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Super 16 NHL Power Rankings
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Super 16: NHL Power Rankings

Super 16: Only constant is change

Friday, 01.29.2016 / 3:00 AM / Super 16: NHL Power Rankings

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

Not counting the preseason poll, this week marks the 16th Super 16 of the season. The weekly poll made its 2015-16 debut Oct. 16 and has been a staple of your weekly reading on NHL.com every Friday.

With it being 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, the break in the action provides the time to look back at how the rankings have played out this season.

To say they've been steady would be, well, incorrect.

Twenty-five of the 30 teams have been ranked at one point or another this season. Five teams have been ranked in every Super 16.

Super 16: Canada could miss Stanley Cup Playoffs

Friday, 01.22.2016 / 3:00 AM / Super 16: NHL Power Rankings

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

The rapid decline of the Montreal Canadiens has put Canada in jeopardy of being shut out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the NHL-WHA merger in 1979 gave the NHL six Canadian teams.

All seven Canadian teams are on the outside of the playoff picture in their respective conferences entering play Thursday. If they all miss it will mark the first time Canada hasn't had a team in the playoffs since 1970, when the only Canadian teams were the Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

For nearly two months this season the Canadiens looked like Canada's best shot to break what is approaching a 23-year Stanley Cup championship drought. Now they're at risk of not getting into the playoffs at all.

Super 16: Kings benefit from extra saves, OT success

Friday, 01.15.2016 / 3:00 AM / Super 16: NHL Power Rankings

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

The sentiment is heard in arenas across the NHL when the standings and the races for the Stanley Cup Playoffs are brought up:

The Los Angeles Kings are back.

But how? Why?

The Kings are set to return to the playoffs this season, likely as the Pacific Division winner, after missing last season. They're on pace for 111 points, 16 better than they had last season, when they missed the playoffs by one point.

Super 16: Capitals stay on top; Maple Leafs on rise

Friday, 01.08.2016 / 3:00 AM / Super 16: NHL Power Rankings

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

If you judge strictly by the standings, the Toronto Maple Leafs under coach Mike Babcock look worse now than they did at the exact same point last season, when Randy Carlyle was fired and Peter Horachek took over behind the bench.

The Maple Leafs played their 39th game under Babcock on Thursday, one year to the date that they played their first under Horachek.

Using games played through Wednesday as the cutoff, the Maple Leafs had 39 points through 38 games (1.03 points per game) and were five points out of a Stanley Cup Playoff position.

By contrast, entering Horachek's first game, Toronto had 45 points through 40 games (1.13 ppg) and was in a playoff position as the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

Here's a tip: Don't judge by the standings.

Super 16: Capitals near-unanimous pick for No. 1

Friday, 01.01.2016 / 3:00 AM / Super 16: NHL Power Rankings

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

The Washington Capitals were one point shy of being a unanimous selection as the No. 1 team in this week's Super 16, which was voted on by a panel of six NHL.com editorial staff members who participated in a point-based exercise to arrive at the final rankings.

The Capitals were No. 1 in rankings submitted by Adam Kimelman, Mike G. Morreale, Arpon Basu, Robert Laflamme and Dan Rosen. The Dallas Stars were the only other team to receive a first-place vote by a staff member, Brian Compton, who had the Capitals at No. 2.

The Stars were No. 2 in four of the rankings submitted. Dallas wasn't ranked lower than third on any list.

Super 16: Rangers revitalized but facing tough stretch

Friday, 12.25.2015 / 3:00 AM / Super 16: NHL Power Rankings

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

The New York Rangers got the win they were hoping for Tuesday when Mats Zuccarello scored a 4-on-3 power-play goal in overtime to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2. The vibe in the Rangers' dressing room after the game was one of relief, satisfaction and optimism.

"I thought we played the right way," coach Alain Vigneault said.

The Rangers still struggled to string together passes. They didn't funnel the puck to the net enough, a big reason why they had 22 shots on goal, their fourth-fewest in a game this season. Their power play, at least the 5-on-4 variety, was haphazard at best, dreadful at worst.

But they won and they didn't have any detrimental defensive-zone breakdowns. That's why there was relief. That's why there was satisfaction and optimism.

Super 16: Ducks' poor start; Stars fall from No. 1

Friday, 12.18.2015 / 3:00 AM / Super 16: NHL Power Rankings

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

The Anaheim Ducks were a trendy preseason pick to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Final, including on this website.

Five of the nine NHL.com staffers who were asked to give preseason predictions had the Ducks in the Cup Final; two had them as champs. They were No. 2 in the preseason Super 16.

Anaheim is last in the Western Conference. Should the prognosticators have seen this coming, or should the Ducks be better? The answer to each question is yes.

Super 16: Oilers among most improved teams in NHL

Friday, 12.11.2015 / 3:00 AM / Super 16: NHL Power Rankings

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

The Edmonton Oilers have their fair share of flaws. They also have five more wins and seven more points this season than they had at the exact same point last season.

The Oilers are on pace to be one of the most improved teams in the NHL despite persistent defensive breakdowns, inconsistent goaltending and the massive hole in their lineup created by rookie center Connor McDavid's broken left clavicle.

Everything is relative, of course, and that's why it's fair to call the Oilers improved but far too premature to call them successful or a success story. However, the Oilers are getting closer to warranting the latter.

Super 16: Stars edge Canadiens in first poll of month

Friday, 12.04.2015 / 3:00 AM / Super 16: NHL Power Rankings

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

The Dallas Stars edged the Montreal Canadiens for the top spot in the Super 16 this week as voted on by a panel of five NHL.com editorial staff members who participated in a point-based exercise to arrive at the final rankings.

The Stars were ranked No. 1 by three of the staff members (Brian Compton, Adam Kimelman and Mike G. Morreale). Dallas was ranked No. 2 behind the Canadiens by Dan Rosen and No. 3 behind the Canadiens and Washington Capitals by Arpon Basu.

Each writer submitted his version of the Super 16 and a point total was assigned to each ranking:

Super 16: West teams have faced longer road trips

Friday, 11.27.2015 / 3:00 AM / Super 16: NHL Power Rankings

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

By in large, the challenge of playing and making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference is considered to be greater than playing and making it in the Eastern Conference because of the strain of long travel created by the considerable distance between cities.

The Eastern Conference may have more competition (two more teams), but travel in the Western Conference literally creates a longer road to the playoffs.

The stress of playing in the West has been magnified a quarter of the way through this season by the duration of the road trips and the amount of games outside of the Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones the majority of the teams have already completed or are currently going through.

Eight of 14 teams in the Western Conference have already had road trips of five games or longer, including recently completed seven-game trips by the Colorado Avalanche (4-3-0) and Vancouver Canucks (1-4-2), and the perfect six-game trip by the San Jose Sharks (6-0-0).

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