Who is the best team in the NHL right now?

By the numbers, the Carolina Hurricanes: they are No. 1 in the Tonight.hockey power rankings as of Friday, November 6 (13-3-2, .778 points percentage and a +26 goal differential). The top-ranked Western Conference team is the Minnesota Wild (3rd).

Who is the worst team in the NHL right now?

The Vancouver Canucks rank 32nd as of Friday, November 6: 3-14-1, lowest points percentage in the NHL, lost 4 straight.

Who is the best NHL player right now?

There is no official answer, but the scoring race is a fair start: as of Friday, November 6, Connor McDavid leads the NHL with 44 points this season. See the full NHL scoring leaders for goals, assists and goalies.

How are these NHL power rankings calculated?

Each team gets a score from four numbers, each compared with the league average: points percentage (35%), goal differential per game (25%), points percentage over the last 10 games (15%) and the playoff model's projected final points (25%). The ranking updates once a day.

Friday, November 6 · recomputed daily

NHL power rankings

As of Friday, November 6, the Carolina Hurricanes are the best team in the NHL by the Tonight.hockey power rankings: 13-3-2, .778 points percentage and a +26 goal differential. The Boston Bruins rank 2nd and the Minnesota Wild 3rd. The ranking is recomputed every day from official NHL standings and our playoff model.

Standings through Thu, Nov 5. Updated 5:16 PM ET.

Carolina Hurricanes13-3-2 · rating 66.3 2

Boston Bruins12-4-1 · rating 63.6 3

Minnesota Wild11-3-3 · rating 63.5

NHL power rankings: all 32 teams

Movement is against yesterday’s ranking. Every reason is generated from the standings and the model.

NHL power rankings for Friday, November 6
#	Team	Change since yesterday	W-L-OT	Pts%	GD/GP	L10	Proj pts	Playoffs	Rating
1	Carolina Hurricanes13-3-2, best points percentage in the NHL (.778), best goal differential in the NHL (+26)		13-3-2	.778	+1.44	7-2-1	116	>99%	66.3
2	Boston Bruins12-4-1, won 3 straight, 7-2-1 in the last 10	2	12-4-1	.735	+1.41	7-2-1	108	91%	63.6
3	Minnesota Wild11-3-3, 7-1-2 in the last 10, 98% playoff odds		11-3-3	.735	+1.06	7-1-2	111	98%	63.5
4	Edmonton Oilers11-3-3, most goals in the NHL (71), 96% playoff odds	2	11-3-3	.735	+1.06	6-2-2	108	96%	61.9
5	Tampa Bay Lightning10-3-2, 92% playoff odds		10-3-2	.733	+0.67	6-2-2	109	92%	60.8
6	Montréal Canadiens10-3-3, 7-1-2 in the last 10, 90% playoff odds		10-3-3	.719	+0.38	7-1-2	108	90%	60.3
7	New Jersey Devils11-5-0, won 3 straight, 8-2-0 in the last 10		11-5-0	.688	+0.63	8-2-0	101	78%	58.9
8	Dallas Stars9-5-2, 7-2-1 in the last 10		9-5-2	.625	+0.44	7-2-1	105	90%	57.0
9	Vegas Golden Knights11-5-2, +10 goal differential, 90% playoff odds		11-5-2	.667	+0.56	5-3-2	103	90%	56.9
10	Colorado Avalanche9-6-2, +12 goal differential, 89% playoff odds		9-6-2	.588	+0.71	5-4-1	104	89%	55.0
11	Florida Panthers9-5-2, 7-3-0 in the last 10		9-5-2	.625	+0.31	7-3-0	95	42%	54.2
12	Seattle Kraken9-5-1, +1 goal differential, 65% playoff odds	1	9-5-1	.633	+0.07	6-3-1	96	65%	53.4
13	Utah Mammoth10-6-1, +2 goal differential, 75% playoff odds	1	10-6-1	.618	+0.12	5-4-1	99	75%	52.9
14	Ottawa Senators10-6-1, +2 goal differential, 63% playoff odds		10-6-1	.618	+0.12	5-4-1	99	63%	52.9
15	Nashville Predators7-4-5, won 3 straight, playoff odds up 6 points in a day	3	7-4-5	.594	−0.06	5-2-3	96	58%	51.9
16	Buffalo Sabres7-5-3, −7 goal differential, 60% playoff odds		7-5-3	.567	−0.47	5-2-3	98	60%	50.5
17	Washington Capitals8-6-0, +1 goal differential, 56% playoff odds		8-6-0	.571	+0.07	5-5-0	96	56%	50.5
18	New York Islanders7-6-2, playoff odds down 11 points in a day	3	7-6-2	.533	−0.07	5-3-2	91	35%	49.1
19	Toronto Maple Leafs8-7-2, +6 goal differential, 13% playoff odds	1	8-7-2	.529	+0.35	5-4-1	87	13%	49.0
20	New York Rangers9-7-1, playoff odds up 5 points in a day	1	9-7-1	.559	+0.12	4-5-1	89	26%	48.5
21	Anaheim Ducks8-7-1, won 3 straight, playoff odds up 7 points in a day	2	8-7-1	.531	−0.13	4-5-1	92	48%	47.7
22	Detroit Red Wings7-7-3, playoff odds down 8 points in a day	3	7-7-3	.500	−0.18	5-4-1	87	15%	46.7
23	St. Louis Blues7-7-2, −1 goal differential, 29% playoff odds	1	7-7-2	.500	−0.06	4-5-1	89	29%	46.5
24	Columbus Blue Jackets7-7-0, playoff odds up 7 points in a day	1	7-7-0	.500	−0.29	5-5-0	90	28%	46.3
25	Los Angeles Kings5-7-2, −4 goal differential, 20% playoff odds	1	5-7-2	.429	−0.29	5-5-0	86	20%	43.7
26	Calgary Flames7-8-1, −16 goal differential, 16% playoff odds		7-8-1	.469	−1.00	6-3-1	84	16%	43.5
27	San Jose Sharks7-9-1, lost 3 straight, 3-6-1 in the last 10	1	7-9-1	.441	−1.00	3-6-1	84	15%	40.2
28	Winnipeg Jets6-8-3, 2-7-1 in the last 10	2	6-8-3	.441	−0.88	2-7-1	83	11%	39.4
29	Pittsburgh Penguins5-9-2, lost 3 straight, 2-7-1 in the last 10	2	5-9-2	.375	−0.44	2-7-1	82	8%	39.0
30	Philadelphia Flyers4-10-4, worst goal differential in the East (−22), playoff odds at 3%	1	4-10-4	.333	−1.22	4-5-1	78	3%	36.3
31	Chicago Blackhawks4-12-1, lost 3 straight, 2-7-1 in the last 10		4-12-1	.265	−1.76	2-7-1	67	<1%	28.9
32	Vancouver Canucks3-14-1, lowest points percentage in the NHL, lost 4 straight		3-14-1	.194	−1.67	1-8-1	57	0%	24.7

