We are days away from the March 8 deadline and knowing the full makeup of the Stanley Cup hopefuls. While some pretenders have exposed their true nature, a number of bubble teams are still treading water, still deciding how important making the playoffs really is to them. We’ll find out next Friday which teams are desperate to continue their season into late April. Here are this month’s Herald Power Rankings (Friday/Saturday games not included):

1. Florida Panthers – There are no juggernauts in today’s NHL. But of all the contenders, the Panthers seem to have the fewest flaws at the moment. They hold identical 20-8-2 home and away records. Machine-like.

2. New York Rangers – The Blueshirts have gotten a boost in their spirits with the call-up of 6-foot-8 brawler Matt Rempe. But the return to form of Igor Shesterkin (1.72 GAA, .953 save percentage in February) is what will matter when the playoffs begin.

3. Vancouver Canucks – Are the ‘Nucks just going through a down spell every team does (4-5-1 in last 10) or are they finally coming back down to Earth? March will tell us more.

4. Boston Bruins – Lost leads are reaching epidemic levels and the goaltending has not been able to stop the bleeding as it once did. And yet here they are, heading into March in a points-tie for the league lead.

5. Winnipeg Jets – The Jets have rebounded from their own lull. They are the stingiest team in the league (2.38 GAA), which should translate well in the playoffs.

6. Carolina Hurricanes – After an eyebrow-raising slow start, the Canes are looking like the team they were expected to be. Their 36 wins gives them one more than the B’s. Goaltending is still a question but they’re not a team you’d relish seeing in the first round.

7. Dallas Stars – The acquisition of Chris Tanev should help the Stars’ sagging defensive game (ranked 14th in the NHL in GAA at 3.00). But the Stars were hampered on the back end when they came to the Garden a couple of weeks ago and nearly pulled out the win.

8. Colorado Avalanche – The heart says the Avs should be higher than this, but the head looks at the 14-13-5 road record and thinks better of it.

9. Vegas Golden Knights – The defending Stanley Cup champions were missing two players who could be any team’s most valuable skaters (Jack Eichel and Mark Stone) and threw a major scare in the B’s. After the long run last year, the wear and tear may be catching up to the Knights, however.

10. Toronto Maple Leafs – An 8-2 run has kept both the Panthers and B’s honest, but their 3.15 GAA (20th in the league) remains an issue. Auston Matthews appears to be on a mission to get to 70 goals. With two games against the B’s next week, the Leafs could make the Atlantic race very interesting.

11. Edmonton Oilers – The Oil has as many wins (35) as the B’s in four fewer games. But for as hot as Edmonton has been under Kris Knoblauch, the Oilers are still not the hardest team to play against in their own zone.

12. Detroit Red Wings – The Wings run hot and cold and they’re overly reliant on outrunning teams in track meets, but it appears as though they’ve finally broken through to be a playoff team. And they’ll be dangerous come playoff time.

13. Philadelphia Flyers – In just his second season, John Tortorella has successfully remade the Flyers in his image, tough and stubborn. But the Flyers still haven’t found a way to shut down David Pastrnak yet.

14. Tampa Bay Lightning – Nikita Kucherov is this voter’s Hart Trophy leader at the moment. If the Bolts manage to land Noah Hanifin, that should put some legitimate fear into the rest of the Eastern Conference.

15. Los Angeles Kings – After nearly falling off a cliff, the Kings appear to have righted themselves, though the Adrian Kempe injury is a concern.

16. Nashville Predators – Which way the Preds go from here is anyone’s guess. They’re inside the playoff structure but they could be active in moving players out at the deadline. But GM Barry Trotz did his best to squash Juuse Saros trade rumors.

17. New Jersey Devils – The Devils can score, but they can’t keep other teams from scoring. That’s usually not a winning formula.

18. New York Islanders – A couple of good road wins in Dallas and Detroit had the Isles back within five points of Philly and a playoff spot. Can Patrick Roy deliver this team to the post-season?

19. Washington Capitals – The Caps, they of the minus-33 goal differential, were six points back of the Flyers with two games in hand.

20. Calgary Flames – Technically, the Flames are still in the running for a playoff spot. But they’ve peeled off Elias Lindholm and Tanev, and they’re expected to move Hanifin by the deadline. Can’t see them hanging much longer.

21. St. Louis Blues – After getting a new-coach bump, the Blues have cooled off lately (4-5-1 in their last 10).

22. Seattle Kraken – Thanks to the B’s handing them two points on Monday, the Kraken’s playoff hopes remain on life support.

23. Pittsburgh Penguins – How does a team that has Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson have the 29th ranked power play? One of the great mysteries of our time.

24. Minnesota Wild – Some nights the Wild look like world-beaters. Too many other nights? Not so much.

25. Buffalo Sabres – Now that the playoffs are just about out of reach, the Sabres are making their annual push.

26. Ottawa Senators – Ditto. One of these days, the young talent on these two teams will wake up.

27. Montreal Canadiens – The Habs are sliding toward the Macklin Celebrini sweepstakes.

28. Arizona Coyotes – Once again, the league won’t have to worry about whether Coyotes make the playoffs in their college arena. After a promising start, the ‘Yotes were on a 14-game losing streak heading into their Friday game against Ottawa.

29. Columbus Blue Jackets – Another year down the drain. Another GM-to-be-named-later on deck.

30. Anaheim Ducks – The only question left this season is whether the Ducks decide to move on from any of the young talent.

31. Chicago Blackhawks – Connor Bedard should be getting another great young talent to play with him next year. It might behoove management to pick up a nasty type to protect the lads.

32. San Jose Sharks – It’s going to be a long road back to respectability, but GM Mike Grier should get a decent building block in June’s draft.