Cheering for one of the seven National Hockey League teams north of the border has not been a lot of fun over the last 30 or so years. No Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens captured their league-leading 24th championship in 1993. The Vancouver Canucks would lose to Mark Messier and the New York Rangers in 1994, and no Canadian franchise advanced as far as the SCF again for eight seasons.
In 2004, the Calgary Flames broke the streak but were beaten by John Tortorella's Tampa Bay Lightning in a 2-1 Game 7. The Ottawa Senators were defeated by the Anaheim Ducks three years later, and the game-winning tally in the series clinching Game 5 was an own goal. The Canucks returned to the dance in 2011 to lose a heartbreaking Game 7 at home to the Boston Bruins, and it was another 10 years before a Canadian club reached a title series — with the Habs losing to the Bolts in 2021.
That basically sums up the last three decades for Canadian hockey fans. Yes, international play has been a different story, with Team Canada winning three of the last four Olympics before NHL players stopped participating in 2018. That's not to mention the plethora of IIHF World Junior and World Championship gold medals over the years.
In Week 14 of the 2023-24 NHL season, the Canadian faction of the league looks to be doing just fine. Ahead of the 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto in early February, the Canucks are first place in league standings, the Jets are second, and the Oilers have won ten games in a row to surge into playoff contention in the Western Conference. The Flames won every game they played last week, while the Leafs will have four ASG representatives at home next month. And all just in time for Scotiabank's Hockey Day in Canada on Saturday, when all seven Canadian clubs will be in action.
It's been a good few weeks for fans of Canadian teams. Will this success be enough to bring a Stanley Cup north of the border for the first time in 31 years? Probably not. It is the regular season, of course. But for the first time since Week 8, there's a new team on top of the mountain. And it's not too hard to guess who in the latest edition of ClutchPoints' weekly NHL Power Rankings.
Previous 2023-24 NHL Power Rankings: Week 13 | Week 12 | Week 11 | Week 10 | Week 9 | Week 8 | Week 7 | Week 6 | Week 5 | Week 4 | Week 3| Week 2 | Week 1
1. Vancouver Canucks (+3)
It's not just because the Canucks are leading the President's Trophy race. It's not even because they are sending a ridiculous five players to the 2024 All-Star Game. And it absolutely has nothing to do with how truly terrible this team has been since Daniel and Henrik Sedin retired in 2018 — although it's always nice to watch a perennial loser gain momentum on an underdog story.
The Canucks are just the best team in the NHL as of Week 14. They've won five games in a row — all on the road — with All-Star Elias Pettersson making history as the first player to score four straight game-winning goals on the road. Vancouver is well-deserving of the league's top spot, along with ClutchPoints' NHL Power Rankings, and they aren't even thrilled with the result. President Jim Rutherford has already made it clear he wants to improve the team with a top-six winger, and this is already a very, very potent hockey club. Could he make a good enough offer for Jake Guentzel ahead of the deadline?
2. Winnipeg Jets (no change)
Finally, the Jets lost a game. After a scintillating run of eight straight victories, in which Winnipeg ridiculously never gave up more than two goals, the Flyers were able to halt the streak at the Canadian Life Centre on Saturday. A tough ending to Week 13, but one of Canada's best teams remains 28-10-4 and just a point back of the Canucks for the league's top spot (with a game in hand). One more home tilt awaits against the visiting Islanders on Tuesday, before a three-game road trip that will pit the Jets against the Senators, Bruins and Leafs on the East Coast. Rick Bowness will coach the Central Division at the 2024 ASG, and it's more than deserving for the league's only head coach that was in the same role in the 1980s.
3. Colorado Avalanche (+2)
The Colorado Avalanche are cooking with oil, being led by three '24 NHL All-Stars in the process. Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Alexandar Georgiev will all participate in Toronto in February, just weeks after they led the Avs to Scotiabank Arena and turned a three-goal deficit into an impressive 5-3 win on Hockey Night in Canada. Colorado has won seven of eight games dating back to Dec. 29, and could probably have another couple of All-Stars (Mikko Rantanen and Valeri Nichushkin are both deserving). Now an excellent 28-12-3 and third place in the Western Conference — and just two points back of the Nucks — the Avalanche are looking hungry in the New Year.
4. New York Rangers (-3)
The Rangers have been at the peak of ClutchPoints' NHL Power Rankings for over a month, and all it takes is a four-game slide for them to fall three spots on the list. That's just the reality of how close it is at the top in 2023-24. And it's great for hockey fans. But the Blueshirts suddenly aren't the class of the Eastern Conference anymore, and a tight 2-1 win over the Capitals in the second half of a back-to-back doesn't wash away their longest losing streak of the season from Jan. 6-13. New York remains the top dog in the Metropolitan Division, but for the first time since Week 8, they're out of the premier NHL Power Rankings slot. The Kraken are at MSG on Tuesday night.
