My "Great 8" - Preseason Rankings

Well, since power rankings seem to be all the rage, I'm going to take a stab and combine together the West and East...

* Included in () below are rankings from some national writers.
- RM: Ross McKeon - Yahoo! Sports NHL Power Rankings posted 10/3
- SW: Scott Wraight - CNNSI NHL Power Rankings posted 10/1

1. Detroit Red Wings
(RM: Detroit)
(SW: Detroit)

2. San Jose Sharks
(RM: San Jose)
(SW: Dallas)

3. Dallas Stars
(RM: Dallas)
(SW: Montreal)

4. Philadelphia Flyers
(RM: Pittsburgh)
(SW: Pittsburgh)

5. Pittsburgh Penguins
(RM: Anaheim)
(SW: San Jose)

6. Anaheim Ducks
(RM: Montreal)
(SW: New York Rangers)

7. Washington Capitals
(RM: Washington)
(SW: Philadelphia)

8. Montreal Canadiens
(RM: Philadelphia)
(SW: Anaheim)

Interesting that between the three lists, there was only one instance of a team being included in the top eight on one list (the Rangers on Scott Wraight's) and not on the other two.

I think the lesson out of this after these eight teams, there's a pretty big drop-off.

That said, these arbitrary designations are nothing if not subject to change and we will certainly see some changes to everyone's top 8 once the puck actually drops.