{"id":1388,"date":"2025-10-13T12:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T12:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/1388\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T12:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T12:31:07","slug":"nhl-weekend-rankings-its-too-early-to-know-anything-except-maybe-in-buffalo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/1388\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL weekend rankings: It\u2019s too early to know anything, except maybe in Buffalo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to the weekend rankings. By my count, this is the eighth year of this column\u2019s lifespan at The Athletic, and it had a few homes before that. How long is eight years? Put it this way: In that debut edition on this site way back in 2018<\/a>, the very first team to be listed in the Stanley Cup contenders section was the San Jose Sharks. They\u2019d just acquired Erik Karlsson, you see, and we all knew there was no way that trade wouldn\u2019t work out great.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a long time ago. But it fits with the theme, because these are the long-range rankings. That makes them a bit different from most of the power rankings you\u2019ll see out there \u2014 we\u2019re not trying to measure who had the best week, or who\u2019d win a game between two teams right now. Instead, it\u2019s about trying to unravel the future and figure out which teams are best positioned for a Cup run and which are headed toward the bottom of the standings.<\/p>\n

And yes, that means your favorite team can win a few games against contenders and not immediately rocket past them in the rankings. I know that\u2019s very upsetting for some of you, but we have resources available in the comment section to help you work through your feelings. (Those resources are other commenters, who will make fun of you.)<\/p>\n

It also means this is way too early to be ranking much of anything, because not enough has happened to really alter our preseason predictions. That\u2019s never stopped us before, and it won\u2019t stop us today. Maybe it will backfire \u2014 last year\u2019s first rankings had the New York Rangers in the top five. Maybe we\u2019ll be a bit too slow to catch on to teams like last year\u2019s Washington Capitals or Winnipeg Jets, or a surprise team like the Montreal Canadiens.<\/p>\n

Recency bias isn\u2019t always wrong, and if you\u2019d prefer a bit more of it in your rankings, Dom and Other Sean will have you covered with their version on Fridays. My advice would be to read both, and then see how (or whether) they converge as the season goes on, but it\u2019s not my job to tell you how to live your life. Have you had any water today? Drink some water.<\/p>\n

Enough preamble. Let\u2019s get to a very weird weekend in the NHL, which saw a night off Friday, just one game Sunday, and the rare full-32 schedule in between.<\/p>\n

Bonus five: Random observations from a packed Saturday night<\/p>\n

5. I haven\u2019t forgotten about the Columbus Blue Jackets bandwagon \u2014 Seven goals against a goalie who just got a bunch of money is a nice sign this team plans to resume causing problems. I\u2019d assume giving up 52 shots against wasn\u2019t part of the game plan, but Kirill Marchenko had a hat trick<\/a> and Elvis Merz\u013cikins had 48 saves, and my math says both of those things are sustainable, so let\u2019s roll.<\/p>\n

4. We might be sleeping on Thatcher Demko as an Olympic factor \u2014 Yes, you figure Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger will get all the starts that matter. Then you see Demko do stuff like this and you wonder \u2026<\/p>\n

3. I\u2019m not remotely worried about the Tampa Bay Lightning \u2014 Sure, they\u2019re 0-2-0 and have given up 10 goals despite opening at home. They\u2019ll be fine. (Note to editors: If they lose in Boston on Monday, delete this and replace with the file called \u201clightning_are_cooked.doc.\u201d)<\/p>\n

2. We love to see a first pick get his first goal \u2014 \u2026 especially when he does it by impersonating a bowling ball.<\/p>\n

Peter Baugh has more on the start of the Matthew Schaefer era<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1. Whatever this was \u2014 I did not have the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks on my must-watch list, but they delivered the best game on the weekend. Sure, why not?<\/p>\n

When Ryan Reaves is out there absolutely dangling, it might be a weird game.<\/p>\n

Did all of those things affect this week\u2019s rankings? Sure, but maybe not as much as you\u2019d expect because again, we\u2019re playing the long game here. Let\u2019s see what that ends up looking like in week one.<\/p>\n

Road to the Cup<\/p>\n

The five teams with the best chances of winning the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n

