Global Ice Hockey Power Rankings: The Hottest Clubs as the 2026-27 Season Drops the Puck

The ice is finally cut, the paint is fresh, and the 2026-27 global hockey calendar is officially live. While National Hockey League training camps are just opening their doors across North America, the heavy hitters in Europe are already playing for keeps. The Champions Hockey League dropped the puck on its new campaign on September 3, and the Kontinental Hockey League followed suit 48 hours later.[2][4]

If you want to know who runs the hockey world right now, you have to look past a single league. We are tracking form, roster gravity, and raw momentum across the NHL, the Swedish Hockey League, and the KHL. Here is the global power ranking as the sport spins up for the new year.

Sitting at the absolute summit: the Carolina Hurricanes. You do not lose the crown until someone takes it from you on the ice. Carolina outlasted the Vegas Golden Knights this past June to hoist their second Stanley Cup in franchise history, and they enter the NHL preseason as the undisputed heavyweight champions.[3]

But if we are talking about teams actually winning games this week, Sweden's Skellefteå AIK is the hottest club on the planet. Coming off a dominant 2025-26 SHL campaign where they racked up 108 regular-season points and captured the playoff double, they have stormed out of the gates in the CHL.

Skellefteå just secured back-to-back wins on the road to open their European schedule. That included a bruising, penalty-filled clash against Germany's Adler Mannheim. The Swedes killed off late penalties before reigning SHL Most Valuable Player Oscar Lindberg buried an empty-netter to seal the 2-0 victory.

Right behind them is their domestic rival, Frölunda Gothenburg. Frölunda is European hockey's final boss. They captured their fifth CHL title last season with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win against Luleå Hockey, cementing their dynasty.[2]

"Every game counts, right from game day one," said Frölunda veteran Nicklas Lasu, who holds the all-time CHL record with 94 games played. As the 24-team, groupless CHL format ramps up, Frölunda remains the benchmark for continental consistency.[2]

Over in the KHL, the landscape has shifted, but the target remains the same. The league opened its 19th season on September 5 with a newly raised salary cap of 950 million rubles. Defending Gagarin Cup champions Lokomotiv Yaroslavl enter the year as the team to beat, having won the 2025-26 title and the Opening Cup.[4][6]

Finally, we have to talk about the sheer gravitational pull of the Toronto Maple Leafs right now. They have not played a meaningful game yet, but they are dominating the preseason oxygen after selecting 18-year-old phenom Gavin McKenna with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.[1][5]

McKenna is coming off a monstrous freshman season at Penn State, where he racked up 51 points—15 goals and 36 assists—in just 35 games. Slated to potentially slot in alongside Auston Matthews or John Tavares, McKenna makes Toronto the most dangerous wild card on the board as the NHL prepares to launch.[1][5]