NHL Power Rankings: Bruins Stay First as the Sharks Leap Frog the Blue Jackets

Welcome back to the ever-popular NHL power rankings at The Hockey News. Published every Wednesday, all 32 teams will be ranked from best to worst with an emphasis on their weekly performances.

Happy American Thanksgiving!

During this joyous time of the year, don’t forget this is also the unofficial D-Day for the playoffs. If you are out of a playoff position by this time of the year, or at least within a win or two of a top-eight spot, odds are you’re unlikely to make the cut. Carol Schram will have a closer look at that on Thursday.

In the East, the Penguins, Devils, Sabres and Senators face the uphill climb despite a lot of pre-season hype, and in the West, it’s the Wild and Oilers who are in dire straits.

It’s not totally impossible; the Blues made a heck of a run in 2019, but that sort of thing almost never happens, and keep in mind they were 7-9-3 when they named Craig Berube coach and 15-18-4 before Jordan Binnington was called up. Some of the teams are well under that mark right now, and for the Oilers, unless Calvin Pickard is the next coming of Binnington, there’s no help in goal.

But, being that this is the time of the year to be thankful, this week’s NHL power rankings are a little more positive than usual. For starters, the Sharks are no longer last (hurrah!), and the Flyers and Lightning are big climbers. I was a little too harsh on the Flyers the past week, and as a result, they make the biggest jump. The Red Wings, Ducks, Canadiens and Coyotes are the biggest fallers; the early-season shine has certainly worn off as they try to win games more consistently.

(All fancy stats are 5-on-5 and courtesy naturalstattrick.com. CF% stands for Corsi-for percentage, and xGF% represents expected goals-for percentage.)

1. Boston Bruins (13-1-3, +23. CF% league rank: 19, xGF% league rank: 12)

The Bruins retain the top spot for the second straight week with many thanks to a historically good tandem that everyone felt was going to regress this season. Jeremy Swayman remains undefeated in regulation.

2. Vegas Golden Knights (13-4-2, +20. CF%: 16, xGF%: 14)

We’ll give the Knights the benefit of the doubt, but five losses in seven games is not a good look, including two shutout losses. The offense has suddenly gone dry, and they’re a very pedestrian 5-3-1 on the road.

3. Dallas Stars (12-4-1, +13. CF%: 10, xGF%: 6)

Imagine if Jason Robertson can get going. He’s still scoring at a pretty good clip at 0.88 points per game, but the goals aren’t there, and he’s been dropped to Wyatt Johnston’s line lately.

4. New York Rangers (12-3-1, +15. CF%: 21, xGF%: 21)

Their 6-3 loss to the Stars on Monday was their first loss in regulation in a month, and they also blew a 2-0 lead by allowing six unanswered goals. They can at least be thankful for Alexis Lafreniere’s breakout season, but Mika Zibanejad is going through a tough slump right now.

5. Los Angeles Kings (11-3-3, +22. CF%: 4, xGF%: 1)

They remind me of the early 2010s, Cup-winning versions with a deep, veteran lineup, Drew Doughty doing it all on the blueline, very good goaltending and excellent underlying numbers. No one should be surprised if they go all the way.

6. Florida Panthers (12-5-1, +8. CF%: 6, xGF%: 10)

Having Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad back should help in a big way, and while they backdoored their way into the playoffs last season, they legitimately look like a good team this season. They should be thankful that they have a reliable backup (again).

7. Toronto Maple Leafs (10-5-2, +3. CF%: 12, xGF%: 23)

They’ve rattled off four straight wins, but they’ve been close contests. Though goaltending remains a bit of a headache, thankfully, they probably don’t have to go outside the organization to find a solution. Between Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll, they should have it covered. The trick is figuring out the rotation and matchups.

8. Vancouver Canucks (13-5-1, +32. CF%: 14, xGF%: 24)

A bit of a stumble with two straight losses to divisional rivals, but it’s overshadowed by Quinn Hughes’ truly exceptional play and being thankful that six other teams passed on him in 2018. He’s 18 points behind Brady Tkachuk for most points in that draft class despite playing 72 fewer games.

9. Winnipeg Jets (10-5-2, +9. CF%: 7, xGF%: 11)

Connor Hellebuyck seems to be turning it around, and that’ll be the difference between being in the playoff race versus locking up a top-three spot in the Central.

10. Colorado Avalanche (11-6-0, +12. CF%: 3, xGF%: 2)

They’re winning games, but the blowout losses are slightly concerning. You wonder if they can just flip a switch when the playoffs start, and it’s a tough week coming up with the Canucks on Wednesday and then a back-to-back with travel against the Wild and Flames.

11. Washington Capitals (9-4-2, -1. CF%: 25, xGF%: 27)

They keep defying the odds with just one loss in regulation since the end of October, but despite the four-game winning streak, they still have a negative goal differential. They’ve played just five games on the road, but they play nine of their next 13 on the road.

12. Tampa Bay Lightning (9-6-4, -1. CF%: 11, xGF%: 20)

They’re on a three-game winning streak, but it’s a bit of a double-edged sword; they’re scoring a lot but also getting scored on a lot. That will change when Andrei Vasilevskiy comes back and, thankfully, that’s sooner than later.

13. Philadelphia Flyers (10-7-1, +8. CF%: 15, xGF%: 9)

After losing seven of nine games, the Flyers have now won five straight, and three of them were against excellent teams, too. It’s a tough schedule coming up with the Isles and Pens twice each and the Devils, Rangers and Hurricanes.

