The 2025-26 NHL season is over, and the Carolina Hurricanes are Stanley Cup champions for the first time in 20 years. Obviously, for the Canes and the Vegas Golden Knights, this has been a successful season because they both made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. However, for 30 other teams across the league, we need to evaluate their 2025-26 campaign.

Anaheim Ducks: Success

From where they were last season to where they are now, it's fair to say that the Ducks had a successful year. They had eight more wins than they did during the 2024-25 campaign and recorded 12 more points in the standings, which earned them their first postseason berth since 2018. They even took it a step further and beat the two-time Western Conference Champions in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. As one of the younger squads in the league that completed its first season under a new head coach, Anaheim showed the growth you want to see from an up-and-coming team.

Boston Bruins: Failure

Some might consider this season a success because they made it back to the playoffs after a one-year absence, but that's not how I view the campaign. The Bruins limped into the postseason, going 2-5 in their last seven regular-season games before getting clowned by their longtime rival in the first round of the playoffs. The biggest issue is the losses to the Buffalo Sabres, a team Boston had owned for several years. Coming into the 2025-26 campaign, the Bruins were 10-3-2 against the Sabres over the previous four seasons. This year, Boston went 5-5 against Buffalo and fell to them in the playoffs. It seems clear that the rivalry has swung in Buffalo's favor, which makes this a failed season for the B's.

Buffalo Sabres: Success

Speaking of Buffalo, the Sabres had the most successful season of any team that failed to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals. If they had just qualified for the postseason, it would’ve been a fantastic year. But they didn't just make the playoffs; the Sabres won the Atlantic division for the first time in 17 seasons! If the campaign had ended with a first-round playoff loss, it would've still been a success. However, they actually beat their long-time rival in the first round of the postseason for their first playoff series victory since 2007! Everything about this year was magical for the Sabres. It stinks that they lost to the Canadiens in the second round, but if you tell any Buffalo native that the Sabres would win a playoff series before the season started, they would sign up for that in a heartbeat.

Calgary Flames: Failure

Boy, the Flames suffered a massive drop off. Who cares if they were in the mix for a playoff spot in April? They went from 96 points in the standings the year before to 77 this season. The most daming thing is the win total. Calgary had 41 wins during the 2024-25 campaign and only 34 this season. The Flames made their final year in the Scotiabank Saddledome memorable, going 23-13-5 at home. However, they were the worst road team in the NHL this season, with an 11-26-4 record away from Calgary. To put that into perspective, the worst team in the NHL, the 25-win Vancouver Canucks, won 16 road games this year.

Chicago Blackhawks: Failure

Even with a bona fide superstar on their roster in Connor Bedard, the Blackhawks cannot claw their way out of the NHL's basement. Their point total increased by 11 this year, but this was the sixth-straight season in which Chicago failed to win 30 games. They even somehow managed to fall in the draft. They were expected to have the number-two overall pick but fell to fourth after the NHL Draft Lottery. Even Connor Bedard has taken a backseat to Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Schaefer. There doesn't seem to be any end in sight for Chicago's downward spiral. At the very least, it's hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Colorado Avalanche: Failure

This was a monumental disappointment for the Avs. They were the best team in the league and the President's Cup trophy winners. Yet, they were embarrassed in the Western Conference Finals by the Vegas Golden Knights. The best offensive group in the National Hockey League was limited to fewer than two goals per game by the Golden Knights' Carter Hart, who played poorly in the Stanley Cup Finals. Hell, Hart is the first goalie in the history of the Stanley Cup Finals to allow four goals or more in five consecutive games! That's the guy that the Avalanche couldn't score against. Colorado was the obvious favorite to win the 2026 Stanley Cup, and they looked completely lifeless by the time their season ended. This was a failure at the highest level.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Failure

There was a point during the 2025-26 campaign where it looked like the Blue Jackets were the hottest team in hockey! They even played themselves into the number-two seed in the Metropolitan Divisional race. But they played horribly down the stretch. On March 24th, Columbus was 38-22-11. After that, the Blue Jackets would go on to lose nine of their last 11 games and miss the playoffs. There are only two things that make this season redeemable. First, it seems they found a coach who will change the culture in Rick Bowness. Second, Zach Werenski became the first player in franchise history to win the Norris Trophy. Make no mistake about it, though, this season was a failure because the Blue Jackets should've made the playoffs.

