NHL Power Rankings: Hurricanes on Top; for which every team is grateful

Pass on the cranberry sauce and get ready for a special Thanksgiving edition of the power ranking. Teams have a lot to thank for, from a sparkling new arena to a bold new jersey, from emerging young talent to dependable veterans.

This is a month late for the seven Canadian teams, but every team should be grateful for this (holiday) season.

32nd Ottawa Senators

Last week: 31
Record: 4-11-1

Tim Stützle. The 19-year-old striker could get his first chance at the center in Wednesday’s game against the Sharks. On the same line as Nick Paul and Connor Brown, Stützle could provide the spark after a 1-7-1 slip.

31. Arizona coyotes

Last week: 32
Record: 4-13-2

The trading period. The Coyotes may not have big ambitions for this season, but they have plenty of tempting pieces (Phil Kessel, Ilya Lyubushkin, etc.)

30. Vancouver Canucks

Last week: 29
Record: 6-11-2

Quinn Hughes. The 22-year-old defender’s strong start to the season (14 points in 18 games) helps compensate for the comparatively slow start of the 23-year-old striker Elias Petterson.

29. Montreal Canadians

Last week: 30
Record: 5-13-2

A shorter injury report. Jake Allen, Joel Edmundson, and Cedric Paquette are about to return, which would add strength to a depleted line-up.

28. Buffalo saber

Last week: 25
Record: 7-9-2

Develop perspectives. Jack Quinn has 18 points in 14 games for Buffalo’s AHL daughter, the third most in the league, and Josh Bloom has 20 points in 15 games in the OHL.

27. Detroit Red Wings

Last week: 26
Record: 8-9-3

A top line of the top class. Dylan Larkin, Todd Bertuzzi and Lucas Raymond are the Red Wings’ top three players in terms of point production with 52 points between them. The problem? They don’t get a lot of production from the rest of their strikers.

26. Seattle Kraken

Last week: 28
Record: 5-12-1

Regression to the mean. Philipp Grubauer, who was the finalist of the Vezina Trophy last season, has only a 0.882 save percentage in 15 games this season, but his performance should stabilize at some point – or the Kraken must hope for that.

25. San Jose Sharks

Last week: 24
Record: 9-8-1

Alexander Barabanov’s overtime goal. In Monday’s game against the Hurricanes, Kevin Labanc equalized in the third period and then Barbanov scored the winner in extra time to give the Sharks a 2-1 win over one of the league’s best teams.

24. Chicago Blackhawks

Last week: 27
Record: 6-11-2

Derek King. The Blackhawks are 5-2-0 since King took over as interim head coach. King, who coached Chicago’s AHL daughter Rockford Icehogs, took the helm when Jeremy Colliton was fired after the team started 1-9-2.

23. Los Angeles Kings

Last week: 21
Record: 8-7-3

Jonathan Quick. The veteran goalkeeper has a save percentage of 0.939 on 10 starts, the fourth best mark in the league.

22. New York Islanders

Last week: 18
Record: 5-8-2

UBS arena. After kicking off the season with a 13-game road trip, the Islanders returned to a brand new $ 1.1 billion home arena.

21. Philadelphia Flyer

Last week: 16
Record: 8-6-3

Improved Defense. The Flyers finished worst in the league last season on goal-versus-average (3.52), but this season they are 10th (2.71).

20. Columbus Blue Jackets

Last week: 23
Record: 10-6-0

Yegor Chinakhov’s first goal. A week later, Blue Jackets fans could be forgiven for repeating Chinakhov’s debut goal, which he put between the legs of Red Wings goalkeeper Thomas Greiss in Columbus’ 5-3 win over Detroit.

19. New Jersey Devils

Last week: 19
Record: 8-5-3

The jersey jersey. The Devils introduced a new alternative jersey with “Jersey” emblazoned on the chest, an allusion to the team’s home country … but also the name of the item itself, which led to many jokes at the Devils’ expense. Fortunately, they are not afraid of it make fun of yourself.

18. Dallas Stars

Last week: 22
Record: 8-7-2

Miro Heiskanen. The 22-year-old is ninth in the league with three goals and eleven assists in 17 games.

