NHL power rankings: More top-5 movement, plus fake awards for every team
If the NHL can give out points for losing, we can give out trophies for things like "most goalie points" or "best Zamboni."
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The NHL season is nearly over, and it’s time to hand out some hardware. Folks, welcome to the third annual Rankies! (Sorry, we forgot to do this last year; here are the 2023 and 2024 editions.)
In our participation trophy society, it’s unjust that only a select few teams are represented at the year-end NHL Awards. Our goal is to fix that by making sure every team wins at least one award this season, no matter how esoteric. If the NHL can give out points for losing, we can give out trophies for things like “most goalie points” or “best Zamboni.”
Let’s check out this year’s honorees.
1. Colorado Avalanche, 52-16-10
Last week: 1Sean: 1
Dom: 1
Billy Beane Award: The team that did the best job at recreating an irreplaceable star
If you’ve seen or read “Moneyball,” you’ll note Mikko Rantanen is playing the role of Jason Giambi. It works for a few reasons — we’re not going to deny that Rantanen has a certain X-factor most players, Martin Necas included, can’t quite match.
We’ll also gently point out that this season, Necas is producing 3.6 points per 60; Rantanen, in his NHL career, has bested that once. Necas is scoring 1.4 goals per 60 and posting an expected goal share of 62 percent; Rantanen has bested each of those twice. The Presidents’ Trophy winners, in other words, wouldn’t have lost much (if anything) had the swap been one-for-one … but it was not. Jack Drury was added to the mix, too, and he’s given them valuable bottom-six minutes.
2. Carolina Hurricanes, 51-22-6
Last week: 2Sean: 2
Dom: 2
Jim Corsi Cup: Winners of the Corsi Hockey League
The 1970s Canadiens, the 1980s Islanders, the 1980s Oilers … Stanley Cup dynasties. It’s been decades since we’ve borne witness to consistent year-over-year dominance like that of those powerhouse teams. But at long last, the drought is over; the NHL has a new dynasty — the 2020s Hurricanes, who are hoisting the Jim Corsi Cup for a fourth straight season. An incredible feat. No one takes shots at the net and defends them like these guys.
3. Dallas Stars, 47-20-12
Last week: 4Sean: 4
Dom: 3
Mike Modano Award: Best American-born forward
You would think this award would go to one of the 14 forwards who won Olympic gold in February for the United States. You would be wrong.
No American forward has scored more points than Jason Robertson’s 91. He also has the type of well-rounded game that makes him the most valuable, with a plus-16.7 Net Rating. That the next-best contender, Cole Caufield, also didn’t make the team is pretty funny and speaks to the sheer depth of talent the USA now has at its disposal.
4. Montreal Canadiens, 47-22-10
Last week: 5Sean: 3
Dom: 4
Kris Russell Trophy: Most blocked shots
We thought about presenting the Jack Hughes Trophy, awarded to the player with the biggest glow-up, to one of the Canadiens, but singling someone out between Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Lane Hutson and Juraj Slafkovský seemed unfair. We love them all so very much!
So, we’re honoring Noah Dobson, who started Thursday’s game with a league-leading 186 blocked shots while also posting the second-best Net Rating among Montreal’s defensemen. That’s living up to the price tag. Now, did he manage to score 50 goals? He did not, so this might’ve been a mistake, but you can read plenty about that elsewhere.
5. Buffalo Sabres, 49-23-8
Last week: 6Sean: 5
Dom: 5
Mark Messier Leadership Award: Greatest leader
Most of these awards are fake. This one sounds fake, but somehow is not, so we wanted to get a head start on the campaign trail. If Rasmus Dahlin doesn’t win this year’s Mark Messier Leadership Award, there will be riots at Rankings HQ. We mean that: What’s the point of a leadership award if Dahlin isn’t recognized for what he’s done for the Sabres this season?
Since returning from Sweden in mid-November, Dahlin has been one of the league’s absolute best defensemen and has carried a once-cursed franchise back to the postseason after 14 long years. To do what was once unthinkable in the fashion the Sabres did this season starts with Dahlin, a leader who wears his heart on his sleeve every night and competes over every inch of the ice.
6. Tampa Bay Lightning, 48-25-6
Last week: 3Sean: 6
Dom: 7
Jonathan Marchessault Trophy: Best out-of-nowhere season
In our Lightning season preview, we wrote that Darren Raddysh “adds some offensive pop in a sheltered role.” And, uh, that was it. We weren’t wrong! Guys like that have value! Raddysh was fine in 2024-25, helping drive play and producing as many points per 60 (1.76) as guys such as Quinn Hughes and Roman Josi, albeit on a second pair. This season, though, the 30-year-old has gone nuclear, upping his production to 2.55 points per 60 and doing it in first-pair minutes. Big congrats to him on the timing, too — he’s set to lead an incredibly weak free-agency class.
7. Minnesota Wild, 45-22-12
Last week: 7Sean: 7
Dom: 6
Dean Lombardi Trophy: Best trade
The Minnesota Wild would’ve been OK had they not traded for Quinn Hughes. Record-wise — 17-9-5 on Dec. 12 — they’d actually been better. Because of what Hughes has done to their offense, though, they’re a legitimate contender. Without him, they were 31st in the league in goals per 60. A little less tangibly, a team with Quinn Hughes on it is fun to watch, and that counts for plenty.
8. Pittsburgh Penguins, 41-22-16
Last week: 9Sean: 8
Dom: 8
Gerard Gallant Award: Most surprising playoff team, in honor of the 2017-18 Vegas Golden Knights
When did you accept the 2025-26 Penguins into your heart? Was it in mid-December, when they bounced back from eight consecutive losses? Was it post-Olympics, when they stayed in playoff position without Sidney Crosby? Was it on Thursday, when they clinched a spot? Was it when you realized they’ve scored more goals than any team that doesn’t play in Denver? It certainly wasn’t when they started the season with a 74-point projection, which they’re going to outshoot by 30 or thereabouts. Don’t lie.
9. Ottawa Senators, 42-27-10
Last week: 10Sean: 9
Dom: 9
Carter Verhaeghe Trophy: Sweetest found money
Remember when the Kings lost to the Oilers in the first round again and Jordan Spence averaged just 7 1/2 minutes per game? Remember when the Kings promptly traded Spence for third- and sixth-round picks? We do, and we (along with every hockey nerd on the planet) will never shut up about what an obvious win that was for the Senators.
That became even more evident over the past couple of weeks. With Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot out, Spence stepped up into a top-pair role, scoring four points in five games while playing 26 minutes per night — and he didn’t look at all out of place.
Is Spence a true top-pair defenseman? Probably not. But he at least looks like a legit top-four option, and that’s a nice find for the Sens at the price they paid.
10. Boston Bruins, 43-26-10
Last week: 8Sean: 11
Dom: 11
Daniel Sedin Bullseye Award: Best finisher
Back in 2011, Daniel Sedin went 4-for-4 in the accuracy shooting contest at the NHL All-Stars Skills Competition, doing so in a blistering 7.3 seconds. That record stands to this day, but we bet that if we put Pavel Zacha in the ring, he could somehow go 4-for-3 and do it even faster. Zacha has arguably been the league’s sharpest shooter this season, scoring on 23 percent of his shots, earning 30 goals on 128 shots.