This article is part of our The Man Advantage series.
The Man Advantage
Mark McLarney, RotoWire.com
NHL Pre-Season Power Play Squads - Projected Team Rankings
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Man Advantage, where we take a bi-weekly look at the ever-changing world of NHL power play lines. As in past years, I like to kick off each season by projecting each team's top unit. This can be tough to do at this time of year, as many teams are still experimenting with different line combinations during the preseason, using a mix of established veterans and younger players, some of whom may not even crack the roster. So for some teams, this is more of a "best guess" as lineups are bound to change over time.
Also, as part of this exercise I also take a look at how each of the teams' PP squads ranked overall last season, and predict how they will finish this year. Feel free to agree or disagree as you like, as these projected rankings are really just a gut feel, based on a number of factors, including last year's ranking and whether each team made any significant roster moves over the offseason. Beginning next article, we will start to look at individual players a little more closely - i.e., who's getting PP time, who isn't, and which guys make for good fantasy selections based on their PP prospects.
For now, check out my projected rankings below. At a minimum, this should give you a feel for how each team's first PP unit is shaping up to start the season. Accurate forecasts are always tough to come up with, but this year I'm calling for Dallas and Los Angeles to have the most-improved PP attacks this year, while the sharpest dropoffs should be seen by Arizona and New Jersey.
Now, discuss amongst yourselves and enjoy the season.
| Last year | |||||
| PP% | Rank | This year | Team ID | Projected 1st PP Unit (new faces in bold) | Comment |
| 19.8 | 5 | 1 | COL | Landeskog, Duchene, MacKinnon, Johnson, Guenin | Will take a major step forward with continued development of young forward corps. Plus vets Iginla & Briere on 2nd line. |
| 19.5 | 10 | 2 | CHI | Sharp, Toews, Kane, Shaw, Keith | Expect to see some mixing & matching between lines #1 and #1a (Hossa, Richards, Seabrook, Saad). New addition Richards will man the point in 2nd unit. |
| 21.7 | 3 | 3 | BOS | Lucic, Krejci, Eriksson, Krug, Chara | Moving Chara from up top to down low worked wonders last year - his 10 PP goals was highest total in five seasons. Krug and Hamilton primed to take over from him as point men. |
| 23.4 | 2 | 4 | WAS | Brouwer, Backstrom, Ovechkin, Carlson, Niskanen | New coach Trotz won't tinker with winning formula, but will try to cut down on SHG allowed (10 last year - tied for 4th highest in NHL). Backstrom & Ovechkin led NHL in PPP last year. |
| 23.4 | 1 | 5 | PIT | Kunitz, Crosby, Malkin, Hornqvist, Letang | Despite loss of Neal, still one of the most dangerous squads out there. Staying healthy will be a challenge. |
| 19.8 | 7 | 6 | STL | Steen, Stastny, Oshie, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk | Two lines that can score at will, plus Pietrangelo & Shattenkirk one of best PP blue line tandems in NHL. |
| 18.5 | 13 | 7 | TAM | Callahan, Stamkos, Filppula, Kucherov, Hedman | Bolts took third-fewest PP shots on goal in entire NHL last season. Having a healthy Stamkos will change that. Kucherov looking like possible breakout star. |
| 19.7 | 8 | 8 | PHI | Simmonds, Giroux, Schenn, Voracek, Streit | Flyers' PP looking great in preseason with Streit taking over from injured Timonen on the point. Streit has heavier shot, should get more pucks to the net, should result in more goals. |
| 15.9 | 23 | 9 | DAL | Seguin, Spezza, Benn, Hemsky, Daley | In Spezza, Stars now have first bona fide PP quarterback since Gonchar. Expect rapid improvement, especially as Seguin & Benn continue to develop chemistry. |
| 19.2 | 12 | 10 | NAS | Forsberg, Ribeiro, Neal, Weber, Josi | New-look unit could be mix & match using offseason pickups (Ribeiro, Neal, Roy, Jokinen) and up-and-coming youngsters (Forsberg, Jarnkrok, Beck). |
| 19.8 | 6 | 11 | TOR | van Riemsdyk, Bozak, Kessel, Phaneuf, Gardiner | With no major offseason additions, Leafs probably won't get much worse, but lots of teams around them got better. |
| 18.2 | 15 | 12 | NYR | Kreider, Brassard, St. Louis, McDonagh, Boyle | Rangers PP should be better with a full season of St. Louis plus an upgraded point man in Boyle. Kreider is a monster (6-3, 226) and will plant his big frame in front of opposing netminders. |
