An NHL power ranking in August should probably be accompanied by at least a small explainer.
Given we’re in the dog days of the summer, you could be forgiven for assuming this exercise was about ranking teams’ off-seasons. Or, perhaps, you could think it’s something akin to a 2026 Stanley Cup odds piece since we’re not that that far from predictions season.
But we’re not handing out medals purely for off-season moves, nor are we ranking teams based on their chances to be the last club standing in 2026.
The question we’re asking is, if they decided to drop the puck on a new NHL season tomorrow, how would the teams stack up? Basically, it’s a regular ol’ power ranking like you’ll find all season long on Sportsnet.ca, but dropped when most players are still swinging sticks on the golf course.
So, with our preamble out of the way, here’s our summertime ranking of all 32 clubs.
1. Dallas Stars – Had the Stars finished last season 3-3-1 instead of 0-5-2, they probably would have finished second overall. Combine Mikko Rantanen’s first full year in Texas with a new-coach bump from hiring Glen Gulutzan, and Dallas is a great bet to hit the ground running.
2. Vegas Golden Knights – Mitch Marner was the biggest addition any team made this off-season, and he transforms Vegas’ previously underwhelming winger situation. Even with the loss of Alex Pietrangelo on the blueline, the Knights will be a wagon.
3. Washington Capitals – It’s tempting to say the Caps will take a step back after surprising so many people last season, and maybe that’s true. That said, Washington didn’t sustain any high-level losses from its roster, has a great goalie duo in Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren and seems like it’s just getting started under reigning Jack Adams winner Spencer Carbery.
4. Carolina Hurricanes – Free agent signing Nikolaj Ehlers is a meaningful add to a forward group that should see some internal growth, too, with the likes of Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake finding their NHL footing.
5. Colorado Avalanche – The Avs will benefit from having a competent goalie battery right out of the gate in Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood. Of course, captain Gabriel Landeskog will start the regular season for this club for the first time since 2021, and unlike last year when he was still serving a suspension, Colorado will have scorer Valeri Nichushkin right from puck-drop this October.
6. Edmonton Oilers – Are the Oilers more fatigued or hungry after two straight losses in the final? It’s hard to imagine they’ll have the pedal to the metal out of the gate, but — with the high-end talent on the club — Edmonton can still be one of the best teams in the league even before hitting top gear.
7. Winnipeg Jets – The Presidents’ Trophy winners from 2024-25 have a high floor thanks to back-to-back Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck manning the crease. Still, it’s going to be an interesting scene down the middle, as Adam Lowry misses a chunk of time recovering from hip surgery and newcomer Jonathan Toews finds his way after two full years out of the league.
8. Toronto Maple Leafs – Losing Mitch Marner hurts, but the Leafs could conceivably have a 50-goal scorer in Auston Matthews, a 40-goal guy in William Nylander and two 30-goal scorers in Matthew Knies and John Tavares. Plus, you have to think the remaining group will be determined to show there’s still a strong team here despite Marner’s departure.
9. Florida Panthers – The Panthers aren’t trying to be the best team in November; they’re trying to win a third straight Cup. Even if the Cats achieve that goal — and are you really betting against them? — that doesn’t mean they’re going to come flying out of the gates. With Matthew Tkachuk possibly sidelined for a while and the toll of three consecutive long springs wearing on their bones, it’s hard to see Florida setting the world on fire right from the jump.
10. New Jersey Devils – The Devils have had a season to adjust to coach Sheldon Keefe and will at least start the year in good health after losing Jack Hughes in February last season. Speaking of the name ‘Hughes,’ could Year 3 be a monster breakout for Luke Hughes on the Devils’ blueline?
11. Los Angeles Kings – The Kings were surely hoping for a needle-moving add up front this off-season, but it never happened. The frame of a strong team is here, but L.A. is still lacking that top-tier finish.
12. Tampa Bay Lightning – Other than 35-year-old Victor Hedman, nobody in Tampa’s upper-level core is older than 32. One of these seasons, the bill for the good times will come due, but we’re not there yet.
13. Ottawa Senators – Ottawa looks great down the middle now that deadline acquisition Dylan Cozens will be the 2C for an entire season. Jordan Spence was also a nice add to the right side of the defence corps, and you wonder if Year 2 in Ottawa will be a little smoother for goalie Linus Ullmark.
