Mandatory Image Credit: Dean Tait/Sport Shots

The 2025-26 NHL Regular Season is coming to a close, we saw many breakouts, elite seasons, down years, and everything in between. This list isn’t based on any underlying data nor do the players need to meet a specific criteria, but they are who I believe represent the narrative of the entire regular season best. Let’s get into it.

Cole Caufield, Montreal Canadiens

81 Games Played, 51 Goals, 37 Assists

Caufield has scored a lot of goals at every level, over a goal per game in his draft season, over a goal per game in his 2020-21 Hobey Baker winning season, the guy gets the puck in the back of the net. Surprisingly, until this season, he hadn’t reached the 40 goal plateau, with his career high being 37 last season. 

Early in his career, injuries held him back and his size was clearly something to make note of. Clearly an elite goal scorer, but he couldn’t stay healthy for a full season, limiting his ceiling.

This year, everything came together at once. He marked three straight seasons of at least 80 games played, and was scoring at an exceptional rate. Caufield became the seventh Canadien to score 50 goals in a season, joining the likes of Guy Lafleur and Maurice Richard, the man who the scoring title trophy is named after. The first Hab since 1990 as well, truly a special season.

Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks

80 Games Played, 44 Goals, 68 Assists

In his rookie season, Macklin Celebrini was fantastic. 63 points in 70 games on a Sharks team that did not have a ton of talent around him. He looked like a future 100 point player, but little did we know, he would get there in year two. 

Teenagers to record 100 points in an NHL season: Wayne Gretzky, Dale Hawerchuk, Mario Lemieux, Jimmy Carson, Sidney Crosby, Macklin Celebrini. That’s the list. What an exclusive list to be a part of, with each of the others being HOFers with the exception of Jimmy Carson (who had a tragic injury riddled career otherwise he might be in the Hall too). 

He had Hart Trophy buzz all season long as he willed this San Jose team to be alive in the playoff race all the way until just a few days ago. The Sharks timeline has been sped up from what the expectations were when they drafted him first overall less than two years ago. With more development around him and a solid offseason, they will be dangerous as early as next season.

Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers

0 Games Played, 0 Goals, 0 Assists

How could a player who didn’t play a single game this year have defined the season? When they’re the captain of the back to back Stanley Cup Champions and they fail to even qualify for the playoffs without him.

Even though he wasn’t the Conn Smythe winner in either of their championships, this year proved that Barkov is by far the Most Valuable Panther. A Selke favourite who can lead the team in scoring, a true 200ft player.

When news broke of his injury, it was devastating for Florida, but it was still hard to believe it would have been this devastating. Additionally, when his injury return target was said to be “around the playoffs”, fans rolled their eyes and thought, of course. But there was no need to rush his return, as they were out of contention by the time he could have maybe forced it. Instead he gets extra time with a full offseason to get ready to return and try and get the Panthers back to where we expect them to be.

Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres

77 Games Played, 19 Goals, 55 Assists

The drought is over, the Buffalo Sabres are finally heading back to the playoffs. The longest tenured Sabre, and team captain, Rasmus Dahlin was instrumental in them doing so. 

Before the season, the talk around this Buffalo team was negative. People were treating them like an NBA team, saying they should just blow everything up and trade their best players while they still have value. Dahlin’s response was that he didn’t want to go anywhere, and he was a Buffalonian through and through. Saying he and Tage Thompson (another tenured Sabre) spoke about how they wanted to be there when the team finally turned it around. That they did. The Swedish defenceman had his career high in points and wore the ‘C’ every night with pride. 

This all while Dahlin was dealing with a major issue off the ice, when his fiancee had to undergo a heart transplant, an unimaginable situation for the couple. But they persevered, and Carolina was able to attend a game in March 2026, receiving love and support from the community. 

Instead of quitting on the city (like their last captain), Rasmus Dahlin dug in his heels and never gave up on the city he proudly calls home.

Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

80 Games Played, 53 Goals, 74 Assists

The Avalanche were red hot to begin the season, on pace to challenge the record for the best regular season of all time. While the team slowed down over the second half of the season, MacKinnon never did. Winning the Richard Trophy for the first time in his career with 53 goals. Also finishing top three in scoring, only behind Kucherov and McDavid with 127 points. Leading the Presidents’ Trophy winning Avs, he is the favourite for the Hart Trophy.

Colorado seems hungry and determined this year, and MacKinnon wears that on his sleeve. A unique player with his combination of skill, speed, and get-to-the-net play style. Every night he threatens to take over the game. 

Not much more to say other than what a year for him, and we are witnessing his prime and can’t take it for granted.

Matthew Schaefer, New York Islanders

82 Games Played, 23 Goals, 36 Assists

Unfortunately the Islanders fell out of the playoffs after seeming to be on track for most of the season. But that shouldn’t take away from the historic season had by Matthew Schaefer, who has completely changed the culture in New York, and looks to lead the Isles for years to come. 

We’ve seen some impressive rookie seasons by defencemen in recent history. Lane Hutson last season, and Moritz Seider and Cale Makar earlier in the decade. However, all of those players’ first season came two years after being drafted. Schaefer doesn’t turn 19 until September.

