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r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 10: Blood in the Water Edition

/r/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Dec 2, 2019 - Dec 8, 2019Thank YouThank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.RankersSpoilerOrganizersSpoilerVisualizationThe visualization contains historical data, so you can see how your team has done over time. Hopefully, we can run this for many years in hopes that we can see the rise and fall of teams by /r/hockey opinion.It automatically updates so feel free to bookmark. You can find it hereProcessHow does this work? Throughout the course of the week rankers are able to access an app that will allow them to rank teams. At the end of the period we calculate the average ranking for every team and collate all of the analysis provided by rankers.The app then generates a post that is first proofread and then posted to /r/hockey!Rankings (27/31 Rankers Reporting)Ranking (avg)TeamDeltaOverall RecordRecord This WeekComments1 (1.38)Washington Capitals122-4-53-0-0The Caps are the best team in the league. Let me tell you what - a president's trophy type season is a lot more fun with a cup under the belt. 128-point pace, 80% of available points, and the most remarkable thing is it feels sustainable. After sweeping the Cali trip last week (for the first time ever) the Caps play the Jackets and the Bruins at home then the Bolts away. When the team is clicking like this every game's a treat. Right now it's must watch hockey. Go caps.2 (2.66)Boston Bruins-120-4-61-1-1A look at the calendar told me the Bruins' point streak would end against Colorado and the Bruins' first regulation loss at home would be against them too. The curse of Ray Bourque lives on another season. Still, this is a slump for the Bruins. Pasta didn't score a goal this week so any thoughts are 50-in-50 are gone. They were #1 in the Power Play going into this week and manage to not score a PP goal; a whopping 0/9 this week, while giving up their first shorthanded goal of the season to Chicago and also scoring their first one against them as well. There would be no "Ford® F-150 Final Five" bailout against the Avs like so many games before that one. Bergeron is still injured which is pas bon. McAvoy seems to be in a bit of a funk with his defensive lapses; not to mention Carlo has more goals and points than him this season so far.3 (3.17)Colorado Avalanche219-8-23-0-0This team is hot. We have no losses in regulation with Rantanen on this team, and his impact is felt even when he doesn't get points. 3 road wins in regulation this week with the toughest game in Boston. Injuries still suck with Kadri, Grubauer and Makar now out, but this team will keep pushing. Our depth has been huge with Burakovsky and Nichuskin starring this week. Next up is a solid homestand Calgary, Philly and potentially our next top winger in Taylor Hall come to the Can this week lets see if we can make it 9 games in a row. Makalder Watch: Cale had a quieter week but has been maintaining that role as our #1 RHD at 5v5 and quarterbacking the PP. His return just demonstrates how dominate our line up can be though as he didn't have this same confidence before Rantanen was hurt. Hopefully nothing to serious on the injury front, he may have been pulled for concussion protocol more than anything else against Boston.4 (5.9)New York Islanders-19-7-22-2-0It wasn't a great week by any stretch but they still managed to get 4/8 points. Lots of line combinations being tested right now, but its good to see Eberle and Lee get on the scoresheet lately. Komarov is showing life again (compared to last year), which is promising given his usage.5 (5.97)St. Louis Blues-218-7-61-2-0Not our best week, but we beat our Hawks and we are still in a good place despite the injuries we are dealing with. Hope to see Kyrou get a chance here soon with the club. Maybe fuck around and trade Jake Allen for William Nylander 1 for 1?6 (8.59)Pittsburgh Penguins617-9-43-0-0If Malkin is the fire I hope Crosby comes back as the flame. It also doesn’t take a genius to see that Jarry is the goalie now. That short-term contract on Murray is looking pretty good right now.7 (8.66)Philadelphia Flyers117-8-52-1-0A 4 game winning streak versus fairly weak teams has done wonders for the Flyers in the standings. Time will tell if all these 1-goal wins are unsustainable in the end, but for now the team is looking quite solid.8 (9)Carolina Hurricanes-118-11-12-1-09 (9.62)Dallas Stars-17-11-32-1-0Splitting games with Jets helps keep us in the playoff hunt, and a solid win over NYI. Rads with 1G 1A after being a healthy scratch the game before.10 (9.93)Edmonton Oilers-418-10-41-1-12 losses (SO to Buffalo and Sens) and a win (Kings) this week. The schedule looked like it should have been a relatively easy 3 wins, but this is the Oilers we're talking about; no way that happens. This team is floundering and the source of the problem is surprisingly everyone but our bottom 6. That's right, just when the bottom 6 has shown up to the season, everyone else is taking a break. This team has games against the Canes, Wild and Leafs, all of whom we haven't historically done well against. Still tied for the Pacific lead, though that may not last long.11 (10.03)Winnipeg Jets-118-10-22-0-1The Jets keep unsustainably winning... for the 7th week in a row. Hellebuyck continues to post unsustainable numbers while our offensive talent produces unsustainably high numbers relative to their advanced stats. Meanwhile, the D are playing unsustainably above expectations, and PoMo continues to chew Juicy Fruit at an unsustainable rate. If there was one word I'd have to use the describe the unsustainable Jets, it'd have to be ... consistency.12 (10.1)Arizona Coyotes-118-10-43-1-013 (15.24)Vegas Golden Knights215-12-52-1-1Even though the Knights just lost to the Rangers 5-0, they were just in a 5 game point streak and it was all with back up goalie Malcolm Subban in net. Now that Fleury has returned, lets see if the Knights can have a much better December.14 (15.31)Florida Panthers-15-9-52-1-0Disappointing loss against the Wild to start the week, but the team bounced back with wins against the BJs and the Sharks. The defense and Bob both played well which is very encouraging.15 (15.34)Tampa Bay Lightning214-10-32-1-0The Bolts are slowly coming out of their slumber. The Wild game had problems but even then the boys nearly got a point out of the whole affair. In the last 14 games the team only has 1 multi goal loss and that was due to an empty net. This team is playing some extremely competitive hockey. But the biggest difference this season is depth. They have 12 players with 10 or more points and could have as many as 14 after Monday.16 (15.72)Vancouver Canucks215-11-42-0-0The Canucks only played twice this week, but at least they scored eleven times. The team manages to keep its head above water after a few weeks of mediocrity. The big story is Roussel's return to the line up - nicley timed with fellow agitator Burrows' entry into the ring of honour - and he has seen immediate success with Virtanen and Gaudette on the perfectly-named "Gravy Line." Hello, depth scoring; we've missed you.17 (17.59)Nashville Predators213-10-51-0-1It's weird, in some ways this team looks to be moving forward, getting some solid play out of the younger players. At the same time, it also seems strongly reminiscent of last year's team that coasted to a first round bow out. Which is the real Preds? Only time (and likely lots of booze) will tell.18 (18.31)San Jose Sharks-515-15-20-3-1Another bad week for the Sharks showing their consistency issues. The team can be one of the best in the league when they want, but at times they look like AHLers. Poor defence has plagued this team for a while now, and it needs to be fixed if we want to make the playoffs. Hopefully we can turn it around next week before we find ourselves halfway through the season and out of a playoff spot.19 (18.86)Calgary Flames315-12-42-0-0Calgary has won 4 straight under Geoff Ward. The team appears to be putting in more effort and the results show it. The Flames are icing 4 competitive lines and Johnny Hockey is starting to look like himself again. Overall, things are looking up for the Flames.20 (19.21)Toronto Maple Leafs-414-13-41-2-0Freddy Andersen is probably the most underrated goalie in the NHL. But even the Leafs don't appreciate him. After they fell behind 3-1 late against Philly on Tuesday, the team let up an empty-netter, then completely collapsed and left their star goalie out to dry, as the Flyers blew it open 6-1. After the game, Andersen asked coach Keefe if he could play the second game of a B2B against the Avalanche, and Keefe used it as a statement that the Leafs needed that game. Quite the storyline, huh? Still lost. Don't let MacKinnon have that much time. Or Nichushkin. Wait who? Overall not