Every Monday Isles Talk will come out with their own version of the NHL Power Rankings based on a teams point pace and tie-breakers will be determined by regular season wins and (if need be) preseason rankings. So let’s gets started on the first week after every team has completed at least 10 games from their respective seasons.
1 Vegas Golden Knights; 11-1-1 for 23 points; Point Pace 145
2 Boston Bruins; 9-1-1 for 19 points; Point Pace 142
Bruins are off to a great start that no one saw coming, but what will happen in the playoffs?
3 New York Rangers; 8-2-0 for 16 points; Point Pace 131
If you had Jonathan Quick starting the season 2-0 with a GAA of 1.42 and a save % of .948 you’re lying.
4. Vancouver Canucks; 8-2-1 for 17 points; Point Pace 127
Head coach Rick Tocchet should already be an early candidate for coach of the year.
5 Dallas Stars; 7-2-1 for 15 points; Point Pace 123
Stars are right where we’d expect them to be.
6 Los Angeles Kings; 7-2-2 for 16 points; Point Pace 119
Quinton Byfield appears to have finally arrived.
7 Colorado Avalanche; 7-3-0 for 14 points; Point Pace 115
ALL HAIL CALE!!! ALL HAIL CALE!!!
8 New Jersey Devils; 6-3-1 for 13 points; Point Pace 107
Let’s see how the team responds after losing their number one center for a few weeks
9 New York Islanders; 5-2-3 for 13 points; Point Pace 107
They still have arguably the best goalie tandem in the league.
10 Anaheim Ducks; 7-4-0 for 14 points; Point Pace 104
I’m going to owe them a grave apology for saying they were the 2nd best AHL team currently playing in the NHL in preseason.
11. Detroit Red Wings; 7-4-1 for 15 points; Point Pace 103
My dark horse coming out of the eastern conference is looking good so far. How far they can continue on this trend is the question.
12 Tampa Bay Lightning; 5-3-3 for 13 points; Point Pace 97
Tampa survived the first month without their star goaltender. The scouting staff who found Jonas Johansson deserve raises.
13 Carolina Hurricanes; 7-5-0 for 14 points; Point Pace 96
Carolina not starting off like a Hurricane to start the season may be a good thing in the end.
14 Florida Panthers; 5-4-1 for 11 points; Point Pace 90
Similar story to Tampa: overcoming injuries to star players. Can they survive another month (or two)? Sam Reinhart is having a fantastic start to this season.
15 Washington Capitals; 5-4-1 for 11 points; Point Pace 90
Nicklas Backstrom is not returning, not enough prospects to save this season, nobody wants Anthony Mantha and at this point it’s Ovechkin’s chase to Gretzky. Will they return to this ranking this year? Probably not, so give them this moment.
16 St. Louis Blues; 5-4-1 for 11 points; Point Pace 90
The Blues are here because they have a better winning percentage than Toronto, Pittsburgh, Edmonton, and Calgary. The real question is where are they? Like Washington, give the Blues their moment this week.
PK
