The Florida Panthers finally ran out of steam last season. Over the preceding three campaigns, they played 314 games — the most by any NHL team in a three-year span — and three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances took their toll.
Aleksander Barkov suffered a season-ending knee injury in training camp, while Sam Reinhart, Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell, Evan Rodrigues, Niko Mikkola, and Dmitry Kulikov all missed significant time.
The magnitude of that collapse is underscored by the fact that a back-to-back champion became the first defending champion to miss the playoffs entirely since the 2014-15 Los Angeles Kings. Panthers GM Bill Zito responded aggressively, acquiring Brady Tkachuk from Ottawa to pair with his brother Matthew in pursuit of a third Stanley Cup in four years.
The Favourites for the Cup
Online sportsbooks view Florida as a legitimate contender. Current odds list the Panthers as narrow +650 favourites, ahead of Presidents’ Trophy winners Colorado at +700, with reigning champion Carolina following behind.
The Canes defeated Vegas 4-2 in last season’s Finals, going 16-3 in the postseason — the fewest losses by a champion since the 1987-88 Oilers. That represents the ceiling.
Below them, three organizations that spent years grinding toward relevance may finally have their moment. Here are three rebuilds poised to deliver in 2026-27.
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks’ rebuild began in July 2022 when Mike Grier became GM and immediately dealt Brent Burns to Carolina. Timo Meier and Erik Karlsson soon followed, and the Tomas Hertl trade to Vegas marked the point of no return. The bottom was brutal.
In 2023-24, San Jose won just 19 games and finished with a league-worst 47 points, including two ten-goal losses in one week. The next campaign brought a last-place 20-50-12 record and 52 points.
The draft compensated for the pain. Will Smith was taken at fourth overall in 2023, followed by Macklin Celebrini at number one. Sam Dickinson and Michael Misa were added before Yaroslav Askarov arrived via trade. Last season, the Sharks went 39-35-8 for 86 points — 19 more wins and 34 more points than the previous year — finishing just four points short of the final wild card.
Celebrini’s 115 points shattered Joe Thornton’s franchise record, but defensive vulnerabilities remained: a 3.54 goals-against average ranked 30th overall.
Grier has since acted decisively. Jacob Trouba signed a four-year, $33 million deal, Darnell Nurse arrived from Edmonton, and Mason Marchment got five years. Celebrini signed a five-year, $94 million extension. William Eklund, Kasper Halttunen, and Brandon Svoboda were sent to Ottawa for the No. 9 pick, which created room for No. 2 selection Ivar Stenberg, expected to debut on opening night.
Books have San Jose around +4000 to win it all. A generational centre, a rebuilt blue line, and a Pacific Division in which Vegas succeeded with just 95 points open a genuine path.
Utah Mammoth
July 23, 2021, marked a turning point. That day, the Arizona Coyotes sent Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland to Vancouver, a deal that eventually produced Dylan Guenther. Derek Stepan and Darcy Kuemper were later moved for picks, and a league-worst 25-50-7 season followed. The franchise then lost its Glendale lease, relocated to Mullett Arena — a university rink with fewer than 5,000 seats — and in April 2024, the NHL approved the move to Salt Lake City.
Patience and the relocation eventually paid dividends. Logan Cooley arrived in the 2022 first round. In June 2024, GM Bill Armstrong sent J.J. Moser and Conor Geekie to Tampa Bay for Mikhail Sergachev, signaling the rebuild was complete.
Utah went 38-31-13 in its first season, then 43-33-6 last season to claim the West’s first wild card. The Mammoth led Vegas 2-1 before dropping two overtime games and falling in six as Clayton Keller finished with 88 points, Guenther with 40 goals, and Nick Schmaltz with 74 points.
This summer brought Vincent Trocheck from the Rangers and Anders Lee on a three-year deal, while JJ Peterka went to Boston for two first-round picks. Utah’s Cup price sits around +3000, and the risks are real: MacKenzie Weegar’s underlying numbers were poor, and Karel Vejmelka posted an .897 save percentage over 64 games.
Still, the Mammoth possess depth down the middle and a core entering its prime, making them the most balanced of the three.
Montreal Canadiens
On Nov. 28, 2021, with the team sitting 6-15-2, GM Marc Bergevin was fired. Jeff Gorton took over hockey operations, Kent Hughes became GM, and Martin St. Louis replaced Dominique Ducharme.
The draft did the heavy lifting. Montreal selected Juraj Slafkovsky first overall and Lane Hutson 62nd in 2022, David Reinbacher fifth in 2023, and Ivan Demidov fifth in 2024. Losing continued for two more seasons, with 68 and then 76 points.
Then the league’s youngest playoff team pushed the Washington Capitals to five games in 2024-25.
Hutson won the Calder Trophy with 66 points, and Hughes acquired Noah Dobson from the Islanders for Emil Heineman and two first-rounders. Last season, Montreal went 48-24-10. Nick Suzuki’s 101 points were the first 100-point season by a Canadien since Mats Naslund in 1985-86, and Cole Caufield’s 51 goals matched Stéphane Richer’s franchise mark.
Last season saw a massive leap forward as Montreal beat Tampa Bay in seven, winning Game 7 on just nine shots. Alex Newhook’s overtime winner in Game 7 against Buffalo followed. Carolina ended the run in five games in the Eastern Conference Final, but not before the faithful had dared to dream once again.
Now, Chris Kreider has signed for one year, and St. Louis is extended through 2029-30. NHL.com’s Dan Rosen has picked Montreal to become the first Canadian Cup winner since 1993, and the books have them near +2250.
Can they actually do it, or is one conference final the best it will get? Are the Sharks and Mammoth right behind them?