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The days are warmer, the sunlight lasts a little longer and baseball is here. Hope springs eternal, but that shouldn't just apply to baseball. We're looking at reasons for each NHL team to be hopeful in this edition of NHL Power Rankings.

For MLB fans watching their favorite team's season get underway, the crushing reality that it will almost certainly end without a World Series hasn't set in yet. The same can't be said for NHL fans with just a dozen games left in the regular season, but that doesn't mean we can't mine a little hope out of even the worst circumstances.

One team not lacking hope these days is the St. Louis Blues. They've won seven games in a row and have pulled within two spots of the first wild card spot in the West. This turnaround, which began under new coach Jim Montgomery, has been fueled by elite defense. That's not something I expected to type about this Blues team, but I can't deny the results.

Since Montgomery made his debut on Nov. 25, St. Louis has allowed expected goals against at the lowest rate in the NHL, per Natural Stat Trick. In the month of March, the Blues have allowed two or fewer goals in nine of their 13 games. That has powered the hot streak that has the team looking incredibly dangerous with the playoffs just a few weeks away.

As the Blues build hope for another surprising Cup run, here are the updated NHL Power Rankings with one reason every team should feel hopeful.

Expected goals and goals saved above average data courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.

Biggest Movers
5 Golden Knights
4 Lightning
Rk
Teams
  
Chg
Rcrd
1 Avalanche Dynamic duo | The Avalanche have a great team, and their depth has only improved throughout the season. That said, they could have an AHL squad around Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar and still be pretty formidable. MacKinnon and Makar are two of the premier players in the game today, and each one is capable of single-handedly winning games. -- 45-26-3
2 Capitals Pierre-Luc Dubois | Back in September, I could never have believed that Dubois would be a source of hope for the Capitals. But he's revived his career with 61 points and a plus-34 goal differential at five-on-five. Dubois looks like a completely different player in Washington, and he gives the team an elite power forward heading into the playoffs. 3 47-17-9
3 Hurricanes Clear path | The Hurricanes will once again try to get over the postseason hump, and their path sets up relatively well through the first couple rounds. It looks like they'll get the Devils, sans Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton, in the first round. Then they'd likely have to face the Caps, a possible Presidents' Trophy winner, in the second. That would be a challenge, but the underlying statistical profile clearly favors Carolina. 1 45-24-4
4 Golden Knights Divisional supremacy | Winning the Pacific Division means avoiding the Kings and Oilers in the first round and getting a considerably weaker wild card opponent. The Golden Knights' seven-point lead looks pretty safe, and it gives them a nice edge in the postseason. No matchup will be a cakewalk, but avoiding Connor McDavid as long as possible is a good strategy. 5 45-20-8
5 Jets Connor Hellebuyck | This one is obvious. It's boring. It's easy. I don't care. The biggest key in the Jets being bona fide Stanley Cup contenders is the play of Hellebuyck. His 33.8 goals saved above average are first in the league, as is his .924 save percentage. Oh, and he'll want to avenge last season's playoff meltdown. 2 51-19-4
6 Stars Depth | It will never cease to be amaze me the depth at forward Jim Nill has assembled. The NHL postseason exacts a heavy toll on teams, so having as many capable scorers as possible is key. Dallas has plenty of those with seven players projected as 20-goal scorers. Other teams scour the Earth to find top-six forwards. The Stars find them in their couch cushions. 2 48-21-4
7 Kings Quinton Byfield | For most of the season, the Kings appeared to think scoring more than three goals was illegal. Byfield was in a deep funk for months, but a switch has flipped. Byfield now has eight goals in his last 10 games, and the Kings put up a touchdown in back-to-back games last weekend. Los Angeles still isn't an offensive juggernaut, but they might have enough juice for a deep run. 4 41-23-9
