Patrick Williams again will deliver the FloHockey AHL Power Rankings throughout the regular season.

The Grand Rapids Griffins just will not slow down. On the rise, though, are the Laval Rocket, Colorado Eagles, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. For other teams, though, it has been a case of one-step-forward-one-step-backward. Or more than one step in some cases. 

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Let’s break down the top half of the AHL.

1) Grand Rapids Griffins (--)
Three games, six more points for the Griffins. This team is off to the third-best 20-game start in the AHL’s 90 seasons. This team can blow out opponents (10-1 at Texas on Nov. 25), but the Griffins are locked down defensively and have pulled out eight one-goal victories already. They can hit the 20-win mark Wednesday when the Milwaukee Admirals come to Van Andel Arena.

2) Laval Rocket (+1)
Wednesday will finally bring Laval’s first match-up of the season with the North Division rival Toronto Marlies. After playing at home just once since Nov. 22 – an impressive 4-1 decision last week against Providence – the Rocket are going to be mostly able to settle in at Place Bell this month. Defensive play is the foundation of head coach Pascal Vincent’s group, but the Rocket have churned out 32 goals in their past seven games, too.

3) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (+1)
Tick off two more wins for the Penguins, who have been in a heavy Hershey-Lehigh Valley rotation lately. They handled the Phantoms at home and then avenged a 6-2 road loss to the Bears on Nov. 29 by taking a rematch at Giant Center last Saturday. That schedule will change up Wednesday with a quick trip to Hartford. Then it’s a run of tough tests at home with the P-Bruins and the Charlotte Checkers.  

But if the Joel Blomqvist-Sergei Murashov goaltending tandem can stay intact for a bit, the Penguins should continue to be a force in the Eastern Conference.

4) Colorado Eagles (+1)
The Eagles went to Rockford last weekend and swept the IceHogs. Isak Posch took both decisions, stopping 46 of a combined 50 shots on the trip. They have a pair of two-game home sets with the Ontario Reign and Henderson Silver Knights ahead before they move into their holiday break. Colorado chokes opposing offenses and has limited them to a league-best 24.4 shots per game so far. For a team possessing some considerable offensive talent, the Eagles are only 14th in league scoring. But with new head coach Mark Letestu taking over, they are getting a repeatable defensive structure nailed down. The offense can arrive later. Leading the way is T.J. Tynan with a most unusual 0-21-21 line for a forward.

5) Providence Bruins (-3)
With Jonathan Aspirot, Michael Callahan, and Victor Söderström up with the Boston Bruins, the P-Bruins took a big step last weekend by getting Christian Wolanin signed to a full AHL contract following a professional tryout. Coming off a Calder Cup title with the Abbotsford Canucks last season, Wolanin is already at 1-7-8 through just seven games in Providence black-and-gold. Along with Wolanin, a roster that has been hit heavily by recalls to Boston does have Georgii Merkulov and Riley Tufte back. The P-Bruins stumbled in a split against Springfield last weekend and have a three-in-four swing through Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this week.

6) Manitoba Moose (+4)
The Moose avoided being swept in a two-game trip to see the last-place Wild. They needed a third-period comeback but came through with a 4-3 victory. With Connor Hellebuyck still sidelined for the Winnipeg Jets, Domenic DiVincentiis has been recalled while Thomas Milic has been returned to the Moose. They will get the Wild two more times this weekend back at Canada Life Centre and will stay off the road until Jan. 8.

7) Ontario Reign (+6)
A pair of wins in Calgary also allowed the Reign to get their first look at newly acquired forward Nikita Alexandrov, the return in the deal that sent Akil Thomas to the St. Louis Blues organization last week. With Erik Portillo still out, Pheonix Copley is getting a heavy workload just as he did in the second half of last season when Portillo was injured. Still, the Reign keep winning and have taken five of their past six contests. With a tough test in Colorado ahead, they Reign have been stocking up on points.

8) San Jose Barracuda (--)
It was the Michael Misa weekend at Tech CU Arena as the second overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft came to the Barracuda on a conditioning loan from the San Jose Sharks. After picking up an assist last Friday in an overtime win facing the Tucson Roadrunners, he got held without a point the following night in a 6-2 defeat. He remains on the Barracuda roster as they prepare for Wednesday night against the San Diego Gulls on home ice. Then it’s a two-game trip this weekend to see the Texas Stars.

9) Milwaukee Admirals (-3)
It was a rough weekend for the Admirals in allowing 11 goals in a pair of losses at Chicago. With that game in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, the schedule is not easing up at all on the Admirals. But they will get another crack at the Wolves, this time at home on Saturday. 

10) Charlotte Checkers (-3)
What could have been a lost weekend at home against the Rochester Americans was salvaged when the Checkers dug in down 3-1 last Saturday and eventually took a 4-3 overtime win. The power play came through with two third-period goals. Louis Domingue made his Checkers debut last Friday as did Robby Fabbri as Charlotte continues to add and retool with veteran help where needed. The Anton Lundmark summer signing did not pay off for either side. The 2022 fourth-round pick by the Florida Panthers is back in the SHL after just nine games and no points with the Checkers.

11) Coachella Valley Firebirds (+5)
Lately the Firebirds have had a favorable schedule. Three games against Abbotsford. Two more versus the San Diego Gulls. A pair with the disappointing Texas Stars. But they’re playing the schedule in front of them and have taken six of those seven games.

12) Lehigh Valley Phantoms (-3)
Changes continue on the blue line for the Phantoms, who had first-round pick Oliver Bonk make his pro debut last Saturday. Roman Schmidt came over from the Tampa Bay Lightning organization in a deal on Monday for defensive counterpart Ethan Samson.

13) Hershey Bears (-1)
A loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. A win against the Phantoms. The Bears are making their way through a franchise-record nine-game homestand that has gone just 2-3-0-0 so far with match-ups against Providence (twice) and Charlotte ahead this week.

14) Chicago Wolves (+1)
Bradly Nadeau has recorded at least two points in three of his past five games. He came through with 3-2-5 in the two wins against Milwaukee.

15) Syracuse Crunch (-4)
After taking just one of four points in a trip to Cleveland, the Crunch have another installment in their season series with the Utica Comets on Wednesday. Five of Syracuse’s 13 wins have come against Utica this season. They also get the Hartford Wolf Pack at home on Saturday, so this is a week they need to pick up points.

16) Rochester Americans (-2)
Losing third-period leads on the road like the Amerks did in Charlotte hurts. Devon Levi held the Amerks in a game in which he faced 44 shots.

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