Super 16: Bruins still No. 1; Oilers continue to climb

The arrival of the NHL All-Star break comes at a good time for some teams ranked in this week's edition of the Super 16, a bad time for others, and for a few, there's probably no feeling one way or another because confidence is high regardless of how they've been playing.

This week, we analyze what each ranked team needs to do coming out of the break following NHL All-Star Weekend, which begins Thursday in Toronto and runs through the Honda (U.S.)/Rogers (Canada) NHL All-Star Game at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

Do they have to stay the course as they have all season (Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars)? Do they need to figure out what's been going wrong of late (New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers)? Or do they need to come back and quickly grab a hold of what's gone so right in the past week or longer (Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, St. Louis Blues)?

The break is here. It's a time to celebrate the game in Toronto while many around the League take a vacation to get away from it all before they have to answer those questions.

Oh, and by the way, take a look at how close the rankings are this week. One voting point separates the Bruins at No. 1 and the Canucks at No. 2.

As a reminder, to come up with the Super 16 each week, the voters put together their version of what they think the rankings should look like, and a point total is assigned to each, with the team selected first given 16 points, second 15, third 14 and so on.

Here is the “What they need to do coming out of the All-Star break" edition of the Super 16.

1. Boston Bruins (31-9-9)

Total points: 196
Last week: No. 1

"Don't lose momentum. Starting at the end of a West Coast trip that saw the Bruins lose three consecutive games in overtime or the shootout, the Bruins have been on a roll. It began in the final game of that trip, a 4-3 overtime win against the Blues, which pushed Boston to win seven of its next eight games, outscoring opponents 36-17. And that wasn't against middling competition; the Bruins defeated the Colorado Avalanche, New Jersey Devils, Winnipeg Jets and Philadelphia Flyers in that stretch. So, after a week away from hockey, the best thing the Bruins can do is pick up where they left off -- and maybe for general manager Don Sweeney to start working the phones to pick up a missing piece or two." -- Amalie Benjamin, staff writer

2. Vancouver Canucks (33-11-5)

Total points: 195
Last week: No. 2

"The Canucks are heading into the All-Star break with an 11-game point streak (9-0-2) after closing out the first half by rallying for a 5-4 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Quinn Hughes leads the NHL in scoring (62 points; 12 goals, 50 assists) among defensemen, and the entire League in plus/minus (plus-34). Forwards J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson are among the top scorers in the League, and Thatcher Demko is certainly in the conversation for the Vezina Trophy as one of the top goalies. If their penalty kill improves over the next two months (80.0 percent), which it should with the addition of Elias Lindholm, look out." -- Brian Compton, managing editor

3. Colorado Avalanche (32-14-3)

Total points: 179
Last week: No. 4

"The Avalanche are playing to a high standard, and it's been necessary to keep pace with the top teams in the League. But they have to find a way to rest their big guys; forwards Mikko Rantanen (23:07) and Nathan MacKinnon (22:59) are first and second in the League in average time on ice among forwards. Defenseman Cale Makar is playing close to 25 minutes per game, and goalie Alexandar Georgiev has made an NHL-high 40 starts. An emphasis should be placed on finding a way to get some easy nights for these top players in the run-up to the Stanley Cup Playoffs." -- Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial

4. Edmonton Oilers (29-15-1)

Total points: 164
Last week: No. 5

"The Oilers are the hottest team in the NHL entering All-Star Weekend, but can they be considered the best since they have not faced the Canucks, Bruins, Avalanche, Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets or Vegas Golden Knights during their 16-game winning streak? Edmonton has an opportunity to tie the NHL record of 17 straight wins when it travels to face Vegas on Tuesday. A win would go a long way to answering the question raised above. Winning streaks aside, however, the Oilers have a bigger goal in mind. To win the Stanley Cup, they will need to add prior to the Trade Deadline (March 8), likely a top-six forward and depth defenseman. Depth wins championships, and a team can never have enough of it during a playoff run." -- Derek Van Diest, staff writer

