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32 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\nAny NHLer lacing up the skates for a new hockey season understands the familiar feeling of pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But not all pressure is created equal. It comes in all shapes and sizes and varying degrees \u2014 the pressure to win, the pressure to prove your worth, the pressure to make the most of a fresh start.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For some players, it feels like there\u2019s more on the line this year. It\u2019s with that in mind that we\u2019re looking at eight players entering pivotal seasons with a little extra pressure riding on 2025-26.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With his new contract in hand and a new sweater on his back, the 2025-26 campaign brings a new beginning for Mitch Marner \u2014 and a new kind of pressure. As the Vegas Golden Knights have proven every season of their eight-year existence, the only way they know is\u00a0all-in. That they maxed out their salary cap to sign the hottest free agent just before he hit the market to an eight-year, $96-million contract is just par for the course at this point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Marner\u2019s well-earned reputation as one of the most talented playmakers in the game should already have him hitting fan-favourite status in the Silver State before he even laces up his skates for the season opener, everyone knows the real way to a hockey fan\u2019s heart is playoff wins. There\u2019s a certain kind of pressure that comes with being a team\u2019s highest paid player upon arrival, and that pressure grows with your paycheque. His lack of playoff success in Toronto adds to it, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He got paid. Now it\u2019s his turn to show a whole new hockey market \u2014 one that sees winning as an expectation\u00a0and\u00a0a reality \u2014 why he\u2019s worth the investment, and the right man to seamlessly carry the club into another chapter of winning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPressure\u201d has become a bit of a polarizing term in Toronto. Classify it however you\u2019d like \u2014 a privilege to some, stifling to others, business as usual for many \u2014 but there\u2019s no denying the feeling that it\u2019s ratcheted up each year the team in blue and white falls short of a Stanley Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last year brought an extra dose of pressure for Matthews as not just the team\u2019s most talented goal-scorer but its captain, too. This season brings another twist, with Marner now in Vegas and the Core Four era concluding without a Cup. What does the post-Marner chapter look like? Few have the power to answer that question like Matthews, who after sharing the talent spotlight for the better part of a decade must now take an even larger share.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We all know he has the talent to be up to the task. But after Year 1 of his captaincy was hindered by injury, Matthews is in need of a bounce-back. Can he get back to his 60-goal ways? And can he do it without Marner dishing him up? A well-timed resurgence from a healthy captain Matthews would go a long way in launching this next chapter in Toronto.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking of necessary bounce-backs\u2026 few players need a redeeming season as much as Elias Pettersson. Nearly everything that could\u2019ve gone sideways in Vancouver last year\u00a0did, and Pettersson\u2019s meagre 15 goals and 30 points \u2014 in Year 1 of the eight-year pact worth $11.6 million annually, no less \u2014 only exacerbated the issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With the team looking relatively at centre going into a pivotal season with a new head coach and talk of Quinn Hughes\u2019 future with the club already loud (despite the fact he\u2019s still two years away from UFA status), there\u2019s a lot of pressure on Pettersson to lead this offence. This is a franchise that cannot afford to go in the wrong direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last summer\u2019s shopping spree was supposed to mark a giant leap deep into the post-season fray for the Nashville Predators \u2014 a team that had spent the previous five years toeing the line between contending and not. Instead, the squad stumbled backwards in the standings, falling from fourth place in the Central Division and a hard-fought early out in Round 1 in 2024 to seventh in the division and a stake in the 2025 lottery. Offence dried up across the board, and while the blame can\u2019t be placed on any one player, it\u2019s hard not to look at the team\u2019s highest-paid free agent signing and expect a whole lot more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stamkos\u2019 drop in production last year, going from a perennial 80-plus point captain of Tampa Bay to a 53-point player in Nashville, saw his team struggle to gain any semblance of momentum in the standings. Individually, it saw him overlooked by Team Canada brass when building its Orientation Camp invitation list.<\/p>\n
If Stamkos (and fellow forward Jonathan Marchessault and defenceman Brady Skjei, both of whom also saw dips in production after signing with the Predators) cannot pick up the pace and bring Nashville back to relevance, we could be in for some existential questions and messy salary cap conversations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
32 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\n
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.<\/p>\n