NHL 2025-26 Shockers: Game-Changing Trades and Unexpected Stars Set to Rewrite the Season
Will Canucks captain Quinn Hughes be traded to the Flyers? Will the Panthers make their own blockbuster deal after Aleksander Barkov’s injury? Will players such as Zach Benson, Brandt Clarke and Shane Wright break out this season?
Those were among the responses The Athletic got this week when it asked its NHL staff for their bold predictions for the 2025-26 season.
Here’s one prediction for each team as the early regular season continues.
Anaheim Ducks
They will make the playoffs
Yes, it’s the first one on the page and while many may skip right to their team, I might as well kick things off by going bold. They’re going to end their seven-year, franchise-long playoff drought. Sure, they probably need another 21-point jump after going from 59 to 80 last year. But there is a decent cast of veterans supporting the young core of Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Jackson LaCombe and Cutter Gauthier, and a new coach in Joel Quenneville. If they support Lukas Dostal with better defense, they can grab the final wild-card spot. — Eric Stephens
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