5. Florida Panthers (31-14-4)

Total points: 155
Last week: No. 7

"The Panthers are firing on all cylinders. They've won four straight and are second in the Atlantic Division, five points behind the Bruins. They continue to get the offense when needed, particularly from Sam Reinhart, who is on a 13-game point streak (18 points; 14 goals, four assists). Matthew Tkachuk has nine points (five goals, four assists) on a five-game point streak. Maintaining consistency on defense is the key to sustaining this success; Florida yields the second-fewest shots per game (27.3) and third-fewest goals-per game (2.57) backstopped by goalies Sergei Bobrovsky (2.51 goals-against average, .910 save percentage) and Anthony Stolarz (2.11 GAA, .916 save percentage)." -- Mike G. Morreale, senior draft writer

6. Winnipeg Jets (30-12-5)

Total points: 151
Last week: No. 3

"The Jets were on a roll before losing three straight games, including allowing four goals in two of them after going 34 straight without allowing more than three. The break comes at the right time for them, and the only thing they need coming out of it is good health. They were missing forward Kyle Connor for five weeks before he recently returned, but they've been without center Mark Scheifele for six games because of a lower-body injury. He's their leading scorer (41 points), and they need him." -- David Satriano, staff writer

7. Dallas Stars (30-13-6)

Total points: 138
Last week: No. 6

"For the Stars, just keep on keeping on. They won their final three games going into the All-Star break. They need to continue to get balanced scoring; four players have 40 or more points, and Tyler Seguin is fifth with 39 (17 goals, 22 assists) in 49 games. They've been winning in overtime, which was a big problem last season and in the playoffs, when they lost four of five in that scenario. Last season, Dallas had 14 overtime/shootout losses; this season, it has six. The Stars aren't leaving many points on the table, and that's something that will have to continue in a tightly contested Central Division race." -- Tracey Myers, staff writer

8. Carolina Hurricanes (28-15-5)

Total points: 102
Last week: No. 10

"The Hurricanes enter the break playing the best of any team in the Metropolitan Division, going 14-3-4 since Dec. 12 to climb within two points of the New York Rangers for first. During this stretch, they're fourth in the NHL in allowing 2.43 goals per game, seventh in scoring 3.57 goals per game, first on the power play at 37.7 percent and first on the penalty kill at 90.9 percent. To continue that, Carolina has to maintain the consistency, the health of its goaltending with Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov (and potentially the return Frederik Andersen from a blood clotting issue) and its strong defensive play. The return of forward Andrei Svechnikov from an upper-body injury should help keep the offense humming." -- Tom Gulitti, staff writer

9. Vegas Golden Knights (29-15-6)

Total points: 100
Last week: No. 9

"The defending Stanley Cup champions were brilliant in the first month of the season but have been mediocre since. The Golden Knights peaked Nov. 4, when they defeated the Avalanche 7-0 and improved their League-best record to 11-0-1. Vegas has gone 18-15-5 since. As much as the Golden Knights are missing forwards Jack Eichel, William Karlsson and the power-play wizard defenseman Shea Theodore, their problems started before all the injuries. Mainly, it's a lack of consistency; you can't predict which version of the team you might see on any given day -- the one that recently defeated the New York Rangers twice in an eight-day span by a combined 10-3 score, or the one that lost 3-0 to the Seattle Kraken at the NHL Winter Classic. Coming out of the All-Star break, the Golden Knights must aim at narrowing that gap." -- Paul Strizhevsky, staff writer

10. New York Rangers (30-16-3)

Total points: 89
Last week: No. 8

"There are several areas of their game the Rangers have to improve coming out of the break based on what transpired in January when they were 5-7-2 in 14 games. We can talk defensively, particularly their play directly in front of goalies Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick; New York allowed 3.29 goals per game in January. We can talk Shesterkin in general; the All-Star goalie had an .863 save percentage in 10 games in January. We can talk about their power play, which was 17.1 percent in January. But it all starts with the Rangers’ starts, which have not been good. In their first 35 games, when they went 25-9-1, they scored first 21 times, going 17-3-1 in those games. They led after the first period 14 times, going 11-2-1. They were plus-5 in goal differential in the first period (33-28). It's gone south since. They have scored first seven times (3-3-1) and trailed after the first period eight times (2-5-1) in their past 14 games, getting outscored 17-10 in the first period. Their starts have to be better, and the rest might fall in line." -- Dan Rosen, senior writer

