NHL Power Rankings: The Undefeated Hurricanes Look Like the Real Deal

From the last winless team in the league to the only undefeated team, here’s how every NHL team stacks up at the start of November.

This last winless team in the NHL and the last undefeated team bookend this week’s power rankings. While the Coyotes (unsurprisingly) remain in last place, a new team has taken over the top spot.

The Flames sizzled as their point streak reached eight games, while the Sabres have fizzled, with no wins yet in regulation. And a bevy of teams have been beset by COVID-19 issues, including the Penguins, Sharks and Blue Jackets. Here’s where every team stands.

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32. Arizona Coyotes

Last Week: 32
Record: 0-9-1

The lone winless team remaining in the league, the Coyotes have struggled in all facets of the game: They have scored the least goals of any team (13); they have allowed the most goals (41); they have the second-lowest power-play success rate (8%); they are tied for the lowest penalty-kill success rate (62.50%); they have the lowest save percentage (.872). Any one of these would spell trouble, but all of them together have been fatal.

31. Chicago Blackhawks

Last week: 31
Record: 1-7-2

After dropping their first nine games of the season, the Blackhawks finally picked up a win Monday, 5–1 against the Senators. Patrick Kane scored a hat trick in his return to the lineup after missing four games due to COVID-19 protocol.

30. Montreal Canadiens

Last week: 29
Record: 3-8-0

Nick Suzuki finally found the back of the net in Montreal’s 11th game this season, scoring the first goal of the team’s 3–0 win Tuesday against the Red Wings. The Canadiens need the 22-year-old center to break out of his early-season slump.

29. Anaheim Ducks

Last week: 30
Record: 4-4-3

Ryan Getzlaf kicked off scoring in the Ducks’ 4–0 win Tuesday against the Devils. In his 17th season with Anaheim, the 36-year-old captain will look to bring the team’s raft of prospects up to speed.

28. Ottawa Senators

Last week: 27
Record: 3-5-1

The Senators allowed three goals in the first period of Tuesday’s game against the Wild and ended the period in a two-goal hole. Then they scored three straight goals to start the second period to take the lead, before they eventually fell 5–4 in overtime. The up-and-down game epitomized the team’s play to start the season.

27. Los Angeles Kings

Last week: 28
Record: 3-5-1

Veteran defenseman Drew Doughty is expected to miss eight weeks with a knee injury, the Kings announced last week. He still ranks third in points for Los Angeles, a sign of the team’s tepid offense.

26. Seattle Kraken

Last week: 25
Record: 3-6-1

Acquired from the Oilers in the expansion draft, Adam Larsson ranks first among Seattle defensemen in minutes, points, shots and shots blocked, showing his versatility and his value to the Kraken in their debut season.

25. Vancouver Canucks

Last week: 21
Record: 4-5-1

Several highlight-reel saves by Thatcher Demko helped Vancouver notch a 3–2 win Tuesday against the Rangers and halted the team’s home losing streak at three games. Still, the Canucks have relied too much on Demko and Jaroslav Halak to cover their mistakes.

24. Detroit Red Wings

Last week: 24
Record: 4-4-2

With eight points (all assists) through 10 games, 20-year-old defenseman Moritz Seider has continued to shine. The No. 6 pick from the 2019 draft, Seider was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for October.

23. Columbus Blue Jackets

Last week: 26
Record: 5-3-0

Max Domi returned from offseason shoulder surgery only to fracture a rib in the second game of the season. After missing four games with that injury, the forward returned for two contests only to test positive for COVID-19 after the team’s shootout win against the Devils on Sunday. He will be out for at least 10 days as part of the league’s COVID-19 protocol.

22. San Jose Sharks

Last week: 22
Record: 6-3-0

The Sharks played Tuesday without four of their top six defensemen, leading scorer Timo Meier and coach Bob Boughner, all of whom are in COVID-19 protocol. Still, even shorthanded, San Jose picked up a 5–3 win against the Sabres.

21. Dallas Stars

Last week: 15
Record: 3-4-2

Dallas has not won a game yet in regulation. Of the Stars’ three wins so far, two came in overtime and one in a shootout—and they have not won at all since Oct. 22.

20. Buffalo Sabres

Last week: 23
Record: 5-3-1

The Sabres have struggled on their West Coast road trip, following an overtime win against the Ducks with losses to the Kings and the Sharks. They’ll look to rebound Thursday against in Seattle before returning to the friendlier confines of KeyBank Center.

19. New Jersey Devils

Last week: 18
Record: 4-3-1

A brutal 4–0 defeat to the Ducks dropped the Devils back to .500 on the season, but the bigger loss of the game may have been defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who suffered a lower-body injury in the first period and did not return.

