We’re halfway through the NHL season and it’s time to give out some grades for the first half. If the NHL was a school these aren’t the grades that really matter. They’re midterms, a way to assess whether teams are on the right track for finals in the spring.
There are overachievers, underachievers, and those right on target — but the key is that teams still have a few months to make changes, for better or worse.
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The Power Rankings Boys have put on their tweed jackets for this one, grading each team on a curve based on what was expected of them. If we thought you’d be good before the season started and you’re bad, guess what? We’re giving you a D for disappointment. The opposite is true too, an A for anyone above expectations. That and everything in between based on each team’s season so far.
Pencils down, all grades are final. Here’s each team’s first half grade.
1. Boston Bruins
Last Week: 1
Record: 32-5-4
Sean rank: 1
Dom rank: 1
Midseason grade: A+
We weren’t one of the bozos who thought the Bruins were cooked before the season started, no sir. Couldn’t be us. The Bruins looked like a playoff team with a chance to contend from the start, especially once they survived early injuries to Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy.
What we didn’t expect was this absolute unit of a team, a group that didn’t just survive without their best players — but actually thrived. They’ve been even better since getting healthy and now sport a record that still looks like a typo: 32-4-4 at the halfway point. That’s stupid good, a 139-point pace.
Even the most optimistic Bruins backers couldn’t have seen a first half like this, the most thoroughly dominant in recent memory. The Bruins are a juggernaut and the only grade that fits is an A+. Even that doesn’t seem like it’s enough.
2. Carolina Hurricanes
Last Week: 2
Record: 26-9-7
Sean rank: 2
Dom rank: 2
Midseason grade: A
The Bruins are the curve-buster, but the Hurricanes aren’t far behind and they’d have gotten this mark even if they’d been fully operational for the bulk of the season. Consider for a moment, though, that they’ve played at a 110-point pace with the best five-on-five expected goals rate in the league (60.2) and fifth-best actual goals rate (56.4) despite having to deal with an injury to Frederik Andersen and largely ineffective play from backup Antti Raanta. Pyotr Kochetkov has been solid in 18 appearances (.914 save percentage, 8.43 GSAx), but that’s still impressive.
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Martin Necas leveled up. Brent Burns is still Brent Burns. Now, they’re adding Max Pacioretty to the mix. Plenty to like.
3. Toronto Maple Leafs
Last Week: 4
Record: 26-10-7
Sean rank: 3
Dom rank: 3
Midseason grade: B
The Leafs always get good marks at midterms. It’s exam season that’s a struggle. Will that change this season? With this cursed team, the safest answer is no, but there’s enough to love in the first half that it’s easy to once again get suckered into optimism.
The big guns haven’t quite lit it up like last year and the team still finds itself with the third-best record in the league. Team defense has been a massive source of improvement and the biggest preseason question mark, goaltending, looks to be a non-issue. This is an elite team, one that’s a shade above preseason expectations at the halfway point.
Maybe this year will be different, but they’ll have to earn their A in April (and May and June), not November and December.
4. Dallas Stars
Last Week: 6
Record: 25-11-7
Sean rank: 4
Dom rank: 4
Midseason grade: A-
Realistically, this is best-case-status stuff from the Stars. If there were lingering doubts over Jason Robertson’s elite status — and there shouldn’t have been — they should’ve dissipated sometime in November. Robertson-Roope Hintz–Joe Pavelski is still a remarkable line, scoring nearly 74 percent of all goals while they’re on the ice and spending more time together than any other forward grouping in the league.
That’s to be expected. What has helped the Stars stick toward the top of the West, though, is secondary scoring from their two (former) franchise players. Tyler Seguin’s production has dipped a bit, but he’s still above a 60-point pace, and Jamie Benn is there, too — with better play-driving numbers to match.
5. New Jersey Devils
Last Week: 9
Record: 26-12-3
Sean rank: 6
Dom rank: 6
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Midseason grade: A
The Devils played Games 27-41 to a 5-8-2 record while getting outscored 52-45 with the 19th-best expected goals rate in the league. That’s mediocre stuff for any team, let alone one that spent the first couple months of the season threatening to break everyone’s calculators. The last six games of that run, though, have featured wins over Pittsburgh, Carolina and the Rangers. Those are good teams. Maybe things have normalized.
Most of all, those 15 games weren’t enough to erase the greater point of the Devils’ first half: They’re a team that’s capable of doing real damage, not just the reigning Offseason Champs, and they can do it in style.
6. Tampa Bay Lightning
Last Week: 5
Record: 26-13-1
Sean rank: 7
Dom rank: 5
Midseason grade: B
The Lightning are the Lightning. They’re on pace for around 110 points and ready to roll for a fourth straight Stanley Cup Final berth. Nikita Kucherov rules. The core remains strong. The depth is working well. This team is a contender again. Water is wet. Sky is blue. Etc.
Career goal No. 4️⃣9️⃣9️⃣ for Steven Stamkos.
🎥 @TBLightning | @RealStamkos91 pic.twitter.com/BYmYwzRFBy
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) January 13, 2023
7. Vegas Golden Knights
Last Week: 3
Record: 27-13-2
Sean rank: 5
Dom rank: 8
Midseason grade: A
That’s more like it from Vegas. Last year was an injury-riddled write-off for the Golden Knights, but it added doubt about the team’s future. This year that doubt is non-existent as the Golden Knights not only have a borderline top-five record, but have managed it while still dealing with injury issues. Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault, Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore have all missed significant time, but Vegas keeps trudging along anyway. A hot start certainly helps alleviate those issues, but it’s still night and day from last season when injuries were impossible for the team to overcome. Not this year.
Vegas entered the season with a lot of question marks with no guarantee of a postseason berth. At the midway point, there are very few questions for a team that has returned to the West’s peak as one of the teams to beat.
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8. Seattle Kraken
Last Week: 15
Record: 25-12-4
Sean rank: 8
Dom rank: 7
Midseason grade: A-
Until the last couple weeks, the lesson of Seattle’s season was simple: Their goaltending had gone from “replace Phillip Grubauer with a Shooter Tutor and see if anyone notices”-caliber bad to garden-variety mediocre, and they added a pair of elite talents (Andre Burakovksy and Matty Beniers) to the top of their lineup.
Now, though? Things are getting a little more complicated. Jones isn’t just winning games — he’s playing great. Heading into their game against Boston, he’d won five straight with a .934 save percentage and GSAx of 4.91 … and then he shut out the Bruins on 27 shots. Seattle’s shooting percentage is absurd (10.94, tops in the NHL by nearly a point) and Jones’ track record isn’t good, but they’ve still got something going.
9. Winnipeg Jets
Last Week: 7
Record: 27-14-1
Sean rank: 9
Dom rank: 9
Midseason grade: A
It’s hard to think of many teams who have exceeded our expectations more than the Jets going from league-wide afterthought to a weekly fixture in the top 10. This team is not just the Connor Hellebuyck show anymore — they’re a well-oiled machine with a potent top six, an elite number one defenseman and a strong defensive structure. Rick Bowness has turned this team’s fortunes right around in short order and after a few off years, the Jets finally look like they’re back to finish what they started in 2017-18.
And most of that was without Nikolaj Ehlers, arguably the team’s best skater. He’s only been back for four games, but in that span already has seven points while dominating at five-on-five as usual.
10. New York Rangers
Last Week: 11
Record: 24-12-7
Sean rank: 10
Dom rank: 10
Midseason grade: B
Last season, thanks to Igor Shesterkin, the rest of the Rangers outkicked their coverage. At the start of this season, the script flipped, and they weren’t meeting expectations. Now, they’ve normalized, looking like the high-90s team they always seemed to be, and they’re doing it without getting anything otherworldly from Shesterkin (.916 save percentage, ninth best GSAx in the league). If they find a way to make everything click at once, look out.
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11. Minnesota Wild
Last Week: 8
Record: 23-14-4
Sean rank: 11
Dom rank: 11
Midseason grade: C+
The Wild aren’t quite on track to match their efforts from the last two seasons so it’s hard to give an above-average grade here. But after a very slow start, the team has 50 points in 41 games, a tidy 100-point pace that puts the Wild in a very safe spot in the West playoff race. Things could be better in Minnesota, no doubt, but they could also be far worse. With better health in the second half, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Wild approach last year’s highs.
12. Los Angeles Kings
Last Week: 12
Record: 25-14-6
Sean rank: 12
Dom rank: 13
Midseason grade: B+
The Kings, thanks to a solid top-six with Kevin Fiala as a front man, have turned out to be one of the league’s best five-on-five teams. And since Pheonix Copley’s first start on Dec. 6, they’ve gotten goaltending that’s competent enough to make those improvements count. A .904 save percentage and positive GSAx counts as a step up. We’ll see if Copley can keep it going.
13. Pittsburgh Penguins
Last Week: 14
Record: 21-13-6
Sean rank: 14
Dom rank: 12
Midseason grade: B-
Let’s take a look at the Penguins season so far.
A 4-0-1 start. Then 0-6-1. Then 15-3-2. Then 0-4-2. Now two straight wins. This team has multiple five-game winning streaks and losing streaks this season after just 40 games. It’s been a roller coaster that’s gotten the team to a 98-point pace, right in line with preseason expectations. The Penguins may not be a contender anymore, but this is still a strong playoff team and they get strong marks for keeping that going.
14. Washington Capitals
Last Week: 10
Record: 23-15-6
Sean rank: 13
Dom rank: 14
Midseason grade: B
Since Nov. 23, the Capitals have gone 16-5-3 and scored 88 goals. Twenty of them have gone to Alex Ovechkin. Mix in some good goaltending by Charlie Lindgren, followed by some great goaltending by Darcy Kuemper, and you’ve got a team that’s controlling nearly 60 percent of the five-on-five goals scored during their season-saving run. They’re right where they should be.
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15. Calgary Flames
Last Week: 19
Record: 20-14-9
Sean rank: 15
Dom rank: 15
Midseason grade: D+
All of a sudden, the Flames are carrying a .570 points percentage in the first wild-card spot. That’s probably not enough to calm down folks in Calgary. It’s not great for those of us who, uh, picked the Flames to win the Cup, either — but it’s something. They’re not world-beaters, and they’re not playing at the 106-point pace the model predicted, but the doom-and-gloom of November should’ve lifted.
Ultimately, this is still a top-10 five-on-five team with a favorable schedule on the way and a lineup that still has some coalescing to do. If Jacob Markstrom can put things back together on a permanent basis — and that’s not a guarantee — Calgary will be fine. Maybe not great, but fine.
16. Colorado Avalanche
Last Week: 16
Record: 20-17-3
Sean rank: 16
Dom rank: 16
Midseason grade: D
It’s hard to give the Avalanche a fair grade given all the injury troubles they’ve dealt with. But this is still a team many expected to be at the top of the league and instead they’re middle of the pack, outside the playoff bubble, with an even goal differential, playing at an 88-point pace. Anything but a D-grade is generous — and even that feels a little high. It’s the defending Stanley Cup champions we’re talking about and their first half simply hasn’t been good enough.
It’s the team’s most recent spell that has signaled some alarm bells as the Avalanche are in a 1-6-1 funk, notably losing to the Blackhawks, Canucks and Coyotes in that span. Colorado is better than this. Way better than this. We will see that in the second half — but we’re still extremely disappointed in the first half.
17. New York Islanders
Last Week: 13
Record: 22-18-3
Sean rank: 17
Dom rank: 17
Midseason grade: C+
A 90-point pace and ninth in the East? Yup, that’s spot on. The Islanders have been exactly what we expected. No notes, here’s a C-plus.
Back on Nov. 17, Islanders coach Lane Lambert couldn't explain the team's slow starts.
"If I had the answer, I’d let you know."
Nearly two months later, answers remain elusive.@KKurzNHL talked to players about taking steps to fix the problem:https://t.co/ZjhDnjZJsU
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) January 11, 2023
18. Buffalo Sabres
Last Week: 17
Record: 20-18-2
Sean rank: 18
Dom rank: 19
Midseason grade: B+
That’s factoring in an A-plus-plus for Big Strong Tage.
Tage Thompson simply can't help himself, he has to create sick plays. pic.twitter.com/7PZPZyFJ7r
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) January 11, 2023
Everything about the Sabres is middle-class and rising. They’re one of the few teams in the league that should be thrilled about an 85-point projection, and that’s where they find themselves.