8 Panthers Paul Maurice | The defending champs have been hit with some adversity. Matthew Tkachuk is on LTIR. Brad Marchand has yet to play with his new team. Aaron Ekblad will be suspended through the first couple games of the playoffs. Defending their title won't be easy, but the Panthers have one of the best coaches in NHL history behind the bench. Maurice has seen it all, and he will have Florida ready to roll when Game 1 arrives. 2 44-26-3
9 Oilers Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | The Oilers' two biggest reasons for hope are currently injured, but the silver lining is that Nugent-Hopkins has elevated his game a bit. After being pretty disappointing for large stretches, Nugent-Hopkins has four goals and five assists in his last four games. Edmonton will need him in order to make another Cup Final run. 3 42-26-5
10 Maple Leafs Core Four | The current core of Maple Leafs has experienced its share of playoff heartbreak, but will this season be different? It looks more likely that this will be the final season of the Core Four, which has been together since 2018. Maybe that will give Toronto's biggest stars a little extra to rally around as they try to deliver a Cup to a championship-starved franchise. 2 45-25-4
11 Lightning Big Cat | The Lightning are a great team, but they aren't as strong as they were in 2020 and 2021. Despite that, they're still serious Stanley Cup contenders because Andrei Vasilevskiy is playing like one of the two best goalies on the planet. His 28.4 goals saved above average rank second in the league, and we've seen Vasilevskiy steal pivotal playoff games so many times in his career. 4 43-25-5
12 Blues Defense | The idea of associating the Blues with good defense as recently as six months ago would have seemed outlandish. Yet, here we are. Since Jim Montgomery took over in November, St. Louis has been among the NHL's best at limiting scoring chances and expected goals at five-on-five. The team has done a complete 180 in those categories. 2 40-28-7
13 Senators Cohesion | After a sub-80 point season in 2023-24, the vision might finally be coming together for the Senators. Their young core is starting to click at last, and their playoff drought could end at seven years. Fans in Ottawa have waited a long time for this rebuild to yield results, and it seems as though the highly-anticipated "next step" has been taken. 3 39-28-6
14 Wild Blue line studs | Looking beyond this season, the Wild might be set on defense for years to come. Brock Faber is already one of the best young defensemen in the league, and David Jiricek has the ability to get there too. On top of that, former first-round pick Zeev Buium is a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey's top player. 1 41-28-5
15 Devils Special teams | Over the course of a seven-game series, special teams can have a massive impact, and the Devils have an advantage there. Their power play and penalty kill both rank fourth in the NHL, and those units could be big weapons in the postseason. The only question is whether that holds even with Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton sidelined long-term. 2 39-29-7
16 Flames Dustin Wolf | The most underrated Calder Trophy candidate has to be Wolf, who has backstopped the Flames into playoff contention all season. He ranks seventh in the NHL in goals saved above average (13.2), and his .843 high-danger save percentage puts him in elite company. That's not bad for a 23-year-old netminder. 3 34-26-12
17 Canadiens Mojo | This Canadiens team hasn't always made sense, but sometimes that makes hockey more fun. Montreal has been one of the best vibes teams all season, and maybe that's all that matters. Nick Suzuki is playing well. Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson are amazing. Patrik Laine is firing seeds. The Bell Centre is rocking. Just keep the good times rolling. 1 34-30-9
18 Canucks Demko's health | Hope has been in short supply for the Canucks, but maybe the return of Thatcher Demko will provide some. Demko just saved 20.9 goals above average last season, second only to Hellebuyck, and he's capable of winning games on his own. If Vancouver gets that type of play out of Demko moving forward, it might reach the playoffs and cause some trouble for someone. 1 34-27-13
19 Hockey Club Flexibility | I have an unabashed love affair with this team mainly because it's set up so well for the future. Utah has a bunch of talented young players on favorable contracts with plenty of salary cap space and some decent draft capital. GM Bill Armstrong has the freedom to be very aggressive this summer. 1 33-29-12
