NHL Power Rankings Week 7: Blue Jackets rising, Islanders at rock bottom

The Nashville Predators are still an enigma. Are they Stanley Cup contenders or not? It’s still a bit too early to write them off completely, as the NHL can be a bit nuts at times, but what’s wrong with them? Filip Forsberg only has one goal, so there’s a good starting point. Even with their struggles this season, the Predators still have a bit to be thankful for. Nashville has Roman Josi and Forsberg locked up long-term for a dirt cheap price. P.K. Subban is still the man.

Unlike the Predators, it’s far easier to determine why the Dallas Stars haven’t lived up to their Stanley Cup aspirations. They have had two primary issues. First, they can’t stay healthy. Although they’re getting healthy and that should help, it doesn’t fix their second issue. Dallas put a lot of faith in their young defensemen by getting rid of Jason Demers and Alex Goligoski. So far, it’s not working out at all. Stars fans should still be quite thankful for Tyler Seguin and John Klingberg. Both are signed to very cheap deals.

Despite a tough 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs are a very good team. Are they a playoff team? They darn well might be, especially if Frederik Andersen continues to play well. He had a rough start to his Toronto tenure, but lately he’s been much closer to what he was in Anaheim. Lots to be thankful for in Toronto, but let’s start with Mitch Marner. Leafs fans should obviously be thankful for Matthews and Nylander as well, but the first round pick of the 2015 NHL Draft has quietly been extremely good this season.