1 Word for Every NHL Team at the Start of the 2025-26 Season

We've made it to the first week of the 2025-26 NHL season, and we've already seen our fair share of drama.

The Panthers picked up exactly where they left off in an opening-night come-from-behind win. The Kings look as confusing as ever, with a bleak loss to the Avalanche, followed by a shootout win over the Golden Knights. Meanwhile, a goaltending miscommunication led to a shootout loss for the Oilers.

And the Penguins are 2-0-0!

So how do we define each team at the beginning of this new season?

Let's try do it with one word.

The Ducks' youth movement is another year wiser, and the young core now has some help from veterans Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider to transition from the bottom of the barrel to the playoff bubble. If Lukas Dostal can keep up his impressive career so far, the Ducks will take a step forward this season.

Despite Thursday's night loss, an encouraging sign has to be Beckett Sennecke scoring his first NHL goal.

For the first time in a decade, the Bruins aren't necessarily trying to win now. You can't totally count on staying competitive out with the likes of David Pastrnak, Jeremy Swayman, and a healthy Charlie McAvoy, but the depth is lacking for a reason.

Don't let the 2-0-0 start fool you, Boston will spend a year or two in a deliberate retool until the strength at center improves.

Will it even be fun if the Sabres finally break their league-record 14-season playoff drought? Well, yes, of course it will be. But it'll mostly feel like the relief of finally tackling that thing that's been at the bottom of your to-do list for months. However, that thing has been on the list for 14 years, and once you cross it off, it creates more tasks to do. 

A 4-0 loss in the season opener is just another example of how much work needs to be done.

We aren't expecting much noise from the Flames this year – for better or for worse. Dustin Wolf should continue to solidify himself as a great NHL goalie, and the up-and-comers will further establish themselves as this Flames team finally moves on from eras past.

It's not like it's a bad thing that you can more-or-less pencil in a trip to the Eastern Conference Final for the Canes – 28 other NHL teams would love to do that. It seems this core has hit its ceiling as long as the Panthers remain this dominant.

Still, there was a lot to like in the season opener, including new acquisition K'Andre Miller scoring twice.

The opening-night loss against the Panthers featured too few shots from the Blackhawks and a predictable collapse, but hey, that second period was pretty encouraging. And they were able to battle back for a point against the Bruins on Thursday, with Connor Bedard scoring his first goal of the season.

The Blackhawks aren't likely to take huge steps as a cohesive team this season, but the future core is starting to lead the charge.

Two games, two wins for the Avalanche, who were beastly on Opening Night in LA with Nathan MacKinnon setting a new franchise record for points. He also scored the game-winner in Thursday's home opener against Utah.

This team is recharged, stacked, and hungry for another go at it in this window.

The Blue Jackets are building a sustainable team in front of our eyes, with another year of experience for Adam Fantilli, an opportunity for Jet Greaves in net, and significant growth across the lineup.

The Stars have got their first full year with Mikko Rantanen, a 26-year-old Jake Oettinger who's a bit wiser but still yet to hit his ceiling, and some young stars who have had a taste of disappointment. It seems like the year to really go for it.

There will be some inevitable tension no matter what happens for the Red Wings this season. Will Steve Yzerman put the finishing touches on the Yzerplan with some bigger trades for center depth and a little more star power? We're all sort of waiting on the verdict, here.

One thing is for sure: if John Gibson has games like he did on Thursday by allowing five goals on 13 shots, it will collapse pretty quickly.

Connor McDavid inked his extension one day before the start of the season, so what's next for the Oilers?

We hate to beat a dead horse, but their first game was a loss directly caused by goaltender miscommunication. How much longer does this have to happen?

The Panthers have been able to dominate year after year in part due to how they handle the regular season. They know when to take their foot off the gas and when to accelerate, and with Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk missing significant amounts of time, this ability to cruise tastefully will be on full display.

And despite the key injuries, they've started the season strong with two wins in their first two games.

Are we going to get the Game 1 Kings, whom the Avalanche crushed, as Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon didn't skip a beat? Or are we going to get the Game 2 Kings, who let a 2-0 lead slip to a 6-5 shootout win over the Golden Knights?

Either way, we're already exhausted.

Hey, maybe superstars like McDavid and Jack Eichel are signing some friendlier deals, but the Wild locking down Kirill Kaprizov was absolutely essential, even if it took a $17 million per year deal.

If this budding Wild core can build on last year's respectable trip to the playoffs, it's all worth it. It's started off great with three points from Kaprizov and Matt Boldy in a 5-0 opening-night win Thursday against the Blues.

The Canadiens are rolling into this season looking to build on the happy-go-lucky come-from-behind vibes that sent them to the playoffs earlier than expected last season.

