![\"NHL](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/McDavid-1-640x360.jpg\")
NHL on Sportsnet<\/p>\nJust a handful of games separate the NHL\u2019s 32 clubs from the new campaign\u2019s quarter mark. And the first chapter of 2025-26 has no doubt been a memorable one.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve seen San Jose\u2019s Macklin Celebrini and Chicago\u2019s Connor Bedard emerge as the talismans their clubs hoped they would be, while Leo Carlsson has Anaheim flying high. With Bedard\u2019s 10th goal potted Wednesday night, the three young phenoms sit tied for second in the Art Ross race with 26 points apiece.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Out east, we\u2019ve seen the Pittsburgh Penguins shake off rumours of a Sidney Crosby trade, and turn their sights on a post-season return instead. Clocking in at a combined age of 77, Nos. 87 and 71 have been in vintage form, both sitting among the game\u2019s top 20 scorers to this point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And on the other side of the scale, we\u2019ve seen a slew of recent heavyweights \u2014\u00a0Toronto, Florida, Washington and Minnesota \u2014\u00a0all mired in the bottom half of the standings after disastrous starts, with snowballing injury issues set to make the climb back up even tougher.<\/p>\n
NHL on Sportsnet<\/p>\n
Livestream Hockey Night in Canada, Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey, the Oilers, Flames, Canucks, out-of-market matchups, the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NHL Draft.<\/p>\n
Broadcast schedule<\/a><\/p>\n All that, and we still have three quarters of the season still to play. Before we get there, for this week\u2019s Power Rankings we’re checking in on how each team has looked through the first quarter of 2025-26.<\/p>\n 1. Colorado Avalanche (11-1-5):\u00a0A relentless start from Nathan MacKinnon has the Avs on Presidents\u2019 Trophy watch through the early going of the campaign. The 30-year-old has come out flying in 2025-26, putting up an absurd 14 goals and 32 points through his club\u2019s first 17 games \u2014\u00a012 of those came courtesy of a recent three-game tear alone. By no coincidence, Colorado has earned points in a league-best 16 of 17 games so far this year.<\/p>\n 2. Anaheim Ducks (11-4-1):\u00a0After seven seasons in the West\u2019s basement, Anaheim\u2019s youth movement is finally beginning to take. Twenty-year-old Leo Carlsson and 21-year-old Cutter Gauthier both have eyes on career years \u2014\u00a0Carlsson sits second in league scoring, while Gauthier sits tied for fourth in goals league-wide \u2014\u00a0and the club\u2019s offence as a whole has been among the league\u2019s most prolific so far. This time last year, the Ducks sat tied for last place in the West \u2014\u00a0this time around, they sit second, keeping pace with behemoths Colorado and Dallas.<\/p>\n 3. New Jersey Devils (12-4-1):\u00a0An eight-game win streak in the first month of the campaign announced the Devils\u2019 intentions this season. After some rollercoaster results over the past few seasons, Jack Hughes\u2019 squad looks to have rediscovered the form they showed three years ago, when they finished among the league\u2019s best. They\u2019re back there now, Jersey having collected a league-best 12 wins to this point.<\/p>\n 4. Dallas Stars (10-4-3):\u00a0A full season of Mikko Rantanen in Dallas seemed like it could be a game-changer for a Stars team that had already established itself as a bona fide contender. So far, No. 96 has delivered, putting up 23 points through Dallas\u2019s first 17 games \u2014\u00a0good for seventh-best league-wide \u2014\u00a0while a healthy Miro Heiskanen has brought some magic back to the Stars\u2019 blue line, too.<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0Carolina Hurricanes (11-5-0):\u00a0Adversity has come for the Canes early, as the club\u2019s been forced to navigate a a rash of blue-line injuries, none more impactful than the loss of veteran back-end stalwart Jaccob Slavin. But the emergence of rookie defender Alexander Nikishin, who\u2019s already averaging over 20 minutes a night, has helped steady the ship.