Despite rampant parity and some nail-biting wild-card races in both conferences, an elite eight has emerged as the group of true contenders for the Stanley Cup.
The San Jose Sharks (1,000 assists for Jumbo Joe) and Montreal Canadiens (an East-best six-game win streak) are the toast of the league’s weakest two divisions and, relatively speaking, should have a more comfortable bracket to survive come April.
The Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks (seven in a row!) have widened their time and space away from the Central Division pack and will battle for the conference’s No. 1 seed.
Then there’s the stacked Metropolitan, which features a quartet of well-balanced rosters with decent defence cores and Grade A goaltending: Washington, Columbus, Pittsburgh and New York.
With about a month left in the regular season, we culled local newspapers websites and radio stations to steal one recent quote that represents a current issue surrounding each of the NHL’s 30 clubs.
It’s our NHL Power Rankings: That’s What He Said Edition. Word to Michael Scott.
| Rank | Team | Previous | |
| 1 |  |
“This is an ‘all-in’ thing.” —Nicklas Backstrom, on the Kevin Shattenkirk acquistion |
1 |
| 2 |  |
“In 2012, I was a guest on a Russian TV show and made insensitive comments that I deeply regret.” —Artemi Panarin, in a prepared statement to address a racist public comment that recently came to light |
4 |
| 3 |  |
“It’s an achievement as a team, and it’s not done yet.” —Sergei Bobrovsky, on his third consecutive shutout |
6 |
| 4 |  |
“A lot of people believe George McPhee is targeting Marc-Andre Fleury.” —Nick Kypreos on the Vegas Golden Knights’ starting goaltender |
3 |
| 5 |  |
“Two or three weeks from now or if you’re in the playoffs, it would be a disaster.” —GM Chuck Fletcher, on the Wild dodging a mumps scare |
2 |
| 6 |  |
“I’m proud. I’m very proud.” —Henrik Lundqvist, on becoming the first goaltender in NHL history to win at least 30 games in 11 of his first 12 seasons |
5 |
| 7 |  |
“You can have some fun on the plane on the way home.” —Joe Thornton, on becoming the 13th player in history to register 1,000 assists |
12 |
| 8 |  |
“It’s not just me; it’s our defensive play in general.” —Carey Price, on the Habs’ six-game win streak |
13 |
| 9 |  |
“He has a really good feel for the game, a hockey sense. [Mark] Stone and I have gone through all the [other] wingers on the team basically.” —centre Derick Brassard, on chemistry with new guy Alexandre Burrows |
9 |
| 10 |  |
“It was definitely a wake-up call seeing Claude go and it seemed like everyone kind of looked themselves in the mirror and had to be better.” —Patrice Bergeron, nine points in his past eight games |
11 |
| 11 |  |
“We can’t fall into a comfort zone where we think everything is fine because a lot of the teams we’re playing are right on the [playoff] cusp. I’m trying to convince our guys we’re there as well.” —Todd McLellan |
7 |
| 12 |  |
“Here is where my heart is.” —Kris Versteeg, on his desire to re-sign in Calgary |
17 |
| 13 |  |
“He’s been a huge help to us from the first game he got here.” —captain Ryan Getzlaf, on newly acquired linemate Patrick Eaves |
10 |
| 14 |  |
“If anything, it’s the ultimate respect.” —Josh Ho-Sang, on wearing sweater No. 66 |
15 |
| 15 |  |
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a D corps in the league that has as much skill as ours has.” —P.K. Subban |
18 |
| 16 |  |
“Dear Jake Allen, you are my favorite [sic] player. I hope you win tonight. I know you can do it. You’re a great goalie. Love, Mason. I’m five years old.” —Mason Gilbert, letter writer |
16 |
| 17 |  |
“I was tired just watching in on the bench.” —Tyler Johnson, on Monday’s 12-round tilt between Luke Witkowski and Tanner Glass |
20 |
| 18 |  |
“When you have a veteran group who has been through it before, someone goes out and calms everyone down and just makes a play. We don’t. It’s like a feeding frenzy.” —Mike Babcock, on the Leafs’ third-period woes |
14 |
| 19 |  |
“We’ve got all four lines rolling. And that’s what we need the rest of the year if we want to make the playoffs.” —Sean Couturier |
22 |
| 20 |  |
“We have the horses in the room. We just have to be better and it starts with me.” —captain Derek MacKenzie, on the Cats’ fading playoff hopes |
8 |
| 21 |  |
“During my first [home] game, Will Ferrell was sitting behind the bench.” —Ben Bishop |
19 |
| 22 |  |
“My expectations are always [to be the] best goalie in the league, best in the world, whatever.” —Connor Hellebuyck, who got pulled (again) Wednesday |
23 |
| 23 |  |
“For him, the progression is to decide if he’s going to be a 35 or 40 goal scorer or a guy who gets 30 goals and 50 assists, and he can be either one of those players.” —Dan Bylsma on the piping-hot Jack Eichel |
21 |
| 24 |  |
“I told him last night he can go be Jordie Benn, not Jamie Benn’s brother.” —Jamie Benn, on Dallas trading his brother to playoff-bound Montreal |
28 |
| 25 |  |
“We’re going to take our time and look at our options at the end of the season.” —president Trevor Linden, on whether Willie Desjardins will coach in 2017-18 |
26 |
| 26 |  |
“I have so many positive people around me and everything, and I felt like I got so many phone calls and texts the past couple of days.” —Eddie Lack, on getting publicly roasted by coach Bill Peters |
25 |
| 27 |  |
“These rebuilds don’t take two or three years. Once you go down that path, be prepared for eight, 10, 15 years.” —GM Ken Holland |
27 |
| 28 |  |
“We’re not making the playoffs.” —Taylor Hall, dealing hard truth |
24 |
| 29 |  |
“The Coyotes cannot and will not remain in Glendale.” —Gary Bettman, NHL commissioner |
29 |
| 30 |  |
“Painful. There’s no other way to describe it.” —Matt Duchene, on another lost hockey game |
30 |