5. Boston Bruins (-2)
The Bruins have hovered around the top-three mark of the NHL Power Rankings for nearly all of the season, but have slightly started to slide. This is still an elite hockey club, just one that is not finding ways to win games as much as they were earlier in the campaign. The B's were mired in a three-game losing streak last week, although all three of those losses — to the Avalanche, Coyotes and Golden Knights — came past regulation. Boston is still picking up points, and the 25-8-9 record is still good enough for first place in the Eastern Conference. This team can easily work its way back up the ranks, and a 4-3 win over the Blues on Saturday was a good start. A five-game homestand begins when the Devils visit TD Garden on Monday afternoon.
6. Florida Panthers (no change)
The Florida Panthers are on the verge of cracking ClutchPoints' top-five for the first time since the beginning of the season. Nine wins in a row will do that to ya. But they couldn't make it 10, losing 4-1 to New Jersey on Saturday — the team's first defeat since Dec. 21. The Cats are emerging into a wagon and Stanley Cup contender as they showed last postseason, and at 27-13-2, they're just three points back of the Bruins for the top spot in the conference. Matthew Tkachuk has finally woken up, to the tune of an eight-game, 17-point streak, and he's back at the forefront of the club's sizzling offense. Florida continues to surge despite a loss, with three more home games lined up in Week 14 that begins with the lowly Ducks in town on Monday.
7. Dallas Stars (+1)
The Stars are quietly hanging around the upper-echelon of the National Hockey League. They followed up a disappointing three-game losing streak — all by one goal — by emerging victorious in three of four games in Week 13. That included back-to-back wins over the sinking Minnesota Wild, 4-0 and 7-2, respectively. Jake Oettinger's return was spoiled in a 6-3 loss to the Predators on Friday, but he returned between the pipes the next night after Scott Wedgewood was injured against the Connor Bedard-less Blackhawks. Oettinger stopped 20-of-21 shots in relief in a 3-1 final over Chicago on Saturday. The 25-12-5 Stars will welcome the LA Kings to Texas before embarking on a four-game East Coast swing that begins in Philadelphia later this week.
8. Edmonton Oilers (+2)
The show just keeps on going on for the hottest team in the National. Connor McDavid's Oilers have won 10 games in a row, and have lost just three since Nov. 22. As we all expected at the beginning of the season, Edmonton is a wagon again in 2023-24. It took way too long for this club to figure it out, but it seems like that has now happened. The Oil are just a point back of the free falling Kings for the third berth in the Pacific Division, and it's looking like only a matter of time before that spot belongs to a Canadian team. While the offense remains potent, the Oilers have given up just 15 goals over this lengthy winning streak, and that could be an even bigger catalyst of the club's success. Edmonton is back to being a Stanley Cup contender in the Western Conference, and a mouthwatering McDavid-Matthews matchup awaits at Rogers Place on Tuesday.
9. Vegas Golden Knights (-2)
A Stanley Cup hangover has transformed into an abysmal reality for the Golden Knights over the last exactly four weeks. Since Dec. 15, Vegas is 4-9, falling to 24-14-5 and watching the Canucks open up an eight-point lead in the division. Injuries have derailed what was an incredible start to the championship-defending campaign. The long-term absences of Shea Theodore and Adin Hill have devastated this team, and William Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson missing time hasn't mitigated that in any way. Maybe the worst blow of all is superstar Jack Eichel, who sat out Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Flames and was placed on injured reserve shortly after. There is certainly some concern setting in on the strip as the Knights keep finding ways to lose in 2024.
10. Toronto Maple Leafs (-1)
After the Canucks, the Leafs will send the most All-Stars around the corner to Scotiabank Arena in February. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander will all be participating in the festivities, along with first-timer Morgan Rielly. All four selections are well-deserved, although Toronto has been struggling as of late. The Leafs have lost three in a row, the most recent a disappointing 4-2 defeat at the hands of the visiting Red Wings in the final NHL game of Week 13. Neither Matthews nor Nylander has a point in three games, and both superstars will be looking to end those mini-slumps in Edmonton on Tuesday. That kicks off another West Coast road trip that will take Toronto through Alberta (to play the Oilers and Flames), Vancouver and Seattle over a four-game week.
