Predictions for the Remainder of the 2025-26 NHL Season

With the Olympic break coming to an end this Wednesday, NHL hockey will return for the stretch run of the season, with each team having roughly 26 to 28 games remaining on their schedule. With that in mind, I wanted to make a few predictions for not the remainder of the regular season, but also for how the playoff race could shake out over the next few months.

Below seven predictions for the rest of the NHL’s 2025–26 season.

Sidney Crosby's Injury Sinks Penguins Out of the Playoff Picture

Coming out of the break, the Penguins sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 70 points on the season and a record of 29–15–12. At the break, they seemed all but certain to shatter preseason expectations and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2022, in a year where many thought they could be one of the worst teams in hockey.

I was really looking forward to most likely seeing Sidney Crosby back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in a while. A player of his calibre, at this stage of his career, deserves to be in the playoff conversation, especially considering he’s still producing at such an elite level.

Unfortunately, for Crosby, the Penguins, and not just Penguins fans but hockey fans in general, Crosby suffered an injury at the Olympics in Italy and it was serious enough that he had to miss Team Canada’s final two games, one of which was the gold medal game. If Crosby could have played, he would have, which tells me just how severe this injury must be.

I don’t expect to see Crosby for at least the first 10 days or so after the break, and without him, I just don’t think the Penguins are a great hockey team. If he misses a significant amount of time, I don’t trust anyone on this roster to carry the load. And if Crosby is hampered in any way when he does return, I think the Penguins unfortunately falter out of the playoff mix.

That would suck as a hockey fan, because I just want to see Sid back in the postseason at least one more time.

The Columbus Blue Jackets Sneak Into The Playoffs

If the Penguins do fall out of a playoff spot, then obviously somebody has to replace them. So who do I think that team will be? I think the Columbus Blue Jackets find a way to sneak into the postseason.

Back in January, the Blue Jackets were one of the worst teams in the NHL, faltering near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. But that all changed when the organization decided to make a coaching change and brought in Ric Bowness as their new bench boss.

Since Bowness was hired on January 12th, the Blue Jackets have skyrocketed up the standings. They’ve gone 10–1 in their first 11 games under their new coach, and coming out of the break, they currently sit just four points out of the final wild-card spot, or four points behind the New York Islanders for third place in the division, which would also guarantee them a spot in the postseason.

I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from the Blue Jackets over the past month or so and we all know there’s always one team every NHL season that makes a second-half push and comes out from the bottom of the standings to almost make the playoffs. After just missing out on the postseason in the final two days of last season, I think Columbus uses that disappointment as motivation to finish the job this year and get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

The Montreal Canadiens vs Buffalo Sabres Will Be a First Round Series

Now heading over to the Atlantic Division, I think we end up seeing a 2–3 matchup between the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs.

Coming out of the break, Montreal sits second in the division with 72 points, while Buffalo is currently occupying the first wild-card spot with 70 points. Right in between them are the Detroit Red Wings, who also have 72 points as they sit third in the division.

I think both the Canadiens and Sabres finish ahead of Detroit and just behind the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic, which would set up a first-round playoff series between these two division rivals.

Buffalo has been one of the hottest, if not the hottest team in hockey since about early December and for the most part, has dominated the season series against Montreal. As a Habs fan, that does make me a little nervous about this potential matchup. But putting fandom aside for a second, I think this would be a super refreshing playoff series. The Sabres, as we all know, haven’t made the playoffs since 2011, and that fan base would be absolutely juiced to have playoff hockey back in Buffalo.

On the other side, the Canadiens have been a fairly consistent team outside of a rough stretch in November when they were dealing with injuries. Coming out of the break, they should be getting healthier, with Kirby Dach becoming more established in the lineup after returning just before the break and they also expect Alex Newhook to return some time soon, which would really help the depth of this group.

I think these two young, fast teams would be a great matchup against one another in the postseason, and as a hockey fan, this would be an incredibly intriguing series to watch, and I’m not just saying that because one of my favourite teams would be involved.

Despite Trading for Artemi Panarin, The Los Angeles Kings Miss The Playoffs

Just before the Olympic roster freeze, the Los Angeles Kings acquired the biggest fish on the trade market, dealing for Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers, and then quickly signing him to a two-year extension.

This move was obviously made to jumpstart the Kings back into a playoff spot, as they’ve struggled for most of the season. A lot of that struggle has been due to their lack of consistent offense, and Panarin was brought in to help get that offense going.

Unfortunately, at the Olympics, the Kings lost a key forward for the season as Kevin Fiala underwent surgery, which has ruled him out for the remainder of the year. Unless Los Angeles makes another move before the March 6 trade deadline to find a replacement for Fiala, I just don’t like their chances of passing teams like the Edmonton Oilers, the Anaheim Ducks, or Utah Mammoth in the standings.

