February 18, 2022
By Tab Bamford
POWER RANKINGS
CHICAGO, IL — Congratulations are in order for Sid “The Elder Statesman” Crosby, who reached the 500-goal mark this week. No longer “The Kid,” Crosby continues to provide leadership and skill for the first-place Penguins.
With the bottom team in our Power Rankings bringing in two former Tampa Bay stars to help their organizational culture turn around, we’ll see if Montreal can tap into the Lightning mojo between now and the end of the regular season.
And we’re keeping an eye on the general manager search in Chicago between now and the trade deadline. With things continuing to go the wrong direction for the Blackhawks, they could hold the keys to the league’s trade deadline... but we don’t know who’s going to make the moves when the time arrives. Not yet.
Let’s jump into this week’s Power Rankings. As always, let us know what we got wrong and where we’re spot on.
32. Montreal Canadiens
With a minus-84 goal differential entering Friday, perhaps the Habs should put interim head coach Martin St. Louis and new special advisor Vinnie Lecavalier in uniform for the rest of the season?
31. Arizona Coyotes
When you have eight regulation wins in 48 starts and a minus-72 goal differential and somehow aren’t dead last in our Power Rankings, the other team must be really bad. Montreal is keeping a terrible Yotes squad out of the cellar.
30. New Jersey Devils
The youth movement is coming, but the immediate results aren’t pretty. Jersey is 2-8-0 in their last 10 and their young centers are bad at the dot. This isn’t a lost season, it’s a learning experience.
29. Philadelphia Flyers
With a 2-7-1 record in their last 10, the Flyers have continued sliding the wrong direction. Their minus-47 goal differential is better than only Montreal and Arizona entering Friday. And they can’t trade for James Harden to fix it.
28. Seattle Kraken
Winners of four of their last ten, the Kraken’s 36 points are third-worst in the NHL entering Friday. Their minus-46 goal differential is tied with Chicago for fourth-worst in the league as well. But hey, they’re an expansion team. This is how expansions teams are supposed to look, right?
27. Chicago Blackhawks
You win in Winnipeg and then get your tails whipped on home ice by Columbus. There is no rhyme or reason to how and where the Hawks win this season, but their search for a new general manager will have a huge impact on the league at the trade deadline.
26. Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo is one of seven teams on the wrongs side of a minus-30 goal differential right now and they have an 8-13-4 record on home ice. We expected this season to be rough after the Jack Eichel trade and it has been; they have allowed 170 goals in 49 games.
25. Ottawa Senators
The Sens are 5-5-0 in their last 10 and have climbed to a minus-24 goal differential. The 9-14-1 home record isn’t good enough. At least they can say 15 of their 18 wins have come in regulation.
24. San Jose Sharks
The Sharks are 2-4-4 in their last 10 and are now firmly in the seller column as we get closer to the trade deadline. The offense hasn’t been there consistently enough; they’ve scored 130 in 48 games entering Friday.
23. Columbus Blue Jackets
They won their first meeting with Seth Jones with an offensive outburst in Chicago on Thursday night. And they’re 6-4-0 in their last 10, so things are moving in the right direction... sort of.
22. New York Islanders
The Islanders have games to make up (they have 44 played entering Friday) and have won four of their last ten. But it appears they dug too deep a hole to climb out of to make the playoffs this season. They’ll be an interesting watch before the trade deadline.
21. Detroit Red Wings
Their young offense is coming, but they’re still working out the defensive side of the ice. With a minus-29 goal differential entering Friday, the Wings are showing their age too frequently this season.
20. Boston Bruins
Yeah, we’re dropping the Bruins to 20 this week. They’re 3-5-2 in their last 10 and have a plus-one goal differential entering Friday. Boston is headed in the wrong direction but should still comfortably make the playoffs.
19. Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks are 5-3-2 in their last 10 and 17 of their 23 wins have come in regulation. This season hasn’t gone as planned but the improvement since the coaching change continues to be noticeable.
18. Winnipeg Jets
You can’t lose to the Blackhawks on home ice if you want to make a run for the playoffs. The Jets are 5-4-1 in their last 10 and just 9-9-7 on the road. With the top of the division clearly established, the Jets need to get to work soon if they want a postseason berth.
17. Los Angeles Kings
The Kings are 4-4-2 in their last 10 and, like the Ducks, have been around an even goal differential for a while now. Unlike the Ducks, they’ve been okay away from home; LA is 11-6-5 on the road.
16. Anaheim Ducks
Winners of four of their last ten, the Ducks are just 10-11-5 away from home. Their goal differential continues to hover around break-even but, with 51 games played already, they will have teams around them in the standings making up games in the coming weeks that could see them fall further in the standings.
15. Nashville Predators
The Preds are just 4-5-1 in their last 10 and now have to worry about Dallas catching – and passing – them in the standings. How active will they be around the trade deadline to stay in the playoff mix?
14. Vegas Golden Knights
Jack Eichel made his triumphant return from injury and his Vegas debut this week. They have a lot of questions to answer before the trade deadline, however.
13. Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers are 7-2-1 in their last 10. Is Evander Kane truly the catalyst they needed to turn things around? They need to be better defensively but the last couple weeks have been a solid improvement in Edmonton.
12. Dallas Stars
Dallas is 7-3-0 in their last 10. They’re climbing and are firmly in Nashville’s rear view mirror right now; they’re six points back of the Preds with two games in-hand. The decision with John Klingberg is coming, however.
11. St. Louis Blues
The Blues are only 10-8-4 away from home this season but have taken advantage of their division. We’ll see what they do before the trade deadline to help this roster.
10. Washington Capitals
The Caps are 5-5-0 in their last 10. With how their division is sorting out, they’re likely comfortably in the playoffs but need to be better on home ice, where they’re just 12-10-5 thus far.
9. New York Rangers
Winners of six of their last 10, the Rangers are in the enviable position of having a decent group of prospects and cap space to work with before the trade deadline.
8. Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina is only 5-3-2 in their last 10 so they slide a little this week. But their plus-51 goal differential is fourth in the NHL behind the Avs, Panthers and Flames.
7. Minnesota Wild
Minnesota is 8-2-0 in their last 10 and have lost only three of 20 home starts in regulation. This is a very good team that’s going to make a run in the West. Do they have enough firepower to skate with Colorado if/when the time comes?
6. Toronto Maple Leafs
Winners of eight in their last ten, the Leafs are charging right now. Their plus-45 goal differential is impressive, as is their 18-4-1 record on home ice.
5. Pittsburgh Penguins
The top spot in the Metro is currently occupied by the Penguins, who are just 5-2-3 in their last 10. Sidney Crosby scoring his 500th goal this week reminded all of us that he’s getting older... but still has “it.”
4. Tampa Bay Lightning
The two-time defending champs will have something to say about who wins the Eastern Conference – again. They’re 7-2-1 in their last 10 and have only four regulation losses in 24 home starts this season.
3. Calgary Flames
There’s a big up arrow next to Calgary right now. They’re 9-1-0 in their last 10, have an eight-game win streak entering Friday, own the the third-best goal differential in the league (+52) and made the big deal for Tyler Toffoli this week. And they have a seriously home-heavy schedule in March.
2. Florida Panthers
If you’re 7-3-0 in your last 10 and have the best record in Eastern Conference, the No. 1 team better be something special. Considering how well they’ve played at home (23-3-0) and since the shocking coaching change, this is a team built for a championship run.
1. Colorado Avalanche
One regulation loss in their last ten starts and a league-best plus-58 goal differential, life is good in Denver. The Avs are 21-3-2 at home and 14-6-2 on the road and are running away with the Western Conference’s top see for the postseason.