ClutchPoints’ NHL Power Rankings, Week 6: Pens, Preds square off in Sweden

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ClutchPoints’ NHL Power Rankings, Week 6: Pens, Preds square off in Sweden

Colin Gallant, ClutchPoints

Mon, Nov 10, 2025 ·

26 min read

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The post ClutchPoints' NHL Power Rankings, Week 6: Pens, Preds square off in Sweden appeared first on ClutchPoints .

In October of 1997, the Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks kicked off the NHL Global Series with back-to-back games in front of 10,500 spectators at the Yoyogi Arena in Tokyo, Japan. Since that debut contest — which was won for the Canucks by Pavel Bure — there have been 45 other international regular-season contests, spanning six countries, nine cities and two continents.

That's soon to be 47, as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators are headed across the pond to Stockholm, Sweden for the 2025-26 iteration of the Global Series . The cross-conference foes will do battle at Avicii Arena, once on Friday and again on Sunday, before returning to North America the following week. Filip Forsberg will lead the charge for the Preds, while Erik Karlsson is the lone healthy Swede on the Pens' roster.

In 2024-25, there were two sets of international games, with the New Jersey Devils shellacking the Buffalo Sabres in Prague, Czech Republic in October, and the Florida Panthers beating the Dallas Stars in back-to-back tilts just under a month later in Tampere, Finland. And nearly six weeks into this season, the NHL Global Series is returning.

But before that, the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2025 will officially be enshrined on Monday night in Toronto . It's a loaded group, featuring a couple of Stanley Cup champions in Zdeno Chara , Duncan Keith and Alexander Mogilny, along with perennial superstar Joe Thornton . Jennifer Botterill — a three-time Olympic gold medalist with Canada — and Brianna Decker will also be honored. In the builder category, Jack Parker and Daniele Sauvageau will enter the HHOF; the latter is the first woman to be elected to the Hall as a builder. The eight will become hockey's newest legends.

Clearly, it's going to be a busy Week 6 in the National Hockey League, which is par for the course at this time of year. And, as usual, the movement in the latest iteration of ClutchPoints' NHL Power Rankings is significant as November rolls on. Let's discuss.

Previous 2025-26 NHL Power Rankings: Week 5 | Week 4 | Week 3 | Week 2 | Week 1

1. Colorado Avalanche (+1)

For the first time this season — and very likely not the last — the Avalanche are debuting at the top of the NHL Power Rankings in Week 6. Colorado still has only one regulation loss through 16 games, and Jared Bednar's group has won five of six. Nathan MacKinnon is leading the charge, and the early Art Ross race, with a ridiculous 29 points — including five in a wild 5-4 OT win over the Canucks on Sunday — while Cale Makar leads all blue liners with 22 of his own. That one-two punch is otherworldly, and having Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog back in the fold fulltime is absolutely huge. With Mackenzie Blackwood now healthy, he's forming an excellent tandem with Scott Wedgewood , who has had a great year in relief. At 10-1-5, the Avs are showing no signs of slowing down — and they have their sights firmly set on a first President's Trophy since 2020-21.

2. Carolina Hurricanes (+2)

It's the Avalanche at the top of the West, and the Hurricanes leading the East after an undefeated week in Raleigh. Carolina beat New York (3-0), Minnesota (4-3), Buffalo (6-3) and Toronto (5-4), improving to 11-4 and vaulting over the Devils in the NHL Power Rankings, despite the two Metropolitan Division rivals having the exact same record. The Canes are getting the benefit of the doubt this time around, especially considering the plethora of injuries on the blue line ( Jaccob Slavin , Jalen Chatfield and Shayne Gostisbehere are all out). Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrei Svechnikov are starting to produce after slow starts, and Pyotr Kochetkov enjoyed an electric 2025-26 debut, shutting out the Rangers on Tuesday. This roster will only get better as it gets healthier, but even now, it's a powerhouse.

