NHL power rankings: Defensively porous Sharks plummet amidst five-game losing streak
We’re now just more than 20 percent of the way through the 2026-27 NHL regular season, and it feels like there’s more intrigue than ever between the top and the very bottom of the league standings.
Of course, it’s all too easy to figure out the best and worst teams in the standings: just click here. Be amazed! But each week, we here at Daily Faceoff like to take a slightly different approach to figuring out which teams are hot (and not).
Join me, Mike Gould, as I try to make sense of my colleague Scott Maxwell’s fancy-schmancy analytical model (while he tries to figure out my own vibes-based picks). Somehow, every Monday, we arrive at a consensus, and what you see below is our latest NHL power rankings.
1. Carolina Hurricanes
Record: 14-3-2, +33
Last Week: 1st (0)
Mike’s Rank: 1st
Scott’s Rank: 1st
Scott: It’s reaching the point where it’s hard to come up with things to say about the Hurricanes. It feels like finally getting over the hump has unlocked something in them, and now they’re just this overwhelming, unbeatable machine. They’re taking care of business most nights, and even in the games they lose, they are usually the better team. They’re so good it’s almost boring. At least from a talking point perspective, their on-ice play is still entertaining. I guess Pyotr Kochetkov finally lost a game, that’s noteworthy!
Mike: Alexander Nikishin’s first game of the 2026-27 season: 20:21 TOI, one goal, one assist, +3. Not bad!
2. New Jersey Devils
Record: 13-5-0, +15
Last Week: 4th (+2)
Mike’s Rank: 2nd
Scott’s Rank: 3rd
Mike: I’d love to go on at length here about the fantastic run the Devils have gone on since acquiring Connor Hellebuyck, but in my estimation, writing all those words would potentially give New Jersey a reduction in their expected win probability against the Jets on Tuesday.
3. Minnesota Wild
Record: 12-3-4, +20
Last Week: 3rd (0)
Mike’s Rank: 6th
Scott’s Rank: 2nd
Scott: The Wild continue to click and are certainly up there for one of the more entertaining teams to watch in hockey, especially when the top line is on the ice. I’d normally be more bearish on a team relying on one line for all their offense, but the rest of the lineup does a good enough job eating up the minutes and marginally outscoring their opponents that it doesn’t even matter. And then when the top line is out, they’ve outscored the competition 16-0. More than 200 minutes of ice time and not a single goal against is insane. And they’ve only allowed 7.1 expected goals against, too, so it’s not like it’s extremely unsustainable either.
4. Boston Bruins
Record: 13-4-1, +27
Last Week: 10th (+6)
Mike’s Rank: 3rd
Scott’s Rank: 9th
Mike: At what point do we finally admit that these Bruins might actually be legit? They went toe-to-toe with the Panthers from start to finish on Sunday, with Jeremy Swayman making 40 saves as the two teams combined for a staggering 77 shots on goal in 60 minutes. Sure, a lot of what we’ve seen so far boils down to David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Swayman driving the bus, but the B’s also seem to have much better depth than I expected.
Scott: Are they a legit playoff team? Sure. Are they a legit Presidents’ Trophy contender? I don’t see it. The only regular forwards not shooting at least 12 percent are Tanner Jeannot and Sean Kuraly. They’ve gotten offense from their depth, but not all of it is sustainable.
5. Edmonton Oilers
Record: 12-3-3, +20
Last Week: 2nd (-3)
Mike’s Rank: 5th
Scott’s Rank: 7th
Mike: The Oilers had an okay week, going 1-1-1 against the Devils, Ducks, and Canucks while continuing to get staggering production from Connor McDavid. This team’s secondary forwards are as weak as they’ve ever been, and the less said about their defensive depth, the better, but it won’t matter as long as McDavid keeps doing his best 2001 Pavel Bure impression.
6. Montreal Canadiens
Record: 11-3-3, +8
Last Week: 5th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 4th
Scott’s Rank: 8th
Scott: The Canadiens are a good team, but I can’t justify a top-five position when they still aren’t in the top half of the league defensively. They just rely on Jacob Fowler too much, and as good as the netminder has been, leaning on him has shown some cracks in recent games, particularly the Jets game where they blew a 4-0 lead in less than TWO MINUTES. And then they nearly did the same against the Leafs on Saturday. If this was against teams like Carolina, New Jersey or Minnesota, I’d understand, but it’s WINNIPEG and TORONTO.