11. Carolina Hurricanes (+1)
The Canes lost another goaltender last week, with Pyotr Kochetkov suffering a concussion that will sideline the Russian indefinitely. At one point a goalie hotspot featuring Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta and Kochetkov, Carolina is down to just Raanta going forward. But he has looked just fine as of late, stopping all three shots in relief in a 6-3 win over the Ducks and making 38 saves to help beat the Penguins in overtime two nights later. The surge continues up the Metropolitan Division, and seven wins in eight tries is a great way to kickoff the New Year. Now 24-13-5 and with a strong identity that was lacking early in the campaign, Carolina is just three points back of New York for the division's top spot. The Raanta show continues for three home games against the Kings, Wings and Wild in Week 14.
12. Philadelphia Flyers (+3)
All of the talk around Philadelphia lately has surrounded top prospect Cutter Gauthier after the former No. 5 overall pick was shipped to Anaheim for Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick on Jan. 9. John Tortorella was not happy with the young American, nor the reporter who erroneously wrote that Kevin Hayes had something to do with Gauthier's trade request, but that's old news in Philly. The Flyers have followed up a four-game losing streak by winning three in a row and four of five, improving to 23-14-6 in the ultra-competitive Metro. They're back to third place in the division, and with Carter Hart and Sam Ersson both providing above-average goaltending, this team is looking good again. A three-game road trip comes to an end in Missouri on Monday as Philly looks for its fourth straight triumph.
13. Los Angeles Kings (-2)
Why haven't the Kings won a game since Dec. 27? It just doesn't make sense to me. This was looking like a legitimate top-three team in December, approaching a new calendar year at 20-7-4. Fast forward three weeks and LA is now 20-11-8, on the verge of falling out of the No. 3 spot in the Pacific, and looking like nowhere near a Stanley Cup contender. The slide continues down both the NHL Power Rankings and league standings for a club that is having a really hard time scoring goals, and even more trouble keeping them out of their own net. Cam Talbot has imploded as of late after a Vezina Trophy-caliber start to the year, and he is one piece of the puzzle that needs to be a ton better. Is this just a prolonged slump, or are the Kings actually not as good as we thought? A brutal six-game road trip hasn't been doing LA any favors, and this team will be thrilled to get back home after a back-to-back in Carolina and Dallas.
14. New Jersey Devils (no change)
The Devils have been playing .500 hockey since the middle of December, but that's not too bad considering the team is without Dougie Hamilton, Timo Meier and now Jack Hughes, who was injured again and is considered week-to-week. Injuries have been just a brutal factor for New Jersey in 2023-24, but one of last year's best teams continues to chug along despite the ailments. The Devils have won three of five, with the most impressive undoubtedly a 4-1 victory over the Panthers that halted Florida's nine-game winning streak. Could Nico Daws be stealing the net from Vitek Vanecek in 2024? The rookie has been playing great hockey, and was back between the pipes at TD Garden on Monday afternoon.
15. Nashville Predators (+1)
The Predators keep finding ways to win and exceed expectations in 2023-24, and they've come out on top in three of four games to keep pace in the Central Division. Nashville is 24-18-1 after back-to-back wins over the Stars and Islanders, the latter victory a come-from-behind W in the third period. The big guns are continuing to get the job done, and both Juuse Saros and Kevin Lankinen have been providing excellent goaltending from the back end. Nobody had a lot of hope in this roster making the playoffs at the beginning of the season, but now just six points back of the No. 3 spot in the division, why not? Two great chances to pick up points await in Las Vegas and Los Angeles against two floundering hockey teams in Week 14.
16. Tampa Bay Lightning (+1)
This is the Tampa Bay Lightning team that hockey fans have gotten used to watching in the 2020s. The Bolts have rode Andrei Vasilevskiy to three straight wins and four of five to improve to 22-17-5 and just a point back of the Leafs for the No. 3 spot in the division. If this team does make the playoffs, which is a toss-up at this point, Nikita Kucherov will have a fantastic case for his second Hart Trophy. This team has a little mid-January break; they haven't played since beating the Ducks 5-1 on Saturday, and won't be in action again until heading to Saint Paul to play the lowly Wild on Thursday night.
17. Detroit Red Wings (+1)
That's more like it from the Red Wings. After losing three of four games, Detroit has responded in style, picking up a point in six straight games — five of them wins. They finished off an excellent Week 13 by beating the Leafs 4-2 in Toronto, although it might have come at the cost of Patrick Kane. It would be abysmal if the American star was forced to miss any time, but it looks like the Red Wheel have started to find some consistency in 2024. A huge part of that has been the excellent play of Alex Lyon, who has emerged into the bonafide starter in Motown. Derek Lalonde's club will get warm this week, travelling through Florida and Carolina for games against the Panthers and Hurricanes.
18. New York Islanders (-5)
Ilya Sorokin can only do so much for the Islanders, and he's done everything he can since Semyon Varlamov went down with injury at the beginning of December. Sorokin has started all five games since, and his team has only provided 14 goals in that stretch. It's not terrible, but not exactly a winning combination. The Isles are fourth place in the Metro, but a few more losses and they could watch each of the Devils, Penguins and Capitals leapfrog them. That's how tight the division is right now. New York has the worst goal differential of any of the top six Metro teams at minus-13, and there are warning bells sounding in Long Island. Now 19-13-10 after three losses in four tries, a four-game road trip continues in Minnesota, Winnipeg and Chicago this week.
19. Seattle Kraken (+1)
The Kraken should probably be higher on the NHL Power Rankings, but it's a slow and steady climb for a club that was in the bottom-five of the rankings at one points in 2023-24. That will likely never be the case again, as Joey Daccord and Seattle continue to surge in 2024. Besides the Oilers, the Kraken have the longest winning streak in the league at nine games, and they're back to contention in the Pacific Division as well. Before this stretch, Seattle had lost 10 of 12, which is the only reason we're hesitant on vaulting them up the list. But, a couple more wins and my hands will be tied. The Kraken are in Pittsburgh, New York and Edmonton in Week 14 as they look to keep the heater alive.
20. Pittsburgh Penguins (+4)
Despite two disappointing overtime losses to end the week, the Penguins look like they are finally turning a corner in 2023-24. After a very difficult start in Pennsylvania, this team has picked up at least a point in seven of nine games, and are sporting a much better 20-15-6 record through exactly half of the year. The same record in the second half probably won't be enough to get Sidney Crosby's team in, but I expect they'll be a lot better over the last 41 games. The Pens will look to douse cold water on the red-hot Kraken at PPG Paints Arena on Monday afternoon.
21. Washington Capitals (no change)
Like one of their biggest rivals, the Capitals have also played exactly 41 games — and skated to an identical 20-15-6 record in that span. The difference between the 2023-24 Caps and the 2023-24 Penguins in the NHL Power Rankings is the goal differential. The former has a ghastly minus-26, while the latter is at plus-13. And that's the main reason why Pittsburgh squeaked ahead of Washington in Week 14 of ClutchPoints' NHL Power Rankings. The Caps split a back-to-back against the Rangers, winning by a goal at home and losing in similar fashion at Madison Square Garden. No Alex Ovechkin has made it very hard to watch this team, and the captain is continuing to deal with an injury that has already cost him two straight games. The Great Eight will hope to be back out there on Tuesday vs. the Ducks.
22. Calgary Flames (+3)
Elias Lindholm is one of the most underserving NHL All-Stars of 2024, but that doesn't matter because the Flames have won three in a row and six of eight dating back to New Year's Eve. Jacob Markstrom is playing at an elite level, while Yegor Sharangovich exploded for five goals over a two-game stretch. Calgary is making a playoff push, and with the way things are going in the Pacific Division, they have a chance. The Knights and Kings are ice cold, and the Flames are just two points back of the final wildcard berth in the Western Conference. It'll be intriguing to see if there is still a firesale out of Alberta if this kind of success continues into February.
23. Arizona Coyotes (no change)
The Coyotes are fighting for their playoff lives, but the fact they're still in the thick of the race is a great sign for this team. Arizona won two of three last week, including a phenomenal Connor Ingram shutout in a 6-0 blowout of the Wild on Saturday night. The Canadian looks to have regained the starters net, while Clayton Keller is heating up with seven points in his last four games. Now 21-18-2 and just three points out of a wildcard spot, the work continues in Calgary and Vancouver in Week 14.
24. St. Louis Blues (-2)
The Blues continue to hang around in the Central Division, but aren't making up any ground after losing two of three games in Week 13. But it was a gauntlet of a stretch against the Canucks, Hurricanes, Panthers, Rangers and Bruins, and St. Louis did a great job of picking up seven of a possible 10 points in that span. Still, they remain 21-18-2 and fifth place in the Central Division, although only three points back of a playoff berth. A slightly easier schedule begins with the Flyers in town on Monday night.
