NHL Player Power Rankings: Benn there, done that
Now that we're nearing the halfway point of the season, it's a little easier to evaluate the impact of individual players on their teams and the league as a whole.
The Dallas Stars boast the league's best record, and two of the NHL's best players are major reasons for the club's early success. The Washington Capitals are the class of the Eastern Conference, and their goaltender deserves much of the credit.
Here are our top 10 players as we prepare to flip the calendar to 2016:
1. Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Power-play Points | Even-Strength Corsi For % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 23 | 26 | 14 | 55.3 |
The 2015 Art Ross Trophy winner hasn't missed a beat this season, leading the league in goals and ranking second in the points race. He's riding a five-game point streak, and has five goals and nine assists in his last 10 contests.
This isn't the first time he's topped our rankings, and it won't be the last.
2. Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
| GP | G | A | PPP | ESCF% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 21 | 29 | 17 | 52.7 |
The electric forward has cooled off a bit since his 26-game point streak and hasn't found the score sheet in a couple of games, but he's still among the NHL's most productive players.
It's probably just a coincidence that the Blackhawks have also lost their last two contests, but Kane still leads the league in points and power-play points.
He's the straw that stirs the drink in Chicago, and should get the Stanley Cup champions back on track soon.
3. Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
| GP | Record (W-L-OTL) | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | 22-4-1 | 1.92 | .932 | 1 |
The clear front-runner for the Vezina Trophy hasn't lost in regulation in 16 games. He's won six straight contests and the Capitals have won seven in a row.
Holtby has the league's best goals-against average among qualified starters, and his save percentage is better than any netminder with at least 17 games played.
His 22 wins are unrivaled among goalies in the NHL, and his 5-on-5 save percentage (.9392) trails only Ben Bishop, Henrik Lundqvist and Steve Mason among those with substantial workloads.
4. Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
| GP | G | A | PPP | ESCF% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 9 | 31 | 15 | 50.2 |
The reigning Norris Trophy winner is doing his best to be considered for another one in 2016.
Karlsson is on a six-game point streak and ranks fourth in the league in points among all skaters.
Only Ryan Suter has been on the ice more than the Senators defenseman, who's logging an average of 28:03, and Karlsson has gone over 30 minutes in three of his last five games due to injuries on the Ottawa blue line.
5. Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
| GP | G | A | PPP | ESCF% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 20 | 27 | 14 | 55 |
Seguin has found the back of the net in three of his last five contests and now sits fourth in the league with 20 goals.
He's getting a ton of shots on goal - 149 in total and 4.03 per game - which both rank fourth in the NHL.
A top line featuring Seguin and Benn is just unfair.
6. Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
| GP | G | A | PPP | ESCF% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 22 | 17 | 12 | 54.1 |
Tarasenko doesn't have the supporting cast that Benn and Seguin have, which makes what he's doing lately all the more impressive.
The Blues winger has six goals and six assists in his last 10 games, which included a five-game goal-scoring streak.
Teammate Alex Steen is the only forward in the NHL logging more shifts per game than Tarasenko.
7. Taylor Hall, Edmonton Oilers
Sure, the Oilers have lost five of their last six games, but Hall is doing his best to keep Edmonton afloat in the absence of Connor McDavid.
Hall is tied with Karlsson for fourth in the NHL with 40 points, and his 4.11 shots per game are good for third.
Alex Ovechkin and Brent Burns have better shot rates, but Hall is doing it in far less time on ice. He's averaging six minutes less than Burns and 24 seconds less than Ovechkin, meaning he's making the most of his shifts.
8. Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks
| GP | G | A | PPP | ESCF% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 54.6 |
Pavelski hasn't buckled under the pressure of being named captain of the Sharks, notching five goals and five assists in his last five games.
The 31-year-old forward has more game-winning goals (six) than anyone in the NHL, and his 18 goals have him sitting fifth in the league.
9. Jake Allen, St. Louis Blues
| GP | Record (W-L-OTL) | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | 17-8-2 | 2.05 | .927 | 5 |
He's come down to earth a bit after a terrific start, allowing four goals in four of his last 14 games, but Allen has still been one of the game's best goaltenders early on.
He has six wins in his last eight starts, and still leads the league with five shutouts. The 25-year-old owns the third-best GAA and second-best save percentage among qualified netminders, ranking fourth with 17 wins.
Allen has more than proven his worth, considering he was in a timeshare with Brian Elliott when the season began.
10. Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
| GP | G | A | PPP | ESCF% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 16 | 12 | 15 | 50.5 |
The Lightning captain has five goals and an assist in his last four games since busting out of his 10-game scoring drought earlier this month.
Stamkos is in a six-way logjam for third in the NHL with 15 power-play points, and he now looks to be back to his old self despite the team's inconsistency.
(Some statistics courtesy: War-On-Ice, HockeyAnalysis.com)