Dan Rosen Ranks Canadiens First Among Seven Cup Favorites
The NHL.com senior writer put Montreal atop a preseason list that also includes Colorado, Florida, Carolina, Minnesota, Washington and Vegas.
NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen ranked the Montreal Canadiens first among his seven Stanley Cup favorites for the 2026-27 season as training camps open across the league.
Rosen's case for Montreal starts with the experience gained from reaching last season's Eastern Conference Final. He also pointed to Selke Trophy winner Nick Suzuki, 50-goal scorer Cole Caufield, defenseman Lane Hutson, young forwards Ivan Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsky, and Jakub Dobes emerging as the No. 1 goalie.
The Colorado Avalanche were second on Rosen's list. He cited the star core of Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Martin Necas, along with a deep roster returning from a sweep by Vegas in the Western Conference Final.
Florida ranked third with Aleksander Barkov healthy again and Brady Tkachuk joining Matthew Tkachuk. Defending champion Carolina was fourth, with Rosen identifying the transition from Frederik Andersen to Brandon Bussi as the main question for an otherwise stable roster.
Minnesota placed fifth behind its defense and goaltending, including Quinn Hughes, Brock Faber, Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson. Washington was sixth after adding Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou and Boone Jenner. Vegas rounded out the list at No. 7 after reaching the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.
The ranking is Rosen's preseason assessment rather than an official NHL projection. The 2026-27 regular season is scheduled to begin Sept. 29.
