January 7, 2026 by Bob Schmidt

Now that each team has played 40 games, I have assembled my version of a power rankings chart. I created this chart based only on each team’s first 40 games, their overall record in those 40 games, the strength of each team’s quality of competition in those 40 games, and how they fared against the stronger, mid tier, and weaker teams.

The Avalanche went undefeated in this segment, outscoring their opponents 46-21 in the process. This was their second ten-game winning streak of the season. Colorado is currently running away in the race for the Presidents Trophy. They have the number one offense in the league averaging four goals scored per game, the number one defence averaging only 2.17 goals against per game, the number one penalty kill at 85.6%, and they lead the NHL in save percentage (.919). Will this Rocky Mountain team be the first President Trophy winner to hoist the Stanley Cup since the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks? Stay tuned.

Mikko Rantanen put up some All-Star caliber numbers during his ten seasons with the Avalanche, including two seasons in which he surpassed 100 points. Well, believe it or not, he’s on pace to have his best offensive season yet in his first full season with Dallas. Rantanen, along with fellow snipers Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston, have helped lead their team to the third best offense in the league (3.4 goals per game), the third best powerplay (29.1%), and an NHL best 13.4% shooting percentage. Last season, the Stars eliminated Colorado in a thrilling seven game first round playoff series thanks in large part to a Rantanen hat trick in Game Seven against his old squad. It is quite possible that these two teams could face each other again in this year’s playoffs, perhaps a Conference Finals match up this time.

Minnesota’s second seven-game win streak of the season bled into this segment. The Wild have been especially dominant versus the tier two teams at time of play with an 83% winning percentage against those teams. Head coach John Hynes has his team focused on strong defensive play combined with opportunistic scoring to maximize their potential for success. Minnesota has the third best defense in the league with a 2.64 goals against average per game. The goaltending duo of Filip Gustavsson and rookie Jesper Wallstedt have combined for a .912 save percentage, which is the second best in the NHL. Fun fact: both Gustavsson and Wallstedt have been chosen to represent Sweden in the upcoming Olympics.

The Islanders are my surprise team of the 2025-26 season so far. In my preseason predictions, I had them finishing sixth in their division, eleventh in their conference, and 20^th overall. Instead, at the time of this writing, this Long Island based team sits second in the Atlantic, fifth in the East, and eighth overall in the NHL. They have an astounding 81% winning percentage versus the tier one teams at time of play, which is the second best in the NHL. Considering that it is predominantly tier one teams in the playoffs, the Islanders could be poised to do some damage in the postseason.

Don’t look now, but the original back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions from the state of Florida are climbing the ladder in the standings again. The Lightning finished this segment strong by winning the last six games, their second six-game win streak of the season. Tampa Bay’s offense has taken center stage with their 3.44 goals averaged per game being the second highest in the league and their 12.6% shooting percentage being the third best in the NHL. The Bolts have remained successful despite the loss of their captain and Norris Trophy winner, Victor Hedman, winning seven of their first ten games without him in the lineup.

⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️ pic.twitter.com/aVmkpgaFM4

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 7, 2026

This Detroit team refuses to go away. The Red Wings are one of only three teams that have remained in the top ten of this list all season so far. They just keep finding ways to win even though they are in the middle of the pack in almost every team statistical category. They are the only other team besides Colorado that has a winning percentage above 50% versus all three tiers. This storied franchise looks poised to make its return to the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

Carolina is the third team, along with Dallas and Detroit, that has remained in the top ten of this list all season thus far. The Hurricanes have been a consistently good team ever since Rod Brind’Amour became the head coach at the start of the 2018-19 season. They have made the playoffs in all seven of those seasons, made it past the first round in six of them, and reached the Conference Finals three times. Carolina has put up point percentages greater than .600 in six of those regular seasons, only falling short by .004 in 2019-20. Coincidently, that was also the only season they did not make it past the first round under Brind’Amour. Having won nine playoff rounds over the past seven seasons, the ‘Canes will be looking to add four more to that list starting mid-April.

Well, well, well. Look who finally made the top ten. Welcome to the party, boys. Although they have yet to put together a winning streak of more than two games, their seven back-to-back wins account for fourteen of their twenty wins. Connor McDavid put up an other worldly 25 points in this ten-game segment. The Oilers have the number one powerplay in the NHL, operating at a 33.9% efficiency rate at the time of this writing. Unfortunately, they also have a league worst 21% winning percentage versus the tier three teams at time of play. That’s a lot of “gimme” points left on the table. Once they stop playing down to the level of their competition, look for Edmonton to keep climbing up the rankings.

The two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions make their first appearance on the top ten list. Florida seems to elevate their game against stiffer competition. They have an NHL best 83% winning percentage versus the tier one teams. In this ten-game segment alone, half of their games were against tier one teams, and they only lost one of them. What is even more impressive is that they are doing this without two of their top three scorers from last season, Matthew Tkachuk and captain Aleksander Barkov. How much more dangerous will the Panthers be when Tkachuk returns some time this month?

The Buffalo Sabres are a top ten NHL team?? I had to double check my calculations but lo and behold, on this list they appear. After winning only eleven of their first 29 games of the season, the Sabres beat the Oilers 4-3 in overtime on December 9, 2025, which was the first of an outstanding ten-game winning streak. Nine of those wins occurred during this segment. The eighteen-spot jump in the rankings was, not surprisingly, the biggest jump of any team. At the time of this writing, Buffalo has a .585 points percentage. That’s the highest points percentage they have had since the 2010-11 season, which is also the last season that they made the playoffs. In the first 40 years of the Sabres franchise, they only missed the playoffs ten times. They have been absent from the postseason now for the last fourteen consecutive seasons. Will they finally break that streak this season?

10. STRAIGHT. WINS.

We have tied a Buffalo Sabres franchise record!#LetsGoBuffalo | #sabrehood pic.twitter.com/ePwPE4EFl7

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 1, 2026

Related: 2025-26 NHL Power Rankings: 30-game mark