10 statements that defined the 2025-26 regular season, and the players and stats that brought them to life. But first, here’s the TL;DR:
* There will be six new teams in the running when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday and for the first time since 2015, the postseason will begin with one guarantee: a new champion will be crowned.
* Players spanning three generations – highlighted by the likes of Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Schaefer – had record-setting performances.
* The international reach of the game was on full display in 2025-26, including historic performances with the return of NHL players to the Olympic Winter Games – capped by Jack Hughes’ “Golden Goal.”
1. TURNOVER AND TURN-AROUNDS WERE THE STORY OF THE SEASON
The 2025-26 regular season saw an unprecedented Rush to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, highlighted by a six-team turnover – the second-highest total in NHL history – and teams soaring up the standings to turn deficits into playoff spots.
* Stanley Cup Playoffs hockey will head to Buffalo for the first time since 2011, to Anaheim for the first time since 2018 and to Utah for the first time ever. Philadelphia (2020), Pittsburgh (2022) and Boston (2024) also return after at least one season outside the bracket.
* The Sabres were the NHL’s top team since mid-December – when their franchise record-tying winning streak began – en route to their first Atlantic Division crown. Buffalo is the only playoff team to qualify after ranking last place in its conference more than a month into the 2025-26 season (most recently Dec. 17). They also are the only playoff team in 2026 to sit 32nd in the overall standings this season (all in the second week, Oct. 11-14).
* The Senators overcame the largest standings deficit of any club that made the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – sitting 10 points out as late as Jan. 30. Ottawa is the only playoff team to qualify after ranking last place in its division after the holiday break in 2025-26 (most recently Feb. 4).
* The Flyers tied for the most wins and third-most points in the NHL after the Olympic break to clinch a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Philadelphia faced a standings deficit as large as nine points (March 10) and became the first team in NHL history to qualify for the postseason after overcoming a deficit of that size 60-plus games into a season.
* The Pacific Division had six of its eight teams still in playoff contention entering the final weekend of the season and the division title secured by Vegas in game No. 82. The Golden Knights became the second team to finish as the No. 1 seed in its division after hiring a new head coach within its last 20 games (John Tortorella: March 30 debut; 8 GR), while the fourth-place Kings (WC2) were the only other playoff team to make in-season coaching change (D.J. Smith: March 1). Vegas and Los Angeles finished just five points apart, the third time since divisions were introduced in 1967-68 that the top four clubs in one division were separated by that small a margin (also 2018-19 Metropolitan and 1967-68 West). Overall, it took until the penultimate game on the League schedule (1,311 of 1,312) to decide the ranks of seeds 2-4 within the Pacific.
2. TEENAGERS LED A GROUP OF YOUNG STARS
Matthew Schaefer, 18, and Macklin Celebrini, 19, paced a group of 23 teenagers (including six 18-year-olds) that played in 2025-26 – the most since 2018-19 (27). Schaefer was one of nine players from the 2025 NHL Draft who played in 2025-26, the most to debut the season after their draft since the 2017 class and tied for the second-highest total over the past 16 drafts.
#NHLStats Pack: Young Stars of the 2025-26 NHL Season
* Schaefer (NYI) set the League benchmark for most points by an 18-year-old defenseman, tied the single-season NHL record for most goals by a rookie defenseman and became the first defenseman in more than 90 years – and fourth in NHL history – to lead all NHL rookies in goals (tied or outright). Check out the Schaefer Fact Sheet for more on his historic season and impact off the ice.
* Celebrini (SJS) became the sixth teenager in NHL history with a 100-point season, broke Joe Thornton’s franchise record for points in one season, posted the second-highest goal total in club history and rode that performance to a fourth place finish in NHL scoring – joining Sidney Crosby (1st in 2006-07) and Wayne Gretzky (2nd in 1979-80) as the only teenagers to rank that high. Celebrini, who lifted the Sharks into the playoff race by factoring on 46% of the team’s goals (second to Connor McDavid: 49% w/ EDM), completed his final NHL campaign before turning 20 and will have the fifth-highest career point total as a teenager in League history (4th in assists, 7th in goals, t-2nd GWG).
* The Canadiens boasted the second-youngest roster in the NHL at the end of the season, including rookie points leader Ivan Demidov, one of five 20-goal rookies in Oliver Kapanen, rookie wins leader Jakub Dobes had the highest total by a Canadiens rookie since Ken Dryden 54 years ago and was joined in the top five by Jacob Fowler (the first Florida-born goaltender in NHL history) and had defenseman Lane Hutson, 22, match a 49-year old franchise record in his second full season.
