With just a few weeks left in the regular season, there is still a ton of movement in the TWC NHL Power Rankings. A few teams are establishing their playoff positioning, while a whole slew of teams are fighting tooth and nail for the final tickets to the show.
TWC Power Rankings explained
If you’re new to our power rankings, this is how it all works.
Here at TWC, we use a statistical model to effectively rank teams on a week to week basis. The model takes into effect winning percentages, CF%, SCF%, HDCF% as well as SV%. Each statistical category is weighed and scored differently, giving each team a unique TWC Score that determines their ranking after each week. The formula puts the highest emphasis on winning percentages over other statistics. All numbers are taken in all situations, to incorporate special teams into the fray.
We got some excellent feedback over the course of last season from our readers as to how we could improve this model moving forward. This year we have slightly altered the weightings of the statistical categories, but also re-worked the recency component to make sure that each week the teams that are riding hot streaks are more appropriately demonstrated in the rankings.
Don’t like where your team is ranked? Unfortunately, they will have to turn it around on the ice, as we take zero personal opinions into effect.
Have any suggestions for the TWC Power Rankings for next season? Leave us a comment and let us know. Without further ado, this week’s power rankings are below!
Week 22 NHL Power Rankings
| Rank | Change | Team | Team Name | Last Week | Record | TWCScore |
| 1 | – |  | Boston Bruins | 3-1-0 | 53-11-5 | 802.1 |
| 2 | +1 |  | Carolina Hurricanes | 2-1-0 | 45-15-8 | 787.3 |
| 3 | -1 |  | New Jersey Devils | 1-2-1 | 45-18-7 | 769.6 |
| 4 | +4 |  | Los Angeles Kings | 2-0-1 | 40-20-10 | 756 |
| 5 | – |  | Dallas Stars | 2-2-0 | 38-19-13 | 737.2 |
| 6 | +7 |  | New York Rangers | 4-0-0 | 41-19-10 | 734.9 |
| 7 | – |  | Minnesota Wild | 2-1-0 | 40-22-8 | 734.4 |
| 8 | +3 |  | Florida Panthers | 2-0-0 | 35-27-7 | 729.3 |
| 9 | – |  | Edmonton Oilers | 3-0-0 | 39-23-8 | 729.2 |
| 10 | -6 |  | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2-1-1 | 42-18-9 | 728 |
| 11 | -4 |  | Vegas Golden Knights | 2-1-0 | 43-21-6 | 726.3 |
| 12 | +2 |  | Colorado Avalanche | 4-0-0 | 40-22-6 | 718.1 |
| 13 | -1 |  | Tampa Bay Lightning | 3-1-0 | 42-23-6 | 711.1 |
| 14 | -4 |  | Pittsburgh Penguins | 0-3-0 | 34-25-10 | 692 |
| 15 | +2 |  | Seattle Kraken | 1-2-0 | 38-24-7 | 690.1 |
| 16 | +2 |  | Calgary Flames | 1-0-2 | 31-24-15 | 689.1 |
| 17 | -2 |  | New York Islanders | 2-1-0 | 36-27-8 | 687.9 |
| 18 | +1 |  | Winnipeg Jets | 1-3-0 | 39-29-3 | 669.7 |
| 19 | – |  | Nashville Predators | 1-2-1 | 34-26-8 | 658.5 |
| 20 | +2 |  | Vancouver Canucks | 3-1-0 | 31-33-5 | 658.3 |
| 21 | -1 |  | Ottawa Senators | 0-2-1 | 33-31-5 | 653.4 |
| 22 | -1 |  | Washington Capitals | 1-3-0 | 33-31-7 | 643.4 |
| 23 | – |  | Buffalo Sabres | 1-2-1 | 33-30-6 | 616.9 |
| 24 | +1 |  | St Louis Blues | 2-1-0 | 31-33-5 | 603.4 |
| 25 | +3 |  | Arizona Coyotes | 3-0-0 | 27-32-11 | 598.5 |
| 26 | -2 |  | Detroit Red Wings | 0-2-0 | 30-29-9 | 590.3 |
| 27 | – |  | Philadelphia Flyers | 1-1-1 | 25-32-12 | 581.4 |
| 28 | – |  | San Jose Sharks | 0-1-2 | 19-37-14 | 566 |
| 29 | – |  | Anaheim Ducks | 1-2-0 | 23-37-10 | 551.5 |
| 30 | – |  | Montreal Canadiens | 1-3-0 | 27-37-6 | 536.6 |
| 31 | – |  | Columbus Blue Jackets | 1-3-0 | 21-41-7 | 532.2 |
| 32 | – |  | Chicago Blackhawks | 2-1-0 | 24-39-6 | 530.5 |
Follow TWC on social media!
Week 22 Highlights
Even in Week 22, there is still a ton of movement across our rankings. What didn’t move was the Boston Bruins and their number one ranking. They most likely will remain in this position for the rest of the season.
The Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils swapped places at second and third, but the real highlight of the top five was the addition of the Los Angeles Kings who jumped four spots into fourth overall. The Kings are just two points back of the Pacific Division crown and you’d probably bet they want to head there rather than face the Edmonton Oilers in the first round again. That being said, this team has vastly improved from last season and should make some noise come the first round.
The biggest mover this week were the New York Rangers who jumped seven spots to sixth overall. Their four straight wins—some being in complete dominant fashion—has the Rangers rolling as they enter the postseason. Depending on how they can continue this trend, they may jump even higher than third in the Metropolitan Division.
The Florida Panthers, who are battling for a Wild Card position in the East, won both their games last week to move up three spots on our rankings. After being considered to be down and out for the season, the team is now just one point back with the same number of games played as the Pittsburgh Penguins. Speaking of the Penguins, the team went 0–3–0 last week to be in that position. The race is on.
Interestingly enough, despite the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights going a combined 4–2–1 last week, the teams dropped six and four spots respectively. The main reason for that? A few games last week hit them hard on the analytics side to drop them in the categories measured. Just a temporary drop for both teams who are bound to have some playoff success.
In the West, the final playoff spot is down to the Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, and Nashville Predators. The Flames have the edge in our model, thanks to their strong underlying numbers, but the Jets have the edge in terms of record, and the Predators have the better points percentage. All three teams went a combined 3–5–4 last week so it’s a bit of a slog to the finish for those teams.
Past 2022–23 Power Rankings
Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21
Check here for how teams have done over past weeks and stay tuned for upcoming power rankings.
You must be logged in to post a comment.