NHL Power Rankings: One early-season overreaction for every team

Anybody who works in sports media can tell you we’ve got a few tried and true formats for stories.

“Bold Predictions” on the eve of a new season? Obviously. “Winners and Losers” after a trade deadline or the opening of free agency? I mean, it only makes sense.

And having now witnessed the beginning of the NFL, NHL and NBA seasons since the start of September, I’m happy to officially recognize “early-season overreactions” as a staple piece for covering fledgling campaigns. Our own Justin Bourne already identified nine things on his radar last week and for this week’s power rankings, we figured we’d take a stab at guessing what fans for all 32 clubs are saying when the emotions they could tamp down after three or four games are now getting the best of them after seven or eight.

1. Colorado Avalanche (4-2-1) Cale Makar turns 25 on Sunday and we’ve already found Makar 2.0. Bowen Byram is on a 59-point pace this year in his first full NHL season.

2. Carolina Hurricanes (4-1-1) We’ve got the best forward from the 2018 draft. 22-year-old Andrei Svechnikov is busting loose, as his seven goals have him in a tie for the league lead and give him 96 on his career, one more than fourth-overall Brady Tkachuk’s 95. (Note it is “best forward” from that draft; Rasmus Dahlin might be running away with the “best player” label).

3. Calgary Flames (5-1-0) Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk can…well, you know! Continuity was the only real question I had about the Flames and they’ve come out of the gate looking strong.

4. Vegas Golden Knights (6-2-0) The Chandler Stephenson trade is among the greatest heists of the past 20 years. Acquired nearly three years ago from Washington for a measly fifth-rounder, the 28-year-old pivot has seven points in eight outings this year, has played at a 59-point pace since landing in Vegas and a 67-point clip since the start of last season.

5. Boston Bruins (6-1-0) When we get our guys back, we’ll be unstoppable. It’s remarkable the B’s are off to such a strong start with Brad Marchand — returning Thursday way ahead of schedule — and Charlie McAvoy on the sidelines. How about that Czech connection of David Krejci and David Pastrnak?

6. Florida Panthers (4-2-1) We honestly don’t ever remember who we traded for Matthew Tkachuk. Calgary might be loving life with MacKenzie Weegar and Jonathan Huberdeau, but Tkachuk has a 4-5-9 statline in seven outings for a Cats team with really strong underlying numbers. Things will get even better when Aleksander Barkov scores his first goal of the year.

7. Pittsburgh Penguins (4-2-1) Our boys are aging like the fine wines in Mario’s cellar. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are off to great starts, while the team’s oldest player — 38-in-January Jeff Carter — has six points through his first seven contests, too.

8. Dallas Stars (4-2-1) Call off the search; we’ve got the best goalie in the league. Yes, Playoff Jake has carried right over to the regular season, as Oettinger has a league-best .953 save percentage in five starts.

9. Tampa Bay (4-4-0) ‘Kuch’ and ‘Stammer’ are going to reclaim some hardware. No doubt it’s been a flat start for Tampa, but Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos both look as though they have things like scoring titles and Rocket Richard Trophies on the brain.

10. Toronto Maple Leafs (4-3-0) As bad as a loss feels, I swear to God I feel worse after hearing the team talk about a loss. The Leafs have dropped three games this year and, honestly, there’s been some kind of call out or use of the word “Unacceptable” after each one. Can these guys just have a regular old ‘L’ and move on with their day?

11. Edmonton Oilers (4-3-1) Maybe Skinner is actually the guy? Jack Campbell has had an uneven start to his Oilers career, but Stuart Skinner has stopped 88 of 92 pucks thrown his way.

12. St. Louis Blues (3-2-0) ‘Binner’ is back. Okay, I have no idea if Blues fans call Jordan Binnington ‘Binner,’ but it seems pretty plausible. The goalie has been great so far this year, while backup Thomas Greiss made 39 saves in his only start.

13. New York Rangers (3-3-2) Our first-and second-overall picks are just never going to be what we dream of. Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko have played a combined 16 games this year and the latter has two goals, while the former is stuck on one.

14. Ottawa Senators (4-2-0) If we get any kind of goaltending, we’re in the playoffs and making noise. The Sens have won four straight games, all at home, scoring a league-best 5.5 goals-per-game during that stretch.

