NHL power rankings: Calgary Flames surge as they start to ship off pieces

Credit: © John Jones

Ladies and gentleman, Michael and I are back after a weekend off like the rest of the NHL. With the All-Star shenanigans out of the way, it’s time for the next important stretch in the season, where teams start to recognize what they need to improve and make some trades. We’ve already seen our first two, so who’s next?

Mike Gould and I continue to navigate through the results so far with another week of our co-op power rankings. I have my same old system in which I aggregate six stats (points %, 5-on-5 goal differential, 5-on-5 xGF/60, 5-on-5 xGA/60, power play xGF/60, and shorthanded xGA/60, all coming courtesy of Natural Stat Trick) to come up with a list that eliminates my own biases, along with a rule that no team can be above a team that’s more than five points ahead of them in the standings, regardless of where the aggregate places them. On the other hand, Mike goes off his own intellect and pure vibes, and together we find a way to combine it and meet in the middle.

1. Vancouver Canucks

Record: 35-12-6, +56
Last Week: 2nd (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 1st
Scott’s Rank: 1st

Scott: When’s the last time Mike and I have agreed on the top team? While I technically don’t have them as my top team (they were fifth in the aggregate), it’s hard to deny the Canucks have done a great job recently to put some distance between themselves and most of the league, even with a couple losses last week before Sunday’s win over the Caps. With Elias Lindholm in the fold now, that gives them so many options as to what they want to do with their top six and has a chance to improve their underlying numbers to help close the deficit should they see some regression down the line.

Mike: I have all the time in the world for Elias Lindholm, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Andrei Kuzmenko outscores him in the back half of this season. Even so, it was a deal these Canucks had to make, and hey — they just keep winning.

2. Florida Panthers

Record: 33-15-4, +36
Last Week: 3rd (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 2nd
Scott’s Rank: 2nd

Mike: And would you look at that: Scott and I also agree on the second-ranked team. I wasn’t super-duper high on the Panthers last year, and it looked like they might end up proving me right … until they made the playoffs in the last week of the season and ended up going to the Stanley Cup Final. I no longer doubt them, certainly not after a 4-0 win over the Avs. Matthew Tkachuk is heating up, Sam Reinhart continues to surge, and Sergei Bobrovsky has been pretty darn solid.

3. Boston Bruins

Record: 32-11-9, +43
Last Week: 1st (-2)
Mike’s Rank: 3rd
Scott’s Rank: 4th

Scott: With two losses in three games out of the All-Star break, the Bruins see a bit of a tumble, but they still sit alone in second place in the league, even with the Panthers creeping up behind them in the division. It should be interesting to see what the Bruins do trade-wise now with two of the bigger centers off the market, especially when Lindholm seemed to be a match made in heaven for them.

Mike: Adam Henrique flat-out screams Boston to me. What about a package deal of Henrique and former Bruin Frankie Vatrano? Much to think about …

4. Dallas Stars

Record: 32-14-6, +33
Last Week: 5th (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 4th
Scott’s Rank: 3rd

Mike: The Stars are still just kind of unfair. It’s bonkers that they’ve been able to get so much juice out of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin in the years since they were initially labelled toxic assets. Mason Marchment has rebounded nicely, Thomas Harley has 13 goals, Joe Pavelski continues to laugh at the concept of aging, and they still have a bunch of top prospects who haven’t even played NHL games yet. The only thing these Stars need at this point is for Jake Oettinger to rediscover his top form.

5. Carolina Hurricanes

Record: 30-16-5, +22
Last Week: 6th (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 6th
Scott’s Rank: 5th

Scott: The Canes have wins in five of their last six games now, with wins over the Avalanche and the Devils after a 3-2 loss to the Canucks right out of the All-Star break. They’ve gotten some stable goaltending this week with Pyotr Kochetkov back in the crease, even if he did allow a goal from center ice against the Avs.

6. New York Rangers

Record: 33-16-3, +23
Last Week: 7th (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 5th
Scott’s Rank: 7th

Mike: The Rangers are hot, hot, hot. They’ve won four in a row, including games against the Avalanche and Lightning, and remain near the very top of the NHL standings. No, their depth isn’t what it needs to be for them to be considered the cream of the crop in this league, but they have the capital to make the necessary moves ahead of the deadline. Will they move Kaapo Kakko for another top-six forward or top-four defenseman? Or should they exercise the same patience that has served them well with Alexis Lafrenière?

7. Winnipeg Jets

Record: 31-14-5, +34
Last Week: 9th (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 7th
Scott’s Rank: 6th

Scott: The Jets snapped a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Pens on Saturday, but Jets fans may not feel calm just yet considering this team’s recent history of looking good in the first half of the season and falling off in the second half. Monahan has gone pointless in his first three games so far as well, but we’ll see how he does once he’s settled in. Still, it’s an expensive gamble to take for the Jets, especially on a center with the injury history that Monahan has.

