This is the best year of NHL hockey I have ever watched.

It’s really easy to get caught up in nostalgia these days because nostalgia is a selling point. The term isn’t even used right compared to its original definition. There used to be a pain feeling of nostalgia. Now it’s the opposite. It’s essentially about running from the pain of your present to the comforts of the past.

Previous to the past few seasons I would have dipped into my childhood and said that the stretch of 92-93 to 95-96 was the best years of NHL hockey I had watched. The only seasons I would go outside of that would have been the first season coming out of the lockout in 05-06 and maybe 13-14 but that’s mostly because the Montreal Canadiens felt like a Cup contender then. I was very deep in my PK Subban fandom and thinking Alex Galchenyuk could be a number one centre.

Now see, there’s nostalgia proper. There’s the pain.

But 13-14 was still a very heavy defence type of hockey. There were times that goals only got scored on deflections it felt. Now we’re in the speed and skill era. Everyone has to be mobile. Everyone has to be smart. While some of it is influenced by advanced statistics, I do feel it’s also a smarter evolution of what we thought of analytics at the time.

Back then it was an obsession of holding the puck and taking as many shots as possible. Only three teams this year shot over 30 shots per game on average. In 15-16, 10 years ago? 13 teams averaged 30 shots or more per game. So shots are down on average but scoring is up.

Less shots on goal would usually mean a more boring game. There is a lot of more missed shots (15-16 only one team had over 1,200 missed shots. In 25-26 it’s 20) and around the same blocked shots (12 teams in 15-16 and 25-26 with 1,200 blocked shots or more) which you would think would equate to a worse game. It isn’t though. Someone else could break it down but I think the shot quality and shot ability is much higher than it used to be, so when a puck does get to the net? It’s a much better quality shot.

Having watched mostly Atlantic division games as a Montreal Canadiens fan it has felt like there’s far better teams in the league than in the past. Honestly it’s just a conference tilt. It used to be the west was the best. For league points only three teams in the West are in the Top 10. If the NHL went with where the Top 16 teams in the league make the playoffs instead of these divisional spots? Detroit and Washington would have made the playoffs. Anaheim and Los Angeles would be on the outside looking in.

The talent in the league is just incredible right now and really reminds me of those 90s seasons. I remember when the top defencemen were Ray Bourque, Phil Housley, Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios, Paul Coffey, Al MacInnis, and Sergei Zubov. These were puck moving offensive defencemen. Now we got Cale Makar, Zack Werenski, Quinn Hughes, Lane Hutson, Evan Bouchard, Adam Fox, Jake Sanderson, and Matthew Schaefer. These guys move the puck and score at a high pace. Heck Evan Bouchard almost hit 100 points.

I’ve loved watching hockey this year and I truly believe it’s possible this is the best NHL hockey I’ve ever watched in my life. Maybe 92-93 was better but that still makes this year second best.

Let’s look at my predicted standings from October 1, 2025 and see how right/wrong I got it.

Western Conference

I already talked about how the Western Conference wasn’t as strong as the East. I didn’t think that would be the case going in. A lot of teams fell apart I didn’t think would, and funny enough, it’s the Canadian teams who I thought I was being hard on. I wasn’t hard enough.

Pacific Division

1. Vegas Golden Knights

2. Edmonton Oilers

3. Los Angeles Kings

4. Calgary Flames

5. Vancouver Canucks

6. Seattle Kraken

7. Anaheim Ducks

8. San Jose Sharks

1. Vegas Golden Knights

2. Edmonton Oilers

3. Anaheim Ducks

4. Los Angeles Kings

5. San Jose Sharks

6. Seattle Kraken

7. Calgary Flames

8. Vancouver Canucks

I said Anaheim would maybe surprise and called them 7th. They ended up top three. I also wasn’t nice enough to San Jose. I thought I was being sharp saying Vancouver would miss the playoffs. They absolutely bottomed out. Looking back I don’t know why I had so much faith in the Calgary Flames. I’ll admit I’m a big Dustin Wolf fan and likely thought he’d win them games they didn’t deserve.

