New Year's hockey resolutions for 2026

Another year is in the books, and with the shift in the calendar often come New Year’s resolutions, self-imposed mission statements intended to better ourselves and/or conquer our problems. But resolutions don’t only have to represent our all-encompassing life goals. We can apply them to specific passions of ours, too – like hockey.

With that, Roundtable: What is your New Year’s hockey resolution for 2026?

MATT LARKIN: To not let the trolls get to me as much. I don’t mean to not engage. I have always enjoyed sparring with fans, even of the fired-up variety, over hot topics if the banter is respectful. But I let my year-and-a-half-long war with the Buffalo Sabres fan base over Ryan McLeod, Matt Savoie, Martin Erat and Filip Forsberg (my supposed trade comparison) affect me and showed more emotion than I normally do this year. The key to approaching trolls: don’t take what they say personally, as they don’t actually know you. The only know the tiny piece of yourself you show online. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop battling the Buffalonians, or the New York Islanders fans on me about Bo Horvat or the — uh, just take a number. But it’s time to embrace the fun and hilarity of it all again, which is what I’ve done well for 90 percent of my career.

ANTHONY TRUDEAU: See the big picture. My recurring monthly storylines articles require me to constantly be on top of the NHL’s current events, which can lead to some shortsighted conclusions. Watching the Blues’ playoff charge had me bullish on them coming into the season, even though I myself said their core would end in disaster years ago. I should have known 25 good games don’t make up for the preceding two-and-a-half bad seasons. Instead, here I am sitting on the coldest of preseason takes for the next five months: “After a full offseason with Montgomery … the Blues are the best bet to upset a top three that’s been unchanged for two years.” Yuck. Don’t fall in love with a heater, kids.

SCOTT MAXWELL: This is a bit of a cop-out answer considering it’s similar to my New Year’s resolution last year, but it’s still improving my interviewing ability with players. I’ve at least nailed down the second part of last year’s resolution about finding a way to incorporate that element into my analysis pieces, a process that proved to be much easier than I expected, but the quotes themselves can still have more substance. Whether that’s asking tough questions in the scrums (or asking any in general, I tend to let the daily beat writers take the reins there) or getting into deeper and more personal conversations in one-on-one interviews, there’s still a lot that can be improved upon.

MIKE GOULD: My resolution is to watch more of the Minnesota Wild. After trading for Quinn Hughes, is it safe to say the Wild are no longer mild? They’ve got Kirill Kaprizov, they’ve got Matt Boldy, they’ve got an incredible goaltending tandem of Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt … I think it’s time to take this team a bit more seriously. After including Marco Rossi in the Hughes deal, they’re probably due to trade for a center — is that where Nazem Kadri ends up? Either way, I’m fascinated to see whether the Wild can make it to the Western Conference Final for the first time in more than two decades.

PAUL PIDUTTI: Not to get too sentimental over the holidays, but my hockey resolution is to always stay grateful for the platform and opportunity I’ve found. My own hockey career ended in junior at 20 and I was very content to have a quiet, happy life as a hockey fan in my spare time. I started drafting a book during COVID lockdowns and created Adjusted Hockey more for myself as a passion project and to use the newfound free time as an outlet. So, as someone that entered hockey media at 36, had never written a published word or maintained a social media account, and juggles a full-time corporate job, it’s a small miracle I’m here writing weekly features and connecting with passionate hockey fans daily. Everything about my path, style, and topics is completely non-traditional for sports writing. I’m grateful for it all, especially the people that gave me the opportunity and believed in a complete unknown with a lot of big ideas and zero practical experience. It’s easy to get caught up in finding time, creating topics, meeting deadlines, tracking pageviews, etc., so I want to stay grateful — and continue to create unique, interesting content.