17. Nashville Predators

Last week: 17
Record: 10-7-1

A jersey inspired by Dolly Parton. While the artist’s fringed leotard @arsonandhockey is (… yet) not a reality, it received the seal of approval from the official Twitter account of the Predators.

16. Pittsburgh penguins

Last week: 20
Record: 8-6-4

A tough penalty kill. The Penguins have prevented their opponents from scoring the top 90% of the league’s power play chances, including 1-out-of-4 chances in their most recent streak of three games.

15. Anaheim ducks

Last week: 15
Record: 10-6-3

Troy Terry. While the 24-year-old striker’s 16-game points streak ended with his defeat against the Predators on Monday, he has already exceeded his previous best times in terms of goals and points.

14. Winnipeg Jets

Last week: 13
Record: 9-5-4

Revival of Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois struggled last season after being traded by the Blue Jackets, finishing with just 20 points in 41 games for the Jets. This season he already has 16 points from 18 games.

13. St. Louis Blues

Last week: 11
Record: 10-6-2

The rise of Jordan Kyrou. The 23-year-old center leads the Blues with 18 points (eight goals and 10 assists) through 18 games.

12. Minnesota Wild

Last week: 12
Record: 11-6-1

Score first. The Savages are 6-1 in games where they scored the first goal this season, but they have allowed their opponents to strike first in nearly two-thirds of their games so far.

11. New York Ranger

Last week: 9
Record: 11-4-3

Line breaks. Rangers manager Gerard Gallant lifted striker Dryden Hunt from fourth to front row in the middle of Sunday’s game against the Sabers, and the move helped the team claim a 5-4 comeback win. Hunt will start again in the top line against the Islanders on Wednesday.

10. Calgary flames

Last week: 14
Record: 12-3-5

Andrew Mangiapanes fatal shot. The 25-year-old winger hits an unlikely 30.6% of his shots. Mangiapane is second in the league with 15 goals with Alex Ovechkin but he’s only got 49 shots to Ovechkin’s 82.

9. Vegas Golden Knights

Last week: 10
Record: 11-8-0

Chandler Stephenson. Stephenson was taken over by the Capitals for a fifth round selection in 2019 and serves as the top-line center for the Golden Knights, leading the team with 17 points.

8. Boston Bruins

Last week: 7
Record: 9-6-0

ballet. Jeremy Swayman attended a ballet class at the University of Maine, which he credits with improving his flexibility. The sophomore goalkeeper has a 5-3 record for the Bruins this season, including a four-game winning streak earlier this month.

7. Capitals of Washington

Last week: 6
Record: 11-3-5

Alex Ovechkin. Yes, that choice is a gimmick, but the Capitals (and the rest of us) could do worse than take a moment to pause and appreciate the 36-year-old superstar’s historic scoring skills.

6. Colorado Avalanche

Last week: 8
Record: 9-5-1

Nazem Kadri’s hot streak. The 31-year-old center has 13 points (three goals and 10 assists) to lead the Avalanche in their current five-game winning streak.

5. Tampa Bay Lightning

Last week: 3
Record: 11-4-3

Top line Steven Stamkos. Brayden Point, who had occupied the top spot, is out indefinitely with an upper body injury, but Stamkos filled in admirably with one goal and two assists in Tampa Bay’s 4-0 win over the Flyers.

4. Toronto Maple Leafs

Last week: 5
Record: 13-6-1

Shining stars. With Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander and Auston Matthews, the Maple Leafs have an impressive quartet of star strikers who together have scored 64 points (28 goals and 36 assists).

3. Florida panthers

Last week: 4
Record: 13-2-3

home Sweet Home. With a 5-4 win on Saturday against Wild in Sunrise, Florida, the Panthers improved to a perfect 10-0-0 on their home ice.

2. Edmonton Oiler

Last week: 2
Record: 13-5-0

An impressive power game. The Oilers have scored on 21 of their 55 power play opportunities this season, and that 38% success rate is nine percentage points higher than any other team.

1. Carolina Hurricanes

Last week: 1
Record: 14-2-1

Andrei Svechnikov’s contract extension. The 21-year-old signed an eight-year extension in the off-season and has since looked like a franchise player with 19 points in 17 games.

More NHL coverage:

• Top takeaways from the first month of the season
• Tristan Jarry does the work in Pittsburgh
• Nazem Kadri plays the best hockey of his career