1 Reason Why Your Favorite NHL Team Won't Win the 2025 Stanley Cup
The start of the 2024-25 NHL season is right around the corner, and this is the point in the summer when everybody is probably feeling good about their team's chances.
Moves have been made, coaches have been hired, and the anticipation of a new season and a fresh start brings excitement and optimism for everybody.
No matter how good your team is, though, there is a much greater chance that your season is going to end with a loss and disappointment than it is with your captain getting handed the Stanley Cup by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
Every team in the league has a flaw or something that could hold it back, and we have identified one reason why your team is not going to win the Cup this season.
Anaheim Ducks: Just Not Their Time Yet
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There are just some teams that you just know aren't going to be a player for the Stanley Cup.
The Anaheim Ducks are one of those teams.
But fear not, Ducks fans, because you do have brighter days ahead for you. Finally.
It has taken some time, but there is a real core of young talent being assembled here (Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras, a ton of young defenders), and Anaheim has a chance to be a really good team in the coming seasons.
The Ducks aren't there just yet, though. Patience is a must, and it will be rewarded eventually.
Boston Bruins: Lack of a No. 1 Center
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The Bruins have elite players all over the lineup, including winger David Pastrnak, defenseman Charlie McAvoy and goalie Jeremy Swayman. There are few weaknesses on the roster, and they should be a high-level playoff team again.
The only thing holding them back continues to be the lack of a truly elite No. 1 center.
Every Stanley Cup-winning team has a game-changer at the position, and it's extremely difficult to win a championship without one.
Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha and free-agent addition Elias Lindholm are all very good players, but they are not the type of center who can put a team on their back for a best-of-seven series or a playoff run.
Until they get that player, their ceiling will be just below a Stanley Cup.
Buffalo Sabres: They Are in Wrong Division
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It's difficult to see how the Sabres' playoff drought does not reach 14 consecutive seasons.
For one, even though there is a nice core of talent here, especially on defense, the roster just isn't that good.
Buffalo took a big step backward in 2023-24, and there are still some big holes and question marks throughout the lineup, especially relating to scoring depth.
However, the bigger problem might just be the simple fact that the Sabres play in a gauntlet of a division that is full of some of the best teams in the league, several Cup contenders (Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Florida) and improving teams that might be a step ahead of them (Detroit, Ottawa) in their rebuilds.
Calgary Flames: They Are Turning the Page
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It's pretty clear what direction the Flames are going in right now, and all signs point toward the early stages of a rebuild.
Over the past year, they have traded Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm, Jacob Markstrom and Andrew Mangiapane. Along with that, they have only made marginal additions and still have some bad contracts on the roster, including what might be the worst in the NHL in Jonathan Huberdeau.
They have missed the playoffs the past two years, and nothing about this roster on paper offers much hope that streak is going to end this season.
Carolina Hurricanes: Who Is the Superstar?
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The Hurricanes consistently have one of the best rosters in the NHL from top-to-bottom with very few weaknesses. If any.
They defend well, they outshoot and outchance their opponents, and they dominate the game territorially. But there always seems to be something missing come playoff time that allows them to get close, yet still be so far away.
It might be as simple as not having a true superstar talent to put the team over the top.
Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov are outstanding, but is there a Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon or Aleksander Barkov level of player here? Probably not.
Chicago Blackhawks: Need a Few More Years
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The Blackhawks should be more competitive this season just because they will have Connor Bedard in his second season and have added some legitimate NHL talent around him with the signings of Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen.
But it's going to take a long time to get this team from where it was a year ago—and even this past season—back into the playoffs and playing at a Stanley Cup level.
Rebuilds take time, and this one is still in its infancy.
If Chicago simply competes for a playoff spot this season or hangs around in the race, that should be seen as progress.
Colorado Avalanche: Goaltending
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Alexandar Georgiev's first year with the Colorado Avalanche turned out to be tremendous after he took over as the No. 1 goalie and posted a rock-solid .918 save percentage in his first full season as a starter.
