Blueshirt Banter Power Rankings: October 27th Edition
This is the second edition of power rankings based on regular season play. There were only two games in this period and that includes an overtime win vs. the Colorado Avalanche and an overtime loss vs. the Washington Capitals.
Without any further delay, here’s the next edition of power rankings.
Top Risers
Chris Kreider — +5
Kreider rises five spots for tallying two goals and a primary assist during the two games played. He also had a 56.14 CF% and nice SCF% of 69.23. It was a solid pair of games for Kreider who was looking to get back on the right track offensively.
Fredrik Claesson — +4
Claesson is currently sidelined with an injury, but he was playing some decent hockey and making the most of his opportunity. In the games vs. Colorado and Washington, the Blueshirts defender had a CF% of 55.88 which was second-best among all defenders. He also had an on-ice scoring chance differential of +6 (11 for and 5 against). He was signed to be a seventh defender for the Blueshirts, but he shown the potential to be a starting defender on the third pair.
Neal Pionk and Mika Zibanejad — +3
Pionk is an intriguing player because he continues to put up points while having some disappointing underlying numbers. In this stretch he was a beast against the Capitals picking up three assists, two of which were primary. He showed confidence skating with the puck and his ability to get his shot through led to Kreider tipping a puck past Braden Holtby.
Zibanejad tallied a goal and assist in the two game stretch, and was one of the better Rangers in terms of underlying numbers. He had a 55.74 CF% and a 64.29 SCF%, and these two games were the start of him warming up and getting back to a top-end level offensively.
Kevin Hayes, Marc Staal — +2
Hayes scored his first goal of the season vs. the Avalanche, and it was on a one-timer off a cross ice feed from Mats Zuccarello. Hayes has started out slow, but is starting to pick up the pace. In the two game stretch he was first among forwards with a CF% of 56.86 and had a scoring chance differential of +8 (15 for and 7 against).
Staal moves up because of good play and because Marek Mazanec automatically went to the bottom with the demotion of Alexandar Georgiev. In the two-game period Staal had a CF% of 56.92 and a on-ice shot differential of +9 (25 for and 16 against). He also had a on-ice scoring chance differential of 11 (22 for and 11 against).
Top Droppers
Tony DeAngelo and Jesper Fast — -5
DeAngelo falls because of his continued scratching, and other players performing positively.
Fast’s drop seems big, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much. It is more so a byproduct of not generating offense and others around him playing well. Kreider, Zibanejad, Zuccarello and Howden arguably had a better two-game stretch. He is still seventh overall which is solid.
Pavel Buchnevich and Filip Chytil — -3
Buchnevich was scratched vs. the Colorado Avalanche and returned vs. the Capitals. It was a tough game in which he finished with a CF% of 18.75. You could argue for him dropping a little lower, but I felt three spots for one game was fair.
In Chytil’s case he swapped with Hayes, and there were a couple of players slightly better than him. So while he did drop, it isn’t a criticism of him or his play. Shayna wrote a great article on how Chytil has done all of the little things without scoring, and I recommend checking it out. He seems to be on the verge of breaking out, and once he gets that first goal the floodgates should open up. In this stretch he had a 51.67 CF% and SCF% of 51.61.
The next edition with the Rangers’ most recent activity will be out soon, and will cover the contests vs. the Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks.
Stats via Natural Stat Trick unless otherwise noted.
