Your own 'Future Power Rankings'

[Mirka the Turka]

1. NJ Devils
2. Dallas Stars
3. Edmonton Oilers
4. Vancouver Canucks
5. Boston Bruins


Worst:
1. Calgary Flames
2. San Jose Sharks
3. New York Islanders
4. Los Angeles Kings
5. Buffalo Sabres

 

[KrugAvoy]

New Jersey
Dallas
Edmonton
Vancouver
Colorado

NYI
Pittsburgh
Columbus
St Louis
Calgary

 

[conFABulator]

The thing to remember is that their crash was exasperated by setting records for man games lost to injury. I see at least a 10 point improvement thus year with an upside of a play off spot especially if they can trimm off another 100 man games lost to injury.

Then that would change the trajectory. Let's see if those injured guys have the impacts you seem to think they could have

 

[majormajor]

Top teams:

NJ--if they keep the Hughes brothers and Hischier. As another thread argues, likely the best D in 5 years.

That thread is preoccupied with prospect D-men. The Devils are not going to have the best D in the league if neither of Nemec or L Hughes reach the level of Heiskanen, Makar, Q Hughes... All of those guys are going to still be 30 and under in 5 years.

SJ--maybe more like 6 years. Celebrini/Smith/Dickinson/Musty/Eklund is great core, if one of Chernyshov/Bystedt/Wetsch hits for another big winger, they will be really good

A top 5 team is going to need a good top pair of D-men, and the Sharks might not have any. Dickinson looks like a 2/3 to me.

StL--Thomas/Kyrou/Neighbors will be in prime. Dvorsky/Jiricek/Stenberg/Lindstein developing nicely. if Snuggerud and Bolduc pan out, a well balanced group.

Who is their top pair? It looks like they just have a lot of second line forwards on the way and a few middling D.

 

[Imgoingtowork]

Like:

1. Vegas Golden Knights
2. Anaheim Ducks
3. Ottawa Senators
4. Utah Hockey Club
5. Colorado Avalanche


Worst:

1. Calgary Flames
2. Vancouver Canucks
3. New York Rangers
4. New York Islanders
5. Philadelphia Flyers

 

[majormajor]

Best:

1. Dallas
2. Anaheim
3. Edmonton
4. New Jersey
5. Minnesota

Worst:

1. Pittsburgh
2. Calgary
3. Washington
4. Chicago (yes)
5. NY Islanders

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

That thread is preoccupied with prospect D-men. The Devils are not going to have the best D in the league if neither of Nemec or L Hughes reach the level of Heiskanen, Makar, Q Hughes... All of those guys are going to still be 30 and under in 5 years.



A top 5 team is going to need a good top pair of D-men, and the Sharks might not have any. Dickinson looks like a 2/3 to me.



Who is their top pair? It looks like they just have a lot of second line forwards on the way and a few middling D.

Well luckily Nemec and Hughes were playing more minutes at their respective ages than any of those you named

 

[Dread Clawz]

Those are some good choices, especially on the bottom five. Washington seems likely, NYI always seem to stay in the mushy middle. I think St. Louis avoids bottom five because they have great management.

On the top end, the age of Dallas is an issue. Having said this, core key players are young enough. They have good management.

I think Florida starts the cup-hangover cap-related dismantling soon. Do they have any actual young pieces that will augment their aging core? They don't need to be stars, just guys that can help Barkov and Reinhart. Bobrovsky coming off the books helps, but then they need a goalie. They have good management also.

Colorado? I agree they could be there with MacKinnon and Makar. They need more pieces and a goalie.

Edmonton and Vancouver were on my list and pretty interchangeable with the Leafs.

Actually Florida's prospects are underrated I think. Samoskevich scored 20 goals in the AHL last season. Jack Devine had the 3rd most goals in the NCAA last season behind only Celebrini and Cutter Gauthier, and was in the Hobey Baker voting. Gracyn Sawchyn is a good prospect that was over ppg in the WHL last season as a 18-19 year old. Linus Eriksson is a solid prospect, 2nd rounder this year that plays a lot like Lundell. Sandis Vilmanis came on later in the season, was 3rd in OHL playoff scoring. He has size and plays a gritty game, there is modest hope that he can become a middle 6 in a few years. Josh Davies had 36 goals in 55 games in the WHL last season, and is very tough too. Not that big, but is sturdily built and plays way bigger than his size. There's also Justin Sourdif, Ryan McAllister, Mike Benning, Marek Alscher. Kirill Gerasimyuk is an underrated goalie prospect I think. He has some of the best numbers in the MHL over the last several years. He'll be in the VHL next year. There's a good chance you'll be hearing a lot more about him within the next 2-3 years. Plus there's Knight who if he isn't traded, still has loads of potential. He'll probably be in the NHL again this season so we'll see.

