Browsing: pretenders

With the Florida Panthers winning consecutive titles in 2024 and 2025, itâ€s officially more common for teams to win back-to-back Stanley Cups than consecutive Presidents†Trophies.

If something feels counterintuitive about that fact, itâ€s likely because weâ€re so conditioned to think of the post-season grind as this gruelling endeavour that breaks even the best teams. The regular season, relatively speaking anyway, can seem like a bit of a breeze.

Ten years ago, there was a lot of evidence to support the idea winning back-to-back Cups was simply too much to ask. After the 1998 Detroit Red Wings hung a second straight banner, we went nearly 20 years without a repeat champion.

However, the 2016 and â€17 playoffs belonged to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who blazed a back-to-back path followed by the Tampa Bay Lighting (2020 and 2021) and, of course, the reigning Cup champs from South Florida.

By contrast, just one team has finished first overall in consecutive years during that same span, as the Washington Capitals topped the table in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

In eight seasons since â€16-17, seven different franchises have finished first overall, with nobody turning the trick in consecutive years. In fact, since the shootout era began 20 years ago in 2005-06, the only other club to win consecutive Presidents†Trophies was the Vancouver Canucks (2010-11 and 2011-12).

We surface this information only to underscore the point that, while the second season gets all the glory, the regular season is a grind, too, and being the best squad over a full 82 two years in a row is a remarkable achievement in itself. Ahem, Winnipeg Jets.

This regular-season talk is also a good reminder that our weekly power rankings — which weâ€re kicking off right here — begin as a window into whoâ€s at the top right now, with puck drop on opening night just hours away. This isnâ€t a take on who has the best chance to succeed seven months from now when the playoffs begin; itâ€s a ranking based on how we think clubs could look coming right out of the gate.

So, as we leap over the boards for a new season, hereâ€s our ranking of all 32 NHL squads:

1. Dallas Stars: New coach, new vibes, same fantastic roster with Mikko Rantanen getting a full rip in ‘Big D.â€

2. Vegas Golden Knights: Why does it feel inevitable that one of Jack Eichel or Mitch Marner will wind up a Hart Trophy finalist?

3. Carolina Hurricanes: What a great development it would be for this team if Logan Stankoven wound up being a perfect 2C behind Sebastian Aho.

4. Colorado Avalanche: Yes, Mikko Rantanen is gone, but Gabriel Landeskog is back, Valeri Nichushkin — unlike last year, when he was suspended — will be with the team out of the gate and the Avs should have much better goaltending from the outset this October than they did last year, assuming Mackenzie Blackwoodâ€s injury doesnâ€t sideline him for long. And, oh yeah, they have Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.

5. Edmonton Oilers: Itâ€s hard to see the Oilers putting the pedal to the metal in the regular season. The goal will be good health and gas in the tank come April.

6. Toronto Maple Leafs: A transition year in Toronto, for sure, but this is still a strong team with a late-blooming stud goalie in Anthony Stolarz. Write them off at your peril.

7. Winnipeg Jets: As noted, a first-overall repeat is asking a lot. But the Jets shouldnâ€t slip too much with their strong structure, lethal power play and reigning MVP Connor Hellebuyck in net.

8. Washington Capitals: Washington had a lot of things lock into place last year and will surely regress a bit. But the Caps have good players all over the lineup, a great 1A/1B goalie situation with Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren and a rookie, in Ryan Leonard, who is going to make the opposition feel it every night.

9. New Jersey Devils: The Devils are this yearâ€s high-variance squad; you could see them scrapping it out for the playoffs again just as easily as challenging for the Metro title. Recall, this squad had 112 points two years ago, so a big season is most definitely in play.

10. Tampa Bay Lightning: If Andrei Vasilevskiy is OK health-wise, Tampa is going to be right there, challenging for the Atlantic title.

11. Florida Panthers: Even with Aleksander Barkov out for the regular season and Matthew Tkachuk gone for — we assume — nearly half of it, we canâ€t put the two-time defending champs any lower than this.

12. Los Angeles Kings: After striking out on a big move in the summer, the Kings feel like a club to watch when it comes to the in-season trade market.

13. Minnesota Wild: This club made the playoffs last year with both Kirill Kaprizov and top-line centre Joel Eriksson Ek each missing about half the season. With Brock Faber and rookie Zeev Buium on the back end, the arrow is pointing up on the Wild.

14. Ottawa Senators: Forget the wild card, the door is open for Ottawa to grab one of the top three slots in the Atlantic.

15. Montreal Canadiens: If Ivan Demidov can help drive another wave of offence after the top line, this team will be cooking with gas. Thatâ€s a lot to put on a rookie, but thereâ€s universal agreement the kid is just that good.

16. New York Rangers: Thereâ€s no doubt the Rangers have bounce-back potential, but donâ€t make the mistake of just slotting them in the playoffs. It will be a tooth-and-nail fight in the East.

17. St. Louis Blues: The best team after the 4 Nations Face-Off last spring should be in better shape this year with a full campaign under coach Jim Montgomery.

18. Columbus Blue Jackets: With all that top-six size, the Jackets could be a tough out in the playoffs; they just have to find a way to get there, first, and that might require Jet Greaves grabbing the starterâ€s job.

19. Utah Mammoth: New team name, new top-six winger in JJ Peterka and all kinds of positivity around an organization on the rise.

20. Anaheim Ducks: The Ducks made a 21-point jump last year and will need a leap nearly that large this season under new coach Joel Quenneville to crack the top eight teams in the West. Anaheim looks good, but thatâ€s asking a lot.

21. Detroit Red Wings: Now-or-never time, right? Change is coming if Detroit misses the second season for the 10th straight campaign.

22. Vancouver Canucks: The Canucks would likely be happy to split the difference between 2023-24â€s 109-point showing and the disappointing 90 points they posted during an all-around miserable campaign last season. A healthy Thatcher Demko, motivated Elias Pettersson and 80 games of Quinn Hughes would certainly make that a reasonable goal.

23. Calgary Flames: Yes, the Flames could absolutely challenge for a playoff spot again, but itâ€s going to require goalie Dustin Wolf being every bit as good as he was last year during a remarkable rookie season.

24. Boston Bruins: Donâ€t write Boston off as a team with no shot at the playoffs. Even with a franchise re-set going on, thereâ€s plenty of bounce-back potential — at least to being a competitive outfit night after night.

25. Nashville Predators: Better? Yes. Back-in-the-playoffs better? Not so sure…

26. New York Islanders: If it is another non-playoff year on Long Island, at least fans can dream on something better down the road with 2025 first-overall pick Matthew Schaefer already in the mix.

27. Buffalo Sabres: Maybe they can snap the playoff drought. But, at this point, who is going to predict that before it happens?

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28. Seattle Kraken: Itâ€s going to get tough to believe in Matty Beniers as a top-line producer if we donâ€t see it this season.

29. Chicago Blackhawks: Hawks fans will feel a lot better about this entire rebuild if Spencer Knight goes out and shows he can be a No. 1 puckstopper this season.

30. Philadelphia Flyers: If the goaltending is even average, Philly can be decent. If not, the Flyers will be a bottom-feeder.

31. Pittsburgh Penguins: If there is a sell-off at some point, this roster is going to get grim fast.

32. San Jose Sharks: Could you imagine if the Sharks added top 2026 draft prospect Gavin McKenna to its stable of young studs?

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