5 NHL Teams Best Positioned to Win the 2026 Offseason

The 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs have reached the conference finals stage. While the final four teams battle to determine which two advance to the Final, the other 28 teams are busy making plans for the offseason.

Teams that failed to qualify for this year's playoffs will be attempting to bolster their rosters for next season. Some are teams that narrowly missed the postseason, while others are hoping to accelerate their roster improvement plans.

Those clubs could attempt to make a major move or two via trades or free agency. Doing so will require salary-cap space and trade capital, including existing roster players, promising prospects, and draft picks.

Here's a look at five teams we believe are best positioned to win the 2026 offseason.

Chicago Blackhawks

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The Chicago Blackhawks have been rebuilding under general manager Kyle Davidson since he took over the role in March 2022. During that period, he's added several promising youngsters to a roster anchored by budding superstar center Connor Bedard.

With Frank Nazar, Anton Frondell, Sacha Boisvert, and Artyom Levshunov, the Blackhawks have the pieces to become a perennial playoff contender one day. However, a lack of skilled, established NHL talent, including a scorer for Bedard's wing, has kept them mired near the bottom of the standings.

That could force Davidson into the trade market this summer to address that glaring need. He also needs an experienced top-four defenseman in his mid-to-late twenties to replace the departed Connor Murphy, who was traded to the Edmonton Oilers at the March trade deadline.

Salary cap space won't be an issue, as they carry a projected $40.2 million for 2026-27 with 21 roster players under contract. The Blackhawks have the fourth-overall pick in this year's draft if Davidson decides to dangle it in the trade market, as well as the league's top prospect pool as ranked by The Athletic.

Detroit Red Wings

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Another club that has been rebuilding for several years, the Detroit Red Wings were poised to clinch a playoff spot in each of the last three seasons. However, they stumbled down the stretch each time and finished outside the playoff picture.

It's been 10 years since the Red Wings last made the playoffs, with the last seven under general manager Steve Yzerman. He'll be feeling the heat from the Red Wings faithful to make some moves this summer that put an end to their lengthy postseason drought.

The Red Wings have $32.7 million in projected salary-cap space for next season with 15 active roster players under contract. They lack a first-round pick in this year's draft to use as trade bait, but a prospect pool ranked fourth by The Athletic could provide some valuable trade chips.

Yzerman's biggest roster need is a second-line center and another top-six scoring winger. He could also use another experienced top-four defenseman. He's been loath to part with promising prospects for immediate roster help, but the ongoing playoff drought could force his hand this summer.

New York Rangers

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Since the mid-point of the 2024-25 season, the New York Rangers have been retooling their roster. Out went notable players such as Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba, Chris Kreider, Kaapo Kakko, and K'Andre Miller. In came J.T. Miller, Vladislav Gavrikov, and Will Borgen through trades and free agency.

The Rangers also promoted younger talent from within their system into the lineup in 2025-26. They included promising forwards Gabe Perreault and Noah Laba. Prospects Liam Greentree and Malcolm Spence could one day follow them into the lineup.

General manager Chris Drury still must bolster his top-six forwards and improve his blue-line depth, especially on the left side. He could pursue younger players in the trade market to address those issues over the long term.

The Rangers have $26.6 million in projected salary-cap space with 20 roster players signed. They have two picks in the first round of this year's draft as possible trade bait, with their own sitting fifth overall. Drury could also dangle center Vincent Trocheck and defenseman Braden Schneider.

San Jose Sharks

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Under general manager Mike Grier, the San Jose Sharks have rebuilt their roster with promising young players. Thanks to young stars such as Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Michael Misa, William Eklund, and Yaroslav Askarov, the Sharks finished four points out of a Western Conference wild card this season.

A lack of prime top-four defensemen prevented the Sharks from exceeding expectations to clinch a playoff berth. Veteran blueliners Nick Leddy, John Klingberg, Mario Ferraro, and Vincent Desharnais are eligible to become unrestricted free agents on July 1. It's unlikely that all four will return.

With Celebrini an emerging superstar and the other young Sharks showing improvement, Grier could make a couple of big moves to boost his blue line. He could revisit last summer's efforts to acquire Dougie Hamilton from the New Jersey Devils, or target Hamilton's teammate Simon Nemec.

The Sharks have $41.5 million in salary cap space, more than enough to add one or two quality defensemen while leaving enough to re-sign other players. He could shop the second-overall pick in this year's draft, or draw on a prospect pool that was ranked No. 2 by The Athletic for additional trade bait.

St. Louis Blues

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The St. Louis Blues have been declining since winning the Stanley Cup in 2019. With long-time general manager Doug Armstrong handing over the reins to assistant Alexander Steen this summer, there could be some roster moves aimed at getting younger and faster.

Armstrong got a start on that this season, trading Brayden Schenn to the New York Islanders and Justin Faulk to the Detroit Red Wings. He nearly had a deal in place to ship Colton Parayko to the Buffalo Sabres until the latter invoked his no-movement clause, while trade rumors dogged center Robert Thomas.

Thomas could still be shopped this summer, but the Blues have set a high asking price. Winger Jordan Kyrou and goaltender Jordan Binnington are other trade candidates. The Blues have $15 million in projected cap space with 20 roster players signed, but some of them could be moved in a cost-cutting deal.

The Blues have the 10th-best prospect pool as ranked by The Athletic, but they could be reluctant to part with any of them. They do have three first-round picks in this year's draft, and could use one or two of them as trade chips to bring in young, established NHL players.

Stats via NHL.com. Salary cap and contract info via PuckPedia.