NHL Season Predictions 2025-26 (Western Conference)

My final playoff predictions and Stanley Cup matchup will also be at the end of this piece followed by the awards. I’ll also start posting the aforementioned monthly guides for team trends as we go through the ebb and flow of the season.

Some other things to note before the season begins:

1. The Salary Cap Loophole has been closed. Salary cap rules that exist in the regular season will now apply to the playoffs as well. This means teams can’t shelf players on the LTIR all season long to avoid an overspending penalty and acquire more big time players at the deadline. The league is finally on a level playing field. Florida and Vegas fans are punching air right now as a result.

2. The Olympics are back! From February 6th-24th, 2026, there will be no NHL hockey games. Instead, most players from around the league will be representing their countries and playing for Gold in Milan, Italy. The 4Nations Faceoff was a little glimpse into what these Winter Olympics will be like, and I’m over the moon about it. Keep in mind that many star players won’t be getting a break, and they’ll be playing straight through from October to June.

3. My predictions are as unbiased and objective as possible. I may be wrong, but I try to be right. My goal is to be accurate, honest, and never outlandish. Enjoy!

Central Division

1. Dallas Stars (C1) - President’s Trophy Winner

The shining Dallas Stars were once again thwarted in the Western Conference Finals. They’ve been bested twice in a row by Edmonton and once by Vegas before that. This franchise has historically been competitive almost every year, yet they consistently come up just short. Last year’s deadline move to acquire Mikko Rantanen proved to be one of the best deals of the season, and that’s ironic considering how awful that deal worked out for Carolina just a few weeks prior. This year, the chemistry and the lines have had plenty of time to smoothen out. Their offense now has more options beside the amazing LW Jason Robertson, and young players like C Wyatt Johnston and Oskar Back are primed for even more production. Not enough can be said about their defense and star goaltender Jake Oettinger either. In all honesty, what’ll help Dallas the most is not having Pete Deboer coaching the team. They’re a bit of a glass cannon this year, and they’ve dished out many of their draft picks for “win now” players. They have one shot. Make it count.

2. Winnipeg Jets (C2)

The reigning President’s Trophy winners learned the lesson of winning the cursed trophy the hard way. A team that was riding an all-time high and coming off the best season in franchise history came crashing down in the Second Round against Dallas. G Connor Hellebuyck is the best in the league for a reason, and he won both the Hart Trophy (MVP) and the Vezina Trophy (Best Goalie) last season. Unfortunately, he has Auston Matthews Syndrome and disappears in the playoffs when the team needs him most. He will be without his trusty backup Eric Comrie to start the season, but I’m not worried. Their sturdy Captain Adam Lowry will also start the season on the limp. The Jets also lost some key Forwards like Nikolaj Ehlers and Mason Appleton in free agency, but sometimes losing guys like that actually helps. The team averaged a 4th-best 3.35 goals/game last season, but they had too many options. They shared the puck too often and didn’t take enough shots. I’d like to see this team run their offense through a few guys and have everyone else create space for them. That will be their recipe for success.

3. Colorado Avalanche (C3)

The Avs have made the playoffs every year since 2018, but apart from that lone Cup Title in 2022, they’ve been perennial First or Second Round exits. You can blame most of the losses on having a team full of old, injury-prone veterans that couldn’t keep up with the young bucks. Those vets also weighed down the salary cap, and if it wasn’t for C Nathan MacKinnon and D Cale Makar, this team wouldn’t have stood a chance. That was the past, though, and last year was a different story. They dumped franchise cornerstone Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes and acquired some solid roleplayers in return. Their roster was a lot younger, leaner, and deeper going into these playoffs, yet they still lost in the First Round to Dallas. Something has to give. They have some great forward depth in young Centers like Marty Necas and Jack Drury to play alongside MacKinnon, but then they went out and got 40-year old D Brent Burns from free agency. He’s a legend in his own right, but do they not see the pattern? The Avs best hopes are to be anchored by their tandem of goalies (The Lumberyard) and to just keep scoring goals. This team is way overhyped on the books once again, but I can see them contending after future trades.

