It's been another average seven days for the Canucks, and by that, we mean chaotic, absorbing and entirely unpredictable. Filip Hronek will apparently be out for a while through injury, Quinn Hughes set a new franchise record, Artūrs Šilovs continues to be a disaster in net, J.T. Miller has been mentioned in trade speculation, etc, etc.
Throughout it all though, the Canucks continue to find ways to collect points, with three wins in four games and all away from home. (Oh yes, Kevin Lankinen also set an NHL record by starting a season 10-0-0 on the road.) As a result, they find themselves sixth in the Western Conference ahead of Monday's slate of action.
The previous round of NHL rankings saw the Canucks take a bit of a fall among some of the major sports media outlets. As you'd expect after the results of the past seven days, things are now mostly headed in the other (correct) direction again.
The lowest ranking of the bunch
The only ones who didn't improve the Canucks' position was The Athletic, although we'll cut them some slack as their latest power rankings were written prior to the two most recent wins. In any event, they dropped the team from 13th place to 14th.
On the fun side of things, Dom Luszczyszyn and Sean Gentille decided to search for the best Black Friday deals for each of the 32 NHL teams. For the Canucks specifically, they settled on the team adding Kiefer Sherwood for just $1.5 million, noting his recent points production and earning a place alongside Elias Pettersson in the lineup.
Turning to NHL.com, who do a 'Super 16' as opposed to a traditional power rankings, they moved the Canucks up from 13th spot to 12th. As it was the Thanksgiving edition, they said the team should be thankful for having Hughes and Lankinen in particular, which we certainly aren't going to disagree with and we suspect most fans will feel the same way about.
On an individual level, all 13 of the latest contributors to NHL.com's rankings had the Canucks included. Of interest, Shawn P. Roarke had them highest at ninth, while Dan Rosen placed them lowest at 16th.
Sportsnet gave the Canucks the biggest lift in their rankings, from 15th last week to ninth this time around. However, they have form for this type of thing, having previously ranked the team also in ninth place just two weeks ago.
Stoking the rivalry between Canucks and Leafs fans
Ryan Dixon added a blunt truth for all 32 teams, noting that even though Canucks fans like to bad-mouth Canada's 'beloved' Toronto Maple Leafs team, Vancouver's own Stanley Cup drought is only three years shorter. Maybe so, but the fact is that it is still shorter, combined with the Canucks at least making it to the finals three times since the Leafs last went.
Finally, we thought we'd bring someone different into the equations, in the form of theScore. They had the Canucks ranked 12th last week and have now moved them up one place to 11th, and keep in mind their power rankings do include the two most recent road wins.
In respect of a weekly theme, theScore looked at a player who needs to step up their game for each team, picking Nils Höglander for the Canucks. Höglander is apparently generating trade interest, so he needs to improve whether it be to show he deserves to remain in Vancouver, or to build up his trade value.
Overall, even -- as always -- allowing for the fun aspect of power rankings, we would contend The Athletic has been slightly harsh in their latest assessment of the Canucks, while theScore has arguably been almost too generous. Either way, we look to see how the team performs as they prepare to return to Vancouver for a six-game homestand, given they have a disappointing 3-5-3 record at Rogers Arena so far in 2024-25.