THN - Pittsburgh Penguins site editors Kelsey Surmacz and Hunter Hodies give their Penguins and league predictions for the 2026-27 season.
Well, another year of NHL action for the Pittsburgh Penguins is upon us, and that means another year of predictions, right and wrong, is here, too.
Last season, hardly anyone - us included - predicted that Pittsburgh would make the playoffs, but they went and surprised everyone in pretty convincing fashion. Despite a plethora of injuries to start this season, the Penguins have a fair amount of depth, and they will look to build upon the results from last season.
Will they make the playoffs? Who will lead the team in scoring? What will the NHL playoff picture look like? Can the Penguins, indeed, build on what they did last season and see some legitimate young talent pushing?
Here are our predictions for the 2026-27 season.
Kelsey’s Predictions
Metropolitan Division standings:
1. Carolina Hurricanes
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Washington Capitals
4. New Jersey Devils
5. Philadelphia Flyers
6. New York Rangers
7. Columbus Blue Jackets
8. New York Islanders
Eastern Conference playoff picture:
1. Carolina Hurricanes
2. Montreal Canadiens
3. Buffalo Sabres
4. Tampa Bay Lightning
5. Pittsburgh Penguins
6. Washington Capitals
7. Boston Bruins
8. New Jersey Devils
Top-five NHL teams:
1. Carolina Hurricanes
2. Colorado Avalanche
3. Montreal Canadiens
4. Minnesota Wild
5. Dallas Stars
Stanley Cup Final Prediction: Carolina over Utah (Carolina goes back-to-back)
League’s leading scorer: Macklin Celebrini
Penguins’ leading scorer: Sidney Crosby
Penguins’ breakout candidate: Nick Robertson
Penguins’ Rookie of the Year: Sergei Murashov
One bold prediction: Florida misses the playoffs (league), Penguins add a forward and a defenseman at the deadline (Penguins)
The ‘why’ on prediction for the Penguins:
Even if folks predicted the Penguins as a lottery team prior to last season, they didn't play like one. Their road to the playoffs last season was absolutely not a fluke, and they made it comfortably despite going large stretches without some of their best players.
Anthony Mantha is the only major offensive loss, but that void can be filled by Andrei Kuzmenko and Nick Robertson, both of whom should score at least 20 goals given the increased opportunity and the talent they're playing with. Sidney Crosby will be point-per-game again. Ben Kindel will take a big step. Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust are reliable, consistent producers. Evgeni Malkin looked comfortable on the wing. Egor Chinakhov has a full season to blossom. Erik Karlsson is still elite on the blue line.
Offensively, this team should still have everything going for it, and it's a deep roster. They had a league-high 10 players with 15 or more goals last season, and there are scoring threats up and down their lineup. They were third in the league in scoring in 2025-26, and that should be nearly repeatable, barring health.
Team defense could be marginally better, as they added three defensive defensemen in Kaedan Korczak, Declan Carlile, and Trevor van Riemsdyk. There is some depth on the blue line with Owen Pickering and Harrison Brunicke knocking on the door. They were below league average in goaltending last season, and it's hard to imagine Sergei Murashov being a worse option than their options from last season.
Overall, this is a good team with a lot of depth. That, combined with their youth push, should be enough to help them improve on last season, even with an aging roster - and I think they will make a big trade of substance at some point to enhance their group even more.
Hunter’s Predictions
Metropolitan Division standings:
1. Carolina Hurricanes
2. Washington Capitals
3. Pittsburgh Penguins
4. New Jersey Devils
5. Philadelphia Flyers
6. New York Rangers
7. New York Islanders
8. Columbus Blue Jackets
Eastern Conference playoff picture:
1. Carolina Hurricanes
2. Florida Panthers
3. Washington Capitals
4. Tampa Bay Lightning
5. Montreal Canadiens
6. Pittsburgh Penguins
7. Buffalo Sabres
8. Ottawa Senators
Western Conference playoff picture:
1. Colorado Avalanche
2. Vegas Golden Knights
3. Dallas Stars
4. Minnesota Wild
5. Edmonton Oilers
6. Anaheim Ducks
7. Utah Mammoth
8. San Jose Sharks
Top-five NHL teams:
1. Colorado Avalanche
2. Carolina Hurricanes
3. Florida Panthers
4. Vegas Golden Knights
5. Dallas Stars
Bottom-five NHL teams:
32. Vancouver Canucks
31. Calgary Flames
30. Chicago Blackhawks
29. Detroit Red Wings
28. Seattle Kraken
Stanley Cup Final Prediction: Avalanche Over Panthers
League’s leading scorer: Connor McDavid
Penguins’ leading scorer: Erik Karlsson (points)
Penguins’ breakout candidate: Nick Robertson
Penguins’ Rookie of the Year: Sergei Murashov
One bold prediction: The Penguins not only make the playoffs, but win a series
The ‘why’ on prediction for the Penguins:
I think the Penguins will get healthy and score plenty of goals again this year. Defensively, they’ll be competent enough, and they’ll get at least average goaltending to make the playoffs.
I don’t trust a lot of the other Metro teams outside of Carolina or Washington. Now, I still think the Penguins have flaws, but so do some of those other teams.
I think we will get one more Penguins-Capitals series before Crosby and Ovechkin call it quits, and it will be awesome. ESPN and TNT will make it their top series, and it will have all fans tuning in.
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