2026-27 NHL season predictions: Expert picks for Stanley Cup playoffs, champion and major awards this sesaon

How will the 2026-27 NHL season play out? We've called our shots

Sep 29, 2026 at 9:27 am ET • 6 min read

Following a brief offseason and an expedited preseason, the 2026-27 NHL season has arrived. Before the puck drops on opening night, we have some predictions to make.

If this season feel like it's staring earlier than usual, that's because it is. The NHL is adopting an 84-game regular season, which just means more hockey for the rest of us. That also means a long and arduous journey to the Stanley Cup is ever so slightly more difficult.

So, what will that journey look like? The Carolina Hurricanes are looking to defend their title as Cup champions, but they'll have to contend with a deep Eastern Conference and some real juggernauts in the Western Conference. With that in mind, we logged our expert predictions for the playoff field in each conference -- and there were a few surprises -- before making our Stanley Cup Final selections.

We also called our shot on the winners of each major individual award. Connor McDavid is looking for his fourth Hart Trophy, but he's got some competition from an up-and-coming superstar in his own division. Races for the Norris Trophy and Vezina Trophy should be pretty wide open, and unexpected candidates always emerge throughout the season.

It should be a fun season in the NHL, so follow along with all our coverage at CBS Sports. Let's get things kicked off with the season preview and predictions, which will of course be 100% accurate.

2026-27 NHL playoff predictions

Eastern Conference

	Austin Nivison	Alexander Baumgartner
1. Atlantic	Panthers	Canadiens
2. Atlantic	Lightning	Panthers
3. Atlantic	Canadiens	Sabres
1. Metropolitan	Capitals	Hurricanes
2. Metropolitan	Hurricanes	Capitals
3. Metropolitan	Devils	Flyers
1. Wild Card	Senators	Lightning
2. Wild Card	Blue Jackets	Bruins

Baumgartner: I don't see many new faces entering the conversation when it comes to the Eastern Conference playoff race. A healthy Florida Panthers side will slot themselves right back towards the top of the Atlantic, and a revamped Washington Capitals side should be able to make some noise in the Metropolitan. Besides that, I have six 2026 playoff teams returning to the dance in 2027.

Western Conference

	Austin Nivison	Alexander Baumgartner
1. Central	Avalanche	Avalanche
2. Central	Stars	Stars
3. Central	Mammoth	Wild
1. Pacific	Golden Knights	Golden Knights
2. Pacific	Oilers	Sharks
3. Pacific	Kings	Oilers
1. Wild Card	Wild	Mammoth
2. Wild Card	Sharks	Ducks

Nivison: As much as I hate to go with chalk in preseason predictions -- because it rarely happens that way -- there's no denying the top dogs in the West. The Avalanche and Stars are the class of the Central Division, and the Golden Knights should pound a pitiful Pacific Division into a pulp. Things get more interesting behind those clear Cup contenders, and I'm projecting another significant leap forward from the Mammoth. I also think Macklin Celebrini will be successful in dragging the Sharks to the playoffs in his third NHL season.

Biggest surprise team

Nivison -- Columbus Blue Jackets: The Blue Jackets have been agonizingly close to the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, and I think they get over the hump in 2026-27. There are still questions in Columbus. Can Adam Fantilli be a franchise player at center? Is the forward group as a whole good enough to keep pace in a competitive Eastern Conference? Still, I am sure the Blue Jackets have a really strong blue line, led by Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski, and goaltender Jet Greaves is on track to become a Vezina Trophy candidate. Internal improvements from the young core will then get Columbus above the cut line.

Baumgartner -- San Jose Sharks: The Sharks narrowly missed out on the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, finishing just four points short of the second wild card. San Jose added a good group of veterans over the summer, but the most important offseason move was selecting Ivar Stenberg with the No. 2 pick in the Draft. Stenberg joins the youth movement in San Jose, which is spearheaded by new captain Macklin Celebrini, who broke the Sharks single-season points record with 115 last season. The Sharks are a better team than they were last year, and with Celebrini entering his third season as a legit Hart Trophy contender, this team won't be fun to play against.

