The NHL 2025-2026 season begins Tuesday with Florida Panthers seeking a third straight Stanley Cup success and Edmonton Oilers looking for vengeance after suffering consecutive losses in the finals.
Paul Maurice took up the mantle for the Panthers to help them achieve back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, with last year’s final series concluding 4-2.
Nate Schmidt moves to the Utah Mammoth after a 14-assist postseason and Seth Jones will play his first regular season for the Florida after four years with the Blackhawks.
Carolina Hurricanes enter the fray with a bolstered roster, adding forwards Nikolaj Ehlers (Winnipeg) and Givani Smith (Colorado), along with defenseman K’Andre Miller from the New York Rangers.
They start as market leaders, along with the Oilers, to take the Stanley Cup trophy this year.
The Panthers’ preseason has been shaky, meaning Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning have overtaken them as favorites to win the 2025/2026 Stanley Cup, especially with their newer acquisitions.
The Golden Knights have experience in taking on tough competition in the postseason, as we saw with their 2023 championship run over the (future) two-time defending Stanley Cup champions of Florida.
They’ve acquired Canadian National team player Mitch Marner from Toronto Maple Leafs, who will pair well with Jack Eichel in the center.
Vegas’ defensive line of Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo made for some of the most consistent defensive play, arguably making up the best blue line in the NHL regular season.
Adin Hill was crucial to the 2023 Stanley Cup-winning season and was one of the most solid goaltenders in the league last season, allowing just 2.47 goals per game. Ilya Samsonov and Akira Schmid will enter as backup throughout the season, both as experienced goalies.
Staying healthy will be the forefront of the team’s success and Mark Stone returns to continue captaining his team once again this season.
He, Marner, and Eichel will be absolute star-power for VGK’s offensive line this season.
Edmonton took home the Western Conference last season after defeating the Stars 4-1.
Aside from the returning star power of Rocket Richard trophy winner Leon Draisaitl, who had 52 goals and 54 assists in the 2024-2025 regular season, and Connor McDavid, who tallied 100 points last year, July signings Riley Stillman (Panthers) and Andrew Mangiapane (Capitals) add to the Oilers’ talented lineup.
Evan Bouchard was one of the leading defenseman in points last season with 14 goals and 53 assists, and forms a strong defensive unit with Matias Ekholm.
Darnell Nurse is always available to put in plenty of minutes per shift and was crucial to the team’s 78.2% of penalty kills last season.
Matt Thomkins (Lightning) now joins goaltenders Calvin Pickard and Stuart Skinner, who both showcased a save percentage of around .900 each last season.
The Oilers have suffered two consecutive Stanley Cup Finals losses to the Panthers under Kris Knoblauch, but he’s played an integral role in the team’s success since joining in 2023.
There’s certainly a case for the Oilers making another championship run this season, but they may fall short of reaching the Stanley Cup finals due to the strength of the Golden Knights, as mentioned above.
McDavid’s last regular and postseason performances were nothing less than impeccable, scoring 26 goals and 74 assists.
Pairing with 2024-2025 NHL top goalscorer Draisaitl, the duo returns this season with their eyes set on a run to the finals.
As a center, McDavid’s ability to influence games, defensively and offensively, with a particularly unique talent to break down opposing defensive lines.
While he’s got Nathon MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov, along with his own teammate Draisaitl, to compete against, McDavid has gone five seasons in a row with 100+ points, and is no stranger to claiming the Hart trophy after his performances in 2017, 2021, and 2023 (with 153 points on the season).
His consistency is unmatched,and when combined with Draisaitl and the fact that the Oilers are hungry for their first Stanley Cup trophy since 1990 and have come so close yet so far to doing so, you can expect McDavid to turn heads again this season.
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
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