The one constant in a pretty unpredictable season is the Avalanche sitting at the top of the NHL standings and power rankings.
With only one regulation loss and a league-best plus-50 goal differential, they’re burying everyone.
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The separation between the Avs and the rest of the league is huge, and it’s not an exaggeration to say they might be the best team in the Salary Cap Era. The 2022-23 Bruins that finished with 135 points had a plus-128 goal differential, and the Avs might blow right past that mark. Imagine what the Avs can do if they improve their 25th-ranked power play.
The Wild are the newest entry into the top five of the NHL power rankings this week, largely due to the play of the ‘Wall of St. Paul,’ Jesper Wallstedt. Their big Swedish tandem of Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson have been brick walls akin to the ones in Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey, and in six starts Wallstedt has vaulted to the top of the league with four shutouts.
We’re starting to see more separation in the West with the Preds, Flames, Blues and Canucks very unlikely to make the playoffs. Mathematically, they’re certainly still in contention, but you look at their play so far, and the outlook is bleak. A string of losing streaks from teams such as the Kraken, Mammoth, Jets and Oilers has kept the door wide open – it just doesn’t seem like anyone’s been able to take advantage.
In the East, even the last-place Sabres are just five points out of a playoff spot, and they’ve picked it up with six wins in their past nine games.
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1. Colorado Avalanche (19-1-6, +50. PR: 1)
Parity feels like it’s at an all-time high, and the Avs are just speedrunning through the regular season. I have no other notes. Moving on…
2. Minnesota Wild (15-7-5, +6. PR: 7)
Unbelievable run by Jesper Wallstedt, who needed just six starts to take over as the league leader in shutouts. Filip Gustavsson has been good, too, and the Wild have not lost in regulation since Nov. 6.
3. Dallas Stars (17-5-5, +21. PR: 2)
The Stars aren’t getting enough credit for how well they’re playing despite missing several key players, and they lost Tyler Seguin for an extended period of time after he left the game against the Rangers with an ACL injury.
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4. Tampa Bay Lightning (16-8-2, +18. PR: 5)
Is this the year Jon Cooper finally wins the Jack Adams?! I bet you can’t name four players on the Lightning blue line right now, and despite numerous injuries to numerous key players, the Lightning are somehow in the top five.
5. Anaheim Ducks (16-9-1, +12. PR: 3)
The Ducks are so good they helped Ville Husso win a game. They’ve cooled off a little bit following their seven-game winning streak, but with a third-string goalie in net, they’re still finding ways to win. That’s a sign they’re legit.
NHL Jack Adams Award Rankings: Ducks’ Quenneville, Penguins’ Muse Lead
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6. Carolina Hurricanes (16-7-2, +16. PR: 4)
So… is Brandon Bussi their new No. 1? The Canes will return to action on Thursday after a three-day break, and it’ll be interesting to see who starts in net going forward. The knock against Frederik Andersen is that he’s really good but never healthy, but this season, he just hasn’t been very good at all, losing five straight with a .878 SP on the season.
7. Washington Capitals (16-9-2, +21. PR: 19)
Pretty amazing what an 8-1-1 run will do in a league that has been so tight. The Caps were 8-8-2 just two weeks ago, 15th in points percentage this time last week and now enter Wednesday’s games ranked sixth. Logan Thompson and Tom Wilson are making impeccable cases to be included on the Canadian Olympic team.
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8. New Jersey Devils (16-9-1, +4. PR: 9)
After a hot start, the Devils just can’t seem to get into a rhythm, winning three games but then subsequently losing to the Flyers and Jackets on home ice with 10 goals allowed.
9. Los Angeles Kings (12-7-7, -4. PR: 6)
All of a sudden, winning games seems to have become very difficult. Both of their recent regulation wins came against the Sens in one-goal games, and they’ve lost three of their past four games in extra time. They’ve failed to score more than two goals in six of their past eight games.
10. Vegas Golden Knights (12-6-8, +1. PR: 14)
If Carter Hart can at least solve some of their goaltending woes, the Knights might go on a run. Last season, they went 19-5-4 following two separate four-game losing streaks. They went 0-2-2 to cap off a six-game homestand and 0-2-2 to finish November before winning against the Sharks and Hawks. The wins showed the Knights aren’t going anywhere despite a clear changing of the guard with the West’s upstart teams.
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11. Detroit Red Wings (14-11-2, -11. PR: 10)
A win against the Bruins snapped a four-game losing streak, but it was a close call with the Wings allowing two goals late in the third period. It doesn’t seem like either John Gibson or Cam Talbot really wants the starting job. By the way, Sebastian Cossa just won goalie of the month honors in the AHL, so…
12. Ottawa Senators (13-9-4, -2. PR: 11)
Getting Brady Tkachuk back is huge, and the Sens are somehow grinding their way up the standings without a top scorer and really mediocre goaltending. Coming out of a seven-game road trip with a 4-3-0 record, where they had to play the Pacific’s best and then stop in Dallas and Montreal, was pretty impressive.
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13. Pittsburgh Penguins (13-7-5, +8. PR: 17)
I’m convinced that as long as Sidney Crosby is wearing the black and gold, the Pens will never be a bad team. Buoyed by the league’s best power play – who saw that coming?! – the Pens are in a good position to make the playoffs. Aside from a lousy stretch from late October to mid-November, when there was a ton of travel, the Pens have been much better than expected on defense and in net, the two areas considered their weaknesses coming into the season.
