1 – Boston Bruins
After a fantastic comeback win in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, the Bruins are winners of six straight. Even without Charlie McAvoy on the back end, the team has been exceptional defensively and has undoubtedly been the best team in the NHL thus far, earning them the top spot in our NHL Power Rankings. David Pastrnak is also third in league scoring with 18 points.
2 – Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights are 9-2-0 through their first eleven games. The goalie tandem of Adin Hill and Logan Thompson has been surprisingly great for the Knights, as both netminders have G.A.A.s under 1.75 and save percentages above .935. Forward Jack Eichel also looks good as new and has collected a team leading 12 points in 11 games.
3 – Carolina Hurricanes
At 6-2-1, the Hurricanes are right where we expected them to be. The team may still lack a game changing superstar to carry them for a night or two in the playoffs, but Carolina looks to once again be one of the best regular season teams in the NHL. Newcomer Brent Burns has had an encouraging start with his new team as well, picking up 7 points in 9 games and playing an average of 23 minutes per game.
4 – Edmonton Oilers
It sure didn’t take long for Edmonton’s two superstars to find themselves back at the top of the league in scoring. Like always, the Oilers will go how McDavid and Draisaitl go, and right now, they’re going pretty well. The team is now 7-3-0 and riding a five game win streak into a Thursday night meeting with the equally hot New Jersey Devils.
5 – New York Rangers
Backed by one of the premier goalies in the NHL, the Rangers have jumped out to an expectedly good start. Shesterkin has yet to lose a game in regulation and has been in net for all six of New York’s wins. Their powerplay has also been lethal again this year, thanks to the top unit of Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck.
6 – New Jersey Devils
Coming off four straight wins, the New Jersey Devils are riding high at 7-3-0 after ten games and slot into the 6th spot in our NHL Power Rankings. The team has been gettingbetter goaltending and their 25 goals against is tied for the best in the East. The play of Jesper Bratt also needs to be mentioned, as the forward has picked up four goals and twelve assists to start the season.
7 – Tampa Bay Lightning
The reigning Eastern Conference champions got off to a rocky start but have since picked it up with three straight wins. At this point, it seems like early regular season games don’t even matter for the Lightning because as long as they make it into the playoffs, they’ll be one of the most dangerous teams in the conference. Not surprisingly, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos lead the team in points with 15 and 11 in 10 games played.
8 – Calgary Flames
Despite losing their last two, the Flames still find themselves closing out the top 8 of our NHL Power Rankings at 5-3-0. The team is yet to get the stellar goaltending that they were used to seeing from Markstrom last year but still looks better defensively as a team. Nazem Kadri has also been a perfect fit for the Flames, leading Calgary with ten points in eight games. Their other new forward, Jonathan Huberdeau, may need to step it up a little in the coming weeks after scoring just one goal in his first eight contests.
