NHL Surprise Playoff Teams 2025-26: Sabres, Mammoth, Rangers, and Ducks Ready to Rise

Optimism reigns supreme with the start of the NHL season just around the corner.

While hopes are high of a playoff position and run to the Stanley Cup among all of the teams, only a handful will truly be surprise squads.

Here are the four most likely to make the great leap from being also-rans last season to a playoff position when the 2025-26 campaign is complete.

Utah Mammoth

As the Utah Hockey Club for their first season in Salt Lake City, the now-nicknamed Mammoth advanced from their most recent stretch as the Arizona Coyotes, missing the playoffs by seven points. The gap will be closed this coming season.

By adding J.J. Peterka via trade from the Buffalo Sabres, Utah boasts a strong top two lines that also include Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz.

At question is whether the defense corps and goaltending can do their part. Utah’s blue line brigade does not boast a stud but is above average as a whole. Meanwhile, number-one goalie Karel Vejmelka will need to take his game to a new level.

Added up, the Mammoth are capable of finally vaulting upward from a decade of being of a bottom-feeder.

Buffalo Sabres

Speaking of perennial also-rans, the Sabres last made the payoffs in 2011, a league-record 14-year playoff drought tied with the NFL’s New York Jets for the longest current run of futility among North America’s major leagues. The Sabres at least have a hope.

Their forward group, led by Tage Thompson will not blow you away offensively, and could use more high-end difference makers, but is quite deep and will benefit from a whole season with Josh Norris.

Key will be defense, which will be improved by adding Michael Kesselring (acquired along with forward Josh Doan from the Mammoth in the Peterka trade), and goaltending.

Buffalo last season was sunk by a goals against that finished fourth-worst. Natural progression with experience among the forwards and a better defense group should help in that area, but the Sabres need one of Devon Levi or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to reach their expectations. If one or even both can do that, the years of wandering in the dessert may be finally over in Buffalo.

New York Rangers

Whether a return to the playoffs is being an improved team or simply a bounce-back for the Rangers is worthy debate. The Rangers sat atop the league in 2023-24, but fell off a cliff and finished behind the Detroit Red Wings last season.

New York boasts one of the league’s best goaltenders in Igor Shesterkin, has a dynamo forward in Artemi Panarin and top-tier defenseman in Adam Fox.

The impact will be whether newly-named captain J.T. Miller along with rising stars Will Cuylle and Alexis Lafreniere can re-ignite the team.

Signing free-agent defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov came with a high cost, but will be a boon to a club that was dreadful in its own zone last season.

Anaheim Ducks

An excellent collection of emerging young talent in forwards Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Mason McTavish and Troy Terry and defensemen Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov, will naturally help the Ducks improve.

Another huge boost will be adding vets who can contribute such as Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund. A third will be hiring coach Joel Quenneville, who is capable of guiding them forward.

Much will also ride on goalie Lukas Dostal running with his starter status, but an improved team game before him will make it easier.