Steve Conroy’s NHL Power Rankings

The Bruins kick off their 2021-22 season Saturday at TD Garden against the Dallas Stars and, as the NHL season begins in earnest, it’s a good bet that what you read below will soon be blown to smithereens. A perceived contender will suffer a major injury and fizzle. A middle-of-the-packer will get an unexpected contribution from a rookie and push itself into the league consciousness. And then there’s the whole Jack Eichel drama that could greatly effect the prospects of the team with whom he lands.

Yes, stuff happens.

But we have to start somewhere, and this is our jumping off point. We’ll see how long the pecking order holds.

1. Colorado Avalanche – Sorry for being trendy right off the bat. But hard lessons have been learned, and Nathan MacKinnon will drag the Avs across the finish line this season. Darcy Kuemper should help, too.
2. Tampa Bay Lightning – After losing their entire third line, the Bolts will have trouble three-peating. But with the goaltending and defense, don’t count them out.
3. Florida Panthers – Things tend to go sideways in Sunrise, but it really feels like GM Bill Zito is building a legitimate contender.
4. New York Islanders – Lou Lamoriello clearly still has it. Isles were one goal away from Finals without arguably their best player in Anders Lee.
5. Vegas Golden Knights – Still trying to figure out how the Knights lost to Montreal. This is a very good team. The only question will be how Robin Lehner carries the load.
6. Toronto Maple Leafs – Everyone’s favorite team to mock has too much talent not to amass lot of points in the regular season. It’s the next step that’s a doozy.
7. Carolina Hurricanes – The acquisition of Jesperi Kotkaniemi was both costly and petulant, but he should help solidify the middle of their lineup. Freddy Andersen has melted down in the playoffs, but he’s a very good regular season goalie.
8. Boston Bruins – There can be a reasonable expectation that they will answer their questions – second line center, defense, fourth line, goaltending – in the affirmative. But that still has to happen.
9. Dallas Stars – Tyler Seguin may not be a perfect player, but his return after missing most of last year will make a difference. So should Ryan Suter, at least early in his contract.
10. Washington Capitals – The hip injury to Nick Backstrom is a concern, but Hendrix Lapierre is looking like a steal at the No. 22 spot in the 2020 draft.
11. Pittsburgh Penguins – Ditto for Evgeni Malkin and the Pens, though both teams should have enough to get in the tournament, especially with Mike Sullivan at the helm. Goaltending is a big question mark here, though.
12. Edmonton Oilers – The Maple Leafs West.
13. Chicago Blackhawks – Marc-Andre Fleury and the return of Jonathan Toews will make the Hawks relevant again.
14. Philadelphia Flyers – If Carter Hart can regain his game, they’ll be fine. If not, they won’t.
15. New York Rangers – They were close last year. The additions of Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Reaves and Sammy Blais will make them harder to play against.
16. Winnipeg Jets – The defense is is improved and the Connor Hellebuyck is one of the best in the league.
17. Vancouver Canucks – The Oliver Ekman-Larsson/Conor Garland acquisition should help get the ‘Nucks back on track and pushing for a playoff bid.
18. Minnesota Wild – Getting Kirill Kaprizov in the fold is a major accomplishment, but the goaltending is suspect.
19. St. Louis Blues – Building off the Stanley Cup success has not been easy.
20. Calgary Flames – Losing Mark Giordano will hurt.
21. Montreal Canadiens – We all hope Carey Price comes back with a healthy mindset, but the Habs could not do what they did last spring without him. Other key losses (Shea Weber, Kotkaniemi) bring them back to Earth.
22. New Jersey Devils – GM Tom Fitzgerald has some good building blocks, and he was able to make a splash with the Dougie Hamilton signing, but they’re still a year away.
23. Nashville Predators – Roman Josi is elite and they’ll hang around for a while, but the Preds continue to slide in the wrong direction.
24. Detroit Red Wings – It’s about time the Wings gain traction under GM Steve Yzerman. Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic was a key pick-up and a good start.
25. Los Angeles Kings – The Kings still have a couple of key pieces in Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty from the glory years but not much else around them.
26. Seattle Kraken – That new franchise buzz will keep them out of the 32nd slot, but the Kraken won’t have the first-year success of the Golden Knights, despite giving Vegas a scare on opening night.
27. Buffalo Sabres – GM Kevyn Adams has to get the Jack Eichel trade right, but he’s got to get it done quickly so his team can move on. Don Granato appeared to be the right guy to coach young players.
28. Anaheim Ducks – At least Trevor Zegras will be fun to watch.
29. Columbus Blue Jackets – Just three short years, it appeared the Jackets’ time had finally arrived. The wait continues as another top level player, Seth Jones, chose to split.
30. Ottawa Senators – Avoiding a protracted contract squabble into the season with Brady Tkachuk was imperative, but there’s still work to be done in the rebuild.
31. San Jose Sharks – The Evander Kane saga is not helpful.
32. Arizona Coyotes – At least the ‘Yotes will be able to wear sneakers to the game.