a bad game, just a close one where Spezza made the mistake on the PP to give up a breakaway. In Marner's second game healthy, he dished two assists, and Matthews broke a 5 game goalless drought against the defending champs, forcing them to yank Binnington after a 4-1 first period. The Leafs shut it down well, and left St. Louis with the two points and a 5-2 win. The Leafs head west next week, facing the Canucks, Flames and Oilers21 (19.93)New York Rangers-115-11-32-2-022 (20.21)Minnesota Wild214-12-42-1-0A couple of minor setbacks this week with the point streak coming to an end in Carolina, and injuries to Jared Spurgeon and Mikko Koivu. But the fact that Wild fans are disappointed in a 2-1-0 road trip shows just how different the atmosphere is around this team compared to the beginning of the season. While thoughts go out to Devan Dubnyk being home due to his wife's undisclosed illness, the team has solidified around Alex Stalock and Kaapo Kahkonen - the latter of which should get more ice time moving forward. I'm sure Wild brass want to be careful around handling the Big Kahk but so far he's shown a natural feel for getting out of tight spots without making a mess.23 (21.72)Montreal Canadiens-13-11-62-1-0The Habs recovered from an 8 game losing streak with a strong week, earning hard-fought wins against the Isles and the Rangers. Weber and Gallagher have led the way, bolstered by solid contributions from Danault, Suzuki, Cousins, Thompson, and others. Team effort. But for how much longer can Ben Chiarot channel Chris Pronger? Help wanted. Otherwise, Cayden Primeau held his own in his NHL debut (a tough 3-2 home loss to Makar's Avalanche), and we're sure to see him again next week-- speaking for myself, I prefer Primeau to Kinkaid for these back-to-backs anyway. All told, this team misses Jonathan Drouin more than ever, and fans can hope that his return in the new year might provide a welcome boost. We'll see. In the meantime, the Habs continue to tread water in a turbulent Atlantic. It's been a wild ride so far!24 (21.76)Buffalo Sabres-314-11-62-1-1An average week is a good week at this point. We've had a lot of overtime games recently due to the fact that we don't usually play a coherent, homogeneous 60 minute game. Kyle Okposo was back in the lineup this week, and he scored in each game he played. I really think he adds something to the team, and I really hope he doesn't have to deal with any more concussion issues. After the OT win in Edmonton Jack Eichel is on a 13 game point streak, the longest in the league and of his career so far. I should mention the New Jersey game but I think the Devils' writer will have that covered.25 (23.66)Anaheim Ducks-12-14-41-2-0We won the battle of the basement! 2 solid efforts in games against Winnipeg and washington. Basically the right way to lose games if that makes sense.26 (24.31)Chicago Blackhawks112-12-62-1-1Blackhawks missing time this week: Keith (week-to-week with a groin injury), Shaw (concussion), Caggiula (day-to-day after a concussion), Maatta (illness), Lehner (missed Monday with food poisoning), Strome (returned Thursday from a concussion), M. Crawford (on leave due to allegations against him). The Hawks were forced to start the game one man down on Monday due to injuries and cap concerns. Despite these issues, the moms spurred the Hawks to wins in Boston and New Jersey. Milestones achieved this week: DeBrincat's 150th point, C. Crawford's 250th win, De Haan's 100th point, Gustafsson's 100th point, Toews's 900th game. After a 12-game goal-less streak, Alex DeBrincat has a 3-game goal streak.27 (27)Columbus Blue Jackets-111-14-40-3-0We need to fix the Jacket's power play. Monkey paw curls -- Our PP is actually pretty decent now, but that's the only part of our offense that seem to generate chances these days. Or, if we do generate chances, we outshoot our opponent 47-19 and lose 2-3 (like vs NYR this week). Is it all mental or was Panarin really that integral to our offense that we have no answer?28 (27.83)Ottawa Senators112-17-11-2-0This is exactly the kind of week the Sens needed after our recent success in the standings - a pure focused noseline dive away from "contender" territory and firmly into the "rebuilding" zone. The Wings have really stepped up their tanking game with a remarkable 9 game losing streak, and the Sens have a LOT of ground to cover in Operation DernièrePourLafrenière. It's also reassuring in the midst of this much needed losing