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The NHL regular season is approaching the finish line, and that means teams are securing playoff spots every night. The latest team to clinch is the Ottawa Senators, a team that hasn't seen the postseason since 2017, and their rebuild is finally starting to come together.
For the last several years, the Senators looked like a young team poised to make the jump back into playoff contention. After a few disappointments, this year's roster has finally delivered on the promise of the rebuild as a young core has come into its own.
2025 NHL playoff picture: Standings, schedule, bracket, seedings as Stanley Cup Playoff field is set
Chris Bengel
Led by players like Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson and Jake Sanderson, all of whom are under the age of 27, Ottawa has been able to upend the hierarchy in the Eastern Conference. With the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins on a downward trajectory, the Senators took advantage and seized one of those vacant playoff spots.
Perhaps the biggest difference in this Senators team is stability in goal. Ottawa traded for Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark last offseason, and they paired him with backup Anton Forsberg. That duo has provided well above average goaltending, which has allowed the rest of the roster to come together in front of them.
With the Senators on the move and ready to cause some chaos in the playoffs, here are the updated NHL Power Rankings.
Biggest Movers
6
Maple Leafs
7
Hurricanes
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Charlie Coyle has sneakily been an excellent addition for the Avs. He's slotted into the third-line center role perfectly, and while the numbers (eight points in 16 games) haven't been eye-popping, his five-on-five impacts have been exceptional. Colorado looks very scary down the middle. | -- | 49-29-4 |
| 2 |  | Adin Hill was a question mark for Vegas in the first half, but he's been notably better over the last couple of months. Since the start of February, Hill has posted a .917 save percentage with 7.83 goals saved above average. That's part of the reason why the Golden Knights have held off the surging Kings in the Pacific. | 2 | 50-22-10 |
| 3 |  | Mikko Rantanen has already been a much better fit in Dallas than he was in Carolina. He has five goals and 10 assists in 16 games, and the Stars have outscored opponents 21-10 with Rantanen on the ice at five-on-five. The Stars adding peak Rantanen into the mix before the playoffs is borderline unfair. | 3 | 50-26-6 |
| 4 |  | The Maple Leafs have relied heavily on the Core Four in recent years. That will be the case again this postseason, but this time they might have some extra help. Matthew Knies is up to 26 goals, which is well up from the 15 he scored last year as a rookie. If Knies can keep that up in the playoffs, Toronto will be harder to contain offensively. | 6 | 52-26-4 |
| 5 |  | Very few players turn in career seasons at age 32, but that's what Mark Scheifele has done for the Jets. His 84 points are tied for a career best, and one more in the last few games will set a new high-water mark for him. Scheifele's longevity is exactly what the Jets were banking on when they signed him to a seven-year deal in 2023. | -- | 56-22-4 |
| 6 |  | It seems like there's a lot of momentum for Leon Draisaitl to win the Hart Trophy, but I would have a hard time not voting for Nikita Kucherov. In addition to his 115 points, he also has unbelievable five-on-five impacts. His plus-19 goal differential is one of the best in the entire league. Give this man some MVP votes. | 5 | 47-27-8 |
| 7 |  | Darcy Kuemper may wind up as a Vezina Trophy finalist in his first season with Los Angeles. The veteran has a .922 save percentage to go along with 21.4 goals saved above average. That Pierre-Luc Dubois for Darcy Kuemper trade looks great for both sides now. | -- | 48-25-9 |
| 8 |  | What else needs to be said? Alex Ovechkin is the new all-time goals leader, and there are still five games left in the regular season. He closed the chase with a flurry, scoring six goals in his last five games. Now, fans should be able to enjoy watching Ovechkin as he embarks on another deep playoff run. | 6 | 51-22-9 |
| 9 |  | St. Louis just had its 12-game winning streak snapped, but that was more than enough for the team to take a stranglehold on a wild card spot. I can't imagine the Winnipeg Jets or the Vegas Golden Knights would be fired up about seeing the Blues in the first round. This team is starting to create some 2019 Stanley Cup vibes. | 3 | 44-30-8 |
| 10 |  | I treated Taylor Hall as an afterthought in the Rantanen trade, and I'm willing to admit a mistake. Hall has been tremendous with Carolina, notching eight goals and 15 points in 26 games. He's added another layer of depth scoring to an already deep roster. | 7 | 47-30-5 |
| 11 |  | The Senators have ended a playoff drought that dates back to 2018, and they owe a decent chunk of their success to a solid goaltending from Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg. Those two have provided stability in the crease, combining for 14.9 goals saved above average. Ottawa has been searching for an answer at that position, and the team finally found it. | 2 | 45-30-7 |
| 12 |  | New Jersey will likely finish the season with one 30-goal scorer and four 20-goal scorers. One of those players, Jack Hughes, is out for the season. That begs the question of where the offense comes from in the playoffs. Can Dawson Mercer step up? Will Timo Meier find another level? The Devils will need to find some answers against the Hurricanes. | 3 | 42-33-7 |
| 13 |  | Sam Bennett is out for the rest of the regular season, and while the team expects him back in time for the playoffs, it's another question mark. How healthy will Bennett be? Will Matthew Tkachuk be able to play in the first round? Can Aaron Ekblad shake off the rust after a lengthy suspension? That's not ideal with Florida looking at a first-round clash against the Lightning. | 5 | 47-31-4 |
