NHL Rankings at the Midway Point
All 32 Teams Ranked Midway Through the 2021-22 Topsy-Turvy Season
32. Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers have two 10-game losing streaks in just the first half of the season.
31. Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens went outside the box with the hiring of GM Kent Hughes and it is going to take some outside-the-box thinking to get Montreal on track.
30. Seattle Kraken
Goaltending has completely failed the Kraken. Of the three goalies who have played for Seattle this season, all three of them have a save percentage under .900.
29. New Jersey Devils
This is looking more and more like it could be a breakout season for Jack Hughes. He just has to stay healthy.
28. Arizona Coyotes
One of the bright spots of the season for Arizona is goalie Karel Vejmelka.
27. Buffalo Sabres
Flying under the radar is the fact that Jeff Skinner has been decent this year with 16 goals.
26. Detroit Red Wings
Detroit is not going to come close to the playoffs this year, but their young stars have shown a lot of growth so that's a win.
25. Edmonton Oilers
If the Oilers haven't hit rock bottom yet, boy they have to be getting close.
24. Ottawa Senators
Is Matt Murray rebounding? He has a .918 save percentage in his last three starts.
23. Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus was pretty much a consensus pick to finish last in the Metro this season. They are not good, but the fact that they are 5th in the division is pretty impressive.
22. San Jose Sharks
The Sharks have played 42 games and sit in a wild card spot. That's certainly better than many predicted they would be this year.
21. Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago spent a lot of money in the offseason to turn the Blackhawks into a playoff team again. Midway through the season, that dream is already over.
20. Anaheim Ducks
It's been tough without Troy Terry and Sonny Milano. The Ducks have won just three of their last 12 games and have been shut out twice during that stretch.
19. Los Angeles Kings
Getting Quinton Byfield back into the lineup is a huge boost for the Kings.
18. Calgary Flames
Boy, did the Flames need that win over Florida to build up some much-needed confidence. To follow that up with a loss to the flounder Oilers, however, is pretty disappointing.
17. Winnipeg Jets
Blake Wheeler has been activated off LTIR! But...Nikolaj Ehlers is now on LTIR. It's been that kind of season in Winnipeg.
16. Dallas Stars
The 22-year-old Jason Robertson has been incredible this season and is really heating up with 17 points in his last 11 games.
15. Vancouver Canucks
As good as the Canucks have been under Bruce Boudreau, the unfortunate reality is that still probably won't be enough to get them into the playoffs.
14. New York Islanders
The good news is that the Islanders are battling hard to climb out of the hole they dug for themselves. The bad news is that the hole just may be too deep to climb out of.
13. Washington Capitals
The Caps are just 3-4-2 in 2022.
12. Nashville Predators
Halfway through the 2021 season, Nashville looked like it was in need of a rebuild. Halfway through the 2021-22 season, the Predators look like real contenders in the West.
11. Las Vegas Golden Knights
It will still be another month or two before Jack Eichel is ready to play and before we see this Las Vegas team at its full potential.
10. Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs are very good, but their tendency to cough up multi-goal leads is concerning, so much so that even head coach Sheldon Keefe called his own team "soft and purposeless."
9. Minnesota Wild
The Wild are one of the top-scoring teams in the NHL and are creeping up the standings in the Central.
8 St. Louis Blues
At 23 years old, Jordan Kyrou leads the Blues in points. With 40 points, he has already surpassed his previous career-high of 35 and the season is just half over.
7. Boston Bruins
David Pastrnak is the league leader in goals in 2022 with 11.
6. New York Rangers
Adam Fox is the first Rangers defenseman to reach 40 points in 40 games or fewer since Brian Leetch in 2000-01.
5. Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh has a home winning streak of seven games.
4. Carolina Hurricanes
Tony DeAngelo is the first defenseman in franchise history to score 30 points in his first 30 games with the team.
3. Florida Panthers
How dominant has Florida been of late? In the Panthers' loss to Calgary, it was the first time in 10 games Florida trailed by at least two goals and the first time it trailed at all since Jan. 6.
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
When you can play an entire NHL game with just four defensemen and still win, you're a really good team.
1. Colorado Avalanche
Colorado is 11-0-1 in 2022. Not a bad start to the year.
Note: Rankings taken from NBC SPORTS (LINK HERE)
