Welcome back to another edition of NHL Power Rankings here at Full Press Hockey.
Even though there are still postponements happening, the NHL is still moving forward with their schedule. It will be interesting to see how they get through finishing the full 82-game schedule. While some teams have been hurt by these postponements, one team remains above the rest when it comes to these postponements. And that is the Florida Panthers. The Panthers continue to click on all cylinders. While the Panthers remain number one, others teams are starting to creep up right behind as there was some shakeup inside the Top 10.
Time to dive into the NHL Power Rankings and find out where these teams stand.
The Florida Panthers are one of the most complete teams in the NHL. Top to bottom they do not have a weakness and it shows with their play on the ice. Having Aaron Ekblad certainly helps too.
The Colorado Avalanche are right in the mix of things in the Central Division as they have five of six games. Cale Makar is the talk of the town, but Nazem Kadri has 46 points in 29 games.
The Penguins continue to climb up the power rankings off the backs of a 10-game winning streak. Pittsburgh is getting healthier as Evgeni Malkin is returning to the lineup, but they have done this on the backs of Evan Rodrigues and Jake Guentzel this season.
The Blues are playing really well on home ice and are turning into a true Stanley Cup contender. Jordan Kyrou continues to amaze as he is having a breakout season.
The Bruins have won five of their last six games including dominating wins over the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning. Boston could be getting Tuukka Rask back soon, but it is their depth scoring that is impressive.
There was a lot of talk of the Golden Knights needing a first-line centre. Hence why they went out and got Jack Eichel. Who knew Chandler Stephenson was this good as he leads the team in points.
The Hurricanes are playing well despite some injuries creeping into their goaltending position. Carolina is playing like their head coach Rod Brind’Amour would. And who would have thought Tony DeAngelo would be fourth in the team in scoring.
We have not seen much of the Maple Leafs recently with all the postponements in the NHL. But what we have seen is two wild games and two blown leads. Lucky for the Maple Leafs they won against Vegas.
The New York Rangers are starting to get hit with COVID and it shows with their performance on the ice. Clearly, Igor Shesterkin is being missed not to mention other significant players.
The Stanley Cup Champions are still adjusting to having some players missing because of COVID. However, they did get Nikita Kucherov back which has helped Brayden Point.
The Predators continue to lead the Central Division playing really good defensive hockey. Not to mention they continue to get production from Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen.
The Capitals have hit a bit of a rough patch recently. They have lost three of four games and were badly outplayed against the Bruins. It doesn’t help that Alex Ovechkin had one assist and is a -6.
The Wild fell off the pace they set at the beginning of the season however, they are keeping pace with the Predators, as the Wild have won two in a row despite injuries to key players.
While the Ducks have cooled off some since the return from the pause, Troy Terry continues to be red-hot. With the return of Trevor Zegras the Ducks are in business, they just need to find a way to score more goals.
15. Los Angeles Kings (Last Week 16)
The Los Angeles Kings, like the Ducks, have embraced the youth movement. It took some time, but the kids are a reason why the Kings are still in the playoff picture. Oh yeah, Jonathan Quick‘s resurgence helps too.
The Flames are moving in the wrong direction as they continue to struggle since returning from their COVID pause. What makes things worse they have been outscored 16-6 in the previous three games.
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The Canucks have put themselves in a position to be in the playoff mix under head coach Bruce Boudreau. They still have a lot of ground to make up to make the playoffs, but they can if Thatcher Demko is going to play like this.
The Jets are so hard to figure out. One minute they are really good, the next minute not so much. Defensively they should be better than they are.
Another team that is hard to figure out are the Dallas Stars. The runner-up in the bubble, the Stars have the potential to get back there. They just need to dig deeper and put wins together.
20. New York Islanders (Last Week 21)
The Islanders move up by default. Though they have not played in a long time, the Islanders are getting healthy. The strategy has to be trust the kids.
The Oilers have real problems up and down their roster. While Ken Holland says he won’t fire the coach mid-season, this team looks like they have given up on Dave Tippett. The Oilers have to find a way to stop the puck.
The Devils have won four of their last five games with Jack Hughes establishing himself as an elite player by recoding 12 points in those five games.
The Sharks continue to exceed expectations in a much more competitive Pacific Division than most thought it would be. For the Sharks the question will be can they sustain this and finally cut ties with Evander Kane?
The Red Wings continue to get better in the front office by bringing in Nicklas Lidstrom. There is little doubt the Red Wings will once again be a consistent playoff team in the NHL.
The Flyers are not getting to the point in their season whether they decide it is time to move on from Claude Giroux.
It was a good start while it lasted for the Blue Jackets. It was just so hard for them to maintain the pace they had without many scoring options upfront.
The Blackhawks had one bright in a season that has been dismal when Marc-Andre Fleury picked up the win against his former team the Golden Knights this past week.
COVID is becoming an issue again for the Senators. They are having multiple games postponed yet they still managed to move up a spot in the rankings. Frustration is starting to set in.
29. Seattle Kraken (Last Week 27)
Time to face some harsh facts… the Kraken are a bad team. They did themselves no favours in the expansion draft, and the coach is not helping matters either.
The Arizona Coyotes are in total rebuild mode as the trade deadline approaches. So many players are on the block. To top it all they can’t get a new arena approved.
You have to feel bad Buffalo as they have such a loyal fanbase that deserves much more than this. To make matters worse they had Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues on the same roster.
32. Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens remain on pause and that might be the best thing for them. At some point, you have to wonder if they should just forfeit the rest of the season and focus on next year.
That does it for this edition of NHL Power Rankings… Stay Tuned for another edition next week.
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