Dallas Stars: Failure

They might have finished the year with more standings points than the previous season, but the Stars failed to meet expectations in the playoffs. They fell to the Minnesota Wild in six games, even though Dallas was the better team during the regular season. This franchise came into this year with three straight Western Conference Finals appearances. They thought a new coach would help them get over the hump, but they actually took a step backwards. Now, there's a chance they could lose their best player, Jason Robertson, who might test out free agency. Either he'll go to another team, or the Stars will have to sign him to a massive long-term deal. Dallas is still a playoff team, but they didn't take that step forward to become a true Stanley Cup contender.

Detroit Red Wings: Failure

With the Buffalo Sabres' playoff drought coming to an end, the Detroit Red Wings now own the longest postseason drought in the NHL. It has been 11 seasons since the Red Wings last made the playoffs. Captain Dylan Larkin has asked out of Detroit and will likely be traded this off-season. When franchise legend Steve Yzerman rejoined the team as the general manager in 2019, there was an obvious expectation that this team would have to go through a rebuild. But rebuilds are supposed to take three or four seasons. The Red Wings are currently in year seven of the rebuild, and the closest they have come to making the playoffs was this season, when they finished two spots out of a Wild Card berth.

Edmonton Oilers: Failure

Failing to get out of the first round after making back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals is a clear failure. This is especially true since Connor McDavid is only under contract with the Oilers for two more seasons. During the 2028 off-season, he is scheduled to become a free agent. They somehow thought that trading goalie Stuart Skinner for Tristan Jarry would fix their goaltending issues in the postseason, but he only played in one Stanley Cup Playoff game for the Oilers. Plus, defenseman Darnell Nurse, who is arguably the best defender on the team, is reportedly seeking a trade out of Edmonton. The roof is caving in on the Oilers. They feel pressure to succeed right away to keep Connor McDavid happy, and they are not responding well to that stress.

Florida Panthers: Failure

The Panthers struggled throughout the 2025-26 season with injuries to key contributors, but they're the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions! Surely, they have enough grit and mental toughness to battle through these injuries and make some type of playoff push. But that wasn't even close to the case. They missed the postseason entirely and finished 25th in the NHL standings. Only two other Eastern Conference teams were worse than the Panthers this season: the Maple Leafs and the Rangers. This does feel like a small blip on the radar for Florida. They'll probably be back to competing for a Stanley Cup next season when the roster is fully healthy. But this year was an obvious letdown.

Los Angeles Kings: Failure

This marked the fifth year in a row that the Kings failed to get out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This time around, they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche, as opposed to the previous season, when they pushed the Edmonton Oilers to six games. Their performance during the regular season was notably worse. The Kings went 48-25-9 to 35-27-20, a 15-point drop-off in the standings. And now, they’re losing their captain of 11 years, Anze Kopitar, who announced before the campaign he would be retiring this off-season. There will be a leadership void in LA next season with Kopitar gone, and Scott Laughton and Andrei Kuzmenko probably leaving in free agency. We just keep waiting for the Kings to take that step forward, and it still hasn't happened yet, which would explain why they haven't won a playoff series since their Stanley Cup victory in 2014.

Minnesota Wild: Success

The Wild were overshadowed by the Buffalo Sabres, but they had one of their best seasons in recent years. They were able to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2015! They didn't even need seven games to beat the Dallas Stars. Minnesota took care of Dallas handily, outscoring them in the Stanley Cup Playoffs 23-15. Obviously, there are no moral victories in the National Hockey League, but they even had a decent showing against the President's Cup Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche. The series might have been decided in five games, but it felt much closer than that. The Wild showed immense growth under John Hynes and are trending in the right direction.

