Six weeks into the season, the TWC NHL Power Rankings paint an interesting picture of the season so far. As teams rise and fall, there are some surprises early this season. Read on to see where your favourite team ended up in this week’s edition.
TWC Power Rankings explained
If you’re new to our power rankings, this is how it all works.
Here at TWC, we use a statistical model to effectively rank teams on a week-to-week basis. The model takes into effect winning percentages, CF%, SCF%, HDCF% as well as SV%. Each statistical category is weighed and scored differently, giving each team a unique TWC Score that determines their ranking after each week. The formula puts the highest emphasis on winning percentages over other statistics. All numbers are taken in all situations, to incorporate special teams into the fray.
We got some excellent feedback over the course of last season from our readers as to how we could improve this model moving forward. This year we have slightly altered the weightings of the statistical categories, but also re-worked the recency component to make sure that each week the teams that are riding hot streaks are more appropriately demonstrated in the rankings.
Don’t like where your team is ranked? Unfortunately, they will have to turn it around on the ice, as we take zero personal opinions into effect.
Have any suggestions for the TWC Power Rankings for next season? Leave us a comment and let us know. Without further ado, this week’s power rankings are below!
Week 6 NHL Power Rankings
| Rank | Change | Team | Team Name | Last Week | Record | TWCScore |
| 1 | – |
 |
Boston Bruins | 2-0-0 | 13-1-2 | 671 |
| 2 | +2 |
 |
New York Rangers | 1-0-0 | 12-2-1 | 637.6 |
| 3 | +2 |
 |
Los Angeles Kings | 2-0-0 | 10-3-3 | 637.2 |
| 4 | -1 |
 |
Dallas Stars | 1-1-0 | 11-4-1 | 627.3 |
| 5 | -3 |
 |
Vegas Golden Knights | 1-2-1 | 13-4-2 | 615.8 |
| 6 | – |
 |
Florida Panthers | 2-1-0 | 11-5-1 | 613.8 |
| 7 | +1 |
 |
Colorado Avalanche | 3-0-0 | 11-5-0 | 612.2 |
| 8 | -1 |
 |
Vancouver Canucks | 1-2-0 | 12-5-1 | 581.9 |
| 9 | +2 |
 |
Toronto Maple Leafs | 2-0-0 | 10-5-2 | 576.1 |
| 10 | +2 |
 |
Winnipeg Jets | 3-0-0 | 10-5-2 | 572.9 |
| 11 | -2 |
 |
Carolina Hurricanes | 1-1-0 | 10-7-0 | 570.4 |
| 12 | +1 |
 |
Washington Capitals | 2-0-0 | 9-4-2 | 566.5 |
| 13 | -3 |
 |
New Jersey Devils | 1-2-0 | 8-7-1 | 549.1 |
| 14 | +5 |
 |
Philadelphia Flyers | 3-0-0 | 10-7-1 | 547 |
| 15 | -1 |
 |
Pittsburgh Penguins | 2-2-0 | 9-8-0 | 543.6 |
| 16 | – |
 |
Tampa Bay Lightning | 2-1-0 | 8-6-4 | 543.5 |
| 17 | +1 |
 |
St Louis Blues | 2-2-0 | 9-7-1 | 520.3 |
| 18 | -3 |
 |
Detroit Red Wings | 0-1-1 | 8-6-3 | 518.3 |
| 19 | +4 |
 |
Ottawa Senators | 2-0-0 | 8-7-0 | 518.2 |
| 20 | +1 |
 |
Arizona Coyotes | 1-1-1 | 8-7-2 | 506.5 |
| 21 | +1 |
 |
New York Islanders | 1-1-2 | 6-6-5 | 500.5 |
| 22 | +3 |
 |
Seattle Kraken | 2-1-1 | 7-8-4 | 497.6 |
| 23 | +5 |
 |
Calgary Flames | 2-0-1 | 6-8-3 | 491.5 |
| 24 | -7 |
 |
Anaheim Ducks | 1-3-0 | 9-9-0 | 489.2 |
| 25 | +1 |
 |
Minnesota Wild | 0-0-2 | 5-8-4 | 482 |
| 26 | -2 |
 |
Buffalo Sabres | 1-2-0 | 8-9-1 | 478.4 |
| 27 | – |
 |
Nashville Predators | 1-1-0 | 6-10-0 | 476.3 |
| 28 | +2 |
 |
Edmonton Oilers | 2-1-0 | 5-10-1 | 475.3 |
| 29 | -9 |
 |
Montreal Canadiens | 0-3-0 | 7-9-2 | 471.6 |
| 30 | -1 |
 |
Columbus Blue Jackets | 0-4-0 | 4-11-4 | 430.2 |
| 31 | – |
 |
Chicago Blackhawks | 0-3-0 | 5-11-0 | 393.6 |
| 32 | – |
 |
San Jose Sharks | 1-1-0 | 3-13-1 | 339.2 |
Even right at the top of the pack, there are some surprises. Despite icing a weaker roster compared to their historic 2022–23 season, the Bruins don’t seem to have missed a beat, sitting in first place with a wide margin to second.
It’s their third consecutive week in the top spot, and even without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, they have solid underlying numbers and elite goaltending propping them up. It looks like it will take an extremely impressive effort for another team to dethrone them.
Perhaps even more surprising is the third place Los Angeles Kings. The Kings have taken a big step forward over the offseason, with new additions to the lineup and development of their young players like Quinton Byfield. The team’s biggest concern coming into the year was goaltending, but so far Cam Talbot has been solid. On top of that, the Kings lead the league in high-danger Corsi share, something I don’t think any fans expected coming into the year.
Further down the list, the Florida Panthers have had a strong week, good for fifth in the league rankings. To be so high up the list after not having either of their top two defencemen to start the season is extremely impressive. The return of Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour should further catapult the Panthers up the list in the coming weeks.
One of the more surprising teams this year is the Philadelphia Flyers. Expected to be a bottom-feeder, they won all their games this week, and own a respectable 10–7–1 record on the year. Although they are fairly middle of the pack in most of the statistical categories the model considers, the wins speak for themselves.
Another big surprise this season is the Edmonton Oilers. Again this week, they find themselves near the bottom of the pack. Although their coaching change seems like a step in the right direction so far (they collected two wins this week), the model is still not convinced. Another few weeks of stronger showings should bring the Connor McDavid-led group up the list.
Many teams are extremely close in the eyes of the model, with some even within a single point of one another. This means big swings in ranking are possible each week. Be sure to check back each week to see if your team is moving in the right direction.
Past 2023–24 Power Rankings
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