NHL March power rankings: The East is so loaded as the trade deadline approaches

The arms race in the Eastern Conference has shifted our March power rankings.

Wow, the NHL’s Eastern Conference is actually stacked.

The calendar has officially flipped to March, which means the Stanley Cup Playoffs are only a handful of weeks away. And of course, the 2023 NHL trade deadline is right around the corner, with the 3 p.m. cutoff set for Friday, March 3.

So far, the deadline has been quite busy, with lots of top-end players changing hands as teams look to get ready for long playoff runs. The Eastern Conference, in particular, has loaded up pretty significantly these last few weeks. Players who once dominated the West like Timo Meier, Patrick Kane, Ryan O’Reilly, and Vladimir Tarasenko have all moved East as the arms race between the top NHL teams gets bigger by the day.

What all 32 NHL teams should do at the 2023 trade deadline

Given how close the day is, it’s only fitting that this edition of our monthly power rankings is all about the upcoming trade deadline madness! Here are our NHL power rankings as March begins.