Weekend NHL rankings: Rangers, Kraken, a November blockbuster trade and a new Top 5 team

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A big NHL trade in November? Are they allowed to do that?

Apparently they are. And while Saturday’s deal that sent David Jiricek from Columbus to Minnesota may not quite rise to the level of a certified blockbuster, it’s at least enough to be the November equivalent, and it’s a fascinating trade. Let’s dive into it a little deeper.

Bonus five: Thoughts on the Jiricek trade

5. I’m guessing Blue Jackets fans are fine with it — At least the ones who read me are, based on feedback from last week’s post in which I wondered what was up with the situation. Columbus fans were pretty clear on their answer: The kid wasn’t playing well and didn’t deserve to be eating regular NHL minutes. To get a solid package of picks in return for a player who wasn’t good enough to crack the roster isn’t bad work.

4. Jiricek’s skating was clearly an issue — That’s been the messaging out of Columbus, as Aaron breaks down here. I won’t pretend I’ve watched Jiricek closely enough to know whether the issues are fixable, although Bill Guerin is clearly betting they are. But it’s a fascinating reminder of how much the modern NHL has changed from even what the league was a decade ago — even a 6-foot-4 defenseman still has to be a smooth skater in today’s game.

3. It’s still a big risk by Don Waddell — Jiricek was the No. 6 pick in 2022, taken ahead of blueliners like Kevin Korchinski and Pavel Mintyukov. It’s rare to see teams give up on a player drafted that high that quickly, although Waddell wasn’t the GM who drafted him, so it’s easier for him to invoke the concept of sunk costs if he just doesn’t see a future.

2. It doesn’t change my view of the Wild right now, but it might change the deadline — As Guerin said, this deal is more of an investment in the future than an attempt to get better immediately. That’s not always the priority for teams playing as well as the Wild are right now, although you take the opportunities where you find them. The bigger potential impact on this year’s Wild might come at the trade deadline, when they won’t have their own first-round pick to move for short-term help.

1. I’m not picking a winner yet — That’s the coward’s way out, obviously, because readers expect to see trades evaluated immediately. Luckily for me, Corey’s already taken care of that — he thinks it’s a poor return for the Blue Jackets even as he doesn’t view Jiricek as a sure thing. I’m a little more positive on this from a Columbus perspective, since there’s value in making tough decisions early enough that they don’t transform into impossible ones. But ultimately, this is one of those moves, like last year’s Jamie Drysdale/Cutter Gauthier swap, where we’ll likely have to wait a few years before a clear winner emerges.

Let’s move on to the rankings, which are kind of a mess this week.

Road to the Cup

The five teams with the best chances of winning the Stanley Cup.

This was cool:

5. Minnesota Wild (16-4-4, +21 true goals differential*) — It feels like it’s time. Maybe it is for the Capitals, too, but we move slowly around here, so one new team at a time. For now, fair warning: This week’s top five is way too Central-heavy, which is an issue we’ll have to figure out in the weeks to come. For now, the Wild ride three straight wins to a league-best .750 points percentage and a spot in our rankings, with a fun matchup with the Canucks up next.

4. Winnipeg Jets (18-7-0, +31) — Three straight losses, and five in their last eight, all in regulation. Yeah, I’m getting worried, and I’m pretty sure I know which team’s spot might be up for grabs this time a week from now.

3. Dallas Stars (15-8-0, +19) — Beating Colorado and Winnipeg in quick succession was a nice reminder they’ve still got a solid claim as the class of the division, even if the standings say otherwise. And as our buddy Jeff reminds us, some nice stories are developing in Dallas.

2. Carolina Hurricanes (16-7-1, +22) — Where does “NECAS” and “CANES” rank among all-time NHL anagrams? I’m thinking ahead of “ME IDIOT” but behind “MARIO JR,” but I’m open to discussion.

1. Florida Panthers (15-9-1, +11) — That four-game losing streak did a number on their record, but we’re looking at more than just wins and losses. Seeing them regroup in time to beat the Leafs in a showdown for top spot in the Atlantic was impressive. Seeing them sweep the Hurricanes in a home-and-home was even better. Now let’s see if they can keep the momentum going against the Penguins and Flyers, or whether they’re firmly in the “We only show up for the big games” mode that champions sometimes allow themselves to drift into.

*Goals differential without counting shootout decisions like the NHL does for some reason.

Not ranked: New York Rangers — Here’s my question: Are the Rangers the best team to ever reach a full-blown crisis by the end of November?

Dating back to 2021-22, the Rangers have made the playoffs with double-digit points to spare every year. They made the conference finals twice, won a Presidents’ Trophy and played at a 109-point pace.

They’ve also already fired one coach, apparently spent the offseason trying to overhaul the roster and recently pulled the equivalent of hanging a “FOR SALE” sign on some of the core players. And those who watch them are saying stuff like this:

… and this:

Those two were from a game they lost by one goal plus an empty-netter, by the way. If the playoffs started today, the Rangers would make it comfortably.

From a distance, it’s a strange scene. The panic level in New York feels appropriate for a team in the running for dead last, not one tracking for a slightly lower playoff seed than they’d like. But here we are.

