With 2026 recently starting, hockey fans are wondering what the future of the current NHL season will look like. These are some predictions for the rest of the season.
For teams that will potentially win the Stanley Cup, the Colorado Avalanche are the most favored. Their high-tier players such as Nathan Mackinnon and Cale Makar, who are some of the best at their positions, as well as good coaching, lead several NHL writers to predict that they will go far into the playoffs.
Other teams that have strong odds to win the cup are the Tampa Bay Lighting, Vegas Golden Knights, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers, due to similar reasons as the Avalanche.
There are multiple talented players this season that are contenders for the MVP award. The top candidate this season is the Avalanche’s Nathan Makinnon, who won the MVP award in 2024. With the most goals and second highest points out of any player, as well as his performance in previous seasons, makes him a strong choice to win MVP.
Another player that is highly favored to win the MVP award is the Edmonton Oilers’ star player Connor McDavid, who has also won the MVP award multiple times previously and has led his team to the Stanley Cup finals. He is also currently one of the best players this season, having the most overall points and being second in goals scored.
People also have predictions for milestones that teams and players will achieve. NHL writers believe that Boston Bruins forward Morgan Geekie will score 50 goals this season, believing that he may also be able to make 60 if he plays well enough.
There is speculation that Washington Capitals player Alex Ovechkin will resign with the team after this season ends, letting him score 1,000 goals between the regular season and playoffs. This will make him and Wayne Gretzky the only two players in NHL history to achieve this monumental feat.
For predictions of what teams will do, Yahoo Sports believes the Buffalo Sabres will miss the playoffs, leading to them making big changes to their rosters. They believe that after not making the playoffs, the Sabres will trade some of their best players such as Tage Thompson so that they can rearrange their roster.
Yahoo Sports also predicts that the Pittsburgh Penguins will also have a roster change. They predict that the Penguins will trade center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang, which will allow them to create a new, successful roster.
Finally, it’s predicted that the Montreal Canadiens will get to the Stanley Cup playoffs, and make it all the way to the eastern conference final. Goalkeeper Jakub Dobes is believed to be the key piece that will allow them to face off against the Carolina Hurricanes to try to win their conference.
When asked about the predictions, Sage Creek Student and NHL fan Sreekar Koppala said, “I think most of these predictions will probably happen, but I don’t know how likely the Canadiens are to make the playoffs.”
Overall, it will be interesting to see whic predictions come through in the 2026 NHL season.
