Winners and Losers From the 2025 NHL Preseason

The 2025 NHL Preseason ended on Saturday, Oct. 4. With the regular-season schedule starting on Tuesday, Oct. 7, the 32 clubs are making their final roster cuts in preparation for the upcoming campaign.

Preseason play enabled general managers and coaches to evaluate their roster strengths and weaknesses. It also gives fans a preview of the promising young players within their favorite teams' systems and the offseason additions to each roster.

The preseason also provides some noteworthy stories that could carry over into the regular season.

Injuries to key players could derail a team's Stanley Cup hopes. A major contract signing can affect next summer's free-agent market. Meanwhile, a future Hall of Fame player got an opportunity to return to the team where his career began for a last hurrah.

Here's our brief look at the stories from the past month that determined the winners and losers of the 2025 NHL Preseason.

Loser: Quebec City's Dream of Bringing Back an NHL Franchise

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The Videotron Center in Quebec City

Since the Quebec Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995, hockey fans in Quebec City have been hoping that their city might one day regain an NHL franchise. So far, the only NHL games it has hosted have been several preseason matches, the most recent being two games last month involving the Ottawa Senators.

That hope was stoked when the 18,259-seat Videotron Centre opened in 2015, with the support of media giant Quebecor. With an NHL-ready venue and a deep-pocketed potential owner, it seemed only a matter of time until big-league hockey returned with an expansion team or a relocated franchise.

However, Julian McKenzie of The Athletic reports those expansion dreams appear to be dying in Quebec City. Thirty years since the Nordiques' departure, McKenzie reports it is older fans with memories of that team who cling to a bygone era. Meanwhile, younger hockey fans have found other teams to support.

Since 2015, the NHL has added two franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle. Recent speculation suggests the league could expand into Houston and Atlanta, despite the failure of the two previous attempts to establish a foothold in the latter city. There is even talk of a possible return to Arizona someday.

Despite the strong support for hockey in Quebec City, it stands little chance of enticing the NHL to return permanently. Its market would be the smallest in the league, which won't be enticing to the league, considering the significant revenue potential in prospective markets such as Houston and Atlanta.

Barring the unforeseen, the Videotron Centre's primary hockey tenants will remain the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts. It will continue to be a neutral-site venue for NHL preseason contests.

Winner: Lane Hutson

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In the long and storied history of the Montréal Canadiens, few skaters have had as memorable a debut as Lane Hutson.

During his debut last season, the 5'9", 162-pound defenseman silenced critics who felt he was too small to succeed in the big league. He led all rookies with 60 assists and 66 points, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy and helping the rebuilding Canadiens reach the playoffs.

Entering this season, Hutson is in the final year of his entry-level contract. Thanks to Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe and New Jersey Devils blueliner Luke Hughes, his camp has two comparables to use in negotiations with the Canadiens for his next deal.

On Oct. 1, the 22-year-old Hughes inked a seven-year deal with the Devils worth $9 million annually. The following day, the 24-year-old LaCombe signed an eight-year contract extension with the Ducks, also worth an average annual value of $9 million, making the most lucrative contract in franchise history.

Like Hughes, Hutson will have no arbitration rights coming off his current deal. He'll also be ineligible to receive an offer sheet, so the only leverage he'll have is to not report to the team if he's still without a contract when training camp opens next summer.

Thanks to those two contracts, Hutson could seek at least $9 million annually and might get it from the Canadiens based on his rookie performance. If he builds on that performance this season, his bargaining position will improve, pushing his value over $10 million annually.

Either way, Hutson is going to get a significant raise on his next contract, with $9 million annually as the baseline.

Loser: Preseason Brawling

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Fighting has been part of hockey games, especially in the NHL, for decades. However, the number of fights has been steadily decreasing over the last 20 years. With teams preferring players who can skate a regular shift and contribute to the game, the era of the one-dimensional "enforcer" has faded away.

However, the 2025 preseason was something of a throwback to the NHL's brawling days, when fighting was so prevalent that the late stand-up comedian Rodney Dangerfield used to joke that he went to the fights and a hockey game broke out.

During a Sept. 30 game between the Montréal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators, the two clubs logged 150 penalty minutes in a fight-filled contest that ended with a 5-0 win for the Canadiens.

The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning engaged in two brawl-filled preseason contests, ringing up 186 penalty minutes in a 5-2 Lightning win on Oct. 2, followed by 322 penalty minutes two nights later in a 7-0 Panthers rout.

Those fight-filled games may have been entertaining for some fans, especially older ones who remember the bad old days when bench-clearing brawls were regular occurrences. However, they did nothing to earn a prospect or a minor-leaguer a roster spot for the regular season.

