NHL Power Rankings: A new No. 1, plus playoff chances for all 32 teams
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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
We’re officially two weeks away from the NHL trade deadline on March 8, and teams will be making moves between now and then to either bolster their Stanley Cup chances or build for the future.
Along with a new No. 1 team on the Power Rankings this week, we are breaking down each team’s updated playoff chances, as determined by Stathletes projections.
How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors sends in a 1-32 poll based on the games through Wednesday, which generates our master list here.
Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the previous edition, published Feb. 16. Points percentages are through Thursday’s games.
Previous ranking: 5
Points percentage: 68.42%
Playoff chances: 99.9%. Florida could be the first team to make consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances since their state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, did it in 2020 and 2021 (and 2022 as well). And this time, the Panthers have a better opportunity to come away victorious.
Next seven days: vs. WSH (Feb. 24), vs. BUF (Feb. 27), vs. MTL (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 2
Points percentage: 68.97%
Playoff chances: 99.9%. Boston experienced last spring how anything can happen once the postseason begins. The key for the Bruins is not to be haunted by the past in their next playoff opportunity.
Next seven days: @ VAN (Feb. 24), @ SEA (Feb. 26), vs. VGK (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 1
Points percentage: 67.80%
Playoff chances: 99.9%. Vancouver has shocked the hockey world as this season’s breakout club. Even the current slump shouldn’t hurt their chances of a playoff berth. Vancouver has excelled from top to bottom more often than not, so the real icing on their cake will be racking up series wins in the postseason.
Next seven days: vs. BOS (Feb. 24), vs. PIT (Feb. 27), vs. LA (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 9
Points percentage: 69.30%
Playoff chances: 99.9%. New York has been on such a heater lately — did you see that Stadium Series comeback? — that it’s almost insulting there’s even a 0.3% possibility they don’t get in on postseason action.
Next seven days: @ PHI (Feb. 24), @ CBJ (Feb. 25), vs. CBJ (Feb. 28)
Previous ranking: 4
Points percentage: 65.52%
Playoff chances: 99.9%. Dallas has a deep team, and that has been its backbone through every challenge faced this season. The Stars will need their resiliency intact to make a long run in the playoffs.
Next seven days: @ CAR (Feb. 24), vs. NYI (Feb. 26), @ COL (Feb. 27), vs. WPG (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 3
Points percentage: 64.66%
Playoff chances: 98.6%. Colorado has battled tough stretches this season. But thanks to Nathan MacKinnon driving the bus at game-changing speed, there’s little chance the Avalanche won’t make playoffs. The question is: What can they do once they get there?
Next seven days: vs. TOR (Feb. 24), vs. DAL (Feb. 27), @ CHI (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 6
Points percentage: 67.59%
Playoff chances: 99.9%. Winnipeg will get to the postseason. The true curiosity is how the Jets will fare once they’re in it. Winnipeg has a top-tier goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck and a lineup littered with star power. But have we seen the best of the Jets already? Or are there even greater things to come?
Next seven days: @ CHI (Feb. 23), vs. ARI (Feb. 25), vs. STL (Feb. 27), @ DAL (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 8
Points percentage: 64.15%
Playoff chances: 99.8%. Edmonton already graduated from early-season disappointment to postseason lock. Now the Oilers are among the current favorites to win it all (at 11.9%). That’s a glow-up if ever we’ve seen one.
Next seven days: vs. MIN (Feb. 23), vs. CGY (Feb. 24), vs. (Feb. 26), vs. STL (Feb. 28)
Previous ranking: 11
Points percentage: 64.29%
Playoff chances: 97.7%. Toronto can thank Auston Matthews‘ consistently spectacular play this season for basically ensuring they’ll be in good position for the playoffs. Naturally, getting in will mean nothing for the Leafs (or Matthews) if they can’t produce when it counts.
Next seven days: @ COL (Feb. 24), vs. VGK (Feb. 27), vs. ARI (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 10
Points percentage: 65.18%
Playoff chances: 99.9%. Carolina stumbling in uncharacteristic fashion to start the season raised red flags. Turns out, we need not have worried about the Canes. They’ll not only be in the postseason but — with a trade deadline upgrade? — should be among the Eastern Conference favorites.
