Predicting how most NHL teams will do is a tall task. But with the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche icing a similar team to last year, it’s easy to see them winning it all.
Rewind the tape, listen closely and you can hear the monkey’s paw begin to curl.
When we deemed the Colorado Avalanche our Stanley Cup favorite in our 2026 Playoff Preview edition of The Hockey News magazine, the heart of our argument was that the front office had, for the first time since 2022, built a supporting cast around Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar capable of propelling Colorado back to the NHL’s mountaintop.
This group was better, deeper and less reliant on its stars. It wasn’t about Makar and MacKinnon – but the bigger picture.
Leave it to the hockey gods, then, to have an all-too-literal interpretation of our prediction.
In the second round, Colorado dismantled the Minnesota Wild but lost Makar. In the third round, Makar returned just in time for MacKinnon to fall injured and return to action a shell of himself.
Together, the injuries derailed an already-faltering post-season push. The Avalanche were swept out of the Western Conference final, with Colorado’s heralded depth not enough to stave off the eventual runner-up Vegas Golden Knights.
The truth, however, is that the Avalanche’s failure speaks less to their own frailties than to the randomness of sport. No team can legislate for ill-timed injuries. The best any club can do is safeguard against potential pitfalls.
And that’s why when we considered the makeup of top title challengers, it was difficult to arrive at any conclusion other than the Avalanche as the 2026-27 Cup favorite.
Yes, that still has much to do with MacKinnon and Makar, arguably the single-best active players at their respective positions. But at risk of angering divine forces, we must again assert that while Colorado’s path to glory will be powered by the superstar pair, the road will be paved by the depth the Avalanche have assembled.
Even if they didn’t lead to the grand prize, each of last season’s key additions – Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy in particular – came with a level of contingency. The years remaining on those deals, and retention on Kadri’s contract, have allowed the Avalanche to run it back with a similar group.
The same can be said of blueliner Brett Kulak, who inked a five-year extension to remain in Colorado. Not content with standing pat, either, Joe Sakic – back in the GM seat after Chris MacFarland bolted for the Nashville Predators – added veteran center Jaden Schwartz and bolstered Colorado’s bottom six with trade acquisitions Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux.
Considering Colorado’s strength last season, even those marginal improvements should concern the rest of the NHL. The Avs finished 2025-26 with the highest shots-per-game and fifth-lowest shots-allowed-per-game totals. While Colorado’s power play was confounding, the Avalanche boasted the league’s best penalty kill.
And all of this was underscored by the William M. Jennings Trophy-winning goaltending tandem of Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood. At worst, there are pinholes in the lineup.
But as much as staking the Avalanche is a vote of confidence, there’s a level of de facto support given that uncertainty abounds across the league.
To wit, while we fancy MacKinnon and Co., where Colorado finishes in the Central Division is a coin toss, with the Wild and Dallas Stars sure to stay in lockstep for top spot. The wild-card margins are also razor thin in the Central – and perhaps even thinner throughout the entire Pacific.
Last season, only nine points separated division-winning Vegas from fifth-place San Jose (which ended up winning the second-overall pick in the draft lottery). Expect another dogfight, as the Golden Knights, Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks will all be bidding for home-ice advantage in the playoffs.
Out east, there’s a corresponding blend of clarity and chaos. At the top of the heap, expect to see the Carolina Hurricanes, who are such a well-oiled machine that the Tin Man is turning green with envy.
Anything less than a top-two finish in the Metropolitan Division would be shocking for the defending Cup champions, and now that coach Rod Brind’Amour’s club has proven it can get the job done in the playoffs, the expectation is that Carolina will once again conquer the Eastern Conference.
However, don’t expect the Canes to steamroll their way back to the final.
After narrowly missing the playoffs, the Washington Capitals made a splash this summer by acquiring Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou, and Calder candidate Cole Hutson is primed to make an impact.
Meanwhile, a healthy, retooled Florida Panthers outfit – now with twice the Tkachuks – is destined to terrorize the Atlantic. Even if the Panthers don’t return to the final, they will take not one but two pounds of flesh from whomever they come across.
Elsewhere, a rising spending limit and continued parity have turned an already-difficult forecasting process into a prognostication minefield.
The spunky Montreal Canadiens are trending positively, but growth isn’t always linear. The Tampa Bay Lightning remain a contender but one with little margin for error or injury. The Buffalo Sabres are riding high. The Boston Bruins are intriguing. The Pittsburgh Penguins are unexpectedly scrappy, and the Philadelphia Flyers are rejuvenated. But for each, replicating last season’s success will be no easy feat.
And what of the Toronto Maple Leafs? Gavin McKenna’s arrival signals a new chapter, but Toronto was 21 points back of a wild-card berth in 2025-26. That’s less gap than it is chasm.
Ultimately, then, it’s perhaps that even a modicum of surety in uncertain times is enough to crown a Cup favorite. And of Colorado, one thing can be sure: when the regular season concludes and the playoff field has been whittled to its last handful, the Avalanche will be there.
And this time – with a healthy MacKinnon and Makar – it’s hard to see anyone standing in Colorado’s way.
This story was edited for digital.
This article appeared in The Hockey News' 2026-27 Yearbook And Fantasy Guide.
Our annual XXL-sized Yearbook + Fantasy Guide has everything you need to know about the upcoming NHL season in one book. Inside, you'll find 228 pages packed with previews, predictions and features. Our Team Reports section has four-page previews for each of the 32 NHL teams, including depth charts, Future Watch and full rosters.