4. St. Louis Blues (WC1)

The Blues were the team that surprised me the most last year. I thought they’d be hovering around the WC2 spot and ultimately come up short, but they cleared that threshold via tiebreaker over Calgary. Then they went on to give Winnipeg a very tough First Round series and were literally seconds away from eliminating them. This offseason, St. Louis renovated their roster by only getting younger. You won’t immediately recognize the impact of bringing in a guy like C Pius Suter unless you watch hockey on a degenerate level like I do, but he’s coming off his best season yet in Vancouver. He’s a reliable player, and I believe he’ll work well alongside other stars like C Robert Thomas and LW Jake Neighbours to help create more goalscoring opportunities. The defense is a bit antiquated, but if G Jordan Bennington keeps playing like he has been, then they’ll be just fine. Despite the low expectations for this team by the media, I think they’ll repeat much of last year’s success. They’re scrappy.

5. Minnesota Wild (WC2)

Am I basic for choosing all the same teams from last year’s playoffs to go back again? Or are they just that much better than everyone else? Apart from soccer, hockey typically offers the longest-lasting windows of any sport. When you’re good, you’re usually good for a long time. When you suck, you really suck for a long time. They Wild sucked for a long time, but they’ve had a string of good runs in recent years. Of course, those runs haven’t amounted to anything, but a trip to the playoffs is a trip nonetheless. Minnesota’s record-breaking contract for LW Kirill “The Thrill” Kaprizov is probably still warm from the printer, and he will earn $17 Million per year for the next eight years. That may weigh down the salary cap a lot, but a move like that lets other players know they’re invested in their cornerstones. It’ll surely attract some new free agents over the years, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Minnesota’s roster looks nearly identical to last year’s. They consistently do enough to get to the playoffs but not enough to get over the top. They have their Top 3 lines and starting goalie figured out. That’s a solid foundation.

6. Utah Mammoth

The NHL is a copycat league. Ringless franchises like the Mammoth (formerly Coyotes) attempt to replicate what teams like the Panthers and Lightning have done in the past, but I don’t see it working how they wanted it to. Their current product looks more like that of the Oilers: Forward heavy, lackluster defense, and makeshift goaltending. Unfortunately, these guys are nowhere near as experienced as Edmonton’s top players. Even if they were, we’ve seen the Oilers bow to the more well-rounded Panthers twice now. Utah is home to some of my favorite players in the league like C Logan Cooley and Clayton Keller, and the new addition of RW J.J. Peterka will surely take some weight off their shoulders. The rest of the team though… sheesh. There is a steep dropoff from the Top 2 lines, and the defensive pairings are either old and slow or young and inexperienced. It’s not my ideal setup. The Mammoth are receiving a lot of hype and currently have the 5th best odds to win the division. Unfortunately, I’m not buying it. I’m sure they’ll score a lot of goals, but in the big picture of the season, it’s not sustainable.

7. Nashville Predators

I’ve talked a lot about the Preds over the past year, and I’ve not always had good things to say. This team had credible high hopes last year but completely fell flat the minute the first puck hit the ice. Their offense was atrocious: finishing second to last in the NHL for goals scored (214), and even that was just barely higher than the last place Sharks (210). Their -60 goal differential was also third worst in the league. Their aggressive moves to pursue big name free agents like C Steven Stamkos and D Brady Skjei seemed to only produce thistles and thorns. Their massive contracts gave this front office no wiggle room, and their lack of production scared off any possible trade partners. They’re stuck. Nashville is completely lost in the woods, and I haven’t seen them propose a way out. There may not be. You can fire your coach, but why? It won’t make the team any better, and in the end you’re just pinning all the blame on one guy. The Preds will have to fight for every point this year, and getting any sort of offense going will be a significant step up. Until then, they will continue to tread water in this cutthroat league.