Next seven days: vs. DAL (Feb. 24), @ BUF (Feb. 25), @ MIN (Feb. 27), @ CBJ (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 7
Points percentage: 61.40%
Playoff chances: 96.7%. Vegas has shown some signs of a lingering Cup hangover. But like every veteran reveler in Sin City, the Golden Knights find ways to rally. Odds are they’ll be in for another fruitful spring ahead.
Next seven days: @ OTT (Feb. 24), @ TOR (Feb. 27), @ BOS (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 15
Points percentage: 60.00%
Playoff chances: 93.5%. Los Angeles is back on the rails after a rough two-win January cost coach Todd McLellan his job. Interim bench boss Jim Hiller has helped right the ship, and the Kings can use their adversity as a rallying point toward postseason success.
Next seven days: vs. ANA (Feb. 24), @ EDM (Feb. 26), @ CGY (Feb. 27), @ VAN (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 12
Points percentage: 58.77%
Playoff chances: 76.8%. Philadelphia being a playoff team was not on the Bingo card this year. The Flyers might also be the team most likely to fall out of the conversation post-trade deadline. For now, though, Philadelphia’s trending in the right direction. Let’s see how far they can go.
Next seven days: vs. NYR (Feb. 24), @ PIT (Feb. 25), vs. TB (Feb. 27)
Previous ranking: 14
Points percentage: 58.93%
Playoff chances: 32.9%. Detroit is in position to finally host a playoff game within their stunning, state-of-the-art arena. All that stands in their way is keeping pace with some ultracompetitive Atlantic Division rivals.
Next seven days: vs. STL (Feb. 24), @ CHI (Feb. 25), vs. WSH (Feb. 27), vs. NYI (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 13
Points percentage: 56.03%
Playoff chances: 80.0%. Tampa is in that murky middle of the Eastern Conference where their pendulum could swing either way. Are the Lightning able to hang from here with the Atlantic’s top squads? Are they wild-card material? Or … does Tampa Bay fall out altogether? It’ll be a wild ride from here to find out.
Next seven days: @ NYI (Feb. 24), @ NJ (Feb. 25), @ PHI (Feb. 27), vs. BUF (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 18
Points percentage: 53.57%
Playoff chances: 41.7%. New Jersey was, at this time last year, a veritable lock for the playoffs. Things are different now. The Devils still have runway, but questions around goaltending and defense especially threaten to derail New Jersey, even if they do secure a spot.
Next seven days: vs. MTL (Feb. 24), vs. TB (Feb. 25), @ SJ (Feb. 27)
Previous ranking: 19
Points percentage: 53.57%
Playoff chances: 28.7%. New York did enough slipping and sliding already this season to warrant a coaching change (hello, Patrick Roy). Can the Islanders pull it together in time to recapture a wild-card slot? It’ll take more than just continuous star turns from Mathew Barzal to get there.
Next seven days: vs. TB (Feb. 24), @ DAL (Feb. 26), @ DET (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 17
Points percentage: 54.39%
Playoff chances: 32.7%. Nashville is in a fight to grab one of the Western Conference’s wild-card spots. What the Predators do leading up to the trade deadline — will they boost the lineup or deal veterans away? — might tell the tale of where they end up.
Next seven days: @ SJ (Feb. 24), @ ANA (Feb. 25), vs. OTT (Feb. 27), vs. MIN (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 20
Points percentage: 55.36%
Playoff chances: 10.5%. St. Louis’ streakiness has dampened its odds of being a postseason contender. Every winning stretch the Blues craft is seemingly followed by a landslide of losing.
Next seven days: @ DET (Feb. 24), @ WPG (Feb. 27), @ EDM (Feb. 28)
Previous ranking: 24
Points percentage: 54.55%
Playoff chances: 17.0%. Washington is on track to miss the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since a three-season dry spell from 2003-04 through 2006-07. Luckily the Capitals have a young team and up-and-coming coach on whom they can pin a brighter future.
Next seven days: @ FLA (Feb. 24), vs. OTT (Feb. 26), @ DET (Feb. 27)
Previous ranking: 22
Points percentage: 51.75%
Playoff chances: 26.6%. Calgary had high hopes going into this season that were swiftly damaged by losing 19 of its first 30 games. That’s a mammoth hole to climb out of, and the Flames don’t look poised for a clandestine run from here to the postseason. Trading more roster players ahead of the deadline would signal that the rebuild is officially on.
