Oilers, Canucks hold top-five spots in NHL Power Rankings

Are the Edmonton Oilers Canada’s best bet to bring the Stanley Cup north of the border for the first time in 30 years? The top-ranked Canadian team in our Power Rankings is certainly playing that way. 

Fresh off a 2-1-1 week, it’s looking more and more like the Oilers have cemented home-ice advantage in the first round, either as the first or second seed in the Pacific Division. At the team level, the Oilers have now gone eight straight games without allowing more than two goals in regulation/overtime.

Connor McDavid is inching closer to the top of the board in the scoring race. The Oilers captain is eight points back of Nathan MacKinnon, who leads the league with 111 points. Since the All-Star break, not only does McDavid have more points than anyone else (36), but he also has more assists than any other player has points (32). 

The one team ahead of Edmonton in the Pacific will certainly have something to say about the Oilers being the favourites amongst Canadian teams. Vancouver, up seven spots from 12th to fifth on our list, is coming off one of their most impressive weeks of the season with wins over the Kings, Golden Knights and Jets.

The Canucks have won four straight games overall and are showing no signs of relinquishing top spot in their division. Quinn Hughes led the Canucks in scoring last week with five points, and now has a six-point lead on Cale Makar for the scoring lead amongst defencemen. Vancouver, third in goals per game, has a versatile offensive attack. It is the only team to rank top five in rush, cycle and rebound goals. 

The Winnipeg Jets saw firsthand what a dynamic offensive team Vancouver is Saturday night in a 5-0 loss to the Canucks. Following a 1-2-1 week, the Jets drop from fifth to 10th on our list.

Winnipeg sits four points back of Dallas for the top spot in the Central Division with three games in hand. Sportlogiq’s current playoff odds have Winnipeg with a 38 per cent chance to finish first place in the division – higher odds than any other team. 

Following a 2-2-0 week, the Toronto Maple Leafs dropped out of our top ten, from sixth to 12th place. Toronto has a 70 per cent chance of facing the Boston Bruins in the first round, the highest odds of any potential playoff matchup in the NHL. If the past week is any indication, that is not good news for the Leafs. Boston won both games by a score of 4-1.

Toronto has a light week coming up, playing on the road in Philadelphia on Thursday before returning home to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

The feel-good Calgary Flames were hit with a dose of reality this past week. Calgary went 1-3-0, including a four-goal loss to the Panthers and a five-goal loss to the Hurricanes.

After beginning the process of trading away pending free agents, the Flames went on a nice run to finish the month of February, but their recent play has them dropping from 13th to 19th on our list. 

From one tough week to three, the Ottawa Senators have dropped seven straight games and now sit 27th on our list. The Senators have the fifth worst goals-against average in the NHL and the team’s .881 save percentage ranks last in the league.

Lastly, the Montreal Canadiens remain 28th on our list. The Habs are coming off a 1-1-1 week and currently have the seventh-best odds to draft first overall.

Nick Suzuki has been one of the top goal scorers in the league since the All-Star break, scoring 12 goals in 15 games. Only Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman have more.