In this week’s edition of NHL Power Rankings and weekly review: A Bruins rookie’s parents bro down, Elias Lindholm mocks his former team in his former barn, and Taylor Hall perfects the troll.
Happy Monday, everyone. It’s time for this week’s NHL power rankings slash week in review.
A long time 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.
NHL Power Rankings
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- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings
1. Tampa Bay Lightning (2-1-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 1
Highlight: Andrei Vasilevskiy’s big save against the Islanders’ Val Filppula to maintain the shutout (which he’d later earn in a shootout).
Lowlight: Brayden Point’s turnover that led to this goal by Sidney Crosby.
2. Calgary Flames (1-1-0, Even GD)
Last Week: 2
Highlight: Mikael Backlund made his bid for goal of the year with this beautiful display of silky mitts.
Lowlight: Evgeni Kuznetsov burying the game winner with a minute left in the third later that night.
3. Winnipeg Jets (3-1-0, +5 GD)
Last Week: 3
Highlight: Kyle Connor’s clutch goals in Boston and at home vs Columbus.
Lowlight: This turnover leading to Philadelphia’s dagger by James van Riemsdyk.
4. Toronto Maple Leafs (1-0-1, Even GD)
Last Week: 4
Highlight: Trading for Jake Muzzin to shore up the defense.
Lowlight: Being unable to grab a bouncing puck that was eventually deposited by Gustav Nyquist for an early lead for the Wings.
5. New York Islanders (1-0-1, +2 GD)
Last Week: 6
Lowlight: Somehow fell behind to the lowly Kings late in the game Saturday.
Highlight: Goals by Mat Barzal and Michael Dal Colle to come back and win the game.
6. Nashville Predators (1-1-0, +1 GD)
Last Week: 5
Highlight: Scoring 4 goals in the third period at Florida on Friday to come from behind and win.
Lowlight: Austin Watson’s indefinite suspension. It’s a real bummer all around.
7. San Jose Sharks (1-0-0, +1 GD)
Last Week: 7
Lowlight: Tim Heed serving up a big ol’ pizza to Conor Garland for the game’s first goal.
Highlight: Brent Burns winning the game in OT later that night.
8. Pittsburgh Penguins (2-2-0, Even GD)
Last Week: 8
Highlight: Jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead vs the Lightning, which would be the deciding factor in that game.
Lowlight: Their consistent struggles against the Devils seem to be one of the more confounding trends in hockey.
9. Boston Bruins (1-0-2, Even GD)
Last Week: 10
Highlight: Trent Frederic’s parents celebrating his first career fight.
Lowlight: Kyle Connor scoring twice in :34 to turn the game for the Jets.
10. Vegas Golden Knights (0-2-0, -5 GD)
Last Week: 9
Highlight: Shea Theodore’s brace vs the Hurricanes, which accounted for most of the offense that night.
Lowlight: Whatever you want to call this effort leading to a Brett Pesce goal.
11. Washington Capitals (1-1-0, Even GD)
Last Week: 12
Highlight: They finally won a game for the first time in 4 weeks.
Lowlight: The first time in a long time they get decent goaltending, the offense disappears in a 1-0 loss to the Bruins Sunday.
12. Montreal Canadiens (1-0-1, Even GD)
Last Week: 13
Highlight: Jonathan Drouin’s OT winner vs the Oilers on Sunday capped off a solid comeback.
Lowlight: The inability to cover Nico Hischier late in Saturday’s game vs New Jersey, allowing the tying goal in the third, and the OT winner.
13. Columbus Blue Jackets (0-3-0, -4 GD)
Last Week: 11
Highlight: Artemi Panarin is almost singlehandedly supporting this offense right now, factoring into 6 of the Jackets’ 9 goals this week.
Lowlight: Artemi Panarin decided not to sign an extension until summer, meaning the Blue Jackets now have a second headache to deal with for the next month.
14. Dallas Stars (3-0-0, +5 GD)
Last Week: 16
Highlight: Tyler Seguin’s late goal against Minnesota leading to a very important win.
