In this week’s NHL Power Rankings, we saw half the league finish their pre-All Star schedule. Some better, some worse.
Happy Martin Luther King Day, everyone. It’s time for the NHL power rankings and week in review. A while ago, I was given the task of coming up with a highlight and lowlight from the previous week, to really put things into perspective of how everyone’s week is different, and every week to each person is different. So we’re taking that to the NHL.
Here’s how the past week looked like for each team.
1. Tampa Bay Lightning (2-1-0, +3 Goal Differential)
Last Week: 1
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Highlight: Andrei Vasilevskiy with a 35 save shutout vs. Dallas
Lowlight: Dropping a game to the division rival Leafs on Thursday, despite outplaying them most of the game
2. Calgary Flames (2-0-1, +4 GD)
Last Week: 2
Highlight: Announcing the number retirement of Jarome Iginla in early March. Probably the best Calgary Flames player in history.
Lowlight: Giving up that OT goal to Jack Eichel for their only loss this week
3. Winnipeg Jets (2-1-0, +5 GD)
Last Week: 4
Highlight: Laurent Brossoit stopping 43 of 44 Vegas shots on Tuesday
Lowlight: Giving up 4 goals to an ice cold Dallas Stars
4. Toronto Maple Leafs (1-3-0, -5 GD)
Last Week: 3
Highlight: Frederik Andersen is back, helping the Leafs to a big win in Tampa
Lowlight: This messy goal by Vinnie Hinostroza on Sunday that would end up being the game winner
5. New York Islanders (4-0-0, +9 GD)
Last Week: 10
Highlight: Shutting out the Capitals in Barry Trotz’s first game back in Washington since the Stanley Cup Finals
Lowlight: They gave up just 2 goals in 4 games this week, so I’ll just mention how my beer league team got ripped apart last night, and I’m still kinda sore about it
6. San Jose Sharks (1-2-0, -3 GD)
Last Week: 6
Highlight: Joe Thornton scoring in his 1000th game as a Shark.
Lowlight: Martin Jones being picked apart by the Lightning, giving up 6 goals on just 26 shots
7. Vegas Golden Knights (1-1-0, +1 GD)
Last Week: 9
Highlight: Never change, Marc-Andre Fleury
Lowlight: Kyle Connor opening the scoring for the Jets shorthanded in their loss to Winnipeg
8. Pittsburgh Penguins (1-2-0, -6 GD)
Last Week: 7
Highlight: Kris Letang channeling his inner Crosby with a wicked backhander against San Jose
Lowlight: Pretty much the rest of that game against the Sharks
9. Nashville Predators (1-2-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 8
Highlight: Viktor Arvidsson’s hat trick against the Capitals, followed by a sweet spinorama backhander by Rocco Grimaldi
Lowlight: Arvidsson was stopped on a breakaway vs. the Jets. I guess it was because he came into the game so hot, the goal horn guy must’ve thought he was gonna score and jumped the gun.
10. Boston Bruins (1-2-1, Even GD)
Last Week: 11
Highlight: Chris Wagner’s go ahead goal vs. the Blues
Lowlight: Tuukka Rask getting injured on a goal by Rangers’ Filip Chytil. Rask was later diagnosed with a concussion.
11. Washington Capitals (0-4-0, -13 GD)
Last Week: 6
Highlight: Ovechkin extending his lead on the Rocket Richard trophy with his goal against St. Louis, also passing Brendan Shanahan on the all time list.
Lowlight: The entire night in Nashville…and in St. Louis…and at home against the Islanders…and in Chicago…it was a really rough week for the champs.
12. Columbus Blue Jackets (1-2-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 12
Highlight: Scoring twice in the first 3 minutes against New Jersey, which would be all they’d need in front of Joonas Korpisalo
Lowlight: Sergei Bobrovsky revealing he’d be open to a trade (more on that below)
13. Colorado Avalanche (2-1-0, +6 GD)
Last Week: 13
Highlight: Finally breaking that losing streak on Monday against the Leafs
Lowlight: Getting blown out by Ottawa just two nights later
14. Montreal Canadiens (3-1-0, +5 GD)
Last Week: 15
Highlight: Tuesday night’s game against Florida had a few highlights, including this from Phillip Danault, this from Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and 52 saves from Antti Niemi (!?)
Lowlight: After no score in the first 37 minutes of Saturday’s tilt with Philadelphia, giving up 5 goals to the Flyers in a 5-2 loss. In goal for Montreal? Antti Niemi, giving up 4 goals on just 23 shots.
15. Buffalo Sabres (1-2-0, -5 GD)
Last Week: 14
Highlight: This save by Linus Ullmark on Michael Frolik (at the 3:25 mark of this video)
Lowlight: Carter Hutton’s night vs Edmonton, giving up 5 goals on just 12 shots before getting the hook 5 minutes into the second.
16. Dallas Stars (1-2-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 16
Highlight: Making this kid’s day by playing a game against him and his friends. Absolutely heartwarming.
Lowlight: Managing just one goal in their first two games against the Lightning and Kings. Maybe they need more “motivation” from their CEO…
17. Minnesota Wild (2-2-0, -5 GD)
Last Week: 17
Highlight: Shutting down the Blue Jackets on Saturday, making their 2 early goals hold up
Lowlight: Are they sure about this Nino Niederreiter trade?