3. New Jersey Devils (no change)

The Devils haven't been quite as prolific as the Hurricanes as of late, but they've still won three of four games since the calendar flipped to November. That includes an overtime win over the Canadiens on Thursday, and a shootout triumph vs. the Penguins two nights later. A great powerplay and stingy defense has been the recipe for success in New Jersey in 2025-26, and, like the Canes, they're missing quite a few players to injury. Dougie Hamilton going down is disappointing , but the key defenseman is only expected to be out for around a week. The Devils are one of just eight teams in action on Monday night; they'll welcome the Islanders to Prudential Center.

4. Montreal Canadiens (+1)

The show goes on for the Atlantic Division-leading Canadiens, who haven't lost in regulation since October 23. Montreal is 10-3-2 and looking like a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference through 15 games. Samuel Montembeault is slowly starting to find his game between the pipes, while Jakub Dobes continues to be one of the big surprises of the season. It's been the usual suspects up front; Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield have combined for 38 points, while Ivan Demidov has chipped in 13 of his own. The top-three on the blue line has maybe been the most important reason for the success, with Lane Hutson , Noah Dobson and Mike Matheson adding 33 points and a plus-21 rating combined. After a convincing 6-2 drubbing of the Mammoth , the Habs are back in action against the visiting Kings on Tuesday night.

5. Winnipeg Jets (-4)

After spending one week at the peak of the NHL Power Rankings, the Jets are tumbling after a difficult trip to California. Winnipeg lost in Los Angeles on Tuesday, San Jose on Friday and Anaheim on Sunday — all in regulation. They also scored just two total goals over the three contests. That's usually not enough for such a significant drop, but considering how good a few other teams have been as of late, the hands were tied. There's no panic in Manitoba, but the team would love for the road trip to be over. That's not the case, with the Jets headed to Vancouver , Seattle and Calgary between now and Saturday to complete the gruelling six-game trip.

6. Dallas Stars (+2)

The Stars are back on track after a tough stretch, coming out on top three times in four tries in Week 5. That includes a couple of one-goal victories over the Oilers , Predators and Kraken, with a 7-5 loss to the surging Ducks somewhere in between. Dallas has only lost once in regulation since October 21, and the team continues to pile up points, even if they aren't always wins. Now 9-4-3, they're back into second in the Central Division, just four points back of the Avalanche through 16 games. Those two behemoths figure to battle for Western Conference supremacy all season long, although they don't play each other again until early March. The early-season MVP in Texas is Wyatt Johnston , who is leading the team with 10 goals.

7. Anaheim Ducks (+8)

What can you say about this Ducks team in 2025-26? They are getting better and better as the weeks go by, and the NHL Power Rankings is taking notice. Anaheim is scoring an outrageous 4.13 goals per game, which is tops in the league and then some. There's only one player in the league with more points than Leo Carlsson , and his name is Nathan MacKinnon. The young Swede is turning into a superstar in front of our very eyes, with 25 points already, and the same can be said for Cutter Gauthier , who has 11 goals — tied for third league-wide. Troy Terry has 15 points, Chris Kreider has nine goals, and it seems like everybody is getting involved in the offense these days. Add excellent goaltending from Lukas Dostal to tie it all together, and you have a team that is not even thinking about coming out of the rebuild — it's eyeing a Pacific Division crown. Joel Quenneville's club is a terrific 11-3-1, and there are still places to go in CP's PR's.

8. Vegas Golden Knights (-1)

Although Akira Schmid and Carl Lindbom have both turned in some solid starts, the Golden Knights are badly missing Adin Hill. They're also badly missing Mark Stone , who is the glue that holds this roster together. Vegas has lost two games in a row and five of seven, conceding the top spot in the Pacific to the Ducks in the process. This team is missing a spark, sitting around the middle of the pack in various categories despite the addition of Mitch Marner this summer. He's doing his part with 18 points, while Jack Eichel continues his lights out play, to the tune of 22 points in 14 games. But the lack of depth is being felt offensively, and an under .900 team save percentage isn't doing the Knights any favors. The defending champions are in town on Monday in a rematch of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.

