We are only a week away from the opening ceremonies in Sochi, Russia. The NHL schedule runs through the opening on February 6th with the last games being played on Saturday February 8th.

The league reconvenes on February 26th with a gold medal and bragging rights in tow for a proud nation and players. The push for the playoffs has already begun and the trade deadline is nearing for teams looking to fortify their roster. With so much parity in the league and so many teams realistically lingering in the postseason picture there are only a handful of clear-cut sellers.

The playoff picture is being photo bombed by at least ten teams that will not be in the second season. It is starting to look like a win streak at the right time could be the difference between Stanley Cup dreams and golf trips in the spring. Here are your eDraft Power Rankings 16.0.

30. Buffalo Sabres-Clearly the Sabres fall in to the category of “sellers” with their biggest question determining where Ryan Miller will land.

29. Edmonton Oilers-The Oilers have won three games in a row but can’ be taken seriously as anything more than a last place team in the Pacific Division. Ben Scrivens channeled his inner Bobrovsky with a record setting performance, but the realist wonders how the hell Edmonton could allow 59 shots in a 60 minute game?

28. Calgary Flames-The current holders of the longest winning streak in the NHL (four games). Even with the four consecutive victories Calgary is only 6-7-1 in 2014. 

27. Florida Panthers-Whatever momentum the Panthers had built in south beach has left. Only four wins in the last ten games and games against Boston and Toronto can kill any teams’ confidence.

26. Washington Capitals-The Capitals could be watching their season swirling down the toilet. It doesn’t even seem to matter how well Alexander Ovechkin plays anymore. There are just too many holes in the roster for Washington to make a viable playoff run.

25. Winnipeg Jets-The shine has worn off of the Jets and their new coach, and now they are back to being just a below average hockey team. They are sitting at exactly .500, 25-25-5 and they probably should be.

24. New York Islanders-After playing themselves back into respectability, the Isles had Pittsburgh, Boston, St. Louis and the Stadium Series against the rival Rangers. Going 0-3-1 against those four teams is nothing to be ashamed of, but if the Isles wanted to make a statement and a playoff push, they needed to do better.

23. Nashville Predators-Bad news for Nashville is that their captain Shea Weber is now nicked up. The pesky Preds are a tough game but need to string some wins together if they want to make the postseason.

22. Detroit Red Wings-The roster audition continues in Hockeytown as the Red Wings groom their next generation of star Europeans with a trial by fire. I’ve been down on Detroit all year, but they might actually be a decent team once they get their stars back.

21. Carolina Hurricanes-The season has been one of streaks in each direction for Carolina. Their most recent four game winning streak came to an end against Montreal on Tuesday. Based on recent history the Canes should probably lose three more games in succession.

20. Dallas Stars-The Stars blew a huge opportunity to gain some ground on Colorado last Monday.  With a three-game win streak going where they outscored Pittsburgh, Toronto and Minnesota 14-1, the Stars choked. A 4-3 home loss gave Colorado a 12-point advantage over Dallas.

19. New Jersey Devils-Shockingly the Devils are only four points out of second place in the Metropolitan Division. They may not have the horses to get there, but they are in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff picture despite being a slightly above average team.

18. Phoenix Coyotes-The Coyotes have picked the worst time to play their worst hockey in the past two years. The only thing keeping them alive in the playoff picture is that the teams above them in the standings keep losing too.

17. Ottawa Senators-The Sens are currently clinging to the final playoff spot in the east, but there is a lot of hockey left to play. There are plenty of reasons to believe in Ottawa as a playoff team, and they are starting to prove that.

16. Philadelphia Flyers-The Flyers are looking rough as they head out west for a difficult road trip. Games against Los Angeles and San Jose will make it tough for a team that has already lost five of six.

15. Columbus Blue Jackets-An eight game winning streak put Columbus in the thick of the playoff hunt. A three game losing streak almost took them right back out of it before Thursday’s win against the Capitals. Ironically the Jackets have won with offense this season. If Sergei Bobrovsky can repeat his stretch performance last year, Columbus could get to the postseason for the second time in franchise history.

14. Vancouver Canucks-Missing their coach has hurt the Canucks during their most recent slide. Six losses in the last ten have Vancouver on the playoff bubble. A three-point lead in the wildcard has a bull’s-eye squarely on their back.

13. Minnesota Wild-2014 has been a good year for Minnesota so far. A 9-4-1 record since January 1 has put the Wild back in the playoff hunt. Zach Parise returning to the lineup could provide the spark that they need to keep the postseason dream alive.

12. Los Angeles Kings-The Kings are playing some bad hockey right now and have lost seven of eight. In those eight games they have managed to score only ten goals. Their single victory was a 1-0 win over San Jose. Lots of firepower on paper, but scoring is a major problem for the Kings.

11. New York Rangers-The Rangers have benefitted from a New Year’s reboot, going 9-3-1 since the calendar changed. The key has been Henrik Lundqvist who has gone 7-3-1 with a 1.99  GAA and a .934 save percentage.

10. Montreal Canadiens-The Habs will hit the Olympic break in a good spot. Barring a catastrophic losing streak Montreal will sit comfortably in the top wildcard spot. Four of five games at home before the break against teams below them in the standings should help their cause.

9. San Jose Sharks-The Sharks have been streaky all season long and fortunately the winning streaks have been much longer than the losing streaks. Their current three game skid is particularly costly since the six points lost could have brought San Jose within five points of Anaheim.

8. Tampa Bay Lightning-The injury to Ben Bishop doesn’t look to be serious as the Tampa Vezina candidate should be back in net this weekend. The Lightning had close Boston’s lead to two points before their last two losses. Someone named Steven Stamkos could rejoin Tampa Bay later next week. I hear he’s pretty good.

7. Toronto Maple Leafs-Possibly the hottest team in hockey right now, the Leafs have gone 8-1-1 in their last ten. They have climbed the standings past the wildcard picture and have their sights set on the top seed in the Atlantic Division.

6. Colorado Avalanche-It’s officially time to anoint the Avalanche as real contenders in the Western Conference. The goaltending has held up through 50 games and Avs are winning tough games. They have some balanced scoring and are a lot deeper than everyone gave them credit for.

5. Boston Bruins-The Bruins laid an egg at home against rival Montreal and had their stud goalie Tuukka Rask sent to the showers early. Boston plays three of their four games before the break at home and will look to get back on the winning track with home dates against Edmonton, Vancouver and Ottawa

4. St. Louis Blues-The Blues enjoyed a brief moment at the top of the Central Division before Chicago leapfrogged them. The Blues still have four games in hand to erase the two-point deficit and will try to unseat the defending champs.

3. Pittsburgh Penguins-The top team in the east is taking their elite offense out west for a two game trip that already ran Jonathan Quick off the ice. The Penguins are continuing to stretch the gap between themselves and everyone else in the Eastern Conference. It’s safe to crown them kings of the Metropolitan Division, so now they are playing for home ice in the playoffs.

2. Chicago Blackhawks-When St. Louis tugged on Superman’s cape and knocked the Hawks into second place it seemed to wake up the roster that is cruising towards the playoffs. Chicago might not catch Anaheim for the top seed in the west, they’ll have to worry about holding off St. Louis for the division.

1. Anaheim Ducks-A timely three-game slide from San Jose has helped stretch the Ducks’ lead in the Pacific to 11 points. Anaheim is loaded and they are deep. They have a Hall of Fame winger, Teemu Selanne playing between the second and third lines as an example of the talent that coach Bruce Boudreau has at his disposal. For the third week in a row the Ducks are at the top of the power rankings.