Welcome back to another season of The Athletic’s NHL Power Rankings, brought to you by your two favorite power rankers.

We’re going to spend a lot of time this year talking about how correct we are — you know, the usual — but we thought it might be best to start the year off with some humility.

Before the season started, we dug deep and wrote roughly 100,000 words previewing the season to come. Team projections, player rankings, playoff chances — the works. After just one week of hockey, we’ve seen enough; throw that extensive research in the trash because, boy, are we already wrong.

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One week in, here’s all the stuff we’re already extremely wrong about.

1. Colorado Avalanche, 4-0-1

Sean: 2

Dom: 1

WRONG: The Avalanche will have a difficult time replacing Mikko Rantanen.

When Colorado traded away Rantanen it was widely panned as an odd choice, even amidst contract negotiation difficulties. Martin Necas is nice, but Rantanen is Rantanen. And the move sure bit the Avalanche in the first round last year.

When it came time to grade out the Avalanche going into the season, it seemed clear there was still a Rantanen-sized hole behind Nathan MacKinnon. Necas was good, but could he be great?

The answer is absolutely yes. Necas has nine points in five games to lead the team and his chemistry with MacKinnon continues to look electric. There, problem solved. Now to log onto PuckPedia to see how long Necas is signed for …

2. Dallas Stars, 3-1-0

Sean: 1

Dom: 3

WRONG: Roope Hintz is a Tier 4 center.

We didn’t feel great about leaving Hintz out of the upper echelon of first-line centers back in Player Tiers, and he’s not helping matters. Hintz has five points in four games (1G, 4A) and leads all forwards in average Game Score (2.82).

More generally, that’s the sort of thing that makes Dallas so tough to pick against; if Hintz stays remotely close to this level, they’re going to have high-end pieces in a lot of important spots.

3. Carolina Hurricanes, 4-0-0

Sean: 3

Dom: 2

WRONG: Nikolaj Ehlers will bring more offensive oomph.

Things we were correct about: Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis being a Cup-worthy one-two punch. Jarvis has five goals and seven points in his first four games while Aho has six points.

Things we were wrong about: Ehlers being a catalyst for that. Through four games — despite spending nearly all their shifts together — Ehlers has yet to register a single point. Only one other Hurricane has yet to record a point this season and that’s somehow Andrei Svechnikov.

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