Montreal Canadiens: Success

With an average age on opening day of 25.68 years, the Montreal Canadiens were the second-youngest team in the NHL. However, they still took a huge leap forward by making the playoffs and winning two series. I mean, this squad won two different Game Sevens, even though they have one of the youngest rosters in the league. Ever since Martin St. Louis became the Habs' head coach, the Canadiens have gotten better each year. In 2022, Montreal had 68 points in the standings. The year after that, they improved to 76 points. Last season, they made the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 91 regular-season points. This year, they had 106 points, finished as the third-best team in the Eastern Conference, and won two playoff series. Much like the Wild, Sabres, and Ducks, the vibes are good in Montreal.

Nashville Predators: Failure

They might have improved from the 2024-25 campaign, but you can't call this season a success for the Preds if it didn't result in a playoff berth. What makes this year even more frustrating is that former coach John Hynes has the Minnesota Wild trending upward, while Nashville is still trying to recapture the magic it had in its first year under Andrew Brunette. This season was a failure for the Predators because they came alive too late in the year. They were 29-28-9 on March 15th, but went on to win five games in a row, putting them squarely in the playoff race. However, they floundered to close out the season, going 4-6-1 in their last 11 games. The saddest part is that they were eliminated from postseason contention with one game left in the campaign by the San Jose Sharks, with whom they were directly competing for a playoff spot. To some, this might be a good season because the Predators are on the up-and-up, but that's not how I see things.

New Jersey Devils: Failure

Let this be a lesson that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Former head coach Lindy Ruff, who was fired by the Devils two years ago, was named a finalist for the Jack Adams trophy and just signed a two-year contract extension with the Sabres. Meanwhile, New Jersey missed the playoffs in its second season under Sheldon Keefe after finishing with four more regulation losses than they had the previous year. Granted, they dealt with injuries to major contributors like Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes, and Brett Pesce, but that doesn't justify how they just fell apart as the year progressed. They were 13-4-1 on November 15th, but finished the season by going 29-33-2, the fifth-worst mark in the NHL. Considering the Hughes brothers both played in over 60 games, Jersey should've finished better than 13th in the East.

New York Islanders: Success

This was a year of growth for the Isles. They may not have made the playoffs, but they upped their win total to 43 from 35 the previous season. On top of that, it seems that the Islanders have found an immediate solution to their head coaching problem with Peter DeBoer, who will be New York's third different head coach since the start of the 2023-24 season. All that plays second fiddle, though, to the emergence of defenseman Matthew Schaefer as one of the elite young talents in the National Hockey League. He tied Brian Leetch's NHL record for the most goals scored in a season by a rookie defenseman (23). His 59 points this season are the most in a year by an 18-year-old defenseman. Plus, he became the sixth player in New York Islanders history to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, which is given to the Rookie of the Year. Matthew Schaefer is already a superstar and will likely make the Isles a threat to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for many years to come.

New York Rangers: Failure

Another season has come and gone, yet the Blueshirts seem no closer to breaking their 22-year Stanley Cup drought. In fact, it has been 12 years since this Original Six team was even in the Stanley Cup Finals. In the middle of a January losing streak, they traded away their best player, Artemi Panarin, who scored 27 points in 26 games for the Kings during the regular season. Their regular-season points totals have fallen off a cliff recently. During the 2023-24 season, the Rangers finished first in the Metropolitan Division with 114 points before making it to the Eastern Conference Finals. Then, they dropped 29 points in the standings and finished fifth in the Metro. This season, after firing Peter Laviolette on April 19th, 2025, New York only recorded 77 points, making them the worst team in the East. They didn't even get a top-three pick for their failures.

