NHL Power Rankings: Opening Week Edition

Previous: . carolina hurricanes. 30. team. 109. I feel really bad for the Hurricanes; losing Jordan Staal can’t be easy. He’s confirmed to be out until December or January, unfortunately. The team made no moves in this last trade rush, though, which I wasn’t impressed with- and they’re still sitting in last place. This could have changed when they played the Buffalo Sabres- one of the two teams had to win, and this wasn’t even that team. Expect these two to contribute relief wins to one another all season..

12. Brian Gionta deserves his captaincy, and this team could win more games than it did last year. Unfortunately, that doesn’t say very much, as the team was fourteen points below the next lowest ranked franchise last season- and they had the lowest 5v5 G in the league. They’ve gotten off to a rough start only befitting of a team that finished the season as poorly as they had- Tanking For McDavid 2015?.. . Previous: . buffalo sabres. 29. team

edmonton oilers. 28. team. 148. Edmonton is that team that everyone has high hopes for every year, and every year they let us down. Last season saw a team filled with talent absolutely tank, and it’s looking like that’s about to repeat itself. I don’t want to be unkind to Edmonton… but they need to be better than they’ve been. Their rank will really establish itself once the team plays Arizona- this game will be much more effective at helping determine where the Oilers will fall in the standings as the season wears on.. . Previous:

97. The Florida Panthers are off to a devastatingly poor start. The team is hoping that some wins will draw larger crowds, but it’s not looking like that’s going to come any time soon. Hopefully, the team will gradually build up an effective core and regain some fan loyalty- but right now, they’re easily a bottom three team.. . Previous: . florida panthers. 27. team

112. I was really mean to everyone last week, and I’m doing penance for it now that everyone’s rosters have settled down. That being said, I still don’t have a ton of confidence in anything currently coming out of Calgary. They fought some hard battles in the preseason (particularly for preseason games), and it’s showing as the season starts- their best simply isn’t on par with everyone else.. . Previous: . calgary flames. 26. team

I still don’t trust the Winnipeg Jets to maintain the levels of play they’ve displayed thus far, particularly with Evander Kane starting out the season- literally- with an injury that is expected to put him out for a couple of weeks. Until we know whether the team’s 6-2 victory over the Coyotes was due to a very off day by Arizona or actual improvement in Winnipeg, they won’t be considered here at HH as a playoff contender.. . Previous: . winnipeg jets. 25. team. 107

team. 91. The current Senators roster simply doesn’t look like a sure playoff thing. At best, they could slide up my rankings and snag a Wild Card spot- hey, it’s the East, and they’ve started off the season strong. Anything could happen. You have to anticipate every team will hit a couple of snags in the road, though, and I don’t have enough information about the young guys to confidently put them much higher than this. They’ll probably be my team that flies all over the rankings.. . Previous: . ottawa senators. 24

Previous: . vancouver canucks. 23. team. 104. Vancouver is off to a pleasantly surprising good start to the season; they sit undefeated two games into their regular season. I don’t know how long this luck can hold, though, and so much of the team rides on the scorepower of a select few players. I don’t mind watching the Canucks climb my rankings, but I won’t place them too much higher at the moment..

Previous: . Philadelphia flyers. 22. team. 68. I was concerned about the Philadelphia Flyers coming into the season- and they’re only living up to the hype. Extremely weak defending, low scorepower, and a shaky identity overall. The Flyers lost their season opener to a weak-looking Boston, and things don’t look like they’ll get better too soon. This team might be in for a retooling before you know it..

The Nashville Predators have started off with a monster showing, but two straight wins doesn’t guarantee a playoff spot in the West. The Los Angeles Kings are off to an extremely slow start, the Colorado Avalanche stumbled in a disastrous fashion early on, and the Boston Bruins still don’t seem to have a finalized roster- when a team struggles like Nashville did last season, I can’t place them in my top sixteen based on two wins.. . Previous: . nashville predators. 21. team. 151

team. 103. It took this team seven periods of regulation hockey to score a goal. Unsure if this means that the Minnesota Wild are going to win the Stanley Cup, or that the Colorado Avalanche are going to struggle with one of the strongest theoretical offensive lineups in the league. This could also mean that Semyon Varlamov is in for a world of trouble.. . Previous: . colorado avalanche. 20

The Arizona Coyotes could have just started off the season with an extremely poor first game, but it’s hard to put them much higher than this with only two games in the books. Tonight’s matchup between the Coyotes and the Edmonton Oilers should do one of two things- move the Oilers up, or the Coyotes down. It all depends on whether Mike Smith can shake off his early season rust.. . Previous: . arizona coyotes. 19. team. 121

“You put the Rangers this low, with Lundqvist in goal?” Lundqvist got scored on five times in ten minutes, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Post-Stanley Cup Finals struggles abound for this EC team.. . Previous: . new york rangers. 18. team. 95

team. 116. A lot can be said for teams based on the contests they’ve played; more so, even, than who they’ve triumphed over. The Leafs started off strong against the Canadiens on opening night, and tore up the Rangers later in the week- but starting netminder Jonathan Bernier, not unlike many other starters across the league, looks out of form. I’m also hesitant to credit any teams with wins over the Colorado Avalanche, who have four goals in four games (which is a stat that’s popping up alarming frequently this season).. . Previous: . toronto maple leafs. 17