Central Division

1. Dallas Stars

2. Colorado Avalanche

3. Winnipeg Jets

4. Minnesota Wild

5. St. Louis Blues

6. Utah Mammoth

7. Nashville Predators

8. Chicago Blackhawks

1. Colorado Avalanche

2. Dallas Stars

3. Minnesota Wild

4. Utah Mammoth

5. St. Louis Blues

6. Nashville Predators

7. Winnipeg Jets

8. Chicago Blackhawks

I called myself a Jets hater and I didn’t hate on them enough. I would have got my Top 3 correct if I let my hate run properly. I won’t make that mistake next time. I was wrong on how good Utah could be. I was correct on St. Louis, Nashville, and Chicago missing the playoffs.

Eastern Conference

I watched a lot of hockey on the Eastern Conference and let me tell you… I got the Metro division completely wrong. I’ll come out and say it. Honestly that’s a hard division to predict. I also got one team really wrong in the Atlantic. And one I’ll take a victory lap on.

Metropolitian Division

1. Carolina Hurricanes

2. Washington Capitals

3. New Jersey Devils

4. Columbus Blue Jackets

5. New York Rangers

6. Philadelphia Flyers

7. New York Islanders

8. Pittsburgh Penguins

1. Carolina Hurricanes

2. Pittsburgh Penguins

3. Philadelphia Flyers

4. Washington Capitals

5. Columbus Blue Jackets

6. New York Islanders

7. New Jersey Devils

8. New York Rangers

I had Pittsburgh at eighth. I said they would be a total disaster. I had them last in 24-25 and 25-26. Stupid me. Dunk on me Pens fans I deserve it.

Philly I figured was bottoming out. I said did anyone believe in the goaltending or defence? I don’t think I was entirely wrong to question it. I just didn’t give enough credit to what Tocchet could do with the team in turning them around defensively.

The New Jersey Devils really fell apart. I should have been harder on them due to how much I dislike Sheldon Keefe.

The New York Islanders at one point were looking pretty good but they fell apart. I feel justified on “the rest of the team sucks” and the fact they fired Patrick Roy when he got them much closer to a playoff spot than they deserved to be is wild.

Atlantic Division

1. Toronto Maple Leafs

2. Tampa Bay Lightning

3. Montreal Canadiens

4. Florida Panthers

5. Ottawa Senators

6. Boston Bruins

7. Buffalo Sabres

8. Detroit Red Wings

1. Buffalo Sabres

2. Tampa Bay Lightning

3. Montreal Canadiens

4. Boston Bruins

5. Ottawa Senators

6. Detroit Red Wings

7. Florida Panthers

8. Toronto Maple Leafs

I said I was tired of waiting for Buffalo to be great. I think we all were. Them especially. Now they are great.

I ripped hard on Detroit. Extremely hard. Should I have said they were a basement team? No. I should have predicted another spring disaster. This one I feel very good on. They are right now the talk of the league due to how bad they ended up flopping this year after being the top team in the Atlantic at the start of 2026.

Having Toronto leading the Atlantic was a mistake. I don’t know why I was so confident in them. I think I listen to too much Leafs podcasters and that had me thinking optimistic about them doing well this year. 1st to 8th. Ouch.

Florida was an injured mess. I did have them barely making it but still making it.

I was harsh on Boston. They made it. Whatever.

Tampa, Montreal, and Ottawa? Had them perfectly positioned.

My Second Half Predictions

Second half predictions were made here.

So what did I predict?

1. Ivan Demidov wins the Calder Trophy. Not looking like it. Matthew Schaefer is the clear favourite and it’s well deserved. Demidov likely 2nd place.

2. Neither Pennsylvania team makes the playoffs. Not only was I wrong here? They play each other in the first round!

3. The Edmonton Oilers will trade for a goalie. Again. Got this one wrong too. They did a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks and it was all for depth pieces. Connor Murphy, Colton Dach, and Jason Dickinson.

4. All three California teams make the playoffs. Two out of three ain’t bad but it isn’t the prediction. San Jose missed by six points. They actually had six regulation/overtime wins more than the LA Kings but if one gets in the other doesn’t.

5. Artemi Panarin gets traded by the New York Rangers to the Minnesota Wild. Bzzt. 0/5. Panarin did get traded to the Western Conference but it was the Los Angeles Kings acquiring him. Lucky for Panarin they squeaked into the playoffs.

