What to expect in the 2025-26 NHL season

The last two NHL seasons have ended in the same way, with the Florida Panthers defeating the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers’ dominance has been undeniable, as their midseason addition of Brad Marchand last season propelled the team to a repeat. Do the Panthers have what it takes to pull off a three-peat, or will a new team have their name etched onto the Stanley Cup?

Let’s go over which teams are worth keeping an eye on in each division, and predictions for who will win the NHL’s most illustrious awards. 

Atlantic Division

Since I have been conscious as a human, it feels like the Atlantic has been run by either the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, or the Florida Panthers. Although recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been consistent top finishers within the division. This year appears to be no different as the Lightning, Maple Leafs, and Panthers all tote impressive squads. However, watch out for the Montreal Canadiens, who have quietly built a young team that can be capable of extreme heights if their youngsters develop as expected. Overall, it is difficult to pick against the Florida Panthers to win the division, as the team did not lose any key pieces besides defenseman Nate Schmidt. However, in free agency, the Panthers added solid depth pieces in Jeff Petry and Nolan Foote. With the defending champs retaining key pieces like Marchand, Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, and Sam Bennett, it would be silly to pick against this team.

Florida Panthers to win the Atlantic Division.

Toronto Maple Leafs to make the playoffs.

Tampa Bay Lightning to make the playoffs.

Montreal Canadiens to make the playoffs.

Ottawa Senators to make the playoffs.

Metropolitan Division

Last year, the Washington Capitals came out of nowhere to win the Metro, leaving the favorite Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils in the dust. Propelled by Alex Ovechkin’s record-breaking season, the Capitals boasted the best record in the entire Eastern Conference. Key contributors for the Caps will include rookie Ryan Leonard, Aliaksei Protas, Dylan Strome, Connor McMichael, and ageless wonder Alexander Ovechkin. Their main competitor in the division will be the Carolina Hurricanes, who improved immensely during the offseason. The already loaded Hurricanes added Nikolaj Ehlers to a team that already had Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis, and Taylor Hall. If one thing is going to hold back this team, it will be their defense, as they lost Dmitry Orlov to the Sharks in free agency. If the New Jersey Devils can stay healthy, they can also pose a significant threat to both the Capitals and Hurricanes. I do think the new-look Hurricanes with Ehlers is too good a team to doubt, even if their defense is iffy.

Carolina Hurricanes to win the Metropolitan Division.

Washington Capitals to make the playoffs.

New Jersey Devils to make the playoffs.

Western Division

A year ago, the Western Division was one of the best in hockey as three of its teams amassed 100 points. I expect no different this year as the teams within have all made power moves to continue their success. The newly branded Utah Mammoth were the most busy in the offseason as they added JJ Peterka, Nate Schmidt, Brandon Tanev, Vitek Vanacek, and important depth pieces like Kevin Rooney and Michael Carcone. With these new additions, anything short of a playoff run will be a disappointment. The heavyweights of the division, the Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, and Colorado Avalanche, all should continue their success and make playoff runs. It will be interesting to see how the Nashville Predators will perform as they were severely hyped up at the beginning of last season. In predictions that have mostly been chalk, this division is where things will be shaken up. I expect the Presidents’ Trophy winner, the Winnipeg Jets, to miss the playoffs completely and have a down year.

Utah Mammoth to win the Western Division

Dallas Stars to make the playoffs.

Minnesota Wild to make the playoffs.

Colorado Avalanche to make the playoffs.

Pacific Division

Much like the Western division, the Pacific division is full of contenders for the Stanley Cup. The last three Western Conference representatives come from this division. It looks to be no different this year, as last year’s division winner, the Vegas Golden Knights, added one of the top free agents in the league in Mitch Marner. Bringing in Marner was very unexpected, as Vegas already has an absolutely loaded roster. Pairing Marner on the Vegas second line with Pavel Dorofeyev and Tomas Hertl is borderline unfair. Similar to the Hurricanes, if Vegas struggle,s it will be because of its lackluster defense and goaltending. The Oilers, who are coming off back-to-back Stanley Cup finals appearances, did not do anything to address their complete disaster of a goalie tandem in Cal Pickard and Stuart Skinner, but did pick up solid depth guys in Andrew Mangiapane and Jack Roslovic. The Kings look to build on their young core with solid additions in guys like Cody Ceci, Brian Dumoulin, Joel Armia, and goaltender Anton Forsberg. A bit of a dark horse playoff pick, but I believe this is the year the Anaheim Ducks and their youngsters return to the playoffs. Overall, the teams in the Pacific division did the most out of all other divisions to improve their squads, but perhaps none more than the Vegas Golden Knights. I will be taking them to win the division; however, do not be surprised if the LA Kings play spoiler.

Vegas Golden Knights to win the Pacific Division.

Los Angeles Kings to make the playoffs.

Edmonton Oilers to make the playoffs.

Anaheim Ducks to make the playoffs.

Award Predictions and Stanley Cup Final

Now, for my picks for the awards, I am going to throw out some dark horse picks instead of just going with pure chalk for each award. For each pick, I will insert the betting odds of the selection to show the likelihood of each happening. Keep in mind, the higher the + number it is, the less likely it is to happen.

Hart Trophy (MVP):

Jack Eichel (+1600)

Auston Matthews (+1900)

Igor Shesterkin (+8000)

Calder Trophy (ROTY):

Beckett Sennecke (+2200)

Ryan Leonard (+3500)

Vezina Trophy (Best Goalie):

Jeremy Swayman (+2000)

Dustin Wolf (+2200)

Logan Thompson (+2500)

Jack Adams Trophy (Coach of the Year):

Joel Quenneville (+850)

Andre Tourigny (+900)

Jim Hiller (+2700)

Stanley Cup Matchup and Winner:

Vegas Golden Knights vs Carolina Hurricanes – Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup.