B/R NHL Staff Roundtable: 2025 Stanley Cup and Regular-Season Award Predictions
The 2024-25 NHL season is officially underway.
Both the Devils and Sabres kicked off the regular season in Prague over the weekend, with New Jersey sweeping both games. The rest of the league picks up the action this week, with the first games in North America starting on Tuesday.
The start of the season also means a revival of a special tradition at Bleacher Report: the NHL editorial staff Awards and Cup picks. Our team sat down and analyzed every Award and provided their winner for the 2025 Stanley Cup.
Disagree with their picks? Sound off with your own thoughts in the B/R section of the app.
Hart Trophy (NHL MVP): Connor McDavid
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An uncharacteristically slow start to last season doomed Connor McDavid's chances of winning the Hart Memorial Trophy. He finished third in votes cast by the Professional Hockey Writers Association behind Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon and Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov.
Any thought that McDavid might be slowing down was put to rest with his impressive performance leading the Oilers to Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.
While Edmonton fell short against the Florida Panthers, McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP with a postseason-leading 41 points, setting a single-season playoff record with 34 assists.
Entering his 10th NHL season, the 27-year-old remains the face of the Oilers and the NHL's most talented player. He overcame his slow start to last season by finishing third in points with 132 and tied with Kucherov for the most assists with 100.
Having come so close to winning the Stanley Cup last season, McDavid will be more determined than ever to lead the Oilers to their first championship since 1990.
Expect a more consistent effort throughout this season as he reclaims his usual spot atop the scoring race to become only the fourth player in NHL history to win the Hart Trophy at least four times.
- Lyle Richardson
Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman): Cale Makar
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There are so many viable options for the Norris Trophy that it makes it really easy to both endure selection paralysis going over all of them and to overthink who could win it.
Just off the top of the head you've got last year's winner from the Vancouver Canucks, Quinn Hughes. There's Nashville Predators team captain Roman Josi, Winnipeg Jets star Josh Morrissey and New York Rangers' leader on the blue line, Adam Fox.
That's not even taking into account other great defensemen such as Edmonton's Evan Bouchard, Dallas' Miro Heiskanen, Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman, Islanders defender Noah Dobson and Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin. And we're sure there are even more worthy of including in the discussion as well.
But the one we're picking this year is equal parts a no-brainer and a bit risky given his injury history: Colorado's Cale Makar.
The 25-year-old has won the award once before in 2022 and has been a finalist for it every year apart from his first season when he won the Calder Trophy as the league's best rookie. His offensive game and possession numbers are beyond brilliant, and the Avalanche have been Cup contenders every season he's put on the sweater.
After seeing Hughes pop off in a big way last season and Erik Karlsson do so two seasons ago to win it, it feels like there's a reclamation for the Norris coming from Makar to show that he is the best in the league.
- Joe Yerdon
Vezina Trophy (Best Goalie): Jeremy Swayman
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Jeremy Swayman will be getting paid like a franchise goalie after ending his contract dispute with the Bruins on Monday by signing an eight-year extension worth $66 million.
The bet here is that he backs up the contract with a terrific season.
There are concerns that the 25-year-old is heading into uncharted territory, considering his career high is just 44 games last season. But the numbers he recorded in those games are outstanding. A 25-10-8 record with .916 save percentage are solid numbers and he only went on to improve those numbers in the postseason. He was a wall for Boston, recording a .933 save percentage and a 2.15 goals against average.
With Linus Ullmark now in Ottawa, the net in Beantown is officially Swayman's. The prediction here is he thrives with the new responsibility.
- Lucky Ngamwajasat
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Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year): Matvei Michkov
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Admittedly, I'm straying from the most obvious choice here, but the Calder race is starting out even between Matvei Michkov, Macklin Celebrini, Lane Hutson and Logan Stankoven.
Michkov has spent some time cooking in the KHL, and the level of competition he's faced combined with the skill he's rightfully lauded for have us believing he'll enjoy the most seamless transition to the NHL of the bunch (not that Stankoven didn't already blow us all away with his late-season debut in Dallas).
