NHL Power Rankings: Every team’s ‘Mr. October’ so far this season

Itâ€s safe to say no World Series since the early 1990s has captivated Canada like the one currently coming down to the wire between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With one more victory, the Jays will secure their first MLB title since 1993. Canadian hardball heads have been hanging on every pitch and celebrating every smash, a good number of them coming from the bat of Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Of course, on the other side of the diamond, the Dodgers are still pinning their hopes on two-way miracle Shohei Ohtani, a player who — with his ability to both demolish pitches with a bat and throw them with his arm — has put himself squarely in the conversation about the best athletes weâ€ve ever seen on any type of playing field.

Both of those players are more than worthy of baseballâ€s revered “Mr. October†label for the way theyâ€ve performed in the MLB playoffs.

While this month carries a lot of excitement for hockey as the NHL season kicks off, the stakes — by contrast, anyway — certainly feel lower. Weâ€re still a long way from agonizing over every goal the way baseball fans are stressing with every single pitch.

Still, the games being played in the NHL right now offer the same two points that will be up for grabs six months from now when teams are fighting and clawing to get into the playoffs. As such, every strong performance currently being turned in by a player still carries a lot of value.

With that in mind — inspired by the exploits of Vladdy and Shohei — weâ€re using the final power ranking of this month to identify an ice version of “Mr. October†for all 32 NHL clubs.

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1. Colorado Avalanche (6-1-4): Nathan MacKinnonâ€s nine goals have him tied for the league lead with three other players. As youâ€d expect, weâ€ll hear about those guys soon. Of course, you expect heroics from MacKinnon, but how about the job goalie Scott Wedgewood did as the No. 1 guy while Mackenzie Blackwood was injured? Wedgewood is tied for the NHL lead with six victories.

2. New Jersey Devils (8-2-0): It didnâ€t take long to get to one of the guys MacKinnon shares the goal lead with. That would be No. 86 on the Devils, Jack Hughes, whoâ€s reminding everyone why heâ€s always a great value pre-season MVP bet.Â

3. Vegas Golden Knights (6-1-3): Jack Eichel is pacing the NHL with 19 points, but your points-per-game leader among players with at least five outings is Mark Stone at a crazy 2.17 thanks to his 13 points in six outings. Also, Pavel Dorofeyev is equal with Hughes and MacKinnon on nine goals.Â

4. Winnipeg Jets (7-3-0): Mark Scheifele is off to a fantastic 8-7-15 start, but Connor Hellebuyck isnâ€t going to give up his grip on that Vezina Trophy without a fight. Per Moneypuck, the big man has the best goals-saved-above-expected-per-60-minutes mark in the NHL at 1.092.

5. Utah Mammoth (8-3-0): Can Nick Schmatlz — a pending UFA, by the way — finally put it all together and have a monster season? Heâ€s flirted with point-per-game campaigns before in his mid-20s, when he was very productive in injury-shortened campaigns. With 17 points in 11 contests, heâ€s poised to blow by his career high of 63 points.Â

6. Dallas Stars (6-3-1): In the first year of a tasty five-year contract, Wyatt Johnston is off to a fantastic start with six goals in 10 outings.Â

7. Carolina Hurricanes (6-3-0): Shayne Gostisbehere has played just six games this year and has seven points from the blueline. Up front, Seth Jarvis is scoring at all the right times, firing four game-winning goals to tie him with Utahâ€s Dylan Guenther for the league lead.Â

8. Montreal Canadiens (8-3-0): Cole Caufield (tied for league lead in goals) and Nick Suzuki (16 points in 11 outings) are driving the offence, but the most critical October performance may have come from Jakub Dobes. With No. 1 guy Sam Montembeault struggling to find his game, Dobes — a 24-year-old rookie — stepped up to post a 6-0-0 record with a sparkling .930 save percentage.Â

9. Detroit Red Wings (7-3-0): Dylan Larkin has never finished a campaign of 70-plus games as a point-per-game player, but heâ€s off to a fantastic start this year with an 8-8-16 line in 10 games.Â

10. Edmonton Oilers (5-4-2): Leon Draisaitl, the reigning Rocket Richard Trophy winner, is only one off the NHL lead with eight goals. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, meanwhile, is a point-per-game player right now on the heels of a paltry 49-point showing last year.Â

11. Florida Panthers (5-5-1): How about Brad Marchand stepping up in the absence of Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk to help spark the offence with five goals and 11 points through 10 contests.