9. Tampa Bay Lightning (+4)

The Lightning lost six of their first seven games in 2025-26, but this has looked like a completely different Tampa Bay roster ever since. The Bolts have now won seven of eight, rectifying a slow start to the season and then some. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been lights out for most of that stretch, and he's back to proving why he's one of the NHL's premier netminders. Brayden Point having only three goals in 15 games remains concerning, but the trio of Nikita Kucherov , Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel has been picking up the slack. Now 8-5-2 and back in a playoff spot, the Lightning will look to keep on rolling against the visiting Rangers on Wednesday night.

10. Utah Mammoth (-4)

After an incredible start to the season, the Mammoth are fading in a big way. Utah has gone from 8-2 to 9-7 in the blink of an eye, with three losses in a row and five in six contests dating back to October 28. Now just above .500, they're holding onto the final wildcard berth in the Western Conference for dear life. Karel Vejmelka has turned in some really poor starts, including giving up six goals on 23 shots in a 6-2 loss in Montreal on Saturday night. Vitek Vanecek wasn't much better 24 hours later, with Utah losing 4-2 to Ottawa in Canada's capital. We're hoping the hot start wasn't just smoke and mirrors, and the Mammoth will have a relatively easy Week 6 to try to get back on track. The Sabres visit Delta Center on Wednesday before the Islanders come to town on Friday.

11. Detroit Red Wings (-2)

After a couple of great weeks to start the campaign, the Red Wings have finally faltered . Detroit has lost four times in regulation in their last five, and the one win was in a shootout — and it came against the Sharks. Not exactly an encouraging seven-day stretch in Motown. John Gibson and Cam Talbot have basically been alternating starts, and both have had a couple of great games, and a couple of really tough ones. The team is still looking for consistency across the board, and they'll wake up on Monday out of playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference. After three full days off, the Wings welcome the red hot Ducks to Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night.

12. Pittsburgh Penguins (-2)

The hot start wasn't a mirage in Pennsylvania, but injuries are taking a toll on the Penguins. Filip Hallander is out at least three months with a blood clot in his leg, Tristan Jarry — who is in the midst of a career resurgence — is week-to-week, Rickard Rakell is out 6-8 weeks after hand surgery, and Justin Brazeau will miss at least a month. And that's not even the end of the list. It's extremely disappointing for fans in Pittsburgh, as the team is genuinely looking like it could stay competitive for a playoff spot all year long. That could still happen, but the challenge becomes even stiffer without a couple of productive players. It's now up to the star veterans to keep the ship afloat, and already, the Pens have lost six of their last nine. The next couple of weeks are going to be absolutely critical for this club.

13. Florida Panthers (-2)

With every week that goes by, the Panthers look less and less like the team that has won back-to-back NHL championships. Florida has rotated losses and wins since October 18, a span of nine games. It makes sense, then, that the Cats are 7-7-1. They're just treading water at this point, with Brad Marchand the only skater even close to playing at a point-per-game pace. The veteran is having a terrific year, with 16 points in 14 games, but no one else has more than 11. That's significantly concerning, especially as it doesn't look like Matthew Tkachuk will be back anytime soon. On the bright side, Marchand is up to 996 points, and with three games on the docket this week, the potential future Hall of Famer could become the 102nd member of the 1,000 club before next Monday.

14. Ottawa Senators (+4)

The Senators have lost just once in regulation since October 18, and they're reaping the benefits in the form of a healthy jump up the NHL Power Rankings in Week 6. Ottawa has won six of nine, going from 2-4-1 to 8-5-3 in a span of three weeks and returning to a top-three spot in the Atlantic Division. It's good to see the team doing well without captain Brady Tkachuk , and he should be back in the lineup before the New Year. The Sens needed more from Linus Ullmark , and they're finally getting it — although Leevi Merilainen is making a case for more starts after winning each of his last two games. Ottawa will play three games this week — all at home — with Dallas visiting on Tuesday, Boston in town on Thursday and Los Angeles making the long trip on Saturday.

