NHL power rankings: The Jets keep flying high to start the season

Winnipeg Jets forwards Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi

Credit: © James Carey Lauder

Election season is in the air, and while it’s ever so prevalent in the United States right now, it’s also lingering in the background in Canada like it’s the White Walkers in Game of Thrones. But like the States, we here at Daily Faceoff believe in a two-party system when electing our best team every week, and much like every election, the results seems to leave a nation divided. I’m not going to assign roles here, but I’m sure everyone will come to their own conclusions as to who represents whom throughout today’s list, and maybe we can persuade you to swing your own votes.

Wait, I think I’m being hacked. Hunter, what are you doing in the intro?

“This guy’s a loser, look at how high he puts the Wild. I’ll tell ya, it’s wild how high the Wild are. Get it? That’s a joke, we love jokes. And he hates Texas, look at where the Stars are. One or two bad games and he basically thinks they’re a lottery team, and, let me tell you, he’s not a very smart person. Very low IQ.”

Well, I guess Hunter wanted to be a bit more subtle about where he stands.

Anyways! Hunter Crowther and I continue to navigate through the results so far this season 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, Hunter goes off his own intellect and pure vibes, and together we find a way to combine it and meet in the middle.

1. Winnipeg Jets

Record: 11-1-0, +29
Last Week: 4th (+3)
Hunter’s Rank: 1st
Scott’s Rank: 3rd

Hunter: Take away two strong periods from the Maple Leafs game last Monday and it was about as dominant a week of hockey as you could ask for. The Jets scored at least six times in three of their four games, and four in the other. At some point, the shooting percentages will drop, but that’s next week’s problem.

2. Florida Panthers

Record: 9-3-1, +7
Last Week: 2nd (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 2nd
Scott’s Rank: 2nd

Scott: The fact that the Panthers were still 6-3-1 despite missing Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk for large chunks of that stretch should strike fear in the rest of the NHL. Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell have been shooting the lights out without them, and now that they’re back, they look unstoppable, even in their two games against the Stars in Finland.

3. Minnesota Wild

Record: 8-1-2, +13
Last Week: 8th (+5)
Hunter’s Rank: 7th
Scott’s Rank: 1st

Scott: The Wild aren’t just back in the playoff hunt this season, they’re trying to throw their hat in the ring of Cup contenders this year. We’ll have to see if this can keep up all season (I wouldn’t call their performance outlandishly unsustainable thus far), but they are looking great with seven wins in their last eight games, and that includes some wins over other strong teams like the Panthers, Lightning (twice) and Maple Leafs. Also, if there was a Hart Trophy for the month of October, I’d probably give my vote to Kirill Kaprizov.

Hunter: Hey now, they’ve got all the good mojo going at the moment and winning seven of their last eight puts them near the top of the standings and power rankings. But they shouldn’t be right at the top like my colleague has them. Beyond their top two lines, they’re thin up front and the $10 million in dead cap space is going to catch up to them when they suffer an injury or need more help as the season goes on. That being said, the more Marc-Andre Fleury we see, the better.

4. Carolina Hurricanes

Record: 8-2-0, +16
Last Week: 10th (+6)
Hunter’s Rank: 6th
Scott’s Rank: 5th

Scott: The Canes have quietly started the season 8-2-0, a record that’s gone unnoticed because they’re still a bit behind in the games played category, but they’re looking just as strong as they have over the last five or so years. Perhaps the most impressive game was their 8-2 win over the Bruins, although we’ll have to wait and see if that’s a sign that the Canes have improved their offense or if the Bruins have taken a step back.

5. New York Rangers

Record: 8-2-1, +20
Last Week: 1st (-4)
Hunter’s Rank: 3rd
Scott’s Rank: 10th

Hunter: I don’t know how to write this without sounding corny, so I’ll just come out and say it: the Rangers are cool. Original six team, best rink in the league, Artemi Panarin has hockey’s coolest nickname. Everything just seems brighter and better in the Big Apple. Anyway, Alexis Lafreniere looks like he’s playing up to his extension, Adam Fox is having another Norris Trophy-caliber year, and they have the best penalty kill and No. 7 power play in the league. Man, what a fun team.

6. Los Angeles Kings

Record: 6-3-3, -1
Last Week: 6th (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 8th
Scott’s Rank: 6th

Scott: What a weird week from the Kings. They had a layup win against the Sharks that they lost 4-2, had a tougher opponent in the Golden Knights that they beat 6-3, and then followed that up with a 4-3 loss to another team that they’d want to beat in the Blackhawks. Oh, and Kevin Fiala was benched over a week ago against Utah and then healthy scratched against the Sharks for missing a team meeting. L.A. is still playing well, but it’s just been a funny stretch for them.

