play0:43Mikko Rantanen scores 300th career goal for StarsMikko Rantanen lights the lamp to score his 300th career goal for Stars.
play1:18Connor Bedard nets hat trick for BlackhawksConnor Bedard scores three goals for Chicago on Tuesday night against Calgary.
play1:02Jake Guentzel completes Lightning late show with OT winnerJake Guentzel lights the lamp to win it for the Lightning in overtime.
play1:03Schmaltz nets second career hat trick in Mammoth’s winNick Schmaltz scores a trio of goals to lead Utah to a 6-3 win over San Jose.
play0:18Trevor Zegras goes five-hole for Flyers’ shootout winnerTrevor Zegras goes between the legs to score the lone goal in the shootout for the Flyers vs. the Blues.
play0:32Macklin Celebrini’s hat trick wins it for Sharks in OTMacklin Celebrini scores on the power play for San Jose Sharks
Ovechkin reaches 907 goals with hat trick (1:07)Alex Ovechkin stars with a hat trick in the Capitals’ 8-4 win over the Canadiens. (1:07)
Mikko Rantanen scores 300th career goal for StarsMikko Rantanen lights the lamp to score his 300th career goal for Stars.
Connor Bedard nets hat trick for BlackhawksConnor Bedard scores three goals for Chicago on Tuesday night against Calgary.
Jake Guentzel completes Lightning late show with OT winnerJake Guentzel lights the lamp to win it for the Lightning in overtime.
Schmaltz nets second career hat trick in Mammoth’s winNick Schmaltz scores a trio of goals to lead Utah to a 6-3 win over San Jose.
Trevor Zegras goes five-hole for Flyers’ shootout winnerTrevor Zegras goes between the legs to score the lone goal in the shootout for the Flyers vs. the Blues.
Trevor Zegras goes between the legs to score the lone goal in the shootout for the Flyers vs. the Blues.
Macklin Celebrini’s hat trick wins it for Sharks in OTMacklin Celebrini scores on the power play for San Jose Sharks
With another week of the 2025-26 NHL season in the books, ESPN’s panel of voters continues to believe the Colorado Avalanche are the top team in the league.
Beyond No. 1, there were some major swings this week, including the first top-10 appearance by the Chicago Blackhawks in quite some time, as Connor Bedard & Co. continue to be in the mix for a playoff spot with a quarter of the season complete.
Speaking of the quarter-season mark, as part of this week’s rankings we’ve identified the most valuable player for each team through 25% of the season.
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.
Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the previous edition, published Nov. 14. Points percentages are through Thursday’s games.
Quarter-season MVP: Nathan MacKinnon. With all due respect to the monster season thus far from Cale Makar, we have to give the nod to MacKinnon, who is leading the league in both points (36) and goals (16).
Quarter-season MVP: Seth Jarvis. Who else but the Hurricanes’ rising superstar, who continues to play in all situations and hover around a point-per-game pace while doing so.
Quarter-season MVP: Leo Carlsson. The Ducks’ selection of Carlsson at No. 2 overall in the 2023 draft over Adam Fantilli was puzzling to some observers. It is puzzling no more, as the 20-year-old Swede is at the front of the proverbial Flying V for a Ducks team that is in the mix atop the Pacific Division.
Quarter-season MVP: Mikko Rantanen. The Stars didn’t need to see how well Rantanen would perform on their roster before inking him to a long-term deal; that contract was signed the same day he was acquired from the Hurricanes. So far, so good.
Mikko Rantanen lights the lamp to score his 300th career goal for Stars.
Quarter-season MVP: Jesper Bratt. Unfortunately, Bratt and the other Devils have experience playing without Jack Hughes in the lineup. They’ll get more of it for the next several weeks following No. 86’s “freak injury” at a steakhouse in Chicago last week.
Quarter-season MVP: Mark Scheifele. The Jets’ top-line center has never hit the 50-goal or 100-point plateau in his NHL career, coming closest with 42 goals in 2022-23 and 87 points in 2024-25. He’s currently on pace for 50 tallies and 109 points.
Quarter-season MVP: Jack Eichel. Though he’s fallen off of his perch atop the goals and points races, Eichel led the Knights with 24 points through 19 games, making a strong push for his first Hart Trophy nod.
Quarter-season MVP: Sidney Crosby. Prior to the season, the trade rumors ran wild with potential new destinations for No. 87. Instead, he’s led a resurgent Penguins team to a spot near the top of the Metro Division, including six power-play goals for the NHL’s top man-advantage attack.
Quarter-season MVP: Connor Bedard. The Blackhawks might have something in this kid, after all. With 29 points through 19 games in his third NHL season, Bedard is on pace for 118 — and Chicago is right in the mix for a playoff spot after a quarter of the season.
