NHL Power Rankings

The Northwest Divisional race could not be much closer. As things stand right now, only two points separate the divisionleading Calgary Flames from the last-place Vancouver Canucks, and there are good reasons to believe that the race will remain close throughout the season.

All five teams are very good, but none are great. The best of the bunch is the Flames, largely because they boast the division’s best goaltender (Miikka Kiprusoff) and skater (Jarome Iginla). The dark horse in the Northwest is the Minnesota Wild. They have managed to stay close in the race without star forward Marian Gaborik (26 games missed and counting). If Gaborik returns to full strength in the new year, the Wild could emerge as the team to beat.

And in the East, the Atlantic Division is quite compelling as well. The first-place Rangers are only five points ahead of the fourth-place Penguins, who hold two games in hand. For metropolitan area hockey fans, it’s a real treat to see the three local teams occupying the first, second, and third spots in the division standings.

Yesterday, the Islanders pulled off another deal with the last-place Flyers, sending center Michael York to Philadelphia in exchange for Randy Robitaille and a 2008 fifth-round pick. York enjoyed his finest season with the Rangers in 2001–02, tallying 57 points in 69 games while playing alongside Eric Lindros and Theo Fleury on the “FLY” line. In Robitaille, the Isles add a versatile veteran who should fit in nicely on their checking line.

But much more important, the difference between York’s ($2.85 million) salary and Robitaille’s ($600,000) will give the Isles tremendous flexibility as the trade deadline approaches. Including this deal and Saturday’s trade of Alexei Zhitnik to the Flyers in exchange for Freddy Meyer, Isles GM Garth Snow saved the team over $3 million against the cap.

It is unclear at this point why the Flyers made either move. So here’s how the teams line up this week. Statistically, teams are measured from left to right by W–L–OTL, standings points, goals scored, goals allowed, power play success, and penalty–killing success. Please note that the data is up to and including games played on Tuesday night, and that our statistics for special teams effectiveness also take shorthanded goals into account. Each team’s ranking from last week appears in parentheses.

1 ANAHEIM DUCKS (1): Hockey in the O.C. clearly agrees with Teemu Selanne, who is on pace to crack the 100–point barrier for the fourth time in his career, and the first since 1998–99.
26–4–6 58 128 81 23.0% 88.0%

2 BUFFALO SABRES (2): Defenseman Henrik Tallinder (broken left wrist) is practicing with the team after missing nearly two months of action and could return to the lineup as soon as Saturday night’s game against St. Louis.
24–7–2 50 123 97 15.5% 84.9%

3 NASHVILLE PREDATORS (4): Starting netminder Tomas Vokoun has endured a frustrating run of bad luck, but the Preds haven’t suffered; Chris Mason (.935 SV%, 2.39 GAA) has been spectacular in his stead.
22–8–3 47 107 84 16.6% 87.7%

4 SAN JOSE SHARKS (3): Joe Pavelski is the latest 2003 draftee to make a huge impact for the Sharks this season; Milan Michalek, Steve Bernier, and Matt Carle preceded him. He has scored 10 points in his first 12 NHL games, including seven goals.
24–10–0 48 103 73 22.3% 89.2%

5 MONTREAL CANADIENS (7): Chris Higgins (high ankle sprain) returned to the Habs’ lineup after missing 18 games and picked up right where he left off, scoring two goals in Montreal’s surprising 5–2 victory over the Sabres on Tuesday night.
20–8–5 45 102 87 21.9% 94.1%

6 DETROIT RED WINGS (6): Already a plus–17, Robert Lang has evolved his game dramatically in Detroit, emerging as a top–notch defensive player, as well as a prime scoring threat.
19–9–4 42 89 70 13.2% 86.5%

7 DALLAS STARS (8): Marty Turco remains a stalwart between the pipes for the Stars, but the rest of the lineup hasn’t been doing their fair share. The Stars will definitely need to add some offensive firepower if they’re to compete for the Cup.
21–12–0 42 86 74 13.6% 88.1%

8 ATLANTA THRASHERS (5): The Thrashers snapped a five–game losing streak with their 4–3 shootout win over the Devils on Tuesday night. Marian Hossa scored two shorthanded goals and a shootout goal to help seal Atlanta’s victory.
19–10–6 44 108 105 15.1% 82.9%

9 NEW JERSEY DEVILS (9): Only Travis Zajac and Zach Parise have positive ratings among Devils starters, and their propensity for giving up shorthanded goals (a league–leading eight) significantly hampers their power play’s effectiveness.
18–12–3 39 82 80 14.3% 88.1%

10 CALGARY FLAMES (11): Once again entrenched in an incredibly tight divisional race, the Flames are the best bet to emerge victorious in the Northwest, largely because of the dominant play of Miikka Kiprusoff between the pipes.
17–12–3 37 94 76 13.9% 83.1%

11 NEW YORK ISLANDERS (12): Brendan Witt has emerged as the Isles’ stopper on the blue line. He leads the team with 54 penalty minutes and has earned an impressive plus–9 rating playing against the opposition’s top line every night.
17–12–3 37 99 91 15.1% 81.1%

