Four NHL Teams with Something to Prove in 2026-27NH

Puck drop for the 2026-2027 NHL season is about six weeks away, with opening night set for Sept. 29. Some teams are coming into the season with higher expectations than others.

The four carrying the most weight into October are the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, Nashville Predators and Vegas Golden Knights.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning had a good regular season and a brutal ending. Tampa Bay went 50-26-6 and finished second in the Atlantic, then lost Game 7 of the first round at home to the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1. The Canadiens managed nine shots on goal that night and went more than 26 minutes without one. It was the fourth straight season the Lightning have been eliminated in the opening round.

Tampa was also the only Florida team to make the playoffs at all. The two-time defending champion Panthers missed entirely, the first back-to-back champion to do that since the 1969-70 Canadiens.

Getting past the first round is the only goal that matters in Tampa this year, and general manager Julien BriseBois spent July 1 on it. The Lightning signed defenseman John Carlson to a two-year deal at $8.5 million per season to replace Darren Raddysh on the right side, added forwards Ilya Mikheyev and Jeffrey Viel, and traded Nick Paul to Toronto for goaltender Dennis Hildeby. Carlson and Viel were teammates in Anaheim last season, and Viel gives the Bolts the physical edge they have been looking for against Florida.

New York Rangers

The Rangers are looking to take a bite out of the Big Apple this season. New York went 34-39-9 and finished last in the Metropolitan Division, missing the playoffs for the second year in a row in Mike Sullivan’s first season behind the bench.

President and general manager Chris Drury called it a retool rather than a rebuild, and the moves back that up. The Rangers gave up two 2026 draft picks and a conditional 2028 first-rounder to get Pavel Dorofeyev from Vegas, then signed him for seven years and $77 million. Dorofeyev scored 37 goals for the Golden Knights last season and added 12 more in the playoff run to the Final. New York also traded Vincent Trocheck to Utah for defenseman Sean Durzi, brought in Marcus Pettersson and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, and signed Oliver Bjorkstrand.

That is a lot of veteran help for a team that scored 238 goals last year. The city that never sleeps will be awake all season if Igor Shesterkin gets any run support.

Nashville Predators

The Predators are ready to bring music to hockey fans’ ears this season. Nashville missed the playoffs for the second straight year, losing 4-1 to the Utah Mammoth on April 9 in a game that knocked them out of the second wild card spot for good.

The overhaul started at the top. Chris MacFarland was hired June 2 as president of hockey operations and general manager, replacing Barry Trotz, who moved into an advisory role. MacFarland spent 11 seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, including four as general manager, and was an assistant general manager when Colorado won the Cup in 2022. His Avalanche teams made the playoffs every year, and last season they won the Presidents’ Trophy with a franchise-record 121 points.

He moved quickly in Nashville, trading for his former Colorado players Ross Colton and Jack Drury along with Mavrik Bourque, Adam Edstrom and Nils Hoglander, and signing Alex Kerfoot. The staff hires followed: Jordan DeKort as professional development goaltending coach in July, then Matt Calvert as forward development coach. With Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O’Reilly still on the roster, the Preds do not think they are far off.

Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights are looking to return the gold to Sin City. Vegas made the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in nine years and lost in six games to the Carolina Hurricanes, who went 16-3 in the postseason and won their second Cup. The Knights got there the hard way, sweeping the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche in the Western Conference Final after finishing the regular season 39-26-17.

They did it under an interim coach. Bruce Cassidy was fired March 29 with eight games left and replaced by John Tortorella, and Vegas went 7-0-1 to clinch a fifth Pacific Division title in nine years. The permanent hire came June 17: Ryan Craig, who has been in the organization since its first season and was an assistant on the staff that won the Cup in 2023. Craig spent the last three seasons coaching the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. He added assistant coach Mark Letestu on July 1, and the rest of the staff returns.

The one thing Vegas gave up was scoring. Dorofeyev is a Ranger now.

The 2026-2027 Season

The Lightning, Rangers, Predators and Golden Knights all have something to answer for this season. Puck drops Sept. 29.