5. Carolina Hurricanes (2-0-0, +4 true goals differential*) \u2014 After winning two at home, they\u2019re off to the West Coast to start a six-game trip. With the three California teams up next, it\u2019s not hard to imagine the Hurricanes sitting at 5-0-0 heading into an early showdown with the Vegas Golden Knights in a week.<\/p>\n

4. Edmonton Oilers (1-0-1, +2) \u2014 Yes, we all immediately panicked during the opener when that play happened<\/a>. But they\u2019ve been fine, and will probably flip back and forth with Vegas all season long as the Pacific rep in the top five. With the Knights losing two of three, the Oilers get first dibs.<\/p>\n

3. Colorado Avalanche (2-0-1, +4) \u2014 It was fun to see them get the Dallas Stars, a nice appetizer for the playoff rematch we\u2019re all expecting in the spring. Not as fun: realizing these two teams don\u2019t meet again until March.<\/p>\n

2. Dallas Stars (2-0-0, +1) \u2014 Beating the Jets and the Avs on the road is impressive, even if shootout wins are mostly fake. They\u2019ve got the Minnesota Wild in the home opener Tuesday, and 6 points against that trio of teams would certainly send an early message about where the path out of the Central Division runs.<\/p>\n

1. Florida Panthers (3-0-0, +6) \u2014 Here\u2019s a free prediction: The Panthers are going to be the toughest team to rank this year, at least as far as a long-term outcome.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll be missing Sasha Barkov for probably the entire regular season, and Matthew Tkachuk for most of it. And they\u2019ve shown us in recent years they don\u2019t really care where they finish in the standings. (Last year, they went into the playoffs as the 11 seed.) It won\u2019t surprise anyone to see them stumble through a mediocre season, maybe even hanging closer to a wild-card spot than a division title, at least until they\u2019re healthy. But assuming they make the playoffs, will anyone want to pick against them? Doubtful.<\/p>\n

How do you rank that? I\u2019m not really sure. Luckily for me, they looked good enough in week one that I can put them in the top five without any controversy. But at some point, they\u2019re going to be an issue, and I\u2019m guessing they won\u2019t apologize for it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

*Goals differential without counting shootout decisions as the NHL does for some reason.<\/p>\n

Not ranked: Boston Bruins \u2014 Ho hum, just sitting at 3-0-0, the only team besides the defending champs at that mark.<\/p>\n

And no, it doesn\u2019t get them into the top five. It doesn\u2019t get them anywhere close, in fact. (This is your reminder that \u201cnot ranked\u201d does not mean \u201csixth.\u201d) If you\u2019re looking at the long term, you\u2019re not going to pretend that a 76-point team suddenly pushed to the front of the Cup chase based on one good week.<\/p>\n

But the Bruins are worth talking about, and maybe the conversation should start with whether this was really a 76-point team last year. On the one hand, they absolutely were, because you are what your record says you are. But last year was also a strange one in Boston, where just about everything that could go wrong did, from the Jeremy Swayman contract debacle to Charlie McAvoy\u2019s weird injury situation to the deadline sell-off. It\u2019s easy to forget that on paper, this is still a team that should have enough talent to at least stay in the playoff race.<\/p>\n

So far so good, although those wins came against the Caps, Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres, and they needed OT to get past Chicago. You can only beat the teams the schedule gives you, but we\u2019ll learn more this week, starting Monday when the Bruins host the Lightning. After that, it\u2019s on to road stops in Vegas and Colorado. Beat a few of those teams, and then we can talk about early-season surprises. Until then, we might at least have our early Jack Adams favorite<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The bottom five<\/p>\n

The five teams headed toward dead last and the best lottery odds for Gavin McKenna.<\/p>\n

Some years, we\u2019re not sure which prospect teams might end up tanking for. Not this year, where Penn State forward Gavin McKenna is already penciled in as next year\u2019s top pick. If you missed it, be sure to check out Gentille\u2019s piece on the freshman\u2019s heavily hyped college debut<\/a>.<\/p>\n

