Daily Faceoff’s best and worst NHL predictions of 2025-26
We can criticize commissioner Gary Bettman for the silly NHL playoff format, the tone-deaf scheduling of games, the loser point and much more…but we have to give him credit for overseeing a truly unpredictable league.
At least, that’s how I rationalize it in my mind when I review all the predictions I made prior to the 2025-26 NHL season. It’s not that I have the vision of a blindfolded kid swinging at a pinata at a birthday party, right? It’s this amazing parity, right?
The truth probably likes between the two stances, which is why I nailed a handful of my prognostications and whiffed badly on plenty more.
Let’s review the best and worst of my 2025-26 predictions, plus a few of the most noteworthy near misses. We won’t litigate all 25 of them, as some of them concern portions of the season that haven’t happened yet, but you can review each of them here if you like.
BULLSEYES
“The American men finally break their best-on-best drought and capture gold at the 2026 Olympics.“
Yep. The Americans had the deepest, most talented all-around team in the Milano-Cortina tournament and were far superior to the Canadians on defense and in goal, which is why the U.S. squad overcame Canada’s superstar power. As a Canadian, I can say it hurt when Jack Hughes’ shot found twine in overtime, but you know what? It wouldn’t be much of a rivalry if only one side ever won. It needs to feel balanced to maintain the emotion and suspense. So it was good for the game to see Team USA top the podium.
“After a 12-point improvement last season, the Utah Mammoth make the final push and reach the playoffs.“
The momentum was already there, the Mammoth were clearly on an upward trajectory, and the extra progression of Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther only made the Mammoth that much more dangerous. They also have many more high-end prospects on the way, so their era of contention is just beginning.
“The biggest name moved at the 2026 Trade Deadline: Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers.“
This was as much a vote of non-confidence in the Rangers’ season as it was a Bread Man prediction. Nothing but net here. It wouldn’t have made sense for the Blueshirts to retain him for his age-35 season and beyond when they were in decline as a team.
NEAR MISSES
“Uncertain about his future but still believing the Edmonton Oilers can win a Stanley Cup soon, Connor McDavid re-signs…for three years.
Turned out the commitment was for two more years. I had McDavid signing for close to Kirill Kaprizov money, not expecting the criminal discount AAV of $12.5 million.
“Tage Thompson carries over his 2024-25 momentum, tops 50 goals and wins the Rocket Richard Trophy.“
No Rocket Richard, but Tage still had a great season. Fuelled by his deadly one-timer, he’s tied for 11th in the league with 40 goals.
“Ivan Demidov Mania takes over as the sensational rookie brings the Montreal Canadiens their second consecutive Calder Trophy.“
Hey, he did enough to win the Calder Trophy in many other seasons, and he’s likely to finish as a finalist for the award, but not even the biggest Matthew Schaefer optimists expected him to be this good at 18.
“Vastly improved under new coach Joel Quenneville, the Anaheim Ducks fall just short of a Wildcard spot.“
I was bullish on continued improvement for the team that made the biggest points jump in the NHL last season. It happened, but while I had the Ducks narrowly missing out on the playoffs, they clinched a berth Monday night, their first since 2018.
“The Buffalo Sabres’ playoff drought reaches a record 15th season, and GM Kevyn Adams gets the axe.“
Half right. In December, the Sabres were a laughingstock and did in fact fire Adams. But then began the epic turnaround that made Buffalo a powerhouse beginning with a 10-game winning streak and extending all through the winter until the playoff drought was halted. What a fun story. Clink those Beer Sabres.
“Having made few improvements to a team that missed the playoffs last season, the Vancouver Canucks miss again, and the Quinn Hughes trade chatter explodes in early summer 2026.“
Here I was thinking the Quinn Hughes trade talk was a massive hot take. I was more on the money than I even knew, to the point the Canucks gave up on an era in December and traded Hughes to the Minnesota Wild.
AIR BALLS
Auston Matthews takes the Toronto Maple Leafs on his back and wins his second career Hart Trophy.
Yikes. Matthews scored goals at the lowest rate of his career and sustained a season-ending knee injury in March. The nightmare season included his first playoff miss. At least he got an Olympic gold medal.
“Jake Oettinger finally delivers a dominant wire-to-wire season and captures his first Vezina Trophy.“
I keep waiting for it to happen. None of us doubts Oettinger’s talent, and the goals saved above expected data tell us he’s been above average this season. But his backup Casey DeSmith has outplayed him. Bonus bad prediction: I had Oettinger stealing the Team USA starting gig from Connor Hellebuyck, who ended up being the Americans’ hero in the gold-medal game. Talk about throwing up a brick.
“With better health luck, the New Jersey Devils course correct and are a top-five team in the NHL.“
Woof. It was looking that way early. On Nov. 14, the Devils were 13-4-1, holding the best record in the Eastern Conference. Then Jack Hughes cut his finger at a team dinner, and the Devils spiralled in his absence, losing 10 of 18 games. They never recovered.
“After making Kirill Kaprizov a $17-million man starting next season, the Minnesota Wild miss the playoffs this season.“
I wasn’t expecting them to trade for Quinn Friggin’ Hughes. But the Wild also had the luxury of doing so because they were already excelling. The progression of gifted scorer Matt Boldy and the team’s excellent goaltending from Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt made them far more dangerous than imagined.
“First coach fired: Andrew Brunette, Nashville Predators.“
For so much of this season, Nashville seemed like a team on the brink of pushing out its head coach, and they even postured as soft sellers for the Trade Deadline. But a late-season surge kept them in the playoff hunt into the season’s final week, and Brunette remains behind their bench.
“Honoring a tradition ordained by the ancient hockey gods, the Pittsburgh Penguins finish last overall and win the 2026 NHL Draft lottery.“
Wow. I underestimated so much about this Penguins team. I didn’t see Dan Muse coming; his impact as head coach was instant and particularly bountiful for Pittsburgh’s special teams. I didn’t expect Anthony Mantha to stay healthy and have the best season of his career. And the Egor Chinakhov acquisition was an absolute revelation. The faith in GM Kyle Dubas grows with each passing day as his underdog Pens team rises while his former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, plunges into the abyss.
BONUS CATEGORY: McLeod vs. Savoie
Hey, it wasn’t a 2025-26 prediction, but Sabres fans will tell you my critical take of the 2024 Ryan McLeod/Matt Savoie trade has been a hot-button topic for a while. This season was a rollercoaster in which I admitted defeat for a bad call and acknowledged that the McLeod deal was great for the Sabres…but with Savoie also surging late this season, is it possible we simply have a perfect trade on our hands? Did everybody win here? Love it.
_____
POST SPONSORED BY bet365
_____