32 bold predictions to open the 2026-27 NHL season

Making bold predictions is a little bit like signing up to throw darts at your local watering hole on a Wednesday night.

You will catch the rare bullseye, throw a few that land near the target and mix in a bunch that just make you look like you’ve been overserved.

Welcome to our 32 bold predictions for the 2026-27 NHL season:

1. The Ottawa Senators will knock off the Florida Panthers in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

How about that for the Ottawa’s first series win since 2017? It will come down to Linus Ullmark, but don’t sleep on the Sens’ top three D of Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub. Prettttty, pretty good.

2. Dylan Larkin will be traded to the Minnesota Wild before Christmas

It’s no secret the interest is mutual. After years of searching, a true No. 1 centre is right in front of the Wild, and GM Bill Guerin will present an offer that addresses more of Detroit’s immediate needs to get it done — just like he did for Quinn Hughes.

3. Bright spot in a dark year: Elias Pettersson will score 30 goals for the first time in three seasons

Unable to generate significant return to trade him, the only way out for EP40 is through, and he’ll pique interest now. He hasn’t had the best relationship with the Sedins, but perhaps this season is a great reset for all.

4. Four 18-year-olds from the 2026 NHL Draft class will stick for the season: San Jose’s Ivar Stenberg, Winnipeg’s Viggo Bjorck, New York’s Alberts Smits and Toronto’s Gavin McKenna

That’s more than the last two drafts combined. It’s Smits who is the most physically ready for the NHL grind, something the Rangers knew when they picked him.

5. Connor McDavid does not sign a contract extension in Edmonton next summer, when first eligible, and plays out 2027-28

My belief: Though undecided, if McDavid is ultimately changing teams, it won’t be via trade, as he won’t want to weaken the next team before his arrival. Think small sign-and-trade with a piece for his rights, similar to Mitch Marner.

6. The Seattle Kraken will win the 2027 NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select Landon DuPont from Michigan

Kraken GM Jason Botterill is a Michigan guy. He’s got work to do to reshape Seattle — and the best way to do that is to draft the top-end talent that the Kraken have failed to acquire in their short franchise history.

7. Macklin Celebrini will tie Connor McDavid as the third-youngest Hart Trophy winner in league history

It’s not down the line that Celebrini nips at McDavid’s heels, it’s right now that he takes on the mantle as best player in the world as the Sharks return to the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

8. Zayne Parekh and Simon Nemec each hit 45 points on the Calgary Flames’ blue line

The Flames are now well-positioned for the future with two dynamic 22-and-under defencemen. The rest of the team’s struggle to score is still real, but count on Calgary being one of the most active teams on the trade front in its last season at the Saddledome.

9. With a shot in the arm from rookie trigger man Porter Martone and a svelte Matvei Michkov, the Philadelphia Flyers will vault into a top-10 power play

They have finished 32nd in power-play efficiency four of the last five years.

10. The Anaheim Ducks will miss the playoffs

Forget the salary-cap structure and contracts. They said goodbye to John Carlson, Jacob Trouba, Radko Gudas and Olen Zellweger. No team survives that much turnover on one blue line in one summer.

11. Darren Raddysh will score fewer than 65 points; Raddysh will finish with 52 points in his first year on the Leafs’ blue line

It’s a regression for sure from the 70 that Raddysh put up last season with Tampa Bay. But, overall, it’s not a poor start and production certainly commensurate with his contract, given the league’s new pay scale.

12. John Tortorella is once again summoned as a late-season replacement, this time returning to where it all began — in Buffalo with the Sabres

He’ll be reunited with GM Jarmo Kekalainen in the place where he spent six seasons as an assistant. Full circle, indeed.

13. Montreal’s Sam Montembeault will be the first player traded in 2026-27

Just 18 months ago, Montembeault was Team Canada’s third goalie at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Jakub Dobes stole his job and now waiver exempt Jacob Fowler will emerge this season as the Habs’ goaltender of the present and future with 35-plus starts.

14. Boston’s JJ Peterka emerges as the best off-season pickup in 2026

Acquired on draft night for two first-round picks, Peterka is reunited with German head coach Marco Sturm and assistant Matt McIlvane, whom Peterka has known for nearly a decade. Peterka will notch a career-best 77 points. Remember, last year in Utah he had 25 goals without power-play time.

15. Regular-season regressions: Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Colorado

The latter two will still qualify for the playoffs, it just won’t go as swimmingly as last season. It’s the Penguins, though, that will struggle to find lightning in a bottle again.

16. The 16 playoff teams are …

Buffalo, Carolina, Florida, Montréal, New Jersey, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Washington; Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minnesota, San Jose, Utah, Vegas.

17. The Los Angeles Kings exceed all expectations and hit 103 points in the regular season

They get the patented Peter Laviolette bump in his first year. Artemi Panarin had his best season under Laviolette in New York, and the Kings are better supported down the middle from jump street. It’s not a perfectly constructed roster or a long-term solution, but it’s about trying to win now in L.A.