* Other young players with breakout seasons include Beckett Sennecke (ANA), who shared the rookie goals lead and is part of a top three in team scoring whose average age is 22; Jimmy Snuggerud (STL), the highest-scoring rookie post-Olympics ahead of Schaefer; and Connor Bedard (CHI), the youngest 30-goal scorer in Blackhawks history.
3. IT WAS ANOTHER THREE-HORSE RACE FOR THE SCORING TITLE
For a second time in three years, the combination of Connor McDavid (EDM; 138 points), Nikita Kucherov (TBL; 130) and Nathan MacKinnon (COL; 127) finished as the top three in the Art Ross Trophy race – just the third grouping in League history to rank 1-3 in League scoring multiple times (any order). The three players combined to lead the Art Ross Trophy race for 138 of 167 game days in 2025-26 (79%; McDavid: 72; MacKinnon: 60; Kucherov: 6), including 136 in a row from Nov. 8 onward. The last player to lead before that trio took over was 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini (SJS; through Nov. 7), who finished his second NHL season ranked fourth in League scoring.
* McDavid became the fourth player to win the Art Ross Trophy six times, joining Wayne Gretzky (10), Gordie Howe (6) and Mario Lemieux (6). McDavid, who became the fifth player in NHL history to claim 15 individual awards, did so in a campaign in which he hit a collection of career milestones (1,100 points; 1,200 points; 400 goals; 800 assists) as well as single-season benchmarks including his ninth 100-point season and third 130-point season. McDavid secured the Art Ross Trophy in his final game of the season when he helped the Oilers lock in home ice in the First Round with a 0-4—4 showing that lifted him ahead of Bobby Orr (4-assist games; 7th) and Jari Kurri (4-point games; 10th)on a pair of all-time NHL lists. McDavid finished with more assists (90) than 99% of the League had points and became the sixth player in League history with multiple 90-assist seasons (also 100 in 2023-24).
* Kucherov topped the NHL in points-per-game (1.71) and trailed in the scoring race by as many as 22 points (Dec. 23, 2025) but paced all players with 85 points after the Christmas break – 14 more than the next closest player – to finish among the top two in League scoring for the fourth time in his career (the others were his Art Ross Trophy wins). Kucherov topped the NHL in four-point games (9) – the second most by any player over the past 29 seasons (McDavid: 10 in 2022-23) – and finished second in multi-point (40) and three-point (19) showings, behind McDavid (43) in the first category and MacKinnon (20) in the latter. Kucherov will enter his 13th NHL season needing 13 points to tie Tampa Bay’s career scoring record.
* MacKinnon led the NHL in even-strength points (97), the most since Wayne Gretzky 35 years ago, and topped his team in points for the eighth time – overtaking Peter Stastny (7x) to trail only Joe Sakic (12x) for the second-most instances in franchise history. MacKinnon picked up a career first by securing the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL goals leader with 53 – just the second player in franchise history to claim the honor. MacKinnon, who in December became the career leader for goals in Avalanche team history, held at least a share of the NHL goals lead for 136 consecutive game days from Nov. 8 onward (standing as the outright leader from Dec. 2 until the end of the season).
* The list of NHL leaders from the defensive end was a mix of established veterans and newcomers, with Evan Bouchard (EDM) topped all blueliners in assists (74) and points (95) – the second Oilers defenseman to top both lists after Paul Coffey (4x) – while Jakob Chychrun (WSH) had 26 goals (including an NHL record-tying 8 GWG) to finish ahead of second-place Matthew Schaefer (NYI) and pace a group of six 20-goal scorers from the back end – the most the NHL has seen in 32 years.
* Other notable veteran contributors to those totals: Zach Werenski (CBJ; 10th defenseman in NHL history to lead his team in points in consecutive seasons), Cale Makar (COL; first defenseman in 34 years with three straight 20-goal seasons), Quinn Hughes (MIN; franchise records for assists and points by defensemen after in-season trade), Rasmus Dahlin (BUF; most points by a Sabres defenseman in 36 years) and Darren Raddysh (TBL; franchise record 22 goals for a blueliner). Achievements by the two youngest defensemen among the defensive scoring leaders, Lane Hutson and Schaefer, are explored above in Section 2.
4. SID AND OVI KEPT IT 100
Twenty-one seasons into their NHL careers, 38-year-old Sidney Crosby and 40-year-old Alex Ovechkin continued to make an impact as both players led their team in points in a campaign capped by their 100th all-time head-to-head meeting during the final weekend of the season.
* Crosby (16x, all w/ PIT) now trails only Wayne Gretzky (19x; 9 w/ EDM, 7 w/ LAK, 3 w/ NYR) and Gordie Howe (17x, all w/ DET) for the most seasons as any team’s points leader – with Ovechkin (15, all w/ WSH) and Anze Kopitar (15x, all w/ LAK) right behind them. From a single franchise perspective, Crosby moved within one campaign of matching Howe’s mark set with Detroit.
* Crosby extended his NHL record by averaging a point-per-game or better for the 21st time in his 21-season career, ahead of second-place Gretzky (19) and five more than the closest active player (Evgeni Malkin: 16). In the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2022, Crosby captained Team Canada to silver at the Olympics in campaign in which he also: overtook Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman to climb into seventh place on the all-time points list, breaking Lemieux’s franchise scoring record in the process; reached milestones for assists (1,100), games played (1,400) and points (1,700); climbed into third all-time for career multi-point games (breaking another franchise record); matched Yzerman as the longest tenured captain in NHL history (19 seasons) while overtaking both him and Adam Oates to move into eighth place for career assists – with his 1,107 now within four of tying Ray Bourque (1,111 w/ BOS) for the most in NHL history with a single franchise. Crosby (1,761) also trails only Howe (1,809 w/ DET) for the most points with one franchise all-time.
* Ovechkin also led the Capitals in goals for the 21st time in his 21-season career, by far the most in League history (Howe: 15) and 11 more than the closest active player (Crosby: 10). Set to make a decision on his future this summer, Ovechkin played in all 82 games in 2025-26 and achieved many feats in the process – building the pot for THE GR8 CHASE for Victory Over Cancer with each tally: first player to 900 regular-season goals; second player to 1,000 total NHL goals; 21st career 20-goal season (2nd all-time); 20th career 30-goal season (extending NHL record); reached 1,500 games played; overtook Joe Sakic for 10th place on the all-time points list; set the NHL record for total career game-winning goals; moved into fourth place for career hat tricks; posted the third-most goals by a 40-year-old in League history (32; behind Howe: 44 in 1968-69 and Johnny Bucyk: 36 in 1975-76); and climbed within four of tying longtime teammate Nicklas Backstrom’s club record for career assists.
5. IT TRULY WAS A RECORD-BREAKING SEASON
Other veterans made their mark in 2025-26 as the League’s oldest player, 41-year-old Brent Burns (COL), became the second in NHL history to play 1,000 consecutive games, and the League’s oldest goaltender, 40-year-old Jonathan Quick (NYR), climbed into 12th place on the all-time wins list before announcing his retirement. Quick will retire alongside Anze Kopitar (LAK), his teammate in Los Angeles for 16 seasons and two Stanley Cup wins. Kopitar will aim to add another Cup to his tally before hanging up the skates in a season that saw him break the Kings’ all-time points record – a benchmark held by Marcel Dionne for more than 45 years. Another longtime teammate of theirs, Drew Doughty (LAK), set a new Kings record for career goals by a defenseman.
* It was a historic year on many fronts as 15 teams had a major all-time or single-season scoring record broken or matched. Among the highlights not mentioned elsewhere in this recap: Auston Matthews (TOR) and Kirill Kaprizov (MIN) set career goals records; Mark Scheifele (WPG) set career and single-season points records and also became the franchise leader in games played; Jared Spurgeon (MIN) became the franchise leader in assists and points by a defenseman; while New York teams had records set by Mika Zibanejad (NYR; power-play goals), Ilya Sorokin (NYI; career shutouts, tied single-season) and Matthew Schaefer (NYI; a long list).
* Patrick Kane (DET) hit 500 goals and 1,400 points during the same campaign in which he became the all-time leader for points by both a U.S.-born player and by an American national – and finished within two of Phil Housley’s American benchmark for career assists. In addition, Nikolaj Ehlers (CAR) set the mark for assists by Danish players – adding to the goal and point records he already held.
6. THERE WERE PLENTY OF OTHER AMAZING ACHIEVEMENTS FROM OTHER STARS
A collection of other notable stats from the 2025-26 regular season, which was led nearly gate-to-gate by the Avalanche, who sat atop the NHL standings for 153 games days overall including 143 in a row to end the campaign. The club capped the regular season with a hat trick of NHL awards: its fourth Presidents’ Trophy, as well as individual honors to Nathan MacKinnon (Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy) and goaltenders Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood,who claimed the William M. Jennings Trophy. ICYMI: Wedgewood and Blackwood were recently featured in the latest Skates Off where they discussed their chemistry and explored goalie mask artistry.
