NHL January power rankings: Maple Leafs surging, Bruins struggling

The new year is in full swing, and playoff races are heating up in the NHL. Here’s where all 31 NHL teams sit as the 2019-20 season continues on into January.

The calendar has officially flipped to 2020, bringing with it the second half of the NHL’s current season. With the holidays in the rearview mirror, normalcy has returned to our daily lives and hockey has resumed its normal schedule.

We’ve reached about the halfway point of the 2019-20 NHL season, with most teams already hitting the 40-game mark as the first full week of January comes into view. The NHL’s teams in the league’s basement and at the top of the leaderboards remain the same, but the middle of the picture has shifted as December went on.

With January already rolling along, here is how we’ve ranked all 31 teams coming into 2020.

The Red Wings have fewer wins this season (10) than the Bruins have overtime losses (11). Not much else to say about the NHL’s worst team with 23 points this year.

Anaheim won just five games in the month of December, and their 3-6-1 record in their last 10 games reflects their poor showing this season. Even the usually reliable John Gibson is having a bad go of it this year.

The Devils own the NHL’s second-worst goal differential at minus-35 coming into January, a statistic that will likely get worse given the fact that New Jersey jettisoned former No. 1 overall pick — and top scorer on the team — Taylor Hall to Arizona last month.

While the Kings have been better on the road as of late — their 6-14-3 away record is no longer the league’s worst — Los Angeles is well out of a wild card spot halfway through the season and have yet to show consistent play for long stretches of time.

Ottawa had a sporadic December but were never able to string two wins in a row at any point during the month. Hard to see a path to the playoffs for the Senators with the talent above them in the standings.

Robin Lehner is playing his heart out for the Blackhawks this season with a .922 save percentage in 25 games played, but Corey Crawford has been dismal with his .905 save percentage on the season. A listless offense doesn’t help Chicago’s woes either.

Nashville’s goaltending duo of Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros has not caught fire the way we expected this season. While the Predators are six points out of a wild card spot, if their goaltending isn’t vastly improved from their combined .892 save percentage, the playoffs will be out of reach.

The Canadiens had a better December than their November, but are still trailing the Eastern Conference wild card by seven points. The acquisition of Ilya Kovalchuk could help spark some offense, but the injuries they’ve sustained may be too much to overcome.

The Sharks squandered their good November with an awful December, losing six straight and winning only three games in the last month of 2019. Peter DeBoer lost his job as a head coach in mid-December for it, but nothing may be able to save the Sharks now.

Injuries have curtailed the Sabres’ playoff hopes after a promising start to their 2019-20 campaign. Buffalo has lost seven of their last nine games and the injuries continue to pile up. Not a great combination for a team that was as hot as could be to start the season.

The Rangers are in the unfortunate position of being in the NHL’s best division, the Metropolitan, this year. With average goaltending and only one real star to speak of in Artemi Panarin, New York will have a hard time surmounting their seven-point wild card deficit.

The Wild had an average month of December that started better than it ended, but are an even 5-5-0 in their last 10 games. Better than expected from this Minnesota team that is three points out of a wild card spot in the Western Conference despite getting goaltending just barely over the .900 mark.

A five-game win streak in the middle of December has given the Blue Jackets a slight boost. Columbus is fourth-worst in the NHL in goals-for on the season (109) but the team has lost just three of their last 10 games to make a solid wild card push.

Since the firing of Bill Peters, the Flames have gone 9-5-1 under new head coach Geoff Ward but have tripped up in recent games. Calgary is just one point off of a wild card spot in the Western Conference and will need more from Johnny Gaudreau — who has 11 goals this season — and company to make the jump.

Winnipeg remains in the Western Conference’s last wild card spot, no thanks to goaltender Connor Hellebuyck‘s .902 save percentage in the month of December. Top scorer Mark Scheifele is on pace for a career year as the Jets’ five major offensive players have carried the team into a playoff spot.

The Oilers managed to win just five wins in the month of December. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have been less effective in recent weeks, as their points have dried up just a bit at the worst time. Edmonton remains in the playoffs, but going from first in the Pacific to the first wild card spot leaves them in a precarious position.

Sergei Bobrovsky remains a sub-par goaltender this season with a .895 save percentage, but Jonathan Huberdeau is making a midseason Hart Trophy push with 56 points in 41 games played. Florida remains outside of the playoff bubble, but a strong January could push them into contention.

A rash of injuries has put the Flyers in a bit of a tailspin, alongside a dismal 9-13-1 road record. Philadelphia has allowed 11 first period goals in their last three games, a tough statistic to swallow as the team fights to keep their last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Canucks come into January in the midst of a seven-game win streak, looking to take advantage of a close Pacific Division as the team sits in third place. Elias Pettersson has kept the Canucks alive with 44 points in 42 games, boosting Vancouver to heights not many thought possible this season.

Don’t look now, but Tampa Bay is starting to look like the dominant team we all expected them to be. The Lightning have won seven of their last nine games as goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy hasn’t been as much of a liability in net as before. With their best scorers getting hot, the Lightning may be gearing up for a dominant second half.

The acquisition of Taylor Hall in December hasn’t resulted in too much offense, as the forward has five points in eight games with Arizona. While the Coyotes have lost both their starting goaltenders to injury for various lengths of time, Arizona is still keeping pace in the Pacific Division.

The Hurricanes own the NHL’s fifth best goal differential with a plus-23 over the first half of the season, yet thanks to a tough Metropolitan Division own the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The offensive talents of youngsters Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho are driving the bus in Carolina.

A strong comeback win in the Winter Classic has catapulted Dallas into a four-game win streak. The Stars are 7-3-1 in the Rick Bowness era, adjusting well to the sudden departure of former head coach Jim Montgomery as they’ve climbed to third in the Central Division.

After a dominant November, the Islanders came back to earth in December with a more average last month of 2019. New York still has a strong position in the Metropolitan Division rankings thanks to a stout defense and a combined .920 save percentage from Semyon Varlamov and Thomas Greiss.

Sheldon Keefe has turned the Maple Leafs around, as Toronto is 15-4-1 since the firing of Mike Babcock. Auston Matthews is now the second best goal scorer in the NHL with 28 in 43 games this season as the team is finally starting to cook.

Nathan MacKinnon continues his Hart Trophy caliber season with 64 points in 42 games as the Avalanche sit at second place in the Central Division. A stellar 14-6-2 road record is second best in the NHL, extending Colorado’s dominance away from the Pepsi Center.

The Golden Knights have righted the ship after a miserable November. A better month of December culminating in a four-game win streak to start January has boosted Vegas into first in the Pacific. While the Golden Knights’ backup netminding does not inspire confidence, Marc-Andre Fleury has been average for Vegas with a .910 save percentage this season.

Despite a run of injuries to captain Sidney Crosby and newly named All-Star Jake Guentzel, the Penguins have persevered to climb to second in the Metropolitan. Imagining the Penguins when they do get fully healthy is a scary, scary thought.

The once-thought insurmountable Atlantic Division lead for the Bruins has dwindled to a mere six points over the last month. Boston won just six games in the month of December, with their 11 overtime/shootout losses the worst in the NHL. The Bruins are still a strong team, but the cracks are now showing.

The reigning Stanley Cup champions have put themselves in a great position thanks to an eight-game win streak in the month of December. The Blues’ leading scorer is 31-year-old David Perron with 43 points in 43 games as the team continues to roll.

Washington continued their regular season dominance with a solid month of December. The Capitals have the NHL’s second-most goals scored this season (155) as they lead the league in points, all the while looking like the league’s most consistent team.