NHL Power Rankings: Chicago Blackhawks in a dark, dark place

Hey everyone, we here at Yahoo! Sports are doing real power rankings for teams Nos. 1-31. Here they are, based on only how I am feeling about these teams, meaning you can’t tell me I’m wrong because these are my feelings and feelings can’t be wrong. Please enjoy the Power Feelings.

31. Los Angeles Kings (Last week: 27)

30. Philadelphia Flyers (LW: 30)

29. Chicago (LW: 26)

At what point does the sell-off begin? Because now, with the team having won just three of the last TWENTY-ONE games, in which they got outshot by a net total of 59, there has to be some real decision-making.

I think I said a few years ago that I expected these guys, based on Who They Are, to get the benefit of the doubt from the media even when the wheels totally fell off after they missed the playoffs once. I might have simultaneously underestimated the media’s capacity to see this group for what it really is, but I also doubt any living human saw this group going 3-15-3 over any 21-game stretch. During which, by the way, they only have 47 goals but have conceded 81. That’s an average of losing by 1.7 goals every night.

These guys suck. I might be too nice to only put them 29th. They’re that bad. Stan Bowman’s days are numbered.

28. St. Louis Blues (LW: 28)

I see this team is at the “no-talent fights a prospect” portion of an unexpected downward spiral. They’re not gonna pull out of this. Doesn’t matter how many guys Robert Bertuzzo tries to intimidate in practice. Just a bad team. Another one I think very few people saw coming.

27. Vancouver Canucks (LW: 31)

In retrospect, it was nice of Elias Pettersson to take a couple weeks off so everyone could spend a few weeks pretending someone else — Brady Tkachuk? lol — was gonna be rookie of the year this season.

26. Ottawa Senators (LW: 25)

25. New York Rangers (LW: 29)

Stop me if you’ve heard this before but the Rangers are playing horribly, but being propped up by high shooting percentages from their small number of skill players and a high save percentage from Henrik Lundqvist.

24. Detroit Red Wings (LW: 24)

23. New York Islanders (LW: 22)

22. Anaheim Ducks (LW: 23)

At this point, half the people in the Ducks organization owe their ongoing employment to John Gibson. Pretty incredible. This guy should be making twice what he does, just in tributes paid by the people he’s keeping off the unemployment line.

21. New Jersey Devils (LW: 21)

20. Arizona Coyotes (LW: 17)

Seems like time’s running out on that Adin Hill/Hunter Miska battery keeping these guys afloat. Also saw it reported that Chayka thinks it’s better to just wait it out as Raanta and Kuemper are on the shelf potentially long-term. So, another season without playoffs in Glendale, I guess.

At least they have those cool thirds this year.

19. Florida Panthers (LW: 20)

This is one of those things where I have to really put these guys lower than I have them at some point. They’re third-bottom in the East and not improving. Luongo and Reimer both stink this season. Why would we have any reason to think they’ll improve?

Wonder if it costs Boughner his job at some point, because in pretty much all other aspects the team looks pretty good.

18. Montreal Canadiens (LW: 19)

17. Edmonton Oilers (LW: 18)

I’m not sure I believe this is gonna last but their pre- and post-Hitch splits are looking good. All-situations numbers follow; Hitchcock coached the last 10, McLellan the previous 20:

Attempts: minus-2 to plus-20.

Shots on goal: plus-25 to plus-25 (notable because of the number of games needed to get there).

Goals: minus-9 to plus-4.

It’s not much, but it’s something. If they can do this for 50 more games, they’ll make the playoffs with relative ease. Amazing what Hitchcock can do.

16. Dallas Stars (LW: 16)

15. Minnesota Wild (LW: 14)

14. Pittsburgh Penguins (LW: 15)

They didn’t lose in regulation last week, which obviously you take. And because of how jammed-up/mediocre the division is, they’re still somehow only a point out of third in the division.

They’ve been horrible for a good chunk of the season here. Hell, the Flyers are like a four-game win streak away from being third in the Metro. Who knows anymore?

13. Carolina Hurricanes (LW: 13)

12. Columbus Blue Jackets (LW: 11)

At what point are we concerned that Bobrovsky isn’t gonna figure it out in his contract year? And how anxious is Jarmo Kekalainen to pull the chute and trade him before the season ends?

I mean, he can’t right now but if they get even close to the playoff bubble they have to think about it. Bobrovsky has easily cost them two points in the standings, but Korpisalo has been even worse.

If they were in the Atlantic, they’d be sitting fifth right now, instead of second. That’s how bad the Metro is, dude.

11. Buffalo Sabres (LW: 8)

Then again, the Sabres are still third in the Atlantic and they’ve lost five straight, so…

10. Washington Capitals (LW: 12)

9. Colorado Avalanche (LW: 5)

Live by being a one-line team, die by being a one-line team.

Rantanen, MacKinnon, and Landeskog combined for “just” nine points in the last three games (i.e. about a goal a game total), so Colorado got outscored 9-7 and went 1-2.

That’s hockey, baby!!!

8. Vegas Golden Knights (LW: 10)

How bad things were and how good they are now in two stats: Vegas is 8-2-0 in the last 10 games, but are still only third in a bad division because they were so so so so awful to start the year.

7. San Jose Sharks (LW: 9)

6. Boston Bruins (LW: 7)

5. Winnipeg Jets (LW: 6)

4. Calgary Flames (LW: 4)

These guys are playing so well even Mike Smith has a .936 save percentage in his last six appearances, all of them wins. He’s still only .894(!!!!) for the season though ha ha.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs (LW: 2)

They haven’t won since signing Nylander. Gotta trade that guy.

In all seriousness, though, they gotta figure it out with this defense, even if that means trading for a rental. It’s a real problem without a clear solution.

This team can win a lot of games 4-3 but I don’t think you can get away with it once the playoffs start, y’know? Maybe for a round. Probably not if they draw Boston.

2. Nashville Predators (LW: 3)

That these guys are anywhere near as good as they have been given that probably their three best skaters (Subban, Forsberg, Turris) have been on the shelf — and will be for a while — is a testament to the strength of the roster.

1. Tampa Bay Lightning (LW: 1)

I mean you read the thing yesterday right? They’re just amazing. What a team.

Ryan Lambert is a Yahoo! Sports columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

(All stats via Corsica unless otherwise noted.)

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