12 NEW YORK RANGERS (10): The Blueshirts have given up 19 goals during their ongoing three-game losing streak and are looking absolutely exhausted. But if there’s a silver lining in this cloud, it’s that December is a much better time to slump than April.
18–13–4 40 106 112 18.3% 84.2%

13 WASHINGTON CAPITALS (15): Thirty-year-old Chris Clark’s development trajectory was quite slow, but the late bloomer has emerged as a legitimate front-line forward for the Caps this season and is on pace to top the 70–point mark.
15-11-7 37 106 108 15.4% 84.7%

14 BOSTON BRUINS (16): He was booed every time he touched the puck during his Ottawa homecoming Tuesday night, but Bruins captain Zdeno Chara didn’t care. His team came away with a decisive 7–2 victory over the floundering Sens.
16–13–2 34 93 107 18.2% 80.3%

15 MINNESOTA WILD (13): Kim Johnsson’s offensive production 11 points in 33 games) has left a bit to be desired, but the Wild’s ice time leader has nonetheless been a very solid addition to their blue line.
17–14–2 36 87 88 16.0% 91.3%

16 EDMONTON OILERS (14): Petr Sykora finally broke out of his slump Tuesday night, scoring two goals against the Colorado Avalanche. But it wasn’t enough, as Edmonton fell in a wild 7–6 affair.
17–14–2 36 92 89 12.6% 89.9%

17 CAROLINA HURRICANES (18): The sophomore slump has hit Cam Ward hard. The 2006 Conn Smythe Trophy-winner is posting sub-par numbers (2.91 GAA, .896 SV%) in his first season as the ‘Canes’ starter.
17–14–4 38 107 108 11.7% 86.0%

18 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (17): Talk is building that Sidney Crosby is already — at age 19 — the NHL’s best player. And it’s not far off; in truth, only Marian Hossa and Jarome Iginla are also worthy of consideration among all NHL forwards.
15–13–5 35 106 109 13.2% 82.7%

19 COLORADO AVALANCHE (22): Jordan Leopold only played in parts of five games before going down with another injury. A groin pull is expected to sideline Leopold for at least a month.
17–15–2 36 109 97 16.8% 83.0%

20 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (20): The Leafs were absolutely smoked by the Florida Panthers in Toronto on Tuesday night, and goaltender Andrew Raycroft is starting to feel the heat; he was booed mercilessly by the Leafs’ fans during the rout.
16–14–5 37 114 117 17.6% 82.7%

21 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (23): Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin has been absolutely stellar for the ‘Hawks, who have surged back into playoff contention. They were on a 7–1–3 run entering last night’s match-up with the division-leading Predators.
14–13–5 33 83 90 11.8% 84.6%

22 VANCOUVER CANUCKS (21): A minus–5 this month, defensive defenseman Willie Mitchell hasn’t had a plus rating in a single game dating back to November 17th. His play will need to improve dramatically if the Canucks’ goal–scoring woes continue.
17–16–1 35 77 89 13.1% 87.2%

23 OTTAWA SENATORS (19): Joe Corvo and Andrej Meszaros have contributed offensively (19 points each), but their defensive zone play has left a lot to be desired (both are a team-worst minus-9).
17–17–1 35 112 106 12.4% 83.1%

24 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (24): Dan Boyle and Filip Kuba have done a capable job quarterbacking the Lightning power play; both are on pace to finish with 55 points.
15–17–2 32 108 110 13.4% 78.0%

25 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (25): The Blue Jacket’s coaching change has certainly agreed with Ron Hainsey; after scoring five points in his first 23 games, the young rearguard has tallied eight points in nine games under Ken Hitchcock.
12–17–3 27 83 90 13.6% 86.3%

26 FLORIDA PANTHERS (27): Forty-year-old winger Gary Roberts has scored nine points in his last eight games and should attract a fair amount of attention as the trade deadline approaches.
12–18–6 30 98 114 19.9% 83.6%

27 LOS ANGELES KINGS (26): Budding power forward Dustin Brown hasn’t been great defensively (minus-11), but his 14 power play points has him tied for the team lead.
12–18–5 29 97 118 17.2% 79.7%

28 PHOENIX COYOTES (28): Getting benched by Wayne Gretzky had a short-term impact on Ladislav Nagy (he scored four points in his return), but he scored only four more points in the eight games that followed.
12-19-1 25 78 121 8.0% 78.2%

29 ST. LOUIS BLUES (30): The vultures will soon start circling in St. Louis, where veterans Keith Tkachuk, Bill Guerin, and Eric Brewer are all expected to be available for trade.
8–19–6 22 72 111 9.0% 83.3%

30 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (29): With no goals and a minus-19 rating through the first 33 games, blueliner Joni Pitkanen’s disappointing play is a huge reason why the Flyers have gone 0–6–1 in December.
8–21–4 20 77 124 8.8% 88.4%

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.