NHL Rankings - A Look at the Top Five Teams

At the end of the regular season, five teams stood out above the others as the top clubs in the Dunkel Index Rankings. While several of those teams have been eliminated from postseason contention, it’s still worth taking a look at where each of those teams stands as the offseason approaches. 

Here, we’ll briefly review each team’s 2021 season and look ahead to 2022.

1. Carolina Hurricanes - Dunkel Rating: 14.338

The Hurricanes were one of the favorite teams to win the 2021 Stanley Cup, but they were in the “Division of Death” come playoff time. Carolina won the Central Division title by a single point over the Florida Panthers (No. 5 in the Dunkel Index), but also knew they’d have to get through the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning (No. 4 in the Dunkel Index), as well as the red-hot Nashville Predators who made the playoffs after a resurgent second half of the season.

Tampa Bay eliminated Carolina in five games in the second round. While the expansion draft could make a serious impact on the team, as well as the potential loss of Dougie Hamilton to free agency, the Hurricanes have a busy offseason ahead but are strong contenders for 2022.

2. Colorado Avalanche - Dunkel Rating: 14.236

Colorado was the Cup favorite for the majority of the season. With an incredibly deep roster, young guns performing well above expectations, and a weaker division as a whole, the Avalanche won the President’s Trophy as the top regular season team.

However, Colorado fell apart in the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights. Like Carolina, the Avalanche need to navigate a tricky expansion draft scenario and figure out how to keep a prized pending free agent, captain Gabriel Landeskog, under contract and in the fold.

3. Vegas Golden Knights - Dunkel Rating: 14.109

The Montreal Canadiens’ miracle run through the postseason has Vegas on the brink of elimination, as the Golden Knights trail 3-2 in the series. The Golden Knights are competing in their third semifinal round in their fourth season of existence as a franchise. 

One major advantage Vegas has this year is they are exempt from the expansion draft. Because they are so new to the league, the Golden Knights don’t have to forfeit a player to the Seattle Kraken. As such, expect Vegas near the top of these rankings next season as well.

4. Tampa Bay Lightning - Dunkel Rating: 13.926

Tampa Bay is the only other team from the regular season Top Five whose season is still alive as of publication. The defending champions slid down in the rankings a bit this season with leading scorer Nikita Kucherov sideline after offseason hip surgery, and with an injury to Steven Stamkos down the stretch.

Now fully healthy, the Lightning can eliminate the New York Islanders Wednesday night as they look to become the second team in the Salary Cap era to win back-to-back Stanley Cups.

5. Florida Panthers - Dunkel Rating: 13.832

The Panthers seemingly came out of nowhere this season to surge up the power rankings. Led by a pair of stars in Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida led the division at times and appears to be built to contend for the next few seasons. 

While Sergei Bobrovsky’s contract (five more years at $10 million AAV) could become an issue at some point, especially with young Spencer Knight ready to take over in a tandem role, Florida has plenty of talent in the pipeline and could be a Cup Contender in 2022.