The 28-year-old did not find that same success in year two, with a save percentage that dropped all the way down to .898 while he also had some hiccups in the playoffs.
The Avalanche might also have some scoring depth issues to worry about, but they still have elite players at the top of the lineup who can carry the offense.
However, having a question mark in goal is the type of thing that can sink an otherwise strong team.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Young Talent Is Not Ready
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As bad as things have been on the ice for the Columbus Blue Jackets the past couple of years, there is still a lot of reason for optimism in the long term.
They have one of the NHL's deepest farm systems and some truly outstanding young talent working its way up through the system. It's just going to take a couple of years for it to develop.
There is also the matter of making sure they are able to develop it, bring everybody along and also complement it with the right players.
All of that has been an issue at times for the Blue Jackets in recent years. But they have a new general (Don Waddell) and a new vision that will hopefully produce better results in the future.
Dallas Stars: No Replacement for Joe Pavelski
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The Stars are one of the best teams in the league and have a loaded roster. But their offseason was a little quiet and resulted in them losing veteran Joe Pavelski to retirement.
They did not really bring in anybody else to replace the 40-year-old, losing their No. 2 scorer and one of their top veteran leaders in the process.
That is a lot to replace both on and off the ice, and it remains to be seen how they will go about doing it.
The good news for the Stars is they have a great wave of young talent coming through the system and still have an incredibly deep roster. As true as that is, though, Pavelski is still a tough figure to replace.
Detroit Red Wings: Defense Is Not Good Enough
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The Red Wings have not made the playoffs in eight years, but they finally showed some progress in 2023-24 by coming closer than they have since their last appearance in 2015-16.
They lost out on a tiebreaker for the second wild-card spot, wasting what was one of the best offensive performances in the league.
The reason they fell just short? They did not defend well enough, finishing 24th in the league in goals against.
They did not do much to address those defensive shortcomings this offseason, and they may have actually made their blue line worse by trading Jake Walman to San Jose in a salary-dump trade.
Top prospect Simon Edvinsson should be ready to make an impact and Moritz Seider is a tremendous young player, but those two guys alone are not going to be enough to make up for the shortcomings elsewhere defensively.
Edmonton Oilers: Defensive Depth
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The Oilers have two of the best players in hockey in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but depth always seems to be an issue with this team.
They have done a lot of strong work to improve the forward depth, especially this offseason with the additions of Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner. But their defensive depth leaves a lot to be desired, especially after losing Philip Broberg to the St. Louis Blues in restricted free agency.
Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm are excellent, but they don't have many reliable or consistent options behind them.
Sometimes, the playoffs are not necessarily about what you do well, but rather your biggest weaknesses that can get exploited. For the Oilers, that is definitely going to be their second and third defense pairings.
Florida Panthers: Because It's Hard to Win Again
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It is really difficult to find flaws with the Panthers roster because they are stacked at every position.
Great offense. Strong defense. Good goaltending. Over the past three years they have won a Presidents' Trophy, played in the Stanley Cup Final, then came back and won the Cup this past season.
The biggest knock against their chances this season is that it's just difficult to win two in a row and make three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final.
Is it a particularly good reason why they will not win? Probably not. But odds are...they won't.
Los Angeles Kings: Lack of Scoring Depth
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The Kings have done a good job rebuilding themselves back into a playoff team, but they are still lacking some scoring depth.
They finished the 2023-24 season 16th in the league in goals scored, but they really tanked offensively in the second half.
From Jan. 1 until the end of the season, they were only 24th in the league in goals scored and then lost a couple of forwards this offseason, including Pierre-Luc Dubois and Viktor Arvidsson.
And while the former was a massive disappointment in his one year with the team and the latter missed most of last season due to injury, they still didn't bring in much to upgrade their goal-scoring.
That is going to be a problem, especially if they run into the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs again after three straight series losses to them.