Next seven days: @ EDM (Feb. 24), vs. LA (Feb. 27)
Previous ranking: 16
Points percentage: 53.70%
Playoff chances: 22.9%. Pittsburgh should qualify as the season’s most surprising free fall. Who would have expected the Penguins to have such long postseason odds after they added new GM Kyle Dubas, acquired the likes of Erik Karlsson and Reilly Smith and have gotten MVP-caliber play from Sidney Crosby? Baffling.
Next seven days: vs. PHI (Feb. 25), @ VAN (Feb. 27), @ SEA (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 27
Points percentage: 51.79%
Playoff chances: 20.2%. Minnesota tried salvaging its season with a coaching change. It hasn’t entirely worked yet. The Wild are at risk of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018-19, and that would be a shame for hockey fans hoping to see Marc-Andre Fleury get what might be one last postseason run.
Next seven days: @ EDM (Feb. 23), @ SEA (Feb. 24), vs. CAR (Feb. 27), @ NSH (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 21
Points percentage: 52.68%
Playoff chances: 21.2%. Seattle may just be outmatched by their fellow Western Conference foes. The magic that boosted the Kraken in their sophomore season was lacking in year three. There could be a long summer looming for Seattle to ponder what went wrong.
Next seven days: vs. MIN (Feb. 24), vs. BOS (Feb. 26), vs. PIT (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 25
Points percentage: 48.21%
Playoff chances: 1.6%. Buffalo being at slightly better than 1% odds here is a total, utter disappointment. This season was supposed to change the narrative and show an established, winning culture. Better luck next year?
Next seven days: @ CBJ (Feb. 23), vs. CAR (Feb. 25), @ FLA (Feb. 27), @ TB (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 26
Points percentage: 45.61%
Playoff chances: ~0%. Montreal is somewhere within a cooly calculated rebuild. When will it end for the Canadiens? Only GM Kent Hughes can say for certain.
Next seven days: @ NJ (Feb. 24), vs. ARI (Feb. 27), @ FLA (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 23
Points percentage: 44.64%
Playoff chances: 0.3%. Arizona can’t change their own playoff destiny at this stage. The Coyotes could play spoiler down the stretch though, wielding a lineup filled with budding talents who should make them contenders in seasons ahead.
Next seven days: @ WPG (Feb. 25), @ MTL (Feb. 27), @ TOR (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 28
Points percentage: 47.22%
Playoff chances: 0.8%. Ottawa made adjustments everywhere from its ownership to front office execs to coaching staff. And still the Senators are on the outside looking in. Whatever their elusive winning formula is, it feels out of reach this season.
Next seven days: vs. VGK (Feb. 24), @ WSH (Feb. 25), @ NSH (Feb. 27)
Previous ranking: 29
Points percentage: 41.82%
Playoff chances: ~0%. Columbus knew long ago when its last game would be this season. But at least they’re only one year away from hosting the next Stadium Series clash at Ohio State. Silver linings!
Next seven days: vs. BUF (Feb. 23), vs. NYR (Feb. 25), @ NYR (Feb. 28), vs. CAR (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 30
Points percentage: 37.50%
Playoff chances: ~0%. Anaheim won’t have to wonder about its postseason odds. Just the draft lottery ones.
Next seven days: @ LA (Feb. 24), vs. NSH (Feb. 25), @ SJ (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 31
Points percentage: 31.82%
Playoff chances: ~0%. San Jose might come first in being officially eliminated from playoff contention. So there’s that.
Next seven days: vs. NSH (Feb. 24), vs. NJ (Feb. 27), vs. ANA (Feb. 29)
Previous ranking: 32
Points percentage: 28.95%
Playoff chances: ~0%. Chicago has Connor Bedard back on the ice. Eventually, the Blackhawks will have a shot at the playoffs again, too.
Next seven days: vs. WPG (Feb. 23), vs. DET (Feb. 25), vs. COL (Feb. 29)
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Greg Wyshynski
The Dallas Stars‘ 3-1 win in Game 4 against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night was a contrast in offensive efficiency. The Jets converted just once on 72 shot attempts. Dallas center Mikael Granlund, meanwhile, needed only three shot attempts in the game to score three goals. His hat trick was all the offense the Stars needed to take a commanding 3-1 series lead, moving one win away from their third straight trip to the Western Conference finals.
“Obviously, the job is not done. We’ve got a lot of work to do. [But] that was a good win,” Granlund said.
It was the first career hat trick for Granlund, a 13-year veteran whom the Stars acquired from the San Jose Sharks in a trade back in February. Three goals on three shots, all of them sailing past Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who remained winless on the road in the 2025 postseason.