Is it justified? Well … maybe. Friday’s loss to the Flyers was their fifth straight in regulation. They snapped that streak against the Habs on Saturday, and their overall record is still OK, but it’s just OK and the trend is clear. Something has to change soon, or else the Rangers aren’t going to be a playoff team for much longer.

The question is what you’re going to change. Everything coming out of New York is saying the same thing: It’s going to be the roster, and it won’t be minor tinkering. The Rangers want to move a big piece or two.

On Wednesday’s podcast, we didn’t really believe them, although that was two losses ago. It’s certainly possible this is indeed a bluff from Chris Drury, an attempt to fire up his veteran squad by threatening to break up the boys. We’ve seen that sort of thing work in this league before, but it comes with two major risks. The first is that the players you’re naming don’t respond well to the threat of having their families’ lives disrupted. The second is that if the team keeps losing, you might bluff your way into a corner where you now have to make a big move.

That might not sound like the worst thing in the world to Rangers fans right now, but the only thing we’re told is more difficult for an NHL GM than pulling off a midseason trade is doing so when your team is losing. With apologies to Elliotte Friedman, you can see the other front offices around the league warming up to start tossing those anvils. It’s all well and good to make calls on J.T. Miller, but these days, Drury might be lucky to be offered the rights to J.T. Wyman.

This team has one of the league’s two best goalies, one of its five best young defensemen, its best left winger, and again, a Presidents’ Trophy banner that’s barely had time to collect any dust in the rafters. Do you blow it all up? Can you blow it all up? With another bad week or two, do you even have any other choice?

They’ve got the Devils at MSG tonight, by the way. No pressure, guys.

The bottom five

The five teams that are headed toward dead last and the best lottery odds for James Hagens, or maybe someone else.

A reminder that today is 4 Nations roster reveal day. Here’s what they’d look like if Dom was in charge:

5. Anaheim Ducks (10-10-3, -8) — If you missed this week’s podcast, Frankie is trying to manifest a John Gibson-to-Colorado trade for later in the season. I don’t love it from an Avs perspective, but I’d be interested to hear what fans of either team think about that sort of move. For what it’s worth, Gibson’s looked good since returning.

4. San Jose Sharks (9-13-5, -14) — Well, look who got hot. They won three of four this week, and more impressively, scored 22 goals while doing it. We’ll see how sustainable this offensive burst turns out to be, but for now, let’s reward the Sharks with their best ranking since the end of the 2022-23 season.

3. Nashville Predators (7-12-6, -21) — The good news is they’ve banked points in three straight. The bad news is they were all losses, and charity points aren’t going to get this team back into the race. I’m not sure swapping backup goalies will do it either, but at least it made them younger.

2. Montreal Canadiens (8-13-3, -24) — It’s fair to say that shutout win over the Oilers did not turn the season around. They’re now 1-3-1 after weekend losses to the Rangers and Bruins. Being the “get right” opponent for struggling Original Six teams wasn’t exactly the goal in Montreal, although at least they get a five-game homestand that kicks off tomorrow against the Islanders.

1. Chicago Blackhawks (8-14-2, -14) — It’s bad enough that the Sharks have left them in the dust for dead last, but apparently we’re also going to start doing the “Is Macklin Celebrini better than Connor Bedard?” debate. This version is probably more reasonable, at least for now:

Not ranked: Seattle Kraken — So do back-to-back regulation losses to San Jose mean the Kraken are a bad team, or just one that was in the wrong place at the wrong time as a young team starts to find its stride?

I’d like to pick the latter option since it’s more fun for the Sharks, but I’m worried it’s more like the former.

Let’s run down some of the ugly details of the Kraken. They’re sitting 23rd overall in goals scored and 20th in goals allowed. They haven’t beaten a single playoff team in regulation all year. Their big offseason addition, Chandler Stephenson, has not been good. The Philipp Grubauer reclamation project is, to put it mildly, not going great. Shane Wright looks like an NHLer, but so far not much more than that. They’ve lost Jordan Eberle long-term. And any kind of new-coach bounce from Dan Bylsma either isn’t happening or has already faded. The only bit of good news is that Joey Daccord has been good enough that Canada is trying to enlist him. After that, it’s grim.

It all adds up to an 11-13-1 record and the sixth-worst points percentage in the league. They’re only five points out of a playoff spot, although that’s misleading because teams like Edmonton and Vancouver have played fewer games. This just feels like a team that’s not terrible but not all that good, headed straight toward the dreaded mushy middle. “Painfully mid,” as the other rankings put it. Not unlike a lot of fourth-year expansion teams that weren’t the Golden Knights, come to think of it.

Now that I’ve already shoveled a bit of dirt on their season, we can probably go ahead and congratulate them on beating the Hurricanes in Carolina tomorrow. But even beyond that, the path back to the playoffs will be a tough one, and at some point, you have to wonder what the big plan is in Seattle. Hoping you can sneak into the playoffs and get hot can work sometimes, and kind of already did for this team in 2023, but it’s not a long-term strategy.

(Photo of Igor Shesterkin: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)





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Avatar of Erika Walls
Erika Walls is a journalist who loves writing about business and finance news. She's been working in the industry for over 15 years, and she's published hundreds of articles on everything from the latest IPO to the hottest new stock pick.

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