<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0Winnipeg Jets<\/a> (10-6-0):\u00a0Fresh off a Presidents\u2019 Trophy winning 2024-25 campaign, the Jets haven\u2019t had quite the electric start they did a year ago. Still, the club\u2019s leaders are delivering early, with Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Connor Hellebuyck all off to fine starts, and Jonathan Toews making his presence known with his hometown club, too.<\/p>\n 7. Montreal Canadiens<\/a> (10-4-2):\u00a0An uneven November has slowed their momentum some, but the Canadiens have looked like one of the East\u2019s most dangerous groups through the early going of 2025-26. Cole Caufield leads the league in even-strength tallies, and is just a pair off the overall lead, too; Nick Suzuki may be playing his way onto Team Canada; and the addition of Calder favourite Ivan Demidov has the club\u2019s power play humming.<\/p>\n 8. Pittsburgh Penguins (9-5-3):\u00a0No club in the league has had a more surprising first quarter than the Penguins. Written off before the season began, expected to flounder in the basement once again, the Pens have turned back the clock and started 2025-26 as one of the East\u2019s best. New head coach Dan Muse has had an immense impact so far, as has rookie Ben Kindel. Add in some timeless performances from Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson \u2014 who have Pittsburgh\u2019s power play ranking No. 1 league-wide\u00a0\u2014 and the black-and-gold have eyes on an unexpected return to the post-season.<\/p>\n Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.<\/p>\n Latest episode<\/a><\/p>\n 9. Boston Bruins (11-7-0):\u00a0You\u2019d be hard-pressed to find a more rollercoaster start to a campaign than the one Boston\u2019s managed so far. A six-game losing streak in the season\u2019s opening month had the B\u2019s looking sunk \u2014\u00a0they answered with a seven-game win streak that put them right back in the thick of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n 10. Vegas Golden Knights (7-4-4):\u00a0Adding 100-point two-way phenom Mitch Marner to the mix was supposed to make Vegas unstoppable in the West. But injuries have derailed that vision so far, with Mark Stone, Adin Hill, and William Karlsson all sidelined, and the Knights already navigating life without Alex Pietrangelo, too. Add in Anaheim and San Jose charging up the division standings, and Vegas is facing a stiffer test in the Pacific than they have in years.<\/p>\n 11. Tampa Bay Lightning (8-6-2):\u00a0After a wobbly start, the Bolts have stabilized and reeled off seven wins in their past nine games, righting the ship before getting buried in the East. Still, the early stumbles have Tampa Bay mired in the wild-card race, the veterans having to contend with a number of younger, hungrier up-and-comers rising up the ranks.<\/p>\n 12. Los Angeles Kings (8-5-4):\u00a0After watching Corey Perry cut short their post-season two years in a row wearing Edmonton Oilers<\/a> colours, the Kings brought the veteran to Los Angeles to snag some of his big-game magic. He\u2019s wound up a key addition so far, Perry ranking among L.A.\u2019s top scorers to start the year, and their top goal-scorer at even-strength. That aside, it\u2019s been an up-and-down opening month for L.A. in a division that\u2019s started to see a changing of the guard.<\/p>\n 13. San Jose Sharks (8-6-3):\u00a0Speaking of that changing of the guard, the Sharks look dead set on upending the Pacific this season. Macklin Celebrini has looked downright dominant so far, the 2024 first-overall pick already blossoming into the game-changer San Jose drafted him to be. There\u2019s plenty of race still to run, but after six years on the outside looking in, the Sharks seem to finally have some juice.<\/p>\n 14.\u00a0Florida Panthers (8-7-1):\u00a0For a club missing their two top talents and two most important leaders \u2014\u00a0Aleksander Barkov, who\u2019s likely out for the season; and Matthew Tkachuk, who\u2019s working his way back from off-season surgery \u2014\u00a0the Panthers could be in far more dire straits. It\u2019s been expectedly tumultuous for the Cats as they\u2019ve navigated the injury situation, but there\u2019s little doubt Florida\u2019s playing the long game here. Just get to the playoffs, and then all bets are off.