7. Washington Capitals

Record: 8-3-0, +13
Last Week: 13th (+6)
Hunter’s Rank: 11th
Scott’s Rank: 4th

Scott: For the record, the Caps were actually first on my list before the five-point rule came into effect. This team isn’t just good, they’re looking really good and seeing results from all over the team, whether it’s younger guys like Connor McMichael or Aliaksei Protas, veterans like Tom Wilson and John Carlson, or Dylan Strome putting up 17 points in 11 games. Oh, and Alex Ovechkin is primed to break Wayne Gretzky’s goal record this season with seven goals in 11 games so far. Not to mention that this has been without Matt Roy for most of the year and Jakob Chychrun for most of last week.

8. New Jersey Devils

Record: 7-5-2, +8
Last Week: 7th (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 9th
Scott’s Rank: 7th

Hunter: Nico Hischier is turning heads with his goal scoring but the team has gotten unlikely depth production from Stefan Noesen and Paul Cotter with five and six goals, respectively. Last season, it was New Jersey’s goaltending that left fans and pundits worried. This season … it’s their goaltending, as neither Jacob Markstrom or Jake Allen have fully found their groove. Markstrom did stop 49 of 51 shots this week, so let’s see if that sustains.

9. Dallas Stars

Record: 7-4-0, +8
Last Week: 3rd (-6)
Hunter’s Rank: 4th
Scott’s Rank: 13th

Scott: Many called the Stars and Panthers double-header out in Finland a potential Stanley Cup preview, and if that’s the case, the Stars have quite a bit of work to do. They were outclassed by the defending Cup champions, especially in the first game, and they’re still struggling defensively, which is what’s been really hurting them in my rankings so far this year. Jake Oettinger has certainly been playing like a Vezina candidate though.

10. Vegas Golden Knights

Record: 8-3-1, +17
Last Week: 5th (-5)
Hunter’s Rank: 5th
Scott’s Rank: 14th

Scott: Loyal power rankings readers may remember that I was low on the Golden Knights at the start of last season but still generally believed in the quality of the team despite poor underlying numbers. Well, it’s the same this year. Their underlyings have been rough, hence the low ranking on my end, but I still like a lot of this team, especially that top line of Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev.

11. Tampa Bay Lightning

Record: 7-5-0, +6
Last Week: 11th (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 10th
Scott’s Rank: 9th

Hunter: Sports can be so delightfully weird. The two games I thought the Lightning should have lost, they won, and the two games in which I thought they could have squeaked out a win, they lost. *Mark Normand voice* Comedy! Jake Guentzel continues to produce on Nikita Kucherov’s line this week, although anyone could on Kucherov’s line. With Connor McDavid out for at least a few games, there’s a good chance Kucherov could eventually separate himself from the pack. Also, can we stop saying Andrei Vasilevskiy is washed up? He may not be the best in the league, but the reports of his demise after the big loss to the Leafs led to a horribly premature obituary being written.

12. Toronto Maple Leafs

Record: 6-5-2, 0
Last Week: 16th (+4)
Hunter’s Rank: 13th
Scott’s Rank: 8th

Hunter: It’s a shame how they closed out the week, because the wins against the Jets and Kraken were highly impressive. Last Monday’s effort against the league’s last undefeated team was something they can look back on when they need to dig deep for missing effort, and I didn’t hate how they played against the Blues on Saturday night. Let’s forget about Sunday night, hats off to the State of Hockey.

Scott: The Leafs continue to Leaf. They’ve played relatively well, but their offense has looked as inconsistent as it did in the playoffs last spring. Also, we need to talk about Ryan Reaves. He’s reaching unplayable territory, and the Leafs have a losing record with him in the lineup. What exactly does he do now?

13. Vancouver Canucks

Record: 5-2-3, -3
Last Week: 12th (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 12th
Scott’s Rank: 12th

Hunter: Look, I want to believe. Quinn Hughes has a 63 percent even-strength Corsi and is producing at a point-per-game pace. Pius Suter tricked some people into grabbing him off the fantasy waiver wire. Kevin Lankinen is earning his crease with impressive wins in five of his last six games. But unless Elias Pettersson figures out whatever the hell is holding him back and/or Thatcher Demko returns as soon as possible (or “ASAP” as the children write), then I can’t see them going on any kind of run, let alone even making the playoffs.