Michkov, 19, is expected to jump right in with the Flyers' top six. He had 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) in 47 games playing on loan with Sochi last season. This was the most points in the KHL among players under 20 and tied for the second most of all time among under-20 players in the league, behind Kirill Kaprizov (42 points, 2016-17).
The 2023 No. 7 overall pick will get a chance to be the next Flyers star the team has been searching for forever, but he'll also be surrounded by some talent such as Travis Konecny to help him adjust and thrive at an NHL pace.
It'll be a tight Calder race this year, but Michkov has the experience, skill and context to give him the edge.
-Sara Civian
Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward): Aleksander Barkov
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Expecting anyone else?
Now that Patrice Bergeron is retired, Aleksander Barkov will be a perennial finalist and winner for the Selke.
Few players tilt the ice in their team's favor better than the Panthers captain. Sure, the center can put up points—59 in 71 regular-season games last season—but it's the defensive aspect that truly separates the Finn from the rest of the league.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the 29-year-old had a 60 percent expected goals percentage at 5-on-5 during the regular season and was on the ice for 30 more goals in his team's favor.
If you want to go by the "eye test," though, Barkov's ability to help shut down the opposing team's best center is where you'll find his true value. Just ask Connor McDavid.
The Oilers' superstar had his moments in last season's Stanley Cup Final, but Barkov was able to blank him in Game 6 and a decisive Game 7 while being matched up against him.
Bottom line: This award is Barkov's to lose.
- Lucky Ngamwajasat
Maurice Richard Trophy (Top Goal Scorer): Auston Matthews
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Sometimes, it's best to keep your predictions simple.
And when it comes to scoring goals in the NHL, that means one inalienable fact: There's Auston Matthews. And then there's everyone else.
The California-born Toronto Maple Leafs center has become the premier sniper for the current generation of NHL superstars, with a track record that places him among the league's all-time elites when it comes to putting the puck in the net.
Now 27 years old, he has never scored fewer than 34 goals in any of his eight NHL seasons and has gotten better as he's gained experience, maxing out in 2023-24 by surpassing 60 goals for the second time before winding up with a career-high 69.
It was 12 more than his next-highest contemporary—Florida's Sam Reinhart—and continued a run of recent dominance that's seen him score 22 more than anyone else (Leon Draisaitl) over the last five seasons, with a per-game clip of 0.70 that's within shouting distance of the all-time career standard of 0.76 established by Hall of Famer Mike Bossy from 1977 to 1987.
And because he's healthy and surrounded by elite-level talent with the Maple Leafs at the outset of the 2024-25 season, there's zero reason to believe he won't be atop the scoring list come April, even if guys like Reinhart and Draisaitl continue to produce at their own high levels across 82 games as well.
Book it.
- Lyle Fitzsimmons
Jack Adams Award (Best Coach): Jared Bednar
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The Jack Adams is arguably the toughest award to predict because interpreting which coach did the best job in a given season is more of an art than a science.
In theory, a coach of a team that finished in a wild-card spot can win it over the coach of the top team in the league. That concept is not replicated in any of the other awards besides Best GM.
I'm picking Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar for a few reasons.
The foundation is as good as anyone's in the NHL, with Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar. That will give Bednar some breathing room as he attempts to handle a number of problems in Colorado.
The organization was all but helpless during the offseason as it was suffocated by salary-cap issues. The primary factor was Valeri Nichushkin's six-month suspension as part of his entrance into Phase 3 of the Player Assistance Program. Not only will Colorado be without a really good player for the near future, but his absence also comes with zero cap relief.
As such, Colorado has to be creative to not only replace him but also fill out the remainder of the roster. A lot of responsibility will go to rookie wingers Calum Ritchie and Nikolai Kovalenko.
Bednar will also have to get a lot out of a number of defensemen they added on the cheap. Oliver Kylington is talented but missed nearly two full seasons for personal reasons. John Ludvig, recently claimed on waivers, was a well-regarded prospect whose development has plateaued.
There is just enough veteran superstar talent to keep the ship afloat while Bednar tries to spin straw into gold. Colorado is scraping by on prospects who may not be ready and defensemen picked out of the bargain bin. But his options come with upside.
This is the right situation for a good team to become great with clever coaching. If Bednar can pull it off, he'll be a favorite for the Jack Adams.
