Imagine a place where unbridled optimism turns to abject fatalism over the course of 60 minutes, accompanied by daily seismic shifts in standings. Welcome to the first week of the NHL season, 2024-25 style. With a precious few exceptions, there’s a good chance fanbase expectations across the league’s 32 cities have already veered wildly, though none of the teams had played more than six games before Wednesday night and some had played as few as two.
It’s a perilous world in which to trek, but the B/R hockey team nevertheless put on its collective voting hats and compiled the season’s inaugural NHL Power Rankings, aptly subtitled “Where Every Team Stands After First Week of the 2024-25 Season.
The specifications remain consistent with our latest rankings from opening night, where a first-place vote earned 32 points and a 32nd-place vote garnered one. The rankings reflect these vote/point totals. We encourage you to review our findings and share your thoughts in the comments.
Editor’s note: Votes were tallied before games were played on Wednesday, Oct. 16