15. Edmonton Oilers (-3)

Just as the defending Eastern Conference champion Panthers continue to struggle mightily, the exact same thing is happening with the West-winning Oilers . Edmonton, like Florida, is perfectly .500 at 6-6-4, and also out of a playoff spot in the second week of November. They can't really blame their bad start on injuries, although Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hit the IR on Monday. Mercifully, Zach Hyman will return to the lineup at some point this week, Kris Knoblauch confirmed, after not playing since Game 4 of the Western Conference Final back in May. He will certainly improve the team, but there is a lot to fix right now. Example A is a 9-1 drubbing at the hands of the Avalanche on Saturday night. That was the Oilers' third loss in a row and sixth in eight games. Things are not good in Alberta right now, even with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl producing. An .872 team save percentage will have something to do with it.

16. Washington Capitals (-2)

Alex Ovechkin, 900 goals! It took maybe a little longer than expected, but the most prolific goal scorer in National Hockey League history is the first player to enter the 900 club. Unfortunately, the individual milestone isn't coinciding with any kind of success in the nation's capital. Washington is floundering, losing six times in seven tries and turning an excellent 6-2 record into an average 7-7-1 in the process. This team just isn't scoring enough; Pierre Luc-Dubois is out 3-4 months, Ovechkin has only three tallies on the year, and guys like Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas — fresh off career seasons — are regressing in a big way. Logan Thompson is one of the best goalies in the NHL, but he can only do so much. The powerplay is ranked 28th in the league, and that's going to need to improve if the Caps hope to finish at the top of the Eastern Conference again. Right now, it's not looking good.

17. Chicago Blackhawks (+8)

We've waited and waited and waited, and Connor Bedard has finally arrived. After a somewhat disappointing 23-goal, 67-point showing in 2024-25, the North Vancouver native has gone nuclear this year. Finally playing with some productive linemates, No. 98 is up to nine goals and 25 points in 16 games. That has him tied for second league-wide along with Leo Carlsson, and he's the engine. Along with some great play from Tyler Bertuzzi , Andre Burakovsky , Frank Nazar and Teuvo Teravainen , and excellent goaltending from Spencer Knight , the Blackhawks are starting to win some games. They've won eight of 13 after losing three in a row to start the season, and an 8-5-3 record is good enough for third place in the Central. The Hawks are getting the biggest bump of any team in Week 6, and the NHL Power Rankings is looking forward to seeing if the Original Six franchise can keep it going.

18. Toronto Maple Leafs (-2)

It seems like the Maple Leafs haven't put together a full 60-minute effort yet this season. The struggles continued over a back-to-back set this weekend, with Toronto losing to Boston 5-3 on Saturday and Carolina 5-4 on Sunday — both on home ice. Even with a decent 8-7-1 record, there is a ton of noise and criticism surrounding this team right now. That's mainly because they've given up 60 goals, which is more than any team except the Blues. "Our game just, for whatever reason, becomes really immature," a concerned John Tavares said. "We don't manage the game very well." Now out of a playoff spot, it's clear that something needs to change in Ontario, with the defensive struggles bringing back painful memories of previous Leafs teams that just could not keep the puck out of their net.

19. Seattle Kraken (-2)

The Kraken started hot in 2025-26, but they're faded over the last few weeks. Jared McCann is arguably the team's most important forward, and he hasn't played since October 18. Maybe even more important than the franchise's all-time leading scorer is Joey Daccord , who has been terrific between the pipes this year. He suffered a mysterious injury last week and didn't suit up on the weekend, leaving Philipp Grubauer and Matt Murray to split the starts. That cannot be a long-term solution if Seattle hopes to get back into the dance, and the hope is that Daccord will be ready to roll as soon as Tuesday's game against the visiting Blue Jackets .

20. Vancouver Canucks (-1)

The Canucks haven't been able to string more than one win together since the middle of October, and that's been a microcosm of the team in general in 2025-26. Vancouver just can't seem to build any meaningful momentum, pulling out a big win and then being unable to replicate it. Because of that, Adam Foote's team has rotated losses and wins since October 25, leading to an 8-8-1 record through 17 games. They pulled out a 4-3 home victory over the Blue Jackets on Saturday, but then lost 5-4 in OT against the Avalanche 24 hours later. This is still a team that can compete for a playoff spot all campaign long, but they need to do a better job of finding ways to win games, which is obviously much easier said than done. The Jets are in town on Tuesday night before the Canucks head out on a three-game road trip that passes through Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida between November 14-17.

