NHL Power Rankings: Nov 15 Edition

It is hard to believe, but the NHL season is almost a quarter of the way finished. The Nashville Predators have rocked off seven victories in a row and have climbed their way up to second place in the Central Division, but how high are they in the power rankings?

These rankings take into consideration each team’s record, injuries and other factors to rank each of the 32 NHL teams based on their performance this season. Let’s jump into the rankings and see where each team lands.

1. Carolina Hurricanes

The defending Stanley Cup champions have had a hot start to their cup defense. The Canes currently have a goal differential of plus 40 and have won eight of their last 10 games.

2. Minnesota Wild

The current leaders of the Central Division, the Wild are on a 10-game point streak and haven’t lost a game in regulation since Oct 22. Quinn Hughes leads all defensemen in the NHL with 23 assists.

3. Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers have been riding the wave of Connor McDavid’s historic start to the season. With 50 points in 21 games, McDavid is currently on pace to be the first player since Wayne Gretzky to tally 200 points in a season.

4. Vegas Golden Knights

It is the 10th season of NHL hockey in Las Vegas and the Golden Knights are looking just as dominant as ever. The biggest surprise for Vegas has been 20-year-old rookie Trevor Connelly who has put his name in Calder Trophy conversations with 12 points in his first 21 career games.

5. New Jersey Devils

New Jersey Devils GM Sunny Mehta took a massive swing for trading for former Hart Trophy winning goalie Connor Hellebuyck and so far it has been a massive success. Hellebuyck is undefeated with his new team, winning all seven games he has started.

6. Nashville Predators

It has been an amazing November for the Nashville Predators who are one of the hottest teams in the NHL. With a seven-game winning streak and captain Roman Josi recently getting his 800th career point, the vibes are high in Smashville.

7. Tampa Bay Lightning

Despite another great start to the season for the Lightning, the big story out of Tampa this season was the public trade request of forward Nikita Kucherov. The Russian winger has 28 points in 20 games which leads the team.

8. Montreal Canadiens

After a shaky start to the season, the Habs have come alive since mid-October. Captain Nick Suzuki recently returned from missing six games with an injury and has already netted three goals since his return.

9. Ottawa Senators

The Senators moved on from former captain Brady Tkachuk this past offseason, but the team hasn’t lost a beat from last year. The biggest struggle for the Sens will be trying to keep up with the stacked Atlantic Division.

10. Boston Bruins

The Bruins have cooled down from their 9-2-1 start and due to the Atlantic Division’s competitiveness, find themselves currently occupying a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

11. Florida Panthers

Another victim of the stacked Atlantic Division, the Panthers have been attempting to stay afloat until captain Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand return from injury. Both players are expected to return before the end of the month.

12. Colorado Avalanche

It has been a tough start to the season for Colorado, especially compared to their President’s Trophy winning season last year. The Avs road continues to get rockier as they will be without superstar forward Nathan MacKinnon for at least one month and superstar defenseman Cale Makar for about two weeks.

13. Dallas Stars

The Stars faced a bit of a salary cap crunch this offseason and it has shown to start this season. With the Pacific Division looking weak, the Central Division is looking poised to send five teams to the playoffs which could be to the Stars benefit.

14. New York Rangers

Despite the injury to superstar goalie Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers have still been keeping up in the playoff race. Former number one pick Alexis Lafreniere is having the best start of his career netting 22 points in 21 games.

15. Winnipeg Jets

If these power rankings were created two weeks ago, the Jets would’ve been near the bottom of the list, but six straight wins, including two comeback victories when down four goals, lands the Jets in the top half of the list.

16. Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks paid a lot of money to keep Leo Carlsson in Anaheim and so far he is proving to be worth every penny. The forward has 26 points in just 19 games which has him on pace for the first 100 point season of his career.

17. Utah Mammoth

It has been a massive collapse for the Mammoth since their hot start to the season. With last night's loss to San Jose, the losing streak for Utah reached five games, the only silver lining being that three of those losses came beyond regulation.

18. Washington Capitals

The last hurrah for Alexander Ovechkin has been off to a bad start for the Capitals. Ovechkin only has one goal in 18 games, the Russian winger has never had a season under 20 goals in his career.

19. New York Islanders

The Islanders got a recent boost with Mathew Barzal making his season debut last night in a victory against the Ducks. The Isles are in a weak Metropolitan Division and could easily make a push for the third place spot.

20. St Louis Blues

The Blues are quickly finding themselves chasing the rest of the Central Division for a playoff spot. Goalie Joel Hofer has looked impressive and has had two shutouts which has him tied with six other players for the second most in the NHL.

21. Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres broke their 14 season playoff drought last season, but currently look like they may miss the postseason once again this year. The Sabres are currently on a four-game losing streak and with how competitive the Atlantic Division is, the Sabres will have to put in work to catch up to the top.

22. Seattle Kraken

The Kraken have sunk down the Pacific Division after a great start. With the third spot in the division looking open for the taking, the Kraken could jump back into the playoff picture with a good stretch of games.

23. Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings now hold the longest playoff drought in the NHL after Buffalo’s playoff appearance last season. The Wings have still yet to trade former captain Dylan Larkin whose trade request has been the center of attention in Detroit.

24. San Jose Sharks

Bonus hockey has been regular in San Jose as the Sharks have struggled to win games in regulation so far this season. Seven of the Shark’s nine wins have come beyond regulation.

25. Toronto Maple Leafs

It has once again been a struggle for the Leafs who currently are winless in the month of November. First overall pick Gavin McKenna has 13 points in 22 games, but hasn’t boosted Toronto back into the playoff picture.

26. Calgary Flames

The last season in the Saddledome for the Flames has had a subpar start. The Flames have performed above the last-place expectations many had for them, but playoffs still appear to be out of the picture for this season.

27. Pittsburgh Penguins

Sidney Crosby entered this season holding an NHL record 21 season point-per-game streak which is in jeopardy of ending. Crosby has only 13 points in 20 games so far and his struggles have been a factor in the Pens rough start.

28. Philadelphia Flyers

Star forward Matvei Michkov recently requested a trade from the Flyers. The Russian winger is one of the few bright spots on the Flyers this season, his 11 goals is more than double the next closest player on the team, Trevor Zegras, who has five goals.

29. Columbus Blue Jackets

The Jackets currently occupy the basement of the Eastern Conference and have struggled to find convincing wins. Five of the seven wins for Columbus have come beyond regulation.

30. Los Angeles Kings

The impact of Anze Kopitar’s retirement has been felt significantly for the Kings early on in the season. Artemi Panarin might be the only thing keeping the Kings out of last place, the Russian leads the team in both goals and assists through the team's first 18 games.

31. Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks blew a four-goal lead to the Jets last night which marks 10 losses in Chicago’s last 12 games. Connor Bedard missed the first six games of the season with injury, but still leads the Hawks in points, totaling 17 in just 14 games.

32. Vancouver Canucks

The first week of the season feels like a lifetime ago for the Canucks. Since their 2-1 start, Vancouver has just won one game, a 6-5 overtime victory against the Ducks.

Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky and Instagram for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google