It's been an eventful season to say the least for the Vancouver Canucks so far, and they haven't even played 20 games yet. They've been terrible at home and record-breaking good on the road, while dealing with key player absences through injuries, bereavement, cancer and personal leave.
That the Canucks are 10-6-3 as of Monday morning is a combination of a minor miracle and a testament to their collective mental fortitude. At the same time, their record in recent games is reflected in the latest round of NHL power rankings from some of the major sports media outlets.
Unlucky number 13
We begin with ESPN, who have moved the Canucks down from 10th place to 13th. This alludes to the team losing two straight games prior to Saturday's 4-3 win in Ottawa.
ESPN's theme of the week is based around something that each team should be thankful for, ahead of Thanksgiving Day on Thursday. For the Canucks it's Elias Pettersson and understandably so, with him producing 10 points in his past seven games and finally looking something more akin to the player who signed an eight-year, $92.8 million deal to remain long-term in Vancouver.
Next we come to The Athletic (subscription required), who have also moved the Canucks down to 13th place, and it could have been even worse, given that Dom Luszczyszyn had them ranked 14th. In any event, the drop is greater than ESPN's, given that The Athletic had the team ranked eighth last week.
Aside from the play of Quinn Hughes, The Athletic are not too high on the Canucks in general at the moment, which seems harsh given all the team has had to overcome. Although they do commend them for keeping their heads above water and note that Thatcher Demko is edging gradually towards playing again soon.
A not so super 13th place
Even though NHL.com does things a little differently with a Super 16 as opposed to a traditional 32-team power rankings, they are in line with the thinking of ESPN and The Athletic. They also have them in 13th place, dropping down from 10th position last week.
NHL.com is down on the collective efforts of the Canucks' offence, based on their ranking as the 14th-best team in terms of average goals scored per game being a fair, bit worse than last season's ranking as sixth-best. However, as with The Athletic, they are raving about the performances of Hughes.
Finally we turn to Sportsnet, who have dropped the Canucks even further, from ninth place to 15th. Interestingly though, Ryan Dixon does praise the team for it's ability to tread water without Demko, Brock Boeser and now J.T. Miller.
Overall, it's tough to argue with any of this week's respective power rankings, given that the Canucks have had their struggles collecting points of late. Still, the combination of their key players being expected back soon, having games in hand on the majority of teams above them in the standings and just not yet playing to their full capabilities, has this team primed to climb back up the rankings in the weeks ahead.