The NHL had its first significant salary cap increase in years, and yet the summer of 2025 will be remembered as \u2026 kind of a snooze.<\/p>\n
It turns out that giving NHL general managers more financial flexibility just made the days leading up to July 1 one big reunion party. One player in the NHL\u2019s top 50 scorers last year \u2014 Mitch Marner \u2014 now plays for a different team than he did at the end of last season.<\/p>\n
None of the 32 goalies who won at least 20 games changed teams. Only two of the top 40 defensemen by total ice time did.<\/p>\n
So, here we are. On the eve of the 2025-26 season with training camps in full swing, the list of top Stanley Cup contenders looks \u2026 almost exactly like it did a year ago, and basically the same as it did in April when the 2025 playoffs began.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean each of these top teams is without a potential fatal flaw or three \u2014 even the two-time defending champs and the two-time defending runners up.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s try to identify them.<\/p>\n
Florida Panthers<\/p>\n
Odds to win the Stanley Cup (via FanDuel): 6.5-1<\/p>\n
Potential fatal flaw(s): It\u2019s not just that the Panthers are shooting for a three-peat, which hasn\u2019t been done since the New York Islanders won four straight from 1980-83. They are also shooting for four straight visits to the Cup Final. No team has done that since, wait for it, the Islanders from 1980-83. Six repeat champs have failed to win three titles in a row since the Islanders dynasty.<\/p>\n
The Lightning made it back to the Final a third time in 2022, but they had also famously crashed out early the year before back-to-back titles. Wayne Gretzky\u2019s prime-era Oilers lost in 1983, won the next two \u2026 and then crashed out in the second round in 1986.<\/p>\n
Stuff happens. The Panthers did great work to retain their three big free agents, a huge part of why the trade and free-agent markets were so boring this offseason. But they\u2019ve played 68 postseason games in the past three years, and it\u2019s an Olympic year with a condensed schedule.<\/p>\n
The roster says \u201cdoubt the Panthers at your own peril.\u201d Modern NHL history says \u2026 go ahead and doubt them.<\/p>\n
Dallas Stars<\/p>\n
Odds: 8.5-1<\/p>\n
Potential fatal flaw(s): Pete DeBoer won 149 regular-season games and got the Stars to the conference finals each of the past three years. And he got fired. Dallas took the \u201cif you can\u2019t beat \u2019em, poach one of \u2019em\u201d route by replacing PDB with Oilers assistant Glen Gulutzan. He\u2019s been the Stars coach before, when he missed the playoffs twice and got fired.<\/p>\n
Firing DeBoer worked for Vegas in 2023, but it didn\u2019t help San Jose or New Jersey get any closer to a Cup. Beyond the coaching uncertainty, there\u2019s also the Jason Robertson contract situation. He\u2019s a pending restricted free agent. He\u2019s a really good player. Is he a franchise-level guy, on a team that has Mikko Rantanen, Miro Heiskanen and Wyatt Johnston?<\/p>\n
Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n
Odds: 8.5-1<\/p>\n
Potential fatal flaw(s): Is there anyone important to the cause in Oil Country who doesn\u2019t have a contract next year? Oh. It\u2019s a situation right now with Connor McDavid, but we might not be far from saga territory.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, the Oilers have decided that maybe the third time will be the charm with their suspect goaltending depth chart. That feels like a mistake, but it was a bear market for goaltenders who aren\u2019t suspect.<\/p>\n
Carolina Hurricanes<\/p>\n
Odds: 9.5-1<\/p>\n
Potential fatal flaw(s): Speaking of teams that have had goaltending issues but are running the same tandem back for a third straight year, here come the Hurricanes. Frederik Andersen has played 38 regular-season games the past two years. Pyotr Kochetkov has been Russian for \u201cPlayoff Connor Hellebuyck\u201d \u2014 albeit in a relatively small postseason sample.<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes addressed a longstanding concern last year, adding an elite forward with size and a killer playoff track record. But then they traded him to Dallas six weeks later. The Avs checked Carolina\u2019s big addition up front, Nikolaj Ehlers, completely out of the playoffs in 2024, though he did have five goals in eight postseason games last year.<\/p>\n
Colorado Avalanche<\/p>\n
Odds: 10-1<\/p>\n
Potential fatal flaw(s): A year after historic roster upheaval, the continuity on the roster is a positive. But, the depth beyond what the best lineup would like if everyone is healthy looks \u2026 incomplete.<\/p>\n
Who is the No. 8 defenseman? After a year where the Avs shuffled through nearly the entire Eagles forward group, in part because none of them were able to consistently produce, who are the injury callups going to be? It feels like the Avs could be, and need to be, active on the early-season waiver wire.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, the potential flaws are still obvious. The defense, even with Brent Burns, is a little small, by Cup contender standards. We don\u2019t know how Gabe Landeskog\u2019s knee will hold up over a full season.<\/p>\n
The likely top-line right wing doesn\u2019t have a contract beyond this season. And the guy who held that spot before him plays for the archrival, whom the Avs haven\u2019t beaten in three playoff tries and is likely going to waiting for them in mid-April or early May yet again.<\/p>\n
Vegas Golden Knights<\/p>\n
Odds: 10-1<\/p>\n
Potential fatal flaw(s): This might be the team with the fewest potential flaws. Not having Alex Pietrangelo is a big deal. The defense corps looks more really good and less great, now.<\/p>\n
Beyond that \u2026 Mitch Marner has struggled in the playoffs? Mark Stone has struggled to stay healthy? Insert a joke about the new playoff salary cap here?<\/p>\n
On paper, this team looks pretty scary. And look out if Vegas finds a way to add one more No. 3\/4 defenseman.<\/p>\n