- Adam Herman
Jim Gregory GM of the Year Award: Barry Trotz, Nashville Predators
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This might be taking the easy way out based on the offseason moves, but I truly believe the Predators' offseason is going to pay off in a big way.
From the moment Barry Trotz took over as the Nashville general manager he has not been afraid to make a bold move to try to make the team competitive, and he made several of them this offseason.
He re-signed his franchise goalie, Juuse Saros, to a long-term deal.
He added two 40-goal scorers in Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault.
He added a top-four defenseman in Brady Skjei.
That is a lot of talent coming into an already good playoff team and should make them a legitimate Cup contender in the Western Conference.
A good team that is strengthened by three high-profile moves? Yeah, that will get attention for the GM of the Year award.
-- Adam Gretz
Presidents' Trophy: Dallas Stars
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Dallas Stars, come on down.
You're the next contestant on "Can the Presidents' Trophy winner ever win a Stanley Cup?"
The Stars have earned 98 or more standings points in each of the last three seasons, including a 52-21-9 record and 113-point total in 2023-24 that was good enough to lead the Western Conference and come within a single point of the best mark in the league.
That's the good news.
But the bad news, as the New York Rangers and others could testify, is that being the best team in the regular season isn't at all indicative of overall success.
The Rangers were the lone team ahead of the Stars in last season's standings but were equally frustrated when it came to the playoffs, bowing out to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Final.
In fact, no team that's lapped the field in the regular season has wound up hoisting a Cup, hosting a parade and raising a banner since the Chicago Blackhawks in 2012-13.
Can the Stars do it all? That remains to be seen.
But there's no doubt they're good enough to be in front after the entire 1,312-game NHL regular-season odyssey from October to April, given their obvious frontline skill, their enviable complement of depth and their clear quality on both defense and in goal.
Where it goes from April to June, who knows?
And just in case it matters, sorry, Stars fans.
-- Lyle Fitzsimmons
Stanley Cup Predictions
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After coming up short in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers will be considered the favorite to win it all this season.
Standing in their way in the Western Conference will be the Dallas Stars, who will derail the Oilers' hopes of returning to the Final this season.
Dallas reached the Conference Final in 2023 and 2024 but fell first to the Vegas Golden Knights and then the Oilers. This season, though, it will be a different story.
The Stars possess deep forward lines with a good mix of veteran leaders like Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene, players such as Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz entering their playing prime, and rising talent like Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven.
Goaltender Jake Oettinger is only 25 but already has four seasons of NHL experience and is considered among the league's best. The defense corps could use more depth on the right side but still possess a solid top three with Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Thomas Harley.
Expect Stars GM Jim Nill to address that right-side deficiency on his blue line before the March 7 trade deadline. The right additions could push the Stars to Stanley Cup glory.
- Lyle Richardson
The Panthers lost the Stanley Cup Final in 2022 and won the Cup in 2023. That's how it's supposed to work, right?
For the Edmonton Oilers, they sure hope so. It was an excruciating series loss to the Panthers after rallying from 3-0 down only to lose the decisive Game 7 by a single goal.
But the vibes are mostly positive for Connor McDavid and Co. Stuart Skinner proved he could do it on the biggest stage as Edmonton's goalie. Leon Draisaitl re-up for eight more years in Alberta. And Evan Bouchard is developing into the No. 1 defenseman the Oilers have craved since Paul Coffey patrolled the blue line.
Adding Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson was prudent signings and don't sleep on the underrated blue line addition of Ty Emberson, a cheap, puck-moving defenseman that will help cushion the blow of losing Philip Broberg to the Blues.
This is the year. This is the time. Finally, McDavid gets it done.
- Lucky Ngamwajasat
Lucky and Lyle both make compelling points when it comes to two of the best teams in the league, and I'm going with my gut when it comes to the 2025 Stanley Cup champion: It'll be the Oilers.
They know what it takes to end up only several plays or bounces away from actually doing it. Remember when the Panthers came back last season as motivated as ever after losing to the Golden Knights in the previous final? Matthew Tkachuk opined throughout last season about how going through that made them even hungrier.
