As the NHL’s 32 teams all work their way back from the holiday break — and various postponements due to COVID-19 — it’s time for another round of the power rankings. And this week, we’re also laying out the most pivotal situations for every club by identifying one big question for 2022.
How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors rates teams against one another — taking into account game results, injuries and upcoming schedule — and those results are tabulated to produce the list featured here.
Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the last edition, published on Dec. 15. Points percentages are through Tuesday’s games.
Previous ranking: 3
Points percentage: 0.758
Next seven days: vs. CGY (Jan. 7), vs. FLA (Jan. 8), @ PHI (Jan. 11)
Can the Hurricanes stay balanced? Carolina’s having a great season, and a big reason is they are an exceedingly well-balanced club. The Hurricanes are top 10 in several major categories — shots against, goals against, goals for, special teams — and get great contributions up front and on the blue line, and are strong in net. That recipe is hard to perfect and even tougher to sustain.
Previous ranking: 1
Points percentage: 0.727
Next seven days: @ DAL (Jan. 6), @ CAR (Jan 8.), vs. VAN (Jan. 11)
Can the Panthers’ depth keep holding? Florida has had to test the depths of its, well, depth all season. Key injuries (to Aleksander Barkov, Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Duclair, among others), a team-wide outbreak of COVID-19 and patches of inconsistent goaltending have challenged the Panthers, but they’ve rallied contributions to stay a top team in the league. That’s the energy Florida needs to bring into 2022.
Previous ranking: 4
Points percentage: 0.710
Next seven days: vs. EDM (Jan. 5), @ COL (Jan. 8), @ VGK (Jan. 11)
Can the Leafs win a playoff round? We’re all thinking it. Regular-season success might mean less for Toronto than any other team this season. Love ’em or loathe ’em, everyone will be…
Source : espn
