The Man Advantage: Who's Got the Power?

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Updated on October 5, 2015 12:25PM EST

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.

I'll also be taking a look at how each of the teams' power-play squads ranked overall last season, and I'll predict how they'll finish this year. Feel free to agree or disagree as you like, as these projected rankings are really just a gut feeling, based on a number of factors, including last year's ranking and significant offseason roster moves. Beginning next article, we'll start to look at individual players a little more closely -- i.e., who's getting power-play time, who isn't, and which guys make for good fantasy selections based on those prospects.

For now, check out my projected rankings below. At 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 the Islanders and Predators to have the most-improved man-advantage attacks, while the sharpest

Discuss amongst yourselves and enjoy the season.

Last year
PP%	Rank	This year	Team ID	Projected First PP Unit (new faces in bold)	Comment
19.3	9	1	PIT	Kessel, Crosby, Kunitz, Malkin, Letang	Addition of Kessel this season should be a big boost to an already elite squad -- assuming everyone can stay healthy.
23.4	3	2	PHI	B. Schenn, Voracek, Giroux, Simmonds, Streit	Flyers looking dangerous so far in preseason -- lead the league with 10 PP goals in six games.
23.8	2	3	DET	Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Tatar, Kronwall, Green	Solid mix of young talent (Nyquist, Tatar, Abdelkader) to complement aging vets (Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen).
25.3	1	4	WAS	Oshie, Kuznetsov, Ovechkin, Johansson, Carlson	Caps will miss Brouwer and his 27 PP goals over the last three seasons. Oshie has just 10. With Green gone, Calson becomes full time QB.
21.6	6	5	SAN	Pavelski, Thornton, Marleau, Couture, Burns	Same old, same old, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Pavelski second in the league in PP goals last year (19).
18.7	16	6	NYI	Lee, Tavares, Strome, Okposo, Leddy	Okposo only played 60 games last year, still tied for second on the team with 18 PP pts. If he can stay healthy this year, watch out.
18.8	14	7	CGY	Gaudreau, Monahan, Hudler, Giordano, Wideman	Deepest defense in all NHL. Giordano, Wideman, Brodie, Russell, Hamilton, had more combined PP points than any other team's blue line last year.
22.3	4	8	STL	Schwartz, Stastny, Tarasenko, Steen, Shattenkirk	Very balanced -- one of only three teams to finish top-10 last year in both PP (22.3 percent) and PK (83.7 percent).
19.0	11	9	DAL	Benn, Seguin, Sharp, Spezza, Klingberg	Addition of Sharp and a full season with Klingberg means this squad should take a major step forward this year.
21.7	5	10	CLM	Saad, Johansen, Foligno, Johnson, Savard	Saad, Johansen, Foligno forming NHL's most potent line so far in preseason, combining for a staggering 21 points in four games.
18.8	13	11	TAM	Johnson, Stamkos, Filppula, Palat, Hedman	Rising stars in Drouin, Johnson, Kucherov and Palat complement Stamkos, make Bolts a very dangerous team.
17.7	19	12	EDM	Hall, McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins, Pouliot, Schultz	Oilers continue to stockpile young talent -- just a matter of time before it all comes together. McDavid could be the guy to finally make it all work.
16.2	25	13	NAS	Forsberg, Fisher, Neal, Weber, Josi	The good: Last season, Forsberg led the team with 19 PP points in his rookie year. The bad: Neal had just four after scoring 26 with PIT the season before.
19.3	8	14	VAN	D. Sedin, H. Sedin, Vrbata, Edler, Tanev	Solid up front with Vrbata and the twins, but thin on the blue line. Need a true PP quarterback a la Weber, Karlsson, Subban, etc.
19.0	12	15	LOS	Lucic, Kopitar, Gaborik, Doughty, Muzzin	Jumped from 27th overall to 11th last season due to a resurgence by Carter and Gaborik, who combined for 24 PP points.
17.6	20	16	CHI	Shaw, Toews, Kane, Keith, Daley	Watch Teravainen this year. He has the skills to eventually move up to the first unit alongside Toews and Kane.
16.8	22	17	OTT	Macarthur, Turris, Stone, Wiercioch, Karlsson	Ryan actually benefited from moving to the second PP unit last season -- he saw almost a full minute more ice time there (3:19) and was more productive.
16.8	21	18	NYR	Kreider, Stepan, Nash, McDonagh, Yandle	Watch for Kreider to step into the void left by the departure of St. Louis. A full season with Yandle on the blue line automatically makes this squad better.
18.8	15	19	CAR	Lindholm, E. Staal, Versteeg, Wisniewski, Faulk	Subtracting Semin, adding Wisniewski and Versteeg will give the Canes' PP more grit. Should be a better squad this year.
17.8	17	20	WPG	Ladd, Little, Wheeler, Myers, Byfuglien	Remains a work in progress despite moving up from 25th overall to 17th last season. Watch for possible breakout seasons from Scheifele and Perreault.
15.7	28	21	ANA	Hagelin, Getzlaf, Perry, Fowler, Vatanen	One of the top teams in the league last year (51 wins), the Ducks were inexplicably bad on the PP. Getzlaf and Perry scored just seven PP goals between them.
16.3	24	22	FLA	Huberdeau, Barkov, Bjugstad, Jagr, Ekblad	A full season with veteran Jagr will do wonders for the Panthers' solid core of young up-and comers. A squad on the rise.
19.3	10	23	NJD	Henrique, Zajac, Palmieri, Cammalleri, Larsson	Larsson finally ready to step in and be a primary weapon on the Devils' PP.
15.0	29	24	COL	Landeskog, Duchene, Iginla, Johnson, Barrie	Fell to 29th in the league in PP production last season, down from fifth overall the previous year. Duchene and MacKinnon particularly disappointing; they'll need to rebound.
16.5	23	25	MON	Pacioretty, Plekanec, Gallagher, Subban, Markov	Habs hoping free agent Semin can improve a PP that has gone from fifth to 19th to 23rd over the last three seasons.
15.8	27	26	MIN	Parise, Koivu, Vanek, Pominville, Suter	On paper, these guys should be much better than they are. Only four teams scored fewer PP goals last season (BUF, COL, ANA, BOS).
15.9	26	27	TOR	van Riemsdyk, Bozak, Lupul, Phaneuf, Rielly	Even with Kessel (25 PP points), Leafs were near the bottom of the heap last season. How much farther can they fall?
17.8	18	28	BOS	Marchand, Bergeron, Eriksson, Krejci, Krug	A healthy Krejci should provide a boost, but tough to replace the toughness and grit of Lucic, and the versatility of Soderberg.
13.4	30	29	BUF	Ennis, Eichel, Gionta, O'Reilly, Franson	Sabres' PP will be better this year with the arrival of Eichel, O'Reilly & Franson. Meaning they won't finish last.
20.0	7	30	ARI	Rieder, Vermette, Doan, Boedker, Ekman-Larsson	Team has been stripped of talent over the last two seasons (Ribeiro, Vrbata, Yandle). Ekman-Larsson the only real bright spot left.