5. Seattle Kraken (2-0-0, +3) \u2014 Here\u2019s our annual \u201cunbeaten team that still shows up in the bottom five.\u201d Enjoy it, Kraken fans, it means you either get to make fun of me all year long or forget this ever happened when 2-4 a week from now.<\/p>\n

4. Philadelphia Flyers (0-1-1, -2) \u2014 The early schedule is tough, and a pair of one-goal losses is something you can maybe build on. Dan Vladar looked great in the opener, and even halfway decent goaltending would solve a lot of problems for this team.<\/p>\n

3. Pittsburgh Penguins (2-1-0, -1) \u2014 They looked good through two games, and somewhat less good Saturday against the Rangers in Mike Sullivan\u2019s return<\/a>. Ah, well, Evgeni Malkin\u2019s leading the league in scoring was fun while it lasted.<\/p>\n

\"Pittsburgh's<\/p>\n

\n Evgeni Malkin is off to a blazing start with 5 points in three games. (Charles LeClaire \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

2. San Jose Sharks (0-0-2, -2) \u2014 Two losses, but 2 points, and an early game-of-the-year candidate against the Ducks that made fans of Team Chaos stand up and take notice.<\/p>\n

Also, their owner is apparently paying attention after all, and he had some interesting things to say<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1. Chicago Blackhawks (0-2-1, -3) \u2014 The big question in the bottom five this year: Will any team other than Chicago or San Jose ever get a chance to hold down the one-spot?<\/p>\n

It feels unlikely. They almost pulled it off last year \u2014 the Sabres were the only other team all season to get the \u201ctop\u201d ranking down here, and it was for only one week \u2014 and that was before a summer that saw just about everyone else actually trying to improve.<\/p>\n

Then again, surprises happen. Absolutely nobody went into last year thinking the Predators or Bruins would be in the bottom five conversation, after all. Still, it\u2019s not hard to imagine getting all the way to April having just watched the Sharks and Hawks trade the spot back and forth. Let\u2019s see whether that expectation changes, and how quickly.<\/p>\n

Not ranked: Buffalo Sabres \u2014 Look on the bright side, Sabres fans, at least your owner is terrific<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s about where the good news ends, at least based on the very early returns of yet another make-or-break season. The Sabres opened against two teams that missed the playoffs last year, and dropped both games by a combined score of 7-1. Mix in a major long-term injury<\/a>, and \u2026 yeah. Sabres hockey, feel the excitement.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not in the bottom five, but unlike in the Bruins section up above, I\u2019m not going to lecture you about how they weren\u2019t close. They were. They should be. There\u2019s no real benefit of the doubt here, not after 14 years of misery.<\/p>\n

For now, I\u2019m showing some kindness, which might or might not be influenced by empathy for long-suffering Sabres fans. I\u2019m also factoring in the absence of their starting goalie, which would throw off most teams. We\u2019re not really sure how long Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be out, but it shouldn\u2019t be enough to completely torpedo their season. Then again, Sabres seasons often come pre-torpedoed, so \u2026 we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

This week will be a challenging one, with the Avalanche and Panthers coming to town. They\u2019ve also got meetings with the Ottawa Senators and Habs, two of the teams they\u2019ll need to keep pace with if they\u2019re going to stay near the playoff race. With the Detroit Red Wings up next and then two against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Sabres can\u2019t afford to lose ground in their hunt for the Atlantic\u2019s mushy middle.<\/p>\n

It never makes sense to panic when you\u2019re two games in. But the Sabres are two games and 14 years into this thing, and it\u2019s going to get late very early in Buffalo. Check back next week to see whether we\u2019re already there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to the weekend rankings. By my count, this is the eighth year of this column\u2019s lifespan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2063,2064,2066,2068,92,2069,2070,2065,404,2067,1603,88,90,89,98,2071],"class_list":{"0":"post-1388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-boston-bruins","9":"tag-buffalo-sabres","10":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","11":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","12":"tag-colorado-avalanche","13":"tag-dallas-stars","14":"tag-edmonton-oilers","15":"tag-florida-panthers","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","18":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","19":"tag-san-jose","20":"tag-san-jose-headlines","21":"tag-san-jose-news","22":"tag-san-jose-sharks","23":"tag-seattle-kraken"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}