NHL Power Rankings: Team Rankings 2025-26

We’re only now a month away from the start of the NHL’s 2026 playoffs. 

Some of the top seeds of the postseason bracket are already pretty much settled. We can say with confidence that teams like Colorado and Carolina are making the playoffs. 

But this power ranking piece will take a look at some of the fringe contenders in the competitive Eastern Conference who are still fighting for a playoff spot and evaluate their chances of making the Big Dance. 

But first, here’s a look at where all 32 teams stand in the power rankings with odds to win the Stanley Cup as of March 18.

NHL Power Rankings 2025-26

6. New York Islanders (+5500)

Not all of the Islanders’ success this season can be chalked up to winning the lottery and getting generational defenseman Matthew Schaefer, but it certainly helped. 

The 18-year-old defenseman has amassed 20 goals and 29 assists so far this season with New York. He’s got an excellent +14 plus/minus and is expected to be a runaway Calder Trophy winner. 

You also have to give a lot of credit to the Islanders’ goaltender, Ilya Sorokin, who’s a strong contender to win the first Vezina Trophy. Sorokin posted a 2.49 GAA and a .914 save percentage through 42 starts this year. 

As it stands currently, the Islanders are in third place in the Metropolitan Division. They’re tied in overall points with the Penguins, with 83, but Pittsburgh has a four-game edge in the regulation wins, which breaks the tie. The Blue Jackets, with 81 team points, are currently two points away from earning a spot in the Metropolitan Division.  

Assuming everything holds the way it is currently for New York, they shouldn’t have too much to worry about. They’re currently slightly favored at -400 to make the playoffs. 

There is a scenario in which they could fall out if Columbus makes a strong playoff push and the Bruins and Red Wings hold on to their wild-card spots. Things could get tricky from there, as both Boston and Detroit have more regulation wins than the Islanders as of March 18. 

8. Pittsburgh Penguins (+4000)

What a week for Penguins fans. First, they got a decisive 7-2 victory over the top-seeded Avalanche on Monday. And now, they get the news that their captain, Sidney Crosby, is set to return from injury. 

The 38-year-old Crosby has been sidelined since the Olympic break after suffering an injury in a game against Czechia. 

Crosby comes back just in time for Pittsburgh to go on a run to secure their playoff spot. 

Despite being tied with New York, they have an even better chance of making the playoffs. Their odds are currently set at -625, likely because Pittsburgh has enough regulation wins already banked to withstand ties in team points. 

The Penguins managed to tread water without him, going 5-3-3 while playing some of the league’s best, including the likely Presidents’ Trophy winner in Colorado. But there’s always a risk that a diminished Crosby could hurt them down the stretch. 

In the near future, Pittsburgh will have to face off against top teams like the Lightning, Avalanche, and Hurricanes. In addition, their other games will be against teams still fighting to make the playoffs, like the Red Wings and Islanders. 

The Penguins are in a really good spot right now, but this next month will be a long one. 

11. Columbus Blue Jackets (+6600)

The Blue Jackets are another team vying for a playoff spot in the middle tier of teams in the Metropolitan Division. 

Right now, Columbus has a 35-21-11 record with 81 overall team points. That puts them a point out of the Wild Card spot and two points away from a Metropolitan Division spot. 

The Blue Jackets find themselves in this position about a month after it seemed like they had no chance of making the playoffs. They haven’t lost a game in regulation since their first game back from the Olympics on February 26. 

Right now, they’re a slight -295 favorite to make the playoffs with a very soft schedule the rest of the way through. The only real test will come when they play back-to-back games against Carolina on March 31 and April 2. 

But, Columbus is the only team on this list that doesn’t currently hold a playoff spot, which means they need one of the other teams to drop out. 

16. Detroit Red Wings (+5000)

Detroit’s ‘Yzerplan’ may finally come to fruition this year, as general manager Steve Yzerma’s moves have the Red Wings on the brink of making it back to the playoffs for the first time in a decade. 

Detroit currently has a 37-23-8 record with 82 team points. They currently hold one of the two Eastern Conference Wild Card spots. 

The Red Wings may owe some of their success to a patient roster-building strategy. If you look at the stats of this year’s team versus last year’s, the core is pretty much identical. You’ve got slightly higher point totals out of forward Alex DeBrincat and defenseman Moritz Seider, but other than that, not much else has changed. 

Detroit’s approach of staying the course and believing in the ‘Yzerplan’ gave them a well-rounded team with solid chemistry. 

Now, if you want a cynical take on this. You could say that this Atlantic Division team and the one that follows it on these rankings are just taking advantage of a year where two top contenders in Toronto and Florida are M.I.A. Would this version of the Red Wings have as good a shot at making the playoffs if both of those two contenders were still in the mix? Probably not. 

18. Boston Bruins (+10000)

The Bruins are hoping to return to their usual state of things this year after missing the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade last year. 

Right now, Boston holds the top Eastern Conference Wild Card spot with a 37-23-8 record and 82 team points. 

They’re still likely to be a playoff team despite some faltering in recent weeks. The Bruins have an almost .500 record since the end of the Olympic break. 

It’s possible that no playoff team may benefit more from the end of the college hockey season than the Bruins. Two highly-touted forward prospects will likely join the team at the end of the Boston College season: James Hagens and Dean LeTourneau.

Letourneau put a goose egg in the last NCAA season, netting zero goals throughout the whole year. But in the 2025-26 season, he has 20 goals and 17 assists. Hagens was drafted with the seventh overall pick by Boston last spring and put up a highly productive 23 goals and 22 assists this year. 

If the Bruins get these reinforcements in the final weeks, it could be just what they need to ensure a playoff berth.