Week 12 Power Rankings

Starting this week, the power rankings will get their own space to shine, away from the weekly recap. So without further ado — The Top 10 Teams Right Now on Wednesday, April 7th.

1. Colorado Avalanche (Last week —#2)

The Colorado Avalanche come in at the number one spot this week. You would have to go back 16 games to March 8 against the Coyotes to find their last regulation loss. They sport a ridiculous +50 rating on the year, and their star players are shining. No doubts about the number one spot.

2. New York Islanders (Last week — #5)

The Islanders have shown that they can win in different ways. The Isles have back-to-back wins over the East leading Washington Capitals. Less than a week after an 8-4 route of the Caps, they grind out a 1-0 shutout victory. The team is ready to win, and should be taking the necessary steps to do so at the deadline.

3. Carolina Hurricanes (Last Week — #6)

The Canes have shown that they can win on any given night. They just got Petr Mrazek back from injury and he had a shutout in his first game back in a 1-0 win over Dallas. They are a deep, deep roster and have scorers riddled throughout the lineup. No team wants to play the Canes now, and definitely not in the playoffs.

4. Washington Capitals (Last Week — #1)

Coming off of two tough losses to the Islanders, the Capitals still hold on to the number one seed in the East. They have already completed the 8-0 season sweep against the Devils, so their schedule will get tougher going forward, with only 2 of their remaining 17 games against the Sabres. Seeing the Islanders 3 more times this month will tell us a lot about this team.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs (Last Week — #9)

The Leafs are 7-0-1 in their last 8 and are holding on to the top spot in the North. Matthews looks healthy again, and Jack Campbell is still undefeated. The big question here remains the health of Frederik Andersen and whether or not the team will look to add at the deadline. They still need some bottom-six help and a depth defenseman if they have cup aspirations.

6. Florida Panthers (Last week — Not ranked)

Coming off the devastating Aaron Ekblad injury, the Panthers have won four of five. They continue to play solid hockey led by captain Sasha Barkov and are getting good goaltending. They, too, should be looking to add at the deadline, probably to the back end to help fill the hole that Ekblad's injury created.

7. Vegas Golden Knights (Last Week — #3)

The Knights have had some trouble recently, but showed that they are still a dominant team in a 6-1 pounding of the reeling Blues. The struggles of recent weeks should be seen as nothing other than a midseason lull, to be expected in a jam packed schedule. Vegas has a friendly upcoming schedule to help them out of the slump.

8. Tampa Bay Lightning (Last Week —# 4)

The delayed Stanley Cup hangover. Just like the Golden Knights, this is not cause for concern. Tampa can still beat any team on any given night and they should be back to winning in no time.

9. New York Rangers (Last Week — Not ranked)

Mika Zibanejad harnessed all of the criticism from early in the season and unleashed it on the Flyers over the past few weeks, and the team has woken up. Panarin and the offense look great and so does Adam Fox. Could the Rangers sneak up in the East and snag the fourth seed?

10.Nashville Predators (Last Week — Not ranked)

Somehow the Predators have won 8 of 10 and are finding success at the right time. They need to fend off the chasing Blackhawks and Stars to hold on to the fourth spot in the Central.