Lowlight: They still are having trouble finding offense outside the top line. Jamie Benn and Seguin scored 4 of the 7 goals the Stars scored this week.
15. Colorado Avalanche (0-1-0, -4 GD)
Last Week: 14
Highlight: Matt Calvert’s tip in goal vs Vancouver.
Lowlight: This Brock Boeser goal off a faceoff pretty much sums up the rest of that 5-1 beatdown by the Canucks.
16. Minnesota Wild (0-1-1, -3 GD)
Last Week: 15
Highlight: Hey, Viktor Rask scored a goal! And it was a big one!
Lowlight: Let’s be real here, that game winning goal by Tyler Seguin was pretty stoppable for Devan Dubnyk.
17. Carolina Hurricanes (1-1-0, +2 GD)
Last Week: 18
Highlight: Nino Niederreiter keeps scoring, and his new nickname of “El Nino” fits perfectly with his new team, which I assume is the whole rationale behind the trade.
Lowlight: Former Cane Elias Lindholm mocking the Skol chant after the Flames won in Carolina on Sunday.
18. Buffalo Sabres (1-2-0, -4 GD)
Last Week: 17
Highlight: Scoring 5 goals on Sergei Bobrovsky is always impressive, no matter how much he probably doesn’t want to play for the Jackets.
Lowlight: Their tying goal in the third period at Dallas called off due to a goalie interference challenge.
19. St. Louis Blues (1-0-0, +2 GD)
Last Week: 19
Highlight: They must’ve been practicing their tip drills during warmups, because all three goals they scored with a goalie in net against the Jackets were on tip-ins.
Lowlight: They let the Jackets get a little close for comfort at the end of their eventual win.
20. Vancouver Canucks (1-0-0, +4 GD)
Last Week: 21
Highlight: Jake Virtanen’s early goal on a beautiful feed from Antoine Roussel to set the tone for their blowout win in Colorado.
Lowlight: This ridiculous effort from Dekey Pete and Nikolai Goldobin not ending in a goal.
21. Arizona Coyotes (0-0-1, -1 GD)
Last Week: 20
Highlight: Richard Panik’s goal vs San Jose ruled legal.
Lowlight: Sharks would then challenge for goalie interference, and the goal was wiped out.
22. Florida Panthers (1-1-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 22
Highlight: Using the trade with the Penguins to clear up cap space for next year to make a run at some big ticket free agents (namely the variety that come from Columbus).
Lowlight: Giving up a third period lead against Nashville by allowing 3 goals early in the third.
23. Edmonton Oilers (0-0-2, -2 GD)
Last Week: 23
Highlight: They didn’t allow a single goal to the Flyers as long as there were 5 Oiler skaters on the ice.
Lowlight: They did allow 4 power play goals to the Flyers, and another one in overtime for the game winner.
24. New Jersey Devils (2-1-0, +3 GD)
Last Week: 25
Highlight: Taylor Hall signing what might be the funniest, trolliest autograph in recent memory.
Lowlight: Falling asleep during the second and third periods against the rival Rangers at home.
25. Philadelphia Flyers (4-0-0, +5 GD)
Last Week: 28
Highlight: Carter Hart and Anthony Stolarz standing tall in all four games this week, giving up just 7 combined goals.
Lowlight: They choose now to solve their goaltending problems, in a lost season where lottery balls mean everything? What a world.
26. Detroit Red Wings (2-0-0, +3 GD)
Last Week: 26
Highlight: Retiring Red Kelly’s #4 Friday night.
Lowlight: Patrick Marleau’s “kick” goal to tie the game in the final minute for the Leafs.
27. New York Rangers (1-2-0, -1 GD)
Last Week: 24
Highlight: Mika Zibanejad’s hat trick and assist to singlehandedly take down the Devils Thursday night.
Lowlight: A slow start against the Lightning would doom the eventual comeback, which fell short.
28. Chicago Blackhawks (2-0-0, +5 GD)
Last Week: 30
Highlight: Patrick Kane dropping two goals and two assists in his hometown of Buffalo, leading to a 7-3 win.
Lowlight: Whispers of the team talking to stalwart Duncan Keith about his no-trade clause.
