NHL Power Rankings: Week 1
Were baaaacckk! Today marks the Opening Night of the NHL 2025-2026 Season. Lots of stuff happened over the off-season and 32 teams are set to begin at square one as they battle it out for the Lord Stanley’s Cup. The Journey starts here, and I am glad you are with us again. I hope you enjoy another year of these rankings and the NHL Season.
#16 Anaheim Ducks (0-0-0, 0 Points)
I am high on the Ducks. I have been high on the moves that the Ducks have made for quite a few years but this offseason it seems like Pat Verbeek is ready to take this team forward. We are talking potential playoff berth here folks. The Ducks are exiting the green banana business and looking for ripe ones. They brought in Coach Q to rejuvenate this group and I think it could be enough to find the playoffs.
#15 Ottawa Senators (0-0-0; 0 Points)
The Senators have looked quite good under Coach Travis Green, with their defense improving mightily. The question will be, is this team capable of scoring enough? They made great strides last year, bringing their building a couple playoff games against their bitter rival in Toronto. This year, they look to expand on that success.
#14 St. Louis Blues (0-0-0; 0 Points)
St. Louis might have more offense this year which will be needed in a pretty wide open Central Division, exclusively in that 3rd spot. Cam Fowler will be with the team full time, and you expect a healthy Philip Broberg to help out there as well on the back end. They don’t want to flirt with the wildcard because it will be blood bath this year.
#13 New Jersey Devils (0-0-0; 0 Points)
The Devils have a 3-headed monster in Hughes, Hischier, and Bratt. Where they go, the Devils go. They will need a healthy Hughes the entire year this time around. They were so very good early but were just hammered by injuries. The season will hinge on Hughes again. I also expect Hischier to win the Selke.
#12 Winnipeg Jets (0-0-0; 0 Points)
Where o where has my depth gone. The Jets will hope to have strong offensive seasons from Toews and Nyquist and their captain Adam Lowry. If literally anything happens to Connor Hellebuyck, this team is toast. The Jets will be their consistent selves but things may get tested without Ehlers.
#11 Los Angeles Kings (0-0-0; 0 Points)
They are one of the best regular season teams out there. They live for the regular season, but it’s after that where things come tumbling down. They have a very strong forward group that will do anything they can to have a very successful season in Kopitars last go around. Their D core is questionable at best. Beyond their top pairing, they are not very good. My bold prediction was that the Kings actually miss playoffs but that is likely too bold to be true.
#10 Minnesota Wild (0-0-0; 0 Points)
The Wild just signed Kiril the Thrill to a max term deal and they will look to build on that adrenaline with a strong go here. They are another team that will need to make that 3rd Central spot as they don’t want to deal with that wildcard frenzy. They need to find consistent scoring and convert on those chances if they expect to take this to the next level. The had the fewest 5 on 5 scoring chances in the playoffs last year and scored the least amount of goals of all of the playoff teams. Offense wins championships.
#9 Washington Capitals (0-0-0; 0 Points)
The Capitals are strong on the back end with Carlson and Chychrun alongside Sandin and Matt Roy. They have a backend that can help you win hockey games. I wonder how effective they will be offensively without the thrill of getting Alex Ovechkin over the goal record hump. That motivator is gone teams won’t be taking them lightly this time around.
#8 Tampa Bay Lightning (0-0-0; 0 Points)
The Lightning are going to have a resurgence this year. You have Kucherov, Point, Guentzel and Hagel. All those guys know how to win. The Bolts struggled with injuries last year and Vasilevsky has been a bit off his game as of late. But if things turn in that regard, this team might be going back to the finals again. There is a pedigree in that locker room. I think the fatigue of all of that hockey in early 2020s is behind them now. They are here to play.
#7 Toronto Maple Leafs (0-0-0; 0 Points)
The OG Core 4 are no longer. Out is Mitchell Marner and in is Matthew Knies in that key spot. Toronto finally moved on from their core and look to the future. Their goaltending can get it done but they just faced off against one of the best playoff teams in the history of the game in the Panthers last year. Is this the year that Toronto makes major noise?
#6 Colorado Avalanche (0-0-0-; 0 Points)
The Avalanche will be in LA with their captain Gabe Landeskog this year. This is the first time in a few years they’ve been able to say that as he’s battled his way back from major injury. The Avalanche have a star-studded lineup that is deeper than ever and will not have the noise of bad goaltending early. It seems like the division will be a toss up between them and Dallas.
#5 Florida Panthers (0-0-0; 0 Points)
The Panthers just won their back to back Stanley Cup and brough literally all of their UFAs back. They were destined to make this a 3-peat and I was prepared for it. That was until Sasha Barkov was injured in camp and will be out for likely the entire campaign and likely playoffs. That changes thing tremendously for me. The Panthers are a team that thrives in the playoffs but without their captain and Matt Tkachuk for a length of time, they might struggle more than usual.
#4 Dallas Stars (0-0-0; 0 Points)
The Dallas Stars still have one of the most complete teams on paper. They just can’t figure out the Western Conference Final. They will enjoy a full season of Rantanen which could bode well for them. They have one of the best goaltenders in Jake Oettinger. Their focus will be making it to the Stanley Cup Final this year. They will send many guys to the Olympics and you hope they come back in one piece.
#3 Carolina Hurricanes (0-0-0; 0 Points)
The Canes are the best team in the East, at least on paper. They have such a strong group all the way down the lineup and their system is built for this NHL. Though they have failed to make the Stanley Cup Final consistently on lack of scoring depth. Though they managed to land Nik Ehlers in the offseason which could be the piece they need to take this to the final level. Time will tell.
#2 Vegas Golden Knights (0-0-0; 0 Points)
Demolished in the 2nd round of the playoffs this year. They went out and landed Mitchell Marner, the big piece of the offseason, because of course they did. They are able to bring together Marner and Eichel, sending chills down the spines of most opponents. They will be without Alex Pietroangelo for th entire year and we saw a pretty weak D core outside of him get exposed by the Oilers. This is where Vegas will look to focus on, that and ensuring they get the best out of Adin Hill.
#1 Edmonton Oilers (0-0-0; 0 Points)
The Oilers were the talk of the offseason as it took them until October 6th to extend their captain to one of the most team friendly deals in sports history. And I am not exaggerating. They also sought to ship out the old group of players that couldn’t get it done against the Panthers and bring in youthful forwards and very defensive forwards to work alongside Connor and Leon. The Oilers will have a healthy Ekholm to start the season and with him healthy, the Oilers probably have the best D Core in the Pacific Division and one of the best in the entire league. That could be the difference this year.