NHL Power Rankings: Penguins facing some tough decisions on star players amid slow start

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Hurricanes Missing out on Connor Hellebuyck may not be a problem for the Canes after all. Pyotr Kochetkov has been excellent. His 7.29 goals saved above average rank fifth in the NHL, and his high-danger save percentage is .851. -- 12-3-2 2

Wild Joel Eriksson Ek has always been an underrated player, but he's been legitimately great to this point in 2026-27. Not only does he have 15 points in 17 games, but he also owns a plus-13 goal differential at five-on-five. 1 11-3-3 3

Oilers Is it nitpicking to critique a team off to an 11-2-3 start? Maybe, but I'll do it anyway. Edmonton ranks 27th in five-on-five expected goals share at 45.4%. Without McDavid, Edmonton or Bouchard on the ice at full strength the Oilers are getting bludgeoned, 20-6. 1 11-2-3 4

Devils The Devils had to wait a while for Arseny Gritsyuk to reach North America, but their patience is paying off now. I his second NHL season, the 25-year-old Russian has become a scoring machine. His eight goals are tied with Jack Hughes for the team lead. 4 10-5-0 5

Bruins The No. 7 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Hagens is already shaping up to be a steal for the Bruins. With six goals and six assists in 16 games, Hagens has flashed his potential as a No. 1 center. 4 11-4-1 6

Lightning It's not often that the reigning MVP requests a trade, but that's exactly what just happened in Tampa. The Lightning probably have a strong enough culture to prevent Nikita Kucherov's request from becoming a distraction, but it's something to monitor. 2 9-3-2 7

Mammoth If I want to write about Logan Cooley in this spot, that's my birthright as an American citizen. Cooley has been exceptional -- adding a scoring touching to his playmaking in the early going. This is the exact type of jump we all expected to see from him this year. 1 10-6-0 8

Stars Over the last several years, Dallas has been one of the highest-scoring teams in the league, but the offense is off to a slow start now. The Stars are tied for 23rd in scoring, and it's not even like the shooting percentage is unsustainably low at 11.3%. 2 9-5-1 9

Golden Knights Rasmus Andersson's $59.5 million contract extension is already aging poorly. Not only has the offensive production slipped a bit, but the Golden Knights are getting crushed with Andersson in the game to the tune of a minues-8 goal differential at five-on-five. 4 10-5-2 10

Panthers Is Seth Jones playing the best hockey of his career? It sure seems like it. Jones is already up to 18 points (his career high is 57), and he's driving play from the blue line in Sunrise. That acquisition has aged beautifully for the Cats. 3 8-5-2 11

Canadiens Tuesday night's debacle against the Jets aside, Jacob Fowler has been a revealation for the Canadiens. He's a way-too-early Vezina Trophy candidate with 9.35 goals saved above average and a .925 save percentage. 1 9-3-3 12

Sabres Buffalo was banking on internal upgrades from its young core, and Jack Quinn has done just that. The Sabres are driving play with Quinn on the ice and the 25-year-old is scoring at a point-per-game pace. 6 7-4-3 13

Kraken Frederick Gaudreau epitomizes the Kraken's season so far. A player with a career high of 19 goals is already at seven, and his shooting percentage is 43.8%. That's not sustainable, but Gaudreau hasn't shown any signs of slowing down yet. 4 8-5-1 14

Avalanche Artturi Lehkonen is already up to 12 goals in just 16 games, and he's only 11 behind his career high of 27. I doubt Lehkonen will continue to shoot 35.3% for all 84 games, but if he can hit 30 goals, that would be a nice boost for the Avalanche offense. -- 9-6-1 15

Maple Leafs Are the Maple Leafs already experiencing buyer's remorse from that Sergei Bobrovsky contract? Bobrosvky has been roughly league average in a number of categories, but that's not good enough when a star goalie is making $7 million. 2 8-7-2 16

Capitals The Capitals' signing of Alex Tuch is going swimmingly so far. He's already hit the 10-goal mark, and Tuch has fit like a glove next to Dylan Strome in the top six. The Sabres may regret letting Tuch walk. -- 8-6-0 17

Senators With Linus Ullmark out due to injury, the Senators have been unable to get saves, which is a critical part of winning hockey games. Samuel Ersson and Jonas Johansson have combined to allow 7.96 goals above average. 6 9-6-1 18

Islanders Brayden Schenn is proving that he still has a little gas left in the tank at 35 years old. Schenn has chipped in offensively and has solid five-on-five impacts. The coaching upgrade on Long Island certainly helps. 1 7-5-2 19

Rangers The Igor Shesterkin injury may finally be catching up to the Rangers. Prior to Tuesday's win over the Blues, New York lost four straight games and allowed an average of 4.4 goals over that stretch. 4 8-7-1 20

Predators In its eternal search for long-term solutions at center, Nashville acquired Shane Wright from the Kraken this week. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Wright never really panned out in Seattle, but the Preds hope a change of scenery will allow him to reach his potential. 3 6-4-5 21

Red Wings If you thought Emmitt Finnie's rookie season was a fluke (I did, admittedly), think again. The former seventh-round pick is off to a great start with 11 points in 16 games, and he jumps off the screen when you watch the Wings. 1 7-6-3 22

Blues As someone who's watch a lot of Justin Barron in recent years, I cannot believe what my eyes are seeing. Barron has been dominant on the blue line in St. Louis, posting eight points and a plus-four goal differential at full strength. 4 7-7-1 23

Flames On the heels of an 0-5-0 start, the Flames have won seven of their last 10. Joel Farabee has been a huge part of that success with five goals and seven assists in that span. 5 7-8-0 24

Ducks It hasn't been all flowers for Anaheim laterly, but Leo Carlsson is smelling pretty rosy right now. He's riding a five-game point streak in which he's totaled three goals and eight assists. Now if only he could patrol the blue line as well. 3 7-7-1 25

Sharks Despite the money invested into their blue line over the summer, the Sharks remain the worst defensive team in hockey. No team -- not even the Canucks -- allows expected goals against at a higher rate. 4 7-8-1 26

Blue Jackets When the Blue Jackets landed Valeri Nichushkin from the Avalanche, I thought he could be a great fit for them, but it just hasn't worked out that way. The production has been rather pedestrian, and his underlying metrics have been troublesome. 1 6-7-0 27

Penguins The Penguins currently occupy the basement of the Eastern Conference, along with their in-state rivals. At what point is GM Kyle Dubas forced to make really tough decisions about his veteran stars? That includes Sidney Crosby. 7 5-8-2 28

Kings The retirement of Anze Kopitar has affected this team negatively, and another franchise icon has been impacted by Father Time. Drew Doughty's impacts are on a sharp decline, and that has contributed to the Kings' early struggles. 2 4-7-2 29

Jets The Jets were on the cusp of losing their 10th straight game on Tuesday when they rallied from down 4-0 with 2:40 left on the clock to beat the Canadiens in overtime. Is this some kind of turning point for Winnipeg? 5 5-8-3 30

Flyers Matvei Michkov is actually good. Who knew?! Apparently not Rick Tocchet for long stretches of last season. Michkov has rebounded with a vengeance for 10 goals in 17 games. 1 4-9-4 31

Blackhawks Whoever books hotels for the Blackhawks is on the hot seat these days. Chicago is 0-5-1 away from the United Center, and it's the only team left in the NHL without a road win. 2 4-10-1 32

Canucks This team has a few intriguing young players -- including Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren and Marco Rossi -- but it's hard to evaluate them because the environment around them is the worst in the NHL. -- 3-13-1