Evan Power’s Top 10 NHL Power Rankings – Week 8

Month number two has come and gone in my 2021 edition of the weekly NHL power rankings, and as things continue to fluctuate in the league’s divisional standings, the overall top 10 picture gets more and more difficult to outline.

Breaking down the division’s piece by piece starting in the North, where Canada’s top team the Toronto Maple Leafs have entered their roughest stretch of the campaign. Following back-to-back losses in Vancouver a week ago, the Leafs went on to lose two of three against the quicky improving Jets, and close out the week by looking awful in the nation’s capital against the Sens.

The Central division continues to look like a three-team runaway race at the top, followed by another three-team race between the Blackhawks, Blue Jackets and Stars for the fourth and final playoff position.

An interesting development to keep your eye on is the current standing of CBJ head coach John Tortorella. As the Jackets have gone through their fair share of struggles, combined with what feels like the 20th Patrik Laine benching since the player’s arrival. Torts may be one of the coaches on the hot seat as we inch closer to the trade deadline.

In the league’s most talented division, the East, New York made their presence felt in multiple ways this week.

The Islanders have propelled themselves to a four-point lead in the first place spot. Winners of nine straight games, the Isles appear to be ready to make another deep playoff push powered by their discipline defensive system and ability to score in transition and on the powerplay.

As for the team in ‘The Big Apple’, the Rangers were boosted on Saturday by the return of Artemi Panarin, handing the Boston Bruins a loss in a convincing 4-0 fashion.

Finally in the West, the Minnesota Wild have assured people that they are the cinderella team we expected to see with a group of young, exciting forwards.

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Rookie Kirill Kaprizov looks the part and seems to have the Calder trophy already in the bag. On a line with Mats Zuccarello and Viktor Rask, the Wild have a true top line that teams must be ready to match up against if they plan on taking points away from the upstart Wild.

NHL Top 10 Rankings – Week 8:

1. Tampa Bay Lightning (Last Week: 2)

The cup champions are back on top in this week’s edition of the top ten and for good reason. Andrei Vasilevsky is an absolute force between the pipes for this team and doesn’t seem to be suffering any sort of setbacks following the team’s lengthy run in the bubble last summer.

An unsung hero for the Bolts that fails to get sufficient recognition is the amount of depth they have amongst their forward group. Blake Coleman, Yanni Gourde and Barclay Goodrow are just a few of the names that are providing great play towards Tampa’s success.

2. Vegas Golden Knights (Last Week: 1)

What I believe to be the best roster in the NHL right now, the Knights saw themselves drop a pair of important games to Minnesota mid-week.

The VGK seemingly has full intentions of running Marc-Andre Fleury until he can no longer walk, as he has been a workhorse since Robin Lehner went to IR over a month ago. With Lehner set to return this week, the Knights will be circling the next time they play Minny on the calendar.

A big bounce-back weekend for Vegas had them beating the Blues two days in a row on the road, including a 5-1 beating on Saturday night.

3. New York Islanders  (Last Week: 6)

The hottest team in the league and it isn’t close. As mentioned, Barry Trotz is continuing to write his legacy as a phenomenal defensive coach, and one that his players respect and love to play for.

Although it is a boring brand of hockey, winning cures all, and Islanders fans have seen nothing but stout improvement by their team ever since the departure of John Tavares two years ago.

4. Colorado Avalanche (Last Week: 4)

Despite their injury list being longer than any other team in the league, and the absence of top pair defenceman Cale Makar, the Avs are taking care of business against the teams they are supposed to beat.

Winners of three straight and five of seven, Colorado will be looking to get healthier this week and also see more production from their star center Nathan Mackinnon, who is not currently looking or producing at the rate we are accustomed to seeing from number 29.

5. Carolina Hurricanes  (Last Week: 7)

A two-spot jump for the Canes as they have rung off eight straight victories and sit atop the Central Division by a point. Production from everywhere in the lineup, including the bottom forward lines and blue line, has the Canes looking like a well-oiled and well-coached machine.

Some bad news for the Carolina came out over the last few days though, with high-scoring center Vincent Trocheck expected to be sidelined for over a week. I don’t expect his absence to overly impact the lineup in a negative way if they can remain a four-line team consistently.

6. Boston Bruins (Last Week: 5)

The B’s were going through it this week, with COVID protocols getting in their path and forcing them to miss some key pieces in Saturday’s tilt with the Rangers, they dropped to 1-3 on a week where they played some of the division worst teams.

To make matters worse, another loss to the New York Islanders brought their record head to head with the Isles 0-5 on the year, during a season where beating teams above you is so crucial to the standings.

7. Toronto Maple Leafs (Last Week: 3)

A massive drop for the Leafs comes off a very under-whelming week. Auston Matthews was able to mask some of their deficiencies all while playing with a very injured wrist, but it just wasn’t enough to salvage the results we expect from the ‘best team in Canada.’

The Winnipeg Jets applied plenty of pressure to Toronto in their three-game set that showed many holes in the Leafs’ defence, and their never-ending goaltending issues are live and well.

8. Florida Panthers  (Last Week: 8)

The Panthers are that one kid in gym glass that will constantly aim for the lesser targets in a dodgeball game, to make pad their stats and make themselves look like the big, bad threat to all the other players.

Until it comes down to a one vs one against the other beasts of the game, they tend to fold. Florida has beat up on Chicago and Columbus, but has failed to get two points against the Hurricanes in their last three meetings.

9. Winnipeg Jets  (Last Week: 10)

The Jets occupy the ninth spot with a very impressive week against the Leafs. Following a 7-1 beating at the hands of Montreal last week, Winnipeg bounced back by controlling Toronto for three games that should’ve all been wins if it wasn’t for the heroics of Auston Matthews.

10. Minnesota Wild  (Last Week: Unranked)

Of course, there are plenty of teams that could be in the tenth spot, but this week it just has to go to the young Wild.

Minnesota has been one of the more boring teams to watch over the last decade, but it appears to be a new era in the ‘State of Hockey.’ Rookie Kaprizov and some impressive production from Chad Greenway, Jonas Brodin and especially Kevin Fiala have this team looking like a new culture is in the works.

Evan Power, Evolution 107.9

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