Every NHL team gets a quick verdict from Justin Bourne before puck drop

With the 2026-27 NHL season set to start next week, Sportsnet analyst Justin Bourne has released a league-wide snapshot of where every club stands. In a new column, he gives each of the 32 teams a two-sentence assessment, touching on roster strength, pressure points and realistic expectations before the first puck drops.

East packed with contenders and no soft landing spots

Bourne starts in the Atlantic Division, where he struggles to identify a true pushover and warns that a poor October could be impossible to recover from. He notes that the Buffalo Sabres are coming off a 109-point season and an Atlantic title built on a strong blue line and forward depth, but have lost Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch, putting added weight on their goaltending and on stars Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, fresh off a 106-point campaign, are portrayed as a club that simply keeps rolling as long as their elite core and head coach Jon Cooper remain in place. In Montreal, Bourne writes that the Canadiens, after reaching the conference final, could almost cruise back into the playoffs with the roster already in place, yet still have the assets and cap room to upgrade, saying expectations have shifted and that for them, “the time is now.” He also points to renewed optimism around the Toronto Maple Leafs thanks in part to Gavin McKenna, while cautioning that even a 20-point jump might not guarantee a playoff spot in such a loaded division.

Moving to the Metropolitan Division, Bourne reminds readers that the Carolina Hurricanes won their division by 15 points and then the Stanley Cup, choosing to leave a successful roster mostly intact while still holding a relatively low payroll and a surplus of first-round picks. At the other end of the spectrum, he suggests the Pittsburgh Penguins may struggle to repeat last season’s 98-point finish given their aging core, injuries to start the year and a demanding schedule. He sees the Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers all circling the playoff bubble in what he calls a grueling Eastern Conference.

Central heavyweights and a Pacific Division full of questions

In the Central, Bourne has little doubt about the Colorado Avalanche, who are coming off a 121-point season and are firmly in win-now mode for another Stanley Cup run. He views the Dallas Stars as another sure-fire 100-point team built around Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley and goaltender Jake Oettinger, with Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson elevating their ceiling. He praises the Minnesota Wild for holding onto Kirill Kaprizov, trading for Quinn Hughes and relying on Matt Boldy, while acknowledging that overtaking Colorado and Dallas will be difficult.

He also argues that the Utah Mammoth need to move from being an improving young team to joining that top tier, pointing to Logan Cooley and veteran additions as key pieces in a push toward the 100-point mark. For the St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets, Bourne sees respectable rosters but real questions about how they separate from the pack, especially with Winnipeg navigating the futures of Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele as trade speculation swirls.

In the Pacific, he describes another year where the division looks weaker overall, even if the top remains dangerous. The Vegas Golden Knights, coming off another Stanley Cup Final appearance and having made few significant changes beyond losing Pavel Dorofeyev, are still expected to land near the top and be factors again in the spring. Bourne characterizes the Edmonton Oilers as still driven primarily by Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard, but suggests new head coach Mike Babcock will squeeze extra gains out of the group and set up a stronger regular season and another deep run.

Lower down the Pacific ladder, he is critical of a difficult off-season for the Anaheim Ducks, questions whether the Los Angeles Kings can break out of their string of first-round exits, and portrays the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks as firmly in rebuild mode, focused on internal development and high draft positioning. Across the league, Bourne’s overarching theme is parity: many teams look similar on paper, and the challenge for those stuck in the middle will be finding a way to stand out in a season where even “average” teams are very good.