With another week of NHL action in the books eDraft gives you the second edition of the 2013-14 NHL Power Rankings. With so much time left to play there will certainly be some movement among the teams.
Boston looked strong, taking out Western Conference powers San Jose and Anaheim on either side of a loss to Pittsburgh. Colorado keeps winning but has lost their starting goaltender due to some off-ice incidents. Toronto has taken over the top spot in the Eastern Conference on their current three game-winning streak.
There is still plenty of hockey left to play but let’s see where the teams land in this week’s ranking.
30. Buffalo Sabres
Captain Thomas Vanek was shipped off to Long Island and the white flag is being raised in Buffalo. Hate to see it, but for long-term success it is the best move for the franchise to sell and get value in return.
29. Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers are surrendering almost four goals per game. They need to take a hint from Buffalo and start the fire sale and rebuild.
28. Florida Panthers
Does anyone expect the Panthers to go anywhere? The answer is no, so look for Florida to move their high profile veterans. Their season is in the tank.
27. Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are a tough watch right now. Claude Giroux still hasn’t scored a goal and the losses are mounting. They made a nice move acquiring Steve Downie which could bring some fire and more inspired play to a sluggish crew.
26. New York Rangers
A nice shutout win over the terrible Sabres will give a moment of relief to the struggling blue shirts. Henrik Lundqvist is back and appears to be healthy, but that’s the only bright spot. A rivalry win over the Islanders was nice but don’t get your hopes up.
25. Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes need to stop the free fall that began with the news that Cam Ward will be out for a month with a knee injury. Worse news was that the Canes were already without their backup Anton Khudobin. Yikes!
24. New Jersey Devils
Like the Rangers, New Jersey has won their last two games. Martin Brodeur put on his fancy pants from yesteryear leading the Devils to wins at Boston and home to Tampa Bay. Both are impressive, but I’m not ready to move New Jersey out of the bottom third just yet.
23. Calgary Flames
The nice story about the fast start in Calgary could be coming to an end. Five losses in their last seven could be the beginning of a landslide to the bottom of the standings. The Flames are a plucky bunch and will circle the wagons to recover, but their goaltending and the loss of Mark Giordano might be too much to overcome.
22. Winnipeg Jets
The Jets continue to trudge on selling out their arena and playing below average hockey. They do nothing particularly well and have two shootout wins with six losses in their past eight. The Jets skate hard and play competitive hockey, but continue to do so with little success.
21. Ottawa Senators
I suppose maybe the Senators need one of their top players to get hurt before they can start winning games? Granted the Sens had San Jose, Anaheim and Chicago on their 0-3 week, but they are too talented to get skunked like that.
20. Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus hasn’t played all week since a 4-3 Sunday loss to Anaheim. The defeat ended a three game run for the Jackets who will look to make some noise with a home-and-home series with Pittsburgh this weekend.
19. Washington Capitals
After showing some signs of life, the Capitals looked like dogs against Vancouver and Calgary. Alexander Ovechkin is dinged up with a “lower body injury” which is bad news for a one-horse team like Washington.
18. Nashville Predators
Do you think the Predators miss Pekka Rinne much? A monumental collapse against Phoenix magnified the absence of the regular guy between the pipes.
17. Dallas Stars
The Stars need to decide what kind of team they are going to be. They have no streak in any direction longer than two games and are in danger of getting left behind in the Central Division. They are still only four points behind Minnesota for fourth place, but they will lament losing the easy games in October when the playoff push comes in April.
16. New York Islanders
Sadly the Islanders seem to be performing where they are used to. Even after the splashy trade that swapped Vanek for Matt Moulson, (the Isles are 0-2 since) weaknesses are still being exploited in goal and team scoring depth. This is the time that New York needs to keep up with Pittsburgh and not look at the pile of incompetence below them in the Metro Division.
15. Minnesota Wild
The Wild want so badly to keep their name in playoff relevance and have racked up some significant early season wins. Before his lower body injury/groin pull, Josh Harding was playing like an all star. The Wild still struggle to score and if they want to be a legitimate contender they’ll need someone other than Zach Parise to step up.
14. Montreal Canadiens
Carey Price has been the main reason that the Canadiens are sitting so high in the rankings. They’ll need to find some scoring soon, because Price has shown that he can have some interruptions in his focus over the course of the season.
13. Detroit Red Wings
A solid away win in Vancouver has the Red Wings primed for a big road trip this week. Coach Mike Babcock was rightfully pissed off at the lazy and sloppy play of his team and will look to galvanize the club with some big road wins.
12. Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks quietly are hanging out with the big dogs in the Pacific Division. Before a tough loss to Detroit on Wednesday, Vancouver had won four straight and six of eight. John Tortorella has the Canucks believing they can play with anyone and Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin look like they have found the fountain of youth.
11. Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning have seven wins in their last ten games and at one point were at the top of the division. They need to beat teams that are below them in the standings if they have designs on the playoffs. They made Martin Brodeur look 25 when they lost in New Jersey on Tuesday.
10. Los Angeles Kings
The Kings looked really good coming back against San Jose three times before taking the Sharks out in overtime. It could be a flash in the pan or a sign that Los Angeles is ready to step up and play some good hockey.
9. Anaheim Ducks
A shootout loss in Boston is nothing to hang your head about and Anaheim will be just fine. They are 3-3 on a tough eight-game east coast road trip so far with games in New York (Rangers) and Buffalo.
8. Boston Bruins
The Bruins continue to be a heavyweight contender across the NHL, taking out the Anaheim Ducks after a tough loss in Pittsburgh. They seemed to shake off the collapse against New Jersey Saturday and are still one of the teams to beat in the east.
7. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pens emerged from a three-game slide with wins over Carolina and Boston. Kris Letang returned to bolster the blue-line, though Rob Scuderi was lost with a broken ankle. Scoring has never been a problem for Pittsburgh, but the Pens have been doing it with defense.
6. Chicago Blackhawks
The defending champs avenged a bad loss to Minnesota with a 5-1 whooping in Xcel Energy Center and a 6-5 goal fiesta against the slumping Senators. Remember what I said about that defense last week?
5. St. Louis Blues
The Blues have played the fewest games in the NHL so far (10) but continue to impress with stingy defense and great overall team scoring. No individual stars, but a total team play that can skate with anyone.
4. Phoenix Coyotes
Maybe it was the home cooking, but the Coyotes looked good in their last three games to move into the top five this week. An impressive comeback against Nashville gives Phoenix their third win in a row.
3. Toronto Maple Leafs
An impressive 4-1 whipping of Pittsburgh at home kicked off a solid week for the Leafs who took over the top spot in the conference. They are currently on a west coast tour to test themselves against half of the Pacific Division (the easy half).
2. San Jose Sharks
In spite of a tough overtime loss in Los Angeles, the Sharks are still one of the teams to watch in the west. They are still playing without Brent Burns and Dan Boyle and have only a last second loss at Boston to blemish their record.
1. Colorado Avalanche
I’m still not sold on the Avs long-term, but I have to give props until they prove to me that they shouldn’t be at the top. Losing Semyon Varlamov could be a huge blow especially if J.S. Giguere starts to show his age.