There are always a few new teams that find their way to the NHL play -offs every season. Last season was no different, because the New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens were new faces in the Eastern Conference, while the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues found their way in the Western Conference Bracket.
This season it should not be too much different, although I am not sure if we will get so much turnover, because the free desk and trade markets have been quite weak so far. Here are three teams that qualified for the play-offs in 2024-25 who could miss this coming season, and three teams that they could replace.
In: New York Rangers
Every Rangers fan you meet will tell you how disappointingly their season 2024-25 was. After winning 55 games, a total of 114 points and earning the trophy of the presidents The Rangers won only 39 games in the previous season and ended with 85 points in 2024-25, the first time they missed the play-offs in three years.
It was not necessarily a surprise that the Rangers were declining, but as far as they did, there was a surprise. Managing Director Chris Drury made some changes this summer, but the Rangers were usually quiet gratings. Their tent addition Was Vladislav GavrikovOne of the best Shutdown defenders in the NHL, who signed a seven-year contract of $ 49 million with the Rangers.
Gavrikov will help a Rangers defense that could use some stability, but the biggest difference for the team should take over Mike Sullivan behind the bank. The Rangers missed structure and Sullivan should bring structure last season, especially on five-five.
There is also high-end talent for Sullivan to work with in Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin. The core of the team is outdated, so I think their Stanley Cup-Contends days are over for the time being. But they must be good enough to make the play -offs, especially in what looks like an incredibly weak metropolitan division. Fanduel has the Rangers’ Over/Under at 95.5 points for the coming season, and they seem a good gamble to at least match that.
Out: montreal canadiens
I am high in the future of the Canadiens, but they can take a step back before they take that important step forward. The management has done well to prevent the team to regress, to acquire Noah Dobson and Zach Bolduc this season, and Ivan Demidov has the potential of Calder Trophy. But working against the Canadiens is that they are in the Atlantic Division.
The Florida Panthers won the Eastern Conference for three consecutive years. Will they do it a fourth time? I wouldn’t bet on it, but it seems very unlikely that they fall out of a play -off place. The Toronto Maple Leafs are regression candidates, but they have too much high-end talent to fall out of a play-off place, even after they have lost Mitch Marner at the Vegas Golden Knights.
Related: Canadiens News and Rumors: Dach, Mctavish & More
Will 2025-26 finally miss the play-offs the lightning of Tampa Bay? I don’t count on that either. One vulnerable team could be the Ottawa senators, especially if they don’t find any ways to score more goals at five-five, but I would still choose them to make the play-offs about the Canadiens.
Why is that? The Canadiens were one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL last season, allowing the the second most expected goals per 60 in the competition. Only the Anaheim ducks gave more quality opportunities per hour at five-five, so they need significant defensive improvement. Moreover, I do not like their forward depth, especially because Kirby Dach’s health still seems to be a question mark. I don’t see the Canadiens falling from a cliff, but they look more like an 80-90 point team, so they would leave just outside the late season.
In: Utah Mammoth
Buy your Mammoth shares from Utah while you can, because this can be the season that they break a long play -off drought, dating from their years like the Arizona Coyotes. The Mammoet had a solid 2024-25 season, won 38 games and ended with 89 points, she placed only seven points outside a play-off position in the west.
What is most encouraging about the Mammoet is that their five-on-five numbers were excellent last season. They finished with an expected goal share (XG%) of 53.75 percent, in fifth place in the NHL, and their number was even better during their last 25 games, because their 56.94 XG% were first arranged.
The talent is also in Salt Lake City. Clayton Keller has long been a star, while Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther should only get better. GM Bill Armstrong has had a solid low season, JJ Add PeterkaBrandon Tanev and Nate Schmidt to a selection that scored a little more and needed depth. The biggest question mark of the Mammoet is who will set out to support Karel Vejmelka, but I like where this team is trending. They are a good gamble to break into the play -offs in the west.
Out: St. Louis Blues
If the mammoth has to dispel a team from the late season, it is their division divers in the blues. They looked like another team after Jim Montgomery had taken over the couch for Drew Bannister, and a 12-game stove late in the season helped the blues in the play-offs like WC2, but they would probably have missed the after season without that winning series.
The blues have somewhat intriguing top-end talent with Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas, and GM Doug Armstrong improved the central depth of the team Signing Pius Ster and Nick Bjugstad in free desk. But I don’t like the defense of the blues outside of Philip BrobraR, Colton Parayko and Cam Fowler. Justin Faulk was a net-negative last season and they have two strangers in Logan Mailloux and Tyler Tucker.
It will be close by, probably due to a few points in the rankings, but the mammoth seems to have a little more upside down in their line -up, and that should lead to them sneaking over the blues.
In: Vancouver Canucks
It was tempting to choose the ducks to surprise and jump on a play-off place, but they should make a leap to go into the conversation, so they can be away for another year. Instead, the Vancouver Canucks return to the mix after disappointing and missing the late season in 2024-25.
Do I have faith to choose the Canucks? No, but I’m not going to lie, their selection looks decent on paper. They found a way to sign Brock Book again, and they have a decent top nine at the front. Quinn Hughes will probably be a Norris community service again, but they also have some depth on the defense with Marcus Pettersson, Tyler Myers and Filip Honek.
There are two keys for the Canucks to return and make the late season: Thatcher Demko’s health and Elias Pettersson play like a star again. Pettersson is the most important of the two because they need him to be a player of 85-95 points. He gets $ 11.5 million a year, so 45 points in 64 games will definitely not reduce it. If he produces more than 30 goals and 89 points as he did in 2023-24, I like that the Canucks’ opportunities to go back to the play-offs, specifically if Demko remains relatively healthy and succeeds in making 40-50 start.
Out: Los Angeles Kings
I admit that I have no faith at all. The kings were a 105-point team last season, so it would cost a relatively dramatic drop-off for them to fall out of a play-off place in 2025-26. But I didn’t like what Ken Holland did in his first low season like the GM of the Kings.
Jordan Spence, David Rittich, Tanner Jeannot and Gavrikov, and in were Brian Dumoulin, Cody Ceci, Joel Armia, Corey Perry and Anton Forsberg. Not only did the kings get much older this season, but they also became much slower. Spence for Ceci seems that it will have the opposite effect on the kings, and they will miss not having Gavrikov; He and Mikey Anderson were perhaps the best Shutdown pair in the NHL last season.
Perhaps the structured system of the kings this summer might mask the worst offsean of each NHL team, but they seem ripe for picking in a Pacific division that is located outside the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights.
There is always a turnover
The play -off photo of the Eastern Conference seems a bit clearer than the West. It is difficult to present teams such as the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins who make a challenge for a play -off place, and other bubble teams, such as the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabes, seem to be stuck in No Man’s Land.
In the meantime, the West is a bit intriguing. The Calgary Flames were a 96-point team last season, so they could be in the mix, and the aforementioned ducks could play meaningful games after the Trade Deadline. Anyway, expects a turnover of the Playoff teams from last year and new faces that become members of the battle.
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