Scott: I think the Pacific Division lacks the depth for Vancouver’s playoff spot to be in jeopardy by the time Demko comes back or Pettersson figures things out, but they’ll certainly get outclassed in the playoffs real quick if things aren’t righted soon. They might want to try and find some help on defense though, because they’re leaning too heavily on Quinn Hughes too soon.

14. Edmonton Oilers

Record: 6-5-1, -7
Last Week: 15th (+1)
Hunter’s Rank: 15th
Scott’s Rank: 11th

Hunter: There’s an opportunity here. Sure, the greatest hockey player that most of the people reading this have ever seen will be out for at least two, maybe three weeks, but this allows Leon Draisaitl to remind everyone that he more than deserves to be in the best players in the world category, as well as give us a glimpse into how much depth this forward group has. Taking on both the Devils and Golden Knights next week will be a good test for this group.

Scott: I can’t wait for Draisaitl to win the Hart Trophy again because he had 5-10 good games without McDavid. I was worried about how they’d fare without McDavid considering the slow start they’ve already had, but so far so good it seems.

15. Boston Bruins

Record: 6-6-1, -8
Last Week: 19th (+4)
Hunter’s Rank: 14th
Scott’s Rank: 15th

Scott: I’m not sure what to make of this Bruins’ team so far. They’ve been mediocre across the board so far this year, with their best performances being saved for some of the weakest teams in the league like the Habs, Kraken and Flyers, while they struggle against the actually competitive teams. It’s still early, but we’re starting to see the holes left by all the players that they’ve let go over the past two seasons become more problematic for the team.

Hunter: Could they be the team out of the Atlantic’s top four to finally miss the playoffs? It’s too soon to know, and the Hockey Gods are cruel, so at some point Elias Lindholm will score at a 30-goal pace and Nikita Zadorov will turn into Andrew Ference. But at this rate, they’ll be fighting for a Wildcard spot come April.

16. New York Islanders

Record: 4-6-2, -9
Last Week: 17th (+1)
Hunter’s Rank: 17th
Scott’s Rank: 16th

Scott: I knew the Islanders offense wasn’t exactly world-class, but did they all just forget to score? Ilya Sorokin is allowing 2.29 goals per game and has lost more games than he’s won! Their leading scorer is Kyle Palmieri! In their defense, they’re dealing with a lot in the injury department, with Mat Barzal and Adam Pelech out for four to six weeks and Alex Romanov and Mike Reilly out on a day-to-day basis, but this still isn’t a great start despite once again being a top-five defensive team.

17. Colorado Avalanche

Record: 5-7-0, -11
Last Week: 14th (-3)
Hunter’s Rank: 16th
Scott’s Rank: 19th

Hunter: Four straight losses, five straight wins, three straight losses. Give the Avalanche one thing, they’re consistent. What’s even more impressive is that all three of last week’s losses were by a score of 5-2, all with three different goalies. I don’t think you could do that again if you tried. You have Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon competing for Colorado’s spot among next summer’s Hart Trophy finalists, and Mikko Rantanen is in a contract year, scoring as many points as he can before he gets paid nearly $13 million next season. For the love of God, trade for a goalie and don’t let this year go to waste.

Scott: It’s funny to think about the fact that the Avs are so depleted up front that they played Oliver Kylington on the wing, and their biggest need is still goaltending. At least their forward depth is one step closer to getting better with Artturi Lehkonen set to make his season debut on Tuesday.

18. Ottawa Senators

Record: 6-5-0, +9
Last Week: 27th (+9)
Hunter’s Rank: 18th
Scott’s Rank: 18th

Hunter: Pretty damn good week in the Canadian capital if we’re being honest. Pure dominance over the Blues and Kraken, and if we’re judging their 2-1 loss to the Rangers analytically, they beat ‘em in expected goals (2.7 to 1.92) and on the much-beloved Deserve To Win O’Meter, the latter being social media’s favorite evaluator of talent. They’re barely over .500 but they’re fun to watch and for the love of God, someone other than the Panthers, Lightning, Bruins and Leafs has to make the playoffs out of that division.

Scott: Considering the Bruins’ inconsistencies so far this year (and to be fair, the Leafs’ too), the door might be opening for another Atlantic team to sneak in this season, and the Sens look like the frontrunner to be that upset team right now.