11. Tampa Bay Lightning (27-18-5)

Total points: 85
Last week: No. 11

"The Lightning need to stay hot coming out of the break to prove their nine-game stretch heading into it wasn't a fluke. They were barely a .500 team in the first half of the season, going 19-17-5, capping it with a 7-3 loss to the Bruins on Jan. 6. Tampa Bay is 8-1-0 since and is averaging 4.56 goals per game -- a pace that will regress -- but that regression won't matter if it can maintain its defensive play; the Lightning have allowed 2.33 goals per game in the past nine. They scored 3.24 goals per game and allowed 3.49 in the first half. Part of the bump is due to a 12.0 percent boost in special teams, with their power play improving 5.6 percent (34.6 percent in the past nine games vs. 29.0 percent in the first 41) and the penalty kill going up 6.4 percent (86.7 percent/80.3 percent). Tampa Bay didn’t play against a team ranked in the top 10 of the Super 16 during this nine-game stretch, but it faces four top-10 teams in a span of 11 days coming out of the break -- the Rangers, Bruins, Avalanche and Panthers. We'll know a lot more about the Lightning after those games." -- Rosen

12. Toronto Maple Leafs (25-14-8)

Total points: 64
Last week: No. 13

"The Maple Leafs really need to figure out their goaltending situation. Ilya Samsonov won three straight games before the All-Star break, allowing a total of three goals in those games. But this is a goalie who was put on waivers Dec. 31 after allowing 21 goals in his previous four starts. Does Toronto stick with him and Martin Jones as its tandem for the stretch run postseason, hoping his play since being recalled continues, or does it see if it can bring in a proven, veteran goalie?" -- Bill Price, Editor-in-Chief

13. Detroit Red Wings (26-18-6)

Total points: 52
Last week: No. 15

"They need to keep the pedal down in the Motor City. The Red Wings have been on a roll lately and put themselves in a playoff spot, but they were on a roll and in a playoff spot in February last season before stumbling, selling at the Trade Deadline and fading down the stretch. This is a better, deeper team, but they can't take anything for granted as they try to end their seven-season playoff drought. Captain Dylan Larkin said although the All-Star break will be good for rest, he'd love to just keep it going. The Red Wings will have to rev it up again when the break is over and keep the pedal down." -- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist

14. St. Louis Blues (26-21-2)

Total points: 39
Last week: Unranked

"The Blues had their five-game winning streak end in a 1-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. They're off until Feb. 10, when they start a stretch of three road games in four days against the Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Maple Leafs. They played their way back into the race, but staying in it instead of reverting back to the .500 team they were before the five-game winning streak will be the challenge. One way to do that is to marry the defense they've been playing with an aggressive 5-on-5 offensive attack. St. Louis was held to 21 shots on goal against Columbus and is averaging 24.6 shots on goal per game in the past six. Keeping the puck out of the net is obviously critical, but the Blues have to turn their strong defense into better offense at even strength so they’re not so reliant on a streaky power play. Do that, and they may just be able to stay in the race, but I still think it's a long shot." -- Rosen

15. Los Angeles Kings (23-15-10)

Total points: 18
Last week: No. 14

"The break couldn't come at a better time for the Kings, who have been in an identity crisis for the better part of two months. They were 16-4-4 after losing 3-2 in overtime at the New York Islanders on Dec. 9, ending their NHL-record 11-game road winning streak to start the season. Los Angeles is 7-11-6 since, including 4-6-3 on the road, after its 4-2 win at the Nashville Predators on Wednesday. The Kings are under .500 at home (8-9-6). Who are they? They're supposed to be a team that defends well, protects the front of the net, insulates its goalies, and generates its offense in transition off its defense. Instead, Los Angeles has done none of that of late, and, worse yet, there appears to be some in-fighting and a lot of questions about coach Todd McLellan's job security. The noise will quiet down during the break. That's good for the Kings. They need a reboot when they come back, because that team that was 16-4-4 is still in the room, hiding somewhere." -- Rosen