19. Edmonton Oilers
Last Week: 18
Record: 22-18-3
Sean rank: 19
Dom rank: 18
Midseason grade: D+
The Oilers looked like they were finally turning a corner last summer with a run to the Western Conference finals and that had many believing this team was finally a bonafide contender. If that was your prior, it’s difficult not to be immensely disappointed with how the first half has turned out for Edmonton.
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The Oilers are playing at an 89-point pace and sit outside the playoff picture, a ludicrous thought considering what Connor McDavid is doing on a nightly basis. If you have the best player in the world scoring at a 150-point pace, you should be somewhere near the top of these power rankings — not bordering the bottom third.
20. Nashville Predators
Last Week: 20
Record: 19-16-6
Sean rank: 21
Dom rank: 20
Midseason grade: C
The Predators aren’t a serious contender now, and they weren’t a serious contender in October — no matter how hard David Poile wished it so. Juuse Saros and his 24.2 GSAx, second only to Ilya Sorokin, has dragged them this far. He did it last season, too, and we all saw how that turned out.
21. St. Louis Blues
Last Week: 21
Record: 21-19-3
Sean rank: 20
Dom rank: 21
Midseason grade: C-
Do the Blues deserve an F or a D because of how poor their first half has been? No, because we never thought much of them to begin with.
22. Florida Panthers
Last Week: 24
Record: 19-20-4
Sean rank: 22
Dom rank: 22
Midseason grade: F
The model still likes the Panthers a fair bit thanks to some decent five-on-five numbers, putting them at a 94-point pace. That doesn’t quite line up with the overall situation in South Florida, though. Matthew Tkachuk has been great, and Brandon Montour has been both fun and productive, but the goaltending is brutal, the rest of the lineup has regressed under Paul Maurice and the cap situation is a catastrophe. They’re going to have to haul ass to stay out of the lottery, and they’d better — because, thanks to the Ben Chiarot deal, nothing good is waiting on the other side.
23. Ottawa Senators
Last Week: 22
Record: 19-19-3
Sean rank: 23
Dom rank: 23
Midseason grade: C-
This summer’s most overhyped team is playing .500 hockey at the halfway point. On one hand, that’s a clear step up from previous seasons in the 70-point range. On the other hand, the hockey world didn’t sit through a multitude of “Hot Dorion Summer” takes for an 82-point season. Wasn’t this team supposed to threaten for a playoff spot? Halfway through the season and Ottawa is sitting at two percent — essentially no chance. Not much has changed, except for the taste of disappointment. That’s new.
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24. Detroit Red Wings
Last Week: 23
Record: 18-15-7
Sean rank: 24
Dom rank: 24
Midseason grade: C+
After a strong start, the Wings have tailed off, going 7-10-3 since U.S. Thanksgiving. That shouldn’t have been unexpected. Same goes for Moritz Seider’s growing pains. There’s still plenty to like about his game, but it was unfair of people to expect a 21-year-old in his second year to contend for a Norris — let alone one with his underlying stats from 2021-22. He’s heated up of late, for whatever that’s worth.
As for the rest of the roster, consider it a small step forward. Steve Yzerman’s choice to end the years of abject losing made sense, and he’s also on track to get another lottery pick out of it. Not a bad compromise.
25. Philadelphia Flyers
Last Week: 25
Record: 17-18-7
Sean rank: 25
Dom rank: 25
Midseason grade: D+
One of the warnings we gave Flyers fans to start the year was that this team might be too good to tank. Lo and behold the Flyers find themselves in the unenviable position of 24th in the league after winning eight of their last 12. With a franchise-changing talent waiting for the biggest loser at this year’s draft, the Flyers are taking themselves right out of the running with their recent surge. Philadelphia is earning more points than expected and at this stage of the power rankings, it’s hard to reward that positively. That’s an easy D to give out.
