Latest NHL power rankings look favourably on Canucks

It would be fair to make the claim that the Vancouver Canucks are not yet firing on all cylinders. Case in point being Saturday night's game in San Jose, when they needed a goal 26 seconds from the end of the third period to beat a team with the fewest points in the NHL.

At the same time, it speaks volumes about the potential of this Canucks team, that they find themselves in sixth place in the Western Conference as of Sunday morning. This should serve as a warning to the rest of the league, as to what to expect when they do finally get warmed up.

In any event, it seems as if a lot of the main sports media outlets also have a lot of faith in the Canucks, if their latest NHL power rankings are any indication. And keep in mind these rankings are after Wednesday night's 6-0 humiliation at home to the New Jersey Devils, and prior to Saturday evening's aforementioned game versus the Sharks.

A generous jump

First up, ESPN has the Canucks in 12th place, up from 16th spot the previous week. They also make reference to how crucial their upcoming clash with the Oilers on Nov. 9 will be, even allowing for Connor McDavid likely to still be absent through injury.

Next we have The Athletic (subscription required), who have the Canucks ranked 13th, albeit down from 10th a week earlier. This probably alludes to the embarrassing loss to the Devils, which also shined a light on Artūrs Šilovs' current struggles in net.

The Athletic also picked a spooky thought for each team as their theme for this week, obviously referencing Halloween night. For the Canucks specifically they focused in on Elias Pettersson's ongoing struggles -- and quite rightly so -- with them saying he just doesn’t physically look right.

USA Today's power rankings are slightly different, in so much as this is a monthly one as opposed to weekly. In any event, moving down from sixth in October to 12th at the beginning of November, isn't that bad all things considered.

At the same time, Mary Clarke does say that while the Canucks have done well to keep their heads above water, they can't continue to rely so much on Kevin Lankinen. In other words, they need Thatcher Demko back between the pipes as soon as possible.

Consistency with this ranking

Last but not least we come to NHL.com, who instead of a traditional power ranking have a 'Super 16', determined by a panel of 15 voters. Their collective positioning on the Canucks is steady, going up from 12th last week to 11th this week, which alludes to them not being influenced negatively by the Devils game.

On an individual level, all 15 voters also include the Canucks in their 'Super 16', with the lowest ranking being 14th by Derek Van Diest. Their highest ranking is eighth by three voters, including Amalie Benjamin, Nicholas J. Cotsonika, and Mike Zeisberger.

Overall, these latest NHL power rankings are fair in how they capture the current state of the Canucks. And with Demko and Dakota Joshua both expected back sooner than later, the team is poised to move (back) into the top 10 of the various rankings in the near future.

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