NHL 2026-27 Power Rankings: Week 3

It’s still far too early in the season to know for certain, but we’re getting a better idea of which teams will have a shot at the Stanley Cup and which ones won’t.

Week 3 of the NHL season saw, most notably, Brady Tkachuk notch back-to-back hat tricks before Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe scored hat tricks of their own. Where does their Florida Panthers club rank? How about the 31 other teams?

32-28: In the Basement

32. Vancouver Canucks (-3)

31. Philadelphia Flyers (+1)

30. Los Angeles Kings (-2)

29. Calgary Flames (+1)

28. Chicago Blackhawks (+3)

Once upon a time, the Vancouver Canucks had a 2-1-0 record with a red-hot offense. Since then, they’ve dropped seven straight and haven’t scored more than two goals in a single game during that stretch. There were some early flashes, but this rendition of the Canucks will probably end up being just as bad as last season’s.

The Los Angeles Kings are the NHL’s final winless team after the Philadelphia Flyers ended their nine-game drought on Saturday. The encouraging news for Los Angeles is that the process was there last week—they posted a 61.82% expected goal share, albeit across just two games. This club’s true ability is far better than 30^th in the league, but until things turn around, this is as high as the Kings can be.

On the flip side, the Chicago Blackhawks got a spark from Connor Bedard’s return, going 2-1-0. The team did, however, get out-chanced by quite a bit, so this is still the right tier for them. But at least Chicago is playing more watchable hockey now.

27-19: Could Compete for a Playoff Spot

27. Columbus Blue Jackets (-4)

26. St. Louis Blues (-4)

25. Nashville Predators (+2)

24. Seattle Kraken (-3)

23. Toronto Maple Leafs (-3)

22. Pittsburgh Penguins (-7)

21. San Jose Sharks (+3)

20. Detroit Red Wings (+6)

19. New York Islanders (+6)

These teams aren’t exactly basement-dwellers, but they’re also probably more likely than not to miss the playoffs. The Seattle Kraken find themselves in a spot as things stand, but they won’t get away with putting up poor possession metrics for much longer. Their only win on the week was a shootout against Philadelphia.

Teams whose placement declined from Week 2 in this tier are the Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, Kraken, St. Louis Blues, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Of those five, I want to spend some time focusing on the Maple Leafs and the Penguins.

Starting with the Maple Leafs, their 5-on-5 metrics have improved somewhat from last season, but this is still not a good team despite the aggressive moves made over the summer. We’ll see how things play out the rest of the way, but replacing Joseph Woll with Sergei Bobrovsky is looking like a regrettable decision. Unless the goaltending turns things around in a big way, this team won’t make the postseason.

The Penguins are an interesting one. They dropped all three of their games in regulation this week, but two of those were on the road against the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights—games in which Pittsburgh had more shots. We can’t assume that their bad goaltending “regresses to the mean,” though, since an Arturs Šilovs and Sergei Murashov tandem was iffy from the get-go.

As for some positives, the Detroit Red Wings seem to be turning things around, even if they sit seventh in the Atlantic Division. A light schedule awaits them in Week 4 (exclusively teams below them in this power ranking), so a big opportunity lies ahead.

18-12: Playoff Contenders (With Question Marks)

18. Winnipeg Jets (No change)

17. New Jersey Devils (+2)

16. New York Rangers (-3)

15. Anaheim Ducks (-3)

14. Ottawa Senators (-4)

13. Buffalo Sabres (+3)

12. Montreal Canadiens (+2)

This tier was difficult to rank. I decided to call this the “Playoff Contenders (With Question Marks)” tier, because all of these clubs have their pros, and then their concerning cons.

The New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets should be encouraged by where they are in the standings, but their underlyings suggest regression. New York sits sixth in the league standings, so perhaps being ranked 16^th is a bit harsh, but they were blown out by the New Jersey Devils and shut out by the Blue Jackets in their last two outings. The skaters will need to be better. Winnipeg is in a similar boat, although the Connor Hellebuyck situation is one to keep an eye on.

The Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators are ranked 13^th and 14^th, respectively, but I’m worried about them. Buffalo hasn’t looked particularly good all season long, and the Senators have been getting outplayed frequently. They let the Flyers snag their first win of the campaign even with stellar goaltending from Linus Ullmark. Should he decline from his Vezina Trophy form, trouble could be ahead for Ottawa.

11-6: Borderline Cup Contenders

11. Florida Panthers (+6)

10. Washington Capitals (-1)

9. Dallas Stars (-1)

8. Utah Mammoth (-1)

7. Boston Bruins (+4)

6. Minnesota Wild (No change)

As opposed to the last group, I was encouraged by what I saw from these teams. The Panthers didn’t have the most intimidating combination of teams on their schedule, but they took care of business with 18 goals scored to eight allowed in their last three contests. Watch out for Florida when Aleksander Barkov comes back.

The Dallas Stars, Utah Mammoth, and Washington Capitals all had positive weeks—they merely fell a spot because the Boston Bruins keep winning games. Boston went 3-0-0 in Week 3, now boasting the third-best points percentage in the NHL. Charlie McAvoy’s return from suspension provided a boost, though it should be noted that the team’s underlying numbers are about average. Boston ranks second in all-situations PDO (sum of save percentage and shooting percentage), so there will be some regression.

5-1: Best of the Best

5. Edmonton Oilers (No change)

4. Colorado Avalanche (No change)

3. Tampa Bay Lightning (No change)

2. Vegas Golden Knights (No change)

1. Carolina Hurricanes (No change)

This tier saw no movement from last week, even if the Carolina Hurricanes just dropped a game to the 29^th-ranked Calgary Flames. Carolina’s 5-on-5 numbers are off the charts as always, and its 15 points are second only to the Golden Knights.

While we’re on the topic, Vegas has seen a return to form following the departure of head coach Bruce Cassidy on March 29, 2026. Excluding the playoffs (where they made a trip to the Stanley Cup Final), the Golden Knights have a 15-2-1 record in the post-Cassidy era. That’s a small sample, but it’s safe to say Vegas didn’t fluke its way to a Western Conference title.

Something worth monitoring about the Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers, as good as they’ve been, is that they’ve posted average expected goal shares at 5-on-5. Their PDOs are unsustainably high, so the results have been great anyway. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, given their pedigree (Boston, a team in the same boat, will have to earn it).

The good teams stayed good, the bad teams stayed bad, and the teams in the middle shuffled around a bit. Could that change in Week 4?

Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick