NHL Power Rankings: Team Rankings 2025-26

The NHL season will come to a screeching halt in just two days, as rosters freeze and games pause to accommodate the 2026 Winter Olympics. 

For its part, the league crammed a ton of action into the final week before the Winter Games, including a barn-burner Stadium Series game in Tampa, which featured the second goalie fight of this calendar year. 

The way I feel about goalie fights now is how I imagine people felt after the second moon landing: it’s still cool, but it’s starting to get old. 

Here’s an updated power ranking of all 32 teams with their odds to win the Stanley Cup as of February 2. 

NHL Power Rankings 2025-26

1. Tampa Bay Lightning (+550)

We finally have a new number one team on the power rankings, and it’s the Lightning. 

Tampa gained that number one spot following an 8-1-1 stretch in their last ten games, punctuated by their historic comeback win over Boston in the Stadium Series on Sunday night. Tampa was down 4-1 in the second period and eventually won in a shootout. 

If I’m being honest, the Lightning have deserved a number one spot in this ranking for a long time. 

They’ve been playing better hockey than the previous number one team for a few weeks, but given Colorado’s achievements earlier in the season, it seemed wise to give them the benefit of the doubt.

This may seem counterintuitive given their recent hot streak, but the upcoming Olympic break couldn’t have come at a better time for Tampa. During Sunday’s game, center Anthony Cirelli left the game early after taking a hit in the first period. They’ve already been without another one of their top-line centers, Brayden Point, for more than two weeks.

2. Colorado Avalanche (+220)

Apologies to the Avalanche for the demotion. After being atop the power rankings for many, many weeks, Colorado fell a spot. 

It’s difficult to move them down a spot, given what we saw out of them for the first part of the season. But there’s growing evidence that they might just not be that team anymore. 

Their uncharacteristic results in recent weeks have become too much to ignore. Like a 7-3 loss to the Predators on January 16th, a 7-3 loss to the Flyers on the 23rd, and a 5-2 loss to the Senators on the 28th. 

Don’t get me wrong, the Avalanche are still a great team and a major contender for the Stanley Cup. They still have the best record in the league, the most goals for, and the fewest goals against.

They may need this Winter Olympics break more than any other team to try to stem this slump. But with eight players participating in the games, including Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who will both have a prominent role with Team Canada, they may not get that rest. 

3. Carolina Hurricanes (+750)

The Hurricanes complete the natural disaster trifecta at the top of the power rankings. 

Carolina has quietly been assembling a great season atop the Metropolitan Division. They have a 34-15-6 record with 74 team points, which is tied with the Lightning for the best record in the Eastern Conference. 

Despite all that, their odds to win the Cup are good, not great. They don’t have an MVP contender or a frontrunner for any other award. They’re just solidly in the mix, like they always are. 

While they don’t need to be aggressive buyers by any means, the Hurricanes could benefit from an upgrade at the deadline. Acquiring some depth at center could be a smart move for them to potentially jump over Tampa or Colorado. 

4. Pittsburgh Penguins (+6000)

Pittsburgh’s success this season is still one of the biggest stories of the season, either that or the fact that I’m getting bored with goalie fights. 

The Penguins have a 28-14-11 record this season and 67 team points, which has them at second place in the Metropolitan Division. Through 53 games played last season, Pittsburgh had a 21-24-8 record. 

Much of their success this year has come from their incredible special teams play. The Penguins rank in the top five in power play and penalty kill efficiency. No other team has that distinction through the first half of the season. 

Pittsburgh had an elite power play last season, but their dominance on the penalty kill wasn’t there in the 2024-25 season, where they ranked 18th in the league. 

5. Dallas Stars (+1700)

The Stars have found a little more stability as we reach the midpoint of the season, recovering from their precipitous slide a few weeks ago. 

After a six-game losing streak that stretched from late December to mid-January, Dallas has won their last four games and now sits at third in the Central Division. 

Jason Robertson is having a great season with 30 goals and 33 assists through 55 games played. If he continues at this pace, he could set a career high. The 26-year-old’s highest total was when he got to 109 points in his third season. 

Robertson popped up near the top of the Hart odds for the first time this season. He’s at +30000 right now which makes him a major longshot but puts him in position to receive some votes.