NHL Power Rankings: 1-32 poll, plus points pace progress against preseason over-unders

As of Wednesday, 20 of the NHL's 32 teams have hit the 41-game mark, so it's the perfect time to check in on their progress against preseason expectations. To help tell the tale, we compared every team's current standings point pace against their preseason over-under at Caesars Sportsbook.

Who's ahead of pace, who's falling behind, and who's right on track? Find out here.

How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors rates teams against one another — taking into account game results, injuries and upcoming schedule — and those results are tabulated to produce the list featured here.

Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the last edition, published on Jan. 19. Points paces are through Tuesday's games.

Previous ranking: 2Next seven days: vs. BOS (Jan. 26), @ CHI (Jan. 28), vs. BUF (Jan. 30), vs. ARI (Feb. 1)Preseason O/U: 111.5 pointsCurrent pace: 125 points

The Avalanche might not actually win every night. But it feels like they could. Other than some mediocre goaltending sprinkled in, Colorado's overall game is so strong, so consistent and so dynamic, it has managed to be even better than advertised.

Previous ranking: 1Next seven days: vs. VGK (Jan. 27), vs. SJ (Jan. 29), @ CBJ (Jan. 31), @ NYR (Feb. 1)Preseason O/U: 98.5 pointsCurrent pace: 120 points

Even the oddsmakers couldn't predict this kind of dominance. Florida flew out of the gate and hasn't stopped rising since, bolstered by superstar turns from Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad and Aleksander Barkov. It's the Panthers' depth, though, that might be the biggest difference-maker. They have so many ways to hurt you.

Previous ranking: 3Next seven days: @ OTT (Jan. 27), vs. NJ (Jan. 29), vs. SJ (Jan. 30)Preseason O/U: 95.5