EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsBefore the 2025-26 NHL season, we made bold predictions for all 32 teams. Some focused on the standings and statistical achievement, others on player transactions, and a few zeroed in on the job status of coaches and executives.How'd we do? Let's take a final tally of these bold predictions and see what went right ... and what went very wrong. Enjoy!Atlantic DivisionBoston BruinsBruins will trade Pavel ZachaThe Bruins had a sneaky-good season, one of eight teams to reach the 100-point mark. They were dumped in the first round by the Sabres, but it was a strong first campaign for head coach Marco Sturm. That was especially true offensively, as Boston jumped from 28th to 10th in goals per game. Zacha had 65 points in 78 games.Hence, the Bruins did not continue their retool/selloff that started at the previous trade deadline, when players such as Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle were shipping out of Boston. Zacha remains a coveted trade option for other teams, with a dream of a cap hit ($4.75 million annually) through this season. But he was not, in fact, traded.Bold prediction record: 0-1Buffalo SabresRasmus Dahlin is a Norris Trophy finalistWithin this preseason prediction was an NHL Awards prediction: That there was only really one open spot among the Norris Trophy finalists, what with Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes likely owning the other two spots. That didn't account for the MVP-caliber season for Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, who supplanted Hughes and won the Norris. But he had finished second for the Norris in the previous season. There was still, essentially, one open spot for someone who wasn't Makar or Werenski or Hughes.And that spot went to Dahlin, his first time as a finalist.He had 19 goals and 55 assists (74 points) in 77 games, skating to a plus-18. His candidacy went beyond those stats. Obviously, the Sabres breaking their playoff drought put a spotlight on Dahlin's efforts to that end. This was also the season when his net-front physicality became a topic around the league.He also had a story to tell off the ice: Dahlin revealed before the season that his fiance, Carolina Matovac, received a heart transplant last summer following a health scare while on vacation. He returned to Sweden to care for her during the regular season.Dahlin finished third for the Norris, but his status as an elite defenseman was cemented by the nod.Bold prediction record: 1-1Detroit Red WingsSteve Yzerman fails upwardThere were moments last season when it appeared this prediction was toast, as the Red Wings were contending for a playoff spot. But they missed the cut again, as they did in all seven seasons Yzerman was at the helm for the franchise. Yzerman swung and missed on big trades. His deteriorating relationship with captain Dylan Larkin led to the center asking for a trade. The "Yzerplan" failed to build a foundation for Stanley Cup contention.As of July 15, Yzerman was no longer general manager of the Red Wings. As predicted, he failed upward: Yzerman is "transitioning from his role as executive vice president and GM but will continue serving the organization as senior adviser to governor and CEO Chris Ilitch." Because there was no way the Red Wings were ever going to fire a franchise icon, even if the time had arrived.Bold prediction record: 2-1Florida PanthersSergei Bobrovsky gets a "Marchand" dealThis prediction was predicated on two theories, neither of which ended up holding water. The first was that Bobrovsky would make a financial sacrifice to remain with the Panthers, pushing for a third Stanley Cup win with Florida. Instead, he priced himself out, with GM Bill Zito opting to trade for Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom instead.The second was that the 37-year-old goalie would sign a long-term deal like Brad Marchand did in 2025: $5.25 million average annual value over six years, finishing his contract when he's 43. It turns out the Panthers philosophically don't believe in giving a goalie that kind of deal -- Marchand can eventually play on the fourth line at that AAV, but Bob's either a starter or a backup -- and Toronto eventually signed him to a traditional three-year, $21 million deal ($7 million AAV).This one got past me, like so many pucks in the regular season for Bobrovsky.Bold prediction record: 2-2Montreal CanadiensKaiden Guhle earns leaguewide appreciationDid the Canadiens receive leaguewide appreciation for their run to the conference finals, setting themselves up as the team of the future in the East? Absolutely. Did Kaiden Guhle also earn that recognition during the Habs' exhilarating season? Not really. He was limited to 39 games due to injury and was solid but unspectacular (19 