- Carolina opens the season No. 1 in NHL.com’s first Super 16 of 2026-27, taking 11 of 15 first-place votes
- Toronto, Pittsburgh and Ottawa were all shut out of the top 16 entirely
- Read below for the full ranking and what the contenders are watching at camp
The Hurricanes start the season exactly where they finished the last one.
Carolina sits No. 1 in the first Super 16 power rankings of 2026-27, released by NHL.com. Eleven of the 15 voters put the defending Stanley Cup champions first, and the Canes finished with 234 total points.
Toronto did not make the cut. The Maple Leafs pulled nine points in the voting, behind Pittsburgh at 17 and ahead of Ottawa (8), New Jersey (7) and the Islanders (1). None of those five cracked the 16.
Colorado landed second with 225 points after last season’s Presidents’ Trophy run. Two voters had the Avalanche first, and Montreal and Florida picked up the other two first-place nods.
Two loose ends dominated Carolina’s write-up. Seth Jarvis is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, and Alexander Nikishin still has no contract and will not be at camp at all:
NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen also put the Hurricanes in the middle of the Connor Hellebuyck trade talks, calling it part of the “uncertainty swirling” around a team otherwise set up to repeat. Winnipeg suspended Hellebuyck on Wednesday after he skipped camp:
Here is the full 16, with voting points in brackets:
- 1. Carolina Hurricanes (234)
- 2. Colorado Avalanche (225)
- 3. Dallas Stars (189)
- 4. Florida Panthers (173)
- 5. Vegas Golden Knights (169)
- 6. Montreal Canadiens (167)
- 7. Tampa Bay Lightning (147)
- 8. Minnesota Wild (146)
- 9. Buffalo Sabres (137)
- 10. Washington Capitals (89)
- 11. Edmonton Oilers (82)
- 12. Utah Mammoth (75)
- 13. Philadelphia Flyers (50)
- 14. Anaheim Ducks (48)
- 15. Boston Bruins (46)
- 16. San Jose Sharks (21)
The Leafs’ absence tracks with a messy opening week in Toronto. Max Domi failed his physical and is out indefinitely with complications from offseason surgery:
Banner night in Raleigh is Sept. 29 against the Panthers, the same building where the Canes will find out how much of this ranking they earned and how much they just inherited.
