December 16, 2025 by Bob Schmidt

1. Colorado Avalanche

Colorado is simply a powerhouse. They started this segment off winning the first three games, which was the tail end of an overall ten-game win streak. The Avalanche do a good job of not leaving too many points on the table in the “should win” games versus the tier two and three teams as their 75% winning percentage versus those teams can attest. Superstar Nathan MacKinnon is producing at a 66-goal, 140-point pace so far this season. It would be difficult to expect him to keep that pace up, but it is a very impressive stat after 30 games nevertheless. At the time of this writing, this mile high city based team led the NHL in offense (4 goals per game), defense (2.10 goals against per game), penalty killing (85.71%), and save percentage (.919%). Strangely though, they have the 28^th ranked powerplay at 15.31%. If head coach Jared Bednar can get that figured out, there might be no stopping this Avalanche team.

11 straight at home. pic.twitter.com/n5qHNJlyo8

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) December 14, 2025

2. Dallas Stars

Head coach Glen Gulutzan has not only steadied the ship after a so-so 3-3-1 start, but has found the “full throttle ahead” lever and pushed it all the way forward. Dallas had not lost consecutive games again up to the 30-game mark after that start. Their 32% powerplay is the second best in the league. They’re sniping with a 13% shooting percentage, which is tops in the league. The Stars have a very impressive 83% winning percentage versus tier two teams, those ranked 11-20, at time of play.

3. New York Islanders

This Long Island team is a prime example of a team that plays to the level of their competition. Head coach Patrick Roy has his squad prepared and motivated for the games against the best in the league. The Islanders have an 83% winning percentage versus tier one teams at time of play, which is the prime reason why they are in the top ten on this list. If they could match that success against the tier two and three teams, of which they have a combined 33% winning percentage against, they could be considered a powerhouse themselves. Led by forward Bo Horvat (who has seemed to have found a new level of scoring in his game and would be pushing for 50 goals at this rate) and goaltender Ilya Sorokin (who seems to have rediscovered his elite ability after a bit of a shaky start), look for this New York team to stay in the top ten for a while.

4. Anaheim Ducks

The rebuilding phase in Anaheim is officially over. The Ducks are my surprise team of the season so far. Some of the credit goes to previous GM Bob Murray, whose reign ended in 2021 after thirteen seasons. Some of the pieces that make up the foundation of this current edition of the team such as Troy Terry, Mason McTavish, and Lukas Dostal were brought together by Murray. Current GM Pat Verbeek has added the likes of Pavel Mintyukov, Leo Carlsson, and Beckett Sennecke since taking over in February of 2022 to round out the roster of what is now a team to be reckoned with after seven seasons of missing the playoffs. The Ducks are the youngest team on this top ten list.

5. Minnesota Wild

The Wild started off this segment by winning the first five games as part of an even bigger seven-game win streak. All but one of those victories came against tier one and tier two teams at time of play. That streak was the primary reason why Minnesota made the biggest jump of any team in the power rankings with an astounding 20 spots. The goaltending tandem of Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt (the best duo in the NHL in my opinion) are the key factors in the success Minnesota is having. The Swedish duo has a combined save percentage of .913%, good for second best in the NHL, and their six shoutouts lead all goaltending partnerships.

babe wake up, Wild win hype just dropped pic.twitter.com/h7XGzYbSKt

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 15, 2025

Related: Wild take huge swing with Hughes

6. Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes have a very impressive 100% winning percentage versus tier two teams at time of play. Also impressive is the fact that they have suffered consecutive losses only twice all season so far. A continuing storyline remains the logjam in the Carolina crease with 13-year veteran Frederik Andersen, fourth year youngster Pyotr Kochetkov, and rookie Brandon Bussi all battling for icetime. The rookie appears to have the edge so far as he has only lost one of his twelve starts at the time of this writing.

7. Washington Capitals

After struggling during the second ten game segment, winning only four games, Washington turned things around in segment three. A six-game winning streak highlighted this segment and catapulted them up fourteen spots to re-enter the top ten of this list. Logan Thompson is arguably the best goalie in the NHL right now, and the tandem of him and Charlie Lindgren have combined for the third best save percentage in the NHL(.909). Future Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin is motivated to go out with a bang in what is possibly his last NHL season. The Caps were my pre-season Stanley Cup favourites, and they are trending in the right direction.

8. New Jersey Devils

It got a little rough for the Devils this segment during which they suffered a season worst five-game losing streak, causing them to drop seven spots in the power rankings. However, they remain in the top ten on the strength of their league leading 86% winning percentage versus tier one teams at time of play. New Jersey has been riddled with injuries throughout their line up, and they currently have the most players on the injury list in the NHL. Most notably out is their young superstar Jack Hughes, who’s been out with a hand injury since November 14. It will be interesting to see what a boost it will bring to this Devils team once their four time 20-goal scorer returns.

9. Detroit Red Wings

Segment three was a tough one for the Wings. It saw them experience a season high four-game losing streak. Fortunately, head coach Todd McLellan has guided his squad through consistent efforts throughout the first twenty games that have garnered enough success to keep them in the top ten of this list. Currently sitting at the top of the Atlantic Division at the time of this writing, the Red Wings look poised to snag their first playoff appearance in nine seasons.

10. Tampa Bay Lightning

It was a tale of two halves in this segment for this Lightning squad. Tampa won the first five games as part of an even bigger seven-game winning streak, and then followed it up with a four-game losing streak during the back half of this segment. The Bolts are led on offence once again by the three-time Art Ross Trophy winner, Nikitas Kucherov, while goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy locks things down in the crease with performance reminiscent of his 2019 Vezina Trophy winning season. The loss of captain Victor Hedman due to an elbow injury sustained on December 9 will be a tough hurdle to overcome for this team. He’s expected to be out until at least February, so it will be interesting to see the impact that will have on this Lightning team.

And where are the Edmonton Oilers on this power rankings list? They jumped up three spots to thirteenth and have moved up eight spots since the first ten-game segment.

Related: 2025-26 NHL Power Rankings: 20-Game Mark