The most turbulent offseason in years is essentially over, and the league looks different than it did in June. Carolina won the Cup and got deeper. Florida's dynasty core, wrecked by injury last season, is healthy again. Edmonton finally fixed its goaltending. San Jose spent like a team that thinks its window is open, and Toronto blew it up and landed a generational No. 1 pick. So here is where all 32 teams stand heading into 2026-27 - ranked on where they're going, not just where they finished.
A note on method: these are forward-looking rankings. Last season's results are the starting point, but they're adjusted for everything that's happened since - the trades, the draft, free agency and the coaching changes. We'll update them through the season.
The Five Teams Built to Win It All
1. Carolina Hurricanes. You don't drop the champion, and you especially don't drop one that got better. Carolina won it all at 16-3, then added John Carlson for depth and re-upped the core that did it. The best possession team in hockey returns nearly intact. Until someone beats them, they're the standard.
2. Florida Panthers. The boldest ranking on the board, and the most defensible. Florida missed the playoffs last year only because it lost 500 man-games to injury - this is a back-to-back Cup finalist core, not an 84-point team. Health is the variable, and healthy, the Panthers are as dangerous as anyone. Bet on the regression to the mean going the right way.
3. Colorado Avalanche. A 121-point juggernaut with MacKinnon, Makar and a re-tooled forward group (Kadri, Schwartz). The regular season is never the question in Denver; April health is. On talent, top three.
4. Vegas Golden Knights. A Cup finalist that kept its band together - Eichel, Marner, Hertl - and re-signed Rasmus Andersson. As deep and battle-tested as any roster in the West.
5. Dallas Stars. Fifty wins, Rantanen, Hintz, Robertson. The Stars sold some youth (Bourque) but the contending core is intact. The gap between five and ten is thin, but Dallas sits on the right side of it.
NHL Power Rankings, 1-32
| Rank | Team | 2025-26 | The Take |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CAR | 113 pts · Champions | Won the Cup and added depth. The standard. |
| 2 | FLA | 84 pts · Injuries | A healthy dynasty core is a top-three team. The bet of the rankings. |
| 3 | COL | 121 pts | MacKinnon and Makar. Elite until proven otherwise. |
| 4 | VGK | 95 pts · Cup Final | Kept the finalist core intact and re-signed Andersson. |
| 5 | DAL | 112 pts | Fifty wins and a contending core - minus some youth. |
| 6 | EDM | 93 pts | McDavid and Draisaitl - and finally a real crease (Andersen and Levi) and a new coach. |
| 7 | BOS | 100 pts | Added J.J. Peterka and Arvidsson to a bounce-back roster. Rising. |
| 8 | NJD | 87 pts | The Hughes brothers plus a locked-up Hischier. A health bet with a high ceiling. |
| 9 | MIN | 104 pts | Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes and Coleman. Deeper and meaner. |
| 10 | BUF | 109 pts | Ended the drought behind Dahlin. The question is whether it holds. |
| 11 | MTL | 106 pts | Caufield · Suzuki · Hutson - the rebuild arrived early and keeps rising. |
| 12 | TBL | 106 pts | Kucherov and Vasilevskiy keep the window open but the supporting cast is thinning. |
| 13 | OTT | 99 pts | A young core on the rise with Giroux back for another run. |
| 14 | SJS | 86 pts | Celebrini plus Trouba and Marchment. The league's fastest riser. |
| 15 | PHI | 98 pts | Tocchet with ~$30M in space and offer-sheet ammo. A wildcard with upside. |
| 16 | ANA | 92 pts | An ascending young group that just committed $18M to keep Carlsson. |
| 17 | WSH | 95 pts | Added size in Jenner but the Ovechkin era is running out of runway. |
| 18 | PIT | 98 pts | Crosby is ageless; the roster around him is aging. Middle of the pack. |
| 19 | UTA | 92 pts | Young and rising with Trocheck added down the middle. |
| 20 | DET | 92 pts | Arvidsson helps but the Larkin question clouds everything. |
| 21 | CBJ | 92 pts | A maturing young group under new coach Rick Bowness. |
| 22 | LAK | 90 pts | Kopitar retired and no centre replaced him. Deeper · older · stuck. |
| 23 | NYI | 91 pts | Pete DeBoer takes over a roster in transition. |
| 24 | STL | 86 pts | Went for it with McTavish and Carlo. A bubble team swinging up. |
| 25 | NSH | 86 pts | Bourque adds youth but Stamkos and Forsberg are on the clock. |
| 26 | WPG | 82 pts | Everything hinges on whether Hellebuyck stays. |
| 27 | TOR | 78 pts | Collapsed then landed Gavin McKenna. The rebuild has its face. |
| 28 | NYR | 77 pts | Last in the East a year ago and still reshaping. |
| 29 | SEA | 79 pts | Stuck in neutral and short on high-end talent. |
| 30 | CHI | 72 pts | Bedard and a loaded pipeline and a Byram extension. The floor is rising. |
| 31 | CGY | 77 pts | Sold everything for picks. The rebuild is on and it'll be long. |
| 32 | VAN | 58 pts | Traded Hughes and Pettersson. Back to the drawing board. |
Biggest Riser · Florida
From 84 points and out of the playoffs to a top-three ranking - because the only thing that beat the Panthers last year was the injury report, and that regresses.
On the Way Up · San Jose
Celebrini, three first-round picks and free-agent spending. The Sharks are done being the league's doormat.
Biggest Faller · Toronto & Winnipeg
Toronto collapsed into a rebuild (with McKenna as the prize), and a Presidents'-Trophy-winning Jets team could tear it down if Hellebuyck moves.
The Wildcard · Philadelphia
Tocchet, cap space and a willingness to use offer sheets. The Flyers missed on Carlsson but have the ammunition to shake up the league before the deadline.
The Champion Is the Favourite, but the Chase Is Deep
Carolina earned the top spot and did nothing this summer to lose it. But the gap behind the Hurricanes is crowded: a healthy Florida, a loaded Colorado, a proven Vegas and a McDavid team that, for the first time in years, addressed the one thing that kept ending its springs. The West is a gauntlet; the East runs through Raleigh.
The more interesting story is the middle and the bottom. San Jose, Ottawa, Montreal and Anaheim are young teams arriving early. Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver are tearing down - and in Toronto's case, tearing down straight into a generational talent. The league didn't just change hands this offseason. It changed shape. These rankings will look different by December, and we'll be here to move the pieces.