Believe it or not, we've officially hit Holiday Season.
The 2018-19 NHL campaign is almost two months old, and that means Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Football may be the sport of choice in homes across America this fine Turkey Day, but hockey's heating up even as some of the NHL's top contenders deal with significant injuries. It's heating up so much, in fact, that several coaches' seats have burned up entirely -- the Blues firing Mike Yeo and the Oilers replacing Todd McLellan with Ken Hitchcock just this week.
On the other end of the spectrum, we've got two powerhouses in the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning fighting to lay claim to the No. 1 spot in the standings, while preseason afterthoughts like the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens remain in the hunt not only for relevance but for early playoff consideration. (Check back with us in a few months on the Habs.)
There's lots going on, you see, and thus there's also plenty to be thankful for if you're an NHL fan.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving (and in lieu of trying to equate all 31 teams with a Thanksgiving side dish), we've used this week's edition of NHL Power Rankings to offer reasons you and your favorite team can be thankful this season:
| Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -- | 5-9-2 | |
The front office. It's hard not to come back to this every time, but their depth is outstanding. What Preds management has assembled is a lineup that can go deep with or without some of its biggest names.
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| 2 | 4 | 10-6-2 | |
Mitch Marner. If you're a Leafs fan, you're already plenty thankful for Auston Matthews and the John Tavares deal. But Double-M is like the cherry on top.
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| 3 | 1 | 7-6-1 | |
Offense. Some teams are happy to even get a goal on the board. Tampa has 76 in 21 games.
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| 4 | 1 | 15-1-0 | |
Patrik Laine. Let's not overthink it. A superstar scorer goes a long way in this league, and they have just that.
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| 5 | 2 | 10-2-3 | |
Bruce Boudreau's regular-season prowess. Don't get us started about playoffs, but if there's one thing you can count on, it's that the Wild will be in the hunt throughout the year.
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| 6 | 2 | 7-8-1 | |
The rebuild. The last five-ish years are finally paying off, and this team is now fun to watch. Look at Jeff Skinner go!
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| 7 | 6 | 8-6-3 | |
Balance. Johnny Gaudreau is still the man, but the burden hasn't been solely on him to produce. Even with James Neal MIA, this group is playing like a team.
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| 8 | 4 | 8-7-2 | |
David Pastrnak. This has been an awfully rough start for Boston in terms of injuries, but at least they've got a breakout on offense.
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| 9 | -- | 9-8-0 | |
Mikko Rantanen's next step.
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| 10 | 2 | 5-8-2 | |
November. Sergei Bobrovsky is starting to return to form, and they've quietly regained steam with a 6-2-2 stretch.
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| 11 | -- | 5-9-3 | |
Joe Pavelski picking up slack.
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| 12 | 2 | 9-5-0 | |
American Airlines Center. They've lost just one game in regulation at home thus far.
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| 13 | 6 | 5-9-2 | |
The first month and a half of the season. Why? Because, in all likelihood, this club is headed back to Earth.
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| 14 | 1 | 6-6-4 | |
Barry Trotz. Easy. Most of the Isles aren't even playing up to par, yet this man has them far above the NHL cellar.
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| 15 | 5 | 10-4-1 | |
The Metropolitan Division. Typically outrageously competitive, the Metro is weak. Really weak. The Caps have lots of time to turn it on.
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| 16 | -- | 9-4-1 | |
Shootouts. Somehow this group is 4-0 in games decided as such.
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| 17 | -- | 6-8-2 | |
Gritty, Ivan Provorov and whichever other young guy suits your fancy. This team seems destined for enigmatic highs and lows, but at least there are some building blocks?
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| 18 | -- | 6-9-3 | |
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin still exist. It may not seem like it, but the best thing the Pens have going for them is that they've got guys who've come through in the clutch before. Time is a'wasting, however.
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| 19 | 4 | 11-4-1 | |
Mike Hoffman finding a streak. (This should also tell you how this season has gone.)
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| 20 | 1 | ||
The Canucks' and Ducks' simultaneous free-fall. At least then they've got a chance to stay relevant in the Pacific.
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| 21 | 6 | 11-6-2 | |
Nico Hischier is back at practice.
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| 22 | 1 | 11-4-0 | |
Micheal Ferland. Go watch that guy play.
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| 23 | 2 | 7-7-1 | |
Dylan Larkin on offense and Jimmy Howard in goal. These two have sparked a stretch so impressive that it's hard to fathom just how awful they started.
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| 24 | 2 | 8-7-1 | |
Ken Hitchcock's arrival. If anyone can milk results out of this team, it's probably him. Something had to be done.
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| 25 | 4 | 10-4-2 | |
Nate Schmidt is on the way back.
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| 26 | 2 | 7-9-0 | |
A new coach awaits. Craig Berube will handle things for now, but this team definitely needed the shakeup.
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| 27 | 1 | 8-7-0 | |
Matt Duchene's explosion. (Now will they pay him?)
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| 28 | 18 | 8-3-3 | |
Elias Pettersson will still be good when this team figures things out.
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| 29 | 1 | 6-9-1 | |
The trade deadline will be here before you know it. There's no denying the rebuild is in effect, so it's time to embrace it.
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| 30 | 2 | 5-8-2 | |
Such a drastic fall might lead to bigger changes that wouldn't have come otherwise.
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| 31 | -- | 9-6-3 | |
You can't really get much slower, older and banged-up than this.
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