Florida's top 6 is so good, and I think they'll age well too, except for probably Bennett. Forsling should also age well. If they can bring a few solid kids in to compliment them, I think they can hang around as contenders for several years.

 

[Wayfarer13]

Then that would change the trajectory. Let's see if those injured guys have the impacts you seem to think they could have

You need to also to remember they had 41 1 goal games last year and 15 2 goal games.To add to that they had 14 empty net goals against. Sure they had their nights when things went off the rails but one would expect with the youth they had. A year older a year more experienced.

 

[Canadienna]

I thought it would be interesting to look at the top and bottom five 5 years ago, to see how it compares to last season.

2018-2019 top5:

Lightning, Flames, Bruins, Capitals, Islanders

Bottom 5:

Sens, Kings, Devils, Red Wings, Sabres

HM: Oilers 25th, Sharks 6th

So definitely some dramatic shifts, but also a few teams staying in the same range.

 

[conFABulator]

Actually Florida's prospects are underrated I think. Samoskevich scored 20 goals in the AHL last season. Jack Devine had the 3rd most goals in the NCAA last season behind only Celebrini and Cutter Gauthier, and was in the Hobey Baker voting. Gracyn Sawchyn is a good prospect that was over ppg in the WHL last season as a 18-19 year old. Linus Eriksson is a solid prospect, 2nd rounder this year that plays a lot like Lundell. Sandis Vilmanis came on later in the season, was 3rd in OHL playoff scoring. He has size and plays a gritty game, there is modest hope that he can become a middle 6 in a few years. Josh Davies had 36 goals in 55 games in the WHL last season, and is very tough too. Not that big, but is sturdily built and plays way bigger than his size. There's also Justin Sourdif, Ryan McAllister, Mike Benning, Marek Alscher. Kirill Gerasimyuk is an underrated goalie prospect I think. He has some of the best numbers in the MHL over the last several years. He'll be in the VHL next year. There's a good chance you'll be hearing a lot more about him within the next 2-3 years. Plus there's Knight who if he isn't traded, still has loads of potential. He'll probably be in the NHL again this season so we'll see.

Florida's top 6 is so good, and I think they'll age well too, except for probably Bennett. Forsling should also age well. If they can bring a few solid kids in to compliment them, I think they can hang around as contenders for several years.

A lot of teams have a list of prospects like that. It's the lack of high end ones that could be a concern. However, if the core ages well as you suggest it could, you just need these guys to be support staff and that's a good recipe for a prolonged stay at the top.

 

[conFABulator]

You need to also to remember they had 41 1 goal games last year and 15 2 goal games.To add to that they had 14 empty net goals against. Sure they had their nights when things went off the rails but one would expect with the youth they had. A year older a year more experienced.

All of these could be the factors that help them turn the corner. As a fan, I know you are hoping for it. As not a fan, I don't have a qualified opinion on the topic.

These could be the reasons why Montreal gets out of the bottom five. What I don't see are reasons they get out of the mushy middle. I would be worried about the lack of high end talent on the roster. Those injuries to Dach and Newhook, yeah they hurt but is anyone really that sure either of these two are all that special? Suzuki and Caulfield are good too, but more like fine food rather than great food, IMO.

From the outside is seems like you need Slafkovsky (sp?) to reach stardom and for all the other pieces to be above average support players. It could happen, but a lot needs to break their way to become a great team...as I said maybe they avoid being bottom five forever.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I thought it would be interesting to look at the top and bottom five 5 years ago, to see how it compares to last season.

2018-2019 top5:

Lightning, Flames, Bruins, Capitals, Islanders

Bottom 5:

Sens, Kings, Devils, Red Wings, Sabres

HM: Oilers 25th, Sharks 6th

So definitely some dramatic shifts, but also a few teams staying put.

