SV’s 2019 Annual NHL Power Rankings: 10-1

10. San Jose Sharks

In the Divisional Round of the playoffs last season, the Sharks provided a series of moments that will forever be remembered in the annals of NHL history. Thanks to a now-infamous five-minute power play, Logan Couture and the Sharks came back from three down in the third period of Game 7 to defeat their newest rival, the Vegas Golden Knights, in overtime. After that unimaginable ending, it looked like the Sharks were destined for a return the Cup Finals since coming up short in their last appearance in 2016. In the Western Conference Finals, the Sharks incredible run came to an end against the eventual Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues.

Much of this team’s potential relies on how far Martin Jones can take them. In those playoffs last season, Jones showed moments of greatness, as well as moments of real struggle when his team needed him most. Though the front office decided to move on without beloved Sharks legend Joe Pavelski, this roster still has a wealth of playoff experience for a relatively young group of forwards (outside of the ageless Joe Thornton). The Sharks will be in the mix comes April.

9. Vegas Golden Knights

The Knights season ended, as was described in the above entry, in an unforgettable manner against the Sharks in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Surely, for the players and fans, those memories will come in the form of nightmares at some point. The circumstances around that defeat are unique and will forever remain in time-capsule – however, there are some tangible decisions that lead to the Knights ultimate demise in 2019. Most significant, at age 34, the celestial Marc-Andre Fleury was relied on for 61 games – remember that number – in the regular season entering the series against the Sharks. That’s a heavy load for any goaltender. By Game 7, Fleury appeared to be fatigued and did not play up to what we know as his full capability.

Just a year previous, Fleury carried the Knights to the Stanley Cup Finals with a series of performances for the ages. Entering the 2018 Finals, he had played in exactly 60 games that season including the playoffs. In that series against Capitals, his numbers plummeted to .853 save percentage – a near career-worst for a single playoff series. What does all this suggest? Besides his first Cup run in ’09 with Pittsburgh, Fleury’s numbers have consistently dropped in the playoffs when he has had to play over 60 games during the course of a season. The Knights have a contender-worthy roster led by a beast named Mark Stone. Especially now in Fleury’s older age, it is absolutely imperative that the Knights take some of the load off the veteran netminder, and hope an even split with backup Malcolm Subban is enough to get them into the post-season.

8. Calgary Flames

The Flames put together a great regular season only to be knocked out in the Divisional Round by the Avalanche – who are no joke themselves. David Rittich, who’s official nickname on Wikipedia for a time was “Big Dick Rittich”, went 27-9-5 as the Flames semi-starter, but did not get to play in the series against the Avs. He’ll take over this season as the full-time netminder, and will get a chance to show whether he can carry a good team on a deep playoff run. The team in front of him is a balanced mix of veterans and young studs, led by the dynamic Johnny Gaudreau on offense, and the reigning Norris Trophy winner Mark Giordano on the back end. It took Giordano some time, but he’s bloomed into one of the league’s top two-way defensemen.

The Flames have the depth to go along with the star power. Add in a Swiss Army Knife like Matthew Tkachuk, and the Flames have an extra edge that not many teams have. This team will go as far as Rittich can take them, but the young netminder still has a lot to prove.

7. Pittsburgh Penguins

As long as the Pens the have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, they continue to have the best center depth lineup in the league. Crosby put together another 100-point campaign in 2019, however, Malkin missed significant chunks of time, and the irreplaceable Russian has not played a full 82 games since 2009. In the playoffs, neither center played up to standards, and the Pens were swept in the first round by the Islanders.

The core that won the Cup twice since 2015 remains, and they still have more give. The problem is there has been a significant drop in the quality of defense being played in Pittsburgh starting with Kris Letang, who’s late-game errors have been the bane of Pens fans. Teams have begun to figure out netminder Matt Murray over the past couple of seasons, but the biggest difference has been the shift in pressure. When they won those back-to-back Cups, the Pens would constantly have their opponents hemmed in their own zone under heavy pressure. Now, oftentimes it’s the Pens who are stuck in their own zone, with Murray under siege for large periods of play. If they can shore up the defense and get back to the fast-paced, attacking transition style that made them so successful, this team will be right in the mix for the Eastern Conference Finals.

6. Washington Capitals

The Capitals’ reign over Lord Stanley’s Cup came to an end at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes. A grueling double-overtime loss in Game 7 of what became a heated and bitter series between the two Metropolitan Division clubs. There are a number of factors that led to the end of the Caps’ hopes of repeating; the loss of Michael Kempny and eventually T.J. Oshie to injury, both of whom played significant roles in their Cup run of 2018; a short offseason (filled with partying) that contributed to visible fatigue in the latter stages of that Game 7 loss; the transition and distraction caused by the turnover of head coach Barry Trotz to Todd Rierden.