NHL Playoffs

Here’s a breakdown of the first round.

Western Conference

President’s Trophy Winning Colorado Avalanche versus Los Angeles Kings

I’m not giving the Kings a chance here.

Could they win a few games? Sure. Panarin got back in the playoffs. Kuemper could steal a game or two. I just think the Kings didn’t deserve this playoff spot and were not a playoff credible team all season. This is exactly the type of wildcard slip in that will get bounced hard.

Colorado Avalanche in four games

Divisional Matchup Dallas Stars versus Minnesota Wild

I kinda got this one right back in October! I said they would be playing each other in the playoffs but said it was Dallas winning the division with Minnesota as a wildcard.

This, along with Montreal vs Tampa, will be the biggest series in the first round. They should be conference final games not first round games.

The teams split their four game regular season series. Dallas whipped them 5-2 in October, Minnesota whipped them 5-2 in December, Minnesota won a squeaker 2-1 in OT in March and then their last game two weeks ago was won by Dallas 5-4. Minnesota blew two leads in that game.

I’ve long predicted Dallas to eventually get to the Cup final and they just keep… not doing it. It’s disappointing. I also have a soft spot for the Minnesota Wild. I love Kaprizov and I think a lot of anti-Russian hockey media really discredits him. They act like the Wild paying him so much needs to fail. The Wild are now not just Kaprizov but Quinn Hughes as well. Who knows if Quinn stays but he’s a big part of the Wild in third.

Dallas has an X-Factor I can’t ever count out. That’s Mikko Rantanen. Last playoffs in the first round against his former Colorado Avalanche he put up 11 points in the final three games. What about the final three in the first round against the Jets? 6 points on the best goalie in the league at the time. He’s one of the best playoff performers in the league and I don’t think he lets the Dallas Stars lose this one.

Dallas Stars in seven games

Pacific Division winner Vegas Golden Knights versus Utah Mammoth

The Washington Capitals missed the playoffs with 95 points. The Vegas Golden Knights led the Pacific Division with 95 points.

We shouldn’t talk about the Golden Knights the way we used to. Even after adding Mitch Marner this is a weird team making weird decisions. The magic of a few years ago feels dissipating. They at least finished the season strong to lock that first place in the division. They still have incredible depth but man, that Rasmus Andersson move feels like a mistake at this point.

Utah is just more exciting. Second year since moving from Arizona and now with an official name in the Mammoth. Utah just feels far more exciting. They also got themselves a former Calgary Flame in Mackenzie Weegar and didn’t even pay a 1st for him, instead three 2nd’s and even got to dump Olli Maatta to make it work on the cap. Far better trade.

I think Utah wins this. Fanbase will be going nuts in Utah for their first playoff games. Vegas will have Mitch Marner doing great for the first four games then disappear like he did on the Leafs. Giving this to Utah. Lock it in.

Utah Mammoth in six games

Divisional Matchup Edmonton Oilers versus Anaheim Ducks

I should have expected more from the Ducks just due to getting Joel Quenneville back. I don’t like seeing him in the league again but he’s a great head coach. He just is.

The Ducks have so many offensive options now. It’s not just Leo Carlsson waiting for the other kids to get better. Cutter Gauthier came from Philly and Beckett Sennecke went from a “reach” by the Ducks to the second best rookie forward in the league. The weird one is Mason McTavish. Everyone was sure this guy was going to be that 2C strong body centre who breaks out. He’s had a terrible season under Quenneville.

The Ducks also have this veteran right side of recently acquired John Carlson, Jacob Trouba, and captain Radko Gudas. That’s a lot of veteran experience (all UFA this summer) for the kids like Jackson Lacombe and Pavel Mintyukov.

Edmonton… sigh. They stumbled into the playoffs. Almost missed it. They currently have Leon Draisaitl out. Can McDavid, Hyman, and Bouchard really do it?

Everything in my body is saying the Oilers should lose this. Edmonton won the season series 2-1 (blowout 7-4 win in January, 6-5 loss in February, 4-2 win in March) and if Drai was there I’d be confident that Edmonton, not the better team, would win just having these better players.

I mean just look at their goaltending! Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram? Can you really win a series with that?