72. A dependable, middle-of-the-pack team is looking… well, dependable and middle-of-the-pack. Nothing special in the first two games of the season- they beat an extremely weakened Boston Bruins, then lost to an extremely powerful Anaheim. Waiting to see what this team does over time.. . Previous: . detroit red wings. 16. team

team. 19. Another unpredictable team. They shut out Boston 4-0 early on, but haven’t done too much beyond that. Ovechkin’s looking like a new man under Barry Trotz, but it’s still too early to make a concrete assumption based on his moves.. . Previous: . washington capitals. 15

14. team. 106. Extremely impressive showing out of the gate for the New York Islanders. They flew up the ranking with the additions of Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy- this defense-weak team finally got the power on the blue line they needed. I see the Islanders being this year’s dark horse.. . Previous: . new york islanders

. Previous: . dallas stars. 13. team. 119. Probably just a slow start for the Dallas franchise, but I’m not liking what I’m seeing from backup netminder Anders Lindback. Obviously, an inconsistent starter in goal is worse- but if you think your backup can’t bring you down, talk to last year’s Toronto squad. Curious to see what Dallas does about this.

team. 85. I hate putting teams that do well out of the gate out of the top ten, but I need to see more sustainability out of New Jersey for them to creep up my rankings. They make the playoffs this week for beating Tampa Bay, though- which means, through the transitive property, that they beat the Montreal Canadiens 7-1.. . Previous: . new jersey devils. 12

. Previous: . Boston Bruins. 11. team. 70. … and the team who wins the “steepest power-rank plummet” award goes to the Boston Bruins. Like the Colorado Avalanche, these guys have four goals in four games- and sit at a 1-3 record. The addition of David Krejci back in the lineup could turn things around, and the team needs time for the myriad of offensive newcomers to adjust and develop- but this probably won’t be Boston’s year, based on how they look now.

Columbus blue jackets. 10. team. 113. An early smattering of injuries has Columbus looking less than perfect, but they’re still sitting at a respectable 2-1-0 despite this. Nathan Horton is out indefinitely, but this team still has the power to compete for a playoff spot- and a secure one at that.. . Previous:

Chalk the first two losses up to a slow start, as Los Angeles starts to gain momentum. They’ve triumphed over the Jets and the Oilers, and fell to the Coyotes and the Sharks- one of which fell to the Jets, so it’s hard to really gauge how the Kings will do overall. One thing is certain, though- the team’s seventies line is their key to the playoffs, and will be for years to come.. . Previous: . los angeles kings. 9. team. 67

Previous: . pittsburgh penguins. 8. team. 92. The Pittsburgh Penguins seem to know that their playoff window won’t be open forever- and whether it’s simply a great start to the year or that new head coach Mike Johnston was the breath of fresh air this franchise needed, this team is playing with a renewed spark. They’ve toppled both the powerful Ducks and the Maple Leafs, heading into their third game of the season..

Previous: . st louis blues. 7. team. 99. The St. Louis Blues are one of the few teams around the league who were given a light schedule in the early weeks of the season, so it’s tough to tell where they belong. 1-1-0 isn’t the best record around, but it’s most decidedly not the worst, either… and their only loss wasn’t the massacre we’ve seen so many teams suffer through this season already..

This team has a falsely low ranking right now, as they’re one of the teams who have but two games under their belts. They remain undefeated, but who’s really shocked about that?. . Previous: . chicago blackhawks. 6. team. 94

120. Could be too soon, but I’d like to point out what San Jose did the last time they were sitting on a 3-0-0 record. Hopefully this team continues to be powerful, but I don’t have enough faith in them yet to be confident that this strong start to the season will hold.. . Previous: . san jose sharks. 5. team

montreal canadiens. 4. team. 152. Until Tampa Bay absolutely curb-stomped them, it was beginning to look like Montreal was unstoppable. This team is young, fast, and powerful- the only inconsistency I’m seeing is in net, and I don’t think that will remain the case.. . Previous:

tampa bay lightning. 3. team. 23. Tampa Bay started off slow, but have picked up steam as they head along. Another highly thought of team with a less-than-perfect record to open the season, but the players sitting on Tampa Bay’s roster have more consistency to their names than those sitting on rosters with more wins. I like how the Lightning have been playing… and can we please see another Steven Stamkos hat trick soon?. . Previous:

98. When I said that a team’s backup could only provide so much power, that excludes Darcy Kuemper. Somehow, Minnesota has started off the season with two starting netminders, and everyone else is upset. Two consecutive shutouts to start off what should be an extremely powerful season under Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Charlie Coyle… this team has already shown that they’ll be a threat in the West.. . Previous: . minnesota wild. 2. team

. Previous: . anaheim ducks. 1. team. 105. The Ducks lost to the Penguins opening night, then picked up steam. They went on to pick off three weaker franchises- the Sabres, the Flyers, and the Red Wings- in spectacular fashion. I liked this squad going into the season, so they’ll stick at number one as long as they keep this up.