games, eight assists, even rating in 20:29 per game) in the playoff run.Respected? Sure. But maybe not the breakout year we predicted.Bold prediction record: 2-3Ottawa SenatorsDylan Cozens sets new career highsThe targets for this bold prediction were 31 goals and 68 points, set when Cozens was a 21-year-old center with the Sabres in 2022-23. The goal-scoring target seemed in range, as Cozens started the season with seven goals in 19 games.Alas, despite playing the full 82 for the Senators, he finished with 28 goals and 31 assists for 59 points -- all under his career bests from that 2022-23 campaign. The numbers don't lie.Bold prediction record: 2-4Tampa Bay LightningLightning will win the Atlantic DivisionWhen I graded my preseason predictions in November, the Lightning still had an 81.5% chance of finishing first in the Atlantic Division despite a 1-4-2 start and a slew of injuries. They turned their season around, finishing with a .646 points percentage and making the playoff cut.But with captain Victor Hedman sidelined after March 19, the Lightning couldn't close the deal on the Atlantic, eventually finishing three points behind noted playoff drought enders, the Sabres.Bold prediction record: 2-5Toronto Maple LeafsLeafs will retain Nick RobertsonRobertson had been the subject of trade rumors for the better part of a year and a half. They continued after he signed a one-year extension with the Leafs for a very reasonable cap hit ($1.825 million). But as the trade deadline passed, Robertson remained in Toronto. When Game No. 82 ended, Robertson was wearing a Maple Leaf on his chest, having skated 13:03 in his 78th game of the season. (He was a minus-1.)On July 1, the rumors became true, as Robertson was traded to the Penguins for a fourth-round pick. But at that point, he was a restricted free agent. While under contract with Toronto, he was never traded by Toronto, and hence this bold prediction was spot-on.Bold prediction record: 3-5Metropolitan DivisionCarolina HurricanesCanes will win the Eastern ConferenceUnder head coach Rod Brind'Amour, the Hurricanes reached the conference finals three times and saw their runs end in that penultimate round three times. They couldn't score that big goal at a big time. Their goaltending wouldn't make a difference. They just seemed to run out of gas after playing Brind'Amour's demanding style of detail-oriented defense.That is, until this postseason, when players such as Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven and Nikolaj Ehlers provided that scoring push they needed; when Frederik Andersen had the best three rounds of his career, before Brandon Bussi took the baton in the Stanley Cup Final; and when they earned historic levels of rest between rounds to outlast teams such as Montreal and Vegas to win the Stanley Cup. Which also means (checks notes) that they had to win the Eastern Conference too.Bold prediction record: 4-5Columbus Blue JacketsJet Greaves takes over the creaseFor the first third of the season, Greaves and Elvis Merzlikins were being used in a tandem by then-coach Dean Evason. They were an effective one, too, but it was becoming clear the Greaves had the glow.That was never more evident than during the Jackets' mad playoff push at the end of the season under new coach Rick Bowness, who started Greaves in 17 of the team's final 20 games of the season. Greaves ended up starting the majority of the games (55) for the season as well. The crease was his.Bold prediction record: 5-5New Jersey DevilsJack Hughes plays 82 gamesHow was I supposed to know that the Devils were going to have a team dinner at a Chicago steakhouse wherein Jack Hughes would have what was then called a "freak accident" that involved getting his finger sliced by glass?The good news: Hughes was healed up enough to score the game-winning overtime goal to win the U.S. its first men's Olympic ice hockey gold medal since 1980 and become an American sports icon in the process. The bad news, for the Devils and this prediction: Hughes played just 61 regular-season games, his lowest total in four seasons.Bold prediction record: 5-6New York IslandersPatrick Roy coaches his last season on Long IslandThe Islanders had a new general manager in Mathieu Darche that didn't have anything to do with hiring Roy, who was in the last year of his contract. But they also had Matthew Schaefer, the NHL rookie of the year who changed the franchise's vibes and their fortunes on the ice last season.For a while, it looked like Schaefer was going to ruin this prediction. But the Islanders shocked the hockey world by firing Roy with four games remaining in the season, coaxing Peter DeBoer back to the Eastern Conference on a multiyear deal. Au revoir, Patrick Roy. Bonjour, correct prediction.Bold prediction record: 6-6New York RangersRangers