26. Vancouver Canucks
Last Week: 26
Record: 17-21-3
Sean rank: 27
Dom rank: 26
Midseason grade: F
To watch the Canucks is to wonder whether you’ve ever seen a worse defensive team, rather than just one of the few worst this season, and it’s because of stuff like this:
This is an INCREDIBLE shift from JT Miller. Like genuinely hysterical, haha#Canucks pic.twitter.com/nFXZUM60Vn
— Cody Severtson (@CodySevertson) January 13, 2023
They’ve played 41 games and allowed four goals or more in 26 of them. Somebody do something.
27. San Jose Sharks
Last Week: 29
Record:13-22-8
Sean rank: 26
Dom rank: 27
Midseason grade: C+
The Sharks — even with strong seasons from Erik Karlsson, Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture — are still a trainwreck. That the team is below preseason expectations with a Norris-caliber season from Karlsson is a shock, but it’s also a best-case scenario for a club that needs to bottom out. They’re doing just that while also seeing Karlsson suddenly recuperate trade value that once seemed like a lost cause. It’s a win-win and this season can only be seen as a success for San Jose’s long-term goals.
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28. Montreal Canadiens
Last Week: 27
Record: 17-22-3
Sean rank: 28
Dom rank: 28
Midseason grade: C-
For all the good vibes that carried them through the first chunk of the season, the Canadiens have started to come untethered, losing 14 of 18 before Thursday’s win over the Predators. In that stretch, they’d been outscored 78-42, which is … woof. If the goal is to lose a bunch of games without completely falling apart or sacrificing the development of their young stars, though, Montreal has done well.
At this time last year Cole Caufield had five career regular season NHL goals. He just scored his 51st career regular season NHL goal.
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) January 13, 2023
29. Arizona Coyotes
Last Week: 28
Record: 13-23-5
Sean rank: 29
Dom rank: 29
Midseason grade: C
Things are starting to return to normal in the desert after the team earned some shocking wins in the season’s first few months. Arizona has now lost seven straight and the preseason “worst team on paper” is starting to see its record look the part. The Coyotes were projected to finish the season with 64 points and are now right in line with that forecast with 31 points in their first 41 games. The Coyotes are who we thought they were.
30. Anaheim Ducks
Last Week: 30
Record: 12-26-4
Sean rank: 30
Dom rank: 30
Midseason grade: F-
The Ducks weren’t trying to be this bad. If they were, they wouldn’t have gone out and signed John Klingberg, Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano for more than $40 million total. And at the time, those moves seemed fine. Young core (Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Mason McTavish, Jamie Drysdale), meet your older reinforcements. Not a bad way to build on a 76-point season.
Now, here we are. The Ducks are last or close to it in most meaningful categories, and they’re 25 points off their preseason prediction of 83. No team is doing a worse job of living up to its expectations, and thus no team received a grade worse than this one. It’s technically impossible, but it’s what they deserve.
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31. Columbus Blue Jackets
Last Week: 31
Record: 12-27-2
Sean rank: 31
Dom rank: 31
Midseason grade: F
Remember when fans thought it was simply unfathomable to imagine the Blue Jackets having a worse record than last year after adding Johnny Gaudreau? Well, Columbus needs 55 points in its final 41 games to get there. Whoops!
Expectations are everything before the season started and there was plenty of reason for those expectations to be tempered, even with Gaudreau in the fold. But this team has failed even the most pessimistic forecasts and now holds the NHL’s worst record. The silver lining is that an accidental tank is exactly what this franchise needs, but it’s impossible to give a passing grade given what many expected from the Blue Jackets back in September. Injuries have hurt, sure, but at the end of the day this still is — and always was — a putrid team.
The Athletic: #CBJ hit the mid-point of the season and land in the #NHL basement with 6-2 loss to Carolina https://t.co/QCGJgIObXj pic.twitter.com/TzW1VHzyWv
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) January 13, 2023
32. Chicago Blackhawks
Last Week: 32
Record: 11-25-4
Sean rank: 32
Dom rank: 32
Midseason grade: A+
Shayna Goldman and Scott Powers did the math; the Blackhawks bought themselves, give or take, negative-5 wins with Hot Tank Summer. At this point, they may not even need that cushion; they’re projected to finish with 52 points, down from their preseason prediction of 69. A remarkably awful team, just as Kyle Davidson intended. Way to go, everyone.
(Top photo: Matthew Pearce / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)