NHL Power Rankings: The Oilers are back!

By Sportlogiq Staff (@Sportlogiq)

The Edmonton Oilers are back!

Edmonton was our biggest mover amongst Canadian teams, jumping nine spots in our rankings from 18th to ninth. The Oilers are riding a four-game win streak, including a 3-0-0 record last week with wins over Vancouver, Nashville and Montreal.

Goaltending, which had been a major issue during Edmonton’s losing streak, has been better and equally as impressive, the Oilers are finally getting some balance in their offensive attack. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a team-high four points last week and Zach Hyman and Darnell Nurse both finished with three points, as many points as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The biggest news out of Edmonton - Evander Kane made his debut Saturday night and scored in a dominant 7-2 win over the Canadiens. 

No team in NHL history has won more games in a calendar month than the Colorado Avalanche won in January. The Avs won fifteen of their sixteen games to tie a league record and have now won ten in a row. Yeah, that gets you the top spot in our Power Rankings.

Colorado outscored its opponents by a nearly 2:1 ratio in its record-tying month and boasts the best points percentage in the NHL. The Avalanche have one game remaining before the All-Star break, a home game against the lowly Arizona Coyotes. 

It was a bit of a quiet week for the Toronto Maple Leafs who played only two games, winning both. As a result, the Maple Leafs jump two spots in our rankings from sixth to fourth. From a process standpoint, the Leafs have been excellent this season ranking first in expected goal differential.

Toronto’s special teams have been dominant in January with a league-leading power play, clicking at 32.1 per cent and a third-ranked penalty kill - 88.0 per cent. Toronto will look to close out the month on a high note as it seeks a fourth straight win, tonight against the New Jersey Devils.

Out West, the Calgary Flames posted a solid 3-0-1 week and move from tenth to seventh in our Power Rankings. The Flames are another team with excellent underlying numbers, ranking fourth in expected goal differential. Calgary ranks second in shots per game and sixth in shots against. Controlling the transition game is a strength of the Flames who rank third in scoring chances off-the-rush while allowing the second-fewest. Calgary’s leading scorer, Johnny Gaudreau ranks top-10 in points and leads the league in rush chances and primary assists. 

The only Canadian team to drop in our Power Rankings this week are the Winnipeg Jets who slide from 17th to 20th overall. The Jets dropped a pair of home games, to Florida and Vancouver before picking up a road win in St. Louis on Saturday. Considering the Jets have been without key players Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Morrissey, Dylan DeMelo and Logan Stanley recently, things could be worse however, teams are starting to move past the Jets in the race for a Wild Card spot in the West.

Winnipeg is only five points back of Calgary for the final playoff spot and there is still half a season to play, but the Jets currently have five teams ahead of them battling for that final spot - four if you go by points percentage. Winnipeg, currently fifteenth in expected goals percentage, will be an interesting team to watch in the second half of the season. If the Jets can get and stay healthy, they should have a legitimate shot at grabbing a Wild Card spot.