NHL season is back! Can the Panthers win it all again? Which team can challenge them? Who is most improved? These are the NHL power rankings:
1. Florida Panthers
The defending champions will be trying to run it back for the 3rd time in a row, and they look very capable of it. Aside from Aleksander Barkov, who sustained a season-ending injury in the preseason and might not be back in time for the playoffs, pretty much everyone is returning from last season. You’re going to be hearing a lot more cat growls this season.
2. Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche finally have their captain back. This should give the team a nice morale boost, as Landeskog is known for his physical presence and fighting spirit. They also have arguably the best offensive player in the game in Nathan Mackinnon, as well as the best defenseman in Cale Makar. With Brock Nelson now centering their 2nd line and Brent Burns a welcome addition to their defense, the Avs look amazing heading into this year.
3. Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers have some of the most talented offensive players in the game in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and they were nearly able to win the cup last year. That said, they also lost a lot of their supporting cast. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins really turned it on towards the end of last season, and he is at least back and centering their 2nd line and 1st power-play unit. Evan Bouchard is also one of the best offensive defenseman in the game, but it remains to be seen how Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard will perform for them in net. Last season, their defense was their achilles heel.
4. Dalas Stars
Despite losing some players- most notably Mikael Granlund and Mason Marchment- the Stars are still an all-around excellent team. They have Mikko Rantanen back on their top line, and if Tyler Seguin can stay healthy this year, then he will likely help give the Stars a significant boost offensively as well. Look for them to make the playoffs and be a strong contender for the cup once again.
5. Vegas Golden Knights
Excitingly, Vegas now has Mitch Marner playing alongside Jack Eichel on their top line. The Golden Knights were already a top 5 offense last season, so their offensive potential this year should be through the roof. Additionally, they are one of the strongest teams in the NHL defensively, though they will now be without Alex Pietrangelo. Undoubtedly, the Golden Knights will be one of the most thrilling teams to watch this season.
6. Tampa Bay Lightning
Nikita Kucherov is, of course, one of the best forwards in the league, and Andrei Vasilevskiy, one of the top netminders. This no doubt contributed to the Lightning being the best team offensively last season and one of the best teams defensively as well. Tampa Bay actually improved its depth a bit in the offseason and should once again be a top contender.
7. Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes made it as far as the Eastern Conference Final last season before falling to Florida, and now they have Nikolaj Ehlers on their top line. They also have a very intriguing young defenseman in K’Andre Miller, which helps soften the blow of losing both Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov. All in all, while they looked great last season, they look even better on paper heading into this one.
8. Winnipeg Jets
The Jets were the best team in the league from the beginning to the end of the regular season last year, but unfortunately, their fuel ran out in the 2nd round of the playoffs. This season, they will be without Nikolaj Ehlers, though they did interestingly add Jonathan Toews to center their 2nd line. Of course, having the NHL’s best goalie in Connor Hellebuyck is always helpful, and the Jets should once again be a force to be reckoned with.
9. New Jersey Devils
It’s fair to wonder how far the Devils would have gone in the playoffs last season had Jack Hughes not been injured. They at least would have had a much better chance of progressing past the 1st round, though Carolina was and is a strong team in their own right. New Jersey was a top 5 team defensively last year, but will need Hughes to stay healthy this season to take the next step forward offensively and in the playoffs.
10. Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs no longer have star forward Mitch Marner, which has to hurt for Toronto fans. Auston Matthews still has Matthew Knies- who was very impressive last season- working alongside him on the top line, and John Tavares and William Nylander will continue to do work on their 2nd line. They have some great players defensively as well, with Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson quarterbacking the power play units and the talented duo of Stolarz and Woll in net. So they are still very much a dangerous team, but it’s tough not to view them as weaker than they were last season without Marner. They’ll need other names on the roster to rise up and prove otherwise.
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11. Ottawa Senators
It felt like the Senators were just below the top crop of teams all last year. They’ve added Lars Eller to help give them more depth offensively, but really, it will take growth from young players like Shane Pinto to help elevate Ottawa into the top 10. Additionally, as good as Linus Ullmark is as a keeper, he’ll need the Senators to be better defensively this year in order for a leap forward to happen.
