J.T. Miller scores OT winner for the Rangers (1:01)J.T. Miller skates across the blue line, gets to the front of the net and scores the overtime winner for the Rangers. (1:01)
Halloween is finally here. Now is a good time to remind everyone to pump the brakes a bit — much like stores should hold off on going all-out with holiday decorations on Nov. 1.
We as hockey fans must wait patiently until American Thanksgiving in the third week of November to “officially” determine which teams are destined to make the playoffs — and which ones get extra stuffing because they are cooked.
But in honor of the spooky costumed occasion on Friday, this week’s Power Rankings include a Halloween costume or identity for all 32 teams.
How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors sends in a 1-32 poll based on the games through Wednesday, which generates our list.
Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the previous edition, published Oct. 24. Points percentages are through Thursday’s games; other stats are through Wednesday’s games, unless otherwise noted.
Gimme a break! The Avs are rolling yet again. Journeyman goaltender Scott Wedgewood had a tremendous start to the season, Nathan MacKinnon has 17 points through 11 games, Cale Makar leads all NHL defensemen with 15 … are you at all surprised?
Also, a Kit Kat bar is exactly the kind of thing MacKinnon wouldn’t eat, which adds bonus points to this costume pick.
Nico Hischier has been locking down star players so far this season; save a couple of games, he has helped hold the likes of Nikita Kucherov, Sam Reinhart, Leon Draisaitl and Auston Matthews off the score sheet when they face the Devils.
The VGK and their fans have had a charmed existence, with four Pacific Division titles, two Stanley Cup Final appearances and one Cup on the franchise’s career résumé.
With a 6-1-3 start and Jack Eichel already the early Hart Trophy favorite (and leading the league in scoring), everything is coming up pocket aces for the Golden Knights.
Because they officially are one. Also, is it time to raise a banner at the Delta Center for Tusky, after the Mammoth’s hot start during his existence?
That was a clutch performance … just like Cole “Goal” Caulfield, who has three overtime game-winning tallies through 11 games this season. He also broke the record for most career overtime goals in a Canadiens uniform (11).
How do you do, fellow kids? The Jets are the oldest team in the league, with an average age of 30.7 (the only team with an average age in the 30s).
But the “Winnip-unc” Jets are proving that age is just a number, starting off 7-3-0, and a perfect 4-0-0 on the road.
What year is this? I thought the Penguins were supposed to miss the playoffs and be so far down the standings that they ended up with the No. 1 pick to get Gavin McKenna?
The Penguins started the season (checks notes) 7-2-2? How could this be? Well, contract year Evgeni Malkin is 39 years old, but has 16 points, Sidney Crosby has 15, and Justin Brazeau is scoring at a point-per-game pace. Plus, the Pens are getting great goaltending from Arturs Silovs and Tristan Jarry.
While some had envisioned Crosby finishing the season in a Habs or Avs sweater, instead the Pens have seemed to age in reverse. The hockey world might get to see No. 87 hoisting the Stanley Cup in a Pittsburgh uniform again.
The first four seasons of the original “Dexter” series were some of the best in modern TV history. The show fell off, but many fans kept watching, thinking it would finally get better. It didn’t. The series ending enraged viewers, after they’d committed so much of their lives to it.
The Red Wings have missed the playoffs for many years (2016 was their last appearance), but they are off to a great start. Is this finally the year the Yzerplan reaches its zenith and Hockeytown hosts another playoff game?
YEAH! Here’s the thing with WWE superstar LA Knight: He’s popular, he’s talented, he would even be believable as a world champion. But he just can’t seem to get over the hump. He always feels like he’s one win away from making it to the big dance.
Carolina in general has been a team in a similar scenario the past several seasons. In 2025-26, Nikolaj Ehlers particularly needs to figure it out. After signing a free agent deal this offseason to fill the Canes’ scoring gap, he has zero goals and three assists through nine games.
Honestly, I could have come up with something more clever here, but the Caps did such a great job with arrival outfits for Alex Ovechkin’s 1,500th game, so let’s keep that momentum rolling.
Thomas Harley just inked an eight-year, $10.587 million per year contract extension with the Stars, securing the young blueliner for the long term for one of the NHL’s scariest core groups.
This season, the 24-year-old has averaged just over 23 minutes per game, and has eight points through 10 games.
“Nevermind” was Nirvana’s second album. Their first effort, “Bleach,” really didn’t have much fanfare surrounding it, but once “Smells like Teen Spirit” hit the airwaves, music changed forever. Grunge defined the ’90s. Flannel shirts were everywhere — and cool!
