The 2026-27 NHL season is here, beginning with five games on Tuesday.
The first game of the season will see the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes host the Florida Panthers (5 p.m. ET, ESPN) after they raise their banner.
And though we are just getting started, it’s never too early to speculate about who will hoist the Cup at the end of this season.
To find out what the players think, NHL.com ran a poll with 35 NHL players, asking who they think will be this season’s champion.
The polls were conducted at the NHL/NHLPA European Media Tour in Munich in August and the NHL/NHLPA North American Player Media Tour in Vegas earlier this month.
The Florida Panthers, according to the players, are the favorites, even though they did not make postseason in 2025-26 after winning the Cup in each of the previous two seasons and going to the Cup Final three straight seasons.
The Panthers get captain and first-line center Aleksander Barkov back. The forward missed all of last season after injuring his right knee on the first day of training camp. Almost as importantly, the Panthers acquired forward Brady Tkachuk in a trade with the Ottawa Senators on June 21. He joins forces with his brother, Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk.
As a result, 15 players said that the Panthers will win a third Cup in four seasons.
“I think they're just loaded,” Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider said. “They're ready to go. Everybody should be healthy.”
Gabriel Landeskog, the captain of the Colorado Avalanche, knows about championship-caliber teams. The Avalanche made it to the Western Conference Final last season and won the Cup in 2022. They will be among the favorites again, he knows.
Without discounting the chances of his team, Landeskog likes the look of the Panthers.
“Sasha Barkov is healthy, they bring in Brady Tkachuk,” he said. “They lost (goalie Sergei) Bobrovsky but brought in (Jacob) Markstrom.
“I mean, listen, they’re stacked. It doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to win, but if I had to give you a preseason favorite, that’s probably it.”
Logan Cooley of the Utah Mammoth was singing a similar tune.
“I mean, obviously, they added Brady Tkachuk, that’s a big part,” he said. “I think they’ve got a lot of good pieces that allow them to win. I’m sure Matthew (Tkachuk) is going to be a lot healthier this season. Barkov’s back. So, I think they’re going to make a deep run.”
Brady, the former captain of the Senators, had 59 points (22 goals, 37 assists) in 60 games last season. The 27-year-old has 463 points (213 goals, 250 assists) in 572 NHL regular-season games. Matthew was limited to 31 games last season, but had 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists).
Bobrovsky, the goalie for each of the championships in Florida, left for the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent. Markstrom, who began his career with the Panthers in the 2010-11 season, was 23-19-1 with a .883 save percentage and 3.07 goals-against average with the New Jersey Devils last season.
“I think they’re a pretty easy choice after getting Brady Tkachuk,” Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele said. “I think they're right up there.”
But they will have to go through the Hurricanes, who took advantage of Florida’s playoff absence last season to win their first Cup in 20 seasons.
They have brought back almost their entire roster. In fact, goalie Frederik Andersen is the only significant subtraction, leaving as a free agent for the Edmonton Oilers. Andersen was 16-14-5 with a .874 save percentage and 3.05 GAA. He played the first 16 games of the playoffs with a 13-2 record, a .910 save percentage and a 1.89 GAA.
Brandon Bussi, in his first NHL season, replaced an injured Andersen in Game 3 of the Cup Final and went 3-1 with a .931 save percentage and 1.60 GAA. He will be the No. 1 for Carolina this season.
"It has to be Carolina. Pretty much the whole team coming back, so it has to be them,” Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Guentzel said.
The Hurricanes got six votes.
Colorado and the Ottawa Senators each got two votes. Jake Sanderson and Tim Stutzle of the Senators each picked their team, which lost to the Hurricanes in the first round.
Five other teams received one vote: the Dallas Stars, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, the Golden Knights and the Washington Capitals.
But, the final results will be earned across the 84-game regular season and the two months of the postseason.
“Honestly, I think the favorites never really mean anything,” said Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson. “It's just about making playoffs, and then once you're in, anything can happen.
“I think you see that every year. Obviously, certain teams have an edge, maybe as far as a lineup or personnel. But at the end of the day, I think it just comes down to will and who wants it more.”
