NHL Power Rankings: Step Aside, Colorado – There's A New No. 1

The Colorado Avalanche are no longer at the top of the mountain. After holding the top spot for much of the season in the NHL power rankings, and despite still holding a six-point lead ahead of the Dallas Stars in the standings, it's time for a change.

The Avs had begun to falter even before the Olympics, but driven by Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, arguably the best players in the NHL at their position, they had at least earned the benefit of the doubt.

But that doubt has slowly been creeping in, and since Jan. 1, the Avs have been exceedingly vulnerable, going 11-8-2 with an offense that suddenly looks very average. MacKinnon has since relinquished the scoring lead to Connor McDavid, and the same goes for Makar among defensemen, with Evan Bouchard rising to the top.

Powered by a 10-game winning streak, the streaking Stars now soar to the top of the power rankings, though the gap between the top teams has pretty much evaporated. At the end of calendar 2025, the Avs had a 10-point cushion and a significant lead in points percentage, but now the NHL's top five teams are within 11 points of each other, and the Avs' points percentage has dipped from .859 to .758.

Nothing will quite match the emotional high and stakes of an Olympic gold medal game, but with the trade deadline approaching and playoff races hitting a fever pitch, this could be one of the most interesting finishes to the regular season in the cap era.

A franchise-record 10-game winning streak, even if the schedule wasn't hard at all, deserves a ton of props. Winning the Central Division will be key, because it avoids a first-round matchup against the Avs or Wild.

The Avs still occupy the top spot in the league, but it certainly doesn't tell the whole story. You wonder when fatigue catches up to MacKinnon and Makar, though shedding Samuel Girard's contract makes you wonder what move the Avs have up their sleeves. With Artturi Lehkonen now out of the lineup, they need help.

Being able to rely on Frederik Andersen will be a huge boost because Brandon Bussi is still very unproven. Andersen started consecutive games for the first time since late November and looked pretty sharp.

Since joining the Wild, Quinn Hughes is scoring at a 100-point pace, and Kirill Kaprizov just set a new franchise record with 220 goals, doing so in just 381 games. There may not be a more entertaining team in the NHL, and they weren't afraid to muck it up, too, in a chippy game against the Tampa Bay Lightning where the Wild had the last laugh.

It's a tough look coming out of the Olympic break with three straight losses to teams in playoff position, and their lead on the Sabres has now diminished to just two points. Extra rest for Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy, and the return of Brayden Point, should've provided a big boost. Instead, the Lightning have looked out of sync. A key matchup awaits on Sunday in Buffalo.

The Sabres' turnaround isn't talked about enough. Last season, they were three points ahead of the worst team in the East. This season, since Dec. 1 they've been the league's best team (26-8-2), and by a significant margin, too.

Every season, there's a team where everything just suddenly seems to go their way. The Islanders have won five straight, including three in overtime, and maintained their perfect 8-0 record in overtime.

The Bruins have only lost three times in regulation since Jan. 6, collecting at least a point in 15 of 18 games during that span. Only two teams were better: Carolina and Buffalo.

Perhaps what's most impressive is the Penguins are playing very well even without Sidney Crosby, collecting at least a point in three of their past four games and losing both of their games by just one goal. Even more impressive? They're making Stuart Skinner look pretty good.

Tons of talent but also an uneven defense and more uneven goaltending. It's been a very good season for the Canadiens, but you wonder when they will address their issues in the crease. It wasn't so long ago Sam Montembeault was in the rumor mill, and Jacob Fowler is still an option.

Hopefully, John Gibson escaped any serious injury after leaving Monday's game. He's been a big reason why the Wings are where they are. If they're looking to shore up their defense, Tyler Myers was not the appropriate answer as he goes to Dallas. Their track record with veteran right-handed defensemen, including Travis Hamonic and Justin Holl, is not good.

Getting Leo Carlsson back in the lineup definitely helps, but the Ducks fell flat in a litmus test game against the Avs on Tuesday after a five-game winning streak against some not-so-good teams. Still, the Ducks remain on an upward trend with a 12-3-0 record since Jan. 13.

Logan Cooley's return provides a huge boost, and the Mammoth should have one of the most raucous home crowds if they make the playoffs. It'll be the first time in franchise history and the first since 2020 when the group was still in Arizona. Only four players remain from that team: Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Lawson Crouse and Barrett Hayton.

Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord have limited their opponents to two goals or fewer in eight of their last 12 games – all wins – and now rank in the top 10 in fewest goals against per game. It's a stark turnaround when they ranked 19th in the same category in mid-December, the last time they were .500.

It looked like the Blue Jackets were back to their old ways when they nearly blew a 4-0 lead to the Rangers, but they bounced back and staged a comeback win against the Predators the following night. They've lost just twice (!) in regulation since Jan. 11 with the highest points total (27) in the league.

It's true, the Edmonton Oilers can't win any games if they allow five or six goals every night. The solution? Allow only four goals.

Scoring and consistency have definitely been issues lately, but no team can be good when you have the worst 5-on-5 save percentage – yes, worse than the Oilers – even if you rank sixth in expected goals share and allow the fourth-fewest high-danger shot attempts, per naturalstattrick.com. Adin Hill might've won them a Cup, but at what point is it necessary to make a change?

The Senators held a 4-2 lead into the third period of Tuesday's game but then decided to go into a shell against arguably the league's best offensive team (bad idea) with a defense that lacks a reliable third pair (worse idea). It's not the first time the Sens have squandered valuable points late in games this season. They've lost seven games in overtime this season when leading after the first or second periods, and only the Pens, Jets and Jackets have worse records.

Getting Pierre-Luc Dubois back makes a big difference, but they continue to put themselves in big holes by trailing in the first period. The Capitals have the third-best winning percentage when leading after the first period, but they also have a minus-1 goal differential in the first period.

It's been an impressive week for the Flyers with two comeback wins against the Rangers and Leafs, and another win against the Bruins thanks to a late third-period outburst. Take this with a grain of salt, though; the Flyers still don't generate much offense, and they never should've trailed the Rangers or Leafs in the first place.

Playoffs or not, Macklin Celebrini deserves to be in the MVP conversation. The Sharks are in an interesting position where they could trade futures to potentially gain valuable playoff experience, but they're not even close to being in their Stanley Cup window.

It's truly bizarre a team loaded with this much talent can be so bad, but the New Jersey Devils can often fall into a funk for long stretches and suddenly have a ton of trouble scoring. It's odd, too, that the Devils seem to be pretty quiet in the trade rumor mill. It feels like they need to make a trade or two to shake things up.

Their inconsistency is very surprising considering how tough they've been to play against on a nightly basis. The Panthers dealt with lengthy injuries to key players all season, and it's one of those seasons where the team looks a little tired and needs a reset before they can compete again next season.

There are few words to describe how horrendous the Leafs have become, looking absolutely lifeless in all aspects of the game. They're 3-8-2 since mid-January with only two regulation wins.

Jim Hiller's firing felt long overdue, but even after acquiring Artemi Panarin, how good is this team, really? Not-so-fun stat: after the Canucks, the Kings are the West's worst team on home ice.

Connor Hellebuyck may never win a Cup with the Jets, but his game-stealing performance in the gold medal game makes him a lock for the Hockey Hall of Fame. The issue with the Jets: how can you find quality depth scoring if you don't spend and refuse to play any of your prospects in a season that is clearly toast?

Too little, too late, and also just not enough. Despite a big bounce-back campaign from Steven Stamkos, the Preds just don't have the overall depth and talent to compete. With GM Barry Trotz stepping aside, it'll be interesting to see how the Preds go about fixing their very flawed roster.

They're still trending in the right direction but need a different catalyst other than Connor Bedard to take them to the next level. There are plenty of candidates, but none have really stood out.

At least the games are closer. The Rangers are 1-0-2 with Igor Shesterkin back in net after the Olympic break. Without a top-tier prospect and their best players all in their 30s – Adam Fox is an exception, but he's close at 28 – it's difficult to see how the Rangers expect to remain competitive in the coming seasons.

The Flames have another season before the new arena is expected to open for the 2027-28 season. Ideally, you'd want a competitive team to go with a brand-new rink, which means that if the Flames want to start laying the groundwork for a new core, now's the time to trade their remaining veterans.

It seems a silver-medal performance at the Olympics isn't enough to convince the Blues to keep Jordan Binnington around, and should they trade Robert Thomas – once seen as the franchise center – it's clear they're going for a full reset.

The Canucks have to win at least three of their next 12 games at home to avoid being the team with the fewest wins at home in an 82-game schedule in the cap era. There are zero guarantees this will happen.

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