NHL March power rankings: Rangers enter the wild card fray

The end of the 2019-20 NHL season is coming into view. Here’s where all 31 NHL teams stand post-trade deadline as the playoff races continue.

There are, as March begins, about four weeks left of regular-season NHL action. The 2019-20 NHL season will end on Saturday, April 4 this year, and soon after that, the Stanley Cup playoffs will begin.

After the lull of January and February hockey, the month of March brings about renewed playoff races and a stacked schedule the rest of the way. Both the Eastern and Western Conferences have hotly contested playoff races, with the wild card spots changing hands every few days or so. At this point in the season, every game and every point matters to teams looking for a playoff spot and for others looking to solidify their first-round matchups.

With such little time remaining in the NHL calendar, here are our power rankings of all 31 teams headed into the last full month of the season.

There’s not much else to say about the Red Wings that hasn’t already been said this year. Their season may be comically bad from every single stat imaginable, but they did do well for themselves at the trade deadline this year by picking up coveted draft picks to use for the future.

Ottawa won only five games in February, as the team put up a pair of consecutive wins for just the fifth time this season at the end of the month. It’s tough to be a Senators fan right now, but thankfully the season is almost over.

The Kings shipped off a handful of players at the 2020 trade deadline — including forward Tyler Toffoli and defenseman Alec Martinez — for future assets, but continue to be in the race for a lottery pick at the upcoming draft this summer.

New Jersey also sent a lot of veterans packing at the deadline, with forwards Wayne Simmonds and Blake Coleman, alongside defenseman Sami Vatanen and Andy Greene, leaving the team. The Devils have been on a 6-2-2 swing recently, but remain in the NHL’s basement.

Goalscoring has been a major problem for the Ducks this season, as their 2.54 average goals-for per game ranks fourth-worst in the NHL and their 14.8 percent power play is tied for the league’s worst. Anaheim was a seller at this trade deadline, and for good reason.

The loss of Patrick Marleau via trade to the Penguins has to hurt the Sharks from a morale standpoint, as the team brought him in at the start of the season to boost fan’s spirits. San Jose, however, will be sitting out of the playoffs for the first time since 2014–15 as their team continues to get older.

Chicago has gone 4-6-0 in their last 10 games as their playoff hopes from just one month ago have come crashing down. Even worse? The team graded the worst in our trade deadline grades. Ouch.

Trading away spark-plug Ilya Kovalchuk to the Capitals at the deadline signals that Montreal’s playoff chances are over with this season. Stiff competition in the Eastern Conference essentially undid any possibility of the Canadiens making the postseason this year, along with average goaltending from Carey Price.

Buffalo acquired Simmonds at the trade deadline in a bewildering move, considering the team is also out of a playoff spot thanks to tough in-conference competition. While the Sabres have gone 5-5-0 in their last 10 games, Buffalo is just too far behind the eight ball to make a playoff push.

Since firing Bruce Boudreau on Valentine’s Day, the Wild have gone 5-2-0 under new head coach Dean Evason. A playoff push is unlikely from Minnesota, who sent away Jason Zucker to the Penguins before the deadline, though for some reason general manager Bill Guerin still believes the team has a chance.

The Coyotes are still in the playoff hunt, as they sit tied for a wild card spot with Winnipeg and Nashville. However, of those three, Arizona is still lacking for overall team offense after doing very little at the trade deadline.

Like the Coyotes above them, the Jets are in the playoff hunt in the West, but with the depth of the teams in the East, they sit in the No. 20 spot in our power rankings. Winnipeg also stood pat at the trade deadline, which may come back to bite them in their wild card chase.

The Predators also sit in a three-way tie in the Western Conference with the Jets and the Coyotes. These three really could be ranked in any order, but Nashville gets the nod above the other two with their 6-3-1 record in their last 10 games and their playoff odds are nearly double Winnipeg’s and Arizona’s, sitting at 50 percent according to Money Puck.

Florida’s trade of Vincent Trocheck to the Hurricanes is not a move a playoff team makes, but maybe it’s one to spark the team into contention. The Panthers lost seven of their first nine games in February, likely prompting some sort of change as the team fights with at least five other teams for two wild card spots.

The Blue Jackets sit in a wild card spot, but have played at least two more games than any of their direct competitors and have the NHL’s most overtime or shootout losses at 14 so far this season. An eight-game losing streak in mid-February, with two back-to-back losses to Philadelphia in the mix, have dropped Columbus down our power rankings.

