NHL power ratings: Avalanche continue to dominate after Week 7 of 2025-26 season

In late October, the Colorado Avalanche endured a four-game stretch during which they failed to record a victory. In that span, they lost twice in overtime, once in a shootout and suffered their lone regulation defeat of the 2025-26 NHL season to date – a 3-2 setback against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 25 in Beantown.

That period seems as if it was a lifetime ago, as Colorado has gone 12-0-1 since. The Avalanche (17-1-5) won all four of their contests last week and enter Week 8, which will run from Friday to Monday, with a 10-game winning streak.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Minnesota Wild also went undefeated in a Week 7 that spanned 10 days, with the former going 5-0-0 and the latter 4-0-0. The Washington Capitals had an impressive week of their own, winning five of their six games.

Conversely, Week 7 was unkind to a number of teams, including the Chicago Blackhawks. After going 4-0-1 over the previous two weeks, the Blackhawks recorded just one victory while suffering three regulation losses and falling once in overtime during Week 7. Thanks to the rough patch, Chicago dropped out of this week’s top 10 ratings.

Each week during the season, I’ll rank the league’s top 10 teams based on both the previous week’s performances and overall body of work in 2025-26. I’ll also give brief synopsis for each club that explains why they’re ranked where they are.

Let’s dive into the power ratings after Week 7 of the 2025-26 NHL season and highlight a few of the teams’ notable accomplishments.

1. Colorado Avalanche (4-0-0 in Week 7; 17-1-5 overall)

Not only did the Avalanche continue to show that they have the most potent offense in the NHL last week, they demonstrated their ability to keep their opponents at bay. Colorado scored six times in two of its four victories, increasing its league-leading total to 94 goals. The team also finished the week with three consecutive shutouts, with Mackenzie Blackwood sandwiching 35 and 26-save performances against the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks, respectively, around Scott Wedgewood’s 22-save effort against the Blackhawks. Wedgewood also registered his first career assist in the Avalanche’s 6-3 win against the New York Rangers. Nathan MacKinnon was kept off the scoresheet for just the fourth time this season in Colorado’s 1-0 triumph over Chicago but finished the week with four goals and two assists. The 2024 Hart Trophy winner leads the league with 18 goals and 39 points while Cale Makar, who netted three tallies and set up two others, tops all NHL defensemen in goals (nine), assists (21) and points (30).

2. Dallas Stars (3-1-1; 15-5-4)

Dallas began Week 7 with a 3-2 setback against the New York Islanders that ended its five-game winning streak but earned points in each of its next four contests, going 3-0-1. Jason Robertson had a huge week, tallying in each of the Stars’ first four outings of the week to extend his goal-scoring streak to seven games, which tied him with Bill Goldsworthy (1970-71), Neal Broten (1981-82) and Dave Gagner (1992-93) for the second-longest run in franchise history behind Brian Bellows’ 10-gamer in 1989-90. The 26-year-old Robertson was kept off the scoresheet in Dallas’ 3-2 triumph over the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, halting both the goal-scoring streak and the eight-game point run during which he collected 11 tallies and seven assists. Tyler Seguin collected seven assists last week, while captain Jamie Benn returned to the lineup and recorded a goal and three assists in five games after missing the Stars’ first 19 contests due to a collapsed lung. 

3. Tampa Bay Lightning (5-0-0; 14-7-2)

Don’t look now, but the Lightning have soared to the top of the Atlantic Division thanks to their perfect week. In fact, after winning just one of its first seven games this season (1-4-2), Tampa Bay has been one of the best teams in the league, going 13-3-0. Three-time Art Ross Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov continued his offensive wizardry, registering three goals and eight assists over the Lightning’s five contests as he extended his point streak to seven games. Jake Guentzel began Week 7 with his eighth career hat trick in a 5-1 triumph over the New Jersey Devils and finished the week with seven points, Brandon Hagel recorded five goals and four assists over the team’s last three contests and Anthony Cirelli netted two tallies and set up three others in the same span. Meanwhile, defenseman Darren Raddysh had a strong week offensively, collecting a goal and five assists after notching only four points over his first 12 games this season.

4. Minnesota Wild (4-0-0; 13-7-4)

The Wild sandwiched triumphs in a shootout and overtime around a pair of shutout victories last week to extend their winning streak to six games and their points run to nine contests (8-0-1). Defenseman Brock Faber landed on the scoresheet in all four of Minnesota’s games, scoring three goals and setting up three others, while Matt Boldy registered four tallies and three assists in Week 7. The 24-year-old Boldy has notched at least one point in seven of his last eight outings and is tied for the team lead with Kirill Kaprizov, who recorded three goals and two assists last week to increase his point total to 28. Filip Gustavsson turned aside all 19 shots he faced in a 5-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins for his second shutout of the season and Jesper Wallstedt followed with his league-leading third blanking as he made 32 saves in a 3-0 triumph over the Winnipeg Jets.