12. Washington Capitals
The Nationals were one of the most exciting stories last season, as Alexander Ovechkin became the all-time NHL leader in goals, and the efforts of all the Capitals players seemed to rise up around him. As a result, the Caps were 2nd only to the Jets in the regular season, but heartbreakingly were knocked out of the playoffs in the 2nd round by Carolina. This season, they have largely the same team, but Ovi is now 40 years old, and it’s fair to wonder how long he’ll be able to keep it up. On the bright side, Tom Wilson really evolved last season into a dominant all-around offensive force, and if guys like Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas can continue to produce offensively while Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren continue to hold down the fort in net, Washington should once again be able to make the playoffs and push for the cup.
13. Los Angeles Kings
Can the Kings bring home the Stanley Cup for Anze Kopitar’s last season? That’s the question on the mind of every Kings fan. They were one of the best teams defensively last season, but were bumped out by Edmonton in the 1st round of the playoffs. This year, all their big names are returning, and if young Quinton Byfield can continue to grow his game on the 2nd line then that will go a long way to improving their chances.
14. Minnesota Wild
Minnesota lost Gustav Nyquist but has added Vladimir Tarasenko to their 2nd line. They have a lot of exciting young talent, with 1st line offensemen Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy, as well as defensemen Brock Faber and Zeev Buium all under 25 years old and with a lot of potential. Of course, Kirill Kaprizov is already one of the brightest stars of the game and Filip Gustavsson was excellent for Minnesota last year in net. There’s a lot of goodness here, and this team seems destined for the playoffs again and potentially a proper run at the cup.
15. Utah Mammoth
The Utah Mammoth might be the most exciting young team in the game, and now they have a new name and logo to boot! Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley, and JJ Peterka are all very young and supremely skilled on the top line, and Karel Vejmelka has shown he can weather a ton of shots in net and stand on his head at times. They absolutely have enough firepower to make the playoffs, but will they be good enough defensively?
16. St. Louis Blues
The Blues made massive improvements in their gameplay last season behind new coach Jim Montgomery and looked very dangerous in the playoffs, nearly knocking out the Jets in the 1st round. While they don’t have any true stars, they have shown what they are capable of and should be a strong team from the jump this year.
17. New York Rangers
The Rangers had a pretty awful year last year by their standards and weren’t even able to make the playoffs. However, they have a new coach this year in Mike Sullivan, and it seems likely that some of the key players like Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin are due for bounce-back seasons. Will this be the case for the whole team, or will they continue to trend downwards?
18. Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens were another team that improved tremendously over the course of last season, and they have done well to try and sustain this upward trajectory with the additions of Zack Bolduc on offense and Noah Dobson on defense. Sam Montembeault was one of the more impressive rising goaltenders last year, which contributed to the rise of the team in the standings, so if he can continue to play well this season, then that would be huge for Montreal.
19. Columbus Blue Jackets
Despite not making the playoffs in 2024-25, the Blue Jackets were mighty impressive last season. Monahan and Marchenko sneakily make for one of the best duos in the NHL, and Zach Werenski has become one of the best offensive defenseman in the game. Merzlinkins is also quite talented in net, and here’s hoping Columbus can carry the momentum they gained in the 2nd half of last season into this season and all the way to the playoffs.
20. Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver lost Pius Suter but brought in Evander Kane, who should bring some physicality to their 2nd line. The Canucks were in the bottom third offensively last year and mid-pack defensively, though that could change if Thatcher Demko has returned to full health for this season, which appears to be the case. They also have one of the most talented offensive defensemen in Quinn Hughes. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts for Vancouver, but they will need to step up their game if they hope to make the playoffs this season.
21. Boston Bruins
Boston brought in Viktor Arvidsson to man their 2nd line, but made few other notable changes. Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm, and of course, David Pastrnak make for a great top line, but the Bruins will really need Jeremy Swayman to prove this year that he can be the number one goaltender that they are banking on him being.
