NHL teams and players to watch in 2025–26
There’s no better place to start than the two-time defending champion Panthers. But they’re hampered: captain Aleksander Barkov will miss a significant amount of time this season, perhaps even the entire regular season. Matthew Tkachuk, like Barkov a key part of the Panthers team and named to a preliminary 2026 Olympic roster, is also sidelined through injury. Do they have enough to make it back to the playoffs?
In both years the Panthers won the Cup, they knocked off the Edmonton Oilers in the Finals. And the Oilers must definitely be among the favourites to have another deep run this season. Except they have an elephant in the room, and a big one at that: captain Connor McDavid has yet to agree on a contract extension. Does that become a distraction during the season?
The Winnipeg Jets won the Presidents’ Trophy last year, recording the best regular-season record. Not that it means much in the playoffs: the Jets were eliminated in the second round. Goalie Connor Hellebuyck continues to be one of the league’s best, and will once again be key to the Jets’ hopes.
In terms of players, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin could each reach 1700 career NHL points this season. Ovechkin is also three goals away from being the first player in NHL history to score 900 career goals. And will Crosby finish the season with his Pittsburgh Penguins? Trade rumours have flown all off-season, and it’s not a certainty if he will stay or go.