Stanley Cup Final picks

	Austin Nivison	Alexander Baumgartner
Eastern Conference champion	Panthers	Panthers
Western Conference champion	Mammoth	Stars
Stanley Cup champion	Panthers	Panthers

Nivison: Yes, the Mammoth have a brutal path coming out of the Central Divison, but just close your eyes and imagine this scenario with me. Logan Cooley becomes a superstar center. Dylan Guenther hits 50 goals. Dmitry Simashev asserts himself as a budding top-four defenseman. Anders Lee and Vincent Trocheck provide necessary veteran depth. Now open your eyes. Utah is your Western Conference champion.

Unfortunately for the Mammoth, they will run into a refreshed Panthers team that now has double-barreled Tkachuks. Last season, we found out that all it takes to stop Florida is to hope all of its key players miss significant time with injury. The long offseason was probably a blessing in disguise as it allowed the Panthers to get healthy, and that's bad news for everyone else. The structure in front of the crease will limit some of the volatility we saw from Jacob Markstrom in New Jersey, and Florida wins its third Stanley Cup in four years.

Baumgartner: Before last season, the Carolina Hurricanes' kryptonite was the Eastern Conference Final. The Hurricanes were able to overcome their demons and win the East before ultimately taking home the franchise's first Stanley Cup since 2006. In the West, the Dallas Stars have been running into the same problem. After three straight seasons ending in the Western Conference Final, the Stars regressed last postseason, flaming out in the first-round to the Minnesota Wild. The Central Division will once again be a gauntlet, but I'm ready for Dallas to take the next step and reach the Stanley Cup Final.

While Dallas has continued to fall short in recent years, the Panthers have done the opposite. The Panthers made three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances, winning back-to-back Cups in 2023-24 and 2024-25. Last season, Florida's three-peat attempt came to a halt on day one of training after captain Aleksander Barkov went down with a non-contact injury, tearing both the ACL and MCL in his right knee. An offseason of healing for Barkov, and the rest of the banged up Panthers, has the team refreshed entering September for the first time in years. With nearly the entire 2025 Stanley Cup winning core still on the team and Brady Tkachuk added to the fold, Florida looks ready to win its third Stanley Cup in four seasons.

Awards predictions

Award	Austin Nivison	Alexander Baumgartner
Hart Trophy	Macklin Celebrini, C, Sharks	Connor McDavid, C, Oilers
Norris Trophy	Quinn Hughes, D, Wild	Rasmus Dahlin, D, Sabres
Vezina Trophy	Jet Greaves, G. Blue Jackets	Logan Thompson, G. Capitals
Calder Trophy	Porter Martone, RW, Flyers	Anton Frondell, C, Blackhawks
Selke Trophy	Roope Hintz, C, Stars	Aleksander Barkov, C, Panthers
Jack Adams Award	Spencer Carbery, Capitals	Ryan Warsofsky, Sharks

Nivison: Celebrini should have won the Hart Trophy last season, but for some incomprehensible reason, he wasn't even a finalist. This year, Celebrini replicates that performance and gets San Jose to the postseason to take home his first MVP award at age 20. Hughes posts a career year in his first full season with the Wild, and Spencer Carberry gets his flowers for winning the Metro Division after missing the playoffs last year.

Baumgartner: McDavid's ability to take over a game was evident nearly every time he touched the ice last season. His 24 points (11 goals,13 assists) in the final 14 games of the regular season -- without Leon Draisaitl in the lineup -- was one of the many reasons I put him No. 1 on my Hart Trophy ballot. With just two years left on his current contract, desperation may start to kick in to get the job in Edmonton, which would lead to another MVP-caliber season. Barkov is healthy and the frontrunner to win his fourth Selke, and Dahlin will have another strong season to take home his first career Norris Trophy.