In the second NHL power rankings of the season, Jason Chen lists a big storyline for each squad after an opening night full of goals and an 18-year-old's helmetless warmup.

Welcome back to the ever-popular NHL power rankings at The Hockey News. Published every Wednesday, all 32 teams will be ranked from best to worst with an emphasis on their weekly performances.

I hope you all enjoyed the action last night. It’s great to see the NHL on TV again. By the way, did you notice that some kid named Connor Bedard was playing last night?

The coverage was a little nauseating, as if we’ve already forgotten that Connor McDavid – who will be in action tonight – just put together one of the most ridiculous seasons in history last season.

Did you notice that Bedard warmed up without a bucket? I lost track of how many times we mentioned his age, or his shot, which is admittedly incredible. From hence forth, the Tuesday following Canadian Thanksgiving and Columbus Day/Indigenous People's Day in the U.S. will be known as “Connor Bedard Day.”

Jokes aside, the Blackhawks looked good. And so did Petr Mrazek, surprisingly. This season is not going to play out like we think it will, and that’s the beauty of hockey even though we’ve only witnessed just three games.

This week’s NHL power rankings features slight movement based on last night’s results – the Blackhawks are moving up, for example – and the big storyline for each team.

(All fancy stats are 5-on-5 and courtesy naturalstattrick.com. CF% stands for Corsi-for percentage and xGF% represents expected goals-for percentage.)

1. Vegas Golden Knights (Last season: 51-22-9, +43 goal differential. CF% league rank: 22, xGF% league rank: 16)

The Knights showed no signs of a Cup hangover, or a hangover of any kind, which is impressive considering the city it’s based in. Owner Bill Foley made good on his promise to win the “Cup in six” and now the question is if they can repeat, something only two teams have done in the cap era. By the way, that was the best banner raising ceremony ever.

2. Florida Panthers (42-32-8, +17. CF%: 3, xGF%: 5)

Last season’s Cinderella team will not catch anyone by surprise. The toughest stretch of the season is now with Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour injured. If they can hold the ship together until their return, the Panthers could go on another long playoff run.

3. Carolina Hurricanes (52-21-9, +53. CF%: 1, xGF%: 1)

The Canes found a temporary home for Pyotr Kochetkov with AHL Syracuse, the Lightning’s affiliate. When Andrei Vasilevskiy comes back, and one of Jonas Johansson or Matt Tomkins is demoted, what next? The Canes’ goalie situation will be one to watch all season, and they cannot go into the playoffs alternating goalies again, can they? A gentle reminder they’re 0-12 in the Eastern Conference final since 2006.

4. Dallas Stars (47-21-14, +67. CF%: 10, xGF%: 10)

Jake Oettinger’s playing time needs to be watched because he’s looked overworked and tired for two straight post-seasons. The Stars play just one game in the opening week, which means their schedule gets cramped later in the season.

5. New Jersey Devils (52-22-8, +65. CF%: 4, xGF%: 2)

One of a handful of teams who will share this problem: goaltending. Is Vitek Vanecek the guy or Akira Schmid? The battle in the crease gets an early test with a back-to-back on Thursday and Friday.

6. Toronto Maple Leafs (50-21-11, +57. CF%: 16, xGF%: 7)

William Nylander at center? John Klingberg as the power-play quarterback? Nope, the big storyline is in goal, with Ilya Samsonov as the undisputed starter. His workload is going to be immense, and only last season, he just set a new career high with 40 starts.

7. Edmonton Oilers (50-23-9, +65. CF%: 7, xGF%: 6)

It will not be surprising to see Jack Campbell split the starts, so the question is more about depth and cap management. Entering the season opener, the Oilers have just 11 forwards on their roster. Will the rest of the season be a cap-juggling exercise, perhaps hindering their chances of acquiring help at the trade deadline?

8. Colorado Avalanche (51-24-7 +54. CF%: 8, xGF%: 14)

Health is always the Avs’ biggest issue. An injury to Pavel Francouz necessitated a waiver claim of Ivan Prosvetov, and Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon need to stay healthy. They might even get Gabriel Landeskog back in the playoffs in surprise fashion.

9. Tampa Bay Lightning (46-30-6, +29. CF%: 13, xGF%: 11)

Just hang on. Jonas Johansson looked serviceable in the season opener, but Andrei Vasilevskiy, he definitely is not. The Lightning’s even-strength play left a little to be desired, but their awesome special teams should power them through the season and into the playoffs, where there’s no salary cap to hinder Julien BriseBois.

10. New York Rangers (47-22-13, +58. CF%: 17, xGF%: 22)

Is this the season we finally see Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko take the next step? The Rangers’ veterans deliver, but they need the young players to push them over the top.

11. Seattle Kraken (46-28-8, +33. CF%: 5, xGF%: 12)

The truth is, the Kraken are probably somewhere in between their disappointing inaugural season and their surprisingly good second season. It will come down to goaltending. Bold prediction: Joey Daccord becomes the No. 1 goalie by December because Philipp Grubauer is not it.

12. Los Angeles Kings (47-25-10, +23. CF%: 6, xGF%: 9)

Their young players will break out sooner or later. But, really, can the Kings go into the playoffs with a Cam Talbot-Pheonix Copley tandem? Is there another playoff hopeful with a weaker goalie duo?

13. Minnesota Wild (46-25-11, +21. CF%: 20, xGF%: 18)

The Wild are consistently in the playoff race, which is kind of the problem. They can't add much salary with heavy buyout penalties for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. That means the improvement will have to come from within, led by Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marco Rossi.

