{"id":66887,"date":"2025-08-13T16:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T16:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/66887\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T16:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T16:27:10","slug":"5-nhl-teams-that-could-take-steps-forward-in-2025-26-the-hockey-writers-season-previews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/66887\/","title":{"rendered":"5 NHL Teams That Could Take Steps Forward in 2025-26 – The Hockey Writers – Season Previews"},"content":{"rendered":"

As there are teams that could regress<\/a> every season, there are also ones that could take steps forward and build off what they started in 2024-25. That doesn\u2019t necessarily mean playoffs, especially if you were in the basement of the NHL standings, but eventually there has to be progress. Here are five teams that could take steps forward during the 2025-26 campaign.<\/p>\n

Utah Mammoth<\/p>\n

The Utah Mammoth<\/a> are on the cusp of being a threat in the Western Conference. They finished last season with 38 wins and 89 points and had some of the best underlying metrics in the NHL, totaling an expected goals share (xG%) just above 53 percent, placing them in the top 10 of the league. Now, they\u2019ll look to build on it and break a long playoff drought that dates back to their Arizona Coyotes days.<\/p>\n

Related: Mammoth Prospects Who Could Play in 2026 World Junior Championship<\/a><\/p>\n

General manager Bill Armstrong has built an exciting young core for the Mammoth. Clayton Keller has been one of the more underappreciated players in the NHL for a few years, but he now has some support alongside him. Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther are budding into star players, and they have a deep prospect pool with some exciting talent on the way.<\/p>\n

Even though the Mammoth lost some key pieces like Michael Kesselring and Nick Bjugstad this offseason, they still added JJ Peterka<\/a>, Brandon Tanev, and Nate Schmidt. I wouldn\u2019t peg the Mammoth as Stanley Cup contenders by any stretch, but they should throw their hat into the ring of playoff contenders. FanDuel has the Mammoth\u2019s over\/under at 93.5 for next season, which would put them on the cusp of a playoff spot. But I think they hit the over and snag one of the two wild-card positions.<\/p>\n

San Jose Sharks<\/p>\n

Not every team that takes a step forward necessarily has to make the playoffs, and the San Jose Sharks are a perfect example. Granted, it\u2019s hard to be much worse than the Sharks were last season, but GM Mike Grier has done well to improve the supporting cast around Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, two players who will likely be the franchise\u2019s next cornerstones.<\/p>\n

Grier was busy in free agency, signing Jeff Skinner<\/a>, John Klingberg and Dmitry Orlov. The Sharks\u2019 blue line was a mess this past season, so adding Orlov and even Klingberg, who played well enough for the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs, should help. Skinner had a down season with the Oilers, but it wouldn\u2019t shock me if he rebounds and lights the lamp more often alongside Celebrini or Smith.<\/p>\n

The Sharks also acquired Alex Nedeljkovic from the Pittsburgh Penguins to help shield Yaroslav Askarov, who\u2019ll likely receive much more significant playing time in the NHL this season. Add more young talent that the Sharks have acquired through the draft, and they should be entertaining next season. The playoffs would be a shock, but improving from 52 points to around 70 may be achievable, especially if Celebrini and Smith continue to progress. <\/p>\n

Anaheim Ducks<\/p>\n

The Sharks\u2019 counterparts in the Pacific Division, the Anaheim Ducks are also prime contenders to take a step forward in 2025-26, and they could even play meaningful games post-trade deadline. The Ducks finished last season with 80 points, and that was despite playing some unstructured hockey under former head coach Greg Cronin.<\/p>\n

Taking over for Cronin is Joel Quenneville<\/a>, who\u2019ll likely implement a system better tailored to some of the Ducks\u2019 promising young talent. That young talent includes Leo Carlsson<\/a>, Cutter Gauthier, Olen Zellweger and Mason McTavish, who should all flourish under Quenneville. The Ducks were one of the worst five-on-five teams in the NHL under Cronin, and that too should change under Quenneville.<\/p>\n

