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

While the Grand Rapids Griffins continue to put together one of the best starts in AHL history, they have the Colorado Eagles, Laval Rocket, Providence Bruins, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins all pursuing them.  

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

1) Grand Rapids Griffins (--)
The Griffins are now moving into historical territory with a 22-1-0-0 record. Their .938 point percentage is the best through the first 24 games of a season in AHL history. They have match-ups against the Iowa Wild and Cleveland Monsters in a three-game week in which they could build further on that record. The loss of forward John Leonard and his league-leading 19 goals on recall to the Detroit Red Wings will be something to monitor. The parent team remains strong, though, which is always good news for an AHL affiliate.

2) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (+1)
A sloppy 6-2 home loss to the Charlotte Checkers finished off the Penguins’ weekend. That letdown came after they had poured 50 shots on the Providence Bruins to take a 2-1 overtime win the night before on home ice. A home-and-home series with the Utica Comets starts Friday as the Penguins face a 3-in-3 weekend. Defenseman Matt Dumba is on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton roster after clearing waivers, the latest NHL veteran to join the team from the Pittsburgh Penguins at different points this season. Last Friday’s Pittsburgh deal with the Edmonton Oilers cost Wilkes-Barre/Scranton leading scorer Sam Poulin.

3) Colorado Eagles (+1)
Beating up on the Ontario Reign last Saturday, 6-1, gave the Eagles a split of their two-game home series with the Ontario Reign. Alex Barré-Boulet and Jayson Megna each had 2-2-4 nights, a taste of what this Colorado offense (10th in the AHL) could be capable of long-term. A pair of weekend home games against the Henderson Silver Knights will whisk the Eagles into their holiday break and nine days between games.

4) Laval Rocket (-2)
Rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler remains up with the Montreal Canadiens, but Kaapo Kähkönen has the Rocket solid in net. A two-game trip to Cleveland is ahead for the Rocket this week before they move into their holiday break. The Rocket had a letdown loss to the Bridgeport Islanders last Saturday afternoon after a fiery battle with the Toronto Marlies a night earlier. That Laval-Toronto throwdown left the Rocket dealing with three-game suspensions for Alex Belzile, Laurent Dauphin, and Joshua Roy along with a one-gamer for Sammy Blais. It all added up to a 1-0-1-1 week.

5) Providence Bruins (--)
The P-Bruins came through a demanding stretch in which they played eight of nine games on the road and finished 6-2-1-0. All was well at least until last Saturday night when Michael DiPietro, one of the AHL’s top netminders, left that contest in the first period and did not return. No further information on DiPietro’s status has been released, but Providence turned to Luke Cavallin on Tuesday, recalling him from the ECHL’s Maine Mariners. Cavallin’s arrival should be interesting after he went 9-4-1 | 2.05 | .927 in 14 games for the Mariners. He was named the most valuable player of last spring’s Kelly Cup Playoffs when he took the Trois-Rivières Lions to a championship. Providence also has standout Simon Zajicek, so they should be able to weather DiPietro’s possible absence.

6) San Jose Barracuda (+1)
Michael Misa’s conditioning stint with the Barracuda lasted just two games. And on Monday they saw rookie Igor Chernyshov and Ethan Cardwell move up to the San Jose Sharks. Still, the Barracuda handled business and swept the Texas Stars in a two-game weekend trip. Next up is a swing through Southern California with a stop at Coachella Valley on Wednesday followed by two contests against the Ontario Reign.

7) Charlotte Checkers (-1)
Charlotte lost Robby Fabbri to the St. Louis Blues, so the always-active front office reworked plans and brought in Nathan Smith, a member of last season’s Calder Cup champion Abbotsford Canucks. Charlotte has had its fair share of ups and downs this season. But performances like last Sunday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton show that the Checkers have the potential to play with some of the league’s best.

8) Coachella Valley Firebirds (+3)
Some nights the Firebirds look great. Other nights, not so much. And on other nights they showcase both the good and the bad in their game. After being shut out by the Calgary Wranglers last week, they dropped five first-period goals on Calgary in the rematch. Then they saw goaltender Victor Östman pulled after allowing four goals in 27 minutes. After hosting San Jose, they have a home-and-home weekend with the Bakersfield Condors.

9) Ontario Reign (+1)
A run of seven wins in eight games came to a halt in last Saturday’s blowout by Colorado. With goaltender Erik Portillo still out, the Reign have struggled to find a complement for Pheonix Copley.

10) Manitoba Moose (-1)
Connor Hellebuyck’s return to health for the Winnipeg Jets means that the Moose goaltending tandem of Domenic DiVincentiis and Thomas Milic has been restored. Manitoba got rocked at home last Sunday by the last-place Iowa Wild, 6-0. That means that they have been shut out twice in their past four games by a team that sits at the very bottom of the AHL. That should not happen given the talent that the Moose possess.

11) Chicago Wolves (+3)
The Wolves got three of four points on the weekend. Considering the upheaval caused by the Carolina Hurricanes dismissing head coach Cam Abbott despite Chicago’s winning record, it was a productive weekend.

12) Syracuse Crunch (+3)
Jakob Pelletier continued to make his case for an NHL promotion with four goals last week as the Crunch won two of three contests. They have goaltender Brandon Halverson back from the Tampa Bay Lightning with a trip through Bridgeport, Hartford, and Providence this week. The Crunch are not back home until Jan. 3.

13) Lehigh Valley Phantoms (-1)
After a 9-3-0-0 start, the Phantoms have struggled lately and gone 4-6-1-1. They will get lots of holiday time at home, however, with a six-game homestand that will send them into 2026.

14) Hershey Bears (-1)
Hershey is just 3-5-0-0 on a franchise-record nine-game homestand so far, though a 4-0 win against Charlotte salvaged something from last week.

15) Rochester Americans (+1)
The Amerks have a six-game point streak ahead of a relatively calm week with home match-ups against Utica and the Belleville Senators. The much bigger topic will be the potential impact that newly named Buffalo Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen might have on the organization, the Amerks included.

16) Milwaukee Admirals (-8)
Opponents lately have been lighting up the Admirals, who take a five-game losing streak into this week. Milwaukee has surrendered 26 goals in those five contests. Three of those losses have come against Chicago. Maybe the arrival of Zach L’Heureux, just sent down by the Nashville Predators, can help.

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