We’ve all heard the saying “pressure makes diamonds,” right?
Well, for an NHL general manager, there is no greater pressure than from the moment their team gets eliminated until the off-season wraps up.
In that time frame, 31 general managers are trying to solve the puzzle to win the Stanley Cup. For some, the pressure isn’t on the team to win right now but instead setting them up for the future. For others, well, they needed to win yesterday and are scrambling to make the right finishing touches.
Here are some NHL teams facing more pressure than usual this summer, whether trying to find immediate success or setting up for a longer-term payoff.
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Chicago Blackhawks
It’s shocking the Blackhawks aren’t being talked about more when it comes to the amount of pressure the franchise is facing this off-season. GM Kyle Davidson was hired in October 2021 and tasked with tearing down the pillars of a dynasty that featured Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
So far, it hasn’t turned out great. Davidson moved on from Kane and Toews in the 2022-23 season and committed to the full rebuild, but it’s been the other moves that have led us to where the Blackhawks are today. Davidson traded away young players such as Brandon Hagel and Alex DeBrincat and didn’t send a qualifying offer to Dylan Strome for $3.6 million, letting walk as a UFA and receiving nothing in return.
Frankly, the best thing to happen to Davidson and the Hawks was the 2023 lottery that moved them from third to first and allowed them to draft a franchise-altering player in Connor Bedard.
Chicago’s lack of success in pushing the rebuild forward hasn’t been for lack of trying. It’s no secret Davidson took a run at Jake Guentzel but lost out to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Look, we’re always open to exploring these things, but it’s got to be right. It’s got to make sense. We can’t do something that’s going to be counter to the path that we’ve set out on. If there is a big move that presents itself, that makes sense, then I’m all for exploring that and pursuing something that does make sense,” Davidson told The Athletic.
The Hawks are still developing a pool of prospects they’ve been drafting, but the time has come for them to add a big fish. With $29.2 million in cap space and Bedard sorely needing an established winger at his side, pressure is beginning to mount in Chicago.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs won their first division title over a full NHL season in 25 years, they took out the Senators in the first Battle of Ontario since 2004, and went the distance in a seven-game series against the defending Stanley Cup champions, yet the season was a disappointment for the team and its fans.
Off-season pressure is nothing new for this team as it tries to piece together its first Stanley Cup winner since 1967, but this year is a little bit different. The organization parted ways with president Brendan Shanahan and superstar Mitch Marner is set to become a free agent — they were both central figures in the team’s plan over the past decade. Meanwhile GM Brad Treliving said the “DNA needs to change” with this group.
Whether that means adding players like Sam Bennett or Brad Marchand this summer, or doing something else entirely, Treliving is heading into his third off-season with the Maple Leafs and it’s time to see what his vision is for the team to get over the hump in 2026.
Vancouver Canucks
After showing so much promise in 2023-24, the Canucks were a complete mess in 2024-25.
Just 13 months ago, this team took the Edmonton Oilers to Game 7 in the second round and looked like a legit Stanley Cup contender that could win as soon as this season. With a core of J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, Brock Boeser and Rick Tocchet as the head coach, the future looked so bright.
But we were all fooled.
Now there is no Miller or Tocchet, and Boeser is about to leave in free agency for nothing. Plus, there are two more years until Hughes can become a UFA, so there is pressure on the team to show it can contend before then and plenty of Canucks fans are fearful of what may happen with their superstar defenceman if the team doesn’t bounce back. After all, Hughes’ two brothers both play together in New Jersey.
This might be the most pressure the Canucks have ever faced going into a summer, but with the right moves it could all dissipate by next spring.
New York Rangers
Just like the Canucks, the Rangers went from a terrific season that saw them win the Presidents’ Trophy and reach the Eastern Conference Final, to an awful 2024-25.
Recent failures have made the Rangers open for business.
“The Rangers are considering an awful lot of things,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported. “After the season they had last year, there are very few things that are off the table.”
GM Chris Drury has his work cut out for him, and with only $8.4 million cap space this summer, he will need to work some magic to keep pending RFAs Will Cuylle and K’Andre Miller and retool an aging core. Long-time Ranger Chris Kreider is a likely trade candidate, with a deal to Anaheim reportedly being worked on.
The appears to be closing, and it’s Drury’s job to make sure it opens back up again.
Detroit Red Wings
Tensions are high in Detroit.
The team failed to make the post-season for a ninth-straight year, setting a franchise record. GM Steve Yzerman has been running this team since 2019 and while he’s made attempts to push the Red Wings ahead, the on-ice performance hasn’t translated.
The Red Wings were right in the thick of an Eastern Conference race for the playoffs this season, but captain Dylan Larkin felt the front office let the team down by not being more active at the trade deadline.