18. This will be Chris Drury’s final season as New York Rangers general manager

This feels like a big year in the Big Apple, Drury’s fifth as GM and 11th in the front office. He has a new boss in 32-year-old Quentin Dolan, son of MSG executive chairman James. Though Quentin Dolan and Drury have worked together for a few years, Dolan will have to ask the foundational questions most Rangers fans are pondering: Who are the Rangers? What’s their identity? And where do they go from here? None have a clear answer now.

19. Chicago Blackhawks will get more than 79.5 points

This year, the Hawks will take the same step forward the Sharks experienced last year — knocking on the door of 90 points, with a jam-packed United Center for meaningful March games. It’s not just captain Connor Bedard or the return of Patrick Kane, it’s Bowen Byram who is ready to step into the spotlight as a true No. 1 defenceman. It doesn’t hurt to have two stealth Calder candidates in Anton Frondell and Roman Kantserov, either.

20. Connor Hellebuyck will sit out his 33-year-old season and forfeit $7 million in salary

One of the most decorated goaltenders of all-time is also one of the most principled, confident and stubborn. Right now, it feels like there are only three solutions: 1. The Jets relent and reduce their ask; 2. Hellebuyck returns to Winnipeg; or 3. A massive injury or poor start changes a team’s dynamic.

21. After finally mandating a permanent EBUG position for all 32 teams, we’ll see more EBUG appearances than ever

Yes, teams will still prefer to summon a netminder from the AHL whenever possible, but it feels like goalie injuries are at an all-time high and teams won’t want to overexert or overextend a banged-up goaltender if they feel good about the EBUG who hangs around their team.

22. The Islanders’ Cal Ritchie will be the NHL’s breakout star of 2026-27

Very quietly, Ritchie collected 30 points in 65 games last season. He’ll more than double that using his elite Hockey IQ and work rate in his sophomore season, and provide a dynamism desperately required for the all-star weekend hosts.

23. Zach Werenski will dominate the 2026 trade deadline

Only once has the reigning Norris Trophy winner been traded (Erik Karlsson, in 2023) and it’s never happened with a player squarely in his prime like Werenski. He has complete control and one year left on his deal, but it’s a situation the Blue Jackets will be forced to address. Deadline day is March 1.

24. Devon Levi will lead the Edmonton Oilers on to the ice as starter for opening night of the playoffs

After wandering from Mikko Koskinen to Jack Campbell, Stuart Skinner, Tristan Jarry and Cal Pickard, the Oilers finally have something in the 24-year-old who just needed a change of scenery. Levi has earned rave reviews for his work ethic, which counts with team leadership.

25. The NHL and Friedkin Group will announce in December plans to expand to Austin, Texas, for the 33rd franchise

This is purely based on gut feel and not ‘inside’ info as the league still does not know yet which way this will go. Though Houston is a larger market, Austin is still quite big (and growing) and it fits the NHL playbook of being first-in-market like it was in Vegas.

26. The Utah Mammoth are quietly one of the most improved teams in the West

Playing in a sparkling (and unrecognizable) Delta Center, the additions of Swiss Army knife Vincent Trocheck and Anders Lee help vault the already scrappy Mammoth into their first window of contention.

27. Gavin McKenna will capture the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year

Rightfully call me a bit of a skeptic from his draft year, but McKenna’s outburst at the NHL level is the biggest reminder that environment matters in the scouting process. “He was playing with insurance salesmen last year at Penn State,” one NHL GM says. The Yukon kid is off and running now.

28. Auston Matthews goals: 48

It’s not the return to 60 goals that some Leafs fans are banking on, but Matthews appears to be healthier and more robust than the least two seasons when he had a combined 60.

29. Florida Panthers will have fewer than 107.5 points

There’s no doubt the Cats will be a force to be reckoned with. They have a chance to be one of the biggest, most bruising and disliked teams since the Broad Street Bullies. They’re also missing some elements — particularly in net, where their goaltending with Jacob Markstrom will be their Achilles heel.

30. The four division winners are …

Montréal, Carolina, Dallas, Edmonton. With a better and more focused start to the season under Mike Babcock, the Oilers will unbelievably capture their first division title since 1987.

31. In Alex Ovechkin’s last kick at the can, the Washington Capitals advance to the Stanley Cup Final

The big and brawny Caps will match up well with the defending champs in Round 2; historically, Carolina has struggled with bigger teams who bully them. Only two of Washington’s forwards are under six feet. This is a deep group with great goaltending.

32. The Minnesota Wild will hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history

With the addition of Dylan Larkin (see No. 2), the Wild are Minnesota Mild no more — they have superstars at every position and many with gold-medal experience. Winners win.

Giddy up.