Mike: I’d take Monahan on my team any day. That said, I can’t believe the Jets gave up a first for him. It’s a lot for a secondary contender to pay for a guy who was widely considered damaged goods this time two years ago.

Scott: If there’s one area where he will likely help the Jets, it’s on the power play, which is much needed for them this year.

8. Vegas Golden Knights

Record: 31-15-6, +28
Last Week: 10th (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 8th
Scott’s Rank: 9th

Mike: Mark Stone does not get enough respect as one of the top players in this league. He’s just unfair. When he’s healthy, Stone can beat you in so, so many ways. He’s big, strong, smart, and skilled. In many ways, he embodies the essence of these Golden Knights. Although they’re not the flashiest team, they’re just so solid across the board. By the way, speaking of reliability: 33-year-old Jonathan Marchessault is just four goals off his career high with 26 in 52 games.

Scott: It’s a contract year for Marchessault too…

9. Colorado Avalanche

Record: 32-17-4, +27
Last Week: 4th (-5)
Mike’s Rank: 9th
Scott’s Rank: 8th

Scott: It’s certainly not ideal to come out of the All-Star break with four straight losses and only scoring six goals in that span, especially with how nuclear they felt going into the break. Some regression from that probably should have been expected, especially considering that they aren’t top 10 in scoring chance creation or suppression.

10. Edmonton Oilers

Record: 30-17-1, +32
Last Week: 8th (-2)
Mike’s Rank: 10th
Scott’s Rank: 10th

Mike: Well, the streak is over, and the Oilers are back to ‘so-so’ status. After losing 3-1 to the Golden Knights on Tuesday, the Oilers had to rally to beat the Ducks (!!) on Friday before being shut out by the free-falling Kings the following night. Yes, this is a pretty good team across the board, and it certainly isn’t easy to win 16 in a row, but it’s worth noting just how soft Edmonton’s January schedule was: Ottawa, Chicago (twice), Detroit, Montreal, Seattle, Calgary, and Columbus. Whom the Oilers play at any given time isn’t their call, but still. This isn’t 2020: Edmonton ain’t seeing Chicago in the playoffs.

Scott: Not like seeing Chicago did them any favors that year anyways.

11. Toronto Maple Leafs

Record: 26-16-7, +14
Last Week: 11th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 11th
Scott’s Rank: 12th

Scott: Pretty quiet week in Toronto, right? Nothing of significance happened at all, if my memory serves me correctly. On top of continuing to play up or down to their opponent by losing to the Isles and Sens and beating the Stars, they find themselves in trouble after a stupid slapshot from Ridly Greig caused Morgan Rielly to react in a stupid way. In his defense, it looked like he was aiming for the shoulder and then Greig’s arm moved it up to the face, but it was still a reckless play. He’ll receive a suspension for it, and I’m not looking forward to seeing what their blueline looks like in his absence, especially with Mark Giordano and Conor Timmins hurt as well.

12. Los Angeles Kings

Record: 24-15-10, +24
Last Week: 13th (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 12th
Scott’s Rank: 11th

Mike: The Kings played exactly one game last week, and it was a good one. Some teams really benefit from the reset the All-Star break provides, and the Kings, having jettisoned coach Todd McLellan during that period, certainly seemed invigorated during their 4-0 win over the Oilers on Saturday. Quinton Byfield had two goals and three points in that game. Mark my words: Byfield crosses the 100-point mark at some point in the next five years.

13. Philadelphia Flyers

Record: 28-19-6, +4
Last Week: 15th (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 13th
Scott’s Rank: 13th

Scott: While eight wins in the Flyers’ last 13 games seems somewhat normal on the surface, the fact that that’s come in five straight wins, five straight losses, and three straight wins is a very Flyers thing to happen. Even with the inconsistent play, the Flyers still have a solid lead over the rest of the Metro for third, largely in thanks to the fact that all five teams below them have three wins in their last 10 games.

14. Nashville Predators

Record: 27-23-2, -6
Last Week: 14th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 14th
Scott’s Rank: 14th

Mike: The Preds had lost three in a row heading into the All-Star break. Much like the Kings, they needed a chance to take a breather. Well, it wasn’t exactly convincing, but they still managed to beat the Coyotes by a 5-4 score in overtime on Saturday after trailing 4-2 in the third period. Tommy Novak played a key role in that victory, kicking off the rally midway through the third before assisting on Ryan McDonagh’s OT winner.

15. Tampa Bay Lightning

Record: 28-20-5, +7
Last Week: 12th (-3)
Mike’s Rank: 15th
Scott’s Rank: 15th

Scott: The All-Star break seemed to disrupt the Lightning’s hot stretch, as they dropped both games while out in New York, but they bounced back with a win over Columbus on Saturday. Just as they were starting to get healthy, they lost Mikhail Sergachev to an injury again, and it’s unlikely he plays again this season.