* Wedgewood finished as the NHL leader in both goals-against average (2.02) and save percentage (.921) – with sizeable advantages atop both lists – while Blackwood (2.51; 8th) also ranked among the top 10 for goals-against average. Colorado set a franchise record for points (121), matched their benchmark for road wins (29) and had their second-highest win total overall (55) – thanks in part to a pair of double digit winning streaks.
* Like the Avalanche, the Hurricanes spent the entire season inside the playoff bracket including 104 consecutive game days atop its division and sat as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for more than half the campaign (53%). That was thanks in large part to the emergence of 27-year-old first-year NHLer Brandon Bussi, an undrafted netminder who became the fastest goaltender in NHL history to 30 career wins (37 GP) and the eighth goaltender in NHL history with 30-plus in his debut campaign.
* Andrei Vasilevskiy (TBL; 39) led the NHL in wins for the first time since 2021-22 and sixth time overall, which matches Clint Benedict (6x) for second place in League history behind Martin Brodeur (9x; tied or outright). Vasilevskiy’s active streak of nine consecutive 30-win seasons ranks second all-time and helped him edge second-place Karel Vejmelka (UTA; 38) atop the wins list. Vejmelka had the highest single-season win total by a Czech goaltender in nearly 20 years and third highest all time (tied).
* A snapshot of some of the top-scoring duos in 2025-26: In Montreal, Cole Caufield and captain Nick Suzuki recorded the first 50-goal and 100-point seasons in 36 and 40 years, respectively. In Winnipeg, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor factored on the same goal a League-best 65 times. Set to face off in the First Round, Dallas (Jason Robertson & Wyatt Johnston) and Minnesota (Kirill Kaprizov & Matt Boldy) each had multiple 40-goal scorers in the same season for the first time in team history, while Nashville did so for the second time (Steven Stamkos & Filip Forsberg).
* The Canadiens and Ducks both qualified for the playoffs after sharing the League lead with 26 comeback wins, a franchise record for both (tied for ANA) and outdone by only seven teams in NHL history. Both also made a habit of late rallies: Anaheim paced all teams in third-period comeback wins (12) ahead of Montreal and Vegas (tied w/ 10). Overall, the Ducks scored 68 tying goals – tied for the second-highest total in League history (1985-86 CHI: 73) – including 11 in the final five minutes of regulation. Furthermore, Anaheim set an NHL record with tying or go-ahead goals scored in the final five minutes of regulation (previous: 16 by 2008-09 DET, 2000-01 BOS & 1986-87 NYI).
* An all-time high 17 players skated in their 1,000th game, including four who hit the mark in the final three weeks of the season: Brock Nelson (COL), Evander Kane (VAN), Adam Larsson (SEA) and Mika Zibanejad (NYR). Larsson became the third player to reach the milestone while wearing a Kraken sweater.
7. NHL PLAYERS BROUGHT HISTORIC PERFORMANCES IN RETURN TO OLYMPICS
NHL players returned to the Olympic Winter Games, an event that culminated with an unforgettable Canada-USA showdown for gold and included a long list of record-setting performances. A few highlights:
* Jack Hughes (NJD) scored the “Golden Goal” in overtime to secure his country’s first Olympic gold medal in 46 years, finishing the tournament as the team’s top goal scorer and tied for second among Americans in points behind brother Quinn Hughes (MIN) – who set or tied Olympic records for assists (7) and points (8; tied) by an American NHL player. Connor Hellebuyck (WPG) made 41 saves in the gold medal game – including highlight-reel stops against the two tournament scoring leaders – as he secured Best Goaltender honors and joined Quinn on the tournament All-Star team. After the break, Jack ranked second in scoring with 41 points, behind Olympic MVP Connor McDavid (EDM; 42).
* A total of 91 Olympians will be part of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – including 16 from Team USA who will now pursue a second championship in 2025-26.
* Other notable achievements were had by: Canadian teammates McDavid and Macklin Celebrini (SJS), the youngest NHL player at the event; Sebastian Aho (CAR), the top goal-scorer for Finland’s bronze-medal entry; Czech tandem Martin Necas (COL) and David Pastrnak (BOS); German trio Leon Draisaitl (EDM), Tim Stützle (OTT) and Moritz Seider (DET); Swedish and Swiss scoring leaders Lucas Raymond (DET) and Roman Josi (NSH); as well as the young Slovak pairing Juraj Slafkovský (MTL) and Dalibor Dvorsky (STL).
