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NHL Power Rankings: Bruins, Wild peaking at right time

NHL Power Rankings

SAINT PAUL, MN - MARCH 26: Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Minnesota Wild warms up prior to the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Xcel Energy Center on March 26, 2022 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

In this week’s edition of the NHL Power Rankings the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild continue to inch their way closer to the league’s elite thanks to their great play in recent weeks. While they may not be on the same level as Colorado, Florida, or Carolina in terms of overall record for the season, they are definitely starting to hit their stride at the right time.

The Bruins have been one of the hottest teams in the league for more than a month now and are shaping up to be a brutal opening round matchup for one of the division winners in the Eastern Conference.

In the West, the Wild have been on a 9-0-1 run over their past 10 games and have received a boost from Marc-Andre Fleury who is 3-0 with a .958 save percentage in his first three appearance with the team. Do not sleep on these two as the Stanley Cup Playoffs approach.

We look at those teams and more in this week’s rankings.

Where does your team sit?

To this week’s NHL Power Rankings!

1. Colorado Avalanche (Last week: 1). Just a total buzzsaw of a hockey team. Expectations will rightfully be through the roof. Anything less than the conference finals would be a massive, massive disappointment.

2. Florida Panthers (LW: 2). The best offense we have seen in the NHL in nearly 30 years. They can embarrass anybody on any given night.

3. Carolina Hurricanes (LW: 3). So good, so deep, so well rounded, and still such a young team. With the goaltending moves paying off there is no obvious weakness to exploit here.

4. Tampa Bay Lightning (LW: 5). Steven Stamkos is still a beast, and they are still a serious contender.

5. Boston Bruins (LW: 6). They are 16-3-1 in their past 20 games. Starting to peak and hit their stride at the right time. Not a team you want to play in a best-of-seven series right now.

6. Minnesota Wild (LW: 9). Marc-Andre Fleury is off to a fantastic start here. This could make them scary.

7. Toronto Maple Leafs (LW: 10). Just need to hope that goaltending situation is okay. That is a game-changer that could go either way.

[Related: Marner, Gaudreau, Crosby and the top scorers of 2022 so far]

8. Calgary Flames (LW: 4). They have cooled off a little bit over the past two weeks, but that defensive play, that goaltending, and that top line should still make them a fierce playoff opponent.

9. Pittsburgh Penguins (LW: 7). Jason Zucker’s injury could be a pretty big deal given how much they are hoping for him to round out their second line with Evgeni Malkin and new trade deadline acquisition Rickard Rakell.

10. New York Rangers (LW: 8). This is Igor Shesterkin’s most significant slump of the season. This is not the right time of the year for that.

11. St. Louis Blues (LW: 14). They already have six 20-goal scorers this season. Incredibly deep offensive team.

12. Edmonton Oilers (LW: 16). Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are both over 100 points again (already) and the team itself looks dramatically better after the coaching change. Still some concerns on the back end and in goal.

13. Dallas Stars (LW: 15). Jason Robertson is becoming a star (no pun intended) here. A fantastic player that deserves more attention.

14. Washington Capitals (LW: 11). Vitek Vanecek’s play has not been good since they did not address goaltending at the trade deadline. Not good.

15. Vegas Golden Knights (LW: 17). Just when it looked like their season was probably finished they won five in a row and seven out of nine games. A healthy Golden Knights team in the playoffs will be a problem.

16. Los Angeles Kings (LW: 13). Can not say enough good things about the acquisitions of Philip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson. Huge pickups that really transformed this team in the short term.

17. Nashville Predators (LW: 15). They have never had a 40-goal scorer in their entire existence, and they might have two (Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene) this season.

[Related: Josi, Shesterkin and the top goalies and defensemen in the NHL]

18. New York Islanders (LW: 19). Do not be surprised if they are back in the playoffs next season.

19. Winnipeg Jets (LW: 18). The thing to watch for here is if Kyle Connor can reach the 50-goal mark this season.

20. Columbus Blue Jackets (LW: 20). They really need a bounce back season from Elvis Merzlikins next season.

21. Buffalo Sabres (LW: 23). Is Tage Thompson a late-bloomer or is he just the guy that gets the most ice time and scores all of the goals on a bad team? If it is the former that would be a very positive development for the Sabres.

22. Vancouver Canucks (LW: 21). It is not going to result in a playoff spot but they really do look better under Bruce Boudreau. That should get him a new contract extension.

[Related: Canucks turnaround should lead to Boudreau extension]

23. San Jose Sharks (LW: 22). They just seemed destined to be stuck in mediocrity for a while.

24. Montreal Canadiens (LW: 24). Cole Caufield might still end the season with 20 goals, which would be amazing given the way he started.

25. Ottawa Senators (LW: 30). Their jump has more to do with what everybody else has done lately.

26. Detroit Red Wings (LW: 26). Such a promising start to the season followed by such a disappointing finish. Still some great pieces in place.

27. New Jersey Devils (LW: 27). Goaltending should be at the top of their offseason to-do list.

28. Anaheim Ducks (LW: 25). Trevor Zegras should not have to defend himself or fight for being talented and skilled.

29. Philadelphia Flyers (LW: 29). Nothing wrong with the way they handled Keith Yandle’s streak. It was time. He has had a great career, the streak is impressive, but it was time for it to end.

30. Chicago Blackhawks (LW: 28). Jonathan Toews deflecting a puck into his own net in overtime, against the worst team in the league, on the night they honored him for playing in 1,000 games is a perfect result for this season.

31. Seattle Kraken (LW: 31). Matt Duchene (likely 40-goal scorer) and Vladimir Tarasenko (59 points in 61 games) were both available to them in the expansion draft. Whoops.

32. Arizona Coyotes (LW: 32). Clayton Keller has been the big positive for this team this season, and then his season ended in a brutal way. That stinks.