12. Washington Capitals (6-4-0): Logan Thompson is Washingtonâ€s Mr. October with his league-best (among goalies with five GP) .939 save percentage. Maybe he can yet be Canadaâ€s Mr. February?

13. Pittsburgh Penguins (7-2-2): A start this good for Pittsburgh is obviously rooted in multiple strong performances. Of course, the two at the top just happen to be 39-year-old Evgeni Malkin (second in the NHL with 13 assists) and 38-year-old Sidney Crosby (one off the league goal lead with eight tallies).

14. Los Angeles Kings (5-3-3): Adrian Kempe needs a new contract before next summer and, chances are, heâ€s going to eventually get a huge one from the Kings. The Swedish sniper is pacing the club with 14 points in 11 games.Â

15. Columbus Blue Jackets (6-4-0): Zach Werenski is picking up right where he left off last season, netting eight points in 10 outings with Columbus and averaging a staggering 25:56 a game (third most in the NHL).Â

 16. Toronto Maple Leafs (5-5-1): Suffice it to say, Torontoâ€s hockey team hasnâ€t been able to bottle what the baseball club has going on just yet. That said, William Nylanderâ€s 1.67 points-per-game is the third-best mark in the NHL.

17. Seattle Kraken (5-2-3): What an emotional month itâ€s been for Brandon Montour, who lost his brother, Cameron Noble-Montour, to ALS on Oct. 20. When the Kraken defenceman has been able to lose himself in the game, heâ€s produced seven points in six games while seeing 23:22 of ice.Â

18. Anaheim Ducks (5-3-1): Jackson LaCombe plays 25:37 per night for the Ducks, which is almost five more minutes a game than anybody else in Anaheim sees.Â

19. Tampa Bay Lightning (4-4-2): He may not have a goal this year, but Victor Hedman has eight assists in 10 games and is playing 24 minutes a night for Tampa. The defenceman remains a rock for the Bolts.Â

20. Chicago Blackhawks (5-3-2): Spencer Knight, at 24 years old, appears to be realizing his huge potential with the Hawks. His .930 save percentage in seven outings is a thing of beauty.Â

21. Ottawa Senators (5-5-1): Shane Pinto is off to a scorching start with eight goals, Drake Batherson is averaging 1.5 points per game, but the man of the month might be Jake Sanderson. The 23-year-old defenceman has five points in his past three games, 10 points on the season and is skating a team-high 23:14 a night.

22. Philadelphia Flyers (5-3-1): Dan Vladarâ€s early days as a Flyer have been fantastic, with the 28-year-old posting a .932 save percentage thatâ€s better than every other goalie in the league save Logan Thompson (.939).

23. Vancouver Canucks (5-6-0): So far, so good for Thatcher Demko. Coming off an injury-ravaged season, Demko has a strong .926 SV% in seven games.Â

24. Buffalo Sabres (4-4-2): Ryan McLeod plays in all situations for the Sabres and is producing a nice bit of offence with seven points in 10 games.Â

25. New York Rangers (4-5-2): Adam Fox is leading the Rangers in scoring from the blueline with nine points in 11 games.Â

26. New York Islanders (4-4-1): Bo Horvat has been awesome for the Islanders, notching 11 points in nine games while playing in every situation.Â

27. Nashville Predators (4-5-2): Ryan Oâ€Reilly is showing thereâ€s still some offence in his stick, netting five goals in 11 outings so far.Â

28. St. Louis Blues (3-6-1): Itâ€s a real bummer that Jake Neighbours is set to miss at least five weeks with a leg injury. He was one of the few October bright spots for St. Louis with his team-best six goals in just eight games.Â

29. Boston Bruins (5-7-0): Morgan Geekie is well on his way to proving last yearâ€s 33-goal showing was no fluke. The six-foot-three winger is currently on a five-game goal-scoring streak and has eight tallies overall this year.Â

30. Minnesota Wild (3-5-3): Matt Boldy has cooled from his scorching start, but still has 12 points in 11 games. Kirill Kaprizov has 15 points, but key turnovers have been an issue for the talented winger.Â

31. San Jose Sharks (2-6-2): It may still be a long way off, but Sharks fans must be dreaming about what Macklin Celebrini will be able to do for the club when the games really count in San Jose again.Â

32. Calgary Flames (2-8-1): Nobody does more for the Flames than Nazem Kadri. As the losses mount, so will questions about whether this will be his final October in Calgary.Â

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