14. Philadelphia Flyers (14-8-3, +2. PR: 20)
The Flyers are 6-3-0 with some impressive wins, and like the in-state rival, they’ve been much better than expected thanks to some above-average goaltending. The best part is that their rivalry with the Pens is so much more interesting when both teams are competitive, especially when you have Trevor Zegras – of all people – trying to goad the Pens into doing something stupid.
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15. San Jose Sharks (13-11-3, -7. PR: 13)
The wins following a 6-0 loss to the Avs and 4-3 to the Knights showed the Sharks can be a really resilient bunch. With the Macklin Celebrini-Will Smith combo thriving and Yaroslav Askarov playing up to his potential, the only thing missing now is a marquee defenseman.
16. Chicago Blackhawks (11-9-6, +6. PR: 12)
Connor Bedard is truly a human highlight reel and worth watching even though the Hawks are mired in a 1-4-2 slump. Other than a 9-3 drubbing by the Sabres, the silver lining is all of those losses were by just one goal.
17. New York Islanders (14-10-3, even. PR: 15)
It’s been a tough homestand so far, with only one regulation win. The Isles suddenly look like the Isles of old, once again having a lot of trouble scoring goals.
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18. Seattle Kraken (11-7-6, -7. PR: 16)
The Kraken may have 11 wins, but they rank third-last in regulation wins with seven. It’s been difficult for them to get on a sustained run of any kind, and injuries certainly are not helping. Once they got Jared McCann back, Jaden Schwartz went out.
19. Winnipeg Jets (13-12-0, +2. PR: 8)
Did anyone think the Jets would be good without Connor Hellebuyck? Their scoring has certainly dried up, which doesn’t help at all, and they’ve now lost five of their past six, sitting two points out of a playoff spot.
20. Montreal Canadiens (13-9-3, -8. PR: 21)
Much better than previous weeks when they lost seven of eight, but a three-game winning streak was brought to an ugly halt with two straight losses and 12 goals allowed. There’s a big gap between Nick Suzuki and whoever they deem to be their No. 2 center, and along with subpar goaltending, it’s been killing them.
NHL Rumor Roundup: Latest On Canadiens’ Defensemen, Senators Still Shopping Around
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21. New York Rangers (14-12-2, +2. PR: 26)
The Rangers played a good game at home… and won?! Things will be really tough without Adam Fox, but this may be the sort of thing that galvanizes an underperforming unit. Tough matchups loom against the Avs and Knights, and it’ll be important to keep their momentum going, having won four of their past five.
22. Boston Bruins (15-13-0, -4. PR: 22)
It’s a good thing they banked 14 points during their winning streak, because since then, they’re 4-6-0 with only two regulation wins.
23. Toronto Maple Leafs (12-11-3, -1. PR: 28)
Just… maybe? Leafs Land feels hopeful again after a 7-2 win against the Pens and a 4-1 win against the Panthers, both on the road.
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24. Columbus Blue Jackets (12-9-5, -7. PR: 24)
All these games going into extra time just feels like a coin flip. The Jackets are 1-1-3 in their past five but could easily be 3-1-1 if the bounces went their way. The margins are tiny and the Jackets are still only two points out of a playoff spot.
25. Florida Panthers (12-12-1, -5. PR: 18)
Last week, I mused whether the Oilers would miss the playoffs after making the Stanley Cup final again, becoming the only team to do so twice following 2006. The East is tighter, so it’s harder to say, but could the Panthers join this ignominious club? It truly feels like 2006 again.
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26. Buffalo Sabres (11-11-4, -6. PR: 25)
Slow and steady, right? Getting Josh Norris back was huge, and the Sabres have now won six of their past nine as they try and move out of the league basement.
27. Edmonton Oilers (11-11-5, -15. PR: 27)
Sometimes they can’t defend, sometimes they can’t score. Sometimes they can’t buy a save, and sometimes they shut out their opponents. The only thing that everyone seems to agree on is that the Oilers look spent, often making simple errors with the puck. An upcoming stretch where they face the Kraken, Jets, Sabres, Wings and Leafs is crucial because the West’s general mediocrity is still leaving the door wide open.
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28. St. Louis Blues (9-11-7, -26. PR: 30)
Are we sure Jordan Binnington should be starting for Team Canada? At what point does goodwill run out? After getting pulled against the Ducks, Binnington appeared to have strong words for Jim Montgomery, but it wasn’t just that game. Binnington ranks 64th out of 79 goalies in total goals saved above average at 5-on-5, according to naturalstattrick.com.
29. Utah Mammoth (12-12-3, -3. PR: 23)
They have so much talent on paper, yet they have the league’s worst-ranked power play. They started off hot, but they’ve struggled mightily since, losing four straight and 11 of their past 14.
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30. Nashville Predators (9-13-4, -24. PR: 32)
Barry Trotz’s criticism might’ve sparked something because they’ve won three of their past four. I wouldn’t be surprised if reports of ‘toxic’ environment help galvanize a veteran team that doesn’t need reminding of how poorly they’ve been playing. There are captains, former captains and Stanley Cup champions in that dressing room.
31. Calgary Flames (9-15-4, -21. PR: 29)
The Flames were perking up, but then lost three of their next four, including an ugly 5-1 loss to the Preds, where they trailed 4-0 going into the third period. You can’t embarrass yourself like that in a matchup to see who the league’s worst team might be. Fortunately for them, neither of them is the worst team this week.
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32. Vancouver Canucks (10-14-3, -18. PR: 31)
Quinn Hughes is playing so much, and the Canucks are leaning on him so heavily, you wonder if he has enough in the tank to last all season. The Canucks have lost nine of their past 11 and simply do not defend well enough to really give themselves – or their goalies – a real chance to win.
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