NHL Power Rankings Week 5: Rangers rise, Canucks are terrible

The Boston Bruins have scored just 30 goals in 12 games. Ironically, their offense wasn’t supposed to be an issue. In fact, it was allegedly going to be their strong point. Conversely, their defense, expected to be terrible, has been quite good. Take away their bad games while Tuukka Rask was out and it’s been one of the better defenses in the NHL. David Backes has been off to a terrible start to his Bruins career. Jimmy Hayes and Matt Beleskey have been significant liabilities. But thanks to Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and Rask, the Bruins are still in a good place.

The Philadelphia Flyers have some issues that they need to fix, but their offense has done an efficient job of stepping up. Their biggest issue is their goaltending and solving it could be very hard. Currently, they have a tandem of Michal Neuvirth and Steve Mason. In the 2015-16 season, they were very good as the Flyers had some of the best goaltending in the NHL. That has not been the case so far this season. With both goaltenders set to hit free agency after 2016-17, Philadelphia could trade one of their goalies for an upgrade with more term on his deal. But they’d likely have to sweeten the pot a bit. Their salary cap situation complicates things as well. If Mason or Neuvirth can grab the starting job and play better, Philly could be a hard team to beat in the playoffs.