streak to see Marcus Hogberg a good game versus the Flames; he will likely be backup to Nilsson next season when we, hopefully, are less interested in picking first overall.29 (28.55)Los Angeles Kings-111-18-20-4-0This quote from coach TMAC about sums it up “We come in after the game, we sit there and we look at each other, and we just keep telling the same story over and over again,” which is what I've felt like I've been doing the whole season thus far. In bright spots, Adrian Kempe has been looking great, and his play has become a talking point amongst Kings media. Furthermore, the Kings haven't been playing particularly poorly, its just key moments and special teams. They've actually been solid in 5 on 5 hockey. Hopefully the Kings can turn it around- a large portion of the upcoming schedule is on the road- and it will be vital for the Kings to obtain some points.30 (29.45)New Jersey Devils-9-15-50-3-131 (31)Detroit Red Wings-7-21-30-2-0Alexis Lafreniere has 70 points in 32 games. So we go that going for us. Which is nice. r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 10: Blood in the Water Edition Source

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Pacific Division Wish List

FAN SUBMISSION

By Joseph Yanarella

The season of hope for NHL teams is opening night, when the records are all the same and everyone has a shot, at least theoretically. That hope wanes at different points for every team but one. For everyone else, the holiday season is a time of joy and hope, so let’s have a little fun and see what each team would like to wake up to under their Christmas trees. Some teams have multiple wishes, but asking the Panthers to pick between better goaltending and more even-strength scoring would be like asking teenage me to pick between an Xbox or a PS3; I’d be ecstatic to get either one.  Anaheim Ducks: For the offence to continue  From the beginning of the season until the end of November, the Ducks scored 60 goals in 27 games, an average of barely more than two per contest and 29th in the league. In the month of December alone they’ve scored 32 in 10 games, won 7 of those last 10 and propelled themselves back into the playoff race. Injuries played a part in the Ducks early-season woes and with a relatively healthy roster they’re playing more like the team we thought they’d be. Playoff spots in the Pacific look ripe for the plucking, but the Ducks have to sustain this pace in order to capitalize on the opportunity.  Arizona Coyotes: Someone to step up  There was optimism abound even after a terrible season for the Coyotes after last year, predicated on the emergence of Clayton Keller, the second-half run, and the extension of OEL. This season is doing little to deliver on the promise, with the Coyotes again near the league’s basement. Clayton Keller is doing his part, leading the team in points and tied for the team lead in goals, but the rest of the team has to step up their production if the Coyotes want any hope of finishing outside the bottom-5.  Calgary Flames: Stay out of the box  The Flames have been a bit of a surprise this year, even with all of their young talent. Bringing in forwards James Neal and Elias Lindholm has allowed other guys to move down into more fitting spots in the lineup, and everyone is benefitting. While they’re scoring at a great pace – 126 goals, 3rd in the league – and not giving up too many – they’ve allowed the 8th fewest – their penalty differential sits at -58, second worst in the league. For what it’s worth, Nashville, Tampa, and Toronto all have similar penalty differentials, but only Nashville is penalized more than the Flames. Calgary gets their chances and capitalizes on them often, but keeping the oppositions’ to a minimum would behoove the Flames in their efforts to keep a hold on their lead in the Pacific.  Edmonton Oilers: A scoring winger Kind of ironic that the team that traded away Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle needs a scoring winger now, isn’t it? No? I didn’t think so either. And before you say Alex Chiasson, do you really think they guy who’s never scored more than 13 in a year before this season, the same guy who’s shooting at a ridiculous 31.3% clip will keep it up? No? I didn’t think so either. Even with his ridiculous numbers, the Oilers still sit at 20th in goals-for. RNH has acquitted himself well as a top-6 winger, but wouldn’t it be terrifying if they could line him up behind McDavid and Draisaitl as a third-line center? Finding someone who can produce consistently on McDavid’s, Draisaitl’s, or preferably boths’, wing would give them that option while making the top-6 even more dangerous. Pete Chiarelli has two strikes with Milan Lucic and Jesse Puljujarvi failing to produce, a third – and second consecutive playoff miss – could cost him dearly.  