Connor Bedard scores three goals for Chicago on Tuesday night against Calgary.
Quarter-season MVP: Dylan Larkin. Larkin put the hockey world on notice with his performance during the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, and has carried at least some of that momentum forward into this NHL season, scoring with 24 points (12 goals and 12 assists) through his first 20 games.
Quarter-season MVP: Adrian Kempe. With a new contract extension now in hand, Kempe has been able to completely put the business aspect out of mind and focus on his on-ice performance. With 19 points, he’s the Kings’ leading scorer through 20 games.
Quarter-season MVP: Matthew Schaefer. Honorable mention here to Bo Horvat and his team-leading 13 goals and 24 points, but the nod goes to the 2025 No. 1 pick, who leads the Isles in ice time per game (22:29), was recently added to Canada’s 90-man list of Olympic candidates, and may be responsible for a sudden positive surge in vibes on the Island.
Quarter-season MVP: Jake Guentzel. Like the team in general, Guentzel didn’t get off to the best start this season. But, he’s picked it up in November (with seven goals and three assists through the month’s first eight games), as the Lightning look to climb back up the Atlantic Division standings.
Jake Guentzel completes Lightning late show with OT winner
Jake Guentzel lights the lamp to win it for the Lightning in overtime.
Quarter-season MVP: David Pastrnak. For the Bruins to make noise this season, a lot was going to have to go right. One of those factors was Pastrnak scoring like the top-tier player he is. So far, so good, as Pasta scored 27 points through his first 22 games, with the Bruins near the top of the division.
Quarter-season MVP: Jakub Dobes. Although he has cooled off a bit after winning all six of his starts in October, the Czech 24-year-old appears to be the Habs’ better option in net this season, as he stakes his own claim in the Calder Trophy race.
Quarter-season MVP: Jaden Schwartz. The Kraken have been one of the season’s pleasant surprises, remaining in the mix for a playoff spot through the first quarter. It’s been a full-team effort — only six players have double-digit points after 19 games, and no one is in double digits in the goals column — so we’ll give the nod to the venerable, 33-year-old who shared the team scoring lead through 19 games and led the team with a +8 rating.
Quarter-season MVP: Nick Schmaltz. In the club’s first official season as the Mammoth, Schmaltz has led the team in scoring (22 points) and is tied for game-winning goals (two, with Clayton Keller) through the first 20 games.
Schmaltz nets second career hat trick in Mammoth’s win
Nick Schmaltz scores a trio of goals to lead Utah to a 6-3 win over San Jose.
Quarter-season MVP: Tim Stutzle. The Sens had captain Brady Tkachuk for three games before the forward’s upper-body injury sidelined him. Stutzle answered the call to fill the scoring gap, with a point-per-game pace through 19 games and double-digit goals.
Quarter-season MVP: Jesper Wallstedt. Sure, Kirill Kaprizov has been incredible, but that was expected. Let’s give some credit to rookie netminder Wallstedt, who has gone 5-0-2 in seven starts, with a 2.10 goals-against average (second in the league) and .926 save percentage (first).
Quarter-season MVP: Logan Thompson. Thompson was the last line of defense for a team that nearly won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2024-25. He isn’t winning as often this season, but his other numbers are even better: a league-leading 1.85 goals-against average, and .920 save percentage (third).
Quarter-season MVP: Brad Marchand. The Panthers headed into this season defending two straight Stanley Cup championships, but without captain Aleksander Barkov (out until April) and Matthew Tkachuk (December). The team’s big trade deadline addition from last season (and playoff star) has stepped up, scoring a team-leading 23 points through 18 games; that puts him on pace for 99 points, one shy of a career high set back in 2018-19.
Quarter-season MVP: Trevor Zegras. Who knew that a change of scenery was all it took to get Zegras’ career back on an upward trajectory? The No. 9 pick of the 2019 draft had hit a wall in Anaheim, but is soaring in Philly.
Trevor Zegras goes five-hole for Flyers’ shootout winner
Quarter-season MVP: Jet Greaves. Are we witnessing a changing of the guard in Columbus’ crease in real time? Greaves finished the 2024-25 season strong, and has been the goalie of choice for Columbus thus far this season, with 12 starts to Elvis Merzlikins’ eight (and better stats as well).
Quarter-season MVP: Connor McDavid. Ho hum, another season of elite scoring from the game’s greatest talent. Through 22 games, McDavid’s 32 points are six clear of second-best on the team (Leon Draisaitl’s 26), as the Oil look to climb out of another early-season hole in the standings.
Quarter-season MVP: Macklin Celebrini. Celebrini went first overall in the 2024 draft — so we knew he’d be good. Did anyone expect him to be on pace to break the Sharks’ all-time scoring record in his second pro season?