| 17.9 | 16 | 13 | MIN | Parise, Granlund, Vanek, Pominville, Suter | Addition of Vanek finally gives Wild three elite scorers up front. Granlund is a star in the making, looks to have finally replaced Koivu as #1 center. |
| 15.1 | 27 | 14 | LOS | Carter, Kopitar, Gaborik, Richards, Doughty | Defending Cup champs can't possibly be as bad on the PP as they were last year, can they? Oh right, sure they can. They just save it up for the playoffs. |
| 17.2 | 19 | 15 | MON | Pacioretty, Desharnais, Parenteau, Subban, Markov | Another team that features two well-balanced lines that could be mixed-and-matched as the season progresses. As usual, success will depend largely on of Subban and Markov. |
| 19.3 | 11 | 16 | COB | Foligno, Dubinsky, Hartnell, Wisniewski, Johnson | Heart and soul of Jackets' PP last year was not Johansen, but Wisnewski (28 pts, second-best among NHL blueliners). Hartnell a welcome addition (20 pts last year with PHI). |
| 17.2 | 20 | 17 | SAN | Marleau, Thornton, Pavelski, Burns, Demers | Sharks were tops in getting pucks to the net last season -- led the league in shots per minute of PP time (1.07). Worse than average at burying those chances. |
| 18.4 | 14 | 18 | OTT | Legwand, Turris, MacArthur, Stone, Karlsson | Karlsson is now focal point of Sens' PP; was tops among NHL d-men in PP points and shots taken. Looking like Stone will start the season on 1st line with B. Ryan on 2nd line with Michalek. |
| 15.2 | 26 | 19 | VAN | D. Sedin, H. Sedin, Vrbata, Vey, Edler | Canucks will try to rediscover their mojo, post-Tortorella. New coach Desjardins says he will rest Sedin line more, meaning more time for 2nd unit of Bonino, Burrowes, Higgins. |
| 16.0 | 22 | 20 | ANA | Heatley, Getzlaf, Perry, Kesler, Fowler | New additions Heatley & Kesler should provide a slight boost this year, however Ducks need a d-man who can get pucks to the net from the point. Fowler is not that guy. |
| 17.7 | 18 | 21 | DET | Nyquist, Franzen, Zetterberg, Abdelkader, Kronwall | Look fantastic on paper, but must stay healthy, which is a tough task for aging veterans. Not a promising start with Datsyuk (shoulder) out until mid-to-late October. |
| 17.8 | 17 | 22 | NYI | Bailey, Tavares, Okposo, Visnovsky, de Haan | Gaping hole at LW with departure of Vanek, Moulson; however, Tavares & Okposo still a very formidable duo. Visnovsky should provide stability on back end. |
| 17.0 | 21 | 23 | EDM | Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, Hall, Purcell, Schultz | What is taking so long for this immensely-talented squad to bust out? Ranked 24th in NHL in shots per minute of PP time last year, suggests too much passing, not enough shooting. |
| 15.4 | 25 | 24 | WPG | Wheeler, Little, Ladd, Byfuglien, Enstrom | Byfuglien expected to play forward this season but heavy shot means he should still man the point on Jets' PP. However, depth is a problem - no other 20+ PP point scorers last season. |
| 19.9 | 4 | 25 | ARI | Boedker, Vermette, Doan, Yandle, Ekman-Larsson | Expect sharp dropoff this year due to loss of Vrbata and Ribeiro (36 PPP combined). However, Yandle becoming elite - tied with Karlsson last year in PPP (31, tops among d-men). |
| 19.5 | 9 | 26 | NJD | Zajac, Elias, Cammalleri, Jagr, Zidlicky | Finished dead-last in the league in PP shots taken, but did an unusually good job converting the ones they did take. Won't get away with it two years in a row. |
| 15.7 | 24 | 27 | CGY | Glencross, Monahan, Hudler, Giordano, Wideman | Emerging squad will take a step back this year before they can move forward. Monahan, Gaudreau, Bennett form a talented young corps that will be exciting in years to come. |
| 14.6 | 28 | 28 | CAR | E. Staal, Semin, Skinner, Faulk, Sekera | Don't expect much improvement this season, but young talent is there in Skinner, Lindholm, V. Rask and Faulk. Could surprise this year if Staal rebounds. |
| 14.1 | 29 | 29 | BUF | Moulson, Ennis, Hodgson, Ristolainen, Myers | Sabres were awful at getting pucks to net last year. Essentially just passed puck around perimeter until PP time expired. Lots of talent, but need better system. |
| 10.0 | 30 | 30 | FLA | Barkov, Huberdeau, Boyes, Campbell, Gudbranson | Absolutely horrific last year. Scored a league-worst 24 goals in 5-on-4 situations, and ZERO 5-on-3 goals. Youngsters Barkov, Huberdeau should continue to improve, but not quickly enough. |
