Uncannily Accurate Hockey Analytics Site
Favors Carolina Hurricanes Again In 2025-26
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Oct. 16, 2025)
A year ago, in the buildup to the 2024-25 National Hockey League season, the popular hockey analytics website MoneyPuck.com published its annual forecast, with the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes (in that order) considered the most likely teams to capture the Stanley Cup.
More than seven months later, when the NHL playoffs reached the conference finals in mid-May, the four teams still standing were the same four: Edmonton, Dallas, Florida and Carolina. Ultimately, the website’s #1 preseason team from the Western Conference (Edmonton) faced its #1 preseason team from the Eastern Conference (Florida) in the league’s championship series.
Although the Panthers beat the Oilers in six games, MoneyPuck’s preseason forecast — seven months in advance, remember, before any regular-season injuries, trades, etc. — proved uncannily accurate overall, especially at the highest level.
How many times, in any sport or year, have you correctly predicted the Final Four even before the regular season started?
With all of that in mind, Carolina fans may be excited to see MoneyPuck’s latest preseason forecast, which holds the 2025-26 Hurricanes — after a handful of significant offseason roster changes — in very high regard. The Canes are considered the second most likely team to raise the Stanley Cup this time, just a fraction of a single percentage point behind Edmonton.
Here’s the website’s breakdown of all 32 NHL teams’ chances of reaching the postseason (a 16-team bracket) and capturing the Stanley Cup this season:
Rank/Team — Playoff Odds — Title Odds
1. Edmonton (W) — 92.4% — 9.3%
2. Carolina (E) — 89.1% — 9.1%
3. Vegas (W) — 91.8% — 8.9%
4. Tampa Bay (E) — 88% — 8.6%
5. Colorado (W) — 89.7% —8.6%
6. Dallas (W) — 89.4% — 8.5%
7. New Jersey (E) — 80.3% — 6.4%
8. Florida (E) — 78.5% — 6.1%
9. Winnipeg (W) — 81.3% — 5.7%
10. Toronto (E) — 78.7% — 5.6%
11. Ottawa (E) — 66.9% — 3.6%
12. Los Angeles (W) — 71.3% — 3.5%
13. NY Rangers (E) — 64.5% — 2.9%
14. Washington (E) — 54.1% — 1.9%
15. Minnesota (W) — 53.7% — 1.6%
16. Montreal (E) — 49.9% — 1.6%
17. Saint Louis (W) — 52.9% — 1.5%
18. Utah (W) — 51.6% — 1.4%
19. Buffalo (E) — 38.3% — 1%
20. Vancouver (W) — 42.8% — 0.9%
21. NY Islanders (E) — 30% — 0.6%
22. Detroit (W) — 23.1% — 0.5%
23. Philadelphia (E) — 18.7% — 0.3%
24. Columbus (E) — 17.9% — 0.3%
25. Anaheim (W) — 21.4% —0.3%
26. Calgary (W) — 19.5% — 0.3%
27. Nashville (E) — 17.4% — 0.3%
28. Boston (E) — 14.5% — 0.2%
29. Seattle (W) — 14.5% — 0.2%
30. Pittsburgh (E) — 7.6% — 0.1%
31. San Jose (W) — 5.4% — 0.1%
32. Chicago (W) — 4.8% — 0%
(E)—Eastern Conference
(W)—Western Conference
Just one week into the 2025-26 regular season, only two teams still had perfect records, and they were both ranked among MoneyPuck’s top six preseason contenders: Carolina (3-0-0) and Dallas (3-0-0). The highly regarded squads at Edmonton (2-0-1), Vegas (2-0-2) and Colorado (3-0-1) also got off to very strong starts.
The Hurricanes, who had experienced one of the longest playoff droughts in NHL history (nine straight seasons; 2009-10 through 2017-18) in their final years under owner Peter Karmanos Jr., now have made the playoffs seven consecutive times (and counting) with owner Tom Dundon and head coach Rod Brind’Amour leading the way.
Season — Coach — Record (Points) — Postseason Result
2018-19 — Rod Brind’Amour — 46-29-7 (99) — Conference Final
2019-20* — Rod Brind’Amour — 38-25-5 (81) — First Round
2020-21* — Rod Brind’Amour — 36-12-8 (80) — Second Round
2021-22 — Rod Brind’Amour — 54-20-8 (116) — Second Round
2022-23 — Rod Brind’Amour — 52-21-9 (113) — Conference Final
2023-24 — Rod Brind’Amour — 52-23-7 (111) — Second Round
2024-25 — Rod Brind’Amour — 47-30-5 (99) — Conference Final
*—shortened regular season (COVID)