16. Philadelphia Flyers (25-19-6)

Total points: 15
Last week: No. 12

"The Flyers are built to win with strong defense and timely scoring, but lately they've been getting neither. In the past 20 games, they're averaging 2.80 goals per game and allowing 3.35; their record is 8-9-3. It's a far cry from 17-10-3 start to the season, when they averaged 2.90 goals per game and allowed 2.63. Offensively, getting a healthy Owen Tippett back will help; the forward had six goals in six games prior to sustaining a lower-body injury against the Avalanche on Jan. 20. He's targeting Feb. 6, Philadelphia’s first game after the break for a return. It needs more from forward Travis Konecny, who leads them with 22 goals but has one in his past 11 games. Tightening up defensively is a must, especially in battles near the front of the net, where the Flyers suddenly look vulnerable." -- Adam Kimelman, deputy managing editor

Others receiving points: Nashville Predators 10, Pittsburgh Penguins 7, New Jersey Devils 4, New York Islanders 4, Seattle Kraken 1

Dropped out: Devils (No. 16)

New Amsterdam Game of the Week

Each week, NHL.com will highlight one game that features two teams in the Super 16. Next week, it's the No. 4 Oilers against the No. 9 Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SN1, SN, TVAS).

The Oilers can tie the NHL record for longest winning streak in a season when they play the Golden Knights. Edmonton has won 16 straight games. The Penguins won 17 in a row during the 1992-93 season (March 9-April 10). Vegas entered the break after going 2-1-1 on a four-game road trip. The Golden Knights are still ahead of the Oilers in the Pacific Division, but the gap has narrowed to five points and Edmonton has five games in hand.

HERE'S HOW WE RANKED ’EM

AMALIE BENJAMIN

1. Boston Bruins; 2. Vancouver Canucks; 3. Colorado Avalanche; 4. Edmonton Oilers; 5. Florida Panthers; 6. Winnipeg Jets; 7. Dallas Stars; 8. Vegas Golden Knights; 9. Carolina Hurricanes; 10. New York Rangers; 11. Tampa Bay Lightning; 12. Toronto Maple Leafs; 13. Detroit Red Wings; 14. Los Angeles Kings; 15. Philadelphia Flyers; 16. St. Louis Blues

BRIAN COMPTON

1. Vancouver Canucks; 2. Boston Bruins; 3. Colorado Avalanche; 4. Edmonton Oilers; 5. Florida Panthers; 6. Winnipeg Jets; 7. Dallas Stars; 8. Carolina Hurricanes; 9. New York Rangers; 10. Vegas Golden Knights; 11. Toronto Maple Leafs; 12. Tampa Bay Lightning; 13. Detroit Red Wings; 14. St. Louis Blues; 15. Los Angeles Kings; 16. Pittsburgh Penguins

NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA

1. Vancouver Canucks; 2. Boston Bruins; 3. Winnipeg Jets; 4. Colorado Avalanche; 5. Florida Panthers; 6. Dallas Stars; 7. Edmonton Oilers; 8. New York Rangers; 9. Vegas Golden Knights; 10. Carolina Hurricanes; 11. Toronto Maple Leafs; 12. Tampa Bay Lightning; 13. Detroit Red Wings; 14. Los Angeles Kings; 15. St. Louis Blues; 16. Philadelphia Flyers

TOM GULITTI

1. Boston Bruins; 2. Vancouver Canucks; 3. Winnipeg Jets; 4. Colorado Avalanche; 5. Edmonton Oilers; 6. Florida Panthers; 7. Dallas Stars; 8. Carolina Hurricanes; 9. Vegas Golden Knights; 10. New York Rangers; 11. Toronto Maple Leafs; 12. Tampa Bay Lightning; 13. Detroit Red Wings; 14. St. Louis Blues; 15. Los Angeles Kings; 16. Philadelphia Flyers

ADAM KIMELMAN

1. Boston Bruins; 2. Colorado Avalanche; 3. Vancouver Canucks; 4. Dallas Stars; 5. Florida Panthers; 6. Tampa Bay Lightning; 7. Edmonton Oilers; 8. Winnipeg Jets; 9. Vegas Golden Knights; 10. New York Rangers; 11. Carolina Hurricanes; 12. Toronto Maple Leafs; 13. Philadelphia Flyers; 14. Detroit Red Wings; 15. St. Louis Blues; 16. Los Angeles Kings

