Sounds simple enough. And in theory, it is \u2026 as long as we pretend that an NHL season is ever predictable. Let\u2019s start from the bottom and work our way up.<\/p>\n
The bottom-feeder division<\/p>\n
Last season, one of the eight bottom-feeders made the playoffs. Also, another one of them had five more points than the playoff team but missed out on the postseason, because the NHL makes sense.<\/p>\n
San Jose Sharks<\/p>\n
Last season:<\/strong> 20-50-12, -102 goals differential, finished dead last<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Lots of churn, another top prospect.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Dom\u2019s model says they improved more than any other team<\/a> in the offseason. That\u2019s good news; the not-so-good is that they\u2019ve got a mile to go to be competitive. You can see the long-term vision, but right now the emphasis is still on the \u201clong.\u201d<\/p>\n Chicago Blackhawks<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 25-46-11, -68 goals differential, missed playoffs<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Jeff Blashill is new, roster isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Because it\u2019s clearly where they want to be, at least for one more year. Kyle Davidson\u2019s rebuild hasn\u2019t been subtle and we\u2019re still waiting to find out if it\u2019s ultimately effective. It\u2019s doubtful that we\u2019ll get that answer this year, as the Hawks seem content to punt the last season of Connor Bedard\u2019s rookie deal on yet another lottery season.<\/p>\n Seattle Kraken<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 35-41-6, -17 goals differential, missed playoffs<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> New coach. New GM. New era?<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> They\u2019re on their third coach in the last three years, and Ron Francis is out as GM (but still involved). Lane Lambert and Jason Botterill both had tough first NHL stints, and both probably need this to go well if it\u2019s not going to be their last shot. They might find that success in Seattle, but I don\u2019t see a path to it this season.<\/p>\n Nashville Predators<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 30-44-8, -62 goals differential, missed playoffs<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> No \u201coffseason champions\u201d banner this time.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> I\u2019ll admit I didn\u2019t see last year\u2019s disaster coming, so maybe there\u2019s rebound potential here that I\u2019m missing, too. But the gap they have to make up is large, and Barry Trotz didn\u2019t do a ton to start bridging it. Andrew Brunette sure feels like a guy who\u2019ll either be a Jack Adams finalist or looking for work by the holidays.<\/p>\n \n The Predators had an unexpectedly abysmal 2024-25, and it won\u2019t be easy to meaningfully jump up the Central Division standings. (Luke Hales \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Buffalo Sabres<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 36-39-7, -22 goals differential, missed the playoffs for an NHL-record 14th consecutive season<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Traded Peterka, didn\u2019t do much else.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Because they\u2019re the Sabres. Look, if you\u2019re a Buffalo fan and you\u2019re looking for optimism, I\u2019ll direct you to last week\u2019s post, in which Dom made the case for several Sabres<\/a> having a shot at major awards. I\u2019d love to see it happen. But even my inner contrarian has given up on expecting the Sabres to finally look like a real team. Instead, I\u2019ll believe it when I see it. And at this point, maybe not even then.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh Penguins<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 34-36-12, -45 goals differential, missed playoffs<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> All Crosby rumors, all the time.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Because they\u2019re a classic \u201cwindow slamming shut\u201d team, but they can\u2019t truly rebuild because they\u2019re in the final days of the Sidney Crosby era. Up until a few months ago, that meant they were doomed to stay the course, which would mean hoping against hope that everything would go just right and they could limp into the playoffs. But now, it seems like a Crosby trade could at least be a realistic possibility, even if it still feels unlikely<\/a>. And if it happened, the Penguins could move on to openly chasing lottery odds. Either way, the Penguins will be bad \u2013 either intentionally or otherwise.<\/p>\n Philadelphia Flyers<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 33-39-10, -51 goals differential, missed playoffs<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Fixed the goaltending with Dan Vladar.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> I feel like that offseason sentence pretty much sums it up. Look, the Flyers are starting a youth movement, and rolling the dice on Trevor Zegras makes perfect sense in that context. They were bad but not awful last season, and we\u2019ve seen the new coach bounce work elsewhere. But this team will go as far as their goaltending can carry them, and even with some regression away from \u201chistorically awful,\u201d it\u2019s still hard to see Vladar, Samuel Ersson and friends being enough to keep them in the playoff race for long.<\/p>\n New York Islanders<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 35-35-12, -25 goals differential, missed playoffs<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Lou is gone. Stubble for everyone!<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Mathieu Darche hasn\u2019t promised a full-scale rebuild and maybe he doesn\u2019t need one. The Islanders are the only fake .500 team in this section, which means they\u2019re at least starting off closer to the playoffs than anyone else. But I\u2019m betting they\u2019re not quite good enough, and if so I\u2019m waiting on Darche to get aggressive on setting the table for the future.<\/p>\n The middle-of-the-pack division<\/p>\n This is the least interesting division of this exercise, and you should feel free to skip it. Then again, if you\u2019d done that last year, you\u2019d have missed the eventual Presidents\u2019 Trophy winners.<\/p>\n Calgary Flames<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 41-27-14, -16 goals differential, missed playoffs on a tiebreaker (despite having five more points than two Eastern teams that made it)<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> We\u2019re fine, thanks, no changes here.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Because it\u2019s where they seem to want to be. Dustin Wolf is a stud and could win multiple Vezinas over the next decade, but beyond that I\u2019m not sure I see the plan in Calgary. The rest of the roster is OK. The prospect pipeline is OK. They\u2019re not rebuilding, but also not going for it. For now, at least, the Flames seem perfectly content to hang around the playoff mix, hoping they can sneak in without ever really scaring anyone once they\u2019re there.<\/p>\n \n Dustin Wolf could drag the Flames to plenty of wins based on his play last season. (Michael Reaves \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Ottawa Senators<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 45-30-7, +10 goals differential, lost in first round<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Lars Eller? Sure, fine, why not.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Because it\u2019s pretty clear that the Senators are on the path to better things, but we\u2019re still not sure just how high the ceiling is going to be. For now, a return to the playoffs feels like it should be the floor, and cracking the Atlantic\u2019s big three is certainly in play.<\/p>\n Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 45-30-7, -11 goals differential, lost in first round<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Kaprizov has signed! Wait, how much?<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> I could make a joke about how \u201cThey\u2019re the Wild\u201d here, which would be tired and cliched and hackneyed and also kind of true. The reality is, after a 97-point season, they\u2019re a lot closer to the next division than the last one. I\u2019m just not quite sold yet, especially in the Central, even though they got rid of the Kirill Kaprizov distraction just in time.<\/p>\n Utah Mammoth<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 38-31-13, -7 goals differential, missed playoffs<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> We have a name! (And Peterka.)<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> The Mammoth landed one of the biggest prizes of the trade market in JJ Peterka, which should be enough to at least nudge them into the playoff mix. It\u2019s hard to see a path to much more than that, though, especially in a top-heavy Central. Our previews have them as the league\u2019s 17th best team, and you can\u2019t get much more middle-of-the-pack than that.<\/p>\n Detroit Red Wings<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 39-35-8, -24 goals differential, missed playoffs<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> The Yzerplan now includes John Gibson.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> It\u2019s been slow and steady progress in Detroit, and you can choose which of those two words you think applies the best. With Gibson in place, a full season from Todd McLellan and continued development from the youth, this team should be better than last season\u2019s edition. Is that enough to get them into the playoffs? I\u2019m not sure it is, but it should definitely keep them in the middle.<\/p>\n St. Louis Blues<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 44-30-8, +19 goals differential, lost in first round in the most agonizing way possible<\/a><\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Trying to forget how it ended.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> When a 90ish-point team has a mostly quiet summer, the easy thing to do is pencil them in for roughly the same outcome. The easy way isn\u2019t always the smart way, but I think it probably is here. The X-factor could be Jim Montgomery, who gets his first full season to mold this team. He\u2019s one of the best, but I don\u2019t think he\u2019s good enough to get this roster into legitimate contention.<\/p>\n Toronto Maple Leafs<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 52-26-4, +38 goals differential, lost in second round<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Core Four era ends. Bye, Mitch.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> With 108 points, the Leafs had the best 2024-25 record of any team in this section. But it\u2019s not 2024-25 anymore, and this feels like a transition year in Toronto. It\u2019s certainly going to be an interesting test of the whole \u201caddition by subtraction\u201d concept, and it\u2019s possible it all leads to something that feels like an improvement by playoff time \u2026 which, of course, is all that will matter in Toronto.<\/p>\n Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 40-31-11, -18 goals differential, lost in first round<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Made some big \u201cwin-now\u201d deals.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> After shocking the league with last season\u2019s playoff appearance, the Canadiens have shifted into the next phase of the rebuild. Adding Noah Dobson and Zack Bolduc cost them picks and prospects, but that\u2019s the price you pay to make sure you don\u2019t get stuck spinning your wheels in the mushy middle. Between the reinforcements and the ascendance of Ivan Demidov, the Habs should be nicely set up to prove that last season was no fluke. They\u2019re not true contenders yet, but they\u2019re on the way.<\/p>\n The Cup contenders division<\/p>\n For a league that loves to brag about its parity, the NHL hasn\u2019t seen much change at the top in recent years. Case in point: Seven of these eight teams were in this same division last year, and six made the cut the year before that.<\/p>\n Florida Panthers<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 47-31-4, +23 goals differential, won Stanley Cup<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Everyone re-signed, but Barkov is hurt.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Because I\u2019m not going to get cute and start doubting the two-time champs, even with Aleksander Barkov likely out for the regular season and Matthew Tkachuk missing significant time. If you think those injuries put the Panthers in danger of missing the playoffs, fine. But if they make it, even as a wild card, there won\u2019t be a team in the league that wants any part of them once the games actually matter.<\/p>\n Colorado Avalanche<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 49-29-4, +42 goals differential, lost in first round<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Run it back? Run it back.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Because nobody should overreact to last season\u2019s early exit. Yes, they\u2019ll have to beat the Stars to get where they want to be, and ideally they wouldn\u2019t have to do it in the first round. This is still a stacked team, and one that probably won\u2019t have to spend the first month of the season figuring out its goaltending this time. (Plus they\u2019ll have Sidney Crosby after the deadline, so\u2026)<\/p>\n Dallas Stars<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 50-26-6, +53 goals differential, lost in conference final<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Round three? Not good enough, coach.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> They\u2019re arguably the most talented roster in the entire league. No, they haven\u2019t been able to get over the conference-final hump, and Glen Gulutzan will be under plenty of pressure to change that. But if we\u2019re going to have eight teams in this division, finding a spot for the team that always makes the final four isn\u2019t all that tough.<\/p>\n \n The Stars have been consistently excellent over the past few seasons, but haven\u2019t managed to make it to the Final. (Steph Chambers \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Vegas Golden Knights<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 50-22-10, +60 goals differential, lost in round two<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Knights get best player available, yawn.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Because they\u2019re a 110-point team that just added Mitch Marner, playing in what should be a weak division with only one major threat. Granted, that threat knocked them out last season in a surprisingly short series, and losing Alex Pietrangelo will hurt. But the Knights don\u2019t seem to have any major weaknesses, and if any develop they\u2019ll be aggressive in addressing them, as always.<\/p>\n Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 47-27-8, +76 goals differential, lost in first round<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> No cap space equals no blockbusters.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Remember those few days at the start of last season\u2019s playoffs when the Lightning had home ice and the best goals differential in the conference and everyone was picking them to beat the Panthers<\/a>, then they got wrecked in five and we all agreed to never speak of it again? That was weird. But it wasn\u2019t all that outlandish, because this is still a very good team that\u2019s firmly in \u201cwin now, forget the future\u201d mode. Getting past the Panthers will be tough, especially if they\u2019re healthy by the spring, but that applies to every team in this section.<\/p>\n Carolina Hurricanes<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 47-30-5, +36 goals differential, lost in conference final<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> They landed Nikolaj Ehlers, as expected.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Ehlers always seemed like too good a fit, and the Hurricanes had the cap space to go get him. Now we see if he\u2019s the missing piece that can boost the playoff scoring. We\u2019ll find out, because it\u2019s pretty much impossible to imagine this team missing the playoffs in the Metro.<\/p>\n New Jersey Devils<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 42-33-7, +20 goals differential, lost in first round<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Everybody please just get healthy again.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> At first glance, having a 91-point team that lost in the first round in the contenders division might seem like a stretch. And yeah, it probably is. But two things are behind this pick. First, I need eight teams. And second, I\u2019m willing to mostly write off their underwhelming 2024-25 season as the product of an especially bad run of injury luck. The division should be tougher, but home ice in Round 1 feels like a reasonable goal.<\/p>\n Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 48-29-5, +24 goals differential, lost in Stanley Cup Final<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Did we forget to re-sign somebody?<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> Some of you might have been expecting to see them in the last group. I definitely thought about it. There\u2019s certainly an ominous feeling around the Oilers these days, with questions about the goaltending plus Connor McDavid\u2019s extension hanging over everything, much to Oilers fans\u2019 chagrin<\/a>. You can come up with plenty of ways it goes south. I\u2019m just not sure it can go south far enough to keep the Oilers out of at least having a solid chance at emerging from the Pacific.<\/p>\n The your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine division<\/p>\n I\u2019m kind of dumb, and I don\u2019t know much. But I do know what I don\u2019t know, and these are the teams I\u2019m convinced I know the least.<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets<\/p>\n Last season:<\/strong> 56-22-4, +85 goals differential, first place overall, lost in second round<\/p>\n Their offseason in six words:<\/strong> Ehlers gone, but Toews comes home.<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re here:<\/strong> We spent all of last year refusing to believe the Jets were legitimate Presidents\u2019 Trophy contenders, right up until they actually won it. Well, that\u2019s not completely true \u2014 it feels like some of us still don\u2019t believe that happened, despite what the standings tell us. And if you\u2019re in that group, you\u2019re expecting a meaningful step back this season, maybe one that involves Connor Hellebuyck not being the best goalie in the world like he usually is. I\u2019m honestly not sure which group I\u2019m in; part of me wants to believe, part of me thinks the most likely outcome here is third place in the Central, followed by another early playoff exit. Luckily, I get to wimp out on eight teams, and I\u2019m playing one of those cards here.<\/p>\n Columbus Blue Jackets<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-22052966081-scaled.jpg\")
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