16. Detroit Red Wings

Record: 27-18-6, +16
Last Week: 16th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 16th
Scott’s Rank: 18th

Mike: The Red Wings rallied from 3-1 down to beat the Canucks 4-3 in overtime in their first game back after the All-Star break on Saturday. After setting up Michael Rasmussen’s tying goal in the third period, Jake Walman scored on a penalty shot in extra time to seal the deal. Walman has become renowned for his entertaining goal celebrations, and he’s had a lot of opportunities to show them off this year — 11, to be exact.

17. Calgary Flames

Record: 25-22-5, +2
Last Week: 24th (+7)
Mike’s Rank: 20th
Scott’s Rank: 16th

Scott: For the record, I don’t know if I’d consider the Flames a playoff-caliber team, but they just ended up in 16th for me due to the five-point rule with the Wings causing a bit of chaos on my list. That said, we might have seen some of Jonathan Huberdeau’s best hockey since joining the Flames this week when they put Andrei Kuzmenko on his line, so it’ll be interesting to see what continues to come from that.

Mike: No chance they make it. None.

Scott: Normally I’d agree, but the Wildcard race in the West has been such a mid-off that Calgary seems like the most fitting winner.

18. Pittsburgh Penguins

Record: 23-19-7, +13
Last Week: 17th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 17th
Scott’s Rank: 19th

Mike: Sidney Crosby had correctly predicted the outcomes of five consecutive Super Bowls before erroneously picking the 49ers to beat the Chiefs on Sunday. Whoops! Sid the Kid and Patrick Mahomes now both have three championships, including a back-to-back sequence in there, but it’s looking pretty likely at this point that Pat ends up ahead of the Penguins legend when all is said and done. That’s no shame on Crosby, who has been dominant on an otherwise milquetoast Pittsburgh team this season.

19. New York Islanders

Record: 22-18-12, -21
Last Week: 20th (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 21st
Scott’s Rank: 17th

Scott: Mat Barzal had himself a good time in Toronto, making his way to the final round of the Skills Competition in the All-Star game as a late add to the event, winning the tournament the next game on Team Matthews, and then scoring a goal in the Isles 3-2 win over Toronto a couple days later. They got another win in a blowout over Tampa later that week before dropping one to the Flames, continuing to showcase the team’s inconsistencies lately.

20. New Jersey Devils

Record: 25-21-4, -8
Last Week: 19th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 19th
Scott’s Rank: 20th

Mike: Get these guys a goalie, STAT! Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported this week that the Devils and Flames have had serious conversations about Jacob Markstrom, who makes all kinds of sense for a New Jersey team looking to build a strong foundation around the Hughes brothers. Markstrom is an established vet who has done anything he can to keep the Flames out of the lottery picture thus far this season. Clearly, Vitek Vanecek isn’t cutting it, and with the Devils tumbling down the standings, one can imagine Tom Fitzgerald becoming a tad desperate for an upgrade rather soon.

21. St. Louis Blues

Record: 28-21-2, -5
Last Week: 23rd (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 18th
Scott’s Rank: 22nd

Scott: The Blues continue to hang around in the playoff race, much to my continued surprise. They’ve now won seven of their last eight games, and somehow that one loss was a 1-0 shutout to the Blue Jackets off all teams. Absolutely perplexing team considering the makeup of this roster, but that second Wildcard spot is wide open, so all the power to St. Louis if they pull this off.

22. Washington Capitals

Record: 23-20-8, -34
Last Week: 21st (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 23rd
Scott’s Rank: 21st

Mike: Hey, at least Alex Ovechkin is starting to score again — even into empty nets. The Great 8 surpassed Wayne Gretzky this past week as the all-time NHL leader in empty-net goals scored, which is really something people track. Even with his slow start to the 2023–24 season, Ovi is still a pretty safe bet to surpass Gretzky’s 894 total goals at some point over the next few seasons. But the Caps probably aren’t going to do anything else worthwhile until he gets there. Aside from Dylan Strome and Charlie Lindgren, this team has been pretty disappointing from top to bottom.

23. Seattle Kraken

Record: 21-20-10, -8
Last Week: 18th (-5)
Mike’s Rank: 22nd
Scott’s Rank: 23rd

Scott: Remember when the Kraken were on that hot streak and fighting for a playoff spot? They’ve now lost three of their last four, seven of their last nine and are now six points behind the Blues for the final Wildcard spot, and that’s with Joey Daccord still playing well in net. Their offense continues to struggle this year, which has been the big difference between them being a playoff team last year and a fringe team this year.