MIKE G. MORREALE

1. Colorado Avalanche; 2. Vancouver Canucks; 3. Boston Bruins; 4. Florida Panthers; 5. Winnipeg Jets; 6. Dallas Stars; 7. Carolina Hurricanes; 8. New York Rangers; 9. Edmonton Oilers; 10. Vegas Golden Knights; 11. Tampa Bay Lightning; 12. Detroit Red Wings; 13. Toronto Maple Leafs; 14. St. Louis Blues; 15. Los Angeles Kings; 16. Philadelphia Flyers

TRACEY MYERS

1. Vancouver Canucks; 2. Boston Bruins; 3. Colorado Avalanche; 4. Florida Panthers; 5. Dallas Stars; 6. Winnipeg Jets; 7. Vegas Golden Knights; 8. Edmonton Oilers; 9. New York Rangers; 10. Carolina Hurricanes; 11. Tampa Bay Lightning; 12. Toronto Maple Leafs; 13. Detroit Red Wings; 14. St. Louis Blues; 15. New York Islanders; 16. Nashville Predators

BILL PRICE

1. Edmonton Oilers; 2. Vancouver Canucks; 3. Boston Bruins; 4. Colorado Avalanche; 5. Winnipeg Jets; 6. Florida Panthers; 7. Dallas Stars; 8. Vegas Golden Knights; 9. New York Rangers; 10. Carolina Hurricanes; 11. Toronto Maple Leafs; 12. Tampa Bay Lightning; 13. Philadelphia Flyers; 14. St. Louis Blues; 15. Detroit Red Wings; 16. Pittsburgh Penguins

SHAWN P. ROARKE

1. Edmonton Oilers; 2. Vancouver Canucks; 3. Boston Bruins; 4. Colorado Avalanche; 5. Winnipeg Jets; 6. Florida Panthers; 7. Dallas Stars; 8. Carolina Hurricanes; 9. Tampa Bay Lightning; 10. Nashville Predators; 11. Toronto Maple Leafs; 12. St. Louis Blues; 13. Detroit Red Wings; 14. New Jersey Devils; 15. Los Angeles Kings; 16. New York Islanders

DAN ROSEN

1. Edmonton Oilers; 2. Boston Bruins; 3. Colorado Avalanche; 4. Vancouver Canucks; 5. Florida Panthers; 6. Dallas Stars; 7. Winnipeg Jets; 8. Tampa Bay Lightning; 9. Carolina Hurricanes; 10. Vegas Golden Knights; 11. Detroit Red Wings; 12. New York Rangers; 13. Toronto Maple Leafs; 14. St. Louis Blues; 15. Pittsburgh Penguins; 16. New York Islanders

DAVID SATRIANO

1. Vancouver Canucks; 2. Boston Bruins; 3. Florida Panthers; 4. Colorado Avalanche; 5. Edmonton Oilers; 6. Winnipeg Jets; 7. Dallas Stars; 8. Vegas Golden Knights; 9. Carolina Hurricanes; 10. Tampa Bay Lightning; 11. Toronto Maple Leafs; 12. New York Rangers; 13. Detroit Red Wings; 14. St. Louis Blues; 15. Nashville Predators; 16. Pittsburgh Penguins

PAUL STRIZHEVSKY

1. Edmonton Oilers; 2. Boston Bruins; 3. Vancouver Canucks; 4. Colorado Avalanche; 5. Winnipeg Jets; 6. Florida Panthers; 7. Dallas Stars; 8. Vegas Golden Knights; 9. New York Rangers; 10. Carolina Hurricanes; 11. Tampa Bay Lightning; 12. St. Louis Blues; 13. Detroit Red Wings; 14. Los Angeles Kings; 15. Pittsburgh Penguins; 16. Seattle Kraken

DEREK VAN DIEST

1. Boston Bruins; 2. Vancouver Canucks; 3. Colorado Avalanche; 4. Edmonton Oilers; 5. Winnipeg Jets; 6. Florida Panthers; 7. Dallas Stars; 8. Vegas Golden Knights; 9. New York Rangers; 10. Carolina Hurricanes; 11. Tampa Bay Lightning; 12. Toronto Maple Leafs; 13. Detroit Red Wings; 14. St. Louis Blues; 15. Philadelphia Flyers; 16. New Jersey Devils