Fansided

NHL Power Rankings: Ducks soar, Maple Leafs in free fall

By Derek Grochowski

NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 30: The shot of Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) deflects off the mask of Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during the NHL preseason game between the Nashville Predators and the Tampa Bay Lightning, held on September 30, 2017, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 30: The shot of Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) deflects off the mask of Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during the NHL preseason game between the Nashville Predators and the Tampa Bay Lightning, held on September 30, 2017, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 08: Scott Darling
CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 08: Scott Darling /

22. Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes made big news this week by announcing they had demoted general manager Ron Francis after four seasons. Francis did a decent job during his time. He built a strong group of young defensemen. The offense always struggled and held the team back. There were nice pieces like Jeff Skinner, and recently Teuvo Terravainen and Sebastian Aho have joined the team and provided a nice scoring spark, but the lineup isn’t deep enough talent-wise to remain competitive. New owner Tom Dundon has taken over and let it be known that the team needs to be more exciting and draw more fans.

Carolina was hanging around the wild card discussion for awhile but has fallen off down the stretch. The Hurricanes are only five points back of the last spot, so the playoffs are not out of the question, but things will need to turn around fast. Last week the Hurricanes dropped clashes with Winnipeg and Minnesota. They were able to add two points by beating Chicago.

This week will be crucial for the Hurricanes. They must beat the Rangers and take two points against a bad team. Their games against Boston and Philadelphia are tougher, but they need points from teams higher than them in the standings.

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