TWC NHL Playoff Power Rankings 2023–24: Week 3

With another week of action now in the rearview mirror, we’ve updated our playoff power rankings. Only three active series are ongoing now, with the Carolina Hurricanes’ season coming to an end last night at the hand of the New York Rangers.

But who else is looking poised to move into the conference finals? Our rankings help determine who’s playing well, and who might be at risk.

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 reworked 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 3 NHL Playoff Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team	Team Name	Last Week	Record	TWCScore
1	+1		Florida Panthers	1-1	7-3	779.5
2	-1		New York Rangers	1-2	8-2	764.5
3	+1		Edmonton Oilers	1-2	6-4	715.9
4	– 1		Colorado Avalanche	1-2	6-4	712.8
5	–		Dallas Stars	2-1	7-5	709.8
6	–		Vancouver Canucks	2-1	7-4	696.4
7	–		Carolina Hurricanes	2-1	6-5	695.2
8	–		Boston Bruins	1-1	6-6	621.2
9	–		Toronto Maple Leafs	0-0	3-4	606.7
10	–		Vegas Golden Knights	0-0	3-4	554.3
11	–		Nashville Predators	0-0	2-4	553.2
12	–		Los Angeles Kings	0-0	1-4	460.2
13	–		Tampa Bay Lightning	0-0	1-4	455.3
14	–		Winnipeg Jets	0-0	1-4	444.8
15	–		New York Islanders	0-0	1-4	444.4
16	–		Washington Capitals	0-0	0-4	417.8

Ironically, after eliminating the Hurricanes, the Rangers have dropped a place in our standings. The Panthers’ dominance of the Bruins has been thorough, and if it weren’t for elite goaltending, the Bruins would have been out of these playoffs weeks ago.

As a result, the superb underlying numbers of the Panthers, as well as the relatively poor 1–2 record the Rangers posted, has moves the Panthers into the top spot.

Perhaps more strangely, the Oilers lost two games and won only one, but they moved up as well. They’re wrapped up in an extremely tight series with the Canucks, but the power model prefers the Oilers as a result of their high-danger offence.

Finally, the last ongoing series is between the Stars and Avalanche. These teams are absolutely neck and neck in how the model views them. The Avs have slightly better underlying numbers, but goaltending swings things back in the Stars’ favour.

It looks like a series destined to go the distance and should make for great entertainment along the way.

Check back weekly to see how your team is stacking up against their competitors for the Stanley Cup!