Das 2025-2026 NHL Regular Season Thread: If Connor McDavid were a real team player, he’d sign for the league minimum

[Grand Moff Larkin]

I have to think of expected results, UGH

[Grand Moff Larkin]

The Atlantic is the hardest division to predict. I don't think Toronto (Marner gone) and Florida (Barkov out all year, Tkachuk out to start) will be nearly as good. Montreal could be better, or the young guys could regress. Ottawa should be about the same, unless Ullmark gets hurt. Detroit could take a leap if Gibson is legit and the rookies contribute more than flotsam veterans, but who knows? Boston could rebound. Buffalo, well, they're still Buffalo, but their roster (not including the goalies) still looks like it could be good. I'll be optimistic about the Wings, I guess. I don't want to bring it into the world but I think there's a chance Montreal finishes second in the division. Horrible.

Tampa
Toronto
Florida
Montreal
Detroit
----
Ottawa
Boston
Buffalo

Metro is a lot easier! I know the Rangers got Gavrikov but their defense is thin and their forwards are getting old. Columbus and Philly have terrible goaltending. Pittsburgh needs to deal Crosby if they want to finish at the bottom.

Carolina
New Jersey
Washington
----
Rangers
Islanders
Columbus
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia

Central is tougher to call after Dallas. Is Colorado better? How much worse is Winnipeg without Ehlers? Can Minnesota take a jump? Does St. Louis or Utah make it?
Dallas
Colorado
Winnipeg
Minnesota
Utah
----
St. Louis
Nashville
Chicago

Pacific gets better as a whole (SJ and Anaheim improve) but the top few teams remain clear. I don't trust Vancouver. LA grinds out a playoff spot for Kopitar's last year but gets worse overall.

Vegas
Edmonton
Los Angeles
----
Vancouver
Calgary
Anaheim
Seattle
San Jose

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Ekholm signs for three years (till age 39) at 4 AAV. Good price if he doesn’t fall off a cliff.

Kyle Conner stays in Winnipeg for eight years at 12 AAV. Surprised he didn’t get more given the Kaprisov deal. He would’ve been a great fit if he’d come home to Michigan but alas that never actually pans out.

[captain]

I really like that Ekholm deal, I do really worry about his durability as he has missed some time lately but I think this is going to end up being a very team friendly deal when all is said and done. Feels good to have the D very well solidified even if I have my gripes about Nurse.

I suspect the Oilers will need a scoring winger at the deadline and that is where the futures will go. Opening night lineup:

Draisaitl - McDavid - Frederic
Mangiapane - Nuge - Savoie
Podkolzin - Philp - Kapanen
Howard - Henrique - Tomasek

Obviously they are missing Hyman but even with him, this lineup still looks short a top 6 winger to me, especially with how much Perry brought last season.

[Grand Moff Larkin]

I wonder if Roslovic circles back to them

[Fleetwood mactavish]

I assume they give Savoie and Ike Howard a chance to see what they've got (and get Hyman back) but yeah, this year's trade deadline deal is likely a top 6 shooter

that and an upgrade in net are really the only holes I see

[captain]

I mean yeah ideally Savoie and/or Howard step in... I'm sort of just hoping one of those guys takes a step this season. Savoie did well in the AHL last year but Howard has never played professional hockey so we need to manage our expectations. I'm also waiting to see what the organization sees in Frederic.

I suspect they will probably run pairs of forwards with a rotating cast of wingers and it will be constant juggling. I think Tomasek, Howard and Savoie are all guys that need top 6 deployment to be effective, and I know they want Podkolzin, Frederic, Mangiapane with skill for a physical/agitating edge

[captain]

I could see the combos shaking out kind of like this - you get a blend of skill, speed and physicality on every line and I think this makes sense in terms of special teams deployment:

Mangiapane - McDavid - Hyman
Podkolzin - Draisaitl - Savoie
Tomasek - Nugent-Hopkins - Frederic
Janmark - Henrique - Kapanen

Sounds like Tomasek is starting in the Hyman spot on PP1 so I'm curious to see how that goes

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Eichel takes 13.5 x 8 from Vegas

[captain]

Apparently Roslovic just signed with the Oilers. I like it, they need one of Howard/Savoie to win their spot and this is veteran scoring

[Grand Moff Larkin]

I should’ve posted one of those weird Kevin Weekes selfies when I mentioned him and thee Goil

[nick]

Tampa*
Toronto*
Florida*
Ottawa*
Montreal
Boston
Detroit
Buffalo

Carolina*
NY Rangers*
NJ Devils*
Washington*
Columbus
Philadelphia
NY Islanders
Pittsburgh


Dallas*
Colorado*
Winnipeg*
Minnesota*
Utah*
Nashville
St Louis
Chicago

Vegas*
Edmonton*
Los Angeles*
Vancouver
Calgary
Anaheim
Seattle
San Jose

[sutterfamily]

I don't want to bring it into the world but I think there's a chance Montreal finishes second in the division. Horrible.

I think you're painfully overbiasing their results last year which were highly luck based. I know there's a couple adds that will help maybe offset that but... dunno

[Grand Moff Larkin]

I don't want to bring it into the world but I think there's a chance Montreal finishes second in the division. Horrible.

I think you're painfully overbiasing their results last year which were highly luck based. I know there's a couple adds that will help maybe offset that but... dunno

It feels like the range of outcomes for them is huge. It's entirely possible that Montembault comes back to earth, Hutson has a sophomore slump, Demidov isn't a plug-and-play top-line scorer, and their lack of a 2C is a severe problem. But they also added a bigger piece in Noah Dobson than any of Detroit / Ottawa / Boston / Buffalo did.

[captain]

Stu Skinner in midseason form

[sutterfamily]

I do think Ottawa needs to make a significant add for a least a top scoring winger to get to the next level. But I think their current level is "high 90's points" (they had 97 last year), so having them 6th in the division is a bit much personally

[Grand Moff Larkin]

That's the harshest possible take on their season outlook, I admit, but 1. If the Wings are going to make the playoffs, they'll have to jump either Montreal or Ottawa, and Ottawa didn't add Dobson 2. I'm not sure if the possibility of internal growth is enough for them to make another leap. Ullmark was incredible against Detroit last year so I'm not downplaying his impact, but he's also never played more than 49 games in a season. It's conceivable they could also finish second or third in the division if Toronto or Florida fall off.

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Brady Martin is Nashville’s 1C

Seems bad

[sutterfamily]

Gotta admit, road game in Tampa felt like an auto-loss. I had meant to say yesterday that I do think Pinto is primed for a breakout year (which I think the management team is basically relying on, not ideal) and sure looked like it was a strong possibility.

Ullmark was fine - two PP goals in the first were "unchecked cross-crease pass for redirect" and, even stupider, "allow Kucherov space on PP to skate around and shoot from the slot". He made a bunch of great saves at 3-1/3-2 and then Tampa only had about 5 or 6 shots on goal for the second half of the game.

Overall, an encouraging win. Can't believe they start the year off with a TB/FLA roadie but at least they've got 2 points already.

[Cacophony]

On pace for 82-0