Mike: You know Scott means business when he breaks out the CAPS LOCK.
7. Tampa Bay Lightning
Record: 11-4-2, +10
Last Week: 6th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 9th
Scott’s Rank: 4th
Mike: Even with the black cloud of the ongoing Nikita Kucherov stalemate hanging over them, the Lightning continue to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. Playing on a second half of a back-to-back, the Bolts lost in Winnipeg on Sunday off a buzzer-beater by Mark Scheifele, but they’d picked up points in six consecutive games before that.
8. Vegas Golden Knights
Record: 12-5-2, +13
Last Week: 8th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 7th
Scott’s Rank: 6th
Mike: The Knights are riding a four-game point streak on the road to begin the month of November. They looked awfully good in their 4-1 victory in Buffalo on Sunday, with Jack Eichel scoring the winning goal and egging on the enraged hometown crowd with an energetic celebration. The best news for Knights fans might be the re-emergence of Tomas Hertl, who scored twice in Buffalo and now ranks second on the team with nine goals.
9. Dallas Stars
Record: 10-5-2, +8
Last Week: 9th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 8th
Scott’s Rank: 5th
Mike: I still have a hard time getting too excited about this Stars team, what with their unremarkable depth and iffy playoff track record, but they’re off to a solid start in 2026-27. They’ve played in a lot of one-goal games in the early stages, including three in a row to kick off November. But so far, they’re really only getting meaningful offensive contributions from four forwards: Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz. Pretty much everyone else on the team is scoring at a bottom-six rate (at best).
Scott: I don’t know if I’d call a team who’s made at least the Conference Final in four of the last seven seasons one with an iffy playoff track record.
Mike: They just always turn into doormats once they get there.
Scott: Still, they have the sixth most playoff wins in that span. Obviously you play to win the Cup, but I’m sure a lot of teams (*cough*Leafs*cough*) would take that track record.
10. Ottawa Senators
Record: 11-6-1, +4
Last Week: 14th (+4)
Mike’s Rank: 11th
Scott’s Rank: 12th
Mike: Ottawa and Utah have been in lockstep in the standings for most of the season, so I had Saturday’s game between them circled on the calendar. Surprise: Ottawa came out on top, with Nick Cousins of all people netting the winning goal in the third period. The Sens have many of the same depth problems that the Stars have been dealing with, but they’ve largely been able to stay afloat without goaltender Linus Ullmark, who was playing at a Vezina Trophy level before sustaining an injury in late October.
Scott: I don’t know how a tandem of Samuel Ersson and Jonas Johansson managed to hold down the fort, but credit to them, they did!
11. Colorado Avalanche
Record: 10-6-2, +16
Last Week: 11th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 10th
Scott’s Rank: 14th
Mike: The Avs continue to befuddle me. After taking care of the Blackhawks on Monday, they let the Blue Jackets (!!) hang a touchdown on them on Tuesday. I get it, back-to-backs are tough, but … yeesh. They followed that up with a hard-fought overtime loss to Nashville and a commanding victory over Detroit to close out the week. All told, not too bad, but it still feels like these Avs are playing below their potential.
12. New York Rangers
Record: 10-7-1, +3
Last Week: 19th (+7)
Mike’s Rank: 15th
Scott’s Rank: 11th
Scott: After losing six of seven games going into last week, the Rangers took advantage of an easier schedule and won three straight games against the Blues, Flyers and Kraken. That bounce back was particularly beneficial to Dylan Garand, who had consecutive games with a +.900 save percentage after falling below that mark for four straight starts. Joonas Korpisalo is now back in the fold and will lighten Garand’s workload a bit, but I wouldn’t expect Korpisalo to save the season either.
Mike: James Reimer’s 20-minute Rangers stint is going to be an all-time trivia answer for years.
13. Utah Mammoth
Record: 10-7-1, 0
Last Week: 12th (-1)
Mike’s Rank: 16th
Scott’s Rank: 10th
Scott: I got a nice in-person look at the Mammoth on Tuesday, and while they were playing the Leafs, they were so impressive. The Leafs could barely string a few passes together before the Mammoth’s forecheck overwhelmed them, and otherwise the game was usually stuck in the Mammoth’s zone. And their power play is just lethal. Hot starts like Logan Cooley’s will cool down at some point (no pun intended, I swear), and they need to get more out of their goaltending, but between Dylan Guenther heating up and Utah’s blueline getting healthy, it should balance out.