24. Minnesota Wild

Record: 23-23-5, -15
Last Week: 26th (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 25th
Scott’s Rank: 24th

Mike: The Wild are exactly .500 this year. Yes, they’ve been ravaged by injuries, but it’s not like they’re a true Cup contender even when they’re fully healthy. Aside from Brock Faber, their strong defensive group is starting to show its age, and it might come into question before long whether Kirill Kaprizov will finish his current contract in the State of Hockey. Those Parise and Suter buyouts are really going to limit what this team can do.

25. Arizona Coyotes

Record: 23-23-4, -6
Last Week: 22nd (-3)
Mike’s Rank: 24th
Scott’s Rank: 26th

Scott: I did not realize the Coyotes had fallen this far out of the playoff race. I guess it’s been pretty easy to get distracted amidst all of the arena drama, but five losses in a row will certainly deplete your chances. There’s still some time to get back in this, and they have a game or two in hand on every team ahead of them, but an eight point gap is still a lot to make up. The clock is ticking.

Mike: The clock is also ticking on Alex Meruelo, the Coyotes’ owner who really needs to get his [bleep] together if he wants to keep his grasp on an NHL franchise. The Coyotes will have a bright future if he can get a deal done with the City of Phoenix. Easier said than done.

26. Buffalo Sabres

Record: 22-25-4, -12
Last Week: 25th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 26th
Scott’s Rank: 25th

Mike: What’s with all the noise surrounding Casey Mittelstadt? The 25-year-old center has finally shown signs of living up to his draft stock with the Sabres this season, leading the team with 42 points (12 goals, 30 assists) in 51 games. But the Sabres have yet to extend the pending RFA and it’s undeniable that they’ll have to make some significant changes after yet another disappointing year. Kevyn Adams might be wise to explore flipping one of his forwards for a steady defenseman to pair with Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power.

27. Montreal Canadiens

Record: 21-23-8, -42
Last Week: 27th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 27th
Scott’s Rank: 27th

Scott: It looks like the time has dawned for Montreal to start stripping off some pieces for the deadline, with Monahan being the first to go. What great asset management on their part to take on his cap hit last season, re-sign him after injuries spoiled his value in a solid first season in Montreal, and then let him thrive again to get an additional first round pick. Hopefully they use those picks a bit better in this year’s draft, though.

28. Ottawa Senators

Record: 21-25-2, -10
Last Week: 28th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 28th
Scott’s Rank: 28th

Mike: Ridly Greig did nothing wrong. If you don’t like it when a guy takes a slap shot into your empty net, don’t pull your goaltender. Sorry, not sorry. Greig has always been a player whose bread and butter is knocking his opponents off their games, and he seems to have done just that with a Toronto Maple Leafs team that already looked discombobulated for much of this year.

29. Columbus Blue Jackets

Record: 16-25-10, -38
Last Week: 29th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 29th
Scott’s Rank: 29th

Scott: H-has it actually been a normal couple of weeks for Columbus? Has that even happened this season? Obviously Cole Sillinger caught some strays during Tate McRae’s performance at the All-Star Game, but we saw that coming already. They may have only had one win since we last visited them in the power rankings, but I’d consider this to be a big win in and of itself for the Jackets.

Mike: I’m imposing a moratorium on Tate McRae mentions in our Blue Jackets sections. No more!

Scott: Sorry, I’m getting a bit greedy with them.

30. Anaheim Ducks

Record: 18-31-2, -43
Last Week: 30th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 30th
Scott’s Rank: 30th

Mike: Did you know the Ducks had points in four consecutive games entering their game against the Oilers the other night? That doesn’t mean they’re good, but still! It’s something! The future is getting brighter and brighter in Anaheim with Mason McTavish, Leo Carlsson, and Pavel Mintyukov on the rise, although it remains to be seen whether Trevor Zegras actually fits into their long-term plans. My gut says he’ll be traded.

31. San Jose Sharks

Record: 14-32-5, -92
Last Week: 31st (0)
Mike’s Rank: 31st
Scott’s Rank: 32nd

Scott: The Sharks at the height of their Cup contention in the late 2000s and most of the 2010s were well known for their chokejobs, so it’s fitting that they appeared to be “choking” away last overall with a recent 4-1 stretch. At least they came up “clutch” with losses to lottery competitors Anaheim and Chicago during that span, though.

Mike: Hey, their new black alternate jerseys are cool, too.

32. Chicago Blackhawks

Record: 14-35-3, -74
Last Week: 32nd (0)
Mike’s Rank: 32nd
Scott’s Rank: 31st

Mike: Chicago has now lost six in a row, including back-to-back games coming out of the All-Star break. Connor Bedard has been out since Jan. 5 and is still this team’s leading scorer. It’s entirely possible that nobody on this team even reaches 50 points this year. In this high-scoring an era in the NHL, that’s practically unthinkable. Relegation should be an option for teams like these Blackhawks.

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