Calgary’s offense has been better as of late, as the team has scored three or more goals in their last 11 games and have gone 5-4-1 in their last 10. Johnny Gaudreau’s trolling aside, the forward has seven points in his last seven games and is helping keep Calgary alive in the West.

The Hurricanes have fallen a bit flat recently, as the injury bug has swept the team. Though Carolina was active at the trade deadline and acquired a standout piece in Trocheck and defensive depth in Sami Vatanen and Brady Skjei, the Hurricanes still have a weak spot in their goaltending which they did not address.

The Maple Leafs continue to ride the middle of the pack in the NHL, going from insanely hot to blistering cold in a matter of days. Losing to their own 42-year-old zamboni driver does not help matters, but the team has gone 26-13-4 since Sheldon Keefe took over as head coach in November. It’s just a matter of putting together what they’ve got despite their rash of injuries to make a playoff push.

Edmonton has been stellar on the road this year with a 18-13-3 record, and will need to keep up the road dominance to keep pace in the Pacific Division. There will be time to pull away from the pack, but entering March the Oilers are second in the Pacific with 76 points.

Somehow, a playoff push is being made by the Rangers this late in the game. New York had a five-game win streak nearing the end of February and is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, propelling themselves up the standings and into the wild card race. Artemi Panarin has been a force for the Rangers recently, with 18 points in his last 15 games.

Thanks to the Rangers’ surge — and issues of their own — the Islanders playoff hopes are a bit more precarious than in previous months. The Islanders lost more games (9) than they won (6) in the month of February, sliding to the first wild card spot with 78 points. With the Metropolitan Division so packed, however, a winning streak could see them gain ground once again.

The acquisition of Tyler Toffoli at the trade deadline should boost the Canucks a little, but the injuries of forwards Brock Boeser and Micheal Ferland, with recent injury to goaltender Jacob Markstrom are tough to swallow. These next few weeks will be pivotal for Vancouver, to say the least.

A six-game win surge and overall steady play have helped put the Flyers above the wild card race for the time being. Depth continues to shine for Philadelphia, as has offseason acquisition Kevin Hayes, who has five goals in his last five games.

Outside of the Rangers, the Golden Knights may be the NHL’s hottest team right now. With an eight-game winning streak entering March, Vegas has put a bit of distance between themselves and the rest of the Pacific. Plus, the acquisition of goaltender Robin Lehner at the trade deadline to back up Marc-Andre Fleury has made the team’s overall depth stronger.

The Stars continue to keep pace in the Central Division, as their goaltending duo of Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin remain the NHL’s best with a month to go. Though Dallas is middling in scoring this season, Bishop and Khudobin have helped the Stars rise to new heights.

Outpacing the Stars for the second spot in the Central, the Avalanche stood pat at the trade deadline, but for good reason. February was a good month for Colorado, who won 11 games and only lost four as Nathan MacKinnon continues his Hart Trophy quest this season.

Adding Jason Zucker and bringing noted Sidney Crosby battery Conor Sheary back into the fold at the trade deadline will likely do wonders for the Penguins’ depth. Pittsburgh’s defense and goaltending can be hit or miss at times, but with Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins remain as deadly as ever.

The Capitals have had a big problem with their team defense recently, as mid-to-late February saw Washington lose seven of 10 games as the team imploded defensively. Adding defenseman Brenden Dillon to the mix should help, but the Capitals did drop off — causing concern for their long-term playoff hopes — over the last month.

St. Louis continues to ride the wave of steady offensive production and average goaltending into March. The Blues have gone 7-2-1 in their last 10 games and have built a three-point lead at the top of the Central. The news that Vladimir Tarasenko will likely be returning before the end of the regular season is also set to be a huge boon to the team.

Now this is the Lightning we all recognize. In the month of February, Nikita Kucherov had 20 points in 13 games for Tampa Bay and has looked more like the dynamic scorer since the beginning of the calendar year. The Lightning also boast one of the better home records in the NHL at 20-10-3, a recipe for success this late in the season.

The Bruins, on the other hand, have the best home record in the league at 22-3-9 through 34 games. Boston had only three losses in the month of February, and all to non-division opponents. Their .708 points percentage is the best in the league by nearly .05 points as Boston currently leads the Presidents’ Trophy race by six points entering March.

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