Los Angeles Kings: A Lottery Pick  This one is a bit cynical, but hear me out. It’s no secret the Kings are a massive disappointment, but what could you expect from a team that got swept in the playoffs and then touted 35-year old Ilya Kovalchuk as their main offseason addition? Rob Blake tried like hell to add other pieces, but swung and missed on Max Pacioretty, John Tavares, Phil Kessel and Erik Karlsson. The Kings have their franchise center and defenseman, two of the most critical pieces to a champion, but lack impact talent elsewhere. They also lack the alluring future assets and cap-space to add that player via trade or free agency. The Coyotes showed us last year that even a ridiculous second-half run can be stymied by a poor start to the season. That leaves the draft as their best option, and they’re positioned well so far. It’s no certainty, but winning a lottery pick this year would position the Kings nicely in 2019 and beyond, a tantalizing prospect for a team looking to make the most of the twilights of two great careers.  San Jose Sharks: More Depth Scoring The Sharks are hard to nitpick. They shoot and score plenty. Their special teams are fine. They find themselves in the top half of the league in almost every category that matters. They’ve not been dominant – aside from the PK – in any category, but they haven’t been bad in any category. They’ve been relatively healthy. They have a few players playing at or close to a point-per-game pace. They should once again be considered a threat come playoff time. The only real “issue” I see with the Sharks is that outside the top-6, there are opportunities for them to score more. Eric Karlsson and Brent Burns certainly aren’t depth guys, but recent history suggests they should score a little more, too. If they shore up one of the few weak aspects of their game, then there’s really blood in the water for opponents.  Vancouver Canucks: Keep playing the kids  This one is pretty simple. Everyone knows this is a bridge year for the Canucks as they build their team back to contention post-Sedin twins. The future in Vancouver is in their young talent, and the commitment to the kids is paying off. The Canucks’ five leading scorers are all 23 or younger, with electrifying rookie Elias Pettersson, - also known as Dekey Pete, or the Alien, or whatever you guys are calling him now – leading the way. A continued commitment to the youth movement could have the Canucks contending much sooner than anyone felt possible. It Pettersson keeps his tree up until summertime, he’ll probably find a Calder trophy sitting under it, with the hope he brings this franchise as the bow on top.  Vegas Golden Knights: Keep play out of the circles While the magic of last season seems to have faded, the precipitous dropoff that many expected for the Knights hasn’t happened. They’re not lighting the league on fire, but they sit comfortably in the playoff picture despite extended injuries to key players like Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny. One of the Vegas’ greatest strength’s from last year however, has turned into a weakness: their team save percentage of .901 sits near the bottom of the league. Looking at the numbers, it’s hard to see why. Their penalty kill is exceptional. They don’t give up many high-danger chances, 6th-fewest in the league to be exact. They play a highly disciplined and structured system under Gerard Gallant. But numbers don’t tell all. A look at the shot charts for Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban tells a lot more, particularly that these two face a large number of shots from below, and in between the faceoff circles. Fleury in particular is peppered with shots from this region. The Knight’s paltry faceoff percentage is partially for blame for sure, but structure and discipline play a role as well. If Gallant can scheme his way out of this one, the Knights may surprise a few more people this year.  NHL.com, Fox Sports, Natural Stat Trick, NHL Injury Viz, and Sean Tierny’s Tableau – which is an amazing resource for NHL sabermetrics – were used for research for this article.