Compete Level

let's all rank the current NHL franchises from most to least favoured

Detroit Red Wings
Toronto Maple Leafs
Philadelphia Flyers
Edmonton Oilers
Ottawa Senators
Winnipeg Jets
Tampa Bay Lightning
New Jersey Devils
Chicago Blackhawks
Buffalo Sabres
St Louis Blues
Vegas Golden Knights
Nashville Predators
Calgary Flames
New York Rangers
Washington Capitals
Minnesota Wild
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Pittsburgh PNES
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
New York Islanders
Arizona Coyotes
Carolina Hurricanes
Boston Bruins
Vancouver Canucks
Colorado Avalanche
Anaheim Ducks
Montreal Canadiens
Florida Panthers

Edmonton Oilers
Winnipeg Jets
St Louis Blues
Tampa Bay Lightning
Columbus Blue Jackets
Nashville Predators
Boston Bruins
Philadelphia Flyers
Florida Panthers
Vegas Golden Knights
Washington Capitals
San Jose Sharks
Calgary Flames
Toronto Maple Leafs
Carolina Hurricanes
Colorado Avalanche
New Jersey Devils
Dallas Stars
New York Islanders
Buffalo Sabres
Ottawa Senators
Los Angeles Kings
Detroit Red Wings
Arizona Coyotes
Anaheim Ducks
Chicago Blackhawks
New York Rangers
Montreal Canadiens
Vancouver Canucks
Pittsburgh PNES
Minnesota Wild

This is genuinely difficult, mostly because there are so many teams I do not have deep-seated feelings on

yeah i could probably say that of the whole swath between devils and isles (inclusive) but i went with my gut

also to be honest alot of that is probably based on how much i like the cities/areas for completely non-hockey reasons (love chicago, hate LA, for instance)

Detroit Red Wings
San Jose Sharks
Tampa Bay Lightning
Edmonton Oilers
Washington Capitals
Minnesota Wild
Vancouver Canucks
St Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets
Nashville Predators
New York Islanders
Buffalo Sabres
Philadelphia Flyers
Ottawa Senators
Vegas Golden Knights
Boston Bruins
Calgary Flames
Toronto Maple Leafs
New York Rangers
Columbus Blue Jackets
Los Angeles Kings
Dallas Stars
Arizona Coyotes
Carolina Hurricanes
Colorado Avalanche
Florida Panthers
Anaheim Ducks
New Jersey Devils
Montreal Canadiens
Chicago Blackhawks
Pittsburgh PNES

I'll break this down somewhat:

It is weird trying to balance old feelings about Central teams as the Wings' division rivals (particularly St. Louis and Nashville) vs. how I view them now. Same in reverse for a few Eastern teams.

1. Toronto - great uniforms, fun team to watch, perfect fanbase, underappreciated by media elites

Ottawa - dunno, my opinion will change when they're good again. But they're the best underdog going.
Nashville - only downside is the Dragons Den guy is part of the ownership group
Detroit - best uniforms, good city, Yzerman (doesn't factor into my opinion of Tampa though)
Colorado - good fun
Edmo - kind of bored of criticising them but I like to see them win
Philly

Winnipeg - I like the team and the city just way too troopsy
Carolina - kind of into them, whatever, wish they never won a cup.
Calgary - need to go exclusively to the retro 90s jersey, the black C is terrible. they would be top 5 for me if they did this.
Islanders - RIP Wang
Vancouver - same as Calgary
St. Louis - always liked Pietro
Columbus
Pittsburgh - Kessel gets em up here but I've always been more alright with Sid and the Peens than most here
Dallas - will always be grateful for Dallas's part in so many great playoff series back in the Sakic v Yzerman v Modano v Todd Marchant days
Tampa - i dunno
Minnesota - boring
NJ - like that Sopranos Sal Pussy Bompansaro was a fan, I also like Hall a lot

Buffalo
SJ
LA
Arizona
Florida - traded for the bully
Montreal
Washington - fine with them winning a cup, don't want them to win another
Vegas
Blackhawks - Kane is a monster
Rangers - hate watching televised games at MSG, terrible lighting, the ice sounds like someone de-icing a freezer with a steak knife


Boston - always

Based somewhat on NA's tiers. The teams within each tier are generally in order from best to worst to me.

The Only Team That Matters
Winnipeg Jets

Teams That Are, For Some Reason, Endearing To Me
Edmonton Oilers
Ottawa Senators
Washington Capitals
Toronto Maple Leafs
Carolina Hurricanes
Tampa Bay Lightning
Philadelphia Flyers
San Jose Sharks

Teams That I'd Be Fine With Cheering For In A Playoff Round
Montreal Canadiens
Vancouver Canucks
Calgary Flames
Florida Panthers
New Jersey Devils
Colorado Avalanche

Teams That Exist, Perhaps
Columbus Blue Jackets
Vegas Golden Knights
Arizona Coyotes
Buffalo Sabres
Dallas Stars
Chicago Blackhawks
St. Louis Blues
New York Islanders
Detroit Red Wings
Nashville Predators
Boston Bruins

Teams I Cannot Bring Myself to Like
Anaheim Ducks
New York Rangers
Minnesota Wild
Pittsburgh PNES
Los Angeles Kings

Teams I irrationally like:
Bruins
Ducks
BJ’s
Caps
Avs
Devs
Canadiens

Teams I irrationally dislike:
Jets
Flames
Blues
Kings
Rags
Yotes

Teams I rationally dislike:
Leafs