Following the initial week of the 2025-26 NHL campaign, a total of eight squads have yet to experience a regulation defeat. Nonetheless, only three of those teams participated in more than two contests, and one of them was in action on four separate occasions. That team is the Colorado Avalanche.
Colorado, which has surpassed the 100-point threshold in each of the previous four seasons, emerged victorious in three of its initial four contests, and its singular blemish was a shootout defeat to the Dallas Stars. The Avalanche commenced Week 2 with an NHL-leading seven points, one more than the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins.
On a weekly basis throughout the season, I’ll evaluate the league’s top 10 teams, taking into account both the prior week’s performances and their cumulative efforts in 2025-26. I’ll also provide a concise analysis for each squad, elucidating the rationale behind their respective rankings.
Let’s delve into the power standings for Week 1 of the 2025-26 NHL season and spotlight a few additional teams of significance.
NHL Week 1 power ratings
1. Colorado Avalanche (3-0-1)
The Avalanche conceded merely one goal in their triumphs over the Los Angeles Kings, Utah Mammoth and Buffalo Sabres, and Scott Wedgewood registered a 1.72 goals-against average while participating in all four of the team’s games. On the offensive front, 2024 Hart Trophy recipient Nathan MacKinnon has enjoyed a strong beginning, currently tied for second in the NHL with four goals and sharing the league lead in points (eight) with teammate Martin Necas. Both have achieved three multi-point performances, while Cale Makar leads all NHL defensemen with five points.
2. Florida Panthers (3-1-0)
The Panthers initiated the season with three successive victories, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators. The most remarkable aspect of their start was the fact they accomplished it without Matthew Tkachuk, who is likely to be sidelined until December following groin surgery, and captain Aleksander Barkov, who is anticipated to miss the entire campaign after undergoing knee surgery. Florida’s winning streak was halted with Monday’s 5-2 loss at Philadelphia, although the club rallied from a 2-0 deficit to establish a tie before surrendering the go-ahead goal with less than five minutes remaining in the third period. Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell share the team lead with four points apiece, and both have registered points in each of the Panthers’ last three games.
3. Boston Bruins (3-1-0)
The Bruins also secured victories in their first three contests of 2025-26 before suffering a 4-3 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. Boston is tied with Colorado, Florida and the Minnesota Wild for the most goals in the NHL with 13, while David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha both have recorded one goal and four assists to lead the club with five points. The Bruins are unlikely to sustain their scoring pace due to a lack of depth, but it’s encouraging to see them start strongly after missing the playoffs last season for the first time since 2016.
4. Nashville Predators (2-0-1)
The Predators engaged in a spending spree last offseason, and the outcome was dismal as they finished 30th in the league, failing to qualify for the postseason for the second time in three campaigns. They commenced 2024-25 with a five-game losing streak and were never able to reach .500, so witnessing them begin this season with two wins and an overtime loss to Utah is promising. Two-time All-Star Juuse Saros posted a 1.64 GAA as Nashville conceded only five goals over its first three games, while Filip Forsberg and Erik Haula — who is on his second stint with the club — recorded a point in each contest.
5. Dallas Stars (2-0-0)
The Stars conceded four goals in both of their games thus far but emerged unscathed, narrowly defeating the 2024-25 Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets in regulation and Colorado in a shootout. Mikko Rantanen and defenseman Thomas Harley lead the team with four points apiece, while Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston both have scored twice. Meanwhile, blue-liner Nils Lundkvist already has three points after registering only five in 39 games last season.
6. Carolina Hurricanes (2-0-0)
The Hurricanes are just two games into 2025-26 and boast three players with multiple goals. One is Seth Jarvis, who tallied twice in the team’s season-opening 6-3 triumph over the New Jersey Devils and scored the overtime winner against the Flyers. Defenseman K’Andre Miller also tallied twice versus New Jersey in his debut with Carolina and Taylor Hall converted in both of the team’s contests.
7. Seattle Kraken (2-0-0)
After finishing second-to-last in the Pacific Division last season, the Kraken have won their first two games for the first time in the franchise’s brief five-season history. They were defensively sound in those contests, allowing just one goal in victories over the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights. Jared McCann, who led Seattle in goal-scoring in each of its first three seasons, scored in both games, netting the winner against Vegas four seconds before overtime was set to commence.
8. Detroit Red Wings (2-1-0)
Indeed, the Red Wings opened 2025-26 with a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. But they rebounded by sweeping a home-and-home series with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who won three of the four meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals last season. Detroit produced nine goals in the wins, with eight different players finding the back of the net. Lucas Raymond tallied twice in Saturday’s 6-3 home triumph, while Mason Appleton scored with 45 seconds remaining in the third period at Toronto on Monday to give the Red Wings a 3-2 victory. Captain Dylan Larkin, who shares the team lead in goals with Raymond, registered a point in each of Detroit’s first three contests.
9. Minnesota Wild (2-1-0)
The Wild are tied for the NHL lead in goals thanks to their power play, which was exceptional during the first week of the season. Minnesota went 8-for-17 with the man advantage over its first three games for a remarkable conversion rate of 47.1% and capitalized seven times on 14 opportunities over its last two contests. Kirill Kaprizov recorded three power-play goals and is tied with teammate Matt Boldy and Jack Eichel of the Golden Knights for third in the NHL with seven points. The 28-year-old Kaprizov is one man-advantage tally away from matching the total he registered in 41 games last season.
10. Winnipeg Jets (2-1-0)
Winnipeg’s top two offensive players in 2024-25 continued where they left off, registering points in each of the team’s first three games this campaign. Kyle Connor, who set a career high with 97 points last season, recorded his seventh hat trick in the NHL in the Jets’ season-opening 5-4 loss to Dallas and notched one assist in victories over Los Angeles and the New York Islanders. Mark Scheifele set up each of Connor’s goals against the Stars, netted a pair of tallies — including the winner — in a 3-2 triumph over the Kings and added an empty-netter in Monday’s 5-2 win versus the Islanders. Morgan Barron (two goals, two assists) also contributed to the scoring in each of Winnipeg’s contests and is on track to shatter the career high of 21 points he set in 2022-23.
