NHL 2026-27: Canadian teams open strong with Ottawa atop the early Atlantic race

The NHL’s 2026-27 season is two weeks old, and early returns have been kind to Canadian contenders — none more so than the Ottawa Senators, who held the Atlantic Division’s top record through two weeks per NHL standings through games of October 12.

Canada’s seven, ranked

The Hockey News ranked the Edmonton Oilers first among the Canadian seven in pre-season, with a rising Montreal Canadiens squad second, Toronto third, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver rounding out the Canadian seven. The Canadiens are chasing a third straight playoff berth after last spring’s run.

The early picture

It’s a small sample: the season opened September 29 and standings remain fluid. But with the Oilers again built around a Cup-final core and the Senators and Jets expecting to contend, Canada enters November with as many legitimate contenders as it has had in years.

We’ll track all seven Canadian clubs through the season in Sports.

Correction – October 25, 2026: An earlier version of this story said the Toronto Maple Leafs sat atop the Atlantic Division in the season’s first week. Per NHL standings, the Ottawa Senators held first place in the division through the season’s opening weeks – 10 points through games of October 12, with the Leafs fourth at 3-2-1 – and the headline, excerpt and relevant passages have been corrected. Montreal’s early-October division position was also removed as a snapshot claim.