Happy Thanksgiving everybody. We hope your team has given you plenty to be thankful for this season and if not, well then we hope it gets better soon. Seven weeks have come and gone so far this season. The teams are starting to really battle it out for divisional standing as we reach the new year. Let’s take a look at each team and grade how they performed this last week.
Anaheim Ducks: F (Previous grade: C-)
The Ducks have lost six in a row. Any shine they had from their surprising run a couple weeks ago is now completely buried. They hit a wall and now they have to find a way around it or sit and watch as the rest of the division passes them by. Don’t let this potential go to waste Anaheim.
Arizona Coyotes: D+ (Previous grade: C)
The Coyotes snapped a three game losing streak with a fantastic 2-0 win over Vegas. This team has been competitive all season long, but up to this point they’ve been unable to overcome the hump that’s preventing them from joining the top guys. Hopefully they can carry a little momentum into this next week.
Boston Bruins: D (Previous grade: A+)
It feels wrong to grade this team this low, but the grading is based on results and Boston did not get very good results this last week. Out of four games, Boston only won one of them. They’ve lost two in a row to the Rangers and Red Wings and gave up 12 goals in the process. A rebound is going to be needed.
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Buffalo Sabres: D+ (Previous grade: C-)
The Sabres lost two of three this week. They’re still failing to gather any sort of momentum to start making up ground in their division. With each week that passes, this team gets further and further away from finally ending their playoff drought.
Calgary Flames: C (Previous grade: C+)
The Flames went 2-2 this week. They beat the Kraken and Stars, but lost to the Devils and Avalanche. They have far from dug themselves out of their hole, but they have looked slightly better. I don’t think there’s much hope for a season turnaround though.
Carolina Hurricanes: C (Previous grade: Unchanged)
The Canes won two out of three this week, but had an 8-2 loss to the Lightning in between those two wins. This team’s inability to generate any consistent momentum is holding them back exponentially. They’re better than this and the team knows it too.
Chicago Blackhawks: D- (Previous grade: F)
The only thing saving Chicago from an F this week is an OT win over the Maple Leafs. Outside of that, they lost the other three games they played this week including being the team that snapped Columbus’ nine game losing streak. At least you drafted Bedard though right boys?
Colorado Avalanche: A (Previous grade: B+)
The Avs won three of four this week, and are currently on a three game winning streak. The loss to the Predators most likely stung given that they gave up two goals in the last minute of the game to give Nashville the win. They rebounded nicely though with wins over the Canucks, Wild, and Flames.
Columbus Blue Jackets: C (Previous grade: F)
The long losing streak is finally over. Columbus won two of three this week. They ended their week on a loss to the Hurricanes but their two wins over the Blackhawks and Devils keeps them afloat and away from another F grade. There’s still a lot of work to do however.
Dallas Stars: C- (Previous grade: A+)
Dallas lost two of three this week and you know that loss to the Flames had to hurt. That being said, they still had a pretty spectacular win over the Rangers and that’s more than enough to prevent their grade being lowered any further. I expect this team to rebound pretty well.
Detroit Red Wings: A (Previous grade: D+)
Detroit’s won three in a row and have finally gathered some momentum. When you’re in a skid it can be hard to regain the traction that you lost, but Detroit appears to have done it. Their fast start stopped them from losing too much ground on their skid and now they’re primed to continue competing in this stacked division.
Edmonton Oilers: C (Previous grade: C+)
While destroying the Ducks and Capitals probably felt pretty good for this team, losing to Hurricanes and Panthers still shows they’re not at all where they need to be. This was the team that was supposed to make a Finals run this year and they’re about as far away from that as you can get at this point.
Florida Panthers: D+ (Previous grade: A)
The Panthers started off the week with a 5-3 win over the Oilers, but then proceeded to drop two in a row to the Bruins and Jets. There’s obviously no shame in losing to those two teams, but it doesn’t mean Florida’s grade is going to get better this week. At some point you want to see this team be able to win against lower tier teams more decisively.
Los Angeles Kings: A+ (Previous grade: Unchanged)
Make it five in a row for LA. A perfect record on the road and a top 3 penalty kill in the league are just two ways this team has made tremendous improvements from last season. The young guys are developing just the way you would want them to, with the vets still holding their own (Kopitar currently leads the team in points and in goals).
Minnesota Wild: F (Previous grade: Unchanged)
The Wild cannot stop their freefall. They’ve now lost seven in a row and are showing no signs of being able to catch themselves. They’re not just losing to elite teams either, but lower tier teams as well. Never mind worrying about the playoffs, this team should start worrying about if there’s anything they can salvage.
Montreal Canadiens: C+ (Previous grade: D-)
They barely beat the Sharks and the Ducks and then lost to the Kings which is why their grade won’t be getting any higher than a C. While it’s nice that the Habs can still beat lower tier teams, it’s still very much apparent this team has hit a wall and has no idea how to get around it. Any ground they made from their fast start is now gone, and they have a lot of work to do.
