The NHL's Toughest Teams Ranked

Obviously this is not set in stone. There are a few guys left to be signed. That could easily move some teams (e.g. Tampa Bay) up or down the list. I think Jason Smith is gone; so I dropped him from the list completely for now. I included a few guys that I think could be re-signed.

The list is broken into four tiers. The ordering isn’t dependent on any one thing. I took into consideration whether or not a team has a heavyweight fighter (or more), team toughness (i.e. the more fighters the better), the ability to realistically, meaning they are willing, to move guys up and down from the minors (e.g., Vancouver, Calgary). I tried to include all players with at least four fights last year. I also included some pests players that I think should have four or more fights this year.

The Heavyweight Teams:

Phoenix - McGrattan (8), Carcillo (19), Fedoruk (6), Jovanovski (3), Ballard (3), Fata? (0)

Anaheim – Parros (23), May (7), Sutherby (8), Moen (7), O’Donnell (4), Perry (4)

Vancouver - Hordichuk (12), Cowan (12), McIver (8), Rypien (5), Burrows (6), Mike Brown (7), Isbister ? (4), Ritchie ? (4), Bieksa (4)

Boston - Thorton (12), Lucic (13), Chara (5), Reich? (10), Stuart (5), Hnidy (3)

Tampa Bay - Koci (8), Tarnasky (7), Roberts (2), Malone (9), O'Brien (6), Roy? (12)

St. Louis - King (14), Janssen (2), Jackman (5), Hinote (4), Backes (5)

The Middleweight Teams:

Dallas – Barch (17), Ott (13), Avery (6), Winchester (6), Morrow (5), Crombeen (5)

Colorado - Parker (5), Lapperiere (20), McCleod (12), Tucker (4), McCormick (4), Ledin (0)

Calgary – Phaneuf (10), Mark Smith (9), Jim Vandermeer (5), Nystrom (8), Iginla (5), Regehr (3), Sarich (3), Prust? (0)

Philadelphia - Cote (24), Hartnell (5), Asham (8), Downie (5), Richards (4)

New York Rangers - Orr (18), Voros (14), Hollweg (6), Dunbinsky (7), Strudwick (4)

Washington - Brashear (12), Erskine (4), Bradley (10), Clark (1)

Chicago - Eager (7), Burish (16), Wisniewski ACL? (9), Walker (7), Craig Adams (3), Seabrook (3)

Montreal - Laraque (13), Kostopolous (9), Komisarek (5), Begin (4)

Pittsburgh – Godard (17), Cooke (2), Orpik (3), Talbot (3)

Buffalo – Peters (12), Gaustad (5), Rivet (6), Mair (4), Kaleta (1)

Columbus - Boll (27), Tollefson (7), Commodore (6), Chimera (4), Sestito? (1)

Edmonton - Stortini (23), Staois (5), Moreau (3), Peckham? (0)

The Lightweight Teams:

Florida - Belak (8), Glass (7), Campbell (6), Montador (5), Boynton (5), Horton (3), Murray (3)

San Jose - Shelley (13), Murray (11), Rivet (6), McLaren (4), Clowe (o)

Carolina – W. Brookbank (12), Conboy (7), Gleason (6), Walker (5), Gillies? (0)

Los Angeles - Ivanans (12), Greene (5), Brown (3), Scott Thornton (3)

New Jersey – Clarkson (21), S. Brookbank (5), Rupp (7)

Minnesota - Boogaard (10), Craig Weller (4), Veilleux (3), Nolan (3), Burns (2)

Atlanta – Boulton (13), Thorburn (10), Valabik (2), Armstrong (2)

Nashville – Grant (0), Tootoo (9), Nichol (4)

Ottawa - Neil (9), Ruutu (5), Richardson (3), Bois? (0), Bass? (1)

Detroit – Downey (10), Drake (5), Lilja (3), McCarty? (0)

New York Islanders - Jackman (9), Sutton (4), Davison? (2), Fritz? (0)

Team That Should Wear Pink:

Toronto - Mayers (7), Bell (4)