NHL Power Rankings: Team Rankings 2025

This past week, I assembled a crack team of nuclear physicists, former Navy Seals, PWHL season ticketholders, and Buffalo Wild Wings barbacks to crunch the numbers and devise the most empirically perfect team ranking after two weeks of NHL playoff action. 

I had every intention of sharing that list with my bosses at BetMGM this week.

But, regretfully, I misplaced the flash drive they gave me on the bus ride home from harmonica class at the Koreatown Senior and Community Center — yes, I am training to perform the National Anthem ahead of Game 5 of the Kings/Oilers series on Tuesday night. 

It’s a mistake that I hope to learn from and never repeat. 

What follows is what I have hastily cobbled together over the last 20 minutes, along with an update on each of the eight ongoing playoff series. 

Here are the updated power rankings as of April 28.

NHL Power Rankings 2025

Jets (2-2) vs Blues (2-2)

The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets are now just -185 to advance out of the first round after squandering a 2-0 series lead. The series is now tied at 2-2 with Game 5 in Winnipeg on Wednesday night. 

St Louis’ wins over the Jets in Games 3 and 4 have not been an overmatched team, eeking out victories on the margins. The Blues have dominated in their victories, turning Winnipeg’s biggest strength, Connor Hellebuyck, into a liability. 

I think there’s soon going to be a Great Depression-style run on the banks for all of the Hellebuyck stakeholders after his start to this series. 

For Jets fans looking for excuses for Hellebuyck’s performance, there’s really none out there to find. 

Winnipeg does have the second-worst faceoff winning margin in the playoffs, at 47.1, but they tightened that up in Game 4 and still were blown out. They’re also close to the bottom on penalty kill, but if you take away St Louis’ goals on the advantage, the Jets still lose Game 3 by three goals, and the Blues got nothing on the power play in Game 4. 

I’ve seen some people suggesting that it’s Winnipeg’s fault for starting him in 63 games in the regular season. That excuse doesn’t hold water either. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ice, Jordan Binnington is having yet another possessed postseason run — he’s posted a 2.29 GAA and a .907 save percentage through the first four games of the series.

The Jets would need an elite version of Hellebuyck to get to the Stanley Cup Finals. They just need an average version of him to get out of the first round, and right now, he can’t even deliver that. 

Maple Leafs (3-1) vs Senators (1-3)

Toronto can close out the gentleman’s sweep in Game 5 on Tuesday night. The Leafs are still -1400 to win their series despite a 4-3 OT win from the Ottawa Senators in Game 4. 

We probably shouldn’t label Ottawa’s Game 4 win as anything other than a last gasp. 

Famed Toronto superfan Steve Dangle labeled the Senators’ effort as a “Sens Of Urgency,” a phrasing I’m very jealous of.

But — and it’s a fairly big one — the margin of victory has been so slight for Toronto in their wins in Games 2 and 3 that one could make the case that the Senators are figuring Toronto out as this series goes along. 

The stats and the eye test don’t really match that narrative. There hasn’t been any exponential growth in Ottawa’s performance as the series has gone on. 

I’d chalk it up to a flukey OT winner in Game 4, where Toronto’s goalie Anthony Stolarz ducked at the exact moment that Jake Sanderson fired the puck at the top corner of the net. 

I think the Maple Leafs will close out in Game 5, but, given their team’s recent history, I can understand the fan base being nervous. 

Stars (2-2) vs Avalanche (2-2)

Colorado is a -175 to win this 2-2 series against Dallas. Additionally, BetMGM has the line set at -105 for the series to go to a Game 7. 

This is the most truly competitive series in the playoffs right now, in that I could honestly see it going either way. There’s a clear favorite in the three other tied series. There isn’t one here. 

The Avalanche and Stars have roughly equal firepower offensively and similarly talented backends. On paper, Oettinger is the better of the two goalies, but Mackenzie Blackwood has outperformed him through four games.  They have identical PP% and PK%, at 21.4% and 78.6% respectively. 

It’s the definition of a ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ playoff series. 

With nothing to go off besides my initial prediction and Blackwood being the hot hand, I’m sticking with my pick for Colorado to win the series. But it’ll likely take until a Game 7 for that to happen. 

Lightning (1-2) vs Panthers (2-1)

Florida is a -275 to win against their in-state rival, Tampa Bay. The shortest odds for the correct series result is a 4-1 Florida gentleman’s sweep at +250. 

