Five most improved NHL teams heading into 2025-26

Hockey prediction season won’t end until early October, but we’re nearing the conclusion of the theoretical phase. Before training camps start, before we get a more accurate sense of line deployments and positional battles and injuries, we judge every NHL roster’s alterations by the names we see on paper.

According to all teams’ offseason transactions, which have visibly improved their rosters the most? These five stand out to me. As an honorable mention, the San Jose Sharks almost made the list, but most of their additions were of the short-term variety, players they’ll surely flip at the 2026 Trade Deadline, so the likes of Jeff Skinner and John Klingberg don’t constitute long-term foundational improvements.

Anaheim Ducks

In: Chris Kreider, Mikael Granlund, Ryan Poehling, coach Joel Quenneville

Out: John Gibson, Trevor Zegras, Robby Fabbri, Brock McGinn, Brett Leason, coach Greg Cronin

The Ducks were already on an upward trajectory, posting their best record in six years and experiencing major breakouts from blueliner Jackson LaCombe and center Leo Carlsson. Now it feels like they’re ready to push for their first playoff berth since 2017-18. The Zegras era has mercifully ended. Carlsson and Mason McTavish will anchor this team up the middle for years to come (I’m not buying the notion McTavish will be traded or offer sheeted, FYI). Free-agent signing Granlund brings all-situations versatility and the ability to play any forward position. Kreider is just a season removed from scoring 39 goals and played through a litany of ailments during his final season as a New York Ranger, so he’s a decent bet to bounce back even at 34. He deepens a forward group whose projected third line of Frank Vatrano, Ryan Strome and Granlund would’ve been good enough for its first line a couple years ago. Lastly: whether Quenneville should be back as an NHL head coach doesn’t change the fact that he is. He’s one of the best ever when he’s behind the bench. His presence should help the Ducks achieve some semblance of the defensive discipline they need to become a Wildcard team.

Carolina Hurricanes

In: Nikolaj Ehlers, K’Andre Miller

Out: Dmitry Orlov, Brent Burns, Jack Roslovic

Year in, year out, the Canes play elite defensive hockey in Rod Brind’Amour’s grinding system only to find themselves missing that game-breaking scorer in key playoff moments. They had one in Jake Guentzel but lost him to free agency a year ago. They thought they had one in Mikko Rantanen last winter, but he wasn’t a stylistic fit. In Ehlers, they get a speedster with a poor playoff track record, but they also get an extremely productive player on a per-60 basis who was criminally underused as a Winnipeg Jet, struggling to even earn 16 minutes of ice time per game. Could we see a relatively late career breakout and an 80-point season if the Canes entrust Ehlers with a proper role? Miller, meanwhile, brings a well-rounded skill set, still has plenty of upside at 25 years old and won’t be asked to do too much too soon playing on a D-corps that includes the highly capable Jaccob Slavin, Sean Walker, Jalen Chatfield and Shayne Gostisbehere, not to mention promising rookie Alexander Nikishin. The Canes lost no pieces that they couldn’t replace, and they elevated their roster’s ceiling, not just by signing Ehlers and trading for Miller, but also by ensuring their depth chart had breathing room to give Nikishin an opportunity. Watch out for prospect center Bradly Nadeau this season, too. Once he’s up with the team, he could replicate what Jackson Blake did as a rookie in 2024-25.

Montreal Canadiens

In: Noah Dobson, Zach Bolduc

Out: Christian Dvorak, Logan Mailloux, Joel Armia, Michael Pezzetta, David Savard

The Habs lost a bit of forward depth, and Savard retired from the blueline, but their two primary additions matter a ton. Dobson gives them a true top-pair talent on the right side, a play driver with a big shot. By splitting him and Lane Hutson onto different pairs, the Habs can ice a high-end offensive defenseman for 45 to 50 minutes of every game. And don’t sleep on that Mailloux-for-Bolduc trade. In addition to his high-teens goal total, Bolduc delivered exemplary defensive play as a rookie winger with the St. Louis Blues. He can help the Habs at both ends of the ice and isn’t done ascending as a 22-year-old who went in Round 1 of the 2021 NHL Draft. And while uber-prospect Ivan Demidov isn’t a new addition, he feels like one given he only crossed the Atlantic at the end of 2024-25. He’s another reason we can expect a step forward for Montreal — from scrappy wild-card team to a challenger near the top of the Atlantic Division.

Utah Mammoth

In: JJ Peterka, Brandon Tanev, Nate Schmidt, Vitek Vanecek, Scott Perunovich

Out: Michael Kesselring, Josh Doan, Nick Bjugstad, Matias Maccelli

The Mammoth are already rising, having jumped from 77 to 89 points in their first season post-relocation from Arizona. Now they’ve added a legitimate top-six forward in Peterka, who is coming off a 27-goal, 68-point season and probably hasn’t reached his ceiling yet. Brandon Tanev adds energy and experience to the bottom-six forward group, while Schmidt was one of the best defensemen in the entire NHL at crushing sheltered matchups with the Florida Panthers last season and should be deployed similarly as a Mammoth. The gains outweigh the mid-lineup players Utah lost over the offseason. Also factoring in the continued growth of talented young forwards Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther, the Mammoth look ready to push hard for a playoff spot in the 95-point range this coming season.

Vegas Golden Knights

In: Mitch Marner, Jeremy Lauzon, Colton Sissons

Out: Nicolas Roy, Victor Olofsson, Nic Hague, Ilya Samsonov, Tanner Pearson

That departures list for Vegas essentially includes stalwart defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, too, as his hip problems would require multiple major surgeries to solve and could prevent him from continuing his playing career altogether. Shouldn’t the prognosis be rather grim for Vegas, then? No. Not when you’ve added Marner, who is coming off a 102-point season. He’s one of the best playmakers in the NHL, he’s a two-time first-team all-star, and in the past five seasons he’s seventh in leaguewide scoring and first in takeaways. He also lands in an environment perfectly suited to remedy his problems performing under pressure in the playoffs: a Sun Belt team full of players who won a Stanley Cup in 2022-23. The Golden Knights were already a division champion last season, and now they add a Hall-of-Fame-grade forward to the mix. The entire Western Conference should be afraid.