I don’t see any teams that stayed put there.

 

[Canadienna]

I don’t see any teams that stayed put there.

Yeah sorry I didn't mean staying put as in actually still in the top/bottom 5, more that there are a couple still in that range. I should have been more clear.

 

[squashmaple]

I took the time to chart out the top five teams by points and bottom five teams by points (plus the Cup winner and loser) every year in the hard cap era. I divided the seasons into three sets of five years and one of four years (since 2024-25 hasn't happened yet). What I noticed from this layout is that the top teams of the later segments tended to have been bottom teams roughly 6-10 years earlier. Not as much correlation of the other way around, but some. Being competitive in a cap league is cyclical.

So very roughly based on that, I would expect the 2029 top five to be in no particular order:
Utah
New Jersey
Buffalo
Ottawa
Detroit

And the bottom five to be:
Washington
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
Tampa
Nashville

I am not super confident in any of the three Atlantic teams to be top five, though. The Wings never really got an elite piece, the Senators are the Senators, and Buffalo has to prove it before anyone believes in them.

(and in 2034, I would expect the top five to be Anaheim, Utah, Columbus, Montreal, and San Jose. there's just not as much correlation to project out the bottom five ten years from now)

Showing my work:

2006​

2007​

2008​

2009​

2010​

2011​

2012​

*2013

2014​

2015​

2016​

2017​

2018​

2019​

2020​

2021​

2022​

2023​

2024​

2029 predictions

best

Wings

Sabres

Wings

Sharks

Capitals

Canucks

Canucks

Blackhawks

Bruins

Rangers

Capitals

Capitals

Predators

Lightning

Bruins

Knights

Panthers

Bruins

Rangers

Utah

Senators

Wings

Sharks

Bruins

Sharks

Capitals

Rangers

Penguins

Ducks

Canadiens

Stars

Penguins

Jets

Flames

Blues

Avalanche

Avalanche

Hurricanes

Stars

Devils

Stars

Predators

Canadiens

Wings

Blackhawks

Penguins

Blues

Ducks

Avalanche

Ducks

Blues

Blackhawks

Lightning

Bruins

Lightning

Hurricanes

Hurricanes

Devils

Hurricanes

Sabres

Hurricanes

Ducks

Ducks

Capitals

Coyotes

Flyers

Penguins

Canadiens

Blues

Blues

Penguins

Jackets

Bruins

Capitals

Avalanche

Panthers

Leafs

Knights

Panthers

Senators

Sabres

Sharks

Penguins

Devils

Canucks

Sharks

Predators

Bruins

Sharks

Lightning

Blackhawks

Wild

Knights

Islanders

Capitals

Penguins

Wild

Leafs

Jets

Wings

Bruins

Blackhawks

Islanders

Kings

Islanders

Senators

Ducks

Hurricanes

Islanders

Hurricanes

Flames

Sabres

Wings

Sabres

Ducks

Wings

Devils

Canadiens

Canadiens

Capitals

Capitals

Capitals

Blues

Thrashers

Jackets

Islanders

Islanders

Predators

Flames

Leafs

Jackets

Coyotes

Canadiens

Wings

Kings

Jackets

Flyers

Sharks

Jackets

Penguins

Blackhawks

Kings

Thrashers

Avalanche

Panthers

Panthers

Canadiens

Lightning

Oilers

Oilers

Canucks

Devils

Coyotes

Devils

Sharks

Devils

Kraken

Blackhawks

Ducks

Blues

Penguins

Coyotes

Kings

Lightning

Leadfs

Avalanche

Oilers

Avalanche

Panthers

Coyotes

Oilers

Canucks

Senators

Kings

Senators

Ducks

Coyotes

Jackets

Blackhawks

Lightning

worst

Blues

Flyers

Lightning

Islanders

Oilers

Oilers

Jackets

Panthers

Sabres

Sabres

Leafs

Avalanche

Sabres

Senators

Wings

Sabres

Canadiens

Ducks

Sharks

Predators

Cup winner

Hurricanes

Ducks

Wings

Penguins

Blackhawks

Bruins

Kings

Blackhawks

Kings

Blackhawks

Penguins

Penguins

Capitals

Blues

Lightning

Lightning

Avalanche

Knights

Panthers

Cup loser

Oilers

Senators

Penguins

Wings

Flyers

Canucks

Devils

Bruins

Rangers

Lightning

Sharks

Predators

Knights

Bruins

Stars

Canadiens

Lightning

Panthers

Oilers

 

[SEALBound]

Penguins are old and are plyaing the game to keep Sid happy in the final years. I think they are hoping to transition effectively but realistically, as long as Sid is here, they are not finishing low enough to get the top talent needed to make a comeback.

