The 7-Eleven Power Rankings: Slumping Oilers in desperation mode

Despite having the world’s best player in their lineup, the slumping Edmonton Oilers are shifting into desperation mode.

On Sunday, general manager Peter Chiarelli, in a bid to keep his job, shipped defencemen Chris Wideman and Jason Garrison and forward Drake Caggiula out of town and acquired D-men Alex Petrovic, Robin Norell and Brandon Manning. Clearly on the hot seat, Chiarelli appears to be trying everything to reverse his team's fortunes, including patching up his woeful blueline.

Manning, as you may recall, is the same player who nailed Connor McDavid into the boards in November 2015, breaking McDavid’s collar bone in his rookie season, sending him to the sidelines for 37 games. A year after the hit, the Oilers captain called Manning “classless” for the move. Both players now say their tiff is over and they're ready to move forward.

The Oilers (18-17-3) have lost six of their last seven games and are now on track to miss the playoffs for a second straight season as they drop 10 spots in No. 21 this week in our 7-Eleven Power Rankings, according to consensus rankings formulated by the TSN Power Ranking panel.

Behind the Oilers bench, the new coach effect appears to have worn off. After going 9-2-2 under Ken Hitchcock, who took over from Todd McLellan on Nov. 20, the Oilers have lost five straight and have been outscored 25-12 in those five games.

McDavid is fourth in NHL scoring with 56 points in 37 games, but aside from Leon Draisaitl (47 points) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (34) he isn’t getting much help putting points on the board. At the other end of the rink, new starter Mikko Koskinen is mired in a slump, losing his last three games while Cam Talbot is 7-11-2 with a .892 save percentage and 3.30 goals-against average.

While the Oilers are in freefall with the biggest drop in our Power Rankings, the Tampa Bay Lightning are at the opposite end of the spectrum. The Bolts are No. 1 for a third consecutive ranking, going 13-0-1 with NHL leading scorer Nikita Kucherov scoring three goals and adding eight assists in his last three games. Tampa Bay (30-7-2) is first overall in the standings, 11 points ahead of the Washington Capitals, who climb three spots to No. 2 after winning four straight games.

The No. 3 Toronto Maple Leafs, winners of five of their last six, move up three places from No. 6 while the Winnipeg Jets slip to No. 4. Rounding out our panel’s top five this week are the Calgary Flames who drop three spots from No. 2. 

The Columbus Blue Jackets, who won five straight before losing to the Leafs on Friday, make the biggest leap this week, moving up to No. 7 from No. 17 in our last rankings two weeks ago. Winners of five consecutive games, the Pittsburgh Penguins are also on fire these days, climbing nine spots to No. 6 this week from No. 15 in our last ranking on Dec. 17.

Besides the Leafs, Jets and Flames, Canada’s other teams heading in the right direction include the No. 13 Montreal Canadiens and the No. 18 Vancouver Canucks. Meanwhile, the No. 21 Oilers are followed by the Ottawa Senators who drop seven places to No. 31 this week.

The remaining basement dwellers in our rankings this week include the No. 27 Detroit Red Wings, the Arizona Coyotes at No. 28 followed by the Chicago Blackhawks and the Los Angeles Kings. Both the Blackhawks and Kings, however, are on the upswing, with Chicago winning five of its last six and L.A. going 4-1-1 since Dec. 15.