play0:52Mats Zuccarello nets OT winner for WildMats Zuccarello scores in overtime to give the Wild the win against the Blackhawks.
Trevor Zegras’ crafty shootout goal helps Flyers to victory (0:22)Trevor Zegras demonstrates his prowess in the shootout with a terrific goal in the Flyers’ win against the Kings. (0:22)
Mats Zuccarello nets OT winner for WildMats Zuccarello scores in overtime to give the Wild the win against the Blackhawks.
ESPN staffMar 20, 2026, 07:00 AM ETMultiple Authors
play0:49Fraser Minten nets goal for BruinsFraser Minten nets goal for Bruins
play0:42Barrett Hayton lights the lampBarrett Hayton scores goal vs. Golden Knights
play0:32Eetu Luostarinen scores goal for PanthersEetu Luostarinen nets goal for Panthers
play0:30Filip Forsberg scores goal for PredatorsFilip Forsberg tallies goal vs. Kraken
The 2025-26 NHL regular season is in its final weeks. Some teams have eclipsed expectations, some have fallen short, some are who we thought they were, to paraphrase Denny Green.
So as part of this week’s edition of the ESPN NHL Power Rankings — including the Buffalo Sabres charging up into the top three! — we have listed each team’s preseason over/under total (per DraftKings Sportsbook), as well as its current points pace.
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, March 13. Points percentages are through Thursday’s games.
Although the Avs have fallen off their near-record-breaking pace of earlier this season, they are in the pole position to win the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top regular-season team.
After finishing with 106 points last season, the expectation was a small drop-off from that total this season. Instead, the Stars have hit the accelerator, and it appears they’ll push the Avs to the bitter end.
The Sabres currently have one of the largest positive gaps between expected total and projected total, as they look to end the league’s longest playoff drought in style.
The likelihood of yet another division title for the Canes grows each day. Can they turn it into a Stanley Cup run?
It took the Wild until the closing days of last regular season to secure a playoff berth. It probably won’t take them that long this season.
Mats Zuccarello scores in overtime to give the Wild the win against the Blackhawks.
With the Panthers all but eliminated from playoff contention, the Lightning are once again destined to be “state champs.” Is it their turn to make a run to the Stanley Cup Final too?
The Penguins finished with just 80 points last season, 11 off the pace that would have earned a playoff spot. They’ve been one of the best surprises of this season, and appear playoff bound as the end of the season closes in.
The Habs wanted to take an incremental step forward after last season’s wild-card appearance, and appear to be doing just that.
What a difference a No. 1 overall draft pick can make? The Isles found themselves a good one in Matthew Schaefer, the likely Calder Trophy winner who is even earning some Hart Trophy buzz.
Maybe the basement finish in 2024-25 was the outlier? The B’s have already eclipsed last season’s 76 points — and their preseason over/under total.
Fraser Minten nets goal for BruinsFraser Minten nets goal for Bruins
The Blue Jackets were right in the playoff battle until the last week of the 2024-25 season, and look to be on a similar track — if not a little bit better — in 2025-26.
Is this the year the Red Wings finally get to host a playoff game at Little Caesars Arena? That seems like less of a sure thing than it did months ago, but they are on the right trajectory in general.
Yet another team that was expected to improve this season, but not to this level. In the season’s final month, the youthful Ducks are challenging for a division title.
Last season, the Utah Hockey Club couldn’t quite match the Golden Knights’ inaugural season playoff appearance, but hey, making it in Year 2 (which seems more likely by the day) isn’t too bad!
Barrett Hayton lights the lampBarrett Hayton scores goal vs. Golden Knights
Unless the Oilers hit a real heater in the coming weeks — without Leon Draisaitl — they won’t hit their preseason expected total, or last season’s final tally of 101 points either.
Part of the reason why the upstart Ducks are in the mix for the Pacific Division title is because the Knights and Oilers dropped well off their expected pace. But, that’ll make for an exciting finish!
With a solid group at the NHL level and one of the more dynamic prospect groups — forged in the identity of coach Rick Tocchet — the Flyers are not far off from being a problem in the Eastern Conference.
Is this Alex Ovechkin’s final NHL season? That remains to be determined, as does the Caps’ final standings total compared to preseason expectations.
The Kraken finished a full 20 points behind the second Western Conference wild card in 2024-25, but thanks to their own improvements — and that target point total moving a bit lower — they are right in the playoff mix with fewer than 15 games remaining.
Eetu Luostarinen scores goal for PanthersEetu Luostarinen nets goal for Panthers
Unlike Alex Ovechkin, we know that this is going to be Anze Kopitar’s final NHL season. Can the Kings rally to send him out with another postseason appearance?
Injuries to Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes and others likely sunk the Devils’ chances to return to the postseason. Are there changes coming this offseason?
As Macklin Celebrini has ascended the ranks of NHL superstars in his second season, the Sharks have climbed the standings. Is this the year they return to the playoffs?
