It was a relatively uninteresting NHL offseason. The free-agent class was one of the weakest in years, and the trade market was close to non-existent. That means there was a general lack of movement around the league, making it difficult for many teams to improve their rosters to the level they wanted to. Still, some organizations got creative enough to find ways to bolster their rosters heading into the 2025-26 season. Which teams look to be the most improved as rookie and training camps get underway?
It’s never a quiet offseason in Vegas, is it? Granted, the Golden Knights didn’t do much besides add Mitch Marner, but we’re talking about a 100-point scorer here. Marner’s play alone is worth about 2-3 wins per season. He’s a game-breaking talent that most teams would love to have, despite the narrative around his playoff performances.
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The Golden Knights wouldn’t have made this list if it weren’t for Marner, because Jeremy Lauzon and Colton Sissons won’t move the needle much, if at all. But Marner is that good, and perhaps getting out of the pressure cooker that is the Toronto media market could do him well in the postseason.
The Carolina Hurricanes always find ways to make things happen in free agency or the trade market. Although they made only two additions to their NHL roster, both were significant. They acquired K’Andre Miller in a trade with the New York Rangers and signed Nikolaj Ehlers — the top UFA in the 2025 class — to a six-year contract worth $8.5 million per year.
Acquiring a game-breaking scorer has been hard to come by for the Hurricanes over the last half-decade that they’ve been contenders. They couldn’t keep Jake Guentzel around on a long-term deal after acquiring him at the 2024 trade deadline, and Mikko Rantanen spent barely two months with the team before they flipped him at the 2025 trade deadline.
Now, with Ehlers, they may have their game-breaking talent. He has had trouble staying healthy, but he is an impact scorer. Ehlers has averaged 26 goals and 68 points per 82 games over the last three seasons, and his play has been worth 1.9 wins per 82 games over that stretch. He’ll give the Hurricanes more rush ability and a different look that they’ve needed up front.
Miller is the wild card for the Hurricanes. His final season with the Rangers did not go well, but the Hurricanes’ defensive system should suit his skill set better than the Rangers’ did. If he breaks out and suddenly becomes a 1-2 win player, it adds another wrinkle to the Hurricanes’ roster. Overall, they’re about 2.4 wins better than they were a season ago, making them heavy favorites to win the Metro in 2025-26.
I was a fan of where the Utah Mammoth were headed, even before the offseason they had. But general manager Bill Armstrong did not hesitate to improve his team’s roster, and they could be among the newcomers in the NHL’s playoff race at the end of this season.
JJ Peterka was the Mammoth’s most notable acquisition this summer. He’s totaled 56 goals across the last two seasons and nearly hit the 70-point mark with the Buffalo Sabres in 2025-26. He needs to improve his defensive game, but there’s no doubt he’ll add some more scoring pop to the Mammoth’s top six.
Even the Mammoth’s depth additions look pretty solid. Nate Schmidt had a late-career resurgence with the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers last season, and should give the Mammoth a boost on their third defensive pair. Brandon Tanev may be losing a bit of steam, but he can probably still be an effective fourth-liner.
If the Mammoth are about 2.5 wins better this season, that would put them around the 94-95-point mark and on the cusp of a playoff spot in the West. But there’s potential for more if high draft picks like Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther continue to bud into some of the NHL’s best young stars.
It’s hard to be worse than the Sharks were last season, but a busy offseason from GM Mike Grier should have them in position to improve on the 52 points they totaled, and perhaps significantly. The Sharks were a tire fire defensively, but Dmitry Orlov, Nick Leddy and John Klingberg should give them much-needed NHL experience on the back end. Of course, they won’t turn the Sharks into a defensive juggernaut, but they shouldn’t be as porous a defensive team as they were a season ago.
Up front, Jeff Skinner has an opportunity to rebound alongside Macklin Celebrini or Will Smith after a disappointing season with the Edmonton Oilers. He signed a one-year contract this summer, so he’ll likely be playing elsewhere by the trade deadline, but there’s 20-goal upside if he’s playing alongside Celebrini or Smith.
By no means are the Sharks a playoff team, but they’re significantly better than they were a few months ago. How much of a jump they make in the standings will depend on how much better Celebrini, Smith and Yaroslav Askarov are, but pushing 70 points in the Pacific standings isn’t unreasonable.
It’s hard not to love what the Montreal Canadiens’ front office has done with their rebuild. They had another great offseason, and are arguably the most improved team in the NHL heading into the new season. Noah Dobson gives them a legit No. 2 defenseman, and Zach Bolduc was a sneaky good addition at center.
However, while the Canadiens may have improved the most personnel-wise this offseason, I wouldn’t expect them to be nearly five wins better next season. That would have them pushing for 100 points, and that will be a difficult task in an incredibly daunting Atlantic Division. They will need some internal improvement, especially at center. Even though they added Bolduc, they could be in trouble if he’s their No. 2 behind Nick Suzuki.
Furthermore, the Canadiens were one of the worst defensive teams in the league during the 2024-25 campaign. They allowed the second-most expected goals per 60 at five-on-five, so that will need to improve if they want to top the 91 points they totaled in the standings.
These aren’t the only teams that improved this summer, but because it was such a unique offseason that saw so little movement, most organizations improved on the margins. How that affects the 2025-26 season remains to be seen, but teams that missed out on the playoffs may have a harder time working their way up the standings because there were limited opportunities to improve their rosters.
Advanced stats from Evolving Hockey
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