The Rebuilding NHL Teams Poised to Shock the League and Chase the Stanley Cup Next Season

In the ever-turning carousel of the NHL, some teams find themselves in those bleak stretches—out of the playoff race, rebuilding the foundations, chasing the ever-elusive Stanley Cup. Today, I’m peeling back the layers on those 16 squads that missed the postseason, sizing up who—not in a hypothetical vacuum but with some gritty, real-deal forecasting—might hoist the Cup within the next decade. Rebuilds aren’t just about stacking draft picks or flashy prospects; it’s a complex puzzle of potential, patience, and the right flashes of brilliance at the right moment. One intriguing note: the Montreal Canadiens, despite boasting a top-10 prospect pipeline, don’t make the cut here under my playoff-miss definition—but if they did? They’d slot in at a respectable fourth place. So buckle up, because this isn’t your typical rundown. I’m diving deep into the core of these franchises, breaking down who’s on an upward arc and who’s still stuck in the muck. Wanna get a full view of the breakdown? LEARN MORE

Today, I rank the rebuilding NHL teams with one question in mind: Who do I think is likeliest to win the Stanley Cup sometime within the next 10 years?

I define a rebuilding team simply by looking at the 16 teams that didn’t make the playoffs. Using this criterion excludes one team that ranked top 10 in the pipeline rankings: the Montreal Canadiens. If I were to include them here, they would rank fourth.

1. San Jose Sharks

While I don’t expect the Sharks to be contending anytime in the next few years, they are putting together an extremely desirable group of young players that is easy to envision becoming a formidable core. Led by star Macklin Celebrini and surrounding high-end talents in Michael Misa, Will Smith and Sam Dickinson, among other young players, the Sharks have a group that can grow together into a winner.

2. Utah Mammoth

The Mammoth took notable steps as an organization last season, and lucked into the No. 4 pick through the lottery to add Caleb Desnoyers to an already-impressive group of young players. They could easily push for the playoffs this season, but the young core led by Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Desnoyers and their numerous other high picks of the last decade, going back to Clayton Keller, could lead to them making noise in the very near future.

3. Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks’ rebuild has gone frustratingly slow for their fans, with some steps back, such as Trevor Zegras’ development and subsequent trade after a promising start. The young forward group they have assembled, though, is outstanding. Leo Carlsson, Roger McQueen, Mason McTavish, Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke all have size, can skate and have high-end skill. There is likely still a need for more patience, but the pieces are there in Anaheim for the team to come together and be competitive.

4. Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago is in a strong position, having made a ton of high picks in recent years. They are led by their star offensive talent in Connor Bedard, with an excellent young supporting cast of tall, mobile defensemen and two-way forwards around him. There is a minor question as to who else has the star potential in this group after Bedard, although 2024 No. 2 pick Artyom Levshunov has a strong case. Chicago will still have some tough years ahead, but there is a path to becoming a competitive team with what the Blackhawks have acquired.

5. Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus fans have been extremely patient throughout this franchise’s history, but last season, they saw some glimpses of hope between the play of young players like Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson, along with some veterans. This may be one of the better spots this organization has been in its history in terms of roster quality and youth.

6. Seattle Kraken

Seattle is building one of the more desirable groups of young forwards in the league. Matty Beniers, Shane Wright, Berkly Catton and Jake O’Brien could be the nucleus of a consistent playoff team. At some point, the Kraken will need to add a premium blueliner or two, though.

7. Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers’ build has shown promise due to the play of Matvei Michkov and the addition of Porter Martone in this summer’s draft. This is likely still the early stages of their rebuild, though. They will likely still need to add more premium talent at center or defense.

8. Detroit Red Wings

Detroit’s rebuild has been frustratingly slow for fans, but the Red Wings have steadily built one piece at a time in the first round. They aren’t picking in the top 10 as often, but the NHL team hasn’t improved that much. They have a bunch of high-quality prospects, although none who project as true impact types. I see a way for this team to be a consistent playoff contender in time, but there may not be enough elite players to go the distance.

9. New York Islanders

The Islanders had a massive summer at the draft, led by No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer. One NHL scout told me recently he thinks the Islanders’ 2025 draft could do for them what the 2017 draft did for Dallas. Their organization is in a bit of a reset. They have good players, but with Noah Dobson traded, they likely don’t have enough talent to be a true contender with their current core.

10. Calgary Flames

Calgary performed surprisingly well this season in large part due to young goalie Dustin Wolf. If Wolf can maintain that level, they can be a respectable team. While they have a true top defense prospect in Zayne Parekh, even if he hits in a major way, I don’t quite see the vision for this organization to become a contender with this current group. I could see them being a playoff team, though.

11. Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo’s rebuild has been frustrating for Sabres fans as they’ve continued to acquire high picks for a long time, but the NHL team has yet to take material steps forward. They have a very good collection of young players between the NHL team and the farm system, led by Rasmus Dahlin on the blue line. I do wonder whether there’s enough star power up front, though. The Sabres could improve on their recent results, but they may need more impact talent to be more than a bubble playoff team.

12. Nashville Predators

Nashville’s direction is unclear. The Predators took a big step back last season. They have a strong farm system, but unless their 2025 No. 5 pick Brady Martin becomes a star, there isn’t much in the way of top-tier talent. Ideally, they bottom out for a few years and restock, but general manager Barry Trotz seems to want to get back to winning soon.

13. Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver has a solid NHL team with a superstar blueliner in Quinn Hughes, but the roster isn’t overly deep, and the farm system has a handful of quality pieces. It’s not clear what the direction is here. The Canucks could be a playoff team, but minus an Elias Pettersson revival plus some luck on the draft/development front, it’s hard to see the plan to contend.

14. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins’ system is in significantly better shape than it was over the last decade, and while that is promising for Penguins fans, there is a ways to go. They have good mid-range prospects, but still need a lot of premium young talent that will likely only be acquired by years of bottoming out.

15. New York Rangers

The Rangers are in a precarious position. This isn’t a bad NHL team, but it’s been a roster propped up by goaltending for a long time. Beyond the net, the Rangers have good players but not enough of them. Their system is quite bare, too, especially at the premium positions. There was a window of competitiveness for this organization, but it feels like it’s closing, and it may be time for a rebuild-on-the-fly version 2.0.

16. Boston Bruins

The Bruins are 16th in this exercise with some caveats. I don’t think their NHL team is poor. They should improve next season with better health, and although that Jeremy Swayman contract seems ugly today, he should be better than he was last year. But outside of James Hagens, there isn’t much coming prospect-wise to be excited about. Hagens, Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak can only do so much, and while I can see Boston making the playoffs soon, contending for a title seems a long way off.

(Top photo of Dustin Wolf and Alexander Wennberg: Sergei Belski / Imagn Images)