Minnesota Wild: Salary-Cap Restrictions
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The Wild have been hurt the past few years by a miserable salary-cap situation that has been caused by the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts.
Those buyouts, which have been resulting in more than $14 million in dead salary-cap space, have severely limited their ability to build any sort of depth on the roster.
Minnesota still has one more year of those buyouts at their peak value to get through.
So, even though the Wild have some excellent players, including superstar forward Kirill Kaprizov, it is just nearly impossible to win when you only have $74 million in salary-cap space at your disposal and every other team in the league has almost $90 million.
Montreal Canadiens: Not Enough Depth
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The Canadiens have their core in place, and it should be a very good one.
Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky have a chance to be a sensational trio to build around, and there is a good chance Patrik Laine bounces back with a fresh start. That quartet should be fun to watch.
The problem for the Canadiens is they just don't have enough complementary talent around them or depth in support. That is true at both offense and defense.
The rebuild might be a little slow, but there is some progress. They just aren't ready quite yet.
Nashville Predators: Is Their Penalty Kill Good Enough?
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The Predators were the busiest team this offseason with the re-signing of starting goalie Juuse Saros, trade of top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov, and free-agent signings of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei.
They were already a playoff team—and a pretty good one—and look even better after those additions. They should be a Stanley Cup contender.
The one concern that might exist is the fact that their penalty kill was one of the worst in the NHL a year ago at just 76.9 percent. Can they fix that in one year?
Maybe this is really reaching for a reason, but the Predators look like a legitimately strong team that suddenly doesn't have many weaknesses.
New Jersey Devils: Jacob Markstrom Might Not Be Good Anymore
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Goaltending was the one clear Achilles heel for the Devils in 2023-24, and they made a big move to fix it this offseason by acquiring Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames.
It is a clear upgrade and did not cost them anything of any significance.
In a lot of ways, it's a great trade.
But there is still some risk with it given the fact that Markstrom's save percentages the past two seasons have been .892 and .905, respectively. Neither season was particularly good, and he is going to be a year older this season.
Even though the Devils missed the playoffs a year ago, they still have a Stanley Cup-caliber roster if everybody is healthy,and Markstrom plays at a reasonably high level. But there is no guarantee that will happen based on what we have seen from the 34-year-old in recent years.
New York Islanders: Not Enough Offense
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The Islanders made one of the better long-term free-agent signings of the offseason when they landed Anthony Duclair on a four-year contract worth just $3.5 million per season against the salary cap.
The 29-year-old brings some speed and offense to a team that has been lacking both for a couple of years, and he has a chance to excel under his former junior coach, Patrick Roy.
The problem for the Islanders is that he probably isn't enough to fix the NHL's 22nd-ranked offense and make it powerful enough to compete with some of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference.
With their goaltending, the Islanders are always going to be a threat to make the playoffs.
Their offense will always hold them back until they get more game-breakers.
New York Rangers: 5-on-5 Play
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The Rangers are going to win 45-50 games thanks to their incredible power play and starting goalie Igor Shesterkin being one of the top two netminders in the league (and probably the best goalie).
But they didn't really do anything to solve the 5-on-5 issues that keep plaguing them when they have to play one of the four or five teams in the league that can match their talent level.
Until the Rangers fix that, they are going to have trouble getting to where they want to be as a potential Stanley Cup team.
Their 49.1 percent expected goal share was 22nd in the NHL a year ago, and their 50.2 goals scored share at 5-on-5 play was only 16th. That isn't good enough to win a championship, and their offseason changes (and lack of changes as it relates to Jacob Trouba and the defense) are not likely to solve the issue.
Ottawa Senators: Not Enough Depth
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The Ottawa Senators must be an extremely frustrating team to cheer for.
They have been rebuilding for a few years, and that process has produced a talented core of players led by Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot. They also fixed a big issue this offseason by acquiring a starting goalie in Linus Ullmark.