Capitals are old and playing the game to get Ovie over the 894 mark. After that, whatever.

 

[rahad]

I will go with a bold prediction. I can see San Jose being a top tier team in 5-6 years. The trio of Celebrini, Smith and Sam Dickinson hast he potential to be elite in 5 years. Add another top 5 pick in 2025 and 2026.

Top 5:
New York
Florida
Edmonton
Dallas
San Jose/Devils/Anaheim

For bottom 5:
Pittsburgh
Caps
New York Islanders
Calgary
Nashville

 

[JKG33]

Top 5 Cup Contenders 5 years from now (no order):

Chicago (Bedard & Co)
Colorado (Mac & Mak)
Utah (Smitty builds a winner, kinda like Vegas has)
Buffalo (Their core 3 on defence will age nicely and at least one of UPL/Levi should be a competent #1, they don't have any real bad contracts now either)
Boston (They get at least 1 of McDrai)

Bottom 5 (no order):

Washington (Tail end of some bad contracts, suffer from going all-in on Ovi)
Edmonton (McDrai leave)
Pittsburgh (Dubas can't build shit)
Tampa (Rent is overdue)
Winnipeg (They'll continue to be a middling team, 5 years from now it catches up and they bottom out)

 

[Dread Clawz]

A lot of teams have a list of prospects like that. It's the lack of high end ones that could be a concern. However, if the core ages well as you suggest it could, you just need these guys to be support staff and that's a good recipe for a prolonged stay at the top.

I would say Samoskevich is high end. He probably has 30 goal potential in the NHL. He was drafted as a scorer and has looked the part so far in the NCAA and AHL. He probably cracks the SC champs this fall after only one AHL season. He would have to disappoint in camp not to make it.

 

[Juxtaposer]

That thread is preoccupied with prospect D-men. The Devils are not going to have the best D in the league if neither of Nemec or L Hughes reach the level of Heiskanen, Makar, Q Hughes... All of those guys are going to still be 30 and under in 5 years.



A top 5 team is going to need a good top pair of D-men, and the Sharks might not have any. Dickinson looks like a 2/3 to me.



Who is their top pair? It looks like they just have a lot of second line forwards on the way and a few middling D.

Not that I think we’ll be top-5 in the league in five years, but the Sharks have plenty of time to get another top pairing D. Dickinson could be one. 2025 1st could be another. We’ve got another year picking top-5 at worst and likely one more top-10 pick in 2026 before we’re ready in a position to be competitive. Trades happen too, look at Utah this offseason.

The worst teams to me will be Pittsburgh, Washington, Tampa, Calgary, and maybe still Chicago tbh.

 

[Dread Clawz]

I will go with a bold prediction. I can see San Jose being a top tier team in 5-6 years. The trio of Celebrini, Smith and Sam Dickinson hast he potential to be elite in 5 years. Add another top 5 pick in 2025 and 2026.

Top 5:
New York
Florida
Edmonton
Dallas
San Jose/Devils/Anaheim

For bottom 5:
Pittsburgh
Caps
New York Islanders
Calgary
Nashville

Yeah I like what San Jose is doing. Not every rebuild will work, but I think theirs will. I would also say the Devils will be a top 5 team in 5 years. Anaheim has the potential, but idk what they're doing with Zegras. They gotta get that situation settled.