Granlund’s first goal came at 8:36 on the power play, as he skated in on three Jets defensemen and fired a snap shot past Hellebuyck from the top of the slot.
“I was just shooting it somewhere and it went in,” Granlund said.
“I got a clean enough look. It was just a damn perfect shot, just above my pad and below my glove,” Hellebuyck lamented.
“Obviously, he probably wants the first one back, the wrister,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said of Hellebuyck. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to get him some run support. Get him a lead.”
Granlund’s second shot and second goal came on a play started by Mikko Rantanen, whose league-leading point total now stands at 19 for the playoffs. His outlet pass found Granlund in the neutral zone, sparking a 2-on-1 with Roope Hintz. Granlund kept the puck and roofed it to give Dallas a 2-1 lead after Nik Ehlers had tied the game for Winnipeg earlier in the second period.
“When you pass all the time, you can surprise the goalie sometimes when you shoot the puck. It’s good to shoot once in a while,” said Granlund, who had twice as many assists (44) as goals (22) in the regular season.
Granlund’s third and final shot attempt of the game was on another Dallas power play in the third period, following a double-minor penalty to defenseman Haydn Fleury for high-sticking Hintz.
Defenseman Miro Heiskanen, in the lineup for the first time since Jan. 28 after missing the last 32 regular-season games and first 10 playoff games because of a knee injury, collected the puck after Matt Duchene rang it off the post. Heiskanen slid it over to Granlund for a one-timer that brought him to his knees on the ice. After the shot beat Hellebuyck at 7:23 of the third period, waves of hats hit the ice in celebration of Granlund’s three-goal night.
It was fitting that Rantanen and Heiskanen had points on Granlund’s hat trick. This was the first game that the Stars’ so-called “Finnish Mafia” played together, as Heiskanen was injured before Granlund and Rantanen joined the team. Those three skaters joined countrymen Hintz and defenseman Esa Lindell in helping Dallas to victory.
“It was fun for sure. Fun to finally be on the ice with them,” Heiskanen said.
Goaltender Jake Oettinger did the rest with 31 saves, many of them on dangerous Winnipeg chances. But in the end, all the Stars needed were three shot attempts, while the Jets’ voluminous offensive night produced only one goal.
“Oettinger made some big stops. But we had 70 shot attempts. We have to get more than one goal,” Arniel said. “If we can’t find more than one goal, we’re not going to win hockey games, especially [against] this team.”
Dallas will attempt to close out the series on Thursday night in Winnipeg.
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David Schoenfield
Pete Rose, Joe Jackson, seven other members of the 1919 Chicago “Black Sox”, six other former players, one coach and one former owner are now eligible to be voted on for the Hall of Fame after commissioner Rob Manfred removed them from Major League Baseball’s permanently ineligible list.
Hall of Fame chairwoman Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement: “The National Baseball Hall of Fame has always maintained that anyone removed from Baseball’s permanently ineligible list will become eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. Major League Baseball’s decision to remove deceased individuals from the permanently ineligible list will allow for the Hall of Fame candidacy of such individuals to now be considered.”
Due to Hall of Fame voting procedures, Rose and Jackson won’t be eligible to be voted on until the Classic Era Baseball committee, which votes on individuals who made their biggest impact prior to 1980, meets in December of 2027.
Let’s dig into what all this means.
Why were these players banned?
All individuals on the banned list who were reinstated had been permanently ineligible due to accusations related to gambling related to baseball — either throwing games, accepting bribes, or like Rose, betting on baseball games.
Most of the banned players, including Jackson and his seven Chicago White Sox teammates who threw the 1919 World Series, played in the 1910s, when gambling in baseball was widespread. As historian Bill James once wrote, “Few simplifications of memory are as bizarre as the notion that the Black Sox scandal hit baseball out of the blue. … In fact, of course, the Black Sox scandal was merely the largest wart of a disease that had infested baseball at least a dozen years earlier and had grown, unchecked, to ravage the features of a generation.”
The most famous player, of course, was Jackson, one of baseball’s biggest stars alongside Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker in the 1910s. While many have tried to exonerate Jackson through the years, pointing out that he hit .375 in the 1919 World Series, baseball historians agree that Jackson was a willing participant in throwing the World Series and accepted money from the gambling ring that paid off the White Sox players.