18. Carolina Hurricanes (1-2-0, -4 GD)
Last Week: 18
Highlight: It couldn’t get much worse than Tuesday’s 6-2 loss against the Rangers
Lowlight: They lost 4-1 at home vs Ottawa on Friday. So it did get worse.
19. Vancouver Canucks (2-0-1, +2 GD)
Last Week: 19
Highlight: Jacob Markstrom’s scorpion kick save in the shootout against Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Also, Elias “Dekey Pete” Pettersson is back.
Lowlight: They lost that shootout to the Oilers in the end.
20. Arizona Coyotes (2-0-1, +4 GD)
Last Week: 21
Highlight: Holding on for a big divisional win against San Jose on Wednesday
Lowlight: The deflating loss in overtime two nights later to Pittsburgh
21. St. Louis Blues (2-1-1, Even GD)
Last Week: 20
Highlight: Jake Allen managed to win a game vs the Capitals
Lowlight: Jordan Binnington managed to lose a game vs the Islanders
22. Edmonton Oilers (2-2-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 22
Highlight: Milan Lucic scored three goals this week, which is more than he managed in all of calendar year 2018.
Lowlight: A really bad start, going down 5-1 early in the second, buried the Oilers at home against Carolina on Sunday
23. Florida Panthers (2-1-0, Even GD)
Last Week: 24
Highlight: Vincent Trocheck is back, and is instantly a scoring machine
Lowlight: How do you get 53 shots on Antti Niemi and only score once?
24. New York Rangers (3-0-0, +6 GD)
Last Week: 27
Lowlight: This pizza to Saku Maenalanen to give the Hurricanes an early lead
Highlight: The Rangers would score the next 4 to win the game 6-2
25. Anaheim Ducks (2-2-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 25
Highlight: They finally won a game, breaking a 12 game losing streak
Lowlight: Any time you make 4 trades in a week, you know the going is rough
26. New Jersey Devils (1-3-0, -4 GD)
Last Week: 23
Highlight: 13 different players scored points on 8 goals vs Chicago on Monday
Lowlight: 8 different players scored points on 4 goals in the next 3 games they played combined
27. Detroit Red Wings (1-2-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 26
Highlight: Their comeback vs Anaheim, scoring all 3 of their goals in the third to win 3-1
Lowlight: Jimmy Howard getting a Ducks’ stick stuck in his pads
28. Philadelphia Flyers (3-0-0, +7 GD)
Last Week: 31
Highlight: Rumors of a trade with Edmonton, where the Flyers would get Jesse Puljujarvi and Cam Talbot for Wayne Simmonds
Lowlight: Rumors found to be completely faked.
29. Ottawa Senators (2-1-0, +5 GD)
Last Week: 30
Highlight: Thomas Chabot returning from injury
Lowlight: This quasi-own goal by Mark Borowiecki deflecting off Warren Foegele and in
30. Chicago Blackhawks (1-2-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 29
Highlight: Jonathan Toews’ hat trick among 8 goals scored on the Capitals on Sunday
Lowlight: Cam Ward and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad second period Monday in New Jersey
31. Los Angeles Kings (1-1-1, -5 GD)
Last Week: 28
Highlight: Jonathan Quick was the best player on the ice for the Kings in Colorado on Saturday
Lowlight: He got pulled in that game after giving up 5 goals on just 22 shots
Schmooze of the week: Sergei Bobrovsky
Everyone seems to have a take on the Sergei Bobrovsky situation, as well as the Columbus Blue Jackets on the whole.
Trade, or no trade? That is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer next summer the slings and arrows of losing Bobrovsky for nothing, or to take arms against the seas of the playoff odds and shop Bobrovsky around.
After last week’s debacle of suspending Bobrovsky for what amounted to him hitting the showers early rather than providing backup for 11 minutes of Joonas Korpisalo, it seems as if the relationship between the 2 time Vezina winner and the Blue Jackets brass is continuing to strain further. Contract negotiations have been nearly non-existent, understandably so knowing what we do now. On top of that, it seems as if the Jackets are starting to ride Korpisalo a little more than before, which could be signaling something on the horizon.
So you’re GM Jarmo Kekalainen. You have a franchise goalie who’s on his way out of town this summer one way or another, yet you probably will need him for your playoff run now. The sky’s the limit of what a Bobrovsky trade could bring back, considering the need for some playoff contenders is stability in goal. But to trade a guy who’s been the backbone of the franchise for so long, especially when the team needs him to make a playoff run now? Madness in any other situation.
So, what to do? Well, if the latest trends, despite the small sample size, are to be believed, he could well be on the market right now.
Bobrovsky does have trade protection, but that may not make too much a difference, as mentioned by The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun here, where Bobrovsky’s agents said he’d waive the clause to get traded. Additionally, if the Jackets are going to saddle up and start riding Korpisalo more, Bobrovsky may have started to be phased out of Columbus altogether.
If that is indeed the case, and the Jackets’ higher ups are starting to push for Korpisalo to take the starter’s load, the Jackets then MUST trade Bobrovsky, as it’d be silly not to in those conditions.
Artemi Panarin is in a similar, though completely less heralded situation, mostly because he’s playing way better, and hasn’t ruled out returning to Columbus next year. He’s staying around.
But Bobrovsky? He may end up somewhere else in March. With this regard, their playoff odds turn awry, but do better for their future name of action.