Nine weeks into the 2025-26 NHL Season, I can confidently say that this is the noisiest the NHL has been for how little is happening off the ice. Every day, there is a new rumor of a struggling team in need of a piece trying to swing a big trade, or a rebuilding franchise refusing to admit they are rebuilding despite (allegedly) having their players on the trade market.
With the 2026 Olympic Break looming and injuries piling up due to a condensed schedule, it felt like something should have happened by now. Last season, we saw multiple coaches fired and pretty sizable trades go down before December. However, I feel like the Grinch on Christmas Day, complaining about all the noise, noise, noise, while waiting for something to happen before the roster freeze goes into effect December 20th-27th.
There’s still time for those dominoes to start falling, but with the standings so close and overtime hockey taking over the league, almost every team in the NHL is within striking distance of a playoff spot. Due to this, general managers may remain cautious about throwing in the towel right now. I get the feeling the first team that does will be rewarded handsomely with a big haul of future assets, but no one wants to pull the chute when you’re still close to breaking through.
All this parity on the ice and lack of movement off it has created a bit of a situation in the Rankings this week. While there are still a few clear good and bad teams, for the most part, I think you can make a strong argument that almost any team could be ranked like 25th through 8th, and I could be persuaded to agree.
So, with a bit of a mushy Rankings ahead of us, let’s tighten things down and dive into Week 9 of THW’s 2025-26 NHL Power Rankings!
32-18: Canucks Ready to Rebuild?
32. Vancouver Canucks (Previously: 31)
31. Nashville Predators (Previously: 32)
30. Buffalo Sabres (Previously: 26)
29. Chicago Blackhawks (Previously: 28)
28. St. Louis Blues (Previously: 29)
27. Calgary Flames (Previously: 30)
26. Columbus Blue Jackets (Previously: 27)
25. Winnipeg Jets (Previously: 23)
24. Seattle Kraken (Previously: 16)
23. Utah Mammoth (Previously: 25)
22. San Jose Sharks (Previously: 17)
21. Florida Panthers (Previously: 24)
20. Edmonton Oilers (Previously: 22)
19. Toronto Maple Leafs (Previously: 21)
18. New York Rangers (Previously: 20)
When discussing teams making the most noise right now, I instantly thought of the Canucks, who are massively underperforming this season and are currently ranked last on this list (despite a solid win Saturday). This franchise is the definition of dysfunction right now, which has led many to speculate that they will look to make big moves. Now, some of these moves make perfect sense, like selling high on an overperforming Kiefer Sherwood, but others are a bit harder to picture.
Of course, I’m talking about trading Quinn Hughes, who is arguably the second-best defenseman in the NHL right now when healthy. He is the kind of player who rarely hits the trade market, and when they do, they bring back massive hauls. It would be a bold move to trade Hughes this season, and I just can’t see it happening, even if I expect we will hear about it every day until a trade happens or he re-signs in Vancouver.
Elsewhere at the bottom of the Rankings, this week felt like a lot of missed opportunities. The Rangers, Maple Leafs, Oilers, and Mammoth all had some great games that felt like they were turning the corner, but none of these teams could maintain their winning streaks all week. Due to this, I didn’t feel compelled to move any of these teams out of the bottom of the Rankings, so I instead chose to expand this section.
I have to reiterate, I think a lot of teams in the NHL are playing poorly right now, and I could probably add even more in the bottom section.
17-7: Devils Collapsing Under Injuries
17. New Jersey Devils (Previously: 7)
16. Ottawa Senators (Previously: 14)
15. Detroit Red Wings (Previously: 19)
14. Pittsburgh Penguins (Previously: 18)
13. Montreal Canadiens (Previously: 15)
12. Los Angeles Kings (Previously: 9)
11. Tampa Bay Lightning (Previously: 4)
10. Boston Bruins (Previously: 8)
9. Philadelphia Flyers (Previously: 11)
8. Vegas Golden Knights (Previously: 12)
7. New York Islanders (Previously: 13)
Just a few weeks ago, the Devils were at the top of the standings, and they looked like a lock for the 2026 Playoffs. The team features a dynamic forward corps, a young and talented defensive unit, along with two solid goaltenders, after all, so they seemed like an easy pick to make it out of the Metropolitan Division.
Now, after a freak injury to star forward Jack Hughes and the complete collapse of Jacob Markstrom (who is one of the worst statistical goalies in the league this season), New Jersey is starting to come apart at its seams. The team has lost five straight games, and they looked lifeless in their efforts. Things need to change fast to stop this freefall, or they may not be able to recover in time to justify adding to this roster.
When it comes to this portion of the Rankings, I expanded it once again, as I think there are many teams here that are simply good, but don’t deserve to be at the top of the standings. For example, last week I praised the Lightning, and they lost three straight games after suffering significant player losses, with two of these coming to the Islanders. This helped me move New York up the Rankings, but not enough to bring them out of the middle, just yet.
Overall, I’m hoping by next week that teams like the Golden Knights, Islanders, Bruins, and maybe even the Flyers will have enough of a body of work that I can confidently start throwing the word contender around again.
6-1: Avalanche Lost a Regulation Game
6. Minnesota Wild (Previously: 5)
5. Carolina Hurricanes (Previously: 6)
4. Anaheim Ducks (Previously: 3)
3. Washington Capitals (Previously: 10)
2. Dallas Stars (Previously: 2)
1. Colorado Avalanche (Previously: 1)
It finally happened, the Avalanche lost their second game in regulation this week! While it may sound like I’m celebrating a momentous occasion, this is more of a reminder of how good Colorado is. They were on a 17-game points streak, won their next two game, and are clearly the cream of the crop in the league… right?
Well, I want to point out that, despite their incredible run so far, the Avalanche are only three points ahead of the Stars. So hilariously, if they lose two games and Dallas wins two, they would fall to second in their division. Also, even in the best-case scenario, these teams will meet in the second round of the 2026 NHL Playoffs, which just feels wrong given that they are nearly 10 points above third place in the Western Conference. Sometimes the current NHL Playoff format just feels unfair…
For a new team joining the top of the Rankings, I want to welcome the Capitals, who are back at the top of the Eastern Conference. They have been playing great hockey for a few weeks now and have officially erased their slow start to the season. If they keep this up, they could run away with the conference again like they did last season.
Noisy December Ahead for the NHL
With the rumor mill steadily churning out new fodder in the coming weeks, I expect the noise to grow louder every day in December. Now, will it lead to an actual trade taking place? That is a lot harder to predict.
Related: Devils Blockbuster, Jarry Complication, Tippett Unavailable & More NHL Rumours
Heading into the 2025-26 NHL season, I had the expectation that teams would try to get ahead of the trade deadline and Olympic break by making their moves in November and early December. I still think that could happen, but it’s looking just a likely that they may wait it out until February or even the Trade Deadline on Mar. 6th.
So, all we can do for now is sit back and try not to let the noise overwhelm us. There’s still so much hockey to be played, and by Week 10 of THW’s Power Rankings, we may be looking at a new situation entirely if the noise turns into action off the ice.