19. Utah Hockey Club

Record: 5-4-3, -5
Last Week: 23rd (+4)
Hunter’s Rank: 19th
Scott’s Rank: 17th

Hunter: Remember when the first few Joker 2 reactions were trickling out from advanced screenings, calling the film a masterpiece? And then, as more and more people were exposed to it, the Rotten Tomatoes score began to plummet, everyone realized it was bad, and it was dead on arrival at the box office after its opening weekend? I feel like we may have done that with all the love for Utah and the whole “uM aCtUaLLy tHeY’rE wAy beTTeR tHaN wE tHoUgHt” hyperbole. Dylan Guenther has one goal in eight games and injuries torpedoed their defense.

20. Calgary Flames

Record: 6-5-1, -3
Last Week: 9th (-11)
Hunter’s Rank: 20th
Scott’s Rank: 22nd

Hunter: Last week’s gentle float back to Earth turned into a skydive without a parachute. Three losses this week by a combined score of 14-3. Dustin Wolf gave up five goals in back-to-back games, so keep an eye on how he responds after that. At least Jonathan Huberdeau is producing … wait, he has one goal and one assist in his last eight games? I guess him being second in team scoring is a bit misleading.

21. Chicago Blackhawks

Record: 5-7-1, -4
Last Week: 25th (+4)
Hunter’s Rank: 22nd
Scott’s Rank: 20th

Scott: It feels weird ranking the Blackhawks this high, but they have three wins in their last four games and have had middling underlying numbers, and now Connor Bedard finally has a supporting cast to work with. I wouldn’t exactly say this team is a threat to make noise in the playoff race, but at least they aren’t the on-ice embarrassment that they’ve been in the past couple of seasons.

22. Columbus Blue Jackets

Record: 5-5-1, +1
Last Week: 22nd (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 22nd
Scott’s Rank: 20th

Scott: The Blue Jackets were probably feeling great after a stretch of three wins in four games, including a 6-1 rout over the Oilers and a 2-0 win over the Islanders, but they had an ugly weekend with a 6-2 loss to the Jets on Friday and a 7-2 loss to the Caps on Saturday, with the latter game already at a 5-0 score before the 15 minute mark. This is probably what we should expect from this team this year, which is far more than what most people probably would have expected considering the circumstances.

23. Pittsburgh Penguins

Record: 5-7-1, -12
Last Week: 29th (+6)
Hunter’s Rank: 25th
Scott’s Rank: 23rd

Scott: You know things are in rough shape in Pittsburgh when they have to go with the last resort option: a super line with both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on it. It has to be more than a decade since we’ve seen them on the same line, right? Rickard Rakell is one lucky guy to be slotted on the wing of that dynamic duo. It’s gotten them wins in two of their three games since going with the method, so I guess we’ll see how this changes things.

Hunter: I don’t know why but the way this team is playing is actually bothering me. Sure, they had a few wins this past week, but there were stretches during their six-game losing streak when, with Crosby and Malkin off the ice, they looked like a lottery team. Joel Blomqvist held his own, but he’s allowed four goals in three straight starts. Alex Nedeljkovic, you’re the next contestant on The Price is Right!

24. Nashville Predators

Record: 4-6-1, -9
Last Week: 20th (-4)
Hunter’s Rank: 23rd
Scott’s Rank: 25th

Hunter: It’s not quite U.S. Thanksgiving yet, but this team is leaving a lot on the table instead of on the ice. I really liked the effort during their 5-2 win over the Avalanche on Saturday night, but next week we’ll see if that was either the game that gets them to where they should be, or if it was just an anomaly. Juuse Saros has another gear and needs to find it. Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault have four combined goals. Just cut it out and get to work.

25. St. Louis Blues

Record: 6-6-0, -6
Last Week: 24th (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 21st
Scott’s Rank: 28th

Scott: The Blues must have been really happy to see the Maple Leafs on their schedule twice in the last two weeks, because in their past six games, Toronto is the only team they’ve beaten. They’ve certainly struggled with Robert Thomas out for the long term, but it couldn’t get any uglier than that 8-1 loss to the Sens on Tuesday.

26. Detroit Red Wings

Record: 5-5-1, -6
Last Week: 21st (-5)
Hunter’s Rank: 26th
Scott’s Rank: 26th

Scott: The Wings had a three-game losing streak going into Saturday’s game against the Sabres, and they probably should have lost that one if not for the fact that Cam Talbot stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced. That’s been a very concerning trend for this team so far, as most of their wins have needed god-like performances from Talbot and Alex Lyon to get the job done. It’s good to know that they have goaltending this season, but the team needs to start winning some games themselves at some point.

