apparently plan to play to him right away. Depending how that plays out, the Jets may need to rely heavily on goalie Connor Hellebuyck for the first half of the season, until the defense gets more comfortable in their roles. Taking all of that into account, the Jets will likely have to lean on their big guns to outpace their opponents in some high-scoring games this season.

11. Nashville Predators

The Preds and Pekka Rinne have been at it a long time. They’ve brought in different players, different coaches, schemes and philosophies. They’ve been close, oh, so close – just two wins away from hoisting the Cup in 2017. The worry for the Preds here is the possibility that their window closed with that Finals defeat to the Penguins. Not that Rinne hasn’t been good in recent years – he has been steady as a rock – but does he still have the Vezina Trophy form within him? He will be turning 37 in less than a month, and has shown some holes in his game that perhaps were not there in previous years.

There’s an eerie similarity between Rinne’s career and that of Henrik Lundqvist. They’ve both been legendary goalies for their teams for over a decade; they reached a Cup Final in the latter part of their careers; their teams played a defensive style, yet ultimately lacked the offensive greatness to win it all. It would be a shame if both ended their careers without a championship, but it looks more likely each year. The Preds traded P.K. Subban, and brought in Matt Duchene to boost the offense. It’s a gamble, but with Duchene’s skill and experience but it could pay off.