(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Mammoth right wing Clayton Keller (9) as Utah takes on the Colorado Avalanche, NHL hockey in Salt Lake City on Tuesday Oct. 21, 2025.
A unique offseason has spilled over into a fascinating opening three weeks of the NHL season.
This past summer was unlike any other in recent memory, with nearly the entire league wanting to be buyers — a sign that the NHL’s recent hierarchy was in flux.
It is early, to be sure, so it’s important not to overreact. But through Monday, up-and-coming teams such as the Utah Mammoth, New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens were at the top of their respective divisions, and the Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Seattle Kraken and Chicago Blackhawks were trending up as well.
Change is in the air.
“The system is working the way it should work,” three-time reigning general manager of the year Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars told The Athletic this week. “These teams that have been doing a great job of drafting, they’ve done a good job of developing players and they’re getting better. And the teams that have been in the playoffs, we’re just trying to keep our teams together, but the cap comes into play. So it spreads the resources around.
“You’re going to have a tighter league. There’s no easy points out there. Everybody is better. The competitive balance has never been tighter.”
What we seem to be seeing is the overlap of rebuilding programs ready to take a step and existing programs not ready to give way yet. Something’s got to give.
“There’s a lot of teams like Anaheim, like us, like the Montreals of the world, that are pushing upward,” Utah Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong told The Athletic this week. “We’ve all got young guys that can push the pace. And they’re hungry. I think it’s really interesting for the league to have those games. Like us and Colorado last week (a 4-3 OT win for Utah), that early in the season on a Tuesday night, that’s the goodness of the league right now. Montreal’s walking into these places. We’re walking into these places. So is San Jose, even. They’re an exciting team.
“There’s a lot of youth excitement in the league. There’s a lot of teams pushing upward. There’s also a lot of teams trying to extend their windows, and they’re still very good teams. So it’s going to be a battle. It’s exciting.”
Established contenders like the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning are off to middling starts. Teams with playoff aspirations like the Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues and the New York Rangers look sluggish.
Even the two-time-defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are trying to survive with two of their top players out long-term. (Hint: They will indeed survive.)
And having said all that, last place in the Eastern Conference is just a point or two out of the last wild-card spot, depending on the day, so again, it’s still early, and parity is very much at play.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Mammoth center Kevin Stenlund (82) faces off against Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) as the Utah Mammoth host the Colorado Avalanche, NHL hockey in Salt Lake City on Tuesday Oct. 21, 2025.
But for several years now, the Tampa Bays and Dallases and Colorados of the world have used the regular season just to get their game in shape for the playoffs. That may not be a luxury this season with so many teams realistically knocking at the door.
“You have to be careful,” agreed Nill, whose club has a core that appears set to contend for several more years. “You get behind now, and it’s hard to make up points. One loss in October or November could cost you a playoff spot come April. That’s how tight the league is.
“These teams have all gotten better. You look at the young talent in the league now, it’s off the charts.”
What some team executives around the league believe we could see is fewer teams hitting the established range for potential contenders of 95 to 105 points, with a larger group of clubs in the range of 90 to 95. It could be a really wild finish in that case.
But at some point in December or January, some teams will also be having more honest conversations about where this season is headed.
Just because 25-plus teams were trying to be buyers last summer doesn’t mean 25-plus teams will be saying they’re still in the mix come January. The math suggests that can’t be the case.
The funny thing is, the team that most wanted to be sellers this past summer, the Pittsburgh Penguins, is off to a surprisingly good start. Odds are the Penguins will come back to earth at some point, although I would never bet against the ageless Sidney Crosby.
Regardless of how it all plays out, it feels like we’re in a very interesting time in the NHL as longtime contenders try to keep their windows open and rebuilding programs try to take that next step.
“Some teams have been good for so long, and some teams are getting better. At some point, there has to be a give somewhere,” Philadelphia Flyers GM Daniel Briere told The Athletic this week. “Not the whole league can be contenders. Maybe there’s a little bit of a shift coming. We’re in an interesting time of change.”
Briere’s rebuilding team is part of that, too, trying to push up.
And he could feel this moment coming.
“Absolutely,” Briere said. “I said that this summer when I was talking to teams. The prior couple of years, there were many teams that were clearly in rebuild mode and weren’t looking to acquire players that could help them in the moment. It was all about the future. This summer, other than maybe one or two teams, everyone was looking to get better.
“One of the things for me is that with the salary cap going up, that helps teams be more aggressive acquiring more contracts and having more space to deal with it. So I think that has something to do with it. And then, some of those teams that have been rebuilding for the last two, three, four years, at some point you want to see a little bit of an improvement. And that includes us. I’m not saying we’re a contender yet, but we want to start seeing some strides from our players while also keeping in mind we’re a young team and we’re still being careful with our future.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Mammoth right wing JJ Peterka (77) looks to shoot the puck as San Jose Sharks defenseman Nick Leddy (4) and San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) defend during first period at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
The Mammoth swung a big trade for JJ Peterka but otherwise were careful in free agency, adding the likes of Brandon Tanev and Nate Schmidt but not overdoing it.
Their window is opening, and the idea is to make sure a young core takes multiple swings at it over time. The sizzling start to the season suggests the Mammoth might be ready to indeed take that next step.
“If you’re a good team, or you’re going to become a good team, there are these moments where you can see it earlier,” Armstrong said. “That’s what we’re seeing right now, you know?
“Our goal is to make the playoffs. We’ve got to keep that focus. Nobody remembers two years from now how good your start was, right? They only remember if you made the playoffs.”
Meanwhile, the long-standing contenders remain all-in, and I would imagine the Oilers and Lightning and Maple Leafs, for instance, find their way. But it’s also worth remembering all three of those perennial contenders already don’t have their first-round pick next June.
They’re not alone. Dallas, Florida, Vegas and Colorado are also without a first-round pick in ’26. All worth it for teams trying to win it all. In the Stars’ case, when it’s part of getting Mikko Rantanen and getting him signed long-term to what now looks like a very, very reasonable contract in the new NHL salary landscape, you’re trading those assets all day long.
But what if one of these teams’ windows closes earlier than expected? The Leafs and Lightning, for example, also don’t have first-round picks in ’27, which is fine from their perspective because those programs intend to contend for a few more years yet.
Regardless of how it shakes out, it feels unmistakable that the 2025-26 season will be revealing in many ways about windows and ascents and descents with numerous teams around the NHL.
A changing of the guard, but some of the old guard aren’t ready to give way.
It promises to be fascinating theater.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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