NHL Power Rankings: Team Rankings 2025-26

The NHL has returned after its long, entertaining Winter Olympics break. 

It’s gonna be a tough adjustment for fans and players alike. 

After these players spent weeks with the best teammates they’ve ever had and the best competition they’ve ever faced, with packed crowds and intense moments unlike they’ve ever seen, they now get to go back to their usual lives. 

A player like Jack Hughes, for example, who reached folk-hero status after his golden goal for Team USA, has to go from being prominently featured on primetime national television and talked about on every sports TV show and podcast to now playing for a teetering above .500 New Jersey Devils team. At least he can get his teeth fixed. 

Here’s a look at how all 32 teams are looking as we enter the stretch run of the season, with odds to win the Stanley Cup as of Feb. 26. 

NHL Power Rankings 2025-26

1. Tampa Bay Lightning (+500)

Tampa head coach Jon Cooper will definitely have some extra motivation to finish off this resurgent season for the Lightning.  Cooper was the head coach for the silver-medal-winning Canada team at the Olympics. 

His revenge tour started off strong with a win on Wednesday night over the Maple Leafs and Team USA captain Auston Matthews. 

The Lightning hold the top-seed in the Atlantic Division and are now first in the Eastern Conference with a slim two-point lead over the Hurricanes. Tampa’s also five points off the Avalanche for the best record in the league overall. 

I think there’s a strong chance that the Lightning can catch up to Colorado over the last couple of months of the season and grab the Presidents’ Trophy, if they want it. 

The main concern for Tampa would have been injuries, but with Brayden Point and Victor Hedman already returning in that game against Toronto, they may already be out of the woods. 

2. Carolina Hurricanes (+700)

Carolina is once again rounding into midseason form as a strong Eastern Conference contender. 

Whether they can graduate from looking like a potentially great playoff team to actually becoming one definitely remains to be seen. 

Looking at some basic stats that could be used to prove the Hurricanes’ playoff viability, it seems that they might be somewhat of a smoke-and-mirrors contender. 

Carolina ranks 14th in terms of power-play efficiency, hitting on 21.59% of their opportunities at the man-advantage. That mark has them between the Predators, at 13th, and the Devils, at 15th, two teams currently outside the playoffs. 

They rank 11th in penalty kill, with an 80.63% success rate. Above them are the Golden Knights at 10th, and below them are the Dallas Stars. 

The Hurricanes also have a middling 10-10-3 record against other playoff teams. 

This team may be a deadline move away or a few put-some-hair-on-your-chest wins away from feeling like a true Cup contender. 

3. Colorado Avalanche (+225)

Maybe nobody had a harder Olympics than Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon. 

It could be argued that nobody’s reputation has taken a bigger hit — from a strictly on-ice perspective — than MacKinnon’s after that tournament, after his missing-the-net moment in the gold medal game. 

There have been plenty of examples of history-altering net misses in the past, but this one probably takes the crown. 

MacKinnon added further meme-fodder after he rolled his eyes when being presented with a stuffed animal at the medal ceremony. 

Those moments for MacKinnon could not have come at a worse time for the face of the Avalanche, who were knocked down a few pegs before the Olympic break began.

They’re still a Presidents’ Trophy favorite and will likely end up with the first overall seed in the Western Conference. 

But Colorado had only two regulation losses in 2025. Since the calendar turned, they’ve lost seven times in regulation and in overtime twice. 

4. Dallas Stars (+1600)

Dallas is having a routine great season and is looking to try to make the Central Division race a little more interesting. 

Currently, the Stars have a 35-14-9 record with 79 overall team points. That mark has them six points off the Avalanche for the Division lead.

Colorado still has the best odds to win the division, currently at -1600, while the Stars are at +2000. 

Dallas actually has a decent shot at narrowing the divisional race this week. They have a fairly easy stretch of games with matchups against the Predators, Canucks, and Flames. Then, on Mar. 6, they’ll play the Avalanche to decide the season series. 

5. Minnesota Wild (+1800)

Minnesota probably has the best chance at getting a strong post-Olympics bump. 

They’re bringing back several Olympians, including gold medalists Quinn Hughes, Brock Faber, and Matt Boldy, as well as several other players on different rosters, such as Joel Eriksson Ek, who played for Team Sweden. 

While that may hurt them in the short term, as the American trio reacclimates to the NHL schedule after a long week of extracurricular activities, it may have given the three some valuable winning experience to help their playoff run. 

The team member with the biggest confidence boost post-Olympics could be general manager Bill Guerin, who also served as GM for Team USA. Big-Move-Bill was already walking around with pep in his step after making the move to acquire Hughes from Vancouver earlier this season. 

But maybe by assembling the first men’s ice hockey gold medal-winning time in 46 years, Guerin feels a little more emboldened to be aggressive at the deadline.