Nashville Predators: A+ (Previous grade: F)
Never thought we would be giving Nashville an A+ this year, but it’s hard not to given the week they had. They’ve won five games in a row and that win streak includes wins over the Avalanche, Blues, and Jets. They’ve pulled themselves up to .500 while also showing they haven’t lost all of their fight just yet. It’ll be interesting to see if this is momentum they can keep.
New Jersey Devils: D- (Previous grade: Unchanged)
Never mind their 7-2 win over Buffalo. They still lost to Columbus and Detroit and haven’t won two games in a row since the start of the month. They’re consistently losing to teams they should be beating and it’s starting to look like they’re going to squander away all their talent.
New York Islanders: B- (Previous grade: F)
The Islanders won three in a row before losing 1-0 in a shootout to the Flyers to end the week. They’ve so far rebounded fairly well from their long losing streak, but it’s yet to be seen if they can go right back to competing with the best of the division. I don’t think this team is done for just yet, but they still have a lot to prove.
New York Rangers: A+ (Previous grade: Unchanged)
They lost to the Stars to start the week, but quickly rebounded with three in a row including a win over fellow top team in the Bruins. The Rangers only have four losses across these last seven weeks and could very well be the best team in the league right now. They have some competition with Boston and Vegas, but they have a very strong case for themselves.
Ottawa Senators: D (Previous grade: B)
The Senators only had one game this week and they lost it. It was a 5-3 loss to the Islanders and once again showed that the Sens have no ability to find themselves. This team has no idea who they are and it’s what’s preventing them from being able to compete.
Philadelphia Flyers: D (Previous grade: A+)
The Flyers had their winning streak snapped and lost two of three this week. I don’t think it’s too much cause for concern as they didn’t look too bad in those losses as opposed to the last time they had a slip up. They’re still in the top 3 of their division and they ended the week on a win.
Pittsburgh Penguins: D- (Previous grade: B)
The Pens lost two of three this week and have now lost four of their last six. They ended the week with a solid win over Toronto, but the ground they made with their five game losing streak is quickly fading away. They’ll need another spark to get themselves in gear.
San Jose Sharks: F (Previous grade: Unchanged)
Another week, another F for San Jose. They have four total wins these last seven weeks and at this point they may have just given up and settled for trying to get the top draft pick. It’ll take a miracle to see them pull themselves out of this and I’m not sure this team has a miracle in itself.
Seattle Kraken: D- (Previous grade: C)
Beat up the Sharks all you want you still have to win other games too. They beat the Sharks 7-1 ,but lost to the Flames and Canucks (Seattle cannot seem to beat Calgary). This team was the underdog story of last year, but now they seem to be reverted back to where they were in their first season. I don’t have the answers for this team, but they’ll have to find them quick.
St. Louis Blues: C+ (Previous grade: D+)
They had an ugly 8-3 loss to Nashville, but they also had two wins over Chicago and Arizona. They might not be elite wins, but they’re still wins and they help ensure that they don’t slip in the standings even after an ugly loss. This team is ahead of where they were supposed to be, but still behind where they want to be.
Tampa Bay Lightning: B+ (Previous grade: C-)
Vasilevsky is back and it couldn’t have been at a better time. This team is resilient but even it has its limits. Tampa lost to the Jets this week, but made up for it with two wins over the Bruins and Hurricanes. Vasilevsky looked great in his first game back as well which is a massive sigh of relief for the Bolts.
Toronto Maple Leafs: D- (Previous grade: A)
Your win over the Wild isn’t going to save you this week. Dropping two in a row to the Penguins and the Blackhawks is an awful look and shows that this team has made no progress in patching up the holes that were holding them back before. This team should be far better than what they are, but they hold themselves back every single year.
Vancouver Canucks: D+ (Previous grade: C-)
The Canucks went 2-2 and this week and ended the week on a loss to the Sharks which you know probably didn’t feel very good. Their other loss was to the Avalanche which is completely forgivable. This team has slowed down these last couple of weeks and have started to show some cracks. The question now is how do they respond?
Vegas Golden Knights: D+ (Previous grade: Unchanged)
Vegas is mortal. Who knew? These last couple weeks have been a bit harsh on the reigning champs. They lost two of three this week, ending their week with a shutout loss to the Coyotes. We know this team has the ability to bounce back and perform, but it’s worth keeping in mind just how much energy it takes to win the Cup and then come back the next season. Let’s keep an eye on their stamina.
Washington Capitals: D (Previous grade: A)
The Caps only had two games this week and they split the results. They barely beat the Sabres in OT and then they had a brutal 5-0 loss to the Oilers. I don’t see too much concern for Washington and hopefully they can shake it off and find their footing again.
Winnipeg Jets: A (Previous grade: Unchanged)
The Jets had their five game winning streak snapped by the also streaking Predators, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that they’ve looked very good lately. I have no doubt they’ll rebound from their loss this week and continue gunning for that top spot in the division.