Playing the entire season without Aleksander Barkov — and most of the first half without Matthew Tkachuk — the repeat Cup champs never seemed to get on track to mount a run for a third straight title.
Filip Forsberg scores goal for PredatorsFilip Forsberg tallies goal vs. Kraken
Last season’s Presidents’ Trophy winners (with 116 points) are now long shots to qualify for the playoffs.
Like the Capitals and Jets, the Leafs will go from division champs in 2024-25 to likely missing the postseason in 2025-26, with major questions ahead of them this summer.
The oddsmakers expected around a 10-point jump in the standings for the Blueshirts in 2025-26. Instead, they headed in the wrong direction, and were sending veteran players away at the deadline instead of bringing them aboard.
A late-season surge put the Blues into the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, where they gave the Jets all they could handle in Round 1. That feels like way more than a year ago based on what we saw out of St. Louis this season.
Injuries to Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar derailed a season that got off to a promising start. But the future remains bright for this team given the king’s ransom of young talent.
Had things gone a certain way early in the season, we might be looking at the Canucks mounting a challenge for another playoff berth. As it happened, they traded Quinn Hughes, Kiefer Sherwood and Tyler Myers (among others), signaling that the focus was on 2026-27 and beyond.
Trevor Zegras’ crafty shootout goal helps Flyers to victory (0:22)Trevor Zegras demonstrates his prowess in the shootout with a terrific goal in the Flyers’ win against the Kings. (0:22)
Trevor Zegras demonstrates his prowess in the shootout with a terrific goal in the Flyers’ win against the Kings. (0:22)
Next seven days: @ CHI (March 20), @ WSH (March 22), @ PIT (March 24), @ WPG (March 26)
Next seven days: @ MIN (March 21), vs. VGK (March 22), vs. NJ (March 24), @ NYI (March 26)
Next seven days: @ LA (March 21), @ ANA (March 22), vs. BOS (March 25)
Next seven days: @ TOR (March 20), @ PIT (March 22), @ MTL (March 24)
Next seven days: vs. DAL (March 21), @ TB (March 24), @ FLA (March 26)
Next seven days: @ EDM (March 21), @ CGY (March 22), vs. MIN (March 24), vs. SEA (March 26)
Next seven days: vs. WPG (March 21), vs. CAR (March 22), vs. COL (March 24), @ OTT (March 26)
Next seven days: @ MTL (March 21), vs. CBJ (March 22), vs. CHI (March 24), vs. DAL (March 26)
Next seven days: @ DET (March 21), vs. TOR (March 24), @ BUF (March 25)
Next seven days: vs. SEA (March 21), @ NYI (March 22), @ PHI (March 24), @ MTL (March 26)
Next seven days: vs. TOR (March 21), @ NYR (March 23), @ DET (March 24), vs. PIT (March 26)
Next seven days: @ UTA (March 20), vs. BUF (March 22), @ VAN (March 24), @ CGY (March 26)
Next seven days: vs. TB (March 21), @ UTA (March 24), @ VGK (March 26)
Next seven days: @ NSH (March 21), @ DAL (March 22), @ WPG (March 24), vs. EDM (March 26)
Next seven days: @ SJ (March 21), vs. CBJ (March 24), vs. CHI (March 26)
Next seven days: vs. NJ (March 20), vs. COL (March 22), @ STL (March 24), @ UTA (March 26)
Next seven days: @ CBJ (March 21), @ FLA (March 24), @ TB (March 26)
Next seven days: vs. BUF (March 21), @ UTA (March 22), @ CGY (March 24), @ VAN (March 26)
Next seven days: @ WSH (March 20), @ DAL (March 24), @ NSH (March 26)
Next seven days: vs. PHI (March 21), @ NSH (March 24), @ STL (March 26)
Next seven days: @ CGY (March 20), vs. SEA (March 24), vs. MIN (March 26)
Next seven days: vs. VGK (March 21), @ CHI (March 22), vs. SJ (March 24), vs. NJ (March 26)
Next seven days: @ PIT (March 21), @ NYR (March 22), vs. VGK (March 24), vs. COL (March 26)
Next seven days: vs. CAR (March 20), @ OTT (March 21), @ BOS (March 24), vs. NYR (March 25)
Next seven days: vs. WPG (March 22), vs. OTT (March 23), @ TOR (March 25)
Next seven days: @ VAN (March 21), vs. WSH (March 24), vs. SJ (March 26)
Next seven days: vs. COL (March 20), vs. NSH (March 22), @ NYI (March 24), @ PHI (March 26)
ESPN staffMar 20, 2026, 07:00 AM ETMultiple Authors
Next seven days: vs. NYI (March 21), vs. CAR (March 24), vs. CBJ (March 26)
Next seven days: vs. BOS (March 21), vs. OTT (March 24)
Next seven days: vs. ANA (March 20), vs. LA (March 22), vs. EDM (March 24), vs. WSH (March 26)
Next seven days: vs. FLA (March 20), vs. TB (March 22), vs. LA (March 24), vs. ANA (March 26)