29. Anaheim Ducks (0-1-0, -6 GD)
Last Week: 27
Lowlight: If I told you that John Gibson gave up the same amount of goals in the first period in Winnipeg as there were points scored in the first three quarters of the Super Bowl, would you believe me?
Highlight: Both games eventually ended.
30. Ottawa Senators (0-2-0, -4 GD)
Last Week: 29
Highlight: They had a solid comeback effort against the Penguins.
Lowlight: It fell short, and the Penguins won the game.
31. Los Angeles Kings (0-1-0, -2 GD)
Last Week: 31
Highlight: The return on the Jake Muzzin trade wasn’t bad.
Lowlight: Jonathan Quick has really been left out on his own this whole season, as evidenced by Saturday’s game on Long Island.
Schmooze of the Week: Who’s breaking out the Tank?
Now that the All-Star festivities are complete, the league and its teams are looking toward the next major event on the NHL calendar. That would be the Trade Deadline.
For those teams that are contending, they look to bolster their roster with a trade, so they can shore up weak points in exchange for future assets. For example, the Toronto Maple Leafs just traded a first round pick and a couple of prospects for Jake Muzzin, who will really help the Leafs on the blue line.
But looking at this from the opposite end of the spectrum are those teams that are pretty far out of contention. Teams like Detroit, Ottawa, Los Angeles, you get the picture. These teams are the suppliers of those rent-a-player deals, and collect bounties come the trade deadline.
Now, on the surface, we see the typical deadline trade of an expiring contract go one way and futures come back. Looking a little deeper, these bad teams are actively getting worse to grab more ping pong balls in the draft lottery.
Teams will never say they tank. Players will never mail it in. Lots of people who have skin in the game have their jobs on the line every night they go out there. Put less than 100% in, teams will find a new player/coach/what-have-you to step in and bring the effort. That being said, the easiest way to “earn” those lottery balls are to trade away your good players. You’re worse on the ice on paper, and you have more futures to work with. Additionally, you won’t lose those players on expiring contracts for nothing once they hit free agency.
Now that we’ve established what proper tanking in NHL terms is, let’s see who’s in prime position to torpedo their season for a chance at Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko:
Los Angeles Kings – They already started with Jake Muzzin getting shipped out, despite the fact that he’s not even an expiring contract. Anyone not named Kopitar or Doughty is realistically fair game, and should be.
Detroit Red Wings – This one’s a little trickier, considering a lot of their expiring contracts have some form of no move clause (thanks, Ken Holland). But if they can get some of those guys (Gus Nyquist, Thomas Vanek, Nik Kronwall) to waive that clause, they can really get started on their rebuild that’s years overdue.
Ottawa Senators – They have hit the perfect storm to really embrace the M4 Sherman tank. Big expiring contracts, no hope for a comeback in the standings, terrible goaltending…just one caveat: They’re earning lottery balls for the Avalanche.
New Jersey Devils – While they don’t have the big name trade assets other teams might have, those they have available are somewhat useful this time of year (Boyle, Johansson, Lovejoy). Now that Sami Vatanen is concussed, Taylor Hall still on the shelf, and the goaltending questions now reaching a fever pitch with Cory Schneider’s rehab stint coming to a close, the time is ripe. Plus, having Taylor Hall on your roster typically yields good results in draft lotteries.
Anaheim Ducks – They don’t have much in the way of trading for now, with just Jakob Silfverberg being worth much on the trade market for them, but losing is coming so easily to them, that it makes sense to tank. Gotta feel for John Gibson, though. He’s finally sprung some leaks, which is likely a result of seeing the most rubber thrown at him in the league (he’s seen more than 100 shots against more than anyone in the NHL).
Edmonton Oilers – Hear me out. Yes, they’re a small hot streak out from the second Wild Card spot. However, considering the mess ex-GM Chiarelli left for this team, scorched earth may be the path to take here. The new regime will have a chance to actually build a decent team around the best player on the planet the right way, and it begins with landing a top pick in the draft. They have a reputation of getting #1 overall picks to uphold, anyway.