The puck drops on the 2026-27 NHL season Tuesday with five games on the slate, and the opening night spotlight will be in Carolina. The defending Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes will raise their banner before hosting the Florida Panthers at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Carolina enters the new campaign as the team to beat on the ice, but a 35-player preseason poll put Florida at the head of the championship conversation. The Panthers collected 15 selections to win the Cup, with players pointing to a healthy Aleksander Barkov, the arrival of Brady Tkachuk and a roster built for another long spring.
Florida reloads after missing the playoffs
The Panthers missed the 2025-26 postseason, a sharp break after winning consecutive championships and reaching three straight Stanley Cup Finals. Their core has been reinforced for another run.
Barkov, Florida’s captain and top-line center, is back after a right-knee injury suffered on the opening day of training camp wiped out his entire season. The Panthers also landed Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators on June 21, bringing him together with younger brother Matthew Tkachuk in South Florida.
Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider saw a club with no shortage of answers on its roster, saying Florida is loaded and should have its key players healthy. Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog also named the Panthers his preseason choice, citing Barkov’s return, Brady Tkachuk’s addition and the goaltending change from Sergei Bobrovsky to Jacob Markstrom.
“They are stacked,” Landeskog said. “That does not guarantee anything, but they would be my pick before the season starts.”
Utah Mammoth forward Logan Cooley also expects Florida to make a deep run, noting that Matthew Tkachuk should be in better health after appearing in only 31 games last season.
Brady Tkachuk had 22 goals and 37 assists in 60 games for Ottawa last season. The 27-year-old owns 213 goals and 250 assists for 463 points across 572 NHL regular-season games. Matthew Tkachuk finished last season with 13 goals and 21 assists.
The major departure is Bobrovsky, the starter for both Panthers championship teams. He left in free agency for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Markstrom, who began his NHL career in Florida in 2010-11, arrives after going 23-19-1 with an .883 save percentage and 3.07 goals-against average for the New Jersey Devils.
Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele called Florida a straightforward pick following the Brady Tkachuk trade and said the Panthers belong near the top of the league’s contenders.
Champions bring back their group
Florida’s path toward a return to the playoffs will run through the Hurricanes, who took advantage of the Panthers’ absence last spring and captured their first Cup in 20 years.
Carolina has kept nearly all of its championship roster intact. Goaltender Frederik Andersen is the only major loss after signing with the Edmonton Oilers as a free agent. Andersen went 16-14-5 during the regular season, posting an .874 save percentage and 3.05 goals-against average. He was a major part of the playoff push before injury, going 13-2 with a .910 save percentage and 1.89 GAA in his first 16 postseason appearances.
Brandon Bussi now takes over as Carolina’s No. 1 netminder. In his first NHL season, Bussi replaced the injured Andersen in Game 3 of the Cup Final and went 3-1 with a .931 save percentage and 1.60 GAA.
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Guentzel gave Carolina his vote, emphasizing that the Cup-winning lineup is largely back together. The Hurricanes received six selections, second behind Florida.
Other clubs drawing votes
Colorado and Ottawa each received two votes. Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson and forward Tim Stutzle backed their own club after Ottawa fell to Carolina in the opening round last spring. The Avalanche return after reaching the Western Conference Final and remain a serious threat after their 2022 championship.
One vote apiece went to the Dallas Stars, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals.
The player voting was conducted during the NHL/NHLPA European Media Tour in Munich in August and the North American player media tour in Las Vegas earlier this month.
Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson offered the reminder that preseason picks do not carry much weight once the games begin. The 84-game regular season and two months of playoff hockey will decide the Cup field.
“The favorites do not really mean much,” Thompson said. “Get into the playoffs, and anything can happen. Teams may have an advantage on paper, but in the end it comes down to resolve and who wants it most.”
