NHL 2025-26 Power Rankings: Week 12

Needless to say, the coming days, weeks, and months will be jam-packed with something new and exciting seemingly every day. With this condensed schedule, it will be hard to keep up with all of the moving pieces compared to a normal season, which also means there will be a constant flow of news! Expect trade rumors to start flying again, pushing forward new narratives for teams on the bubble.

So, with the New Year on the horizon, let’s settle in for the final Rankings of 2025 with THW’s Week 12 2025-26 NHL Power Rankings!

32-20: Blackhawks are Back in the NHL’s Basement

32. Chicago Blackhawks (Previously: 31)
31. Pittsburgh Penguins (Previously: 31)
30. Winnipeg Jets (Previously: 30)
29. Vancouver Canucks (Previously: 27)
28. Columbus Blue Jackets (Previously: 28)
27. St. Louis Blues (Previously: 24)
26. Toronto Maple Leafs (Previously: 26)
25. Utah Mammoth (Previously: 25)
24. Seattle Kraken (Previously: 29)
23. Calgary Flames (Previously: 23)
22. Nashville Predators (Previously: 21)
21. San Jose Sharks (Previously: 22)
20. New York Rangers (Previously: 17)

It was fun while it lasted, but the Blackhawks’ hot start to the 2025-26 NHL season has completely evaporated. A few weeks into the season, they were solidly in the playoff race, Spencer Knight was one of the best goalies in the league, and Connor Bedard was in the top five for league-wide scoring. However, a freak injury to Bedard accelerated what was likely going to be a return to reality for the young franchise.

Honestly, this crash felt a bit expected, given how many of Chicago’s players were overperforming in October and November. You just have to hope that when Bedard returns from his injury, he will be playing like the superstar we all know he can be.

Overall, the bottom of the Rankings feels a bit underwhelming this week. The difference between the 31st-ranked team and the 23rd is rather small, and you can argue that any of these teams could moved around in these spots. Sure, the Kraken are on a four-game winning streak, but I can’t say that I believe they are now going on a run, for example.

Also, I feel it’s necessary to bring up the Rangers again, who were shut out for the eighth time this season on Saturday. It’s getting to the point of being a meme anymore, and it’s genuinely difficult to place New York on these Rankings. They simply aren’t good enough most nights, but they have some of the best players in the sport holding them together despite their best efforts. At this rate, I’m hoping they yardsale the roster and trade everything not nailed down just to throw a huge wrench into the 2026 Trade Deadline conversation.

19-7: Sabres are Surging After Management Change

19. Boston Bruins (Previously: 13)
18. New Jersey Devils (Previously: 18)
17. Ottawa Senators (Previously: 14)
16. Los Angeles Kings (Previously: 19)
15. Washington Capitals (Previously: 7)
14. Philadelphia Flyers (Previously: 16)
13. Buffalo Sabres (Previously: 20)
12. Florida Panthers (Previously: 11)
11. Anaheim Ducks (Previously: 6)
10. Vegas Golden Knights (Previously: 8)
9. Montreal Canadiens (Previously: 10)
8. New York Islanders (Previously: 12)
7. Tampa Bay Lightning (Previously: 15)

We can all agree that sports are weird, but I can’t help but look at Buffalo and think… what the heck is going on here? The much-maligned franchise started the 2025-26 season by losing three-straight games, offering no hope at all to their fans. Following this, they sat at the bottom of the Atlantic Division and appeared to be careening towards another lost season. Finally, the Sabres fired general manager Kevyn Adams (a decision that was very popular with the fan base), and have looked unbeatable.

Since Dec. 9th, the Sabres have won eight straight games, and are the hottest team in the league. It’s genuinely hard to tell if this is just a hot streak or if Buffalo is back in contention. The players on the ice haven’t changed, so you can argue they either were not playing up to their full potential until now, or Adams was secretly a genius the entire time. Either way, fans in Buffalo have hope again, which is a dangerous thing for a team with so much left to prove.

For an Atlantic Division team that is not playing well, the Bruins look a bit lost in their last five games played. They are 0-4-1 during this stretch of play, and just are not running like a cohesive unit as they were earlier this season. Many believe Boston will fall out of the playoff race after a hot start, and with this losing streak, they are putting themselves in a tough spot moving forward.

You’ll also notice this section of the Rankings has greatly expanded this week. I moved the Capitals, Golden Knights, and Ducks out of the top of the Rankings while feeling like the Lightning, Islanders, and Canadiens still haven’t done enough to be promoted. Consistency has been the issue for all of these teams, as they seem to sit around .500 or below in their last 10 games played whenever I check in on them.

It’s funny to think that I’m looking for these teams to have a normal 2-1-0 week rather than swinging wildly between three-game losing and winning streaks. Time will tell if this finally happens.

6-1: Otherworldly Performances Carrying Oilers

6. Edmonton Oilers (Previously: 9)
5. Detroit Red Wings (Previously: 4)
4. Dallas Stars (Previously: 2)
3. Carolina Hurricanes (Previously: 5)
2. Minnesota Wild (Previously: 3)
1. Colorado Avalanche (Previously: 1)

After a rather slow start to the 2025-26 NHL season, the Oilers are back in the playoff race largely thanks to more super-hero performances from their star players. It’s never a surprise when Connor McDavid puts together an impressive scoring streak, but his play in December has been special, even by his standards. Since being shut out in the first game of the month, McDavid has scored in 12 straight games, posting 13 goals, 19 assists for 32 points in those games.

Incredibly, he has now passed Nathan MacKinnon in the scoring race, despite MacKinnon having a large lead on the rest of the league just a few weeks ago. Needless to say, December has been a very good month for McDavid and the Oilers, who are a point out of the lead in the Pacific Division.

Outside Edmonton, the few teams remaining at the top of the Rankings just keep chugging along. The Avalanche are on a 10-game point streak, the Wild are loving Quinn Hughes, the Red Wings keep finding ways to earn important points, and the Hurricanes may be looking at some big names on the trade market.

Really, it’s just the Stars who had a tough week, where they lost two games but still earned two points. It’s nothing to worry about, of course, as teams are allowed to lose games, unless they are the Avalanche.

2026 New Year Looks Exciting for the NHL

With the holidays behind us, all we can do now is look forward to the exciting days ahead. First, I hope everyone has a safe and fun New Year’s week ahead!

As I mentioned earlier, once we hit 2026, the hockey world is going to move non-stop for months. We will soon know the Olympic rosters, and once those are set, it will be mere weeks before the tournament kicks off. With the buildup starting, we just have to stay focused on the busy hockey schedule ahead of us to make it through the condensed 2025-26 NHL season.