What We've Liked and Disliked From the NHL 2025-26 Season

We've got less than two weeks remaining in the 2025-26 NHL season, and boy, has this season been a doozy.

The Buffalo Sabres clinched their first playoff bid in 14 years. The Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Minnesota Wild have been gutting it out every single night for months for Central Division supremacy, and the East has given us the most exciting down-to-the-wire playoff races in recent memory.

Before we gear up for the postseason, let's reflect on the unique happenings we liked and disliked from the 2025-26 NHL season.

Like: A New Stanley Cup Champion and New Teams in the Postseason

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Rasmus Dahlin and Josh Norris

We'd never call the Oilers-Panthers Stanley Cup Final matchup boring. They treated us to two of the closest, most intense Final series we've seen.

But after two seasons of a Cup Final featuring the exact same matchup with the exact same outcome, some of us were craving a different experience.

Like it or not, the Florida Panthers are missing this postseason entirely after an injury-laden regular season that prevented a three-peat attempt before it even got started.

The Edmonton Oilers are in it, but Leon Draisaitl is nursing an injury, the goaltending hasn't been up to snuff, and there wasn't much else to write home about in the Pacific Division this year.

We are guaranteed at least a new Eastern Conference Champion, and we could well get two new teams in the Cup Final.

The Buffalo Sabres have already clinched a playoff spot for the first time in 14 years, and the Utah Mammoth are in a great position to clinch the first wild-card spot out West for their first franchise postseason appearance.

Dislike: The OT Loser Point

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This year, we saw so many games go to overtime. In theory, this should be exciting, right? What's better than the best players in the world going 3-on-3 for sudden death?

Well, part of the excitement of overtime was the rarity -- it was supposed to be a special treat after a well-fought game. This year, we saw too many teams use the rules as more of a points-banking strategy. You'll recall that every team that loses in overtime still gets a point.

In many third periods this season, instead of quick skating, chasing the puck, risking it all for two points, it was more like both teams had a truce to just make it to overtime. This led to third-period duds and a lot of icing.

It makes sense for teams to use the rulebook to their advantage, so you can't really blame individual clubs for adapting like this. Still, it might be time to reconsider the loser point.

Like: The 2026 Winter Olympics

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Quinn and Jack Hughes

The American men won Olympic hockey gold for the first time since 1980, but it was nothing like the Miracle on Ice.

The 2026 team was a culmination of decades of growing the game in the U.S. We were treated to the fruits of the defensive-focused development pipeline, the shining goaltending performance from Connor Hellebuyck we'd all been waiting for, and a celebration of how far skill in the sport has come.

Team Canada vs. Team USA was truly best-on-best, and everything was faster and more intense because of the accidental shortening of the neutral zone.

We were all waiting to see if NHL players back in the Olympics would meet our high expectations, and it's safe to say every step of the way was must-watch hockey. It all culminated in the best part of all: the near-perfect gold-medal game.

Like: The Central Division Battle

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Jason Robertson and Cale Makar

No top-of-the-division battle was more intense this year than the Wild, Avalanche, and Stars duking it out for Central Division glory.

Three of the best teams in the league kept upping the ante to get an edge and, hopefully, emerge from the division come playoff time.

The Avalanche have been the most dominant team in the league all season, and they're finishing strong after clinching the first playoff spot with a 7-3-0 record in their last 10 games. They're led by Nathan MacKinnon's 123 points in 76 games.

The Stars have maintained the consistency we always expect out of them, hanging on to the second wild-card spot and refusing to let a loss or two bleed in a meaningful way.

The Wild went all-in this season, acquiring Quinn Hughes in the process. After a rocky start, they never looked back and are just two points behind the Stars for No. 3 in the division.

Watching these three battle for positioning has been fascinating, and it'll extend to the postseason as two will play each other in the first round, and only one can make it out of the West.

Like: The Kids Stepping Up

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Macklin Celebrini

What an exciting season it has been for the NHL's youth movement. Not only did Macklin Celebrini earn a spot on Team Canada, but he also skated alongside some of the world's best players and was one of Canada's most important offensive players.

His Olympic debut came in the middle of a huge year for the Sharks center. His 42 goals and 108 points in 77 games rank fourth among all NHL skaters. He has led the Sharks to the playoff conversation ahead of schedule, and they're currently just three spots out of the second Wild Card spot.

Meanwhile, on Long Island, Matthew Schaefer's rookie season has been a sight to behold. He's been in a similar situation with his Islanders, who were in a playoff spot before a recent skid and now sit three points out. Schaefer jumped right into an NHL top pairing and made an impact, leading all Islanders skaters in time on ice by more than three minutes.

It's exciting to watch young players and dream of how they could help their teams to the playoffs in a couple of seasons down the road; it's a whole new level of excitement to see these young players do it in real time.

Dislike: The Leafs' Implosion

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William Nylander

I'm sure many of you actually "like" the Toronto Maple Leafs' implosion, and you're entitled to that opinion.

Personally, I find it beyond frustrating that one of the most exciting, consistent offensive operations aborted its mission and changed course.

The Leafs were built to be an offensive and skilled machine, they kept falling short of expectations in the postseason, then they tried to morph into something they were never supposed to be.

The culmination of this back-and-forth has now resulted in a dejected star in Auston Matthews, another fired GM, the second-worst record in the East, and no clear direction on where to go next.

Perhaps former GM Brad Treliving thought his tweaking to make the team more defensive-minded meant the Mitch Marner loss wouldn't hurt as badly? He was wrong, and that hubris—and the hubris surrounding the Leafs in general—is how we landed here.

So, I "dislike" that one of the most relevant NHL teams with a lot of buying power and influence appeared to have no plan to replace a core, 100-plus-point player.