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NHL Power Rankings: Ranking the 31 ‘Reverse Retro’ jerseys

NHL Power Rankings

In this week’s edition of the NHL Power Rankings we take a look at the league’s newest collection of jerseys and rank all of the 31 Reverse Retros that were unveiled on Monday.

There are some classic looks here, some bold designs, some missed opportunities, and even a few dives into absurdity.

We examine all of them!

Where does your team’s newest jersey rank?

To this week’s NHL Power Rankings!

The Elites

NHL Power Rankings

• Los Angeles Kings. These are perfect. You can not be the Kings and unveil a “retro” jersey that does not feature purple and gold. They nailed it.

• New Jersey Devils. Always a big fan of the Devils Christmas color scheme. Embrace it.

• Minnesota Wild. I am a sucker for early 1990s era NHL, and this color scheme brings back major memories.

• Colorado Avalanche. If you live in Quebec your blood is probably boiling, but you should take pride in the fact that these look awesome.

• Arizona Coyotes. The Kachina look, the purple, and the overall design just work for me. It is bold, it is different, and it is excellent.

• Anaheim Ducks. Are they pretty? Oh my gosh no. Are they ridiculous? Absolutely, positively, and without a doubt. And that is why I love that they are using them. The willingness to embrace the absurdity of this jersey is a level of confidence we should all strive for.

Sometimes a second chance is good

NHL Reverse Retro

• New York Rangers. The Lady Liberty jerseys were a huge change when they were first introduced, and I was originally not a fan. I like them this time around.

• Washington Capitals. I hated the screaming eagle uniform when it was first around, but just swapping the colors seems to make a massive difference. I am now on board.

• Carolina Hurricanes. I appreciate the greatness of the Hartford Whalers uniform as much as anyone, but the gray here knocks it down a few spots for me.

• Calgary Flames. Another jersey that I used to hate, but I am coming around on the idea of a fire breathing horse-dragon.

The Very Good

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• Boston Bruins. A classic look, but I would have liked it better without the white stripe down at the bottom of the sleeve and if the goofy bear would have been featured on the front. Let’s get weird with these.

• Tampa Bay Lightning. This reminds me of their original expansion design when they entered the league, and I always liked that look. Like most early 1990s logos, they never should have changed it.

• Columbus Blue Jackets. This logo looks better surrounded by all the red than it did in its original blue design.

• Vegas Golden Knights. I do not hate this. I also do not love this. So I think 14th works just fine.

These are fine

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• Florida Panthers. I do not know about you, but I am picturing Pavel Bure blowing past defenders and scoring 50 goals.

• Ottawa Senators. I like the 2-D Senator look, but I am not crazy about this particular jersey design. You take the good with the bad.

• Buffalo Sabres. I think this would have been really good if not for that “Buffalo” slapped on the bottom.

• Dallas Stars. It is fine, but it is still only the second best jersey the Stars have unveiled this offseason.

A little plain

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• Edmonton Oilers. I get a 1980s feelings from this. Other than that I have no strong feeling on the jersey itself one way or the other.

• Philadelphia Flyers. Not a huge fan of the sleeves, otherwise it reminds me of exactly what almost every Flyers jersey has ever looked like.

• Toronto Maple Leafs. Like the front of the jersey but hate the sleeves.

• Vancouver Canucks. These are giving me Mark Messier in Vancouver vibes. Nobody in Vancouver liked that era.

• Chicago Blackhawks. Honestly this just reminds me of something they would wear at their next outdoor game.

The missed opportunities

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• St. Louis Blues. I can forgive them for giving into Mike Keenan and not using the Cool Cat jersey in the 1990s. I looked the other way for them not embracing the All-Star Game as an opportunity to finally use it. But I can not -- and will not! -- overlook a third missed opportunity to use the greatest alternate jersey idea ever. If the Ducks can bring back Wild Wing, the Blues could have used Cool Cat!

• Pittsburgh Penguins. This design looked better in the early 1990s in its original black. If they were going for mid-1990s look here they should have used Robo-Penguin.

• Montreal Canadiens. I get that the Canadiens jersey is a classic and you do not want to mess with it, but it just does not work in blue for me.

• New York Islanders. If ever there was a time to bring back the Gorton’s Fishstick guy on a semi-regular basis, this was it.

You tried

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• San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have two colors that work for them: Those colors are teal and black. They take a back seat here.

• Nashville Predators. There is nothing here that would make me want to run out and buy this over a regular Predators jersey.

• Winnipeg Jets. I like this logo, but this color does not work and I would have liked to have seen more to honor Atlanta since, you know, that is this team’s history and origin.

• Detroit Red Wings. This is a practice jersey.

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.