And yes it’s absolutely plausible that the Oilers do it. The Anaheim Ducks should win this series. They have better goaltending. Better defence. Better depth at forward. They don’t have an injury to one of the best players in the game. And yet… Connor McDavid.

If the Ducks win this? Please Anaheim fans. It’s not I didn’t believe in you. You deserve this. I just can’t count Edmonton out in the first round.

Edmonton Oilers in seven games

In a fair and just world we would get Colorado versus Edmonton and Dallas versus Utah due to a re-ranking of points (Utah had more points than Edmonton despite being a wildcard team) but instead it stays divisional. Colorado would face Dallas and Edmonton would take on Utah. It’s pretty crazy that even with the Oilers goaltending woes there may still be a path to the Stanley Cup final again for them. If the Central division teams essentially destroy each other and they can pass Anaheim and Utah? They are walking on sunshine to the Cup final again.

I sincerely hope we don’t see that. Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota, I don’t care which of the three get to the final. One of them should.

Eastern Conference

Eastern Conference winner Carolina Hurricanes versus Ottawa Senators

Well would you look at that! I called this one as well! Carolina winning the Metro playing the Ottawa Senators. I did say it was Ottawa in the first wildcard spot so I’m technically off by a wildcard spot (Ottawa finished in the second) but that’s pretty dang close!

The Ottawa Senators have had a pretty weird season. It felt like a disaster heading to missing the playoffs. Instead they had a really strong March/April and solidified a playoff spot in the hardest division. With all of the controversy on their goalie and their shit for brain captain? They still made it. There’s a lot I like about the Senators but I don’t think they will ever become what their fans want to be until they move off of Brady Tkachuk. He’s no leader. Good player, but no leader. I’d rather they build around Jake Sanderson and Tim Stutzle. Damn, that Sens D at some point will be Sanderson, Chabot, and Yakemchuk. Absolutely deadly.

But it’s not there yet and the Carolina Hurricanes are very good at first round matchups. Since they started making the playoffs again in 18-19 they only lost to the Boston Bruins in the first round of 19-20 but that was after winning their qualifying round against the New York Rangers. I don’t think Ottawa has enough to knock out Carolina in the first round.

Carolina Hurricanes in six games

Divisional Matchup Philadelphia Flyers versus Pittsburgh Penguins

Hey, it’s the series I thought wouldn’t happen because both teams would miss! Go ahead Pennsylvania hate me.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are the third best scoring team in the league while allowing the 24th most goals. 7th best powerplay, 6th best penalty kill, and surprisingly 24th on faceoffs. Silov and Skinner has been a shaky goaltending duo but it’s been good enough.

The Flyers are not a high scoring team at 21st in the league but they are 9th for allowing goals. They have the dirt worst powerplay at 32nd and are 22nd on the penalty kill. They are actually better at faceoffs than Pittsburgh at 18th. Dan Vladar has been sneaky good all year.

The Philadelphia Flyers are currently paying Kevin Hayes $3.5M of his $7.1M cap to play for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

So we got a firepower Penguins having to beat Dan Vladar. Sounds easy right? Except Philly is one of the best teams in the league if they keep the puck out of their net. They score just enough, and they are facing Silovs and Skinner in playoff games. They can score on those guys. Two of the Pens wins this year against the Flyers were breaking their goalies. 5-1 and 6-3. Their two losses were in the shootout.

They say defence wins you playoff games and that’s why I originally leaned on the Flyers winning this but now that I look at the numbers? I think I’m giving the advantage to Pittsburgh if they can stay healthy. I think it goes to seven just because these two teams hate each other but I think Pittsburgh solves the Flyers defence before the Flyers solve the Penguins offence.

Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games

Atlantic Division winner Buffalo Sabres versus Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins won 3 of 4 games against the Buffalo Sabres. Two of their wins came in October before the Buffalo Sabres figured it out. The last game was an OT win for the Bruins.

I don’t know how much that says about how this series will go because like I said, that was before the Sabres figured things out. I think Buffalo wants this more than the Bruins. Buffalo can’t finally make the playoffs only to lose to a pretender like Boston. Boston is a very middle of the road team in almost every aspect with weak centre depth and got a decent year from Jeremy Swayman but it’s not like it was a world beating one. Alex Lyon of Buffalo had basically the same save perentage in just less games.

