Los Angeles – The National Hockey League regular season opens tonight.
This season the Washington Capitals will be defending their first Stanley Cup championship after dispatching the Vegas Golden Knights in the Final.
Who will challenge the Caps this year?
To get the season started right, we are presenting the first Bartnick Power Ranking Poll for the 2018-19 NHL season.
| RANK | TEAM | BARTNICK ‘s TAKE |
| 1 | CAPITALS | To be the Champ you gotta beat the Champ -Ric Flair |
| 2 | JETS | Jets have more scoring than anybody, a huge defense and great goaltender |
| 3 | LIGHTNING | The Jets of the East |
| 4 | SHARKS | Two of the four best defensemen (Erik Karlsson/ Brent Burns) in hockey will be on the ice the whole game. |
| 5 | PENGUINS | Sid and Geno are motivated for Cup number 4 but can Murray stay healthy. |
| 6 | Predators | Do they hear the window starting to close? |
| 7 | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | Cinderella is even better with the addition of Stastny and Pacioretty. |
| 8 | MAPLE LEAFS | Tavares and Matthews are 2nd best center combo in league but Leafs need at least 2 defensemen. |
| 9 | BRUINS | Torey Krug is missing at least first 3 weeks. Not a good sign for a team that needs to be healthy more than most. |
| 10 | DEVILS | Keith (Rueben) Kinkaid will drive the bus until Cory Schneider returns. |
| 11 | FLYERS | Team would be killer on Playstation when you can play top 2 lines, same 2 defensemen and the computer is the goalie |
| 12 | PANTHERS | A great fantasy team if you’re still drafting. |
| 13 | BLUES | Strong all the way down the middle until goalie. |
| 14 | KINGS | Kovalchuk needs to fit in right away. |
| 15 | DUCKS | A ton of injuries but it maybe a good thing, the kids look good. |
| 16 | BLUE JACKETS | Cup Contender ?? Not when their best forward ( Panarin) and Vezina goalie ( Bobrovsky) want out. |
| 17 | STARS | Tyler Seguin , Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov maybe the NHL’s best top line but who else will score. |
| 18 | AVALANCHE | To repeat last season’s magic they need secondary scoring Like Dallas, phenomenal top line Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen but needs secondary scoring. |
| 19 | FLAMES | Improved yes but Mike Smith is still in net. |
| 20 | OILERS | It really is McDavid and Co. |
| 21 | SABRES | Rasmus Dahlin will carry the Sabres out of the basement. |
| 22 | WILD | BBQ Bruce is always great in the fall. |
| 23 | RANGERS | The Rangers will never bottom out no matter how hard management tries to. |
| 24 | ISLANDERS | Matthew Barzal is great but he’s not John Tavares ,yet. |
| 25 | HURRICANES | They will contend until Valentine’s Day like they always do. |
| 26 | RED WINGS | The 1st year of the post Zetterberg era will be better than most people think . |
| 27 | BLACKHAWKS | No Corey Crawford in net, no chance. |
| 28 | COYOTES | Galchenyuk being dinged up not a good start. |
| 29 | CANADIENS | The new captain, Shea Weber, won’t play until 2019. |
| 30 | CANUCKS | It’s going to be weird not confusing which Sedin is which. |
| 31 | SENATORS | They would not be on top of a AHL power poll. |