| 14 |  | Predictably, the Oilers have had a more difficult time scoring goals without Connor McDavid in the lineup. It doesn't help that Zach Hyman hasn't found the scoresheet in his last five games, though. Now it looks like Edmonton will be without home-ice advantage in the first round, even though I'm sure the Oilers aren't intimidated by the Kings. | 5 | 48-29-5 |
| 15 |  | The Canadiens are the most fun young team in the NHL, and they've won six games in a row. Now, 2024 first-round pick Ivan Demidov will make his debut after coming over from the KHL. I don't know how long the Habs' playoff appearance will be, but I'm going to be locked in for every second. | 2 | 40-31-11 |
| 16 |  | The Flames still have a shot at making the playoffs, and they can take matters into their own hands with a head-to-head matchup against the Wild on Friday. Minnesota has been slipping for a while now, but Calgary hasn't been able to take advantage. We'll see if that changes in the next two weeks. | -- | 41-27-14 |
| 17 |  | Over the last month, only three teams have had a tougher time scoring than the Wild. That makes sense with Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek out of the lineup, but Minnesota is crawling to the finish line. The Wild don't face a playoff team the rest of the way, so they may have enough gas left in the tank to clinch a postseason berth. | 3 | 45-30-7 |
| 18 |  | Barrett Hayton is starting to look like a quality two-way center. Not only has the 24-year-old tallied 43 points (tied for a career high), but his five-on-five impacts are some of the best on the team. Hayton is one of many reasons Utah fans can get excited for 2025-26, even if a playoff berth is now out of reach this year. | 1 | 38-31-13 |
| 19 |  | It may be all for naught, but the Canucks fought desperately for their playoff lives on Tuesday. Vancouver became the first team in NHL history to win a game after trailing by three goals with under a minute remaining. The Canucks went from down 5-2 to a 6-5 overtime win in a matter of a couple minutes. | 1 | 38-30-14 |
| 20 |  | The Islanders are going to miss the playoffs for just the second time in the last seven seasons. Perhaps that's for the best because the team hasn't won more than two playoff games since 2021. This core has plateaued, and changes should be on the horizon in New York. We'll see if that actually happens. | -- | 35-35-12 |
| 21 |  | There have been many disappointing performances in New York this year, but the most discouraging probably belongs to Alexis Lafreniere. It felt like Lafreniere really broke out last season, but he has taken a couple steps backward. His 16 goals are 12 fewer than last year, and his five-on-five game has slipped significantly. | -- | 39-36-7 |
| 22 |  | Here come the Sabres just in time to ruin the tank. Buffalo has won five straight games, but it's far too little and far too late. Now, all the Sabres can do is watch as their draft lottery chances diminish with each passing victory. | 3 | 36-39-7 |
| 23 |  | If you need to find a silver lining in Detroit, it's that rookie Marco Kasper has more than held his own. The 21-year-old has 32 points in 72 games, and his 53.9% expected goals share at five-on-five is the best on the entire team. | 3 | 39-35-8 |
| 24 |  | Frank Vatrano, who signed a three-year extension worth $18 million a few months ago, hasn't scored since March 11. His goal drought is now up to 13 games, and he has just two assists in that span. It's been a brutal stretch for Vatrano, who scored 37 goals in 2023-24. | -- | 35-37-10 |
| 25 |  | Mathieu Olivier has had some kind of year for Columbus. Through the first 168 games of his NHL career, the bruising forward had a total of 13 goals. In 77 games this season, he has 18 goals. I'm not sure how sustainable that is, but if he can keep some kind of scoring touch, he will be a very valuable fourth-liner for the Jackets. | 3 | 40-33-9 |
| 26 |  | Shane Wright is approaching 20 goals in his rookie season, so that's something the Kraken should be able to build on after a long year. Getting Wright and Beniers on an upward trajectory has to be the main focus for Seattle because, if they both hit their potential, that could be an exciting one-two punch down the middle. | 2 | 35-41-6 |
| 27 |  | While Ovechkin was passing Gretzky for the goals record, Sidney Crosby was reminding everyone he's still got something left in the tank with a hat trick against the Dallas Stars. I know I've said it a lot, but it's amazing how good Crosby has been at 37. If it weren't for him, the Penguins would be looking at the No. 1 overall pick. | 4 | 34-36-12 |
| 28 |  | The John Tortorella experiment lasted less than two full years in Philly, and that's not terribly shocking. The pairing was good in theory. Tortorella would take over a rebuilding team and mold the young core with his hard-nosed coaching. The only problem is he seemingly ran out of patience with this group. | 2 | 33-39-10 |
| 29 |  | Morgan Geekie is a 30-goal scorer. Considering his previous career high in goals was 17, I didn't expect to type that heading into the season. Very few things have worked for the Bruins, but Geekie is certainly one of them. | 2 | 33-39-10 |
| 30 |  | After scoring 42 goals with the Golden Knights last season, Jonathan Marchessault has been stuck on 19 for a while in his first year as a Predator. Marchessault hasn't scored since March 4 (13 games), and his 9.5% shooting percentage is one of the worst marks of his career. | 1 | 30-44-8 |
| 31 |  | The Blackhawks have called up a couple of young defensive prospects, Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel, to give them a taste of NHL hockey. Those two still have a lot of developing to do, but that could be quite the duo on Chicago's blue line one day. | 1 | 25-46-11 |
| 32 |  | Macklin Celebrini is on a nine-game goal drought, and the grip he had on the Calder Trophy for most of the season is probably gone. Lane Huston has simply exploded onto the scene to lead the Canadiens to the playoffs, but this was still a very promising debut for Celebrini. He will be a franchise center for many years to come. | 1 | 20-50-12 |
