The Colorado Avalanche had an unfortunate ending to their 2025-26 season, as they fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The bad taste of the Vegas series will remain, but the Avalanche control their own destiny going forward. Unsurprisingly, the Carolina Hurricanes will be atop many power rankings, with the Avalanche not far behind. Colorado faces the Hurricanes on December 18 and February 9 this season. Enforcing dominance against their inter-conference foe could be a key to the Avalanche making it known that they own the NHL, not the Hurricanes.