Power Rankings: Flyers stuck at the very bottom

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Tue, Dec 18, 2018

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Hey everyone, we here at Yahoo Sports are doing real power rankings for teams Nos. 1-31. Here they are, based on only how I am feeling about these teams, meaning you can't tell me I'm wrong because these are my feelings and feelings can't be wrong. Please enjoy the Power Feelings.

31. Philadelphia Flyers (Last week: 31)

A move behind the bench is unlikely to be enough to help the Flyers. (Derik Hamilton/AP)

Well they went and did it , which is fine as long as the next guy brings in his own roster of assistants. Fact is, Hakstol didn't do a great job but all the stuff he delegated — the PK, etc. — was also a disaster. So of COURSE the Flyers are retaining all of them during the interim-coach period. Why not.

Interesting that the team handled this about as well as they've handled every other crisis in recent years (i.e. almost incredibly poorly) but when you're in a free fall you're in a free fall, I guess.

The whole thing with hiring Quenneville at the end of the season, though, is he'd have to agree with it, and why would he bother to try to turn around one of the worst teams in the league after a decade of being in one of the highest of high-pressure jobs. He might like a professional challenge, sure, but y'know what he might also like? Sitting on his ass and having fun while collecting millions of dollars to not-work for a few months. Hey, who wouldn't?

30. Chicago (LW: 29)

I mean yeah we all know these guys stink but I'm only leaving this note to say they got outshot by more than 10 per game over the last week and that's bad even for a bad team. It's unconscionable for a team that was half-decent so recently.

Plus that whole Corey Crawford concussion thing is just really upsetting.

29. Los Angeles Kings (LW: 31)

28. New York Rangers (LW: 25)

Remember when people thought these guys would be good? It was like three weeks ago.

27. Ottawa Senators (LW: 26)

26. Detroit Red Wings (LW: 24)

25. New York Islanders (LW: 23)

24. Arizona Coyotes (LW: 20)

You have to respect that they're seemingly giving up on this season. Why not, right? The problem is there's not much on the roster to sell. A bunch of RFAs on expiring deals, a couple vets with two years left who no one's gonna be banging down your door to acquire, and a few long-term signees who would be too expensive and probably difficult to move.

Although if you can get someone to take that Oliver Ekman-Larsson deal off your hands before his no-move kicks in next year, I think you gotta explore the possibility.

23. St. Louis Blues (LW: 28)

22. Vancouver Canucks (LW: 27)

21. Anaheim Ducks (LW: 22)

They've really tightened it up defensively of late, but they're still not taking a particularly large amount of shots. Can't see them turning it around and being For Real.

20. New Jersey Devils (LW: 21)

We're all in agreement that Cory Schneider is done, right? Back on the IR, doesn't have a regular-season win in the 2018 calendar year. I know "wins" isn't the best stat to measure a goalie by, but if you can't fall ass backwards into one in 19 appearances, well, it's probably because you had an .857 save percentage in those games.

19. Dallas Stars (LW: 16)

18. Florida Panthers (LW: 19)

Goaltending has been a problem all year and frankly if we're gonna say it's a consequence of Luongo being a million years old and Reimer being a decent 1b and that's it, well, that should have been your concern all along.

Second-worst team save percentage in the league, in the same neighborhood as Philly, Chicago and Jersey. How did you not see that coming eventually?

17. Edmonton Oilers (LW: 17)

Ken Hitchcock says you gotta tell millennials "what's in it for them" to get them to do anything, unlike the provably magnanimous and altruistic baby boomers and Gen Xers, who have done such a great job running things and creating opportunity for all people over the last 40 years.

16. Carolina Hurricanes (LW: 13)

15. Minnesota Wild (LW: 15)

Pretty good week for the Wild except they played the Flames and the Flames are just insanely hot right now. Still don't think this is a great team but they're gonna hit 100 points again I bet, just like they always do.

14. Montreal Canadiens (LW: 18)

13. Columbus Blue Jackets (LW: 12)

12. Colorado Avalanche (LW: 9)

11. Buffalo Sabres (LW: 11)

The Sabres are back on their BS and maybe maybe maybe actually having it be on a better foundation than it was last year. I mean, I'm not holding my breath but it's possible. At some point I guess you'd like to have someone other than Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner drive the offense for you, but they keep scoring like an off-brand version of Avs' first line so I guess it's better than the alternative.

10. Pittsburgh Penguins (LW: 14)

Let's not all look at once but these guys are 5-1-1 in the last seven games and have 26 goals in those seven games. Maybe you'd like to see them concede fewer than 22 over that stretch but six were in one game so maybe not so bad???

Anyway, who would honestly be surprised if a group this talented figured it out?

9. Boston Bruins (LW: 6)

Getting Patrice Bergeron back before the end of 2018 would, in my opinion, be beneficial for these guys.

8. Vegas Golden Knights (LW: 8)

7. Washington Capitals (LW: 10)

It's like, okay yes, we have to be aware of the shortcomings that have developed in Alex Ovechkin's game in recent years (mainly that he is not a strong driver of play anymore, and that in fact his possession numbers this season are actively bad).

But also: I hope he keeps hoopin' on 'em like this forever. I've said it a million times, but you're free to be one-dimensional as long as that dimension is scoring 29 goals in 32 games. Have fun out there!

6. San Jose Sharks (LW: 7)

Down year for Erik Karlsson… Only 22 points in 34 games. That's a pace for just 53 points to go with his plus-7.6 relative corsi number. Pathetic!!!!!

5. Toronto Maple Leafs (LW: 3)

Starting to get the feeling Mitch Marner's gonna ask for the moon in any negotiation. I'm really rooting for an offer sheet here.

4. Winnipeg Jets (LW: 5)

3. Calgary Flames (LW: 4)

I haven't seen many periods of hockey this season that were uglier than the beating Calgary put on St. Louis Sunday afternoon. Just heartless. Basically the entire period looked like a Calgary power play.

2. Tampa Bay Lightning (LW: 1)

1. Nashville Predators (LW: 2)

I love these two teams at the top. Good, good groups.

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Ryan Lambert is a Yahoo Sports columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

(All stats via HYPERLINK Corsica unless otherwise noted.)

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