Which Round 2 loser team has the most concerning 2026-27 outlook?
Every NHL season, the losers of Round 2 find themselves in an awkward position. Are they true contenders? Or are they pretenders who, when we zoom out, didn’t even get half the wins needed to capture the Stanley Cup?
Roundtable: Which Round 2 loser team has the most concerning outlook for 2026-27?
MATT LARKIN: I’m just not sold on the Philadelphia Flyers yet. This team wasn’t even in a playoff spot when the calendar reached April 1. It doesn’t have a true No. 1 center – on the roster or in the prospect pipeline. It lacks an elite puck-moving defenseman. Young scorer Matvei Michkov is lost and not trusted by coach Rick Tocchet. Power forward Porter Martone is an extremely exciting prospect who should challenge for the Calder Trophy next season, but I’m having trouble seeing the path to Philly being better than it was this past season. General manager Danny Briere has a lot of cap space, but it’s a weak UFA market, and he’s still largely untested as a buyer GM, having just finished steering out of a rebuild.
STEVEN ELLIS: The Flyers definitely are the top choice for me for everything Matt said. But I will say that I am concerned about the future outlook for the Buffalo Sabres’ goaltending. The tandem worked throughout the regular season and saved them at points during the playoffs. But the fact that they couldn’t really rely on either option for an extended period of time is definitely concerning. This feels a little bit like the Edmonton Oilers the past few years, a talented team that just can’t get the goaltending they need. It doesn’t seem like Devon Levi is the right option for Buffalo, either. You definitely want two goalies you can rely on, but I don’t think they have an option capable of winning key games yet.
SCOTT MAXWELL: On one hand, I do like what the Flyers are building toward. They’ve already assembled a decent group of prospects, mostly up front, and those young players like Martone and Michkov will complement the forwards they already have. I also thought Philly was an excellent defensive team this season and have a structure under Tocchet which they can potentially continue to have for years to come. But to build on Matt’s point about lacking a No. 1 center or defenseman, I just think they’re lacking a superstar forward prospect in general. Perhaps Martone or Michkov can become that player, but it feels like a lot has to go right for that to happen. The rebuild wasn’t long enough for the Flyers to acquire that surefire superstar player. On top of that, they bought high on Christian Dvorak and gave him a questionable contract, and it sounds like they’re going to do the same with Dan Vladar. As good as Vladar’s season was, it’s an outlier in his career so far, so investing in him long-term at this juncture is a big risk. There’s a lot to like about Philly’s future, but I wonder if pivoting to a playoff team so soon may stagnate them as a really good playoff team rather than a Cup contender, similar to the Nashville Predators over the past two decades – and they even had superstar defensemen and an elite goalie.
ANTHONY TRUDEAU: Even as a long-suffering Flyers fan, I can acknowledge that Philadelphia is the farthest series winner from really contending. Still, Tocchet, Vladar, and a talented stable of wingers should give them a decent floor next season in what remains a weak Metropolitan Division. I’m more concerned about the Sabres’ staying power in the Atlantic, which will have one fewer playoff spot up for grabs when the Florida Panthers are back to full strength. If Buffalo makes an emotional decision to re-up veteran power forward Alex Tuch with an eight-figure AAV instead of making room for talented rookies Noah Ostlund or Konsta Helenius to take over full-time roles, their books will become very dicey with playoff standout Zach Benson due for an important extension. If the Sabres smash the piggy bank for Tuch before they can identify a right-sided defensive stopper, their run-and-gun style will only go as far as their goalies can take it. Are they that confident in the high-ceiling, low-floor tandem of Ukko-Pekka Luukonen and Alex Lyon? The goalie market isn’t exactly teeming with obvious improvements.
PAUL PIDUTTI: While the Flyers are the easy choice, I’ll go off the board and choose the Anaheim Ducks. To be clear, the concern isn’t that GM Pat Verbeek isn’t building a contending team — it’s that their first-round victory against the banged-up Oilers has escalated expectations way too quickly. It’s easy to forget the Ducks had just 92 points in a truly awful division — that type of total hasn’t qualified for the postseason since 2019. Anaheim has waves of budding talent, they’ve built valuable confidence this season, and their division figures to stay bad again. But they were 29th in goals against, struggled on both special teams, were middle-of-the-pack in expected goal share, and Lukas Dostal took a step backward in goal this season. If they continue to struggle defensively again next year and get impatient in their rebuild, the next step to being legitimate contenders could easily stall in 2026-27.
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