The Oilers will have that mentality and then some, with McDavid eager to add to his greatest-player-in-the-world resume. Plus, they didn't lose too much while adding a 20-goal scorer in Skinner.
With this core in tact and the adaptability the systems and special teams showed throughout last season's run, I don't see any reason why the Oilers won't win the 2025 Cup.
- Sara Civian
Following up with my GM of the Year award pick, I just think the Nashville Predators have a special season ahead of them.
They were already a 99-point and playoff team, and that was with Juuse Saros having a down year (by his standards) and not really having a lot of high-end finishers on the team outside of Filip Forsberg. They were 11th in 5-on-5 goal differential and sixth in 5-on-5 expected goal share, so the process at even-strength was incredibly strong already.
Now they have two top-line goal-scorers (Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault) coming in, and two veterans with Cup experience, and I just think that is going to add another dimension to their roster. They have the goalie, they have a good structure in place, they have a Norris-caliber defenseman (Roman Josi), a good two-way center (Ryan O'Reilly) and now they have some finishers. Give me the Nashville Predators.
-- Adam Gretz
It would be easy to dismiss the next few paragraphs as the partisan ranting of a guy whose son bears the first (Ryan) and middle (Douglas) names of his all-time favorite NHL players.
That's Ryan Smyth and Wayne Gretzky for those scoring at home. And the common theme between them? The Edmonton Oilers.
Yes, it's also my vibe that the Oilers are the league's best team and they'll get over the hump next June and end a title drought in northern Alberta that stretches back to 1990.
But it's not just because I bleed blue and orange during hockey season.
It's because Edmonton, with the addition of Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner to a group that already included McDavid, Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, boasts what's arguably the best top-six forward group in the league. It's because Stuart Skinner, particularly in games that mattered the most, proved last spring that he's a high-end goalie.
And it's because, thanks to the exits of Broberg and Dylan Holloway and the team-friendly deals accepted by free agents who decided to stay, there'll be enough cap room to enable deadline moves to shore up whatever holes exist next March.
They got to Game 7. They shook the hands of the champs. They cried in the locker room.
This time, they'll finish the job.
-- Lyle Fitzsimmons
It's a big theme for teams to overcome losses in the recent past to get over the hill and finally achieve greatness. The Florida Panthers did it last season and, at least according to what a few of my colleagues wrote above me, the Oilers are favorites to do it again this year.
But what if we dug a little deeper into the playoffs to pick a team that's been in back-to-back Conference Finals only to give the eventual winner everything they had before bowing out?
Getting close to the Cup Final while having a truly great and deep team would surely gnaw at anyone, but for the Dallas Stars, getting that close must be eating them alive and when they do get over that Western Conference Final hump and into the Final this season, they're going all the way.
They're teeming with forward talent from top players Jason Robertson to Roope Hintz to Wyatt Johnston to old standards like Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene. They've got Miro Heiskanen on defense to lead the way with Thomas Harley, and they've got one of the best goalies in the league in Jake Oettinger.
We saw Paul Maurice finally win the big one last season, why not Pete DeBoer this time around?
-- Joe Yerdon
This may finally be Connor McDavid's, and thus the Edmonton Oilers, year to win the Cup.
The reasons why Edmonton has a chance is the same as ever: McDavid. Draisaitl. Hyman. Nugent-Hopkins. That combo has been enough to be in the race no matter what else was going on around them.
So why should the Oilers be favorites to actually go over the top?
First of all, Edmonton has a full season of head coach Kris Knoblauch. Last season he had to turn things around quickly. This season, he'll truly be able to mold the team as he wishes. He is a very smart, modern coach who has good tactical ideas offensively and incorporates data.
With that comes the likely ascension of Evan Bouchard. It's time for him to become a 24-minute-per-night defenseman. With that should come the long overdue demotion of Darnell Nurse.
The major issue in Edmonton, aside from goaltending, has always been depth. The Oilers finally have help down the lineup in the form of Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner and a full season of Adam Henrique.
The final question will be goaltending. Stuart Skinner has been both an All-Star and also demoted to second string within the last two seasons. But if he plays to his abilities, Edmonton should be the clear favorites for the Stanley Cup.
- Adam Herman
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