Ottawa Senators: Failure

It was a weird season for the Sens, who were plagued with injuries, but still qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite these injuries and a 20-19-5 record in the middle of January, Ottawa finished the regular season really well. Hell, from January 26th to the end of the regular season, the Senators recorded 42 points in the standings, which was tied with the Sabres, Hurricanes, and Avalanche for the most in the NHL during that stretch. So, if they battled back from injuries and managed to make the playoffs, why was this season a failure? Well, they were swept in the first round of the postseason and looked offensively inept during that series. The Sens finished tied with the LA Kings for the fewest goals scored in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs with just five in four games. With a pathetic offensive effort like that, fans aren't going to be celebrating the fact that they made the postseason; they're just going to remember how bad their team looked when the lights shone the brightest.

Philadelphia Flyers: Success

This was a tremendous year for the Flyers. After averaging 71.4 points per season from 2021 to 2025, Philly broke the schenid and recorded 98 points, which earned them the three-seed in the Metropolitan Division and their first playoff berth in six years. If the season ended there, it would still be a successful campaign. But the Flyers took things a step further and dominated their in-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the first round of the playoffs. Though they were eventually swept by the Stanley Cup champions, this was a season of growth for a Philly squad that has yearned for success for multiple years. Daniel Vladar proved himself to be the goalie of the future, ranking third in save percentage and tied for fourth in goals allowed per game amongst playoff goaltenders. Between Vladar, Porter Martone, and Matvei Michkov, Philly has just begun to scratch the surface of what they can become.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Failure

For the last 20 years, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been the standard of excellence in the National Hockey League, with four Eastern Conference titles and three Stanley Cup championships since 2007. Now, though, we’re in the twilight years of the three-headed monster that orchestrated so many successful seasons in Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby is 38, Evgeni Malkin will be turning 40 next month, and Kris Letang just turned 39. Who knows how many more times we will see those three guys on the ice at the same time? That's why it was incredibly sad to see them fail to make it out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Not only did they lose in six games, but they fell to their in-state rivals, which makes this first-round exit sting that much worse. This group has to at least make one more Eastern Conference Finals appearance with Crosby, Malkin, and Letang, so this season was a letdown since they couldn't even reach the second round of the playoffs.

San Jose Sharks: Success

Considering where they were two seasons ago to where they are now, it's clear that this year was a successful one for the Sharks. During the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, San Jose won 39 total games. This year alone, the Sharks won 39 games and were even in the run for a playoff berth in the final week of the regular season. With 86 points in the standings, this was the best year San Jose has had since making the Western Conference Finals in 2019! The most promising part about this campaign was the emergence of former number-one overall pick Macklin Celebrini, who already looks like one of the best players in the National Hockey League at just 20 years old. He set a franchise record for the most points in a single season with 115, which was good for fourth in the NHL. Celebrini also finished the year tied for the fourth-most goals in the league with 45. He is a surefire superstar who will likely have the Sharks competing for a Stanley Cup next season.

Seattle Kraken: Failure

It's hard to judge a team that has only been in existence for five seasons. After all, we don't know if the Kraken are going to be a good franchise or a bad one. They went from 60 points in their first season to 100 the next! Unfortunately for the Seattle faithful, the Kraken have been unable to find that same level of success since then. They finished with more points than they did during the 2024-25 season, but they also won one fewer game. Seattle is also on its third coach in three years, which is not a good sign of how this team is being managed. Perhaps the most frustrating part of the season was that the Kraken could've made the playoffs, but they just failed down the stretch. They were 31-26-9 on March 15th, but would only win three more games the rest of the season. How else should the season be viewed when they let a playoff appearance slip through their fingers?