15. Buffalo Sabres (4-2-0) There’s no way we’re a sub-.500 team this year. The Sabres haven’t finished with more wins than losses in a full season since 2011-12. Even if the playoffs remain slightly out of reach, Dahlin and the kids have a great chance of ending that drought.

16. New Jersey Devils (4-3-0) Jesper Bratt is the best sixth-rounder in the league. Take that, Mark Stone! Bratt is following up last year’s breakout campaign by *checks notes* bolting out to a tie for the league scoring lead.

17. Washington Capitals (4-3-0) The price for winning the 2018 Cup was never winning a playoff series again and, honestly, we’ll take it. Maybe that’s a little extreme for a team that’s over .500, but the Caps’ advanced stats are pretty rough and making the post-season — never mind winning series for the first time since the 2018 Stanley Cup Final — is going to be a big ask for a team playing without Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson and Connor Brown.

18. Detroit Red Wings (3-1-2) No way Larkin can leave this team. Dylan Larkin’s pending-UFA status is the subplot of the season for Detroit, but the captain and the team are both off to good starts in a year where the Wings have to take a step forward.

19. Philadelphia Flyers (4-2-0) We always knew Carter was the guy. Few, if any, goalies entered the league in recent times with the expectations Carter Hart carried. The 24-year-old has endured some bumps, but he’s 4-0-0 with a .949 save percentage so far.

20. Chicago Blackhawks (4-2-0) We should sign Patrick Kane to an extension tomorrow. How could Hawks fans not be riding a little high after the team’s hot start, complete with some harrowing comebacks.

21. Winnipeg Jets (3-3-0) Pionk is still the most underrated D-man in the league. It’s now Year 4 for Neal Pionk in Winnipeg after coming over in the Jacob Trouba trade. All he’s doing this season is leading the team in ice time while putting up five points in six outings.

22. Minnesota Wild (2-3-1) We bet on the wrong goalie. Trading for Marc-Andre Fleury last season triggered Cam Talbot being traded this summer and, so far, Fleury has had a rough go out of the gates.

23. Los Angeles Kings (4-4-0) I knew we were going to backslide. The Kings were a surprise playoff team last year and if they want to get back there this year, they’ve got to get more stingy. L.A. is one of six teams in the NHL giving up more than four goals per game right now.

24. New York Islanders (3-4-0) We needed Nazem Kadri or Johnny Gaudreau. You know the Islanders are going to be in the fight, but once again it looks like they’ll always be life and death to scratch out enough goals.

25. Nashville Predators (2-4-1) We should have lobbied for 82 games in Europe. The Preds are winless in five games since returning from Europe 2-0-0 to start the season, having been outscored 20-9 in North America.

26. Seattle Kraken (3-3-2) Here. We. Go. The Kraken are scoring, so if they start getting more saves, it might be turn-the-corner time.

27. Montreal Canadiens (3-4-0) Kaiden Guhle really is next-gen Shea Weber. Guhle is big, mobile, smart and rarely — if ever — smiling.

28. Columbus Blue Jackets (3-5-0) Don’t tell anyone, but we kind of miss ‘Torts.’ The Blue Jackets’ expected goals percentage was bad last season in Brad Larsen’s first year as coach and it’s not much better so far in Year 2.

29. Arizona Coyotes (2-4-0) Put the ‘C’ on Clayton. It was so tough to see Clayton Keller’s breakout year end with a fractured leg last spring, but he’s picked right up where he left off as a point-per-game guy this year. It feels like he’s the one who could stick through the lean years and come out the other side.

30. San Jose Sharks (2-7-0) Settle in; this is going to take a while. The Sharks haven’t had a top-five draft pick since 1998 and have only been inside the top 10 six times since then. It’s time for an influx of top-of-the-board talent.

31. Anaheim Ducks (1-5-1) We need a goalie. Now. The Ducks aren’t doing their stoppers any favours, but the .891 save percentage between John Gibson and Anthony Stolarz isn’t helping matters. That’s how you end up with a league-worst minus-16 goal-differential.

32. Vancouver Canucks (0-5-2) Trade ‘em all. That’s a bit extreme, but you do wonder if the move here is a one-year tank job that results in adding a top-3 pick to a core of Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. There’s too much serious young talent on this team to think all is lost, though.