It’s a new week, so we’ve got a fresh NHL Power Rankings article from Daily Faceoff.
After their ugly start to the season, the Oilers have been slowly climbing back up the standings. They dropped two games last week and picked up a convincing win over the weekend, prompting Edmonton to jump from 14th to 12th in the rankings.
Hunter: Despite a tough loss to the Devils and an even more heartbreaking loss to the Golden Knights – both at home – the Oilers stormed back with a dominating 7-3 win on Hockey Night in Canada against the Canucks. Edmonton’s 98.13 PDO highlights their lack of secondary scoring and lacklustre goaltending, and while I have confidence in Zach Hyman, Jeff Skinner and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins finding their game, it’s time they go out and find a better goalie. Stuart Skinner may have gotten them to Game 7, but right now he might not get them to April.
Scott: I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they need a better goalie than Skinner, but they at least need a better one than Calvin Pickard. Skinner seems better suited for a 1A/1B tandem than getting 60 starts as a starter, and Pickard isn’t a 1B type of goalie. Give Skinner a capable tandem partner (you know, like what Jack Campbell was expected to be), and I think he’ll be capable of taking them back to the Finals.
Hunter: Then go out and find it! I feel like we were quick to anoint him as a starting goalie going into the season and I get the feeling he’s going to be the thing that sinks this club if somehow they’re bounced in the first round. Maybe that’s unfair, but for a team with this much talent in their prime, I can’t take that chance.
The Oilers own a 7-7-1 record for the season and are tied with the Utah Hockey Club for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They rank 22nd in the league with 40 goals scored thanks in part to a power play that’s only scoring on 15.8 percent of its chances. Edmonton’s 48 goals against is 19th in the NHL and their .877 save percentage is better than only three teams. The team’s penalty kill is also dead last in the league at 58.9 percent.
Quick notes from around the NHL…
- The Calgary Flames announced on Monday that forward Anthony Mantha is going to undergo surgery to repair an ACL injury and that he’s going to miss the remainder of the season. The 30-year-old Longueuil, Quebec native signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Flames in the off-season and scored four goals and seven points over his first 13 games with the club.
- The Vancouver Canucks have called up top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki from the American Hockey League as Brock Boeser is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Born in Tullinge, Finland, the Canucks selected Lekkerimaki with the 15th overall pick in the 2022 draft. The right-winger scored 31 points in 46 games in the Swedish Hockey League last season and has five goals and seven points over seven games with the Abbotsford Canucks this season.