Mike: My biggest quibble with Utah right now is that their management seems to be making a few of the same mistakes as their predecessors in Arizona. Those Sebastian Cossa and Vincent Trocheck trades remind me a lot of when the Coyotes gave up big assets for Antti Raanta and Derek Stepan. Didn’t really work out.
Scott: I see the vision with Cossa (there wasn’t exactly a true successor for a just-fine Karel Vejmelka), but I agree that the Trocheck acquisition was just not a necessary one.
14. Florida Panthers
Record: 9-7-2, +1
Last Week: 7th (-7)
Mike’s Rank: 14th
Scott’s Rank: 13th
Mike: Not a great week for the Panthers, who managed to beat the Blackhawks but lost to the Red Wings, Capitals, and Bruins along the way. The Panthers took full advantage of their tremendous depth during their successful runs to the Stanley Cup in 2024 and 2025, but they haven’t gotten nearly enough this year from the likes of Sam Bennett, Eetu Luostarinen, and Anton Lundell — all of whom are signed long-term and making big money.
15. Nashville Predators
Record: 8-4-5, +1
Last Week: 22nd (+7)
Mike’s Rank: 12th
Scott’s Rank: 16th
Scott: The Predators have gone on a bit of a run with four wins in a row, and it’s kept them alive and well in the early playoff race. But I wouldn’t say it’s driven by strong all-around play from Nashville, as it’s more the product of special teams and Juuse Saros’ return to form. Shane Wright has gone pointless in three games since joining the Preds, but at least the team is giving him a chance early on – Filip Forsberg is probably the best player he’s played with in his career.
Mike: Which contender is going to trade for Stamkos at the deadline?
Scott: Let’s be real, it’ll be Tampa.
16. Buffalo Sabres
Record: 8-6-3, -7
Last Week: 13th (-3)
Mike’s Rank: 18th
Scott’s Rank: 15th
Scott: After a sluggish start to the season, a stretch of four wins in five rejuvenated the Sabres back into the playoff conversation, even if an 8-6-3 record isn’t good enough for a playoff position in the East. They are in a spot based on points percentage, but it just goes to show how good the Atlantic Division (plus Carolina and New Jersey) are. There’s almost no room to breathe when it comes to holding down a playoff spot.
17. Anaheim Ducks
Record: 10-7-1, +3
Last Week: 23rd (+7)
Mike’s Rank: 13rd
Scott’s Rank: 21st
Scott: I’m assuming Mike is including entertainment value as one of the factors for his rankings this week, because otherwise I’m not sure if I’d consider them to be that good right now. A five-game win streak certainly helps give the appearance of a good team, and Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier have been red hot (Gauthier has 13 goals in his last six games, including three hat tricks!), but everything else about this team just feels underwhelming. Anything can happen in the Pacific Division, but I don’t know if I’d consider them in the top half of the league overall.
Mike: Cutter alone bumped the Ducks up five or six spots on my list. What a player.
18. Washington Capitals
Record: 9-6-0, +2
Last Week: 18th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 17th
Scott’s Rank: 18th
Scott: The Capitals have gotten slightly better with each passing game, and they keep slugging along through the first couple months of the season, but being good, not great, won’t cut it in the Eastern Conference. Then again, they’ve only played 15 games while most of the Conference has played 18 or 19, so that has given the appearance that they’re lagging behind.
Mike: I was really hoping that the Protas brothers would become the focal points for this Capitals forward group this year. So far, they’ve combined for just three goals in 15 games.
19. New York Islanders
Record: 7-6-3, -2
Last Week: 15th (-4)
Mike’s Rank: 20th
Scott’s Rank: 17th
Mike: After having four days off to start the week, the Islanders dropped back-to-back games on home ice, losing 5-3 to Carolina on Thursday before falling 5-4 in overtime against the Devils on Saturday. The Islanders’ forward depth has been a big issue, with Kyle Palmieri, Ondrej Palat, and Anthony Duclair all on unimpressive paces to start the season. Could we see Isles GM Mathieu Darche make a move soon in a bid to spark his team?