* Many of those players also had notable performances during the NHL campaign; some highlights not covered elsewhere in this document: Necas and Pastrnak became the first Czech players to have 100 points in the same season; Stützle (also 2022-23) joined Alexei Yashin (5x) as the second player in Senators history to lead the team in goals, assists and points multiple times; Aho matched Eric Staal (8x) for the most seasons as points leader for the Hurricanes/Whalers; Seider extended his consecutive games played streak to 410 games (the longest ever to begin a career for a defenseman); Slafkovský became the first Slovakian 30-goal scorer since Marian Hossa a dozen years ago.
8. HIGH-SCORING, COMPETITIVE BALANCE TRENDS CONTINUED
With half the League still in playoff contention entering the final weekend of the regular season (16 teams had not yet clinched or been eliminated) and the final Stanley Cup Playoffs bracket determined after the penultimate game, the competitive balance in the standings was paired with high-scoring close games on the ice.
* Teams that missed the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs had a .533 points percentage, the fourth-highest rate in any 82-game season (tied). Their collective .474 winning percentage also tied for fourth.
* 20 teams improved their point total versus last season, the most ever in one campaign.
* This was the fifth straight season that at least 40% of games were comeback wins (an NHL first).
* Nearly half of all games were tied in the third (46%), the highest rate over the past nine seasons.
* An NHL record 246 tying or go-ahead goals were scored in the final five minutes of regulation. The 148 tying goals in that window were a record, while the 98 go-ahead tallies ranked fourth.
* This was the third time in five seasons that goals-per-game was 6.3 or higher, and the fifth time in eight campaigns that it hit at least 6.0. By contrast, the League averaged 6.0 goals-per-game only once over 21 seasons from 1996-97 to 2017-18.
9. THE BUSINESS OF THE GAME AND OFF-ICE IMPACT ARE STRONGER THAN EVER
The NHL set a total attendance record for the fourth consecutive regular season, with 23,158,522 fans – 97.5% of capacity – eclipsing the previous high of 23,014,458 set in 2024-25. The per-game average was 17,651 and includes contests at 35 venues. Click here for more on the attendance four-peat. Many of those fans sported new jerseys, with Connor Bedard (CHI) the go-to choice for many.
* More than 100,000 fans attended the two outdoor games this season – the first two ever held in Florida. First, 36,153 in attendance at loanDepot park in Miami saw Mika Zibanejad (NYR) score the first Winter Classic hat trick and set an outdoor record with five points. The Rangers also came up with a hat trick in the first-ever Inside Out Classic in April.
* The second outdoor game in Florida was staged less than one month later when a capacity crowd of 64,617 packed inside a football stadium on the coldest Feb. 1 in Tampa in 126 years. They witnessed countless memorable moments in a game oozing with intensity and record-setting performances before the Lightning claimed a Stadium Series victory with the largest comeback win in its history and the largest outdoor rally across the 45 NHL outdoor contests.
* More kids are playing hockey around the world than ever before in NHL, NHLPA and 32 Club programs. Leaguewide, NHL Clubs invest nearly $100 million in their communities each season. The NHL’s charitable foundations – NHL Foundation U.S., Inc. and NHL Foundation Canada – granted $400,000 to 13 best-in-class organizations in the U.S. and Canada this season. And in collaboration with Megan Keller, who scored the gold-medal winning goal, the NHL Foundation U.S. will make a $100,000 donation to two organizations as part of its Empowerment Grant for Girls Hockey.
* The final week of the season saw the Blues become the first in the NHL to broadcast a regional game in American Sign Language, with the game holding special significance to Jake Neighbours (STL). The NHL in ASL will return for the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.
10. NHL EDGE SHOWCASES STARS, HIGHLIGHTS UNDERLYING TALENTS OF EVERY PLAYER
* Connor McDavid (EDM; 151) was once again the NHL leader in speed burst of 22+ mph – with more than triple the amount of all but one player across the rest of the League (Owen Tippett, PHI: 61) – and covered the most miles (330.27).
* The 2025-26 leaderboards included players who set new NHL EDGE era benchmarks: Louis Crevier (CHI) for the hardest shot resulting in a goal (102.54 mph) and Beck Malenstyn (BUF) for the fastest max skating speed (24.94 mph).
* Devin Cooley (CGY; 73.1%) was one of two goaltenders with a save percentage greater than .900 in at least 73% of his starts, showing his personality both in the media and part of an all-California goaltending tandem in Calgary alongside Dustin Wolf, who made a young fan’s day during the team’s final homestand.