Biggest movers since yesterday

Climbing

Nashville Predators 18th to 15th3
Boston Bruins 4th to 2nd2
Anaheim Ducks 23rd to 21st2

Sliding

New York Islanders 15th to 18th3
Detroit Red Wings 19th to 22nd3
Edmonton Oilers 2nd to 4th2

How are the power rankings calculated?

Every team gets one score from four numbers, each turned into a z-score: how many standard deviations the team sits above or below the league average that day, so goals and percentages can be added fairly.

score = 0.35 × z(points %) + 0.25 × z(goal diff per game) + 0.15 × z(last-10 points %) + 0.25 × z(model)
rating = 50 + 10 × score

Points percentage (35%): points earned out of points available. It is what the standings reward.
Goal differential per game (25%): the steadier read on quality, less swayed by overtime and shootout luck.
Last 10 games (15%): points percentage over the last 10, for current form.
The model (25%): projected final points from the Tonight.hockey playoff model’s 10,000 simulated seasons, as a share of the maximum. It carries last season’s strength while the sample is small.

A rating of 50 is a league-average team; every 10 points is one standard deviation. Ties go to points percentage, then goal differential. The ranking uses standings at the end of the previous day, so it holds still all day; yesterday’s ranking is computed the same way from the standings and model one day earlier. The weights are our judgment call.

Best team in the NHL, answered

Who is the best team in the NHL right now?: By the numbers, the Carolina Hurricanes: they are No. 1 in the Tonight.hockey power rankings as of Friday, November 6 (13-3-2, .778 points percentage and a +26 goal differential). The top-ranked Western Conference team is the Minnesota Wild (3rd).
Who is the worst team in the NHL right now?: The Vancouver Canucks rank 32nd as of Friday, November 6: 3-14-1, lowest points percentage in the NHL, lost 4 straight.
Who is the best NHL player right now?: There is no official answer, but the scoring race is a fair start: as of Friday, November 6, Connor McDavid leads the NHL with 44 points this season. See the full NHL scoring leaders for goals, assists and goalies.
How are these NHL power rankings calculated?: Each team gets a score from four numbers, each compared with the league average: points percentage (35%), goal differential per game (25%), points percentage over the last 10 games (15%) and the playoff model's projected final points (25%). The ranking updates once a day.

NHL scoring leaders Playoff picture and odds

Source: official NHL standings and the Tonight.hockey model. Not affiliated with the NHL or its teams. Data: NHL.