NHL Power Rankings: A player from each team still waiting to find twine

Whether you're a stick-swinging sharpshooter or a third-pairing defender, no one wants to wait long for the weight to come off.

It's always nice to score your first goal of the new season.

Last year, every player who appeared in 65 or more NHL games managed to score at least once, and only two players – defensemen Adam Pelech and Josh Makhura – who were in good form in at least 55 games failed to score a goal.

Only four NHL teams have played five games at this point, so if you entered the year with legitimate Rocket Richard hopes, now is not the time to panic if you haven't been able to get away with a goal.

However, grips quickly become tight if you can't get them to fall.

With that in mind, we decided to use this week's Power Rankings to highlight one or two players from each team who are likely thinking about only one thing when their head hits the pillow: “When is that first goal?”

1. Dallas Stars (3-0-0): Knee surgery wiped out February, March, April and half of May for Miro Heiskanen last year. The Stars' No. 1 defenseman hasn't scored a goal in the regular season since Jan. 9, so you know he's itching to score.

2. Carolina Hurricanes (3-0-0): Nikolaj Ehlers has yet to score a single goal for his new team, but the Dane has 13 shots on goal in three matches. Something's going to fall soon.

3. Colorado Avalanche (3-0-1) Gabriel Landeskog's last result in the regular season was summed up three and a half years ago, on March 1, 2022. It will be quite a blast when he buries his next goal.

4. Edmonton Oilers (2-0-1): Connor McDavid talked about wanting to score more early in the season, but No. 97 has yet to find the back of the net.

5. Washington Capitals (3-1-0): Alex Ovechkin will be two goals closer to his number 900 when he breaks through for the first time this fall.

6. Winnipeg Jets (2-1-0): Jonathan Toews did score a goal in his last game for the Chicago Blackhawks on April 13, 2023. He's already picked his first apple for the Jets; all that's left to do now is bend that twine.

7. Vegas Golden Knights (2-0-2): Nine of Vegas' 14 goals this year have come from Pavel Dorofeev (five) and Jack Eichel (four). That means there are a few guys on this club who would like to find range, including rookie Mitch Marner.

8. Florida Panthers (3-2-0): Ten Panthers already have a goal this season, but Seth Jones isn't one of them.

9. Toronto Maple Leafs (2-2-0): You know, Nick Robertson wanted to find him quickly this season, but in four games it didn't happen. Only three forwards – Auston Matthews, Matthew Nice and Bobby McMann – have had more shots on goal this year than Robertson's eight.

10. New Jersey Devils (2-1-0): Neither Jack Hughes nor Luke Hughes lit the lamp this season. You know Luke – after signing a huge new contract – is keen to bring it home.

11. Montreal Canadiens (3-1-0): Nick Suzuki leads the team with six points, all of them scoring. Suzuki has broken the 30-goal barrier in each of the last two seasons.

12. Minnesota Wild (2-2-0): Rookie Vladimir Tarasenko has seen more than 16 minutes a night so far, but that hasn't yet resulted in his first goal with the Wild.

13. Los Angeles Kings (1-2-1): Every goal by Anze Kopitar will be special in his final season in the NHL. At 20, he's still trying to crack a goose egg.^th season.

14. Tampa Bay Lightning (1-2-1): Brandon Hagel scored a career-high 35 goals last season, so you know he'd like to start this year as soon as possible.

15. Detroit Red Wings (3-1-0): Alex DeBrincat has a half-dozen apples at the moment, but last year's 39-goal scorer has yet to finish the game.

16. St. Louis Blues (2-2-0): Jordan Kyrou scored 104 goals for St. Louis in three seasons from 2022-23 to 2024-25. The next highest Blue during this time is Pavel Buchnevich with 73 points. It's time for Kira to start.

17. New York Rangers (2-3-0): Well, we know that absolutely every Ranger is looking to break through at home, where New York has failed to score in three games at Madison Square Garden. While awaiting UFA, Artemi Panarin has just two points in five games this year, none of which are goals.

18. Utah Mammoth (2-2-0): Just one point and zero goals in four games is not how captain Clayton Keller wanted to start a giant chapter of his career.

19. Boston Bruins (3-1-0): Viktor Arvidsson gets a chance to show he can still score in Boston. So he'd certainly like to get his first title as a Bruin soon.

20. Seattle Kraken (2-0-1): Shane Wright almost scored 20 goals last year. The fourth overall pick in the 2022 draft is still looking for his first goal of the campaign while also trying to show that he can be a true top-six offensive player in the NHL.

21. Anaheim Ducks (2-1-0): Two of the guys who signed big contracts with Anaheim this offseason—Mikael Granlund, who came in as a UFA representative, and Mason McTavish, who returned to the RFA—have yet to celebrate their victory with a vote count.

22. Columbus Blue Jackets (1-2-0): Kent Johnson scored 24 goals last year, so you can bet the talented winger is eager to score soon.

23. Nashville Predators (2-1-1): Steven Stamkos' first year in Nashville has been a bit of a nightmare, so it must be killing him to see him score zero after four games this season.

24. Vancouver Canucks (1-2-0): First of all, only one Canuck, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, has scored exactly one goal this year. Kiefer Sherwood (3), Brock Boeser (2) and Filip Chytil (2) have more than one, while everyone else sits at zero. You'd have to think that the person who would most like to get off the ground immediately is Elias Pettersson.

25. Ottawa Senators (1-3-0): The big concern is actually how long it will be before Brady Tkachuk gets a chance to score his first goal of the year. The hand injury he suffered in the home opener against Ottawa will keep him out for a “significant amount of time,” which is terrible news for the Sens, coach Travis Green said.

26. Chicago Blackhawks (2-2-1): The Blackhawks' top 12 players in the league have already found success this year, which is a great sign for a young team. This certainly takes some pressure off Artem Levshunov, the second overall pick in the 2024 draft who has yet to take one and is a healthy scratch.

27. Philadelphia Flyers (1-1-1): 0-0-0 is not the line that sophomore Matvey Michkov wanted after three matches.

28. Pittsburgh Penguins (2-2-0): Evgeni Malkin may not have scored a goal yet, but his six assists are certainly turning heads in the big 20.^th NHL season.

29. New York Islanders (0-3-0): Without a win, the Islanders won't go anywhere without goals from Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, who have yet to find success this season.

30. Buffalo Sabers (1-3-0): Rasmus Dahlin is averaging over 26 minutes per night, so the Sabers need him to score immediately.

31. Calgary Flames (1-4-0): The 31 goals Yegor Sharangovich scored two years ago – his first year in Calgary – are starting to seem like a distant memory. Last year he had 17 points, but in five competitions this fall he's stuck at zero.

32. San Jose Sharks (0-1-2): McLean Celebrini is averaging about 21 minutes per night—more than any Sharks player—but he hasn't been able to figure out a range yet.