Zach Hyman is nearing a return to the lineup after suffering a wrist injury in the Western Conference finals this past spring. Unfortunately, the timetable has been pushed back a week, so we still wait for an important offensive contributor for the Oilers.
Connor McDavid has had a slow start (by his standards), getting his first goal in his seventh game and had only one tuck until Oct. 28, when he scored two. Getting his familiar wingman back should bring a boost.
Connor Bedard has had an incredible start to the season, with 12 points in 10 games — he and Frank Nazar have been a great one-two punch.
After a somewhat underwhelming sophomore campaign in 2024-25, Bedard has risen up like the Undertaker after taking a boot to the face (or being thrown into a casket).
We’ve seen Twitter become X before GTA 6 was released. Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift got engaged before GTA 6. We even got “67” to take over the world before GTA 6 (7).
And, unless the NHL decides to accelerate the regular season and playoffs back to the early-1990s levels — when the Stanley Cup was awarded on May 25 — we will get GTA 6 released to the public before the Leafs win another Cup.
Trevor Zegras continues to be an absolute wizard in the shootout, refusing to allow goalies to yell, “You shall not pass!”
Zegras has the second-highest shootout goal percentage in NHL history (minimum 10 attempts) at 63.6% (14-for-22). If you conjured up the answer of Petteri Nummelin (8-for-10) as having the highest rate, then you have already traded in your grey robe for a white one.
When you boil it down, the big baddie of “The Incredibles” just wanted some love. Why was everyone counting him out? Why did he get cast off to the side like he wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs just because he might be missing his 200-foot center and heartbeat of the team? It doesn’t mean he doesn’t have plenty of depth to bring to the table. Stop doubting Syndrome, people. And stop doubting the Florida Panthers making the playoffs.
If the playoffs started today — we have a long way left, folks — the Kings would be facing the Kraken. But, the Kings’ old nemesis — Connor McDavid and the Oilers — are one point off.
Could it be that L.A. and Edmonton could meet for a fifth straight year in the first round? So far, the series have gone 4-3, 4-2, 4-1 and 4-2, all in favor of Edmonton. From a symmetry standpoint, another 4-3 series would complete the cycle. Perhaps if the Kings all dressed as ketchup bottles — McDavid is famously afraid of the condiment — it would help their cause.
It’s nice for the Blue Jackets to have a squad that’s pretty much at full strength, compared to the injury-riddled 2024-25 campaign.
Boone Jenner, Sean Monahan and Yegor Chinakhov all missed significant time last season due to various injuries. If only hockey players had adamantium for bones too!
I’m going to need Roger McQueen to take a quick break from Providence College to wear red with a lightning bolt.
One of the most fun things we saw in hockey this year was McQueen being drafted 10th overall by the Ducks, then immediately being whisked away by helicopter to Disneyland, where he took a picture with his nonbiological brother Lightning McQueen. That he chose to wear No. 95 as his uniform number makes it even better.
On Saturday, Nikita Kucherov reached 1,000 points in his career with the Bolts, which includes two Stanley Cups and iconic “Big Superstar Energy” moments after winning said Cups.
This is mostly because I still think of what could have been had the potential ownership group that included Ryan Reynolds purchased this team.
Have the Sabres solved their goaltending challenges? In Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s absence to start the season, Alex Lyon has been terrific, posting a .919 save percentage through eight games. Colten Ellis won his first game in his first NHL start. Devon Levi is still marinating in Rochester.
This is one big positive for a fan base that really needs (and deserves) positives after 14 years outside of the postseason.
Remember Earthquake, the towering WWE wrestler from the ’90s? His name was John Tenta, and he was from Vancouver. The Canucks could stand to get shaken up by Earthquake’s tremors right now. Maybe that would wake them up.
What exactly is going on with the Preds’ star free agents from the summer of 2024? Steven Stamkos has a goal and an assist through 11 games. Jonathan Marchessault has three and two, respectively.
What’s worse for Stammer is that if he continues at this pace, it’s quite possible the 35-year-old is left off Canada’s roster for the Olympics. Due to various reasons — including NHL players not participating in 2018 and 2022 — Stamkos has never played for Team Canada at the Olympics (he was a reserve in 2010). That just doesn’t feel right.
Did you know that Matthew Schaefer’s favorite movie of all time is “Happy Gilmore” (the first one, as he has pointed out)?