Hunter: “Hello? Jay Woodcroft? It’s Steve Yzerman. Good, good, how are you? Listen, have you seen the suburbs in Oakland County? They are beauuuuuu-tiful.”

27. Buffalo Sabres

Record: 4-7-1, -6
Last Week: 18th (-9)
Hunter’s Rank: 28th
Scott’s Rank: 24th

Hunter: So we can all agree, it’s another wasted year in western New York, correct? I know, it’s still early, but it won’t be early next week. They’re power play is at 8.6 percent and their penalty kill is a shade over 70 percent. What’s frustrating is you’re seeing great performances out of the likes of Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin and Alex Tuch, who are all both producing points and dominating possession. There are so many players I love watching on this team, and they’re getting burned by a lack of depth and mediocre goaltending.

Scott: To be fair, things were looking much better before losing three in a row last week. But they need more from some of their players, particularly Dylan Cozens. Four points in 12 games is not enough for someone they expect to be their second-line center.

28. Montreal Canadiens

Record: 4-7-1, -17
Last Week: 28th (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 29th
Scott’s Rank: 27th

Hunter: In this week’s edition of “Stats That Don’t Seem Real,” courtesy of our friends Sean “Down Goes Brown” McIndoe and Ryan Lambert over at Puck Soup, the Canadiens haven’t had a 40-goal scorer since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94, meaning approximately half the league wasn’t alive to see a Montreal player accomplish that. Anyway, Cole Caufield has 10 goals in 12 games, so place your bets. Also, Lane Hutson has played more than 23 minutes in seven of his 11 games. Someone tell Martin St. Louis the kid is going to run out of gas by New Year’s Day.

29. Anaheim Ducks

Record: 4-5-2, -7
Last Week: 31st (+2)
Hunter’s Rank: 30th
Scott’s Rank: 29th

Scott: When will we finally see that next step from the Ducks? They’ve lost four of their last five games, they have some of the worst underlying numbers in the league, and so far this season, they’ve yet to really see their young core play up to their potential. I don’t think anyone was expecting them to be a playoff team, but I was at least hoping we’d see them turn into that young, fun team that played some entertaining hockey.

30. Seattle Kraken

Record: 5-7-1, -2
Last Week: 26th (-4)
Hunter’s Rank: 27th
Scott’s Rank: 32nd

Scott: Don’t look now, but the Kraken have quietly lost six of their last seven games. I say quietly because a lot of people may think of recent Kraken games and immediately remember the 8-2 win over the Habs, but they seemed to have used up most of their goals in that win. In their last three games, they have just one goal, and that lone goal was a garbage-time tally against the Leafs when they were already down 3-0. Their underlying numbers look horrible across the board, which is why I have them ranked last this week, even ahead of the seemingly more hopeless teams like the Flyers and Sharks.

Hunter: There were two sequences during the Leafs loss where I thought I was watching the Coachella Valley Firebirds. I mean, they have their previous minor-league coach Dan Bylsma behind the bench, so that explains it. Joey Daccord deserves better. Shane Wright has already passed his career high in NHL regular-season games played and he has one goal to show for it, and that’s just not good enough.

31. Philadelphia Flyers

Record: 4-7-1, -13
Last Week: 30th (-1)
Hunter’s Rank: 31st
Scott’s Rank: 31st

Hunter: Both their wins last week were that type of slow, yawn-inducing hockey that earned John Tortorella a hefty pension in this league, and I’ll give Samuel Ersson credit for stopping 45 of 46 shots through the two contests. But it’s still gonna be a long year. Here’s a fun thought experiment: does Travis Konecny make your 4 Nations Face-Off roster? Our senior writer Matt Larkin left the Flyers’ winger off his roster, and while I’d rather have an all-world center play wing for two weeks, he might change some minds if he continues producing.

32. San Jose Sharks

Record: 3-8-2, -18
Last Week: 32nd (0)
Hunter’s Rank: 32nd
Scott’s Rank: 30th

Hunter: Sure, we keep putting them last, but that doesn’t mean they’re not entertaining! They actually had a great week on the ice, with two wins and a tight loss to the Canucks that arguably should have gone their way. I said this last week, but I will repeat that Mikael Granlund will likely net the Sharks another first-round pick (e.g. Sean Monahan with the Canadiens last season). If you’re looking for entertaining late-night television and a team with the best color scheme in hockey, watch the Sharks. They’ll be even more fun when Macklin Celebrini returns.

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