This year, the NHL will finally allow its star players to go to the Winter Olympics. To cater to this, however, the league condensed the schedule. From February 11 to 22, the league’s best will be allowed to play at Milano Cortina 2026, provided that they make it through a gruelling opening half of the season.
The condensed 2025/26 season to accommodate the Olympics appears to have contributed to an increase in injuries, including those to key players, while creating a tightly contested league. At the time of writing, the top of the Eastern Conference was a mere nine points up on the bottom.
With a few months remaining until the break, and the pace continuing, the close standings are creating a highly competitive environment.
Every Team’s on a Slippery Slope
Todd McLellan offered a notable perspective on the current state of play. The Detroit head coach said: “If you’re on top of the mountain, you’re really not on top of the mountain. You’re in the middle of a forest.” This was coming from a team with a .587 point percentage, second in the Atlantic Division, but only six points clear of the conference floor.
One week with a losing record can be enough to boot a team from a lofty divisional ranking to below the wild card places right now. The only real exception comes from the foot of the Western Conference. A divide was beginning to grow between sixth in the wild card race, then on 24 points, and those below on 20 points or less.
Even so, that put 12 teams very much in the race for divisional spots, even if the Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets were 13 points back of what were the one-loss Colorado Avalanche on 37 atop the overall standings. Just below them, the more reasonable Dallas Stars were on a .682 point percentage to Chicago’s .545.
A Jumbled League with Suspected Frontrunners
The standout performers early in the season have been the Avalanche, opening with a 16-1-5 record, and the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs getting off to particularly slow starts. Even with this being the case, the chase for the Stanley Cup remains as up in the air as it ever is in the NHL.
According to Canadian sports betting online odds as of late November, the Colorado Avalanche are narrowly favored at +500. They’re followed by the +700 Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers, +900 Vegas Golden Knights, and +1000 Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers. It’s still an incredibly tight race in the eyes of the experts.
A particularly gruelling major league sports regular season is only amped up when the playoffs arrive. Even so, the injury issues and compact schedule of this opening stanza could be quite telling. While the Avalanche’s strong early-season form may level out over time, the consistency and depth of other teams should be noted.
The two that stand out in this regard are the Stars and Canes. Both conveniently on .682 points percentages at the time of writing, they’ve suffered substantial injury hits to major players – the Stars more so than the Hurricanes. Yet, solid goaltending, scoring depth, and savvy puck-moving blueliners on all lines have propelled up upwards.
There’s a long way to go just to get to the Olympic break, let alone the playoffs. Still, with the looming fact that only eight teams have ever won the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same year, the NHL season promises continued unpredictability and competitive matchups.
