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LHH Power Rankings: Trade Deadline Aftermath Edition

And let's talk about eliminating (most) shootouts while we're at it, too. What would you do?

By ICanSeeForIslesAndIsles
Is "Korpisalo" short for "brick wall?" Asking for a friend.
Is "Korpisalo" short for "brick wall?" Asking for a friend.
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

So in the final power rankings before the trade deadline, the Isles held rather steady, having beaten two teams they should have, yet getting walloped by a stronger division rival. With their inaction at the trade deadline, many might think that they deserve to be knocked down a few spots, but games are all that matters, so here we are.

And it's good that we know where we are, since it's hard to find any of our usual opinion pollsters at the moment. Sportsnet hasn't updated their rankings this week, and TSN has been dormant for nearly three weeks. We'll skip the usual table this time. THN dropped the Isles from 8th to 13th, and said:

Here's a red flag. The Islanders gave up seven goals twice in an 11-day span.

And ESPN rates the Isles 15th, with this quote:

The Islanders were waxed 7-0 in Columbus on Saturday but are only one point behind Toronto and still very much in the wild-card chase. I'm curious to see how GM Garth Snow operates before Wednesday's deadline. His team has responded under new coach Doug Weight. Do you really want to tinker too much with that chemistry?

Maybe LeBrun was chowing down at the same restaurant Garth Snow was in all Deadline Day.

LHH Power Rankings

For all games prior to Josh Ho-Sang:

LHH LHH
GP W L T Pts Rating
1 Washington Capitals 62 35 13 14 84 125.9
2 Minnesota Wild 61 34 14 13 81 123.4
3 Columbus Blue Jackets 61 29 16 16 74 118.3
4 Pittsburgh Penguins 61 29 16 16 74 114.5
5 New York Rangers 63 33 21 9 75 114.3
6 San Jose Sharks 62 30 18 14 74 110.8
7 Chicago Blackhawks 63 30 18 15 75 110.6
8 Ottawa Senators 61 26 22 13 65 107.2
9 Anaheim Ducks 62 28 20 14 70 104.4
10 Edmonton Oilers 64 25 22 17 67 104.4
11 New York Islanders 61 25 22 14 64 104.1
12 Montreal Canadiens 64 25 21 18 68 103.2
13 Boston Bruins 62 27 24 11 65 102.8
14 Nashville Predators 63 28 22 13 69 102.7
15 Toronto Maple Leafs 62 22 21 19 63 101.5
16 St. Louis Blues 62 24 26 12 60 101.2
17 Tampa Bay Lightning 62 23 25 14 60 99.4
18 Calgary Flames 64 24 26 14 62 97.1
19 Carolina Hurricanes 60 19 25 16 54 95.1
20 Buffalo Sabres 63 19 26 18 56 94.4
21 Florida Panthers 62 18 23 21 57 93.9
22 Los Angeles Kings 63 19 27 17 55 92.4
23 New Jersey Devils 62 17 25 20 54 91.9
24 Winnipeg Jets 64 23 30 11 57 90.9
25 Detroit Red Wings 60 14 26 20 48 90.3
26 Dallas Stars 63 22 28 13 57 89.3
27 Philadelphia Flyers 62 18 26 18 54 88.4
28 Vancouver Canucks 62 16 29 17 49 80.9
29 Arizona Coyotes 62 13 33 16 42 77.8
30 Colorado Avalanche 61 11 41 9 31 68.8

Still solidly in playoff position, if strength of schedule was a thing. Unfortunately for us, it's loser points, alas. The Isles would be in 8th, one point up (with a game in hand) on the 9th place Maple Leafs, if games just ended in ties.

What's Your Preferred Overtime Incentive?

Short article this week. Next week, time permitted, I'm going to propose a new overtime format, with the intention of reducing the number of shootouts. I've already discussed parts of my ideal format in prior comments, but I want to hear from you guys.

Here are the parameters:

1) The NHL is still assumed to be a spoiled brat who gets to have its way, for the most part. In other words, there must still be a winner, and loser points are still allowed.

2) Also keeping with the NHL's wishes... A maximum of two points for a win, zero for a regulation loss, and at least one point if the team gets past regulation.

3) The number of games going to a shootout must be seriously reduced, but not eliminated (in other words, you can't make players continue to play hockey until someone scores, leading to multi-overtime regular season games).

Let's hear your suggestions below.

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