14. Winnipeg Jets (46-33-3, +22. CF%: 11, xGF%: 13)

Locking up Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele certainly answers questions about their long-term plan. But are they appreciatively any more competitive now than before? Gabriel Vilardi may be able to provide the answer to that question, along with Cole Perfetti and a wave of incoming talent that includes Colby Barlow and Chaz Lucius.

15. Boston Bruins (65-12-5, +128. CF%: 15, xGF%: 8)

The Bruins will definitely regress. The question is, how much?

16. New York Islanders (42-31-9, +21. CF%: 19, xGF%: 20)

The Isles can’t score. Despite a commitment to play a more offensive style under coach Lane Lambert, they really just don’t have the personnel to do so. With big contracts handed out to Bo Horvat and Pierre Engvall, they’re the team most likely to have buyer’s remorse. The only truth is they will only go as far as Ilya Sorokin carries them.

17. Pittsburgh Penguins (40-31-11, -2. CF%: 9, xGF%: 4)

The honest assessment of Erik Karlsson on PP1 was that it didn’t look nearly as good as expected. Time is not on the Pens’ side, and while a season-opening loss isn’t the end of the world, their margin of error is small. Can the Pens win it all again without running all their veterans – they have the league’s oldest roster by average age – into the ground?

18. Buffalo Sabres (42-33-7, -4. CF%: 14, xGF%: 21)

They can score and they can excite, but can they defend? Devon Levi looks like the real deal, but he doesn’t have a lot of experience and few rookie goalies can handle a big workload.

19. Calgary Flames (38-27-17, +8. CF%: 2, xGF%: 3)

They will definitely improve, but is it enough to get back into the playoffs? After locking up Mikael Backlund, Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin’s futures with the team are still uncertain. The good news: Matt Coronato and third-string Dustin Wolf bring a lot of hope and optimism.

20. Vancouver Canucks (38-37-7, -22. CF%: 23, xGF%: 25)

It’s not a proper Canucks season without some drama. Aside from their cap-related foibles, Conor Garland’s possible interest in leaving once again throws their top six in flux, and Elias Pettersson’s impending free agency looms large.

21. Ottawa Senators (39-35-8, -10. CF%: 12, xGF%: 15)

The Shane Pinto saga stretches into the regular season, and an injury to Zack MacEwen means they might play the season opener with only 11 forwards. Without even playing a game, the Sens are already falling behind.

22. Detroit Red Wings (35-37-10, -39. CF%: 26, xGF%: 26)

So many players, so little space. The Wings can configure their lineup in all sorts of ways, but they are going nowhere fast if Ville Husso struggles again. They’ve got two insurance policies in James Reimer and Alex Lyon, and Sebastian Cossa looks like he’s still at least a few seasons away.

23. Nashville Predators (42-32-8, -9. CF%: 24, xGF%: 24)

The good news is Juuso Parssinen and Tommy Novak scored goals in the season opener, but the bad news is generating offense consistently might be a problem for the Preds all season. Expectations are low, and the most interesting story about the Preds is they’re entering uncharted territory with only their second GM in history.

24. Washington Capitals (35-37-10, -10. CF%: 18, xGF%: 19)

The average of their top line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie is 36 years old, and the young players they’re ushering in aren’t good enough to carry the torch. The big storyline isn’t whether or not the Caps can win another Cup since they didn’t make a Erik Karlsson-sized move like the rival Pens, but it's whether or not Ovechkin can chase Gretzky’s all-time goals record.

25. St. Louis Blues (37-38-7, -38. CF%: 27, xGF%: 27)

How long before Jordan Binnington gets into a fight? Better yet, how long before Joel Hofer takes over the starting job?

26. Chicago Blackhawks (25-49-7, -97. CF%: 31, xGF%: 31)

We got more than glimpse of Connor Bedard, who skated over 20 minutes in his NHL debut. Never mind the Hawks’ record; Bedard is drawing eyeballs, and that’s all anyone should care about at the moment.

27. Philadelphia Flyers (31-38-13, -55. CF%: 25, xGF%: 23)

The Flyers should surprise because the range of outcomes can be very vast. They’ve got an underrated roster with a good mix of veterans and young players, and we get another season of John Tortorella soundbites.

28. Arizona Coyotes (28-40-14, -71. CF%: 29, xGF%: 28)

Logan Cooley will be fun to watch as the Coyotes continue to hoard draft picks. However, the big storyline is whether or not the Coyotes will be staying in Arizona long-term.

29. Columbus Blue Jackets (25-48-9, -116. CF%: 30, xGF%: 29)

It’ll be interesting to see how new coach Pascal Vincent manages this lineup. He’s already playing Patrik Laine at center and likely making Kent Johnson a healthy scratch. One thing’s for sure: Adam Fantilli makes the Jackets worth watching again.

30. Montreal Canadiens (31-45-6, -75. CF%: 28, xGF%: 30)

The Habs have a mishmash of young players, but the most interesting one of them all is Cole Caufield, who scored at a 46-goal pace last season. With more offensive depth and a clean bill of health, we finally get to see what Caufield’s ceiling really is.

31. Anaheim Ducks (23-47-12, -129. CF%: 32, xGF%: 32)

If you can’t beat them, punch them. The Ducks won’t win many games, but with Radko Gudas and now Ross Johnston on the roster, they will literally have more fight in them after looking listless last season. The big storyline is seeing how the Ducks change under coach Greg Cronin and the continuing development of their young core.

32. San Jose Sharks (22-44-16, -87. CF%: 21, xGF%: 17)

What’s actually most interesting about the Sharks is their five-forward power-play unit. A few teams have experimented with this in the past, including the Leafs and Panthers, with varying degrees of success, but none of them have implemented it over the entire season. With the Sharks widely expected to be the worst team in the league, this is a good chance to just experiment with different strategies and looks. It’ll at least make their games watchable.