5. Carolina Hurricanes (2-2-1; 14-7-2)

The Hurricanes began Week 7 with two wins and a shootout loss to extend their points streak to five games but ended it with back-to-back regulation defeats, which prevented them from rising in these power ratings. Sebastian Aho had the best week for Carolina offensively, recording a goal and four assists to increase his season total to a team-high 23 points. The 28-year-old Finnish center celebrated his 700th NHL game on Wednesday with a pair of assists in the Hurricanes’ 4-2 loss to the Rangers. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere also was productive, scoring two goals and setting up two others.

6. New Jersey Devils (2-3-0; 15-7-1)

New Jersey fell three spots in the ratings due to a rough start to Week 7. After ending the previous week with a shootout victory against the Washington Capitals in their first game without Jack Hughes (finger surgery), the Devils felt the star forward’s absence as they scored a total of four goals while suffering three consecutive losses to finish their five-game road trip at 2-3-0. The club managed to right the ship as it concluded the week with home triumphs over the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues. The first overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, Nico Hischier has been doing his best to fill Hughes’ skates as he racked up five goals and four assists over New Jersey’s past five games. The 28-year-old Swiss center enters Week 8 with a streak of three straight multi-point performances, while Timo Meier has scored a goal in three consecutive contests.

7. Washington Capitals (5-1-0; 13-9-2)

The Capitals entered Week 7 having lost eight of their previous 10 games (2-6-2). They turned things around in a big way, scoring 29 goals while winning five of their six contests. Superstar Alex Ovechkin netted six of the tallies and added a pair of assists, while defenseman John Carlson also racked up eight points (two goals, six assists). The NHL’s all-time goals leader, Ovechkin registered his 33rd career hat trick in Washington’s 8-4 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 20, tying Brett Hull for fourth place in league history behind Wayne Gretzky (50), Mario Lemieux (40) and Mike Bossy (39). Blue-liner Jakob Chychrun had a tremendous week offensively, collecting five goals and four assists. The 27-year-old enters Week 8 with a four-game goal-scoring streak and a run of nine straight contests with at least one point. 

8. Ottawa Senators (3-1-0; 12-7-4)

Ottawa played only four games over the 10-day span of Week 7 – all on the road – but won three of them. Each of the four contests were decided by one goal, with the Senators posting 3-2 regulation victories against the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose while defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in a shootout. Ottawa trailed both the Ducks and Sharks 2-1 before scoring the equalizer late in the second period and the winning goal in the latter half of the third. Drake Batherson was the hero in Anaheim, tallying with 1:58 remaining in regulation, while Tim Stutzle netted the decisive tally in San Jose with 6:38 left. The 23-year-old Stutzle leads the Senators with 11 goals and 23 points.

9. Anaheim Ducks (3-2-0; 14-8-1)

The Ducks return to the top 10 after going 0-3-0 in Week 6 and dropping out of the ratings. Anaheim played five one-goal games last week and won three, defeating Vegas and the Utah Mammoth in overtime and the Boston Bruins in regulation. Cutter Gauthier, Troy Terry and 19-year-old right wing Beckett Sennecke each recorded at last one point in all five of the Ducks’ contests, while Leo Carlsson landed on the scoresheet in each of the team’s last four outings. Gauthier enters Week 8 with a five-game assist streak and Terry is in the midst of a four-game run.

10. Vegas Golden Knights (2-1-2; 10-5-8)

The Golden Knights began last week with a pair of victories and ended it with three straight defeats, although one took place in overtime and another came in a shootout. Jack Eichel scored three goals and set up four others over his last four games to increase his team-leading total to 31 points and tie him for fifth in the NHL. Meanwhile, 22-year-old right wing Braeden Bowman landed on the scoresheet in all five of Vegas’ contests, recording three goals and three assists to become the first undrafted rookie to post a five-game point streak since Taro Hirose accomplished the feat in 2018-19 while with the Red Wings. Captain Mark Stone returned to the lineup on Wednesday and tallied in the Golden Knights’ 4-3 shootout loss to Ottawa. The 33-year-old right wing, who had missed 16 contests with an upper-body injury, has registered a total of 14 points this season and at least one in each of his seven games.