22. Anaheim Ducks
The best news about the Ducks in recent years is the return to their old logo, and nobody can tell me otherwise. That said, there are some exciting things going on in Anaheim, including the new and highly touted coach, Joel Quenneville. They’ve also added talented forwards Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund to help out offensively. They did lose John Gibson in the net, which hurts, but Lukas Dostal and Petr Mrazek make for a solid goalie tandem regardless.
23. Nashville Predators
It wouldn’t surprise anyone if the Predators bounced back significantly this year, but after just how poorly they performed last season, it probably wouldn’t surprise anyone if they didn’t. Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly are lethal enough up top, and they added Erik Haula to help Jonathan Marchessault out on their 3rd line. Roman Josi is another big name with a lot of talent who seems likely to bounce back, but really, they will need a big resurgence from Steven Stamkos this year to have any hopes of making the playoffs.
24. Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres no longer have promising young forward JJ Peterka. However, they did add some pieces that should, in theory, help defensively, including the talented young defenseman Michael Kesselring. Believe it or not, Buffalo was a top 10 team offensively last season despite being one of the worst teams defensively. Will they be able to maintain their offense while hopefully patching up some of their holes on defense this season?
25. Detroit Red Wings
Bringing in skilled goaltender John Gibson could be a huge boon to Detroit, and he and Cam Talbot might make for a strong duo in net. That said, that could just be wishful thinking if the real problem is the defense. Not that their offense fared much better last season, but Detroit does have some young talent up front with Emmitt Finnie and Lucas Raymond complementing Dylan Larkin on the top line and Alex Debrincat and Marco Kasper working with Patrick Kane on their 2nd line. It’s been a while since the Red Wings even made the playoffs. Will this year change that?
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26. New York Islanders
The Islanders lost Noah Dobson on defense, but most notably gained Jonathan Drouin on offense. As poor as the Islanders were defensively last season, they were even worse offensively. Hopefully, Drouin can help them improve on offense, as well as a healthy Matt Barzal, while Ilya Sorokin is talented enough in net to make up for a lot of their defensive woes.
27. Seattle Kraken
Seattle has a new coach in Lane Lambert, who hopefully brings more to the team than just the cool alliteration in his name. They certainly need all the help they can get. Speaking of which, adding Mason Marchment to their 2nd line should certainly help. Additionally, Joey Daccord is a talented goalie, though that was the case last season, and they still ranked in the bottom 10 defensively.
28. Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers added Trevor Zegras on offense and Dan Vladar in net, but it’s hard to see how these sorts of changes will really improve the squad, let alone give this team any hope to make the playoffs. Philadelphia was in the bottom 10 offensively and bottom 5 defensively last season, and their prospects do not seem much better this year.
29. San Jose Sharks
The Sharks made some much-needed improvements to their roster, adding Jeff Skinner on offense and some key defensemen in Dimitri Orlov and John Klingberg. They have a long way to go to even sniff at playoff waters, but at least they are making some good moves and have the talented rising star Macklin Celebrini centering their top line.
30. Calgary Flames
Not much has really changed for the Flames. Dustin Wolf was nasty in net last season, but how long will he be able to keep that up with a porous defense? Nazem Kadri is still a fierce competitor at age 35, but the Flames still ranked bottom 5 offensively last season. Unfortunately, there’s really not much to be enthusiastic or overly optimistic about in Calgary.
31. Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh was one of the very worst teams defensively last season and was mid-pack offensively. This year, they’ve added Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau to play with Evgeni Malkin on the 2nd line, and both have potential. They also have Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust healthy and playing alongside Sidney Crosby up top, and those 3 have developed significant chemistry over the years. However, ultimately, this team is due for a full rebuild, and it’s very likely that this will begin to happen sooner rather than later.
32. Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago added forward Andre Burakovsky to join the ranks of Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, and Teuovo Teravainen on the top lines. Additionally, promising young keeper Spencer Knight will officially take over starting duties this season for the Blackhawks. However, for a team that was bottom 10 offensively and nearly the worst team defensively (2nd only to the Sharks), Chicago seems bound to be a cellar dweller once again this season.