8. Chicago Blackhawks

Well like I said, when you suck, you suck for a long time. Gone are the days of Patrick “Showtime” Kane, Patrick Sharp, and Jonathan Toews wearing Blackhawks sweaters, and Chicago ushers in a new era with C Connor Bedard and No. 3 overall pick Anton Frondell at the helm. Bedard has recently drawn a lot of fan ire due to his lack of production and leadership qualities, and some speculate that he’ll be pushed to the wayside for Frondell to be the real player of tomorrow. This team has only made playoffs once since 2018, and the last five seasons have all yielded a below .500 record. Practically no free agents want to play for this team, and many won’t even take an overinflated salary to do so. Not even hiring new HC Jeff Blashill attracted any interest. I’m not even taking the time to talk about their defense or checking lines. It’s abysmal. However, I have always been a big fan of G Spencer Knight, and acquiring him from Florida last year sped up this rebuild by a year or two. His backup (Arvid Soderblom) is steadily improving as the years go on. It is still a long road to recovery for this team.

Pacific Division

1. Vegas Golden Knights (P1)

The Knights snuck past the Kings and ailing Oilers last season to capture their third Pacific Division title in the last five seasons. They also proudly donned the best offense, goal differential, and against the spread percentage in that whole division. It was a bit surprising to see considering how their best players are consistently on the LTIR, but now that the NHL closed that loophole, we might see guys like RW Mark Stone on the ice more often as a result. They offer a superstar-studded cast of players like Centers Ivan Barbashev, Jack Eichel, and Tomas Hertl, Defencemen Noah Hanafin and Shea Theodore, and now, “Frickin’ Marner.” RW Mitch Marner left his longtime Maple Leafs for greener pastures (and a much larger contract) in Las Vegas. Many expect him to be a franchise-altering player for a Knights team that has never known failure. Since this expansion team entered the league in 2017, they’ve appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals more times (x2) than they’ve missed the playoffs (x1). What makes you think they’re taking a step back? They have a great coach, two stout goaltenders, and four solid lines.

2. Edmonton Oilers (P2)

It’s desperation time for HC Kris Knoblauch’s mighty Oilers. They’ve lost the Stanley Cup Finals two years in a row to the same team (Panthers), and last year’s effort was worse than the first one. Many key players like Evander Kane, Viktor Arvidsson, Connor Brown, Corey Perry, and Jeff Skinner have found new homes for the 2025-26 season. Edmonton is either shedding as much cap space as possible to re-sign Captain Connor McDavid, or they’re giving up and trying to save a few bucks in the process. By the looks of it, it may be neither. They strongly believe in the young players they have to make an impact, and new additions like LW Andrew Mangiapane will be a nice veteran presence. They re-signed D Evan Bouchard to a massive extension, and I’m wondering why? He supplies one of the most powerful slapshots in the league, but he hardly plays any defense. Isn’t that his job? He also is towards the top of the league in giveaways when he should be leading in takeaways. This might be Edmonton’s last ditch effort to win a title.

3. Los Angeles Kings (P3)

Have you ever seen the movie Cars? The Knights and Oilers are much like The King and Lightning McQueen, while the Kings are Chick Hicks. In recent years, they’ve been knocking on the door only to have it slammed in their face by Edmonton four times in a row. It must be infuriating for them. LA is consistently one of the better teams (and particularly defenses) in the league, but they can’t get past the First Round. This isn’t to take away from their previous success, but they haven’t won a single playoff series since their last Championship in 2014. HC Jim Hiller’s scheme is a frustrating style of hockey like no other, and that’s probably why this team has enjoyed such a long window. They take away your options and force bad shots to the outside. It works like a charm and gives their goalies free saves. Their offense is a bit undersupplied due to their lack of speed and also having a defensive-minded approach, but they can grind out close games. That doesn’t work in the playoffs against high-octane offenses like Edmonton, though, as we’ve seen. This is also sadly Captain Anze Kopitar’s last season before retirement.

4. Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks had a fun little victory parade when they won the Pacific Division title in 2023-24 against all odds. The fun ended when Edmonton eliminated them in the Second Round, and this team once again slid into obscurity. Injuries and locker room in-fighting kept them well out of the playoffs last year, and the drama didn’t stop there. Their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford won the Calder Cup (AHL Finals) this past summer. Immediately after that, they traded their Championship-winning goalie Arturs Silovs to the Penguins at peak value. Is that not the most Canucks thing ever? Their two NHL goalies are Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen, and they are two very good players when healthy. Unfortunately, these guys spend more time on the IR than do on the ice. Their superstar is D Quinn Hughes, and the rest of these players take a backseat to him in terms of skill. Adding LW Evander Kane may be a boost, but I wouldn’t be too optimistic about this team. They’re a complacent franchise that refuses to spend. 4th place is about right.

5. Anaheim Ducks

I take it that the Ducks are tired of being the league’s punching bag. Since 2019, this team has been downright awful: zero seasons with a positive record and subsequently zero playoff appearances. Their draft picks were not developing, and many of them wanted out before their first contracts expired. Enter Joel Quinneville. A great coach but a horrible person. You can look up the context for yourself if you don’t already know. I’ve mentioned it in these write-ups before too. While HC Paul Maurice enjoys the fame and recognition for the Panthers’ success, it was actually Quinneville who built that team. He was caught up in a scandal in 2021, got banned from the league, and now Maurice inherits the credit. Such is life. Now he takes over a team that has no idea what they’re doing, and honestly Mites Leagues play more organized hockey than they do. That’s about to change. Coach Q is going to get the very best out of these players like he did during that Blackhawks dynasty. Scandal aside, the fact of the matter is that he’s coaching again. Teams will be sure to not mark Anaheim off their calendars anymore.

6. Calgary Flames

I was very high on Calgary until a few weeks ago. They rallied to be the first team out of the playoffs last year, and that was only because they lost the tiebreaker to St. Louis. They won 41 games and registered 94 points on the year, but it still wasn’t enough. Much of their success should be attributed to their young goaltender, Dustin Wolf. This guy is awesome. Last season alone he won 29 games (with 3 shutouts) and finished with a .910 save percentage. That was tied for 9th-best in the entire NHL. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get much offensive help due to an aging Forward room and an overall lack of effort. I get what people are saying about them, which is why I have them in 6th place, but I believe the hate is mostly forced. They’re a good team when they want to be, but they don’t have the depth to sustain a good run. They have a lot of old players with tapering production, and their young guys are too young to really make an impact yet. This season can either go really well or really badly for the Flames. I like their upside more than the alternative, but if this season goes awry early, you’ll see some of their bigger names traded away.

7. Seattle Kraken

Now here’s an expansion team that did not follow the blueprint for success. Instead of doing what their division rival Golden Knights did, the Kraken decided to take a lot of old, high-salary players in the expansion draft instead. Vegas poached young talent that was left unprotected and used them for trade leverage, but Seattle did the exact opposite. They had a good playoff run in their sophomore season, but it’s been a disaster ever since. The Kraken like to hover around .500 and that’s about as good as it gets. They have a few good players like C Matty Beniers and LW Jared McCann scattered throughout the lineup, but there isn’t much in between. There’s no glue to this team. They just kind of exist. G Philipp Grubauer has continued to get worse each year, and that leaves Joey Daccord to do much of the work in the crease. It rarely ever goes well. This team has vowed to keep fighting and punching a brick wall with bare hands to avoid a rebuild, but sometimes you need to let go. I expect them to duke it out with the other .500 hopefuls once again, but they’d be smart to try their hand in the Gavin McKenna draft lottery.