return to the playoffsAfter 21 games last season, Stathletes projected an 84.2% chance the Rangers would make the Stanley Cup playoffs. Goalie Igor Shesterkin was doing what he does. Defenseman Adam Fox was having an outstanding rebound season. Coach Mike Sullivan, in his first year as Rangers bench boss, would figure out the rest.And then the wheels fell off. Fox missed all but three games in December and January. The Rangers were 29th in the NHL from Dec. 1 to the end of the season, with a .445 points percentage. Instead of sending out playoff ticket info, Rangers GM Chris Drury sent Artemi Panarin to the Kings and a letter to the fans asking for patience for another retool.Bold prediction record: 6-7Philadelphia FlyersFlyers win the Gavin McKenna draft lotteryLook, this was a bold prediction but it was also a glib one.Please recall how many Penguins fans felt their team would be in the draft lottery, with the chance to draft Penn State's own Gavin McKenna. Instead, what if the team on the other side of the Keystone State won the lottery and drafted McKenna instead. Could you believe such tomfoolery?Postscript: Neither the Penguins nor the Flyers were even in the draft lottery. The Maple Leafs won, and Gavin McKenna went from "Hockey Valley" to the Centre of the Hockey Universe as Toronto picked him first overall.Bold prediction record: 6-8Pittsburgh PenguinsSidney Crosby plays somewhere in the playoffs this seasonThree cheers for clever phrasing.Originally, this was going to be a prediction about Crosby being traded by the Penguins to a playoff team last season. So I asked Sid about that theory at the NHL Player Media Tour in September. He told me it wasn't anything on his mind because he was optimistic that the Penguins, picked by many to finish last in the division, could return to the playoffs for the first time since 2022.Which, admittedly, seemed delusional. But it was enough for me to hedge my bold prediction, declaring that he would play in the playoffs "somewhere," including on the off chance that would be in Pittsburgh. Several months later, the Penguins finished second in the Metro Division, putting Sidney Crosby back in the playoffs before the Flyers put him out. At last check, Pittsburgh qualifies as "somewhere."Bold prediction record: 7-8Washington CapitalsOvechkin breaks another Gretzky recordThe Russian Machine powered through 82 games last season, adding another 32 goals to his NHL career record tally.But he needed 43 goals between the regular season and the playoffs last season to break another record held by Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky, who scored 1,016 combined goals during his career. Gretzky tallied 894 goals in the regular season and another 122 in the playoffs. Ovechkin now has 929 regular-season goals and 77 more in the postseason.Ovechkin has officially declared he's back with the Capitals next season. The countdown begins to another record by The Great One falling to the Great 8. Just not last season.Bold prediction record: 7-9Central DivisionChicago BlackhawksFrank Nazar doubles his points totalNazar set career standards as a rookie in 2024-25 with 12 goals and 14 assists for 26 points in 53 games. The notion he could double that output with an increased number of games -- and an increase in responsibilities for the Blackhawks -- seemed like a logical call.Alas, injuries limited Nazar to playing in 66 games this season. He scored 15 goals, and tallied 26 assists. That adds up to 41 points, putting him 11 shy of the 52 he would've needed to hit this predicted total.Bold prediction record: 7-10Colorado AvalancheAvs win the Western ConferenceThe Avalanche were easily the best team in the regular season, amassing 121 points while finishing with the league's best offense and defense.But while it's a nice feeling to hitch one's wagon to a bulldozer, having the league's top record means winning the Presidents' Trophy. The last time a team won that trophy and advanced past the conference finals was 2012-13, when the Blackhawks last lifted the Stanley Cup.The Avs looked up to the task through two rounds, sweeping the Kings and eliminating the Wild in five games. But their run ended with a thud against the Golden Knights. Vegas swept Colorado in the conference finals, as the Avalanche suffered a series of ill-timed injuries, including ones to Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.Bold prediction record: 7-11Dallas StarsMatt Duchene regressesI was fairly confident that the departures of Mikael Granlund and Mason Marchment from Dallas were going to negatively impact Duchene. I was also sure that the 35-year-old center wasn't going to shoot 19.7% again, as he did in scoring 30 goals and amassing 82 points in 82 games in 2024-25.Instead, he shot 18.0%. Which is still phenomenal and