But the roster remains extraordinarily top-heavy with a sizable gap between their top-line players and the rest of the roster. That's not going to cut it in an Atlantic Division that has established contenders in Florida, Boston, Toronto and Tampa Bay, plus an improving team in Detroit.
Philadelphia Flyers: Not Enough Impact Players
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The Flyers overachieved during the 2023-24 season and held onto a playoff spot for most of the season before fading down the stretch. They defended well and head coach John Tortorella squeezed every possible point that he could out of an undermanned roster.
He is going to have to do that again this season because Philadelphia really did not do much to address its biggest issue: a lack of high-end talent and players who can impact its power play.
The one big hope here is the arrival of rookie Matvei Michkov, who is going to be making his NHL debut far sooner than expected. Even though he has a chance to be a franchise-altering talent, expecting him to fix an offense that ranked 27th in goals scored and 32nd on the power play in his first year is too much.
The Flyers will be interesting. They will be tough to play against. But they need more offensive talent.
Pittsburgh Penguins: They Got Old
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After making the playoffs 16 years in a row, the Pittsburgh Penguins have now missed the postseason in back-to-back campaigns, both times by a razor-thin margin.
While the playoffs could be within reach if they can fix their power play and get some more consistent goaltending, the reality is that their championship window has probably closed as their core group of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang has gotten older.
All three players are still excellent, but after nearly two decades at the top of the NHL, they were due to take a step backward. That time has arrived.
The Penguins don't have the young talent or scoring depth they had when they were at their peak in the late 2000s and mid-2010s. Their ceiling might just be making the playoffs and maybe winning a round.
San Jose Sharks: The Rebuild Is Just Starting
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The past five years have been the worst stretch of seasons the San Jose Sharks have had in the history of their franchise, and the 2023-24 season was one of the worst we have seen in modern NHL history from a non-expansion team. It was bad.
The good news is that it resulted in the No. 1 overall pick, Macklin Celebrini, and gave them a true building block for the future.
However, this rebuild is still very much in its infancy and the only expectation anybody should have for the team in 2024-25 is for them to at least be respectable on most nights.
They need time. A lot of time.
Seattle Kraken: Not Enough Offense
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The Kraken took a big step backward in 2023-24, and a huge regression in their offense was the biggest driving force behind that.
They didn't score enough goals. While it is reasonable to expect Matty Beniers to bounce back offensively, the rest of the roster just isn't particularly dangerous from a goal-scoring standpoint.
They tried to make improvements in the offseason with forward Chandler Stephenson and defenseman Brandon Montour, but they were nothing more than expensive free-agent contracts for what might only be minimal upgrades.
St. Louis Blues: Defense Is Not Good Enough
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The good news for the Blues is they did make a nice addition in Philip Broberg, snatching him from the Edmonton Oilers as a restricted free agent.
The bad news is he is still relatively unproven, and he alone might not be enough to turn a bad defense into something passable.
The Blues defense has not been the same for years after losing Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn a few years back. It has largely been the same collection of players producing the same mediocre results year in and year out.
The only thing that kept them somewhat competitive in 2023-24 was a shockingly strong year from starting goalie Jordan Binnington. There is no guarantee he duplicates that this season, though. If he doesn't, this season could get very ugly, very quickly.
Tampa Bay Lightning: They're Just Not the Same Team
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The Lightning have been one of the gold-standard teams in the NHL for the past decade and have produced nearly unmatched results.
But they are slowly starting to lose some of that magic.
Steven Stamkos is gone, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy are both showing serious signs of slowing down, and their overall 5-on-5 play took a massive step backward in 2023-24.
They were under 50 percent in both expected goal share and goals scored share, ranking lower than 20th in both categories, and they are nowhere near as dominant as they were during their run of three consecutive trips to the Cup Final.
Still a very good team with potential game-breakers, but probably not a championship-level side anymore.
Toronto Maple Leafs: They Haven't Fixed Any of Their Problems
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It would be unfair to suggest the Maple Leafs have not made changes this offseason because they have.