St. Louis Blues: Failure

They might have been in the mix for a playoff spot during the final few games of the regular season, but make no mistake about it, this was a bad showing for St. Louis. After the Blues won 44 games and recorded 96 points last year, they finished with just 37 wins and only 86 points this season. They looked competitive in a relatively weak Western Conference, but if the Blue played in the East, they would've finished behind the New Jersey Devils for the third-worst record in the conference. They even traded away former captain Brayden Schenn, which gives you an idea about what the front office thinks of the team's core. They're also probably going to lose Oskar Sundqvist to free agency. They don't even have a top-10 draft pick! This was a disappointing season for the Blues.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Failure

Long gone are the days when the Tampa Bay Lightning were the best team in the National Hockey League. Ever since they made it to three straight Stanley Cup Finals from 2020 to 2022, the Lightning have been bounced out of the first round of the playoffs in four straight seasons. This time around, they fell to the Montreal Canadiens - their longtime Atlantic Division rivals - in seven games. Though they completely outplayed the Habs in Game Seven, Montreal prevailed by a final score of 2-1. It didn't seem to matter that Nikita Kucherov won the Hart Trophy and finished eighth in goals this season (44); he only found the back of the net once during the 2026 playoffs. It's a huge disappointment that the once-mighty Lightning have been reduced to consistent first-round exits.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Failure

What a difference one season can make. The 2024-25 Maple Leafs went 52-26-4 and finished in the regular season standings with 108 points. This year, they won 20 fewer games and had 78 points, making them the second-worst team in the East and the fifth-worst squad in the NHL. The whole Mitch Marner trade makes this season even more disastrous. It's bad enough that the Maple Leafs were terrible this year; they also had to watch Mitch Marner set the world on fire in his first season with the Vegas Golden Knights as he led all players in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 29 points. In return, they got Nicolas Roy, whom the Maple Leafs traded midway through the season. Toronto basically let Marner go for nothing, and he proceeded to have arguably his best season as a pro. The only consolation is that they won the NHL Draft Lottery and can pair Gavin McKenna with Auston Matthews.

Utah Mammoth: Success

It might have only been their second season in the NHL, but the Mammoth already reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where they put up a decent fight against the eventual Western Conference Champions, losing in six games. They won two contests and forced overtime in two other games, which means they were clearly competitive and could’ve even won the series! Utah started the season strong, going 8-2-0 in its first 10 games. The Mammoth also finished the regular season well, with a 6-3-0 record in their last nine outings. This is a young franchise that is still trying to establish an identity in the NHL, but they are trending upwards, which is all you can ask for from a team that has been in existence since 2024.

Vancouver Canucks: Failure

I mean, expectations were low for this team, but Jesus Christ, who could've seen this coming? They had the fewest points in the NHL this season (58). In the 56 years that the franchise has existed, the Canucks have only finished a season with fewer points six times, and one of those seasons was shortened by a strike. So, Vancouver has really only had five campaigns worse than this one. They were tied for the second-fewest goals scored this year (210) while allowing the most goals in the NHL (314). There was not one thing that the Canucks did well. And, to top it all off, they didn't even get the number-one overall pick. They fell to third overall in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Washington Capitals: Failure

For a team that finished first in the Metro last year and recorded 111 points, the Caps fell flat on their face this season. They had eight more regulation losses than they did during the 2024-25 season. Alex Ovechkin will only be playing for one, maybe two more years at most. The Capitals cannot afford to waste the final years of his illustrious career by failing to make the playoffs. Ovi deserves one more shot at the Cup. The unfortunate part is that they could've actually made the playoffs if they hadn't played so poorly during the winter. The Caps went 8-2-0 in their final 10 games, but still were eliminated from the postseason on April 13th. They wasted a strong start and finish to the season, which they cannot afford to do with Ovechkin set to retire sometime over the next two years in all likelihood.

Winnipeg Jets: Failure

The Jets had one of the biggest drop-offs we have seen amongst NHL teams from last season to this one. Not only did they fail to make the playoffs for the first time in four years, but they saw their point total fall from 116 to 82. The Jets lost 21 more games than they did during the 2024-25 season. The most frustrating aspect of this season is that Winnipeg looked like a top team in the West early by starting the campaign 9-3-0. However, they went 4-15-5 from November 21st to January 9th and lost 11 games in a row at one point. They also finished the season with four straight losses, so they didn't even establish some momentum or positive vibes to take into next season. And with superstar goalie Connor Hellebuyck rumored to be on the trading block, the Jets' future looks bleak.