Hurricanes No. 1; Canadiens make biggest surge in NHL Power Rankings

By Sportlogiq Staff (@Sportlogiq)

Another week, another elite team vaulting to the top of our Power Rankings. 

The Carolina Hurricanes jump from third to first thanks to a 3-0-0 week with wins against Philadelphia, Columbus, and Edmonton. The Canes have won five straight overall and trail only Colorado in points percentage and goal differential.

Frederik Andersen continues to make a strong case for Vezina Trophy consideration, ranking first in wins and third in goals-against average, save percentage, and goals saved above expected. 

The Calgary Flames drop one spot from second to third despite a 2-1-0 week. The Flames suffered their worst defeat of the season, a 7-1 loss to Vancouver Thursday. However, Calgary bounced back with a dominant 7-3 win against the Wild on home ice.

Our model is high on the Flames, who rank ninth overall in points percentage, believing Calgary is a legit Stanley Cup contender. The Flames are an elite defensive team, ranking second in goals-against average and first in expected goals against. Expect Calgary to continue its climb up the standings in the second half of the season. 

A roller-coaster week ends with the Toronto Maple Leafs moving up one spot, from eight to seventh on our list. Toronto went 2-1-1, capped off by a 10-7 win against the Detroit Red Wings.

The Leafs are one of the highest-scoring teams in the league however, goaltending has become a major cause for concern. Only the New Jersey Devils have posted a worse 5-on-5 save percentage over the past three months.

Toronto can outscore its issues many nights, with Saturday being a perfect example. However, if the Leafs want to get back into the top five in our rankings and contend for the top spot in the Atlantic Division (avoiding Florida or Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs), they will need Jack Campbell to get back to the level of play that had him in Vezina conversations during the first half of the season. 

The Vancouver Canucks jump from 20th to 17th on our list after convincing wins over Seattle, Calgary, and the New York Rangers. J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson led the way in the Canucks three wins last week, recording eight and six points, respectively.

Thatcher Demko continues to prove he is one of the best goalies in the NHL after a brilliant performance against the Rangers Sunday. Demko ranks 14th with a .918 save percentage but that stat doesn’t do him justice as it fails to take into account shot quality.

The Canucks allow more high-danger shots against than most teams, which makes Demko’s save percentage that much more impressive. Overall, Demko ranks fourth with 26.4 goals saved above expected, trailing only Igor Shesterkin, Juuse Saros, and Andersen.

The Canucks are on the road in New Jersey, Long Island, and Toronto this week. Another perfect week and it will be time to start talking about this team as one with a decent shot at making the postseason.

The Winnipeg Jets fall three spots from 17th to 20th following a 1-2-1 week. With the Jets ranking 20th in points percentage and 19th in goal differential through 53 games, it’s starting to look like this is who the Jets are.

For Winnipeg to make the playoffs, it would need to leapfrog four teams to catch the Dallas Stars, who are currently six points ahead in the standings with one game in hand. 

Our biggest mover among Canadian teams is the suddenly hot Montreal Canadiens. The Habs moved out of the basement last week, going from 32nd to 31st. This week Montreal jumps all the way to 24th in our Power Rankings.

The Canadiens have won five straight games and look like a completely different team with Martin St. Louis behind the bench. No player has benefitted more from the coaching change than Cole Caufield, who has a team-leading 10 points in eight games since St. Louis took over for Dominique Ducharme. St. Louis’ decision to put Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Josh Anderson together has paid immediate dividends.