18. Nashville Predators

Last week: 20
Record: 5-4-0

The Predators have compiled a four-game winning streak, including a 3–2 overtime win Tuesday against the red-hot Flames, which snapped a six-game winning streak for Calgary.

17. Pittsburgh Penguins

Last week: 10
Record: 3-3-2

The Penguins have lost three straight games, and more disheartening news came Wednesday when the team announced that Brian Dumoulin and Sidney Crosby, who just returned after having offseason wrist surgery, have tested positive for COVID-19. Both players have entered the league’s protocol and will miss at least 10 days.

16. Winnipeg Jets

Last week: 17
Record: 5-2-2

After losing three consecutive games to start the season, the Jets have engineered a turnaround, with five wins in their last six games, including a 4–3 shootout win Tuesday against the Stars.

15. Minnesota Wild

Last week: 9
Record: 6-3-0

The Wild waned this week, mustering just one goal in back-to-back losses to the Kraken and the Avalanche before sneaking past the Senators in overtime. Still, 24-year-old winger Kirill Kaprizov sealed the overtime win with his first goal of the season, a positive sign for Minnesota.

14. New York Islanders

Last week: 12
Record: 3-2-2

Seven games into the season, the Islanders are just halfway through their 13-game road trip to start the season. The grueling stretch includes three games in four days starting Thursday, with games against the Canadiens, Jets and Wild.

13. Vegas Golden Knights

Last week: 11
Record: 4-5-0

Injuries continue to plague the Golden Knights. The holes in the lineup were clear in Tuesday’s 4–0 blowout loss to the Maple Leafs, in which Vegas was outshot 34–26.

12. Philadelphia Flyers

Last week: 19
Record: 5-2-1

The Flyers have continued their strong start with three wins in their last four games, but they showed cracks in a 3–0 win against the woeful Coyotes. Philadelphia did not find the net until the third period, and the second line of Joel Farabee, Derick Brassard and Cam Atkinson, a highlight for the team so far this season, allowed twice as many scoring chances as they generated.

11. Toronto Maple Leafs

Last week: 13
Record: 5-4-1

Eight different players have scored for the Maple Leafs on their current three-game winning streak, and stars Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander each have two apiece. Toronto’s lineup is starting to wake up.

10. New York Rangers

Last week: 14
Record: 6-2-2

Star defenseman Adam Fox signed a seven-year, $66.5 million contract extension with the Rangers on Monday. The 23-year-old led all NHL defensemen last season with 42 assists and leads New York with 11 points so far this season.

9. Boston Bruins

Last week: 3
Record: 4-3-0

The Bruins have lost two of their last three games, and the only win came in a shootout. Still, don’t be surprised if Boston shoots back up in the rankings next week, as all three of those games came against the top two teams in the league.

8. Calgary Flames

Last week: 16
Record: 6-1-2

The Flames are tied atop the Pacific Division with 14 points and are on an eight-game point streak, but the biggest buzz around the team might center on its rumored pursuit of Sabres center Jack Eichel.

7. Colorado Avalanche

Last week: 7
Record: 4-4-0

Even with injuries hobbling the lineup, the Avalanche have shown improvement in the past week in back-to-back wins against the Blues and the Wild.

6. Washington Capitals

Last week: 5
Record: 5-1-3

The Capitals lost in regulation for the first time Monday in a 3–2 defeat to the Lightning. Perhaps more surprisingly, Alex Ovechkin was held off the score sheet in the loss. The superstar had at least one point in each of the team’s first eight games and scored in seven of those.

5. Tampa Bay Lightning

Last week: 8
Record: 5-3-1

Monday’s win against the Capitals extended the Lightning’s winning streak to three. Center Alex Killorn has four goals and two assists in that span.

4. St. Louis Blues

Last week: 6
Record: 6-1-0

The Blues finished their four-game home stand with a 3–1 record and two shutouts—including two wins against the Kings, the same team they will kick off a four-game road swing against Wednesday.

3. Edmonton Oilers

Last week: 4
Record: 7-1-0

With 17 points each, top-line center Connor McDavid and second-line center Leon Draisaitl are tied atop the league leaderboard. Is that good?

2. Florida Panthers

Last week: 1
Record: 8-0-1

After starting the season with eight consecutive wins, the Panthers lost for the first time Saturday, and even then just barely. They pushed the Bruins to a shootout but fell 3–2.

1. Carolina Hurricanes

Last week: 2
Record: 8-0-0

The last undefeated team standing, the Hurricanes look like the real deal, with the best goal differential in the league (plus-21).