Evan Power’s Top 10 NHL Power Rankings – Week 6

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As a proud fan of the Vancouver Canucks, I think I am officially going to hang up the good ol’ “great week of hockey” intro that I use so freely in my work for these power rankings. Not because the quality of play around the league is deteriorating by any means, but because the Canucks are beginning to ruin the season for me as a whole, it isn’t fun right now.

With that being said, this isn’t about the Canucks. And as for the league, the 56 game season will reach its halfway point for some teams this coming week, and for every team, we expected to be performing well, there are just as many surprises to speak on.

Division by division, in the North it is safe to say it is Toronto’s division. After another great week that saw the Leafs lose their starting goaltender and top-line, superstar center, the Leafs put a beating on the hottest team in Canada, the Edmonton Oilers, and further proved why they will be crowned kings of the North.

The Montreal Canadiens became the first team to fire their head coach this year in the NHL, and the amazing start to the year that had people crowning them as Canada’s top team has gone to waste, and they now barely cling on to the final playoff spot in the division.

Out West, don’t look now but the Minnesota Wild are becoming the surprise of the first half. Depth scoring throughout their lineup and consistent goaltending from a rookie and journeyman has the Wild overcoming all their COVID concerns and performing at a very high level, sitting second in the division.

In the Central, the defending champs have once again found their stride behind their Vezina caliber goalie Andrei Vasilevsky, going 4-0-0 on the week and reassuring that they are not a team to be talked bad about over a bad stretch (guilty).

Staying in the division, the Chicago Blackhawks are being led by Patrick Kane on route to what is a fantastic start for a team that had low expectations. Without the services of Jonathan Toews or Kirby Dach, they are managing to get efforts from players you definitely have not heard of before every single night.

Finally, the East is the powerhouse division of the league, We know that one very quality team will be left out of the playoff picture in this division, with Washington, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philly, and NYI all looking like playoff teams.

Week 6 Rankings –

  1. Vegas Golden Knights (Last Week: 2)

Another change to the top spot as my rankings begins to look like a basketball game, every week seeing a new lead change. Vegas was able to bounce back from their loss to the Avs on Lake Tahoe with a dominant 3-0 win against Colorado two nights later.

Their team is still meshing together, but unless they show any sort of glaring weaknesses in the coming weeks, they may not give up this spot for the rest of the year.

2. Tampa Bay Lightning (Last Week: 6)

I think someone on the Lightning may have seen my rankings and scoffed at the fact they were all the down at number six last week. I may have jumped the gun on the Lightning as they were going through some troubles in goal and on the defensive side of the puck. Following an undefeated week against good teams like Carolina and Dallas, Tampa looks poised to go on a nice midseason run in March.

3. Colorado Avalanche (Last Week: 1)

A two-spot drop for the Avalanche this week who are seeing their inconsistencies pop up in games where they look ready to string multiple wins together. As I have stated before, I believe the Avalanche are the most complete team in the league, but with their various young players and spotty goaltending, the consistency factor is what they are missing from being labeled as a top-two NHL squad as of right now.

4. Toronto Maple Leafs (Last Week: 4)

The Leafs went on a run of being carried by Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner for the last few weeks, but this week was different as they were faced with a plethora of injuries in key spots around their lineup.

Starting goalie Frederik Andersen went down before a game against the Flames midweek, and the team was able to do what they could with the inexperienced Michael Hutchinson playing on short notice in a 3-0 loss. Like good teams do, they bounced back the following two games on the back of Willaim Nylander’s two-goal performance vs the Flames, and a throttling of the Oilers on Hockey Night.

The Leafs feel like a deep team for once, and I believe it is sustainable and they are real Stanley Cup contenders in 2021.

5. Boston Bruins (Last Week: 3)

Something we aren’t accustomed to seeing with Bruins teams, coming unhinged in a short period of time was the variable of them dropping in my rankings this week. They went into a third period against the Islanders on Thursday in a 2-2 draw and ended up losing the same game 7-2. The following night at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers scored 5-second period goals to beat the B’s 6-2.

They bounced back on Sunday with a convincing 4-1 win over those same Rangers, but for Boston, they will hope these big explosive periods don’t become a common occurrence.

6. Florida Panthers (Last Week: 7)

Plus one in the ranks for the pesky Panthers, who have been scoring goals at an insane rate. 2-1-1 on the week with great come-from-behind performances versus the Stars, the Panthers are just some steady goaltending away from putting some pressure on Tampa Bay in the Central.

7. Carolina Hurricanes (Last Week: 5)

Carolina found themselves getting completely outclassed by Tampa Bay after looking so promising in past weeks. They are clearly missing the services of Teuvo Teravainen and Petr Mrazek but seeing players like Trocheck and Sebastian Aho carry the offensive burden in the meantime is a good sign for a team that has untapped potential.

8. Pittsburgh Penguins (Last Week: Unranked)

There are many teams that should be honorable mentions to jump into the rankings, like Winnipeg and the Islanders.

I am seeing a second wind from a Pens team that recently hired a new president and GM. The acquisition of Kaspari Kapanen is starting to look like a sneaky-good addition, and their young defense is starting to help out Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith more and more over their recent successful 4-2-1 run.

9. Edmonton Oilers (Last Week: 9)

The Oilers were the hottest team in Canada and perhaps the league until they dropped a stinker at home against the Leafs on Saturday night.

They are getting depth scoring from players like Dominik Kahun and Alex Chiasson and if they can maintain the level of player we saw against the Canucks in the middle of the week, the Oilers will be able to build up a good record in a streaky Canadian division.

10. Minnesota Wild (Last Week: Unranked)

A team that was really not expected to do anything this season is starting to find some exciting new faces and what they are capable of. Rookie Kirill Kaprizov is the odds-on favourite to win the Calder at this point in the year and with his linemates Mats Zuccarello and Victor Rask benefitting from his play, they are a new team to watch as we approach the halfway point.

Evan Power, Evolution 107.9

 

 

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