8. San Jose Sharks

Save the best for last, eh? My lowly Sharks will likely be basement dwellers once again in this very top-heavy Western Conference. We’ve made it very obvious that that’s the goal. In fact, we had to take on the salary for a guy that hasn’t played in three years (Carey Price) just to hit the salary floor. For reference, that’s the opposite of a salary cap, and it forces teams to not entirely through their seasons away for dirt cheap. I will say we have some great young players like C Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Michael Misa, and RW Collin Graf, who are all under the age of 24. There’s also a great young goaltender named Yaroslav Ashkarov who did quite well for the AHL affiliate Barracuda. The Sharks overall had a very good draft, and the future is looking bright. But like I said, when you suck, you suck for a long time. That’s just the way it goes. I do think they’ll also try their hand for Gavin McKenna, although it’s rare for a team to win multiple draft lotteries in a single stretch. 7th place should be our goal, and I’m excited to see us back in action. The offseason was way too long. “Why not us?”

Playoff Picture

(C1) Dallas Stars vs. (WC2) Minnesota Wild

(C2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (C3) Colorado Avalanche

(P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (WC1) St. Louis Blues

(P2) Edmonton Oilers vs. (P3) Los Angeles Kings

In The Hunt

Vancouver Canucks

Anaheim Ducks

Utah Mammoth

First Round

(C1) Dallas Stars vs. (WC2) Minnesota Wild -> Stars

(C2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (C3) Colorado Avalanche -> Jets

(P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (WC1) St. Louis Blues -> Knights

(P2) Edmonton Oilers vs. (P3) Los Angeles Kings -> Oilers (Lol, sorry Kings)

Second Round

(C1) Dallas Stars vs. (C2) Winnipeg Jets -> Jets

(P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (P2) Edmonton Oilers -> Oilers

Conference Finals

(C2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (P2) Edmonton Oilers -> Jets

Stanley Cup Finals

(M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (C2) Winnipeg Jets

Here we go. The old time hockey matchup of the century: fast, physical, net-crashing offenses complemented by aggressive poke checking and strong man-to-man defenses. Both of these teams also carry very good Penalty Killing units and a Power Play unit that has room to grow as well. What will benefit these teams most is actually adjusting their offense. Carolina should make the adjustments to find more quality shots, while Winnipeg should strive to take their first look. Sometimes it’s the best one you’ll get all night. Both of these teams have some of the best coaches around, and with elite players at their disposal, I think those adjustments will be made.

Outside of Florida, Vegas, and Edmonton, not many other teams are completed with four solid lines, two goalies, a mastermind HC, and a front office that cares. Those are your teams in the mix. Sure, teams like Dallas, Colorado, and Tampa are right there with them, but I can’t bank on teams to make hypothetical moves in the future. I’m riding with the two that are long overdue for a Stanley Cup Finals appearance. I think goalies Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg) and Frederik Anderson (Carolina) will finally get over the hump even if this year is the only time they do. With that being said, I’m turning back the clock to my 2023-24 predictions and picking the Carolina Hurricanes to win it all and capture their first title since 2006. With the playoff salary cap loophole finally being closed, teams will be forced to make the most of their current roster. This allows Carolina to finally get back at Florida on a level playing field. No more under the table trades and deals. Hockey has returned to a gentlemen’s game, and the gentlemen will go home champions.

Awards

Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP)

Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)

Vezina Trophy (Best Goalie)

Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Ted Lindsay Award (Outstanding Player via NHLPA)

Mikko Rantanen (Dallas Stars)

James Norris Memorial Trophy (Best Defenceman)

Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche)

Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year)

Ivan Demidov (Montreal Canadiens)

Frank J. Selke Trophy (Forward with best Defensive Ability)

Tom Wilson (Washington Capitals)

Conn Smythe Trophy (Finals MVP)

Nikolaj Ehlers (Carolina Hurricanes)

Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year)

Rod Brind’Amour (Carolina Hurricanes)