With Ivan Demidov, Noah Dobson, and Kirby Dach all in the fold, it should be a fun ride.

Is this the year all the big moves finally start gelling together for the Predators like we thought they would, or is this the year we realize this combination of players just isn't going to work out?

If you get 37 saves a night from Juuse Saros like Nashville did on Thursday against the Blue Jackets, it's crazy enough that it just might work.

The Devils are going to have a bit of a chip on their shoulder after untimely injuries to star players took them from the top of the league to a flimsy first-round exit last season. They should make some waves if everyone can remain healthy.

The Islanders are entering a new chapter this season, with Mat Barzal back at full strength at center and No. 1 overall draft pick Matthew Schaefer entering the fold. Still, they lost Noah Dobson and Brock Nelson last season. Will the fresh vibes and new front office feeling be enough to overcome the losses?

Well, the new-look Rangers didn't exactly wow us in their 3-0 opening night loss to the Penguins, but you expect some growing pains with so many new faces on the team. They bounced back on Thursday with a solid win against the Sabres, and Igor Shesterkin looks locked in already.

We'll give it a month or two and see what happens under new head coach Mike Sullivan. For better or for worse, it will look different.

Now that this Brady Tkachuk-led Senators core has finally sniffed the playoffs, what's next? Not much changed in the offseason, so there's a vote of confidence from the front office that there's the right chemistry and talent for this team to evolve past last year's first-round exit.

An opening-night 5-4 win over the Lightning is a good start, with three assists for the Sens' captain.

Playoffs aren't on the radar quite yet, but it's an exciting time for the Flyers as the team is assembling around Matvei Michkov, with Trevor Zegras' fresh start and Rick Tocchet behind the bench.

What's the message here? Is the team trying to play well to prevent Sidney Crosby from leaving? Is the team trying to tank so it can quickly rebuild and Crosby can pass the torch to Gavin McKenna? It's all pretty cryptic in Pittsburgh right now, and we'll just have to watch it play out.

Still, Penguins fans must be happy with back-to-back wins over the Rangers and Islanders to start the season.

The Sharks still have a lot of work to do to regain competitiveness, but at least they'll have fun doing it. We've got another year of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith developing, Michael Misa cracked the roster, and we'll see how Yaroslav Askarov progresses between the pipes.

Will Matty Beniers and/or Shane Wright step up this season? We're looking for consistency from Beniers and a true breakout from Wright, but even then, we're unsure if that'll be enough for this roster to score enough goals. 

It feels like no one's talking about the Blues, who were the hottest team of the second half of last season and came an inch away from defeating the Presidents' Trophy champions in the first round.

They're back, they're healthy, and they've got their first full season under coach Jim Montgomery on deck.

Will this Lightning team ever go away? It's not looking like this year is the year they'll slow down, with the roster returning healthy and hungry, and Jake Guentzel settled in.

Of course, it's not as simple as "Mitch Marner was or wasn't the problem" when it comes to the well-documented struggles of this Leafs team. But he was a huge part of their story leading up to now, and how the core thrives – or struggles – in his absence will really show us what they're made of.

The Mammoth made a respectable playoff push last season, but ultimately, the injury bug, scoring inconsistencies, and a few question marks in net did them in. This year, they've made some solid depth and veteran presence acquisitions, the roster is healthy, and the goaltending is set.

Let's see some more goals, and we're talking playoffs.

Is Elias Pettersson going to step up and become that leaguewide star he seemed destined to become just a few years ago, or will it be another disappointing season as the Canucks search for an identity?

Now that J.T. Miller is out of the picture and there's been a full offseason to process and move on from the drama, we really need to see Pettersson take the reins here.

In the grand scheme, it really won't matter that the Golden Knights dropped Game 1 in a 6-5 shootout loss to the Kings. But it was dramatic – especially since Mitch Marner had Vegas' last opportunity to keep the team alive and failed to do so.

They responded in game two by battling back for two points in a overtime win against the Sharks on Thursday.

Expect everyone to cherish those little moments this year.

There's a notion out there that the Capitals are going to regress this year, and it's not coming out of nowhere: Seven Capitals players had career years last season. It's not going to be as happy-go-lucky this year, and the goals aren't going to come as easily.

Still, the Capitals have the returning Jack Adams winner in Spencer Carbery, plenty of enticing young players, and Alex freakin' Ovechkin. There isn't going to be some huge fall off.

Why should we have any reason to believe this year doesn't play out just like all the other years for the team that is great in the regular season and runs into the same struggles each postseason? Can Jonathan Toews help the Jets build some confidence and swagger for the postseason?