November 12, 2025
By Tab Bamford
POWER RANKINGS
CHICAGO, IL — Welcome to the middle of November. We’ve got some young guns on legit heaters right now in the Western Conference as three teams that have been annual visitors to the top five in recent NHL drafts are now in the middle (or top) of their divisions. The Ducks, Blackhawks and Sharks are making some noise, folks.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are some bona fide dumpster fires in the league right now. And not all of them are at the bottom of the standings. Yet.
Let’s jump into our Power Rankings for this week. As always, let us know what we got right and where we’re terribly, horribly wrong.
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32. Calgary Flames
Maybe we call them the Calgary Embers at this point?
31. Nashville Predators
How much longer can Andrew Brunette stay behind the bench if things don’t improve a lot asap? And I’m not pointing a finger at Brunette wholly for this mess. But, at some point, something has to change.
30. St. Louis Blues
If the rumor mill has your captain on the market – with term left on his contract – in the middle of November, things are bad.
29. Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks are under .500 at home, have the fourth-worst goal differential in the NHL ... maybe we stop blaming the coaches for the issues? And maybe JT Miller wasn’t the problem?
28. Minnesota Wild
The Wild continue to be surprisingly mediocre in every aspect of the game.
27. Buffalo Sabres
New year, same Sabres. It’s the middle of November and they still don’t have a win on the road.
26. Toronto Maple Leafs
When the head coach openly says his team doesn’t play defense and things don’t change on the ice... does something change behind the bench? Craig Berube was supposed to fix those issues, right? And everything was Mitch Marner’s fault?
25. Edmonton Oilers
Only four teams in the league have a worse goal differential than the Oilers right now. Is that weighed down by the blowout loss to the Avs? Sure. Did that game tell us a lot about what’s wrong with the Oilers? Yup.
24. New York Rangers
At what point does the “for sale” sign go up in front of the Breadman’s locker? Things are pretty broken at MSG right now, and the coaching change didn’t fix it.
23. Seattle Kraken
The Kraken’s hot start is fading. They’ve only won four of their last ten and now have a minus-six goal differential entering Wednesday.
22. Columbus Blue Jackets
The Jackets have only played six games at home in 16 starts this season. They’ve only won three of those games.
21. Washington Capitals
The Caps are 4-5-1 in their last 10 starts and are pretty much a .500 team in every regard.
20. Florida Panthers
Injuries are absolutely a legit excuse for the Panthers. But they need to get things moving in the right direction consistently at some point.
19. Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings have lost three in a row and have a minus-five goal differential. They got spanked at home on Sunday afternoon by the Blackhawks.
18. Pittsburgh Penguins
Winners of only four of their last 10 games, maybe the Pens are slowly coming back to earth from their surprising start?
17. San Jose Sharks
The Sharks are on a heater, folks. They’ve won four straight and seven of their last 10. The decisions Canada is going to have to make for their Olympic roster are going to be tough.
16. New York Islanders
The Islanders are 5-3-1 at home and on the road. Matthew Schaefer continues to be the real deal. Vibes are relatively good for the Isles.
15. Los Angeles Kings
I still need someone to explain how the Kings are 1-4-2 at home and 7-1-2 on the road. It really doesn’t make sense.
14. Utah Mammoth
Losers of three straight entering Wednesday, the Mammoth are off to a disappointing 5-6-0 start on the road. They’re 5-5-0 in their last ten.
13. Ottawa Senators
The Sens have played a fairly even schedule thus far (9 at home, 8 on the road) And they’ve been pretty much the definition of a .500 team. They’re 8-5-4 with a minus-two goal differential entering Wednesday.
12. Chicago Blackhawks
Yes, Chicago sprinted up to the top 12 this week on the back of Connor Bedard’s ridiculous six-game road trip. It isn’t only Bedard, though. The Blackhawks have the fourth-best goal differential (plus-12) in the league.
11. Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas has played nine of their 15 games at home and is only 4-3-2 in those games. They’re 4-4-2 in their last 10 games.
10. Philadelphia Flyers
Like Vegas, Philly has only played 15 games and nine of them have been at home (entering Wednesday). Unlike Vegas, the Flyers have won six of their last ten and six of those nine home games.
9. Tampa Bay Lightning
One of the big risers in this week’s power rankings, the Bolts have won seven of their last ten starts.
8. Dallas Stars
The only team in our top ten with a negative goal differential has won three in a row and seven of their last ten.
7. Montreal Canadiens
The Habs have identical 5-2-1 records at home and on the road and a nice plus-six goal differential.
6. Winnipeg Jets
They still aren’t skating a full roster because of injuries but are keeping pace with the non-Avalanche teams near the top of the Western Conference. Jonathan Toews’ return has been excellent.
5. Boston Bruins
If you win seven straight games, it has to do something to the Power Rankings! Yes, the Bruins have played 11 of their 18 games in Boston thus far. But they’re 8-3-0 in those games.
4. Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes and Ducks are tied for the second-best goal differential in the league (plus-14) and Carolina is three games over .500 both at home and on the road.
3. Anaheim Ducks
Joel Quenneville can still do it behind the bench, and the Ducks’ young players are collectively taking a big step forward together this year.
2. New Jersey Devils
The Devils head into Chicago on Wednesday night with the best record in the Eastern Conference. They still haven’t lost a home game in regulation.
1. Colorado Avalanche
The Avs have the most points, best point percentage, biggest goal differential and, frankly, best player on the planet right now in Nathan MacKinnon. Easy to call No. 1 here.