The Season Ahead

The Avalanche won the Central with 121 points, retooled on the margins, and locked up Cale Makar for a decade. The Cup window is wide open.

Washington retooled its forward corps, locked up its young core, and brought Ovechkin back for a 22nd season. The pieces are there. Now comes the hard part.

Tampa Bay finished second in the Atlantic with 106 points last season, made smart depth additions this summer, and now enters 2026-27 with one giant contract question hanging over everything.

The defending champions kept their core intact, lost their starting goalie, and open the 2026-27 season with a banner raise and a real question in net.

The core is intact, the offence is elite, and the Robertson question will define the entire season.

Buffalo ended a 14-year playoff drought last spring, then remade its roster. Here is what to expect heading into October.

A full season of Quinn Hughes, two Cup winners added to the lineup, and a coach locked up, the Wild enter 2026-27 with their best shot yet.

The Mammoth kept their young stars, added veteran muscle in Vincent Trocheck and Anders Lee, and locked up John Marino long-term. Now they need to prove last season was just the beginning.

Montreal locked up its young stars, added Chris Kreider, and heads into a brutal Atlantic Division with genuine Stanley Cup ambitions.

Philadelphia locked up its core, upgraded in goal, and finally made the playoffs. Now comes the harder part: staying there.

San Jose locked up Macklin Celebrini, added serious defensive muscle, and enters the season with a real shot at ending a seven-year playoff drought.

Brady Tkachuk is gone, Drake Batherson is locked up, and Ottawa heads into October with a rebuilt core and a goaltending gamble.

The Penguins return with their aging core intact, a retooled supporting cast, and real questions about what happens when the window finally closes.

The Bruins return to the playoffs on Swayman's back and now bet on JJ Peterka and a teenager named Hagens to push them further.

A Stanley Cup Final run ended in a six-game loss to Carolina, a new coach is behind the bench, and the team's top goal-scorer is gone. Here is what to expect from Vegas in 2026-27.

New GM Sunny Mehta has reshaped the roster around Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, but goaltending remains the team's biggest unknown heading into October.

A new GM, a new coach, a franchise goalie, and the first overall pick: Toronto has remade itself after a last-place Atlantic finish.

The Blackhawks added Patrick Kane, locked up Connor Bedard long-term, and upgraded their defence, but they open the season without their best player.

Edmonton overhauled its bench and crease this summer, but the defence and goaltending questions that sank them in 2025-26 have not gone away.

New York spent the summer rebuilding its offence and shoring up its defence after a miserable 34-39-9 campaign left them out of the playoffs entirely.

Anaheim locked up Cutter Gauthier and named a new captain, but a gutted defence corps and a brutal cap summer leave real questions heading into October.

Peter Laviolette takes over a team that can defend but still needs to prove it can score without Anze Kopitar.

Chris MacFarland reshaped the Predators forward group this summer, but the defence and goaltending questions that sank Nashville two years running have not gone away.

St. Louis overhauled its roster and front office this summer, but the Central Division will not wait for anyone to find their footing.

The Blue Jackets retooled around Cup winners and kept their Norris Trophy defenceman, but the playoff drought hits six years and counting.

Matthew Schaefer is a Calder Trophy winner, Ilya Sorokin is a Vezina runner-up, and the Islanders still missed the playoffs. Something has to give.

Seattle added speed and signed its key pieces, but the offence still needs to prove it can score enough to matter.

Steve Yzerman is gone, Dylan Larkin's future is unresolved, and Detroit still hasn't made the playoffs in a decade. Here's what to expect.

The Jets finished seventh in the Central last season after winning the Presidents' Trophy the year before, and now their franchise goalie wants out.

Calgary overhauled its blue line, is waiting on Huberdeau, and opens Oct. 1 knowing last year's offence was the worst in the NHL.

Vancouver gutted its front office, hired Manny Malhotra, and bet big on youth after finishing last in the Pacific. Here is what to expect.