NHL Power Rankings vs Standings
The NHL Power Ranking model scores every club independently of its record. Where the two disagree, the standings are usually the last to catch up. The gap below is official rank minus model rank: a positive number means the model is higher on the team than the points column is, as of September 30, 2026.
Most underrated
Model rank well above the official rank — the underlying numbers like them more than the record does.
| Team | Model | NHL | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
 Toronto Maple Leafs | 5 | 30 | +25 |
 Washington Capitals | 10 | 28 | +18 |
 Seattle Kraken | 8 | 24 | +16 |
 San Jose Sharks | 9 | 23 | +14 |
 New York Rangers | 21 | 32 | +11 |
Most overrated
Official rank well above the model rank — the record flatters them.
| Team | Model | NHL | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
 Buffalo Sabres | 31 | 9 | -22 |
 Anaheim Ducks | 29 | 8 | -21 |
 Columbus Blue Jackets | 32 | 12 | -20 |
 Colorado Avalanche | 30 | 11 | -19 |
 Carolina Hurricanes | 17 | 7 | -10 |
Every team's gap
| Model | Team | NHL | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Vegas Golden Knights | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 |  Vancouver Canucks | 4 | +2 | 2 |
| 3 |  Boston Bruins | 2 | -1 | 2 |
| 4 |  Montréal Canadiens | 3 | -1 | 2 |
| 5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 30 | +25 | 0 |
| 6 |  Edmonton Oilers | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 |  Florida Panthers | 5 | -2 | 2 |
| 8 | Seattle Kraken | 24 | +16 | 0 |
| 9 | San Jose Sharks | 23 | +14 | 0 |
| 10 | Washington Capitals | 28 | +18 | 0 |
| 11 |  Philadelphia Flyers | 21 | +10 | 0 |
| 12 |  Calgary Flames | 10 | -2 | 0 |
| 13 |  Minnesota Wild | 16 | +3 | 0 |
| 14 |  Ottawa Senators | 20 | +6 | 0 |
| 15 |  Los Angeles Kings | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 |  Nashville Predators | 17 | +1 | 0 |
| 17 | Carolina Hurricanes | 7 | -10 | 1 |
| 18 |  St. Louis Blues | 25 | +7 | 0 |
| 19 |  Winnipeg Jets | 29 | +10 | 0 |
| 20 |  Utah Mammoth | 27 | +7 | 0 |
| 21 | New York Rangers | 32 | +11 | 0 |
| 22 |  Dallas Stars | 13 | -9 | 0 |
| 23 |  Detroit Red Wings | 14 | -9 | 0 |
| 24 |  Tampa Bay Lightning | 26 | +2 | 0 |
| 25 |  Chicago Blackhawks | 31 | +6 | 0 |
| 26 |  New Jersey Devils | 18 | -8 | 0 |
| 27 |  New York Islanders | 19 | -8 | 0 |
| 28 |  Pittsburgh Penguins | 22 | -6 | 0 |
| 29 | Anaheim Ducks | 8 | -21 | 0 |
| 30 | Colorado Avalanche | 11 | -19 | 0 |
| 31 | Buffalo Sabres | 9 | -22 | 0 |
| 32 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 12 | -20 | 0 |
How to read the gap
The model grades 74 metrics — shot quality, chance creation, goaltending, special teams, situational play and roster construction — and compares each against the league before combining them into one power score. A team can outscore its underlying play for weeks; this page shows where that is happening. The full order lives on the power rankings, and each team's section-by-section detail is on its own page.