NHL Power Rankings: The playoff teams 1-16, plus — who is stepping up?

New York Times

25-04-2025

There's nothing like playoff hockey. After one week, that point remains as obvious as ever.
The first round is always a guarantee to deliver, with the best of the best still healthy enough to put it all on display. The start of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs has not disappointed on that front.
What often makes the playoffs so electric is seeing the league's best soar to new heights on hockey's biggest stage, elevating their games when it matters most. It's still way too early to know who will add 'big game player' to their narrative this season, but we've got a few early candidates, plus a few more who are adding to their resumes.
The rankings themselves, meanwhile, are probably a bit more vibe-based than usual. For tie-breakers, we flipped a coin. Very scientific.
Sean: 1
Dom: 1
It was fair to wonder how Matthew Tkachuk would look after about two months on the shelf with a groin injury. Didn't take long to get our answer: pretty good! In the second period of Game 1, he scored a pair of power-play goals in a five-minute span to put Florida up 5-1. It wasn't quite him calling 'game over,' but it felt close enough.
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Tkachuk was less impactful in Game 2 but saw his ice time increase a bit to 13:31 and the Panthers went up 2-0 on the Lightning. Concern over Aleksander Barkov aside, a successful evening. The Panthers are still the champs, and Tkachuk is still one-of-one.
Sean: 3
Dom: 3
Believe it or not, there are a lot of choices for at a team on the verge of their first series sweep in over two decades. BGM (that's Big Game Mitch)? The Captain? The Carpenter? Playoff Mo'? The Amazing Amulet? Willy Styles? All perfectly correct choices. The top guys have all delivered so far, all it took was facing an extremely mid team instead of one of the best teams in the league with a superstar goalie. Who knew?
Amidst all the star power, how do you not go with Simon Benoit, the man who pulled a rabbit out of an overtime hat twice this week? First, there was the steal and end-to-end rush before feeding Max Domi in Game 2. Then, there was the face-off clapper to seal the deal in Game 3, his seventh career goal. Benoit's magic is exactly what this team needed: a depth contributor stepping up in the clutch. Now, they're one win away from the second round.
Sean: 4
Dom: 2
One of the reasons the Jets came into the playoffs as legitimate contenders: the resurgence of Mark Scheifele. His commitment to shoring up his defensive game has been noticeable all season and he parlayed that into more time attacking, leading to a career-high 87 points. For the first time in a while, Scheifele looked like the type of No. 1 forward a team can win with.
Now, he's cementing that status. Through the first three games, Scheifele has two goals and five points and the Jets have outscored the Blues 4-3 with him on the ice at five-on-five. With injuries to Nikolaj Ehlers and Gabriel Vilardi, plus a mid start for Connor Hellebuyck (.897, minus-1.1 GSAx — and that was before a Game 3 meltdown), Scheifele has come through when the Jets have needed him most. Even if Game 3 was a night to forget.
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Sean: 2
Dom: 6
Two games in, it's clear that the Kings have more than enough offensive juice to run with the Oilers. Just ask Stuart Skinner.
Adrian Kempe — a born shooter and chance generator — is an enormous part of that success. At the start of Thursday night, with every player on equal footing, he led the league with seven points, was tied for first in goals with three and had the highest average Game Score (3.71). Kempe has been good for a while, but it feels like he's in the middle of a moment.
Sean: 5
Dom: 4
It seems like everyone wrote off the Miro Heiskanen-less and Jason Robertson-less Stars before the series started. Now look at them: up 2-1 and controlling the run of play for two straight games. This is the Stars team many of us expected to contend for the Cup before a disastrous end-of-season finish soured the vibe.
The key: Thomas Harley showing why many believe he's up next as one of the game's best and brightest defensemen. He was top 10 in value this season and he's carried that over to the playoffs with three points in three games, all while tilting the ice in heavy minutes. Harley's dominance is a big reason the Stars are not only surviving without Heiskanen but thriving.
Sean: 7
Dom: 5
There are always a lot of questions surrounding Carolina's goalies, but it's hard to deny that when Frederik Andersen is on, he can still look like one of the best in the world. Andersen has a .956 save percentage so far to lead all goalies and has saved 4.9 goals above expected in just two games, second only to Mackenzie Blackwood.
The Hurricanes haven't needed elite goaltending against the Devils, but it is nice to know they have it in their back pocket. Doubt Freddie at your own peril.
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Sean: 6
Dom: 7
It'd be easy to pick Alex Ovechkin here — he scored twice in the first game, and he's Alex Ovechkin. When the puck is on his stick, he's must-see TV. True 20 years ago, true today. Logan Thompson deserves some credit, too, for returning to the lineup and regaining his late-2024 form.