14. St. Louis Blues – The Blues’ strong finish was not smoke and mirrors. Robert Thomas is officially a stud 1C, Jim Montgomery — one of the league’s best coaches — gets to start the year with this club, and he’s overseeing a roster bolstered by the emergence of under-25 players like Dylan Holloway, Jake Neighbours, Philip Broberg and maybe even rookie Jimmy Snuggerud.
15. New York Rangers – What exactly does the bounce back look like? This is obviously a better team than it showed last year, and J.T. Miller getting a full year on Broadway will help. The problem with just putting the Rangers back in the playoffs, though, is a couple of Eastern Conference teams that took steps last year — we’ll get to them shortly — figure to be right back in the post-season chase again.
16. Minnesota Wild – Two of Filip Gustavsson’s three years in Minnesota have been good ones. If he can be solid this year in tandem with fellow Swede Jesper Wallstedt, it’s very easy to envision Minny back in the playoffs. This team made it last year with Kirill Kaprizov missing half the season.
17. Montreal Canadiens – On one hand, you could say the Habs massively overachieved last season by sneaking into the playoffs. On the other, Montreal is adding two pretty serious talents — defenceman Noah Dobson and rookie Ivan Demidov — to a squad that was good enough to make the dance last year.
18. Columbus Blue Jackets – The Jackets took a meaningful step last season and have several young pieces — from Adam Fantilli to Kirill Marchenko to Kent Johnson — who are ascending. How much faith are we putting in goalie Jet Greaves’ .938 save percentage in 11 outings?
19. Utah Mammoth – Cracking the top 8 in the West will be tough, but Utah is clearly headed in the right direction. Adding JJ Peterka to the top six is fantastic, and the defence will look better as a whole with Sean Durzi and John Marino not being sidelined for over half the season, as was the case last year.
20. Vancouver Canucks – If Elias Pettersson returns to top form, you can talk yourself into this roster. If not, Vancouver is just too thin down the middle to believe in. More than most, the Canucks seem like a high-variance team.
21. Detroit Red Wings – While you can certainly still talk yourself into some existing Wings players like Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson moving the team forward, it just feels like Detroit needs an acquisition to give this thing a meaningful push.
22. Anaheim Ducks – You have to think new coach Joel Quenneville is going to make an impact on this group. There’s a lot to like in terms of existing young players driving the Ducks forward and veteran adds like Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund also improving the squad. Who knows, maybe the biggest development will be Lukas Dostal — who turned 25 this summer — breaking into the top tier of NHL goalies.
23. Calgary Flames – The Flames had a marvellous, Dustin Wolf-driven showing last year. I think we all understand that the margin for error, however, is very thin.
24. New York Islanders – It’s slightly uncomfortable ranking the Isles this low because they’re still just a monster Ilya Sorokin season away from pushing very hard for a playoff spot.
25. Boston Bruins – One year after Hampus Lindholm was limited to 17 games and Charlie McAvoy played 50, the Bruins will have their top pair — which is a great one — back in order. Throw in a bounce-back year for Jeremy Swayman, and challenging for a playoff spot is not unthinkable one year after the B’s finished last in the Atlantic.
26. Buffalo Sabres – We’re way past “believe it when I see it” with this group. Surely this is GM Kevyn Adam’s final kick at the playoff can.
27. Nashville Predators – It’s hard to put Nashville any higher given what an unmitigated disaster last season was. That said, if a team on this list was going to outstrip its ranking by 10 spots, it might be the Preds 14 months after they went out and bought everyone on the 2024 UFA market.
28. Chicago Blackhawks – We’ve finally hit the point of the ranking where it would be a shock-the-world situation if the club made the playoffs. For the Hawks, it’s all about just taking a significant step forward.
29. Philadelphia Flyers – How long will Trevor Zegras last at centre under new coach Rick Tocchet?
30. Seattle Kraken – As much as any team in the league, it’s just hard to find juice anywhere in this lineup.
31. Pittsburgh Penguins – The Pens are the only franchise we can safely say would love to finish 32nd, but we can’t quite rank a squad Sidney Crosby still plays on there.
32. San Jose Sharks – Last year down here? As awesome as the Sharks’ rebuild is going — and it is — jumping up the standings still takes time.
