Daily Faceoff's Weekly NHL Risers and Fallers

We're starting to see the biggest buyers at this year's trade deadline skyrocket in the top 10. While there are no new members in the top 10, there was a lot of movement within the group.

The Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres have both moved up, and their new players are starting to make a difference. Now for the Fallers, it's the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken who had the longest drops down the rankings.

Let's take a look at the biggest risers and fallers in the weekly power rankings.

Jump ahead here:

• Week 23 risers
• Week 23 fallers
• Week 24 lookahead

Let's dive in!

Risers

Buffalo Sabres

25th -> 21st (+4)

Last Week's Record: 2-1. +4 points.

Tuesday: 7-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings (24th)

Thursday: 4-0 win over New York Islanders (16th)

Saturday: 4-1 loss over the Detroit Red Wings (24th)

Division Standings: Sixth in the Atlantic (-), 16 points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Wild Card Standings: Sixth in the Wild Card (-), five points behind the Detroit Red Wings.

Player of the Week: Zach Benson

Sabres’ goaltender, Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen, has impressively brought the Sabres back into the playoff race. He had a stellar performance again last week, with a shutout against the New York Islanders, but I cannot ignore what rookie Zach Benson did in minimal ice time.

Benson finished the week with three goals, two assists, and a +5 rating in 14:35 minutes on ice. This offensive production came without any powerplay time. Shots on goal bettors would have hit his prop in two of three games this week.

Sabres' Week 24 Schedule: Seattle Kraken (25th), Vancouver Canucks (6th), Edmonton Oilers (9th), Calgary Flames (18th)

Carolina Hurricanes

5th -> 2nd (+3)

Last Week's Record: 3-1. +6 points.

Tuesday: 1-0 loss to the New York Rangers (7th)

Thursday: 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers (1st)

Saturday: 5-4 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs (10th)

Sunday: 7-2 win over the Ottawa Senators (27th)

Division Standings: Second in the Metropolitan (-), four points behind the New York Rangers.

League Standings: Eighth in the league (-), five points behind the Boston Bruins.

Player of the Week: Dmitry Orlov

This decision was difficult, as Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, or Frederik Andersen could have taken it from Dmitry Orlov -- but for him to tie for the team lead in weekly points, considering he has just 24 in 68 games, let's give him his flowers.

Orlov had two goals and four assists with a +5 rating with an average of 18:01 ice time. This includes a two-goal, two-assist, five-shot game against the Ottawa Senators, in which he finished with a +4 rating. Shots on goal bettors would have cashed his prop in all four games this week.

Hurricanes' Week 24 Schedule: New York Islanders (16th), Philadelphia Flyers (15th), Washington Capitals (19th), Toronto Maple Leafs (10th)

Fallers

Seattle Kraken

20th -> 25th (-5)

Last Week's Record: 0-2-1. 1 point.

Tuesday: 5-4 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights (13th)

Thursday: 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals (19th)

Saturday: 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators (11th)

Division Standings: Sixth in the Pacific (-1), 11 points behind the Los Angeles Kings.

Wild Card Standings: Sixth in the wild card (-2), 11 points behind the Vegas Golden Knights.

Let Down of the Week: Justin Schultz

Justin Schultz was slotted into Seattle’s top powerplay unit after Vince Dunn's injury, but Schultz has not filled the void particularly well. He failed to register any points last week, was a collective -4 rating and had just one shot on goal all week in 17:16 minutes of average ice time. Oddly enough, once he got promoted off of the secondary powerplay unit, that group had goals in two of their three games this week.

Kraken's Week 24 Schedule: Buffalo Sabres (21st), Vegas Golden Knights (13th), Arizona Coyotes (26th), Montreal Canadiens (28th)

Vancouver Canucks

3rd -> 6th (-3)

Last Week's Record: 0-1-1. +1 point.

Wednesday: 4-3 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche (5th)

Saturday: 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals (19th)

Division Standings: First in the Pacific (-), Eight points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers.

League Standings: Fourth in the league (-2), three points behind the Boston Bruins.

Let Down of the Week: Elias Pettersson

With only two games played last week, the small sample size made it difficult to choose one person, but since I had to pick one, I landed on Elias Pettersson.

The soon-to-be highest-paid Vancouver Canuck, Elias Pettersson, struggled this week. He failed to find the scoresheet and finished with a -2 rating in 19:48 minutes of average time on ice.

Now, these numbers aren't terrible, but when you're a relied-on member of your forward core, you'd hope for more eye-popping numbers. Shots on goal bettors would have hit their bet in just one of two of Pettersson's games this week.

Canucks' Week 24 Schedule: Buffalo Sabres (20th), Montreal Canadiens (28th), Calgary Flames (18th)

Week 24 lookahead

The race for the final Wild Card spots

Some big games are coming up this week regarding the final Wild Card spot in both Conferences. Let's start in the East.

The Tampa Bay Lightning currently hold a four-point lead on the Detroit Red Wings in the second Wild Card spot. However, the Wings are much less comfortable, as they hold just a one-point lead over both the Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders.

The New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings will face off on Thursday night in a massive four-point game. The Islanders have been playing well ever since they brought in Patrick Roy, while the Red Wings have been struggling, losing eight of their last nine. Head-to-head, the Islanders have won three of their previous four meetings against the Red Wings.

While the gap is smaller in the West, the final position is very much still in play.

We must wait until Saturday night to see the first impactful Western Conference game, as division rivals, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues, go head-to-head in hopes of catching the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Blues are four points back of the final Wild Card spot, while the Wild are just one point behind them in the race. St. Louis has caught some heat lately, winning four straight games, while the Wild have won three of their last five games, but those two losses were in overtime.

These two teams have played three times already this season, with the Blues coming out victorious in two games.

Make sure you consider betting on both these games on Thursday and Saturday night, as these project to be a more physical, defensive playoff style of hockey that we get to see in March.