21. Los Angeles Kings (no change)

The Kings have played .500 hockey for all of November and most of the last two weeks of October, and they're standing pat in the NHL Power Rankings in Week 6. The big roster surprise in 2025-26 has been Corey Perry , who is snapping to the tune of seven goals and 11 points in just 10 games. That's huge for a Los Angeles team that is 24th in goals per game. The Kings need more, especially from Anze Kopitar (eight points in 12 games), Andrei Kuzmenko (seven in 16) and Phillip Danault (three in 16). The path to a top three finish in the Pacific Division is still there, although it's going to be tougher than last year, with teams like the Ducks and Sharks looking to take significant steps forward.

22. Boston Bruins (+6)

How about those Bruins? After losing seven of their first 11 games — and basically being written off by the NHL Power Rankings — Boston has racked off six wins in a row, immediately returning to relevance in the Eastern Conference. Even with Elias Lindholm on the shelf, the B's are finding ways to win, with 22 goals in six games being the catalyst. Jeremy Swayman has also put together a couple of excellent starts in a row, and we all know how good he can be when he's at his best. Now 10-7, the Bruins are second in the Atlantic Division and getting a significant bump in Week 6. That's only the start if they can keep up these winning ways.

23. New York Rangers (-1)

The Rangers have now played seven games in front of the home crowd at Madison Square Garden — and won exactly zero times. This would probably already be a lost season if New York wasn't somehow 7-1-1 on the road. It's just a wacky, wacky start to Mike Sullivan's tenure in the Big Apple. Going 0-6-1 at home and 7-1-1 away just makes no sense, but add it all together and the Blueshirts are still .500. That's not much of a consolation prize, especially after the Islanders came to town and shut the Rangers out at MSG. That came four days after the Hurricanes entered the historic arena and won 3-0. At this point, season ticket holders have got to be furious. How long is it going to take for this team to win at home? If they can't do it on Monday night against the lowly Predators, honestly, who knows.

24. New York Islanders (no change)

Led by a career-best start from Bo Horvat and an electric rookie debut from Matthew Schaefer, the Islanders are hanging around at 7-6-2 after a 5-0 drubbing of the Rangers in New York on Saturday night. That was Ilya Sorokin's best start of the season by far, and New York would love to see a lot more games like that from the veteran Russian. It's going to be a couple of long weeks for Patrick Roy's club; Saturday's win kicked off a seven-game road trip, which still has stops in New Jersey, Las Vegas, Utah, Colorado, Dallas and Detroit. It'll be a trying stretch, but afterwards, the Isles will be home for two straight weeks from November 22-December 5. Still, banking a couple of points on this trip will be key to the squad's playoff hopes.

25. Columbus Blue Jackets (-5)

A stretch of three regulation losses in a row was all it took to send the Blue Jackets back to last place in the Metropolitan Division — and falling far in the NHL Power Rankings at the same time. Columbus lost 3-2 at the New York Islanders, 5-1 in Calgary and 4-3 in Vancouver, dropping them to 7-7. It's not terrible, but it's not an ideal start in Ohio, especially after how good this roster was at the end of last year. Every forward not named Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov needs to be better, while Zach Werenski has been rock solid but could find even another level. The Jackets lost the first three games of their Western road trip, and will look to salvage some points either in Edmonton on Monday or Seattle on Tuesday — and ideally for the franchise, both.

26. Philadelphia Flyers (+1)

The Flyers have simultaneously lost three times in five games, and won five times in eight games. But however you slice it, Philadelphia is in a playoff spot, occupying the final wildcard berth in the East through 15 games. The parity in the conference remains ridiculous, with just four points separating Philly from last place. But at 8-5-2, things are going relatively well in the City of Brotherly Love — and that's without Matvei Michkov contributing much. After coming to training camp out of shape, he's started to turn things around, with goals in each of his last two games. The Russian star needs to keep up that level of production if the Flyers hope to remain in the playoff picture, although a couple of other forwards — like Trevor Zegras, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny and Noah Cates — are off to great starts.