20. Toronto Maple Leafs
Record: 8-9-2, 0
Last Week: 16th (-4)
Mike’s Rank: 21st
Scott’s Rank: 20th
Scott: I’ll cut the Leafs a bit of slack, as they’ve found themselves in a hellscape of a homestand (to put it in perspective, they play the second, third, fifth, sixth, 11th and 13th-ranked teams on our list in this stretch). But it’s also proved that they are still a few steps behind the best teams in the league. They keep getting overwhelmed in different ways by different teams. Their offense is really good, but it gets exposed when they lose a top-six player or two. Their defense can’t move the puck and is also dealing with a couple injuries. And then the goaltending hasn’t been good enough to cover up those issues. In most divisions, I’d say they could be good enough for the playoffs but aren’t a Cup contender, but in the Atlantic, they may not even be a playoff contender.
21. St. Louis Blues
Record: 7-8-2, -3
Last Week: 21st (0)
Mike’s Rank: 22nd
Scott’s Rank: 22nd
Mike: These Blues just don’t have a ton of talent, and it’s really showing through in the early stages of this season. Perhaps their biggest issue to contend with is the ongoing decline of Pavel Buchnevich, who has just seven points through 16 games and is signed for four more seasons after this one at an $8-million cap hit. ‘Buch’ is settling into a new role as a penalty killer, but he’s still commanding a top-six ticket.
22. Seattle Kraken
Record: 9-6-1, 0
Last Week: 20th (-2)
Mike’s Rank: 19th
Scott’s Rank: 26th
Mike: Berkly Catton looks to be on the cusp of breaking out as Seattle’s first true NHL star. The 2024 first-round pick is up to 14 points in 16 games with the Kraken this year and has been beyond dynamic on a nightly basis, even if he’s only averaging 15:07 of ice time so far. It’s easier to see the vision for the Kraken to become a competitive team down the line if Catton can become their No. 1 center, with Matty Beniers settling in as more of a matchup option down the middle. We’ll see.
23. Detroit Red Wings
Record: 7-8-3, -7
Last Week: 17th (-6)
Mike’s Rank: 28th
Scott’s Rank: 19th
Scott: I can understand why Mike may have the Red Wings ranked so low. They’ve lost four of their last five. They’re lagging slightly behind in a loaded Eastern Conference. The Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson drama continues to get worse and worse. But in a tier of teams who are all equally middling, I think the fact that Detroit is still hanging around in the playoff conversation and actually playing really good defense despite all of that (and more importantly, without Edvinsson to help that defense) should warrant some credit. Put it this way: there are much worse teams out of this bunch.
24. Calgary Flames
Record: 8-9-1, -17
Last Week: 27th (+3)
Mike’s Rank: 24th
Scott’s Rank: 24th
Mike: The Flames continue to be one of the more exciting young teams to watch in the NHL, with Zayne Parekh and Matt Coronato stealing the show in their 4-3 overtime win over the Flyers on Sunday. No, they aren’t doing much at 5-on-5 — Coronato, Yegor Sharangovich, Morgan Frost, and Ryan Strome are tied for the 5-on-5 scoring lead with just six points apiece through 18 games — but their special teams are fantastic and their goaltending is among the very best in the league, Dustin Wolf’s previous struggles notwithstanding.
25. Winnipeg Jets
Record: 7-8-3, -14
Last Week: 29th (+4)
Mike’s Rank: 23rd
Scott’s Rank: 25th
Scott: Remember when people were meticulously analyzing the Jets schedule to figure out when the right time to fire Scott Arniel was without it feeling like the Hellebuyck “return” would have played a role in it? Well a historic comeback over the Canadiens has rejuvenated them, as they’ve now won three games in a row after throttling the Canucks and edging the Lightning with a buzzer beater. And hey, even if they had lost three more games going into Tuesday, the Devils ensured that they would be the biggest story going into the match.
26. Pittsburgh Penguins
Record: 6-10-2, -7
Last Week: 24th (-2)
Mike’s Rank: 27th
Scott’s Rank: 23rd
Mike: The Penguins have dropped five of six and now sit in 15th place in the Eastern Conference, ranked only ahead of the team that beat them in the first round of last year’s playoffs. Erik Karlsson and Evgeni Malkin have been far and away the Penguins’ best skaters. Kyle Dubas made a bunch of big moves over the summer, but relatively few of them have paid off in any meaningful way. The Pens need more from Ville Koivunen and Egor Chinakhov, the latter of whom has just five points in 14 games this year.