I think this ends up some good games but I think Buffalo takes it in five. This Boston team, sigh. Why couldn’t you be better Leafs. Or Panthers. Or W… nah. Not them.

Buffalo Sabres in five games

Divisional Matchup Tampa Bay Lightning versus Montreal Canadiens

I nailed it. I fucking nailed it. October 1st I said this was the matchup. I got the right teams on the Dallas/Minnesota and Carolina/Ottawa matchups but this one is right on the dot.

I’ve essentially been prepared for this series since October. It’s the rematch of the 2021 Stanley Cup final. The year I hated the Habs and rooted against them because I didn’t want Marc Bergevin to be right. I didn’t want him banking everything on Carey Price and choosing Shea Weber over PK Subban to lead to a Stanley Cup. I didn’t want this squad of tough veterans and slow defence to actually win it all. They didn’t. Tampa did.

Since Tampa’s back to back Stanley Cups and a final appearance losing to Colorado, the Lightning haven’t been able to get out of the first round. They lost to Toronto and Florida twice. Well neither of those teams are here to beat them now. They beat Montreal in 2021. They beat them in 2015. I almost forgot Montreal swept them in 2014. Surprised Jon Cooper survived that and the sweep against Columbus in 2019.

But this is a different Habs team from those teams. This team is young. They have one of the best centres in Nick Suzuki. He’s honestly one of the best centres in their entire history. Cole Caufield scored 51 goals. Lane Hutson is one of the best defencemen in the league. Juraj Slafkovsky is making up for Montreal picking Jason Ward instead of Marian Hossa back in 1997 (a dark day of my young Habs loving days) and Ivan Demidov is basically looking at Nikita Kucherov on the other side of the ice and saying someday I’m gonna have your career. He needs to work on how much alcohol he can consume after a Cup win.

Tampa allowed 22 less goals this year which makes it feel like they’d be better defensively but if we go January 1 to the end of the year? Montreal actually allowed two less goals than the Tampa Bay Lightning. To be fair, same time period? Tampa scored six more goals. This is a very equal matchup. The only thing I think Montreal has a clear advantage is faceoffs. Otherwise one team is maybe a little better than the other in things but nothing extravagant.

The biggest issue for Montreal is losing Noah Dobson to a blocked shot. Of course that just means Montreal and Tampa will end up on equal ground since they likely don’t have Victor Hedman, or if they get him back he won’t be 100%. The Lightning are banking on Darren Raddysh and Janis Jerome Moser to lead them in his absence. Montreal is banking on David Reinbacher coming up and playing bigger minutes than one would have expected for him. He was supposed to make his debut next season. He ends up Montreal’s third straight year of calling up a rookie early to perform. He’s got big skates to fill of Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov.

Honestly it could go either way. Tampa could finally get out of the first round and go on a Cup run now that Florida isn’t blocking their way. Montreal could win this series and declare they’ve arrived. Neither team should feel shame for losing.

Going with Montreal to win just because Martin St. Louis will want it more.

Montreal Canadiens in seven games

This would give us Carolina versus Pittsburgh and Buffalo versus Montreal. I’m realizing I’m saying no wildcard team makes it to the second round in the East. That’s fine. It’s a better world in my view if Ottawa and Boston both stay in the first round. Buffalo and Montreal ruling the Atlantic just feels right. Time for a changing of the guard.

If we’re going too early? Let’s say the Western Conference ends up Dallas and Utah while the Eastern Conference is Pittsburgh versus Montreal. Cup final Dallas versus Montreal. Last year I predicted Colorado versus Tampa in a rematch. No more rematches possible. Well, unless Colorado does play Tampa. Or Tampa plays Dallas. After that you’d have to go all the way back to 2007 for Anaheim versus Ottawa. That would be funny.

Anyway, you can laugh at the early prediction if the Habs get bounced in the first round or the Wild beat the Stars quick. This ain’t about being right. This is about having fun. And I am pumped for this playoffs.

Unless Edmonton somehow wins with the worst goaltending ever. The province of Alberta doesn’t deserve that.

“NHL Hockey Players (1)” by Kaz Andrew is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 .