5. Rochester Knighthawks (7-7)
Power Rating: 0.0774
Current Win Total Projection: 9.32
Latest Projected Final Point Differential: +14.5
Last Week’s Ranking: 6th
6. Georgia Swarm (7-5)
Power Rating: 0.0505
Current Win Total Projection: 10.2
Latest Projected Final Point Differential: +9.5
Last Week’s Ranking: 5th
7. Vancouver Warriors (5-7)
Power Rating: 0.0391
Current Win Total Projection: 8.16
Latest Projected Final Point Differential: +7.3
Last Week’s Ranking: 9th
8. Colorado Mammoth (7-5)
Power Rating: 0.0360
Current Win Total Projection: 10.16
Latest Projected Final Point Differential: +6.7
Last Week’s Ranking: 4th
9. Halifax Thunderbirds (7-5)
Power Rating: 0.0076
Current Win Total Projection: 9.86
Latest Projected Final Point Differential: +1.4
Last Week’s Ranking: 7th
Two teams that I’d be betting in championship futures on given their odds are Rochester (+5000 on BetRivers) and Vancouver (+3000 on BetMGM, DraftKings and ESPN). The Knighthawks have been hot recently and their remaining schedule sets them up well to secure not only a playoff spot but the No. 6 seed or higher. Their offense looks as elite as it was last season and Rylan Hartley has played well in his return as their starting goalie.
Vancouver has a tougher schedule, but the acquisition of Christian Del Bianco should allow them to finish the season strong and make the playoffs. I would have liked to see Vancouver add an offensive piece or two so they’re still not too much higher in my rankings, but they have the defense to beat anybody and could have major upset potential in the first round.
Georgia and Colorado are potentially better than I’m giving them credit, but each have something that’s keeping them a bit lower in the rankings.
The Swarm’s inconsistency on offense is the main reason I can’t rank them any higher. This team could make a deep run or get blown out in the first round. It will likely come down to which version of Brett Dobson we get, but he’s been playing great as of late and is the main reason I’m starting to believe in them a bit more.
The Mammoth are similarly inconsistent and after losing Zed Williams to a season-ending injury and Eli McLaughlin to temporary work commitments, I have some concerns about their offense. Like Georgia though, the constant of Dillon Ward in net remains and we’ve seen an average Colorado team turn it on and go on a run in the past. They need to take care of business against Philly and Ottawa in their next two games because they end the season with games against Buffalo, Calgary and Saskatchewan twice. We’ll learn a lot about this team during that stretch.
Finally, I have Halifax at ninth. I was not at all surprised about their loss to Toronto last week. The Thunderbirds’ recent run always felt like smoke and mirrors considering the competition they played and their overreliance on transition offense. They’re a team I’ll be looking to fade the rest of the season and their schedule is tough enough to even keep them out of the playoffs all together.