27. Los Angeles Kings
Record: 5-8-2, -7
Last Week: 25th (-2)
Mike’s Rank: 26th
Scott’s Rank: 27th
Scott: Remember when the Kings were winless? Well, they’ve managed to notch five wins in their last nine games, which isn’t impressive but isn’t disastrous either. It’s saved them from being in the depths of the league, but at the same time, they aren’t even close to creeping back into a playoff spot, only just keeping pace in recent weeks. I didn’t think this team was winless bad, but they aren’t all that good either. 5-8-2 is about exactly what I’d picture they should be at.
28. Columbus Blue Jackets
Record: 7-8-0, -7
Last Week: 28th (0)
Mike’s Rank: 25th
Scott’s Rank: 29th
Scott: The Blue Jackets have managed to play well enough to cool down the seat that had been heating up underneath Rick Bowness, but they still haven’t blown me away to the point of thinking they’ll turn the tide and get closer to the playoff conversation. They really need more out of Adam Fantilli and Matthew Knies if they want to do so, as the two young guns continue to disappoint (even if Kent Johnson continues to maintain a point-per-game pace despite playing with both frequently). They also need more from Conor Garland, who has ONE (!) assist in 15 games. Yikes.
Mike: That Garland contract is low-key one of the worst in the NHL right now. The Jackets also need way more from Sean Monahan, who has just one goal in 15 games.
29. Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 4-10-5, -23
Last Week: 30th (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 29th
Scott’s Rank: 28th
Mike: The Flyers blew three leads in their overtime loss in Calgary on Sunday, which put them down to 4-10-5 on the season. The good news: Owen Tippett and Denver Barkey scored only their second goals of the season in the game. The bad news: That puts them ahead of Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, Travis Sanheim, and Jamie Drysdale on the Flyers’ goal-scoring leaderboard. This offense is anemic, and it’s probably not going to get any better with Rick Tocchet at the helm.
30. San Jose Sharks
Record: 7-11-1, -21
Last Week: 26th (-4)
Mike’s Rank: 30th
Scott’s Rank: 30th
Mike: These Sharks are an absolute friggin’ mess. They’ve lost five straight and seven of eight, including a dreadful 7-2 road loss in Los Angeles on Wednesday. They’ve been absolutely horrible defensively, and while Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba have certainly been part of the problem, they aren’t even close to being the biggest culprits. Barclay Goodrow, Mason Marchment, Michael Misa, Ty Dellandrea, and Ivar Stenberg have all been absolutely caved in. And here’s a downright shocking figure: With Adam Gaudette on the ice at 5-on-5 this year, the Sharks have been outshot 28-8 and outchanced 33-10. Poor Macklin Celebrini can’t do it all by himself.
31. Chicago Blackhawks
Record: 4-13-1, -37
Last Week: 31st (0)
Mike’s Rank: 32nd
Scott’s Rank: 31st
Scott: What do the Blackhawks even do at this point? With a six-game losing streak (*checks notes* oh sorry NHL, the second game was an overtime loss, so it’s only a FOUR-game losing streak), and just one win in their last 10, the Blackhawks are in a state of disarray, and are no closer to competing than they have been in any of their seasons under Kyle Davidson. I would be shocked if he survives the season. Hey, remember when Chicago’s general manager interview process came down to Davidson and Eric Tulsky, and they chose Davidson? How did that work out for Chicago?
Mike: Remember when Ryan Donato of all people scored 31 goals for this Blackhawks team? It’s starting to feel like nobody will ever score that many goals in Chicago ever again. I’m only mostly joking.
32. Vancouver Canucks
Record: 3-15-1, -32
Last Week: 32nd (0)
Mike’s Rank: 31st
Scott’s Rank: 32nd
Scott: I get why the combination of a recent losing streak and the disappointment of not being able to progress with Connor Bedard has led Mike to going with the Blackhawks as the worst team in the league, but make no mistake, the Canucks are still a different level of bad. Chicago at least has a redeemable penalty kill. The aggregate score for Vancouver in my model is 30.33. Out of 32 teams. How can you be that close to being the worst at everything? It’s at least by design, unlike the Blackhawks, but this team should remain in the bottom of the rankings until further notice.
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