25. Minnesota Wild (-6)
Right when the Wild climb out of rock bottom, they head right back to the crater after losing Kirill Kaprizov and Filip Gustavsson, and eight of nine games to fall to a ghastly 17-20-5 on the year. The biggest fall in Week 14 of ClutchPoints' NHL Power Rankings belongs to Minnesota, and for good reason. Kaprizov and Gustavsson were back on Saturday night in a crucial divisional matchup against the Coyotes, and the Wild lost it 6-0. Absolutely awful. There's just not much else you can say about this team right now. It's hard to believe this roster has any chance of making up the eight points it will take to get into a wildcard spot, especially with four teams above them all battling to do exactly the same thing. The Wild have been streaky in 2023-24, and they aren't done yet, but this has been the worst regular-season in the State of Hockey since a playoff-less 2018-19.
26. Buffalo Sabres (+1)
The Sabres are starting to show signs of life in the NHL Power Rankings — just barely — now that the team is almost fully healthy. Buffalo has won three of five to improve to 18-21-4, but the Western New York dwellers remain in second last place in the Atlantic Division. They dropped two of three games in Week 13, losing to the Kraken and the Canucks, the latter a disappointing 1-0 final. They badly need back in the win column on Monday afternoon, and they got a victory against the league-worst San Jose Sharks. The Sabres will be looking for similar results against the Blackhawks and Bolts, both at home, later this week.
27. Montreal Canadiens (-1)
The season is starting to get derailed in Montreal, which seemed inevitable after the losses of Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook and now Christian Dvorak. The Habs have lost three in a row and seven of nine to fall to 17-18-7 and eight points back of a postseason berth. They scored just five goals last week, a recipe for disaster in losses to the Flyers, Sharks and Oilers, in that order. The loss to San Jose was especially bad, considering the league's worst team had lost 12 straight before that. The hope is dimming in the center of the hockey world, and things don't get any easier when the Avalanche visit the storied Bell Centre on Monday night.
28. Columbus Blue Jackets (+1)
The Blue Jackets earned a rare jump up the NHL Power Rankings — not really for anything they did — as the Senators continue to lose game after game in 2023-24. For that reason, Columbus is back to the No. 28 spot, the exact place they occupy in National Hockey League standings. That's despite a three-game skid that saw this team lose to Minnesota, Winnipeg and Seattle in Week 13. Boone Jenner is back on the ice, and the captain's return from a fractured jaw will be incredible news for this franchise. But there isn't too much going on for a 13-21-9 team that is in the midst of goalie drama and nowhere close to competing for a postseason berth.
29. Ottawa Senators (-1)
What did Michael Andlauer inherit in Canada's capital this season? After all the great things we said about Canadian teams this week, the Senators still exist. And they are terrible. Ottawa has lost five of six, and were mired in a five-game slide before mercifully getting back in the win column against the Sharks on Saturday. But that was only a 5-4 final and took a Vladimir Tarasenko GWG with five seconds left to get over the finish line. They also lost Anton Forsberg to a long-term injury for the second straight season. The 15-23 Sens won't be coming out of the Atlantic Division basement anytime soon, and expect this club to be massive sellers ahead of the Mar. 8 NHL Trade Deadline.
30. Anaheim Ducks (no change)
Another week, another plethora of losses for the Ducks. This team has won just one game since Dec. 27, and it came against the Predators on Tuesday. Anaheim followed it up with back-to-back losses to the Hurricanes (6-3) and Lightning (5-1), falling to 14-27-1 as another lost season continues in California. Trevor Zegras is out 6-8 weeks, which is disappointing, and there's not much else to get excited about right now. A brutal six-game road trip has three stops left: Florida on Monday, Washington on Tuesday and San Jose on Saturday.
31. Chicago Blackhawks (no change)
The Blackhawks continue doing absolutely nothing productive without the services of Connor Bedard. They were bad with the rookie phenom, and are barely a National Hockey League roster without him. Chicago has lost three games in a row and eight of nine to fall to 12-29-2, occupying the No. 31 spot in both ClutchPoints' NHL Power Rankings and league standings. This team is throwing out a top line of Rem Pitlick, Philipp Kurashev and Taylor Raddysh in 2023-24, and that's really the best they can do right now. Who will come out on top in a battle of the league's two worst teams on Tuesday night in the Windy City?
32. San Jose Sharks (no change)
Just when we thought the Sharks would never win another hockey game (I swear I've typed this before), San Jose embarrassed the Canadiens 3-2 to halt a franchise-tying 12-game losing streak. On paper, the Sharks are better than the Hawks, but that is not translating to any kind of success in California. They're fresh off being shut out by the also lowly Sabres on Monday afternoon, and there isn't anything positive to say about this club at this point. We knew the Sharks would be bad this year; we didn't think they would be 10-31-3 midway through January. Well, at least they'll still have an All-Star in Toronto next month.
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