The only team I could realistically see them potentially passing for a playoff spot is the Seattle Kraken, but the Kraken have been a steady team all season long, and I just don’t see them going anywhere.

So while this would be a fairly disappointing end to the Kings’ season, especially with this being Anže Kopitar’s final year, I do think Los Angeles just misses out on the postseason.

The Panthers Shut Down Brad Marchand & Matthew Tkachuk In March

At some point in March, I think the Florida Panthers wave the white flag and shut down Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand for the remainder of the season.

The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions are looking increasingly unlikely to make the playoffs this year, and that’s not due to a lack of talent on the roster. It’s simply because of how many injuries they’ve had to deal with all season long. They’ve lost players like Aleksander Barkov for the year, Seth Jones is currently injured, Tkachuk himself missed the majority of the season, and now Marchand got banged up at the Olympics as well.

I just don’t think the Panthers have much juice left in the tank for another run this season. At some point, the math has to math. Florida is currently eight points out of a playoff spot, and they’d have to leapfrog a significant number of teams ahead of them, as they sit 14th in the Eastern Conference overall.

While I do think they might put up a decent fight over the next month or so and try not to be completely out of it, I believe they’ll eventually come to the realization that this just isn’t their year. And while the Panthers are by no means done for the foreseeable future, they’ve just played a lot of hockey over the past three seasons, reaching the Stanley Cup Final the past three seasons and winning two Stanley Cups during that stretch.

Maybe a long offseason is exactly what they need. Because of that, I think Florida ultimately shuts down Tkachuk and Marchand to let them get an early start on recovery and the offseason.

The Edmonton Oilers Fall to a Wildcard Spot

Now let’s move over to the team the Panthers have beaten in each of the last two Stanley Cup Finals, the Edmonton Oilers.

Coming out of the break, the Oilers sit second in the Pacific Division with 64 points and for the most part, they’ve been one of the more disappointing teams in the NHL all season long, especially given the lofty expectations surrounding them. It’s honestly unacceptable that they haven’t put together a three-game win streak at any point this season.

And that’s not because Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl aren’t playing good hockey, if anything, they’re potentially playing some of the best hockey of their careers. The issue is that the rest of this roster simply isn’t up to par with the teams that helped Edmonton reach the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two years.

As they come out of the break, I think the Oilers are going to take more of an “as long as we get into the playoffs, we’re fine” approach and they’ll like their chances against just about anyone in the Western Conference, and honestly, I might still end up picking them to win the West. That’s how much respect I have for McDavid and Draisaitl.

I’m not sure if I’ll still feel that way come March or April, but it’s always something I have to consider because of how dominant those two players can be. That said, I do think over the final portion of the season the Oilers will prioritize rest over seeding and because of that, I think they get passed in the standings by a couple of teams and end up finishing as a wild-card team which would be uncharted territory for them heading into the postseason.

The Tampa Bay Lightning & Dallas Stars Play in the Stanley Cup Final

And finally, my last prediction as of right now coming out of the Olympic break is my Stanley Cup Final prediction and right now, it would be the Tampa Bay Lightning versus the Dallas Stars.

Starting with Tampa Bay, they’re simply the team in the Eastern Conference that I have the fewest questions about heading into the playoffs. I trust their group. Their defense is solid, and obviously Andrei Vasilevskiy can be the best goalie in the world on almost any given night.

I also really like the fact that many of their key players didn’t go to the Olympics. Nikita Kucherov and Vasilevskiy weren’t eligible, while Canadian forwards Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli opted out due to lingering injuries and prioritized rest. The only real injury concern coming out of the Olympics for Tampa is Victor Hedman, who got banged up playing for Sweden.

That said, Tampa has built enough of a cushion in the Atlantic Division that they can afford to rest Hedman for a bit and make sure he’s fully healthy for a playoff run. In an Eastern Conference playoff field that doesn’t have many teams I truly trust, or that have as much experience as this Lightning core, Tampa Bay would be my pick to come out of the East if my life depended on it.

Out West, I picked the Stars before the season to win the conference, and I’m sticking with it. I do have some concern about Mikko Rantanen getting banged up at the Olympics, but it doesn’t sound overly serious and seems more precautionary than anything else. Dallas also benefited from some key players getting rest during the break, including Jason Robertson, who controversially wasn’t selected for Team USA and got a much-needed breather.

The Stars have reached the Western Conference Final in each of the past three seasons and have come up just short every time. I think this is finally the year they get over the hump and reach the Stanley Cup Final.

So as of right now, coming out of the Olympic break, and fully acknowledging that this could change based on trade deadline moves or injuries before the postseason, I’m going with Tampa Bay vs. Dallas in the Stanley Cup Final.