| Rank | Team | Analysis |
| 1 | Anaheim Ducks | Nice win against a tough Nashville team on Sunday. First place in the superior Western Conference earns them this week’s top spot. |
| 2 | Chicago Blackhawks | Have not started well in three straight games but made nice comebacks in all. A ticky-tack penalty that resulted in a late Washington goal is their only blemish this week. |
| 3 | Nashville Predators | Tough SO loss to Chicago last week but they followed up by earning 5 of 6 points against quality teams of St. Louis, LA, and Anaheim. Tops in the Central Division, which may be the deepest division in the NHL. |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | The Pens just got better with the trade for David Perron last week. The rich just got richer. |
| 5 | Montreal Canadiens | The team with the most points in the Eastern Conference have won 9 of 10. However, their record against the West is pedestrian. |
| 6 | Tampa Bay Lightning | This team is first in goals per game but 18th on the power play, how is that possible? The team is great at 5 on 5 and if they improve the PP, watch out. Blown out by Pitt on Friday is the only reason they are in the 6 spot. |
| 7 | New York Islanders | First in the Metropolitan Division, but with losses to Buffalo in late December and Edmonton on Sunday, they do not deserve a higher ranking. |
| 8 | St. Louis Blues | 7-2 beat down of San Jose last Saturday was their only bright spot after losing to Nashville and Anaheim earlier in the week. |
| 9 | New York Rangers | Have won 9 of their last 10 games. However six of those wins have been against bottom-dwellers. We will see how good they are this week when they make the dreaded California swing and play Anaheim, LA, and San Jose. |
| 10 | Washington Capitals | Followed up their win against Chicago in the Winter Classic with a win against a streaking Florida Panthers team. |
| 11 | Detroit Red Wings | This team will make the playoffs for the 24th season in a row. Though their last 10 games have not been great, this team has not lost a game against their old Central Division foes this season. |
| 12 | Vancouver Canucks | Big win against Detroit on Saturday, however they have not fully recovered from their terrible mid-December. |
| 13 | Los Angeles Kings | Scored three goals in the final three minutes against Nashville on Saturday but ended up losing in OT. The Kings have been highly inconsistent as of late. |
| 14 | Dallas Stars | Brutal loss to Chicago on Sunday, their offense is prolific but their defense is horrific. Nonetheless, they have gone 8-1-1 in their last 10 games but are currently out of the playoffs. |
| 15 | Winnipeg Jets | 5-1 beat down of Toronto was their only highlight last week. The injury bug may be catching up to them. |
| 16 | San Jose Sharks | This may be the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde team of the NHL. Dismantled Anaheim on the road New Year’s eve then get skated out of the Shark tank on Saturday by the Blues. This team still should make the playoffs. |
| 17 | Boston Bruins | This team can’t score, period. They are sitting in the middle of the league in all categories. There is no reason this team should lose to back to back games to Ottawa and Carolina. |
| 18 | Columbus Blue Jackets | This team is streaking but are still not close to making the playoffs, yet. |
| 19 | Calgary Flames | This team has come down to earth and are playing as expected. Nice start to the season, that will likely be all for naught. |
| 20 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Won 2 out of 7 games on its last road trip, this team is the Eastern Conference’s version of the Dallas Stars, they score a ton of goals but they give up more. |
| 21 | Florida Panthers | Has anyone even seen this team play? Seriously, Roberto Luongo may be the only highlight-worthy player on the team. I’ll give them credit, they are in the top 10 in goals against per game, now if they could improve their goal scoring, this team may make the playoffs yet. |
| 22 | Minnesota Wild | This team has a ton of talent, but cannot find ways to win. The Wild are simply giving up too many goals, feel free to blame the defense or goaltending, neither have been great. |
| 23 | Ottawa Senators | Their PK may be the only bright spot for this team. They are not going to make the playoffs and it wasn’t Coach MacLean’s fault for their poor play. |
| 24 | Colorado Avalanche | Their offense misses Paul Stastny. Nonetheless, this team has enough talent at forward to be higher than 24th in goals per game. Squeaked out two wins in OT and SO last week, but were against the likes of Philly and Edmonton, not really the cream of the crop. |
| 25 | New Jersey Devils | Jaromir Jagr scored a hat trick last week against Philly making him the oldest player in the history of the NHL to do so. NJ only won two games in December, they are half way to that total with last week’s win. |
| 26 | Philadelphia Flyers | The Flyers lost to the Devils on Saturday and entered the record books for allowing 42 year old Jaromir Jagr to score a hat trick on them. (see NJ’s description above) |
| 27 | Arizona Coyotes | Have won 4 of 5 but it may have been their bell that was used to ring in the new year when they were shellacked 6-0 against Dallas. This team is in the bottom five in nearly all important stats except the power play, which actually is in the top 10 in the league. This team cannot score except on the PP and cannot play defense 5 on 5 or on the PK. |
| 29 | Carolina Hurricanes | Have won their first two games to start the new year. This team is just not scoring enough. |
| 28 | Buffalo Sabres | Lost all 4 games last week. Were outscored 18-4 in that stretch. |
| 30 | Edmonton Oilers | Have earned points in 4 straight games after losing 9 in a row. This team only has 9 wins on the season, half of their wins came on a 4 game win streak in October. This team has rightfully earned its position as dead last on the power rankings. |
Disagree with the rankings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.