They made a head coaching switch from Sheldon Keefe to Craig Berube and brought in a bona fide shutdown defender in Chris Tanev. Maybe both moves will help.
Maybe Tanev still has some high-level hockey ahead of him. Maybe Berube lights a fire under the team and helps them get to a different level.
But a lot of the problems the Maple Leafs have had in recent years still exist.
Their scoring depth, which has been a constant problem in the playoffs, is still looking weak on paper, and they kept the same core group of players that has proved time and again it's not good enough to overcome the other flaws on the roster.
How do you expect different results when you don't change enough of the process? This group has won one playoff series in eight years. At this point, it's no longer bad luck.
Utah Hockey Club: It Needs a Franchise Player
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There should be a renewed sense of optimism with this franchise now that it has a more permanent home, what should be a stable ownership situation and a fresh start in a new city.
Utah also made some really big moves this offseason to significantly improve its defense by adding Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino.
Those additions will improve the roster, perhaps enough to even turn it into a borderline playoff team. But it's still lacking a true franchise player at the top of the lineup who can accelerate a rebuild.
Clayton Keller is an outstanding player and extremely productive, but he is more of a complementary piece than somebody you build a team around.
Logan Cooley has All-Star potential, but he is not yet there. Until he does get there, or until Utah finds a way to acquire that sort of difference-maker, its ceiling will be limited.
Vancouver Canucks: Thatcher Demko's Health
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The Canucks took a massive step forward in 2023-24 and became a legitimate contender in the Western Conference.
The one big question mark at the start of the season might be in goal due to the health concerns around starting goalie Thatcher Demko and backup Arturs Silovs.
When healthy, Demko can be one of the best goalies in the NHL, and he played like it this past season with a .918 save percentage.
But he was injured in the playoffs and seems to have had a setback as training camp gets closer. That could be a major concern this season, especially if it's an injury that lingers throughout the season.
Vegas Golden Knights: They Didn't Replace Jonathan Marchessault
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From their first year in the league, the Golden Knights have always been about making blockbuster moves and adding as many stars as they can.
It's an approach that has produced a constant contender and resulted in a Stanley Cup in the 2022-23 season.
This offseason, however, has been a little different as they mostly subtracted from the roster without really adding anything back.
The biggest departure was Jonathan Marchessault, who signed with the Nashville Predators after a 40-goal season. The Golden Knights did not do anywhere near enough to replace him, only bringing in reclamation projects like Victor Olofsson and Alexander Holtz.
That is not enough, though, and it leaves a major hole at the top of their lineup.
Washington Capitals: They Don't Have a No. 1 Center
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After barely sneaking into the playoffs with a dreadful minus-37 goal differential, the Washington Capitals had to know they had to make major changes this offseason to make a return trip.
To their credit, they made a ton by adding Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Jakob Chychrun, Matt Roy and Logan Thompson.
Those are all strong moves and should significantly improve the roster.
Even with those moves, though, they are still lacking the type of No. 1 center they had when Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov were in their primes.
There is a good chance Dubois bounces back after a down year in Los Angeles and Dylan Strome has proved to be a nice complementary player, but neitherseems to be a Stanley Cup-caliber top-line center.
Winnipeg Jets: They Are Too Dependent on Connor Hellebuyck
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Connor Hellebuyck is one of the few goalies in the NHL that you should feel comfortable with on a year-to-year basis.
The 31-year-old has established himself as an elite goalie, and the type of player who can carry even an average team into the playoffs.
However, the Jets rely on that too much and don't seem interested in trying to make things easier on him.
They play Hellebuyck more than any other goalie in the league and give him a massive workload. And they rely on the fact that he can bail them out most nights and do not really work to fix the many flaws on the roster.
All of that limits their ceiling as a playoff team, and it puts Hellebuyck into a situation where he is getting overworked and runs out of steam come playoff team.
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