20 Islanders Parity | The Islanders seem to exist on the playoff bubble, and while that's not always an ideal place to be, it gives them a shot to go on a deep run if they get in. The margins are slim in the NHL, and that's especially the case in the postseason. All it would take is one hot streak from Ilya Sorokin and some timely goals for the Isles to wind up in the conference finals. 2 32-31-10
21 Rangers Igor Shesterkin | If you're looking for a reason to believe the Rangers can win this wild card race, and perhaps a round or two, it's all about Shesterkin. Even in a somewhat down year by his standards, Shesterkin has still saved 10.6 goals above average, the 10th-best mark in the league. New York can win every game it plays because of him. 1 35-32-7
22 Blue Jackets Breakouts | The Blue Jackets may not be quite as far away from contention as I thought when the season began. That's because of some breakout performances from key players. Kirill Marchenko has established himself as a star, Kent Johnson and Adam Fantilli both hit the 20-goal mark, and Dmitri Voronkov has proven himself to be a valuable top-six winger. 1 33-30-9
23 Penguins Sidney Crosby | As long as Crosby is on this roster, the Penguins will always have some hope. That's because he's still a legit No. 1 center at 37 years old. Crosby is currently riding an eight-game point streak, and he has six goals and seven assists in that span. Crosby still has a lot left to give. 2 30-34-11
24 Ducks Emergence | The Ducks' rebuild still has real work to do, but at least a few players emerged as possible long-term solutions. Mason McTavish took a real step toward being a first-line center. Jackson LaCombe seems like he could be a staple on the blue line for a long time. Lukas Dostal has shown potential to be the Ducks' new franchise goaltender. There are some real bright spots here. -- 32-33-8
25 Sabres Rasmus Dahlin | Not only is the star defenseman very good, but he is also (reportedly) fed up with the losing in Buffalo. Perhaps he can force ownership to show a real commitment to winning in the next couple of years. Then again, he could also get shipped out of town. So I guess we'll see. 1 31-36-6
26 Red Wings Todd McLellan | There's no denying the improvement the Red Wings have shown since McLellan took over behind the bench. Detroit has gone 20-15-2 in that span, and while the underlying numbers are far from perfect, they are no longer one of the league's worst five-on-five teams. Things are trending in the right direction under McLellan. 3 34-33-6
27 Bruins Change | The trade deadline showed that the Bruins might be ready for a new direction. Boston has relied upon its veterans for a while now, and to be fair, the team had some tremendous success doing that. Now it might be time for the Bruins to get younger as they try to retool with David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy becoming those veterans. -- 30-35-9
28 Kraken Cap space | The roster in Seattle needs a lot of work, but they have the money to make that happen. PuckPedia projects the Kraken to have just shy of $21 million in cap space this summer, and that's enough money to add a couple stars to a roster that does have some decent depth in place. -- 31-37-6
29 Predators Draft capital | If you're gonna stink, at least make sure you stockpile plenty of ammo in the draft, and the Preds have done that. They have three first-round picks in 2025, and one of them may very well be inside the top three. They also have two second-round picks, giving them five selections in the first 64 picks. -- 27-38-8
30 Flyers Matvei Michkov | The Flyers have been a tough watch lately, but Michkov is never a tough watch when he's on the ice. The rookie's tremendous skill is apparent, and he should only get more electrifying with time. Philly fans can take solace in knowing that Michkov lived up to the hype in his first NHL season. -- 30-36-9
31 Sharks Young guns | Rebuilds come with a lot of uncertainty. How will a bunch of teenagers develop? Will they live up to their potential? The Sharks already have some answers on their key prospects with Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and William Eklund all giving fans good reason to believe the future is very bright. -- 20-44-9
32 Blackhawks Draft lottery | The Blackhawks and their fans have endured yet another miserable season, but perhaps it'll be worth it. Chicago is very much in the running for another No. 1 pick, which it could pair with Connor Bedard as the pillars of the organization moving forward. -- 21-44-9