Avalanche Power Rankings Roundup: Week One

What's the word concerning the Colorado Avalanche around the web? Our weekly collection (with a scoop of The Denver Post's Adrian Dater Where the heck are your rankings, Dater?) will fill you in and then some.

This week: A refreshing amount of attention to detail by all fronts, apart from ESPN which parrots what we already know. TSN in particular has an interesting stat that a certain, ahem, highest-paid player should probably take into consideration.

I'm sure these analysts wouldn't have been as kind had these rankings come out before the atrocity that was last night's Edmonton game.

Outlet	Rank	Last Week	What They're Saying
	21	23	Would you believe the Avs have the best goal differential in the Northwest Division -- at even? Steve Downie's loss stings, as does Paul Stastny's lack of production thus far. We'll say it until it's done: Pay Ryan O'Reilly already.
	22	15	Sign Ryan O'Reilly. Now. It's insane to have made this a fight. He was your leading scorer last season. There has to be middle ground to end this squabble.
	23	23	The Avs need to fix their special teams quick. They allowed three goals on six opportunities against San Jose over the weekend, and their power play had one goal through their first 12 chances.
	22	25	Semyon Varlamov has been Colorado's best player so far, though he had a hiccup against the unconscious Sharks. At the other end of the spectrum is Paul Stastny, with one assist and a minus-3 in four games. That's what $6.6 million gets you.
	16	13	As a Ranger last year, John Mitchell played about 10 minutes per night, but his ice time dipped into single digits as the season progressed. As an Av, he's playing 14 minutes per night, seeing time on the power play and penalty kill, and has two goals in four games after getting five in 63 last year. He's also won 62.5 percent of draws (5-0 on shorthanded draws).
	-	-	-
	14	25	With captain Gabriel Landeskog out, the only Avalanche player with more than 10 shots on goal this season is D Ryan Wilson, with 14. Colorado's -7.5 shot differential per game ranks 29th, ahead of only Dallas.

Click on logos for links to full power rankings.