January 11, 2011
Player Power Rankings
The Canucks Are On Fire

by Tom Awad

During the season, these rankings -- which appear on Mondays in concert with the NHL Power Rankings -- are based on player production in terms of Hockey Prospectus' GVT valuation metric. If you are unfamiliar with GVT and how it works, you can find more here.

This week, we changed the format. Previously, it had been the top 10 players overall. Now, it's the top 10 skaters and the top five goalies. We think this will constitute an improvement in processing the info for fans, especially since goalies and skaters do very different things in an NHL game.

Check out the full rankings below. We'll be back every Monday with new editions.

Player Power Rankings: Skaters

These rankings are based on games through Jan. 9.

Legend:

OGVT: Offensive GVT

GGVT: Goaltending GVT

DGVT: Defensive GVT

SGVT: Shootout GVT

GVT: Total GVT

Rank Player                                    OGVT/GGVT  DGVT  SGVT   GVT

 
1.   Sidney Crosby, F, Pittsburgh Penguins     15.7       1.8   -0.2   17.3

Comment: The last player to win the scoring title while missing significant time was Jaromir Jagr, who led the NHL with 96 points in 63 games in 1999-2000. Hopefully Sid will be back sooner than that.

2.   Steven Stamkos, F, Tampa Bay Lightning    13.8       2.5   -0.8   15.4

Comment: Young players often struggle in the faceoff circle, and Stamkos is no exception. He has won only 46 percent of his even-strength draws this season.

3.   Daniel Sedin, F, Vancouver Canucks        13.4       1.3    0.3   15.0

Comment: Sedin's career marks are 36 goals and 85 points, totals he is likely to obliterate this season. He's on pace for 50 goals and 108 points.

4.   Kris Letang, D, Pittsburgh Penguins        7.6       4.4    1.1   13.1

Comment: Letang's challenge is now to help the Penguins' offense keep humming in Sidney Crosby's absence. So far it's been ugly, with only one goal in two games.

5.   Anze Kopitar, F, Los Angeles King          8.2       3.2    0.6   12.1   

Comment: Kopitar's name rarely comes up when discussing the NHL's top centers, but it should. His huge array of skills allows him to play in all manpower situations; last season he was second among NHL forwards in total ice time (behind Martin St. Louis).

6.   Ryan Kesler, F, Vancouver Canucks          8.9       3.2   -0.2   11.9     

Comment: The secret cog of the Canucks' success is Kesler. It's Kesler, not Henrik Sedin, who takes all the key defensive draws, winning 58 percent of them, and he leads all Canucks in special-teams ice time, at over six minutes a game.

7.   Brad Richards, F, Dallas Stars             9.0       1.6    1.2   11.8     

Comment: Richards leads the league with 226 minutes of power-play time, and his 5:25 a game is only seconds off the lead.

8.   Henrik Sedin, F, Vancouver Canucks        10.1       1.6    0.0   11.7     

Comment: Henrik has played 92 percent of his even-strength time and 99 percent of his power-play time with his brother Daniel.

9.   Martin St. Louis, F, Tampa Bay Lightning  10.1       1.9   -0.5   11.5    

Comment: When St. Louis signed a four-year contract last summer, many criticized GM Steve Yzerman for handing out such a contract to a 35-year-old, but St. Louis has silenced the doubters.

10.  Nicklas Lidstrom, D, Detroit Red Wings     9.1       2.1    0.0   11.2    

Comment: A seventh Norris trophy would move Lidstrom into a second-place tie with Doug Harvey, only one behind the legendary Bobby Orr.

Player Power Rankings: Goalies

These rankings are based on games through Jan. 9.

Legend:

OGVT: Offensive GVT

GGVT: Goaltending GVT

DGVT: Defensive GVT

SGVT: Shootout GVT

GVT: Total GVT

Rank Player                                    OGVT/GGVT  DGVT  SGVT   GVT

1.   Tim Thomas, G, Boston Bruins              27.1      -0.6   -2.1   24.4   

Comment: Thomas can't be happy about letting a shutout slip through his fingers on Saturday; he allowed three goals in six minutes as the Bruins lost 3-2 to Montreal.

2.   Jonas Hiller, G, Anaheim Ducks            18.7      -1.1    2.0   19.6     

Comment: No goaltender has faced more shots (1,208) or made more saves (1,109) than Hiller this season. The Ducks can't worry about keeping him fresh for the playoffs; they need him every game just to make the playoffs.

3.   Ondrej Pavelec, G, Atlanta Thrashers      18.4      -0.9   -0.7   16.9     

Comment: The Pavelec wall has finally been breached, allowing six goals against Pittsburgh and five against Toronto before being pulled. It doesn't help that he has faced more than 40 shots per game in his past five starts.

 
4.   Carey Price, G, Montreal Canadiens        13.1       0.3    1.3   14.8

Comment: Price had an awful 10-game stretch from Dec. 10 to the new year: a 3.54 GAA, pedestrian 0.869 save percentage and 2-7-1 record.

5.   Henrik Lundqvist, G, New York Rangers     12.5       0.0    2.1   14.6    

Comment: Lundqvist's shootout GVT is no fluke: Since the lockout, Lundqvist has been the guy you want in net when the skills competition begins. He has turned away 146 of 194 shots for a 0.752 save percentage while the league has averaged 0.670.

A version of this story originally appeared on ESPN Insider .

Tom Awad is an author of Hockey Prospectus. You can contact Tom by clicking here or click here to see Tom's other articles.