While the White Sox players were acquitted in a criminal trial in 1921, commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned the eight players in a statement that began with the words “Regardless of the verdict of juries …”
If there was an innocent member in the group, it was third baseman Buck Weaver, not Jackson. Weaver had participated in meetings where the fixing of the World Series was discussed, and Landis banned him for life for guilty knowledge.
As for Rose, he was banned in 1989 by commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti for betting on games while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds, including those involving his own team. While Rose denied the accusations for years, he eventually confessed. He died last September at age 83.
Who else is impacted?
Phillies owner William Cox was banned in 1943 and forced to sell the team for betting on games. Cox had just purchased the team earlier that season. None of the other non-White Sox players are of major significance, although Benny Kauff was the big star of the Federal League in 1914-15, winning the batting title both seasons. The Federal League was a breakoff league that attempted to challenge the National and American leagues.
When is the soonest Rose and Jackson could go into the Hall of Fame?
The Hall of Fame voting process for players not considered by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America — such as Rose and Jackson, who never appeared on the ballot due to their banned status — includes two eras: the Contemporary Baseball Era (1980 to present) and the Classic Baseball Era (pre-1980). The voting periods are already set:
December 2025: Player ballot for the Contemporary Era.
December 2026: Contemporary Era ballot for managers, executives and umpires.
December 2027: Classic Era ballot for players, managers, executives and umpires.
Each committee has an initial screening to place eight candidates on the ballot, so Rose and Jackson will first have to make the ballot. While it’s unclear how a future screening committee will proceed, it’s possible that both will make the ballot. While comparisons to players with PED allegations aren’t exactly apples to apples — since they were never placed on the ineligible list — it’s worth noting that Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Rafael Palmeiro were included on the eight-player Contemporary Era ballot in 2023.
Once the ballot is determined — a 16-person committee consisting of Hall of Fame players, longtime executives and media members or historians — convenes and votes. A candidate must receive 12 votes to get selected. In the most recent election in December, Dave Parker and Dick Allen were on the Classic Era ballot.
Which players have the best HOF cases?
Obviously, Rose would have been a slam-dunk Hall of Famer had he never bet on baseball and had he appeared on the BBWAA ballot after his career ended. The all-time MLB leader with 4,256 hits, Rose won three batting titles and was the 1973 NL MVP. And while he’s overrated in a sense — his 79.6 career WAR is more in line with the likes of Jeff Bagwell, Brooks Robinson and Robin Yount than all-time elite superstars — and hung on well past his prime to break Ty Cobb’s hits record, his popularity and fame would have made him an inner-circle Hall of Famer.
Whether he’ll get support now is complicated. Bonds and Clemens both received fewer than four votes in 2023. The committee usually consists of eight former players, and they may not support Rose given the one hard and fast rule that every player knows: You can’t bet on the game.
Jackson, meanwhile, was a star of the deadball era, hitting .408 in 1911 and .356 in his career, an average that ranks fourth all time behind only Cobb, Negro Leagues star Oscar Charleston and Rogers Hornsby. He finished with 62.2 WAR and 1,772 hits in a career that ended at age 32 due to the ban. Those figures would be low for a Hall of Fame selection, although the era committees did recently elect Allen and Tony Oliva, both of whom finished with fewer than 2,000 hits. And again, it is hard to say how the committee will view Jackson’s connection to gambling on the sport.
The only other reinstated player with a semblance of a chance to get on a ballot is pitcher Eddie Cicotte, who won 209 games and finished with 59.7 WAR. While his final season came at 36, the knuckleballer was still going strong, having won 29 games for the White Sox in 1919 and 21 in 1920 before Landis banned him.
For what it’s worth, the top position players in career WAR who made their mark prior to 1980 and aren’t in the Hall of Fame are Rose, Bill Dahlen (75.3), Bobby Grich (71.0), Graig Nettles (67.6), Reggie Smith (64.6), Ken Boyer (62.8), Jackson and Sal Bando (61.5).
Pitching candidates would include Luis Tiant (65.7), Tommy John (61.6) and Wes Ferrell (60.1). John was on the recent ballot and received seven votes. Others on that ballot included Steve Garvey, Boyer, Negro Leagues pitcher John Donaldson, Negro Leagues manager Vic Harris and Tiant.
Other potential pre-1980 candidates could include Thurman Munson, Bert Campaneris, Dave Concepcion and Stan Hack.
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