Ranking ALL 32 NHL Reverse Retro Jerseys

Today is the day! The NHL has released all 32 Reverse Retro 2.0 uniforms for the 2022/23 season. The Reverse Retro program was a fantastic promotion when it was first introduced in 2021. I've been so excited for these to release, and some of the leaks have gotten me even more excited. There looks like there will be some awesome jerseys this season, so let's get into my rankings! Instead of ranking them 32 to 1, I'm going to sort them into tiers and explain each one. I'll still try to rank them within each tier, but this should make the article more readable. 

Okay, the jerseys have been released now, and I am thrilled! There are so many great jerseys! Let's rank them!

Lottery Pick

These are the jerseys that either missed the assignment altogether or just look bad. In this section we have Nashville, Ottawa, Minnesota, Winnipeg, and Tampa Bay. The Predators, Senators, and Wild all look decent. They aren't terrible jerseys, but I just think they should have tried harder. Nashville basically just recolored a previous alternate that didn't really look great the first time around. Ottawa redesigned their old away jersey, but now it just looks like their current home jersey. Minnesota essentially just reversed their previous reverse retro which feels pretty cheap to me. 

Winnipeg and Tampa just didn't create good looking jerseys. The Jets took the logo we all want to see and threw it on a reverse of their 2018 alternate jerseys that didn't go over very well. The Lightning remixed their 1996 alternates to create some truly nuts jerseys. While they are fun, they aren't appealing. 

Just Missed

The "Just Missed" category is the home for jerseys that understood the assignment, but didn't execute, or executed, but on the wrong assignment. Arizona, Detroit, Chicago, San Jose, and Philadelphia fall into the first bucket. I think they all gave this project a fair shot, but they just didn't quite nail it. Arizona came close, but the burnt orange just isn't quite working for me. Detroit and Chicago look like they both copied each other's homework, and they both get a C. I respect their effort, and to be fair to them they both had to work with little material, but nonetheless it didn't quite work. San Jose and Philly both also gave good efforts, but the jerseys just leave something to be desired. 

Toronto, Seattle, and Montreal all came up with pretty decent jerseys, but I'm not sure they understood what they were supposed to do. They all look like alternate jerseys rather than reverse retros. They look decent, but didn't quite nail the prompt. The Islanders fall into a strange bucket, because they seem to have somewhat understood the assignment, but not fully. They didn't change the base color of their original Fisherman jersey, and they also made it less funky. Both bad decisions for this project.

Wild Card

These are all solid jerseys. Some of them are solid because they nailed the assignment, some are solid because they just look really nice. The Hurricanes, Rangers, Penguins, and Golden Knights all came up with REALLY solid jerseys. The Hurricanes' jersey looks like it could be their primary home jersey. It's awesome. The Penguins and Rangers jerseys both look really nice, but they were SO close to being perfect. If the Rangers went with a red base and the Pens went with yellow, both have excellent reverse retros. As it is, they fall into the Wild Card tier. Vegas had a tough assignment, because they're such a new franchise, but they really should have released these as regular third jerseys, especially with the change to gold as their primary. 

The Canucks and Ducks both have solid RRs, but in the case of the Canucks, the chest number just looks a little odd. The Ducks have used that logo as a regular alternate plenty of times, so it loses a bit of it's weight when it's used as a throwback to the original. Columbus I don't have much to say about. It's a fine jersey, but almost looks like a knockoff that you'd find at Marshall's. The Sabres jersey looks okay, but they just didn't put a lot of effort into it. Upon reflection, they easily could've gone into the just missed category. 

Playoff Bound

Now we get to the jerseys I really like. I'll try not to go on too long here, but I could write an essay on any of these. The Avalanche nailed it, and honestly produced my favorite jerseys. The only reason I didn't pick them as the best was because they already have the real Cup. These are just phenomenally clean jerseys that also took the assignment and turned it on its head in the best way. Using the Colorado Rockies colors, which also are the Colorado state colors but using it with the current Avalanche template is a brilliant combo. The Oilers took one of my favorite alternate jerseys and made them even better by adding a pop of orange. 

The Panthers and Blues both created new designs but still reversed their traditional colors and they both KILLED it. The only reason they didn't win this contest is because they didn't use a previous design. The Stars get the award for most improved, because last time their jersey STUNK and this time it's pretty decent. They did exactly what they needed to do. The Kings, Bruins, and Devils all did a pretty good job. The Kings jersey looks great, and could be a regular away jersey, the Bruins took a jersey that was and is divisive and made a FUN alternate option (emphasis on FUN - it's not a serious jersey people). The Devils took the Kansas City Scouts jersey and stuck their logo on it, and it works! The Capitals made a jersey that looks good, but also is very close to one they used to wear anyway.

Cup Champs

As I already said, there is a handful of jerseys that could have taken this spot. I've chosen to give it to the Flames because they followed the assignment to a tee and made a visually pleasing jersey at the same time. The only thing that would've made these a more clear knockout would be if they went with a yellow base simply because they did a black jersey last time (and made it their third jersey this season). 

Ultimately, though, Adidas knocked it out of the park this year! They made some awesome jerseys and I cannot wait to watch teams zipping around the ice in these jerseys this season!