Much like a team knocking the rust off throughout the start of the season, I feel like it takes a few weeks before I start to get a real feel for which teams across the NHL are good, bad, and everywhere in between. Every year we see surprising starts that will bait you into believing a franchise is playoff-bound or on its way to selling every player who isn’t nailed down at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.
Now that we are three weeks into the 2024-25 season, you’re starting to understand the general vibe from many teams. The hot starts are fading, the goaltending is stabilizing, and soon games will better resemble a structured NHL product instead of the highly amusing pond hockey you often see in the first 10 to 15 games each season.
All this to say, we are still in that timeframe of big changes each week. With so little of the picture in front of us, it’s easy for a team to take a wild swing after just three or four games. Hopefully, things will stabilize in the coming weeks, but for now, I hope you enjoy Week 3 of THW’s 2024-25 NHL Power Rankings.
32-25: Penguins Heading for Rock Bottom
32. San Jose Sharks (Previously: 32)
31. Chicago Blackhawks (Previously: 29)
30. Philadelphia Flyers (Previously: 31)
29. Pittsburgh Penguins (Previously: 23)
28. Columbus Blue Jackets (Previously: 30)
27. Anaheim Ducks (Previously: 27)
26. Montreal Canadiens (Previously: 26)
The time for change may finally be upon us for the Penguins. All great dynasties must one day fall, and after missing the playoffs for two straight years, Pittsburgh has experienced a bit of a worst-case scenario start to the 2024-25 NHL season. While some players are playing great (Evgeni Malkin has turned back the clock again), the team as a whole are floundering on the ice, with blown leads and bad goaltending. Under normal circumstances, this start would likely lead to a change behind the bench, but that seems unlikely to happen, so for now the franchise may be a bit stuck in its memories, waiting for contracts to expire before real change can be made.
I also have to call out the Sharks on this week’s Rankings, as they are so much worse than I was expecting. Heading into the season, I thought the franchise made some great signings to boost their depth while having a well of young talent making the step to the NHL stage. Now, for the second straight season, they’ve started without a win in their first eight games, an honor that hasn’t happened since the 1960’s. When your head coach calls your games ‘truly embarrassing’ you know things are not going well.
25-10: NHL’s Atlantic Division Woes
25. New York Islanders (Previously: 19)
24. Detroit Red Wings (Previously: 24)
23. Buffalo Sabres (Previously: 28)
22. Nashville Predators (Previously: 25)
21. Edmonton Oilers (Previously: 21)
20. Toronto Maple Leafs (Previously: 8)
19. Boston Bruins (Previously: 7)
18. Seattle Kraken (Previously: 14)
17. Utah Hockey Club (Previously: 6)
16. Ottawa Senators (Previously: 20)
15. Calgary Flames (Previously: 11)
14. Colorado Avalanche (Previously: 22)
13. Los Angeles Kings (Previously: 17)
12. St. Louis Blues (Previously: 13)
11. Washington Capitals (Previously: 15)
10. Tampa Bay Lightning (Previously: 9)
If you root for a team playing in the Atlantic Division, you likely had a very weird week. It all started on Monday when the Maple Leafs and Lightning had a stand-alone game that saw Toronto dominate their divisional foe and seemingly set themselves up as a contender… before losing their next three games in embarrassing fashion. One of those losses came to the Bruins, who also had a miserable week before that win, with rumors of change finding their way around the league. Oh and Tampa Bay followed that bad loss with a 2-1-0 week, including a shutout win and a win where they scored eight goals because of course they did.
Elsewhere in the division, the Sabres have won three straight games and are looking like a team heading in the right direction after a bad start to the season. You also have to call out the Senators and Red Wings, who posted shutouts this week and are also looking like they are ready to take that next step into contention (even if Detroit’s shutout was a bit one-sided). If they aren’t careful, Toronto, Boston, and Tampa Bay may all find themselves in a real fight for playoff positioning this season.
Outside the Atlantic, things are starting to get back to ‘normal’ in the middle of the Rankings. The Predators have won three straight and got out of the bottom section, the Utah Hockey Club and Kraken have come back to reality against stronger opponents, and the Capitals were on a tear before getting blanked by the Lightning on Saturday. Oh, and the Avalanche have stabilized their goaltending against lesser opponents, leading them to five-straight wins
9-1: Balancing the NHL’s Best Franchises.
9. New Jersey Devils (Previously: 4)
8. Vancouver Canucks (Previously: 16)
7. Vegas Golden Knights (Previously: 12)
6. Minnesota Wild (Previously: 18)
5. Carolina Hurricanes (Previously: 10)
4. Florida Panthers (Previously: 5)
3. Dallas Stars (Previously: 3)
2. New York Rangers (Previously: 2)
1. Winnipeg Jets (Previously: 1)
At the start of the 2024-25 season, I thought the Wild were going to be an okay team. They had talent, for sure, but didn’t seem like the kind of team that would challenge for the playoffs. Well, they kicked things off with a 5-1-2 record, which included not trailing in regulation gameplay until game seven. There’s a chance this is just a hot start and they will start filtering back down to a mid-tier team, but I wanted to give the franchise their flowers this week, as I was not expecting this kind of play out of them.
Besides the surprising Wild, the top of the Rankings have a few other unexpected outcomes so far this season. First, the Golden Knights are the highest-scoring team in the NHL, as they are averaging nearly five goals scored per game, and have some goofy statistics like Alex Pietrangelo scoring eight points this week, making him the second-highest-scoring defenseman in the league at the time this article was written.
Secondly, the Devils were in a bit of a freefall after their great start to the season. The team gave up goals in bunches, to the tune of 17 goals against in three games played this week before holding the Ducks to two on Sunday. That’s not going to cut it for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.
You also can point to the Hurricanes, Jets, Stars, and Rangers who keep plugging along and staking their claim as the best team in the NHL.
Fun Times Coming to the 2024-25 NHL Power Rankings
After the drama-filled 2023-24 NHL season, the start so far has felt a bit more normal. Yes, there is still a lot happening each week, but I’m really not expecting a team to fire a coach anytime soon, or start making panicked trades to try and salvage their season after a few weeks.
Related: 2024-25 NHL Season Preview
However, November is right around the corner, and teams are starting to hit the 10-game milestone. This is a time when general managers can get itchy feet, as a struggling team all season could make ownership look for a new voice not just behind the bench but up top as well. If moves start to happen, then we will excitedly break them down next week on THW’s 2024-25 NHL Power Rankings.