NHL Power Rankings Week 17: Vancouver Takes Top Spot in NHL, West is Wild

This week, the East's Playoff Bubble finally expands, while the West's runs from 3rd place to 14th. Needless to say, the West sees a lot of shuffling while the East sees a few swaps.

Oh, and Vancouver has overtaken the top spot.

Eastern Conference

	This Week	Last Week	Rationale	Rating
	1	1	The Flyers no longer hold the top spot in the NHL, but they continue to hold the top spot in the East. Back-to-back wins over Nashville and Dallas kept them on top.	1.927
	2	2	Boston won a wild game against Dallas, but then got shut out by San Jose. They're going to have to find a fix for their 20th ranked power play though.	1.843
	3	3	The Penguins will be tested in the coming weeks, playing without Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Mark Letestu, and now Matt Cooke. Time for Jordan Staal and Max Talbot to step up.	1.471
	4	5	Montreal has gotten 14 points in their last 10 games, helping to solidify their spot in the standings.	1.248
	5	4	The Capitals fell into a tie with Montreal, trailing by 0.0003. They're only 4 points behind Pittsburgh for the coveted 4th spot in the East, which they could steal.	1.248
	6	7	Tampa Bay continues to climb, as their 5-on-5 ratio is now a respectable 0.94. Despite them climbing, they still only received 1 point in their last three games.	1.128
	7	6	The Rangers are sitting in 7th, 4 points up on Atlanta, but they are at the top of the Playoff Bubble. A large goal-differential, but a slightly above average 5-on-5 ratio are keeping them where they are.	1.069
	8	10	The Sabres made a move this week, winning two of three games, but mostly benefited from Florida and Atlanta's fall. They are four points out with two games in hand.	1.040
	9	8	Florida has finally been separated from the playoff race, 7 points out with a game in hand. They look to be selling as well, but hopefully that doesn't mean Stephen Weiss.	0.943
	10	9	The Thrashers have fallen three spots in the last two weeks, largely due to them only getting 1 point in their last four games. How they are even in the East's playoff race (1 point out, two additional games played) is shocking considering their minus-21 goal differential.	0.923
	11	11	Carolina is clinging to the 8th and final playoff seed, with a 4-point lead over Buffalo, who has two games in hand. Carolina will need to improve their 5-on-5 play (0.90 ratio) if they want to make a run though.	0.917
	12	12	Toronto has now won 3 of their last 4, effectively putting them in between the East's worst and the East's Playoff Bubble. Middle ground?	0.637
	13	15	The Devils finally got out of the basement! They're on quite the roll lately, which Gabe Desjardins predicted recently.	0.560
	14	13	Ottawa is out of the playoff race, so they are going to be selling at the deadline. But do they have anything of value to sell?	0.521
	15	14	The Islanders have now seen goalies Dwayne Roloson (traded), Rick DiPietro (Broken Face), Nathan Lawson (Knee), and Kevin Poulin (Leg) leave their crease this calendar year. Evgeni Nabokov continues to smile.	0.498

Western Conference

	This Week	Last Week	Rationale	Rating
	1	1	The Canucks move atop the NHL, maintaining a huge lead in the West. Three straight wins, over Phoenix, Chicago, and Ottawa were enough to put them above Philadelphia.	1.954
	2	2	Detroit went 2-2 last week, suffering through back-to-back 3-0 losses. At least Jimmy Howard is back.	1.411
	3	3	The Stars are dealing with a few injuries. Okay, a lot of injuries.	1.232
	4	5	Chicago finds themselves in 11th place in the West, and yet they are 4th here. They are 3 points out of the 8th spot with two games in hand, and they are only 5 points out of 6th, with two games in hand. At some point, the Defending Cup Champs will make their run. They just hope it's in time to make the playoffs.	1.193
	5	6	The Coyotes are in 6th place in the West, but they are only 3 points up on 9th place, with two more games played. A good club, but they are just another in a crowded West.	1.187
	6	4	Nashville is in 5th place, but they're only 4 points up on 10th place Minnesota, who has two games in hand. Another good team who will have to prove they belong in a battle for home ice. Just like everybody else in the West.	1.140
	7	8	The Kings are the second team out of the playoffs to be in the top-8 here, and their 2nd best goal-differential in the West has a lot do with that. With a better 5-on-5 than Detroit and a better goal differential, the Kings just haven't found a way to stand out in the West.	1.131
	8	10	San Jose is in 4th in the West, but they're going to want to improve their 5-on-5 play (0.95) if they want to find success.	1.073
	9	9	The Wild need to improve their 5-on-5 play (just like the Sharks), but two one-goal games last week left them with 2 points in two games.	1.048
	10	7	Colorado continues falling, and they now find themselves in 14th in the West. Maybe Peter Forsberg can help. Maybe.	1.040
	11	14	The Blue Jackets are in 12th, but they're going to need a major shakeup and an extended hot streak to sneak in. Maybe they can, but it's unlikely.	0.990
	12	13	Calgary has found a way to climb into the 8th spot in the West by one point, but they have played more games than anybody behind them. It's a tenuous situation at best, but they're there.	0.982
	13	11	The Blues are another team that finds themselves in the Playoff Bubble, 5 points out with 6 games in hand. From 3rd to 14th in the West, only 9 points separate the teams.	0.968
	14	12	Anaheim is the loser this week, but they're still in 7th place in the West, two points up on 9th place, with one additional game played. And they added Ray Emery as insurance.	0.924
	15	15	The Oilers and Canucks are probably the only two teams who solidified their spots in the Power Rankings. They're looking to unload some players as well.	0.611