“We didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline, and guys were kind of down about it. So, it’d be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and a morale boost as well,” Larkin said at his end-of-season media availability.
Yzerman responded to Larkin’s criticism.
“I would point out two teams, in Montreal and St. Louis, who at the trade deadline were sitting outside of a playoff spot. Neither team did anything,” Yzerman said to the media. “They both ended up making the playoffs, led by their best players.”
For six years now the Red Wings have moulded to the ‘Yzerplan’ but now there is some doubt how well it’s all coming together. Only a massive and exciting off-season will be able to turn the tide.
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings had a great regular season, especially at home, where they posted a league-best .805 points percentage with a record of 31-6-4. But the same home crowd that watched them dominate in the regular season had to watch them bow out in Round 1 against Edmonton for the fourth year in a row.
Ever since the horn rang to end Game 6 the Kings have felt the pressure and will continue to feel it the whole summer as they try to answer the question: Where do we go now?
It took three days for the Kings and former GM Rob Blake to mutually part ways, paving the way for former Oilers GM Ken Holland to be hired on May 14 (isn’t it fitting?). With $21.71 million in cap space this summer and key free agents Tanner Jeannot and Vladislav Gavrikov set to walk July 1, Holland will be tasked with the Kings’ biggest off-season in recent memory.
And with his track record of swinging for the fences, Holland will be game to take a big cut at turning Los Angeles back into a championship city.
Minnesota Wild
It’s a big summer in Minneapolis. Not only is this the off-season when the most punishing years of the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyout penalties are lifted off the books, GM Bill Guerin also has to work on re-signing his superstar forward who is set to be the second-biggest UFA in 2026.
Eligible to sign an extension on July 1, Kirill Kaprizov could become the talk of the summer if he doesn’t come to terms before training camp. Although this is the most important storyline for the Wild, Guerin believes they will figure it out.
“I’m very confident we’re going to get a deal done with Kirill,” Guerin said in an interview with The Minnesota Star Tribune. “He really loves this market and this team. I think he feels that we’re going in the right direction. He’s got a good relationship with John (Hynes). He’s got a good relationship with me, and it’s just a matter of working through it.”
With more money to spend on a team that has made the playoffs in five of the past six years without any series wins, Guerin will be under more pressure than he’s ever felt before as a GM to take the Wild to the next level.
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Buffalo Sabres
Kevyn Adams’ days look to be numbered in Buffalo and the recent hiring of Jarmo Kekalainen as senior advisor means there’s someone else with GM experience now in the front office. But if Adams can finally right this ship and get the Sabres back to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years, the recent failures will be forgotten.
It’s been a miserable decade-and-a-half for the Sabres players and fans. Adams has been in charge of the team since 2020, so some are surprised that he’s remaining as the team’s GM after a seventh place finish in the Atlantic Division.
But the Sabres do have some valuable pieces on the roster, even though on-ice success hasn’t been delivered yet. Players such as Bowen Byram and J.J. Peterka would command a big return if traded, but of course the challenge would be to trade them for a return that would push Buffalo forward. Too often former Sabres have gone on to have greater success elsewhere .
In an Atlantic Division that only seems to be getting better by the day, the Sabres have been left behind. Whether Adams makes smart moves by adding more NHL-ready players via trades or free agency, or goes the complete opposite direction and doubles down on this roster, one thing is for sure: There isn’t a hotter seat than the one he’s sitting on right now.
Carolina Hurricanes
For most organizations, reaching the Conference Final would be a success.
But for the Hurricanes, who have been there three times in the past seven years and managed to win just one game, their latest failure brought only frustration. And once again, it was the lack of “superstar” talent that seemed to end Carolina’s season.
GM Eric Tulsky has already proven he’s not afraid to make a blockbuster trade to land a superstar, and with an owner like Tom Dundon who wants to win now, the Hurricanes will have internal pressure to get over the Conference Final hump and win another Stanley Cup.
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Honourable mentions: Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators
If the Winnipeg Jets had an average 2024-25, nobody would be talking about pressure. But winning the Presidents’ Trophy has increased expectations heading into next season as fans now see a Stanley Cup window that’s wide open. It’s unlikely the team will be able to re-sign Nikolaj Ehlers, set to depart as a free agent, but GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will be expected to improve his roster anyway and find upgrades he was unable to do at the trade deadline.
Meantime, the Nashville Predators spent $111 million on four players last July and were regarded as the team that “won the summer.” But when they started the 2024-25 season 0-5, everything quickly spiralled and the Predators finished 28 points short of the playoffs.
Now, GM Barry Trotz has the chance to hit the reset button and fix the mistakes he made, but the expectation to win will not subside in 2025-26.
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