27. Minnesota Wild (-5)

Yes, the Wild have won four times in their last five games. But yes, all four of those wins came against teams not currently in a playoff spot. And yes, it came after a stretch of eight losses in nine games. For that reason, Minnesota is still taking a tumble down the NHL Power Rankings despite an encouraging nine days. It won't take much more success to get back on track in the leaderboard, but they are still 11th place in the Western Conference at 7-7-3. Just getting back to .500 is a good start, but they need to start proving that they can beat some of the league's better teams. They won't have long to wait, with the Ducks and Golden Knights visiting the State of Hockey this weekend.

28. San Jose Sharks (+2)

It's not very often that we see the Sharks rise up the NHL Power Rankings in consecutive weeks, but don't rub your eyes. San Jose is finally learning how to win games! In fact, they've done so five times in their last six tries, which is monumental. We haven't seen this kind of success in California in a long, long time. Now at seven victories, the Sharks are already a third of the way to their entire win total in 2024-25 — and they've only played 16 games. Macklin Celebrini is a big reason for that; he's fourth in league scoring with 10 goals and 24 points. But the depth was improved this summer, the blue line has some effective veterans, and even the goaltending has come around. It's still early, but we might be watching this squad come out of the rebuild in real time.

29. Buffalo Sabres (-3)

The Sabres are lucky that a couple of teams have been even more futile as of late, keeping them out of the bottom-three in the NHL Power Rankings. That won't last if these results continue; Buffalo has lost three games in a row and six of seven, scoring just 16 goals in that span. Rasmus Dahlin has left the team and returned to Sweden to handle a personal matter, while Jiri Kulich is dealing with a blood clot issue and is slated to be out for an extended period of time. Can things get any worse in Western New York? It's a new rock bottom every season, and despite being 5-6-4 through 15 games, the Sabres just don't have the talent to bust the slump. Let's see if the worst team in the Eastern Conference can dig deep and do it anyways.

30. St. Louis Blues (-1)

The decline continues in earnest for the Blues in 2025-26, who haven't been able to find any of the magic Jim Montgomery injected the franchise with exactly a year ago. St. Louis just continues to lose prolifically, including nine times in 11 tries since October 21. The only two wins in that span came against a couple of hugely struggling teams in the Oilers and Sabres. It's gotten so bad that one of the Blues' best players in Jordan Kyrou was healthy scratched on Thursday night. He bounced back by scoring a goal against the Kraken on Saturday, but it wasn't enough in a 4-3 overtime defeat. Now 5-8-3, it's going to take a herculean effort over the next several weeks for the roster to convince management not to trade every effective player and completely tear it down.

31. Nashville Predators (no change)

The plane ride from Nashville, Tennessee to Stockholm, Sweden probably won't be too joyous this week for a Predators team that has lost seven of eight games since October 26. We've probably all seen enough at this point, through 82 games in 2024-25 and another 17 in 2025-26; it's time for a rebuild. This team just isn't good enough at any position — Juuse Saros between the pipes being the exception — and the long-term loss of Roman Josi is detrimental. It's time for GM Barry Trotz to trade a couple of veterans and get younger, but whether or not that will happen is up in the air. Maybe a trip to Sweden will help the squad reset ahead of Friday's game against the Penguins at Avicii Arena.

32. Calgary Flames (no change)

For yet another week, the Flames are sitting in the basement of the NHL Power Rankings. Absolutely no one is surprised; Calgary is the only team with more than eight regulation losses in 2025-26, and they're at 11. Yikes. A 4-11-2 record is just abysmal, and a minus-19 goal differential is league-worst. Making an already brutal situation even worse, the Flames have been shut out in back-to-back games, losing 4-0 to the Hawks on Friday and 2-0 to the Wild two nights later. It's a nightmare scenario in Alberta, and although there are reports that management doesn't want to trade Nazem Kadri , him and Rasmus Andersson should probably both be gone by the deadline.

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