 

[dgibb10]

Top 5 Cup Contenders 5 years from now (no order):

Chicago (Bedard & Co)
Colorado (Mac & Mak)
Utah (Smitty builds a winner, kinda like Vegas has)
Buffalo (Their core 3 on defence will age nicely and at least one of UPL/Levi should be a competent #1, they don't have any real bad contracts now either)
Boston (They get at least 1 of McDrai)

Bottom 5 (no order):

Washington (Tail end of some bad contracts, suffer from going all-in on Ovi)
Edmonton (McDrai leave)
Pittsburgh (Dubas can't build shit)
Tampa (Rent is overdue)
Winnipeg (They'll continue to be a middling team, 5 years from now it catches up and they bottom out)

34 year old draisaitl making a colossal amount (probably 15 mill+), 34 year old pasta, 34 year old zadorov, 35 year old H Lindholm, 37 year old E Lindholm.

A lot of trust in what will be a VERY old core, with very limited draft or prospect capital to fill behind it (especially since they'd be buying this whole time with such an aging core.

Boston seems like an older team now, but they had just 2 meaningful players older than 30 (Marchand and Coyle) last year, as opposed to their entire top 4D and their top line

 

[conFABulator]

Great question. It will likely end up with some great content and also a lot of people justifying why they chose their team as one of the top five in five years.

I think you have to take two lenses to this.

• One is obviously the current young player and prospect roster. Which teams have the best group of players that will be in their primes five years from now.
• The other is cap and economics, not only which teams will have bad contracts holding them back in five years but also who will have spending power. As the cap continues to grow and perhaps exponentially we will see more of a gap between cap teams and budget teams. The Covid flat cap era leveled that paying field. We may go back to a dynamic where the top third of the league's spenders are spending $20M more per year than the bottom third.

Having prefaced with this, her is my quick list but I am sure this will evolve when I read more in depth analysis from others.

TOP FIVE

Vancouver. Cap team that has some nice young pieces. Hughes, Demko, and Petterson will still be in their primes in key positions.

Edmonton. Same as Vancouver. They will spend to the cap and still have McDavid and Draisatl in the tale end of primes. Bouchard looks like something to build around. If Skinner has a decent career these guys will continue to contend.

Toronto. The flat cap hurt the Leafs more than most. They will still have Matthews, Nylander and Marner if they want him. They will have money to spend and some decent young support pieces (strong young goalie prospects).

Buffalo. Probably not a cap team and that will hurt them. Lots of good young D and a couple of young G that could be franchise guys. Lots of F depth hitting prime too.

Rangers. Will always outspend others. Possibly the best goalie in the league for the next five years. Some good young D and F.

LATE EDIT. Chicago could be in here too. It's all about Bedard being the next one. They will have budget and supporting pieces.

BOTTOM FIVE

Ottawa. Not a cap team. They have locked in most of their roster for the next five years and it doesn't seem to have the high end talent to lift them. They will continue to struggle to attract and retain FA without overpay. It's a tough position for a budget team.

Montreal. Similar to Ottawa though they can spend a bit more. What pieces do they have now that are going to lifr then out. Finishing too many seasons where they wer bad, but not bad enough to pick at the top of strong drafts will hurt them.

Tampa. How do they avoid this. Vasilevsky, Hedman, Point will all be old and unless they do a fire sale of these vets they have no way to restock the shelves. No picks or prospects and they seem to be trying to extend the current window rather than building for the next one.

Pittsburgh. See Tampa but happening sooner.

Calgary. Just starting a rebuild now. Can they attract FA or will they have to build through the draft. They have picks but no real young pieces yet. They have to hit on a lot of picks and be patient with their development. Hard to do.

Replying to my own comment because, as promised I am reading the input of others and updating my list. It's a do-over and they are allowed.

TOP FIVE

Rangers
Devils
Dallas
Buffalo (they were re-added as a late edit)
Chicago

HM: Florida,Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, Colorado

BOTTOM FIVE

Calgary
Washington
Pittsburgh
Winnipeg
Ottawa

 

[GOALOFSSON]

Replying to my own comment because, as promised I am reading the input of others and updating my list. It's a do-over and they are allowed.

TOP FIVE

Rangers
Devils
Dallas
Florida
Chicago

HM: Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, Colorado

BOTTOM FIVE

Calgary
Washington
Pittsburgh
Winnipeg
Ottawa

Damn we went from top 5 to outside the top 9 lol

No way we won't spend to the cap though when we're good.

 

[PaulD]

5 years time ...... 2029/30.
In no certain order

Flyers
Wings
Aves
Oilers
Canucks