What we just saw was the greatest season by an 18 year old defenceman in the history of the league. He is a heavy favourite to win the Calder Trophy and rightfully so. 23 goals is an insane total, adding on 36 assists and the fact that he averaged 24:44 minutes a night, no rookie impacted the game more than Schaefer. He looks poised for a great career with Norris Trophies in his future (and maybe even a Hart Trophy?), he will begin his trophy room with the Calder this season.

Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils

61 Games Played, 27 Goals, 50 Assists

Even though this article is about the NHL regular season, it’s hard not to mention the Golden Goal scorer Jack Hughes who helped the U.S. Men’s National Team win at the Olympics. 

In addition to his international success, he defined the NHL season as well. When he was on the ice he was incredible, scoring at above a 100 point pace. However, that was his pace, and not his final total. He had 77 points in 61 games, and when he was in the lineup, the Devils were 34-24-3, without him, they were 8-13-0.

In a season where the Penguins and Flyers both finished top three in the Metro with 98 points, who knows what would’ve happened if Hughes could play an 82 game season (something he’s never done). The Devils were thought to be a scary team for years to come when they had their breakout season in 2022-23, and in the three years after, they don’t even have a series win to show for. 

This year it wasn’t even an on ice injury that kept him from playing more, it was a freak accident at a team dinner. New Jersey should hire someone to cut Jack’s steak for him, and maybe they’ll be back in the playoffs next season.

Quinn Hughes, Minnesota Wild

74 Games Played, 7 Goals, 69 Assists

Two brothers make the list, as Quinn Hughes is next up. Beginning the season in Vancouver, the team had hope of making it back to the playoffs after a disastrous 2024-25 campaign. Unfortunately, things were more of the same this year, and it caused their captain to be shipped out of town, and another rebuild to begin. They succeeded at finishing at the bottom of the standings (if that was their goal), and they hold the best odds of getting the number one pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

On the flipside, Quinn was off to Minnesota, who was a good team without him, but with him in the lineup the team became even more dangerous. In 48 games, he had 53 points, 22 coming on the powerplay. Quarterbacked by Hughes, Minnesota’s powerplay was the third best in the league, behind only Dallas and Edmonton. 

The team had a 27-14-7 record with him in the lineup, finishing as the third best team in the Western Conference. Unfortunately for them, they play in the same division as the second and first best teams. It will be a tough path for Minnesota who is seeking their first series win since 2014, but with Quinn Hughes, they have a real shot at making a deep run.

Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

60 Games Played, 27 Goals, 26 Assists

Most of this list is positive, but this player will not be celebrated. Auston Matthews had the worst year of his career in a season where Toronto needed their captain to step up and deliver more than ever. After the departure of Mitch Marner last offseason, the weight on Matthews’ shoulders was heavier than ever, as the expectations for him remained the same, despite losing his long-time playmaking teammate.

These expectations were completely valid, we’re talking about a guy who scored 69 goals two years ago. Sure Marner assisted a lot of goals throughout his career, but he was more than capable of taking over by himself and scoring no matter who he was playing with.

It wasn’t only the worst year of his career because the Leafs failed to make the playoffs, but statistically, it was by far his worst. It was the first time since his rookie season he finished with below a point per game, and it was the first time in his entire career he failed to score at least 30 goals. Sure, he got injured, but he had the lowest shooting percentage of his career at 11.9%. 

Speaking of injuries, some fans believe that he is still ailing from injuries of years past, and it has changed him as a player. Well, he doesn’t have to play the extra 5-10 games of playoff hockey this year so he better rest up and be ready for next season, no excuses. Surely we haven’t seen the last of Auston Matthews in Toronto…

Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

75 Games Played, 44 Goals, 86 Assists

Rounding things off on a positive note, and a player that isn’t celebrated enough. My personal pick for the Hart Trophy, Nikita Kucherov.

When we look back on this era of the NHL decades from now, I hope Kucherov is mentioned in the same breath as McDavid and MacKinnon. Because he is right up there with them, battling for the Art Ross year after year, and if he could get back the games he missed this year, I feel confident he would’ve taken it home for the FOURTH time in his career.

He had more than 40 points than the next highest member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and with key players like Victor Hedman and Brayden Point missing time, one thing remained constant, Kuch was doing his thing. In a year where the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens both had amazing regular seasons, Tampa was with them every step of the way.

I do want to mention Darren Raddysh who had a breakout season recording 22 goals and 70 points in 72 games this year, as he was another driver of the Lightning’s offense (as a defenseman). However I believe a lot of his success has to be credited to playing with Kucherov, who makes everyone around him better.

A whopping 86 assists and a tie for his career high in goals with 44, and it’s business as usual for the superstar. As crazy of a statement as this is, he just might finish his career as the greatest Russian to ever play the sport. He has the Cups, he has the personal hardware, he just has to catch Ovi and Malkin in points, or at least be in the same ballpark. If you aren’t already aware of how special he is, it’s not too late to take notice.