resulted in Duchene scoring 16 goals in 57 games, but overall his point production went down to 45 points. Obviously, the drop in games played due to injuries helped bring down that total. But the prediction was regression, and Duchene's averages were all down season over season: goals and assists per 60 minutes, as well as that shooting percentage.Bold prediction record: 8-11Minnesota WildZeev Buium outscores Brock FaberThis prediction was predicated on Buium getting the majority of the power-play time with the Wild this season over Faber. Indeed, that was the case: Buium averaged 3:04 per game on the man advantage, while Faber averaged 1:04.But Quinn Hughes (3:49) averaged more power-play time per game for Minnesota than both of them, which brings us to the reason this bold prediction misses the mark: Buium was traded by the Wild (11th-best offensive team in the NHL) to the Canucks (31st) in the Hughes trade last December. He had more points (14) in 31 games with Minnesota than he had in 45 games in Vancouver (12). Overall, the rookie defenseman had 26 points on the season.Faber, meanwhile, set a new career high in points (51 in 80 games) as the primary defensive partner for Quinn Hughes.Bold prediction record: 8-12Nashville PredatorsAndrew Brunette keeps his jobBrunette signed a four-year deal in 2024 to coach the Predators, which was why a hasty firing after they missed the playoffs in 2024-25 wasn't going to happen. They missed them again last season, although Brunette's team saw an 18-point improvement in the standings.Someone did take the fall for that lack of success: GM Barry Trotz, who stepped out of the way as the team hired Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland to take over the Predators. Not only did Brunette keep his job through last season, but he also kept his job through that change at the top, as MacFarland said Brunette will be back behind the bench next season.Bold prediction record: 9-12St. Louis BluesJimmy Snuggerud, Calder Trophy finalistSnuggerud burst onto the scene in the 2025 postseason with four points in seven playoff games for the Blues. They put him in a position to succeed in his rookie season as he played with Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas and got some power-play time.But Snuggerud didn't start this past season well, with 11 points in his first 26 games. By the time he closed the season with 27 points in 23 games, the Blues winger had already been lapped by Montreal's Ivan Demidov and Anaheim's Beckett Sennecke in the rookie forward scoring race. Snuggerud was fourth in goals (21) and points (51) among all rookies, although he was somehow a plus-16 on a Blues team with a minus-27 goal differential.Demidov and Sennecke were Calder finalists along with Matthew Schaefer of the Islanders, who won top rookie honors.Bold prediction record: 9-13Utah MammothThe Mammoth make the playoff cutThe first-year Utah Hockey Club showed that the franchise was on the right path with 89 points in 2024-25. That included 13 charity points from overtime or shootout losses. If a few more of those were wins, who knows what could have happened in the standings?Last season, the now-Utah Mammoth went 43-33-6 for 92 points. That was enough to bring the Stanley Cup playoffs to Salt Lake City for the first time, as the Mammoth put a six-game scare into the eventual conference champion Golden Knights before bowing out in the first round.Bold prediction record: 10-13Winnipeg JetsKyle Connor stays, makes Marner moneyKyle Connor signed an eight-year contract extension on Oct. 8 worth $96 million, which gives him a $12 million average annual value through 2033-34.Mitch Marner signed an eight-year contract extension on June 30 worth $96 million, which gives him a $12 million average annual value through 2032-33.Just a tomahawk dunk from the foul line of a prediction.Bold prediction record: 11-13Pacific DivisionAnaheim DucksDucks are a final-week eliminationThe Ducks sprinted out of the gate last season. New head coach Joel Quenneville unlocked their offense, their balance of veterans and young stars clicked, and Anaheim was sixth in the league in points percentage (.635) as of Dec. 1. The question was whether that success was fleeting or sustainable.Anaheim's fate wasn't determined until the final week of the season. But on April 13, for the first time in eight seasons, the Ducks clinched a playoff spot rather than suffering their predicted elimination.Bold prediction record: 11-14Calgary FlamesNazem Kadri will be tradedFor months, the Flames claimed through their media proxies that they were not looking to trade center Nazem Kadri, who was signed through 2028-29 at a solid cap hit ($7 million AAV). TSN's Darren Dreger specifically noted that "Flames ownership" wanted to keep him around.Kadri had a limited