Rob Rossi of The Athletic believes fight-filled preseason games could become scarce after this season. He pointed out that the new NHL CBA stipulates teams will only play no more than four games during the preseason, down from six to eight contests.

With fewer games to prepare for the regular season, teams could be playing more veterans so they can be better prepared. It will leave little time for aspiring NHLers to make a good impression, meaning they'll have to skip the pugilistic shenanigans and stick to their hockey skills.

Winners: The 2026 NHL Free-Agent Class

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Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel (left) and Winnipeg Jets winger Kyle Connor.

Most of the biggest stars eligible for free agency next summer should send "Thank You" cards to Kirill Kaprizov. The 28-year-old superstar winger signed an eight-year contract extension with the Minnesota Wild for a whopping $136 million ($17 million annually), making him the NHL's highest-paid player starting in 2026-27.

Kaprizov's deal won't affect Connor McDavid's contract talks with the Edmonton Oilers. For one, McDavid is in a class by himself as the league's best player and will get a higher salary. Second, he's reportedly seeking a short-term deal that could give the Oilers the salary-cap flexibility to maintain a competitive roster.

However, Kaprizov's new deal will have a significant effect on several noteworthy players eligible for next summer's class of unrestricted free agents.

Among them is Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, who will seek a substantial raise over his current AAV of $10 million. Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets plays the same position as Kaprizov and enters this season eighth in total goals among NHL skaters since his breakout performance in 2017-18.

Colorado Avalanche winger Martin Necas could see his stock rise if he has another point-per-game season with linemate Nathan MacKinnon. Los Angeles Kings winger Adrian Kempe has been his club's top goal scorer (139 in total) since 2021-22, while Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch is among the best power forwards.

Those players won't make as much as Kaprizov, but his contract has set the market, ensuring they will get significantly more than they would've without his expensive new deal.

Losers: The Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup Three-Peat Hopes

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Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov (right) and left wing Matthew Tkachuk.

The parity among NHL teams wrought by the salary cap made the Florida Panthers' three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances (and two straight championships since 2024) a monumental achievement. It is comparable to a similar run by the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier in the decade.

During the offseason, the Panthers re-signed veterans Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Brad Marchand. While those long-term contracts could become financially burdensome in the future, they still kept their roster core intact. That should improve their chances of becoming the first team to win three straight Cups in over 40 years.

However, the absence of captain Aleksander Barkov and left winger Matthew Tkachuk puts those Cup hopes at risk.

Tkachuk underwent surgery in August to repair a sports hernia and a torn adductor muscle. Panthers general manager Bill Zito said he hopes he'll return in December, but indicated the timeline was fluid. Once Tkachuk returns, it could take weeks for him to reach midseason form, potentially hampering his effectiveness.

Barkov's absence is the biggest blow. A three-time winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy, the Panthers captain is currently the league's top two-way forward. However, a knee injury suffered in practice will sideline him for seven to nine months, taking him out of the regular season and possibly the 2026 playoffs.

Winner: Marc-Andre Fleury

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Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins acknowledges the crowd after playing his final NHL game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

After 21 NHL seasons, goaltender Marc-André Fleury retired at the end of the 2024-25 campaign with the Minnesota Wild.

Fleury spent nearly four seasons with the Wild, joining them after being traded from the Chicago Blackhawks midway through the 2021-22 season. He'd also spent four seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, winning his only Vezina Trophy in 2020-21 and backstopping them to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.

Before that, Fleury began his NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, spending 13 seasons in the Steel City. He helped the Penguins win three Stanley Cups (2009, 2016, and 2017), becoming the franchise's goaltending leader with 691 games played, 375 wins, 44 shutouts, and a 2.58 goals-against average.

Fleury was left unprotected by the Penguins in the 2017 expansion draft, where he was selected by the Golden Knights. He never really got the opportunity to say a proper farewell to the Penguins organization and their fans.

That changed on Sept. 12, when he signed a professional tryout contract with the Penguins. It enabled him to practice with the team and play one period of a preseason game in Pittsburgh against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Fleury said that his last real NHL game was with the Wild. However, this preseason appearance gave him the chance to finish his career where it began. It also gave him the chance for one last period of hockey with old teammates Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Bryan Rust.

The last hurrah turned out well for Fleury, stopping all eight shots he faced from the Blues Jackets in a 4-1 win while enjoying the cheers from a sold-out crowd at PPG Paint Arena. "I will be sore when I wake up tomorrow, but it was worth it", he said.

Fleury's performance prompted some pundits to suggest he might be coaxed out of retirement by clubs seeking an experienced goaltender. However, this was likely the last we'll see the 40-year-old future Hall of Famer suiting up for an NHL game.

Stats via NHL.com and Hockey-Reference.com. Salary info via PuckPedia.