We're going a bit off the board, though, and saying Anthony Beauvillier. He had a few playoff moments with the Islanders, and he'd been fine this season with Pittsburgh and after the Caps acquired him. Opening the first round as the third man on a line with Ovechkin and Dylan Strome was a major assignment, though, and he's delivering. In Game 1, he scored off a slick redirection then set up Ovechkin in the paint for the game winner. In Game 2, he hit Strome streaking down the slot with a one-timer pass. Washington has four five-on-five goals thus far, and Beauvillier has been crucial to three of them.
Sean: 8
Dom: 9
At the start of the series, we said the Wild's best chance — maybe their only chance — was if Kirill Kaprizov stole the show. He's in the process of doing just that, putting up two goals and three primary assists in three games. His lowest Game Score in that span is 3.40. Prime stuff.
Matt Boldy deserves credit here, too, but Kaprizov is The Guy for Minnesota. Turns out having him in the lineup makes a huge difference. Who'd have thunk it?
Sean: 10
Dom: 10
Poor Tomas Hertl. He's averaged one point per game and has 69 percent of the expected goals through three games, but the rest of the lineup has struggled (the top line especially). Vegas finds itself shockingly down 2-1, but that has nothing to do with Hertl. He's delivered.
Sean: 9
Dom: 11
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Jesse Granger has already said plenty this week about the play of Mackenzie Blackwood (and a bunch of other goaltenders), so we'll kindly point you in that direction if you're looking for in-depth analysis.
We're going to reiterate, though, just how good Blackwood has been for the Avs, saving nearly five goals above expected and helping Colorado stay in the fight against Dallas. The Stars are controlling play at five-on-five, and the Avs' best players haven't made much of an impact, but Blackwood stood on his head in Game 1 and helped give them a chance in Games 2 and 3. They need to help him out because he's doing exactly what they acquired him to do.
Sean: 11
Dom: 8
Our only pregame note for the Lightning was 'wait for Game 2.' That's how uninspiring the team's Game 1 performance was for everyone involved. Unfortunately, Game 2 — another uninspiring effort where they were shut out — did not offer much insight.
So, uhh, Jake Guentzel has a goal and 79 percent of the expected goals. Let's go with him.
Sean: 12
Dom: 13
Before Game 3, Pavel Buchnevich was a leading candidate for one main reason: he was the only Blues player with a positive xG percentage during the first two games.
Play-driving ability was always a strong part of Buchnevich's game, but it saw a drop-off this season along with his production. Buchnevich no longer looked like a big-time difference-maker.
That's obviously changed this series, as he looks all the way back. On top of the strong five-on-five numbers, Buchnevich also had two assists through the first two contests. Then he followed that up with a monster game, scoring a hat trick while once again being a huge problem at five-on-five. The Blues are back in the series now and they have Buchnevich's contributions to thank for that.
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Sean: 13
Dom: 12
Well, we can tell you one player it's not…
Through two games, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are doing their usual bit against the Kings: lots of points, lots of zone time and lots of fear struck into the hearts of Kings fans anytime they have the puck. That duo has been great, no complaints. They almost orchestrated an improbable comeback on their own in Game 1, but alas it fell apart quickly after that. They need help. Lots of it.
So if anyone else wants to step up, that would be appreciated…
Sean: 14
Dom: 14
There aren't a lot of great choices for the Devils at the moment. They've looked generally outmatched against a deeper and more experienced Hurricanes team almost from the jump.
On the scoreboard, though, the games have been a lot closer than they should be and that's thanks in large part to Jacob Markstrom. His .934 save percentage and 4.1 GSAx hasn't been enough to get the Devils a win, but he's still been sharp against a barrage of Hurricanes' shots. It's especially nice to see given the struggles he had down the stretch after returning from injury. His performance so far is exactly why the Devils paid so much to acquire Markstrom last summer.
Sean: 15
Dom: 15
Montreal's top line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky probably has a little too much on their plate. They're the Canadiens' only reliable source of offense, but they're also playing a ton; Suzuki had been on the ice for well over a minute when the Caps scored to tie Game 2 at 2-2, and the trio lost its minutes overall.
Still, their play in Game 1 — Suzuki's specifically — was high-level stuff. Martin St. Louis asked them to do a ton, and they delivered in a big way, culminating with a late, overtime-forcing goal. Montreal is in a hole, but it has absolutely nothing to do with what they've gotten from their No. 1 center.
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Sean: 16
Dom: 16
The Senators are one game from their season ending, which makes the assignment here a little tough. Brady Tkachuk, though, has mostly delivered as promised. Many figured he'd be a big-game player after his turn at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and he showed as much with a game-tying goal in Game 3 to give the Senators a chance. Tkachuk has dominated by expected goals, is plus-one in penalty differential, and has easily been Ottawa's most impactful player. It just doesn't count for much when there are four or five players doing more on the other side.
(Photo of Matthew Tkachuk: Mike Carlson / Getty Images)