Rierden is an excellent young head coach with a bright future, but whether he is the right coach to lead this team back to the Finals remains to be seen. The Caps retooled their bottom-6 forwards in the offseason, bringing in a variety of players to fit specific roles and needs, particularly an improvement on the penalty kill. For netminder Braden Holtby, this could be his last year in a Caps uniform as the franchise is strapped for cap space for the foreseeable future. Waiting in the wings is Washington’s secret weapon, Ilya Samsonov, a talented first-round goaltender that has been developing in the KHL/AHL for the past four years.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs

For the Maple Leafs, the offensive depth is the strongest case for this team to potentially hoist the Cup this season. With their 1-2-3 punch combo of Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Mitchell Marner, this team has the firepower to simply outscore most other clubs in the league. In conjunction with an offensive-minded top-4 on defense, the Leafs have the ability to send wave after wave of fresh-legged assaults, which on a nightly basis require an extraordinary performance from the opposition to contain. If Matthews can stay healthy, the former #1 overall pick certainly has the ability to top 50 goals in a season.

The Leafs named Tavares captain in the offseason – a smart move as he is the more mature of the two superstar centers. They also lost Jake Gardiner in free agency, but found a replacement in Tyson Barrie from the Avalanche – a wonderful offensive-defenseman entering the prime of his career. With veteran Frederik Anderson backstopping this offensive juggernaut of a roster, anything less than reaching the Eastern Conference Finals would be a huge disappointment in Toronto.

4. St. Louis Blues

GLORIA! With a little bit of magic and some inspiration from fan Laila Anderson, the Blues captured their first Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history! The balanced roster filled with grizzled veterans got the final piece it needed when rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington took over the starting job in the regular season. While Binnington had moments of brilliance in the playoffs, statistically he fell off his incredibly high regular season. That lead to the Blues resigning Binnington to just a two-year deal. The 26-year old will have to prove he can overcome the dreaded “sophomore slump” after teams have had a full season of film to study on him.

The Stanley Cup is arguably the most difficult championship in pro sports to go back-to-back, as you need so many things to go right, health in particular. The majority of the team is returning this season, though they lost key contributor Pat Maroon in free agency. Then St. Louis pulled off a blockbuster move for Justin Faulk, trading Joel Edmundson in the process. Faulk is an experienced, well-rounded defenseman that will immediately contribute at both ends for an already loaded defensive core. If there is a Western Conference club that can take down these Blues, that team will likely be heading the Cup Finals.

3. Boston Bruins

The Bruins felt a pain last season that not many teams ever felt: a loss in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. If there is a single team that can dust themselves off, stand up and go right back into battle, it is the Boston Bruins. No line in the league has better chemistry than the Bruins’ top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak. They are consistently among the top echelon of scorers in the league, and with an infusion of young talent in recent years, this club will be contending perennially.

What could prevent this team from returning to the Finals is whether the body of Zdeno Chara, who will turn 43 in March, can hold up for another full run in postseason. The legendary defenseman has taken a beating in multiple playoff series throughout the years, as he is the biggest target (literally) for the forecheck of every team. It’s hard to find more consistent goalie play than what Tuukka Rask has provided for Boston, especially in the playoffs. Rask has come so close to winning it all, having been in three separate Finals, but has yet the win the Cup as the Bruins starter (Tim Thomas won it in 2011). This could be their last chance to do it with “Big Z” leading the defense.

2. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning’s historic season ended in shame and embarrassment after being swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the playoffs. Of course, they still possess the most stacked roster in the league, bar none, so it’s tough to put them any lower than this. With that being said, the manner in which the Lightning lost is deeply concerning, especially for the long-term psyche of this team. When a team is so good they become the consensus shoo-in to win the championship, falling short of those expectations can have devastating, long-lasting effects.

Anything less than a trip the Eastern Conference Finals could spell the end for Jon Cooper’s tenure as the head coach of this ultra-talented team. There’s no telling how long Tampa Bay will be able to keep this core together, so they are desperate to win now. At some point, however, the buck stops with the players who were thoroughly outplayed by a lesser albeit talented Columbus team that went all-in last season. The only thing stopping the Lightning this season could be… the Lightning.

1. Colorado Avalanche

Realizing this is a bold prediction, please allow for some explanation. The Colorado Avalanche have a good-to-great player at virtually every position on the roster. There may not be a more balanced team in the league, with the depth and a top-line as good as the Avs. If not for the all-time talent that is Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon would be the guy when it comes to picking a player to lead your franchise for the next 15 years. There is no one better (other than McDavid) with the puck in transition than MacKinnon. Mikko Rantanen, who was leading the league in points for the first half of last season, finished with 87 points as a 22-year-old. Finally, Gabriel Landeskog has slowly but surely bloomed into one of the league’s best two-way centers.

In the offseason, the Avs made smart, targeted acquisitions to shore up some areas that needed attention. Nazem Kadri gives them a legitimate scoring second-line center. Andre Burakovsky provides them with excellent secondary scoring and brings Stanley Cup championship experience with him from Washington. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare brings the same experience, with a little added toughness and grit to go with it. The Avs’ starting power play moves the pill around unlike any team in the league. If the penalty kill and second-line PP can do their job, the Avs will deploy some of the top special teams the league has to offer.

The most important addition to this club over the past two offseasons is goaltender Philip Grubauer, who has brought a steadying presence that has been missing in the Colorado net for years. Also coming over from the Cup-winning Capitals, Grubauer played outstanding in the playoffs, with a 2.30 GAA and a .925 save percentage. But ultimately, the Avs came up just short in Game 7 against San Jose. With another year of experience under their belt, however, this group of gunslingers is ready to pop off this season and go all the way.