The concept of a “good scare” has always been lost on me. As a hide-under-the-blanket kind of person, I’ve just never related to people who watch something for the purpose of having the daylights frightened out of them.

I’ll just be over here curled up with my sports documentary, if you don’t mind.

Still, with Halloween around the corner, we wanted to tease out some chills for this week’s edition of the Power Rankings. And, of course, we’ve got scary-good and scary-bad things to draw on through a couple weeks of the season.

So, whether it’s for the three remaining undefeated squads or the playoff hopefuls who already have to feel like things are sliding off the rails, here’s one frightening idea for every NHL team.

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1. Colorado Avalanche (6-0-0) The Avs are this good and Ryan Johansen is just getting acclimated to his new surroundings. After going pointless in his first three games with Colorado, the first-year Avalanche now has five in his past three outings.

2. Vegas Golden Knights (7-0-0) This is the best start by a defending Cup champion ever. What’s scarier than a championship-level team that retains its hunger?

3. Boston Bruins (6-0-0) Oh, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci are gone? Cool. Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman are still here, and the B’s are allowing a league low 1.17 goals-per-game.

4. Dallas Stars (4-0-1) No can’t-kill-it creature from the movies has anything on Joe Pavelski, who simply refuses to be stopped by age. At 39, Pavelski is leading the Stars in scoring with six points in five outings.

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5. Toronto Maple Leafs (4-2-0) Truthfully, the Leafs have had pretty decent — and sometimes better than that — goaltending since Auston Matthews and Co. landed on the scene in 2016. But if Joseph Woll can be a homegrown stud who counts for less than $800,000 against the cap for this year and next, that’s a scary-good scenario for Toronto.

6. New Jersey Devils (3-2-1) Meet Jack Hughes, the scariest thing in hockey right now.

7. Detroit Red Wings (5-1-1) What if all this Alex DeBrincat magic sways his old pal Patrick Kane to sign with the Wings? That should frighten all those squads who assume they’ll be able to push Detroit out of the way down the stretch for a playoff spot.

8. New York Rangers (4-2-0) Any chance they traded the wrong guy when they moved on from Alexandar Georgiev and kept Igor Shesterkin? Just askin’.

9. Los Angeles Kings (3-2-1) Every team can play this game, but what if the Kings — instead of taking Quinton Byfield second overall in 2020 — had snagged Tim Stutzle before he went to Ottawa one pick later? My goodness…

10. Carolina Hurricanes (3-4-0) 4.71 goals against per-game — worst in the league — is scary to look at for Carolina. But — even with Brett Pesce going on the shelf for a month — the team that allowed the second-fewest goals against last year (2.56) has to improve, right?

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11. Vancouver Canucks (4-2-0) I mean, seeing Elias Pettersson do what he’s doing while knowing his contract is up at the end of the year has to keep Canucks fans up at night a little, no?

12. Tampa Bay Lightning (3-2-2) Jonas Johansson has been solid for Tampa Bay, which means — when they get Andrei Vasilevskiy back, healthy and rested — the Bolts might finally have the tandem they’ve dreamed of since Vasilevskiy emerged as one of the best stoppers in the world.

13. Minnesota Wild (3-2-1) The Wild have been a competitive team without the benefit of a No. 1 centre for some time. What if Joel Eriksson Ek — with nine points in six games — is ready to truly fill that role?

14. Florida Panthers (3-3-0) What if the defence corps just breaks under the weight of not having Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour for months? It’s hanging in so far, but ...

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15. Winnipeg Jets (3-3-0) What if Cole Perfetti just isn’t ready for a top-six role? If so, the Jets’ secondary scoring issues will become that much greater.

16. Buffalo Sabres (3-4-0) Jeff Skinner is slated to play career game 1,000 this year and has yet to play career playoff game No. 1. It’s horrifying for both the player and team to contemplate that streak spilling over to next season.

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17. Ottawa Senators (3-3-0) Until the goaltending proves it’s good, it will remain the nightmare that haunts this offensively loaded team.

18. New York Islanders (2-2-1) Are they doomed to exist in perpetual purgatory, never good enough to make a real run at the Cup, never bad enough to add the high-end talent necessary through the draft to change that?

19. Philadelphia Flyers (3-2-1) What if they’re just too competitive to snag that top-of-the-board draft pick management craves for the rebuild?

20. Pittsburgh Penguins (2-4-0) Dark thoughts were already creeping in after missing the playoffs last year, so a bad start — with five of six games coming against teams that also didn’t make the post-season last year — has to have nerves frayed in Steeltown.

21. St. Louis Blues (2-2-1) The fear is there’s just not enough offensive pop here to make anything great happen.

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22. Edmonton Oilers (1-4-1) Edmonton is living its nightmare right now; life without Connor McDavid.

23. Columbus Blue Jackets (3-2-1) Kent Johnson has spent some time in the doghouse, but if the fifth overall pick from 2021 can find his form, a 1-2-3 down the middle of Adam Fantilli, Johnson and Cole Sillinger could set the Jackets up at centre for a long time.

24. Nashville Predators (3-4-0) The underlying numbers are good, but Nashville has been haunted by the same truth for years; goals are too hard to come by in Tennessee.

25. Arizona Coyotes (3-3-1) There’s been more than enough nightmare scenarios come into play with this franchise, so let’s keep it light and point out how hilarious it is the Coyotes presently hold 10 (!) second-round picks in the next three drafts. It’s has the potential to be a scary-good situation.

26. Montreal Canadiens (3-2-1) One core tenet of the Canadiens rebuild is that Nick Suzuki is capable of being a true No. 1 centre. What if that’s just not the case?

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27. Calgary Flames (2-4-1) Let’s be real, Jonathan Huberdeau’s contract is one of the scariest things in hockey right now.

28. Washington Capitals (2-3-1) When it goes, it goes fast. That’s the fear with a team defined by over-30 stars.

29. Seattle Kraken (2-4-1) Do Kraken fans wake up with a startle fearing last year was all a dream and this squad is doomed to struggle the way old school expansion teams did?

30. Anaheim Ducks (2-4-0) Add a top 2024 draft prospect like Cole Eiserman or Macklin Celebrini to this mix and Anaheim’s long-term prospects are scary-good.

31. Chicago Blackhawks (2-5-0) Amazing as Connor Bedard is, this could still take a while…

32. San Jose Sharks (0-5-1) The scariest thought in San Jose is going through 82 miserable games only to get hosed in the draft lottery.

NHL Power Rankings: A frightening thought for every team

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