It’s common for fans of a sport not to notice that they are in a golden age until they look back nostalgically at the players they watched some twenty years prior. While you can always argue about what players, teams, or even decades were the best hockey has ever seen, there’s no doubt that the NHL is seeing truly special play on the ice, and two achievements this week encapsulate the greatness we are watching.
First, arguably the greatest player in all of hockey completed their next mind-breaking feat this week, as Connor McDavid became the fourth fastest player all-time to post 1,000 points. In just his 659th game played, McDavid joins a list of legends behind only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Mike Bossy. Given his incredible pace so far, it would come as no surprise if we are discussing 2,000 points before he reaches age 35.
The second record-setting performance this week came from Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who became the fastest goalie to 300 wins in NHL history. It almost feels like the hockey world got bored of Vaslievskiy’s greatness after he won the 2021 Conn Smythe Trophy, but he has been in the background accumulating wins and at the very least, backstopping the Lightning to the playoffs.
So, this is just a reminder that between McDavid and Vasilevskiy we are getting to watch two all-time great players at their positions build their hall-of-fame credentials live each week.
However, with the record-setting conversations over, we still have much to discuss for Week 6 of THW’s NHL Power Rankings. I asked for clarity last week, and I think I’m starting to get some more after another eventful week of hockey.
32-20: Redwings and Predators Bottoming Out
32. Nashville Predators (Previously: 25)
31. Chicago Blackhawks (Previously: 29)
30. Anaheim Ducks (Previously: 30)
29. Montreal Canadiens (Previously: 32)
28. San Jose Sharks (Previously: 27)
27. Columbus Blue Jackets (Previously: 31)
26. Pittsburgh Penguins (Previously: 26)
25. Detroit Red Wings (Previously: 16)
24. Philadelphia Flyers (Previously: 28)
23. St. Louis Blues (Previously: 16)
22. Ottawa Senators (Previously: 16)
21. Utah Hockey Club (Previously: 23)
20. Buffalo Sabres (Previously: 16)
I’m going to pull the curtain back here a moment to explain that I typically prepare this article on Sunday afternoon, and then I will make some adjustments Monday morning based on the late games that take place on Sunday, which rarely have a huge effect on my opinions, but can sway things a bit. I believe it is important to make this note because, at the time of this writing, the Predators are tied with the Blackhawks for last place in the NHL. However, after pulling out a win against the Vancouver Canucks, they jumped to 26th overall and are now tied with the Red Wings at 15 points.
In many ways, it feels indicative of where both the Predators and Red Wings are at in their seasons when we are discussing 26th overall in the league as an improvement. Heading into the 2024-25 season, I had high hopes for both franchises, as I thought Detroit would crack the playoffs and the Predators were my pick for the 2025 Stanley Cup. As we approach 20 games into the season, nothing has gone right for either team, and I have to wonder when calls for change will start ringing through their home buildings.
While it may feel impossible, there is a real chance that the Red Wings will have to fire team legend and current general manager Steve Yzerman if things don’t turn around fast, along with their coaching staff. For Nashville, Barry Trotz is already threatening to rebuild after spending big this offseason with expectations of the Stanley Cup.
Needless to say, this is not the conversation I was expecting to have for either team heading into the 2024-25 season. Yes, we’ve seen big turnarounds before from a floundering franchise, but you can’t expect the 2019 St. Louis Blues or 2024 Edmonton Oilers to happen every season, let alone twice.
19-13: Kraken Finding Success With Stable Goaltending
19. Boston Bruins (Previously: 16)
18. New York Islanders (Previously: 16)
17. Colorado Avalanche (Previously: 16)
16. Seattle Kraken (Previously: 24)
15. Calgary Flames (Previously: 16)
14. Tampa Bay Lightning (Previously: 16)
13. Edmonton Oilers (Previously: 16)
I will always find the Kraken to be a fascinating team, as they seem to struggle at times to evaluate veteran talent in free agency, but they also seem to understand what it takes to let young players develop into their game. The perfect example of this is signing Philipp Grubauer to a massive contract to be one of their franchise faces in net, only to have him struggle immediately and eventually be replaced by Joey Daccord, who was an original expansion draft pick.
However, Daccord has been far more than just a replacement-level goaltender for Seattle, as he appears to be a true starter after a break out 2023-24 season and continued success in 2024-25. With an 8-3-1 record and a .918 save percentage, there’s a real argument that he is a rising star in the league who could start making noise in the Vezina conversation if he can keep this play up. Now, he’s still a long way from cracking that race, but the conversation will be worth having.
Elsewhere in the middle of the Rankings, the Lightning appear to be getting used to life without Brayden Point, who has missed four straight after suffering an injury early in their game on November 3rd. It should come as no surprise that losing your top-line center will cause some struggles for a team, but Tampa Bay pulled off back-to-back dominant wins after having a week off, so they might be heading in the right direction again.
I’m also still uncertain about the Avalanche, who just can’t seem to find consistency this season. Their roster is starting to get healthy again, however, so hopefully that will be exactly what they need to get back into their expected Stanley Cup form.
12-1: NHL’s Best Showcasing Parity
12. Vancouver Canucks (Previously: 12)
11. Los Angeles Kings (Previously: 8)
10. Minnesota Wild (Previously: 4)
9. New Jersey Devils (Previously: 10)
8. Washington Capitals (Previously: 6)
7. Toronto Maple Leafs (Previously: 9)
6. Dallas Stars (Previously: 11)
5. Vegas Golden Knights (Previously: 7)
4. New York Rangers (Previously: 5)
3. Winnipeg Jets (Previously: 1)
2. Florida Panthers (Previously: 2)
1. Carolina Hurricanes (Previously: 3)
When you get to the top of the Rankings, you can’t consider every outcome in a week as teams will eventually lose games over the course of an 82-game season. Sometimes you have to pull back and take a larger look at the overall picture and ask how the team looked in their win, why they lost, and was that just a fluke?
After all this consideration, I came to the conclusion that the Hurricanes were my #1 team this week. Carolina has been on an absolute heater this season, and despite injuries tearing apart their goaltending corps, they still managed to pull out a shutout win against the Senators with third-stringer Spencer Martin in the net. There’s a lot of good happening for this team, and while they may get overlooked at times, you can’t forget them when discussing the best the NHL has to offer.
Other notes from the week include: the Jets weren’t ready to winter in Florida yet, as they dropped both games in the Sunshine State this week for their first losing streak of the season (but they can blame it on it being 90 degrees down here in November). The Panthers hate playing New Jersey, as they got smacked by the Devils in back-to-back games before shutting out Winnipeg on Saturday. And the Stars are getting over their recent slump with solid play and great goaltending propping up another winning streak.
Waiting on Records For the 2024-25 NHL Season
With two big records falling this week, one can’t help but be excited for the future of the 2024-25 NHL season. However, we are quickly approaching a milestone event in the season… American Thanksgiving. Like it or not, this holiday is often used as a measuring stick for a team’s progress to start the season.
Related: NHL Rumors: Oilers, Penguins, Blues, Flames
With less than two weeks before Thanksgiving, I expect a lot of jostling to take place. It feels like we are overdue for a panicked coaching change for a slow-starting team so I would not be surprised if that happens before the end of the month. When it does, I will make sure to cover it hear on next weeks Power Rankings!