14. Carolina Hurricanes (10-7-0, +2. CF%: 1, xGF%: 3)

Still not sure what to think of this team because they can be so erratic. Obviously, they work well as a unit, and they’re excellent at suppressing shots, but it’s also tough to say which player(s) they will lean on from game to game.

15. New Jersey Devils (8-7-1, -3. CF%: 5, xGF%: 5)

The return of Jack Hughes alone boosts the Devils up a couple of spots, but they need to right the ship in a hurry, having lost five of their last seven games.

16. Pittsburgh Penguins (9-8-0, +12. CF%: 8, xGF%: 7)

Injuries to Bryan Rust, their best winger, and Rickard Rakell, their biggest underperformer, are going to hurt a team that was already thin on scoring talent. After winning five straight, they lost two straight to divisional opponents and then somehow shut out the Knights with Alex Nedeljkovic in net.

17. Ottawa Senators (8-7-0, +8. CF%: 24, xGF%: 29)

The positive goal differential indicates the Sens have very good scoring talent, but everything else, including the possession metrics, hints that this is a bad team. They’ve fallen short of expectations but have won three straight.

18. Detroit Red Wings (8-6-3, +4. CF%: 23, xGF%: 25)

They’ve only won twice in regulation since Oct. 24, and both were one-goal games. The Wings are trying all sorts of things to snap out of their funk, and most recently, they split up Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat, who had been very effective earlier this season.

19. St. Louis Blues (9-7-1, even. CF%: 30, xGF%: 30)

We’re now entering a tier of mediocre teams that are unlikely to make the playoffs. The Blues are somehow two games above .500 after going 1-2-0 with a minus-6 goal differential through California, and the most interesting storyline might be the battle in the crease between Joel Hofer and Jordan Binnington.

20. Anaheim Ducks (9-9-0, -5. CF%: 28, xGF%: 28)

They’ve lost three straight, including an ugly 8-2 loss to the Avs, and their six-game winning streak seems pretty long ago. On the other hand, it’s nice to see John Gibson back to his all-star, game-stealing form. It’s by far his best performance in six seasons.

21. Calgary Flames (7-8-3, -11. CF%: 9, xGF%: 13)

Things are turning around; after falling five games under .500 at the beginning of November, they’re just one game below. It’s a little difficult to believe that it’s the Flames who are snapping out of their funk between the two Alberta teams, even though half the defense is in the rumor mill.

22. New York Islanders (6-6-5, -12. CF%: 26, xGF%: 18)

When Ilya Sorokin struggles, so will this team. We all knew that, and now it’s happening. They’ve got so many contracts tied to role players that it’s hard to see how they’ll improve from here. Their shootout win against the Flames narrowly avoided an eighth straight loss.

23. Seattle Kraken (7-8-5, -18. CF%: 13, xGF%: 15)

They still can’t string together more than two wins and are no closer to figuring out their goalies. Jaden Schwartz was red-hot but now ice-cold with one point in five games, but Eeli Tolvanen’s picked up the slack with eight points in nine games. The big takeaway, though? The Kraken might loser-point their way into a wild-card spot.

24. Buffalo Sabres (8-9-1, -6. CF%: 18, xGF%: 16)

They have not scored more than three goals in their last six games, and it’s only going to get harder without Tage Thompson. It’s hard to string together wins when you’ve only got eight of them, and this time last season, the Sabres already had two three-game winning streaks. (And an eight-game losing streak, but we’ll ignore that for now).

25. Arizona Coyotes (8-8-2, +1. CF%: 29, xGF%: 19)

They’ve basically alternated wins and losses, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence because they’ve steadfastly refused to give Connor Ingram the net. Just do it already.

26. Edmonton Oilers (5-11-1, -16. CF%: 2, xGF%: 4)

The Oilers’ biggest supporters may insist they have a chance, and they certainly do, but it’s mighty slim. The new coach bump lasted two games before their goalies allowed 11 goals in two games. Not only will the Oilers have to go on an extended winning streak, but they’ll also need teams ahead of them to fall off.

27. Nashville Predators (7-10-0, -5. CF%: 20, xGF%: 8)

Two straight wins stopped the bleeding, but this has been a very subpar season for Juuse Saros, and he’s the backbone of that team. With Tommy Novak and Cody Glass both injured, they don’t have any more centers.

28. Montreal Canadiens (7-9-2, -14. CF%: 27, xGF%: 26)

That’s now two separate four-game losing streaks for the Habs, and note they have only two (!) wins in regulation.

29. Minnesota Wild (5-8-4, -16. CF%: 17, xGF%: 17)

This is becoming hard to watch because the goaltending is so bad, and their top players have been the headline in their disappearing act. The Wild are cap-strapped, so they can’t do much, and no amount of yelling by Bill Guerin will change that.

30. Chicago Blackhawks (5-11-0, -16. CF%: 31, xGF%: 32)

Their four-game losing streak is the longest of the season, and, honestly, I thought it’d be worse than that. Connor Bedard is putting together a fantastic rookie season for the ages, likely one of the best in the cap era.

31. San Jose Sharks (3-14-1, -49. CF%: 32, xGF%: 31)

The Sharks are thankful for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

32. Columbus Blue Jackets (4-11-4, -19. CF%: 22, xGF%: 22)

A nine-game winless streak isn’t even the worst streak of the season, but it’s certainly the worst streak right now. The Sharks are probably annoyed they have competition in the Macklin Celebrini sweepstakes now.