no-trade clause. As the trade deadline crept closer, there were rumblings that the Avalanche might be interested in a reunion with Kadri if they could make the money work. Once Calgary agreed to retain 20% of Kadri's contract, it was go time. Nazem Kadri was traded.Bold prediction record: 12-14Edmonton OilersConnor McDavid signs a team-friendly, three-year extensionMcDavid ended his contract drama by signing an extension on Oct. 6. Was it team-friendly, as predicted? Yes, as McDavid signed for much less than market value, whatever that would be for the best hockey player on the planet. The Oilers inked him to a deal that carries an AAV of $12.5 million, which is $1.5 million less annually than the AAV of teammate Leon Draisaitl's contract.Was it for three years? No, it was not. McDavid surprised many by taking an even shorter short-term deal with Edmonton, giving the team a three-year window -- the 2025-26 season, plus two more -- in which to finally win a Stanley Cup with McDavid.So, in the end, partial credit. But the prediction was specific to three years, so I'll take the L here, begrudgingly.Bold prediction record: 12-15Los Angeles KingsEliminate the Oilers in the first roundWhen I checked in on this prediction two months into the season, the Oilers were struggling to be in the playoff mix, while the Kings looked like a playoff team again. I joked that I should have predicted "the Kings advance further in the playoffs than the Oilers" on the off chance Edmonton didn't qualify.In the end, both teams qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs. For the first time in five seasons, the Kings and Oilers didn't meet in the first round. I was correct that Edmonton didn't make it out of the opening round in the West. But neither did the Kings.Bold prediction record: 12-16San Jose SharksMacklin Celebrini hits 90 pointsWhen our bold predictions were initially published, this one caused a stir among Sharks fans. Some felt it was a given that Celebrini would continue to level up after scoring 63 points in 70 games as a rookie and finishing third in the Calder Trophy voting. Others thought that 90 points was a bit too lofty an expectation for Celebrini given that he was still just 19 years old and the Sharks were mired in a rebuild.The final tally for the San Jose star: 45 goals and 115 points in 82 games! Which according to my calculations is more than 90.Bold prediction record: 13-16Seattle KrakenKraken are the trade deadline's top sellerOn March 6, the Seattle Kraken were in the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 67 points. GM Jason Botterill had a decision to make. Should he trade some of the team's pending free agents such as Jaden Schwartz, Jordan Eberle, Mason Marchment or Jamie Oleksiak, or seek to deal some of his players with term like Shane Wright?Or should the Kraken stay the course to make the postseason even if they didn't have realistic designs on winning the Stanley Cup?Botterill chose the latter. Not only did the Kraken not trade anyone off their roster before the deadline, but they also acquired forward Bobby McMann from the Maple Leafs -- a team that was actually one of the most prominent sellers at the deadline.So, Seattle was a buyer, not a seller. That confidence was rewarded by the Kraken going 5-14-2 after the trade deadline -- the NHL's worst record in that stretch -- to finish well outside the playoff picture. Whoops.Bold prediction record: 13-17Vancouver CanucksElias Pettersson cracks 30 goals againFree of locker room tension with J.T. Miller, many expected this to be a bounce-back season for Pettersson on the Canucks. He ended up with 51 points in 74 games, up from last season's total points (45) but having played 10 more games than in 2024-25.But he has yet to find his goal-scoring touch again with just 15 goals, the same total he had in 2024-25.Bold prediction record: 13-18Vegas Golden KnightsKnights make the conference finalsThis prediction was basically claiming that (a) Vegas would survive a first-round loss, which had happened twice in franchise history, and (b) the Golden Knights would emerge from the Pacific quarter of the bracket rather than the Oilers, who made the conference finals in consecutive seasons.The Knights cleared the first hurdle, but it wasn't easy thanks to the upstart Mammoth. The Ducks (and Connor McDavid's broken ankle) took the Oilers out in the first round. Vegas outlasted Anaheim in six games to punch its ticket and make this bold prediction come to pass.Bold prediction record: 14-18So, there you have it: a .438 winning percentage on the NHL bold predictions for the 2025-26 season. With a little more puck luck, I think it could have been a .500 season, but I'm satisfied that so many of my spicy takes became reality. I predict we'll have 32 new ones this September.