Following Matthew Tkachuk’s goal in the first and later on his dirty hit on Jake Guentzel, the Panthers got buried in an outlier Game 3, letting in five unanswered goals. 

I say it’s an outlier because I fully expect the Panthers to prevail in this series. 

They’re a playoff juggernaut designed to challenge your physical and mental toughness, with borderline hits and unorthodox mind games. You may disagree with those tactics but it’s a winning formula and the entire roster is bought in on it.  

The Guentzel hit is a classic example of that strategy. The entire conversation is able to shift away from a bad 5-1 loss for Florida to a conversation about whether the Panthers are dirty and whether Tkachuk should be suspended. It shifts the opponent’s focus away from the hockey and over to the extracurriculars. 

You’d assume that if anyone could be able to rise above that and focus in on a series, it would be the Lightning, who’ll be playing their eighth game of the season against Florida on Monday night. But, even they’re not immune to it. 

Maybe we should take more from a dominant 5-1 win, but this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Panthers own this time of year until it’s proven otherwise. 

Golden Knights (2-2) vs Wild (2-2)

The Golden Knights are a -250 favorite to win this series after a surprising start to the series. 

I’m considering giving out the 2025 NHL Playoffs ‘Wow, Look At You’ Award to the Minnesota Wild for their shocking back-to-back 5-2 wins in Games 2 and 3 of this series. I still have to watch some more tape, but I really was not expecting Minnesota to be a remote factor in this series and, somehow, they are. 

Maybe it’s just a chapter of a broader story where the Western Conference playoff just seems like it’s had too many beers this year. 

Minnesota’s goalie Filip Gustavsson has been one of the hotter hands in this year’s playoffs, he’s got a 2.58 GAA and a .919 save percentage through the four games in this series. 

Still, I predict that we’ll see a cream rising to the top or a regression to the mean — you pick the cliche you like best — as this series goes on, and I think that Vegas finishes the series in six games.

Capitals (3-1) vs Canadiens (1-3)

Washington is a staggering -2000 favorite to win the series after taking a 3-1 series lead on Sunday night. 

If the Capitals can hold on and win in five games on Wednesday night, it’ll be an anticlimactic way for this series to end after it reached its apex in the Game 3 bench fight. 

I could see another strong game from this young Montreal team, scrapping their way into getting the series back to the Centre Bell, but also the playoff experience gap may be highlighted in a potential close-out game for Washington. 

Although I am by no means a Capitals fan, I’m starting to get interested in the narrative potential for this veteran team. If they’re interested, I’m even willing to do some pro bono marketing work for them. My first idea is a t-shirt that says “THIS OLD DOG DON’T NEED NEW TRICKS.” Tell me with a straight face that’s not doing numbers in the Capital One Arena pro shop. 

Kings (2-2) vs Oilers (2-2)

This is a close one on the series winner betting right now, the Kings are a slight -105 favorite to advance to the next round while the Oilers sit at -115 to advance. 

Before Edmonton found the OT winner from Evan Bouchard in Sunday night’s Game 4, I was witnessing some truly next-level doomerism from some high-profile Oilers fans on my Twitter timeline. 

The eventual win couldn’t even raise their spirits. It’s like they saw their team as a race horse that had broken its leg, and they’d rather see it be put down than limp to the finish line. 

I’ve never seen such a dichotomy between two teams’ fan bases in a tied Round 1 series. If LA prevails, their fan base will be over the moon about the fact that they finally took down their perennial season-ender. If Edmonton wins, the fans will still be incredibly unhappy with the myriad of issues with this team’s construction.

The answer for the Oilers is not just to roll over and die because you can only get so many shots at a championship with the greatest player of a generation. But there are some very glaring holes in this roster that need to be corrected. 

I hate to harp on this, but it’s still embarrassing for this front office that they have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and can’t pair them with one average goaltender. 

Hurricanes (3-1) vs Devils (1-3)

The Hurricanes are a whopping -5000 favorite to win this series against the Devils and it’s one of the more accurate lines in the playoffs right now.

Gary Bettman needs to find a way to put the rest of this series on ESPN8 or Tubi. Maybe just give the TV rights to homes in the Carolinas — nobody in New Jersey needs to watch any more of this. 

Suddenly, Carolina looks like a juggernaut in these playoffs after flying pretty far under most radars throughout the regular season. 

I have my doubts about their ability to win three rounds in the playoffs, but they have the shortest odds to win the Stanley Cup. 

They have a good shot at winning a series against the Capitals should both teams advance, but I wouldn’t feel confident about picking them over Florida or Toronto.