5 Most Disappointing NHL Teams From the 2025-26 Regular Season – The Hockey Writers – Commentary

The 2025-26 NHL regular season is well in the past. The playoffs have brought new teams, such as the Anaheim Ducks, that have added some much-needed new blood to playoff hockey. But with that comes teams that missed out on the playoffs amid disappointing seasons. Let’s look at the NHL’s most disappointing teams from the 2025-26 regular season.

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers missed the playoffs last season. It’s not all that surprising that they didn’t qualify again, but the manner in which they missed was quite disappointing. Most sportsbooks had the Rangers as a bubble team entering the season, but they did not come close to being a playoff contender. They finished 30th in the NHL, with just 77 points and 34 wins.

It’s not like the Rangers didn’t have talent coming into the season. Their core consisted of Artemi Panarin, J.T. Miller, Adam Fox, Mika Zibanejad, and Igor Shesterkin, but their age began to show. Miller was a disappointment, while Fox and Shesterkin missed significant time with injuries. The Rangers’ struggles ultimately led them to trade Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings just ahead of the Olympic break.

Rangers general manager Chris Drury has stated this won’t be a long-term rebuild, but it’s hard to see a scenario where it’s anything but a long-term rebuild, despite the team playing well to close the season. Their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolfpack, finished in last place in the entire AHL. The Rangers’ prospect pool isn’t exactly brimming with high-end talent, and it’s a weak free-agent class. There could be some dark days ahead for the Rangers if they don’t opt to do the proper rebuild that they need.

New Jersey Devils

The Rangers’ cross-river rivals, the New Jersey Devils, did not have a particularly great season themselves. They finished with 87 points and 42 wins, well short of preseason expectations; most sportsbooks projected them as a 97-98 point team. That led to ownership firing GM Tom Fitzgerald and replacing him with Florida Panthers assistant GM Sunny Mehta.

Injuries were a factor in the Devils’ struggles. Jack Hughes missed about another 20 games from mid-November to Christmas, and that’s when the Devils fell apart. Still, injuries shouldn’t be an excuse anymore. Their roster was simply not good enough this season, but there may be some light at the end of the tunnel.

The hiring of Mehta is one reason for Devils fans to be excited, but the Devils did play well after the Olympics. They finished with a 14-10-1 record across their final 25 games, and Hughes was one of the best players in the NHL. Mehta has work to do to improve the roster for the 2026-27 season, but the Devils’ situation is far from as bleak as the Rangers’.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Injuries were also part of the Maple Leafs’ struggles this season, but they still fell well short of preseason expectations. Their roster has some serious flaws as well. They lack puck-moving defensemen, specifically on the right side of their blue line, and there’s too much deadweight up front. That resulted in the Maple Leafs being one of the worst five-on-five teams in the NHL. They finished with an expected goals share (xG%) of 45.67 percent, ranking them 29th in the NHL, a significant reason why they bottomed out.

Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares are still at the height of their games, but they’re not getting any younger. The Atlantic Division is not what it was a couple of years ago, either. The Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, and, to a lesser extent, the Ottawa Senators have signaled a potential change of the guard. It won’t be as easy to vault their division rivals as it was in the past.

The Maple Leafs’ disappointing season led to some significant changes. John Chayka is taking over as GM, and Mats Sundin is joining as a senior advisor to hockey ops. Chayka’s hiring was nothing short of controversial among the Leafs’ faithful, but that’s beside the point. What’s done is done, and he has a tall task ahead of him. The Maple Leafs need to add more skill to their lineup and get away from some of the grittier-type additions Brad Treliving made. If they don’t, they may remain in the bottom half of the Atlantic.

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings were a projected bubble team at the start of the season. That’s where they ended up, but how they missed out on the postseason could not have been more disappointing. They once held first place in the Atlantic but had another March crashout, which resulted in their playoff drought extending to an NHL-high ten seasons.

What’s plagued the Red Wings the most is GM Steve Yzerman’s poor pro scouting. Additions like Justin Faulk and Ben Chiarot have not worked out, and they gave up an unprotected first to acquire Faulk. I’m not blaming Faulk for the Red Wings’ collapse, but he had a 43.62 expected goals share and a 41.38 actual goals share as a Red Wing. He certainly didn’t make the team better.

The Red Wings continue to struggle to tilt play in their favor at five-on-five, a significant reason why they collapsed in March and ended as one of the season’s biggest disappointments. Yzerman has to overhaul his pro scouting department and look to add more consistent five-on-five players. If he doesn’t, the results will be the same.

Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks finished about where most people expected them to. However, they should be showing more progress than they are in their rebuild. Connor Bedard has certainly improved, especially before he got hurt in the middle of the season. But the Blackhawks, as a team, haven’t made any progress in the standings.

As was the case last season, the Blackhawks were one of the worst five-on-five teams in the NHL. They finished with an xG% of 42.25 percent, which ranked last in the NHL. They were also the worst defensive team, allowing an NHL-high 3.02 expected goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five.

Kyle Davidson recently received a contract extension, but there should be a bit of heat on him. He’s drafted well. You can’t deny that, but he needs to add more NHL talent around Bedard for this group to start making progress in their rebuild. Just look at what Mike Grier has done in helping the San Jose Sharks make strides in their rebuild. The Blackhawks have fallen behind, and they’ve been rebuilding longer than the Sharks. It’s disappointing they haven’t shown any signs of progress.

This will be an important offseason for most of these teams. For the Devils, Red Wings, and Maple Leafs, retooling to become playoff teams should be the objective. But even organizations like the Rangers and Blackhawks need to make strides toward becoming more competitive. It’ll be interesting to see how they attack the draft and free agency to avoid major disappointments in 2026-27.

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