<\/p>\n 15. Washington Capitals (8-7-1):\u00a0After a wild 2024-25 resurgence that saw them finish with the Eastern crown, the Caps have fallen back to earth. A dip that began in late October and stretched into the beginning of this month saw Alex Ovechkin\u2019s club drop six of seven games, pushing the Caps into a tie for last place in the Metro.<\/p>\n 16. Utah Mammoth (10-7-0):\u00a0For a moment there, it looked like this was going to be the year of the Mammoth, the newly-named Utah squad coming out of the gates hot and ranking as one the West\u2019s best by the end of October. A recent stretch of five losses in six games has cooled that ascent, knocking them back into wild-card territory for now.<\/p>\n 17. Chicago Blackhawks (8-5-4):\u00a0Like Anaheim and San Jose, the young core in Chicago seems to finally be taking a step, led by 2023 first-overall talisman Connor Bedard. The 20-year-old is off to the best start of his career in Year 3, sitting tied for second in league scoring with 10 goals and 26 points through 17 games \u2014\u00a0an early pace that would have No. 98 finishing well above the century mark by the year\u2019s end if it holds.<\/p>\n 18. Ottawa Senators<\/a> (8-5-4):\u00a0A month without captain Brady Tkachuk has stymied the Senators\u2019 pursuit of progress so far in 2025-26. Still, with the Atlantic Division\u2019s usual top dogs all mired in mediocrity, Ottawa\u2019s holding strong amid the top three. Key to that early success: a strong start from Sens leading scorer Drake Batherson, who has 17 points through 14 games to start the year.<\/p>\n 19. Seattle Kraken (7-4-5):\u00a0The Kraken are hanging around the post-season picture early, but through the first quarter of the campaign, the cracks are beginning to show in Seattle. The club is scoring the second-fewest goals per game of any team in the league, and putting the fourth-fewest shots on net. They have yet to string more than a couple wins together at a time, and with San Jose and Vegas nipping at their heels in the Pacific, a slide down the standings could come quickly if the Kraken can\u2019t raise their level.<\/p>\n 20. Edmonton Oilers (8-6-4):\u00a0The Oilers faithful should be grateful that Connor McDavid already put pen to paper on a new deal. Because if the captain was judging the organization\u2019s future potential on this season\u2019s results, Edmonton\u2019s run of form so far \u2014\u00a0decidedly middling, punctuated by a 9-1 shellacking at the hands of the Avs \u2014\u00a0would inspire little hope. The issues seem clear, and the Oilers brass are running out of time to find solutions.<\/p>\n 21. Minnesota Wild (7-7-4):\u00a0Speaking of hefty new contracts, a .500 start to the season \u2014 which has Minnesota sitting outside of the playoff picture in mid-November \u2014\u00a0was likely not what the Wild were envisioning when they inked Kirill Kaprizov to the most lucrative contract in NHL history. No. 97\u2019s done his part, sitting top-10 in league scoring with 10 goals and 22 points through 18 games, and the Wild have seemingly begun to turn the corner. But a brutal October has left them a tough hole to dig their way out of.<\/p>\n 22.\u00a0 Vancouver Canucks<\/a> (8-9-1):\u00a0The Canucks entered the new season desperate for a bounceback campaign after a tumultuous 2024-25 derailed by off-ice chaos. The stakes couldn\u2019t be clearer in 2025-26, with captain Quinn Hughes\u2019 future in Vancouver seemingly hanging in the balance. But it hasn\u2019t looked great so far, the Canucks sitting second-last in their division and fourth-last in the West overall with a quarter of the campaign in the books.<\/p>\n 23.\u00a0 Detroit Red Wings (9-7-0):\u00a0Like Utah, the opening month of the season had us thinking the Yzerplan was finally working out, the Red Wings having finished October tied for second in the East. A return to the playoffs after nearly a decade out might still come, but a recent slide has Detroit back in the middle of the pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"32](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/32-Thoughts-podcast-Elliotte-Friedman-Kyle-Bukauskas-640x360.jpg\")
32 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\n