\"MasonAnaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish celebrates (Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

GM Pat Verbeek also made a couple of notable external additions, acquiring Chris Kreider<\/a> in a trade with the New York Rangers and signing Mikael Granlund to a three-year contract in free agency. Granlund has been a 60-65 point player over the last two seasons and is a decent playmaker. At worst, he and Kreider should add some more offense.<\/p>\n

FanDuel has the Ducks\u2019 over\/under at 80.5, which seems low. I wouldn\u2019t bet on them making the playoffs, but it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if they\u2019re what the Mammoth were a season ago. That\u2019s a team that looks competitive and plays well down the stretch, but falls short of a playoff spot with something around 89-90 points.<\/p>\n

New York Rangers<\/p>\n

The Rangers were arguably the most disappointing team of the 2024-25 season. After finishing with 55 wins and 114 points during the 2023-24 season, they totaled just 39 wins and 85 points this past season. They were just the fourth team in NHL history to win the Presidents\u2019 Trophy<\/a> then miss the playoffs the following year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But while the Rangers missed the playoffs, it\u2019s not because they lack talent. Yes, they are getting older, and much of their core is on the wrong side of 30, but they still have Artemi Panarin, Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox<\/a> and J.T. Miller. They should have enough high-end talent to compete for a playoff spot, and a new coach should help.<\/p>\n

After parting ways with Peter Laviolette early this offseason, the Rangers hired Mike Sullivan to replace him. The Penguins haven\u2019t had much postseason success since their last Stanley Cup championship nearly a decade ago, but that probably wasn\u2019t Sullivan\u2019s fault. Their roster aged and declined over time, leading GM Kyle Dubas to start a full-scale rebuild this offseason.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Sullivan should help the Rangers. He\u2019ll have a more talented squad to work with than he did in his final couple of years in Pittsburgh, and we know he can still coach based on what he did with Team USA at the Four Nations Face-off in February. The Rangers\u2019 Cup-contention window is probably closed, but they should still compete for a playoff spot<\/a> in a very weak Metropolitan Division. After totaling just 85 points a season ago, it wouldn\u2019t be a shock if they total 95+ and at least secure a wild-card berth in the East.<\/p>\n

New Jersey Devils<\/p>\n

The Devils were a playoff team last season, but barely, as they qualified with 91 points, just two more than the Columbus Blue Jackets. Health was a significant reason they stumbled into the playoffs, as Dougie Hamilton, Jack Hughes and Jonas Siegenthaler all missed the final month to two months of the season, though Hamilton and Siegenthaler did return for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Assuming they have better health luck, the pieces are in place for them to improve on the 91 points they totaled last season. The key is Hughes, who\u2019s a borderline top-10 center when healthy, staying on the ice. He\u2019s produced at 90-plus point paces the last few seasons, so playing 75 to the full 82 games would do wonders for the Devils in a weak Metropolitan Division.<\/p>\n

The Devils have the goaltending to compete with the better teams in the East after re-signing Jake Allen to remain as Jacob Markstr\u00f6m\u2019s backup. They were top five on both the power play and the penalty kill last season and should be among the better special teams clubs again. And it\u2019ll be Year 2 of Sheldon Keefe behind the bench, so the Devils should be more comfortable in his system after what was apparently a grind for some players in Year 1.<\/p>\n

FanDuel has the Devils\u2019 over\/under at 98.5 for the coming season. They\u2019re not Stanley Cup contenders as constructed today, but they should push for 98-100 points if they remain relatively healthy.<\/p>\n

Progress isn\u2019t always linear, but whether it\u2019s building through the draft, adding through free agency and the trade market, or some combo of the three, these teams are well-positioned to take steps forward and be more competitive than they were during the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n

Advanced stats from Natural Stat Trick<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Substack<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As there are teams that could regress every season, there are also ones that could take steps forward…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[32805,49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-66887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-2025-26-nhl-season-preview","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}