TWC NHL Power Rankings 2023–24: Week 8

Eight weeks into the NHL season, the TWC NHL Power Rankings have reached a point of relative stability. This stability arises mostly from the NHL separating itself into three tiers. The top and bottom teams are clearly established, but the middle shows an extremely tight league. Read on to see if your team was be the next to crack the top five.

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 8 NHL Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team	Team Name	Last Week	Record	TWCScore
1	–		Los Angeles Kings	1-1-0	14-4-3	647.5
2	–		New York Rangers	3-1-0	18-4-1	630.3
3	–		Boston Bruins	3-1-0	17-4-3	624.4
4	–		Dallas Stars	2-0-1	14-5-3	615.4
5	+1		Vegas Golden Knights	2-0-2	16-5-4	606.3
6	+2		Carolina Hurricanes	2-0-1	14-8-1	595.7
7	–		Florida Panthers	2-1-1	14-8-2	591.3
8	-3		Colorado Avalanche	1-1-2	15-7-2	585.6
9	–		Vancouver Canucks	2-1-0	16-8-1	577.4
10	+1		Toronto Maple Leafs	2-0-1	12-6-4	571.9
11	+4		New Jersey Devils	2-1-0	11-10-1	554.5
12	-2		Winnipeg Jets	1-2-0	13-8-2	552.9
13	+1		Detroit Red Wings	2-1-0	13-7-3	546.8
14	-1		Washington Capitals	2-2-0	12-7-2	544.8
15	+2		Pittsburgh Penguins	1-0-2	11-10-2	535.8
16	–		Philadelphia Flyers	1-1-1	12-10-2	532.8
17	-5		Tampa Bay Lightning	0-4-0	10-10-5	528.7
18	–		Nashville Predators	2-2-0	12-12-0	527.1
19	+4		Arizona Coyotes	3-0-0	12-9-2	519.8
20	-1		St Louis Blues	1-2-0	12-10-1	517.1
21	-1		New York Islanders	2-1-0	10-7-6	516.8
22	+3		Edmonton Oilers	2-0-0	9-12-1	511.3
23	+1		Calgary Flames	2-1-0	10-11-3	505.8
24	+4		Minnesota Wild	3-0-0	8-10-4	502.5
25	-4		Ottawa Senators	1-2-0	9-10-0	498
26	-4		Seattle Kraken	0-2-1	8-11-6	492
27	-1		Montreal Canadiens	1-1-1	10-11-3	484.3
28	-1		Buffalo Sabres	1-3-0	10-13-2	465.7
29	–		Anaheim Ducks	1-2-0	10-14-0	456.8
30	–		Columbus Blue Jackets	2-2-0	8-14-4	449
31	–		Chicago Blackhawks	1-3-0	7-16-0	396.3
32	–		San Jose Sharks	2-2-0	6-17-2	373.7

The Los Angeles Kings hung on to the top spot this week, despite a .500 record. Their season to date and exceptional underlying numbers were enough to keep the number one position in the eyes of the model. The rest of the top four remained the same as well.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the bottom four teams also stayed the same. The teams clearly tanking are achieving their goal, with their eyes on top talents like Macklin Celebrini coming up in the next NHL draft. The real intrigue comes from the mid-pack teams.

The New Jersey Devils, for example, seem to be recovering from a tough stretch without Jack Hughes. The Devils are an elite team in terms of possession, scoring chances, and high-danger Corsi. At this point, all that’s holding them back is a dismal team save percentage of 87.3%, the second worst in the league. If their goaltending improves even slightly, expect them to jump way up these rankings.

Just six spots down the list, the dynastic Tampa Bay Lightning are showing their age. With four losses on the week in an ultra-competitive division, they dropped four spots from last week.

Taking a look under the hood, however, the Lightning continue to be a top-ten team in chance creation. The only thing holding them back is, like the Devils, poor team goaltending. The return of superstar Andrei Vasilevski should help, but he’s taking a few games to get his legs back under them. Once Vasilevski is up to speed, the Lightning are another team that could leap up the ranks.

One of the bigger surprises of the season is the Arizona Coyotes. They started hot, hit a cold patch, and are right back at it. Their undefeated week was impressive, but perhaps not as impressive as Connor Ingram in net. The advanced stats show a below-average team, but a strong save percentage can hide all sorts of flaws, which seems to be the case here. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain their success.

Finally, stick taps to the Minnesota Wild, who seem to be turning a corner after a horrendous start. That start led to management meeting with the team to emphasize how unacceptable their performance had been, as well as a coaching change. It seems the team agreed, and has responded well.

Three wins this week lifted them four positions in the rankings, up to 24th overall. Nothing in the underlying numbers indicates a powerhouse, but on the other hand, nothing shows they deserved to be as bad as they were. I wouldn’t expect to see them in the bottom five again this season.

Check back in next week to see how your team is doing!

Past 2023–24 Power Rankings

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7