Picking Pretenders or Contenders From Surprise 2025-26 NHL Teams
American Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and we still don't know exactly what most of these NHL teams are made of quite yet. With all of the parity this year, it's been particularly difficult to suss out the pretenders and the contenders for the 2025-26 playoffs.
Not one team in the Atlantic Division has a positive goal differential, and every team in the Atlantic except the Leafs and the Sabres owns a .500 or better record. Four teams in the Central are tied with 22 points, the entire Metro is separated by seven points, and teams are jumping multiple spots up or down in the standings each night.
Let's go through the long middle of the pack list of teams and try to determine who is a pretender and who is a contender.
Anaheim Ducks
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The Ducks have remained at the top of the Pacific for most of the season so far, with a 12-6-1 record, a plus-10 goal differential, and a 7-3-0 performance in their last 10 games.
They've emerged as one of the most consistent teams in the league, as the youth movement has exceeded even the high expectations placed on it heading into the season -- and the additions of Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba have rounded things out.
The team is beating difficult opponents and not taking the easier nights off either. Lukas Dostal is handling the situation between the pipes with a .903 save percentage, and Leo Carlsson is tied for fourth in the league with 26 points in 19 games.
Pretender or Contender?: Contender. There's enough evidence here Anaheim has taken a step up.
Boston Bruins
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The Atlantic Division has been one of the most curious cases to start this NHL season, and the ringleader of it all has been the division-leading Bruins. They've somehow turned some brutal losses and a six-game losing streak at the beginning of the season into a seven-game win streak and their current 12-9-0 record.
Is this the best team in the world, or even in the league right now? No. Is the team performing better than most of us anticipated? Yes. Morgan Geekie has really stepped up with 12 goals, David Pastrnak remains David Pastrnak, and Jeremy Swayman is having a solid bounce-back season with under three goals allowed per game and a .902 save percentage.
Still, they have nine losses and are by far the weakest team currently leading any division. Are they capitalizing on the Atlantic's weakness, or have they honestly turned a rough start around? They gave themselves a clean slate with the seven-game win streak, and we're going to see what they're actually made of to finish off the month of November. At the very least, they've seized an opportunity in the Atlantic that the other divisional rivals seem allergic to.
Pretender or Contender?: Inconclusive. We're not convinced yet, but the next stretch of games heading out to California will provide us with more evidence to go off of.
Chicago Blackhawks
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Look, it was absolutely huge for morale that the Blackhawks had one of the most fun, watchable starts to the 2025-26 season. It's been their best start of the Connor Bedard era, and of course, Bedard has been at the center of it all, leading the team with 26 points and 10 goals in 18 games.
The start has Chicago at No. 4 in the Central Division with a 9-5-4 record and a plus-12 goal differential. The catch? Four teams -- the Blackhawks, the Wild, the Mammoth, and the Jets -- are all tied with 22 points right now. The Wild are finally starting to gain some momentum, and the Mammoth are looking to return to form.
The Blackhawks' start shows real growth from the team and the effectiveness of the new coaching staff, but they've got a few more steps to take before making the playoffs.
Pretender or Contender?: Pretender. The Central is an extremely tough division and it's going to take some bumps before we consider Chicago a true contender again.
Detroit Red Wings
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The Red Wings have been a bit frustrating for the past few seasons. It's like, just when you think you can trust that their spurts of competency are going to grow into something more consistent, they let it slip away just as fast.
They had a stellar start to this season, and now we're holding our breath, wondering if they'll keep it up. The good news? They haven't let the inevitable losses spiral into something unsalvageable this time around, and it's been good enough for second place in the Atlantic Division. They're 11-7-1 with a negative-2 goal differential, Dylan Larkin is having one of the best starts of his career on both ends of the ice, and the younger players are stepping it up on offense.
Still, there are some gigantic question marks on defense and in net. John Gibson hasn't panned out, with a 3.31 GAA and a .875 save percentage; Cam Talbot hasn't been much better with a 2.71 GAA and .896 save percentage. Will either of them turn it around, or will Steve Yzerman be able to fix this on the trade market? If not, some of the goaltending and defensive performances in Detroit's losses give us major pause.
Pretender or Contender?: Pretender (until the trade deadline?)
New York Islanders
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The rough-ish start to the Islanders' season has completely given way to the Matthew Schaefer show. The 18-year-old top-pairing defenseman leads all rookies with seven goals and 15 points in 19 games. He's changed the complexion of the team, and now at 10-7-2 and tied for fourth in the Metropolitan Division, we're wondering if New York could make a playoff push.
Ilya Sorokin has been surprisingly inconsistent in net to start the season; If he can just return to form and right the ship, an Eastern Conference Wild Card spot is not out of the question. Bo Horvat keeping up his hot start could also be a huge help.
The rest of the conference is playing poorly enough, and the likelihood that Sorokin can turn it around is strong enough that there might be something to this Islanders team.
Pretender or Contender?: Contender. If Sorokin returns to his previous form, watch out.
Pittsburgh Penguins
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We thought the Penguins were dead-set on some sort of retool as they've failed to make the playoffs for the past few seasons, but instead, they had one of the more whimsical starts to the season. Things have cooled down a bit as injuries have piled on, but they're still third in the Metropolitan Division with a 10-5-4 record and a plus-12 goal differential.
Goaltending has been the biggest shocker, as Tristan Jarry has held firm at a .911 save percentage, but how much faith do we have in Jarry to keep it up? Regardless, he's out for at least three weeks with an injury, and the team has a giant question mark in goal again.
We also wonder if GM Kyle Dubas has changed his trade deadline plans in light of the early success or not. You get the feeling that's going to come down to the wire, and that the current situation with an injured Jarry might influence Dubas to make some re-tooly trades at the deadline.
Pretender or Contender?: Pretender. We're not officially sold on them and there's every chance the sell off we expected at the start of the year happens once they fade.
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