Every team in the league has played roughly a fifth of its schedule, so it may be time to stop labeling teams as surprises.
The Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks—each of whom missed the playoffs last season—continue to defy expectations in 2025-26. In fact, all three experienced double-digit bumps in this week’s edition of B/R’s Power Rankings.
The Bruins leapt from 21st to eighth, the Blackhawks spiked from 24th to 12th and the Sharks skipped into the top 20 thanks to a 10-spot rise from 29th to 19th.
On the flip side, last season’s Atlantic Division champions, the Toronto Maple Leafs, had the week’s biggest dive from 14th place all the way down to No. 27. Also dropping 10 or more slots were the Utah Mammoth, who went from seventh to 18th, and the Columbus Blue Jackets, who toppled from 13th to 23rd.
B/R’s hockey staff awarded 32 points for a first-place vote all the way down to a single point for a 32nd-place selection. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the app comments.
