Every Western Conference Team’s Biggest Question Mark in 2026-27

With the busiest stages of the offseason now behind us, most NHL rosters have their core in place, and we can begin to project most of the lineups. We’ve already looked at the biggest question marks heading into the season for the Eastern Conference, so we’ll continue the series with the Western Conference.

Anaheim Ducks

Biggest Question: Can they make the playoffs with this group of defensemen?

Anaheim Ducks general manager (GM) Pat Verbeek failed this offseason miserably. Leo Carlsson’s agent wanted to push negotiations into the summer, as was revealed on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. However, the offer sheet extended by the Philadelphia Flyers ruined that possibility as well as many aspects of the present and future.

Cutter Gauthier is still unsigned, and the $9 million in cap space won’t be enough to get him locked up. They were also vulnerable after matching the Carlsson offer sheet, which messed up their negotiations with Pavel Mintyukov. Mintyukov reportedly had interest from several teams who could have extended offer sheets, and forced the Ducks to overpay the young defenseman to get a deal done. He signed a five-year deal with an annual average value (AAV) of $7.2 million.

Several teams have approached Mintyukov’s agent @HockeyAgent1 about an offer sheet, and it seems likely at least one is formally offered today.

Mintyukov would then still need to decide if he wants to sign it.

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 3, 2026

They now have no cap space, with Drew Helleson, Nick Jensen, and Ian Moore on their right-side defense. That is one of the weakest groups in the NHL. They do have top-end talent on the left side with Jackson LaCombe, and while Mintyukov is overpaid, I like his upside.

The team will feel the loss of John Carlson and Jacob Trouba, and I’m curious to see if the roster is deep enough to make the playoffs after a fantastic 2025-26 season.

Calgary Flames

Biggest Question: Which young player can break out and emerge as a future star?

The Calgary Flames are in the midst of a rebuild and aren’t expected to come close to the playoffs this season, but they do have a bunch of pieces I’m excited about.

Last season wasn’t great for Dustin Wolf, but I’m still a fan. His 2024-25 campaign gave credit to the two outstanding seasons he had in the American Hockey League in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Zayne Parekh has high upside, and I’m hoping that if he gets the opportunity to play on the top power-play unit and play the full 84-game schedule, that upside will shine through. GM Craig Conroy’s trade for Simon Nemec was also a good move, adding another young defenseman with high upside.

In the forward corps, big steps from Matt Coronato, Matvei Gridin and Samuel Honzek are needed. The Flames were the lowest-scoring team in the NHL last season, and with no real studs in the lineup, someone has to step up. If I had to pick a breakout player, it would be Parekh. Maybe it’s a bit too early for him to truly break out, but I love his skating and raw skill.

Chicago Blackhawks

Biggest Question: How many young players actually take strides?

Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson made some moves to help the team, adding Bowen Byram via trade and signing Patrick Kane, but the results will come down to the young talent on the roster.

Frank Nazar had a great season in 2025-26 but began to taper off as injuries disrupted his campaign. Oliver Moore showed tons of promise, Nick Lardis produced in limited ice time, and we had our first look at Anton Frondell and Sacha Boisvert. So many talented young players, and that’s just the forward group. I haven’t even mentioned Roman Kantserov, who the organization is incredibly high on, and could see some time on Connor Bedard’s wing this season.

Kyle Davidson says he’ll continue to assess what’s out there, but he believes Roman Kantserov is the type of player who can be a fit to play with Connor Bedard. Davidson said maybe there would be more excitement for Kantserov if he was acquired through trade than signed.

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) June 24, 2026

On top of these young forwards, the most important prospect in the Blackhawks system, defenseman Artyom Levshunov, needs to take a noticeable step forward this season. He showed flashes but really struggled defensively at the NHL level.

Levshunov and Frondell are the most important players for the Blackhawks. With both players having so much upside and both playing premium positions, they’ll have the biggest impact on the ceiling of the roster.

Colorado Avalanche

Biggest Question: Can Martin Necas turn it on when it matters?

I was going to feature Cale Makar‘s new contract as the biggest question facing the Avalanche, but I decided to focus on what will happen on the ice this season instead, and the next option was whether Martin Necas can elevate his game when it matters.

The regular season wasn’t a problem for Necas last season, posting career highs in all categories with 38 goals and 62 assists in 78 games. However, his production fell off a cliff against both the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights in the playoffs, posting just four assists through nine games.

The Minnesota Wild tried to win a scoring match against the Avs, which wasn’t smart, and he thrived in that second-round series. It’s clear that when the hockey gets tighter, Necas has a hard time finding ways to be productive. That was even more evident during Round 1 of the 2025 Playoffs when the Avalanche lost in seven games to the Dallas Stars, and he posted just one goal and four assists.

This isn’t something we’ll find out during the regular season, but I don’t think the team has a ton of question marks when it comes to regular-season hockey.

Dallas Stars

Biggest Question: Can they stay healthy?

The Dallas Stars’ downfall last season was injuries to their top players. Heading into the playoffs, Mikko Rantanen, Miro Heiskanen, and Roope Hintz were all either dealing with injuries or, in Hintz’s case, didn’t play at all.

They drew the Wild in the first round, which was always going to be a tough matchup, but with the injuries, it was impossible, and they lost in six games. The top of the Central Division doesn’t look like it’s getting any worse, and I think last season was just a string of unfortunate events for the Stars.

Edmonton Oilers

Biggest Question: Can an Oiler goalie actually stop a puck?

The Edmonton Oilers hired a bottom-five general manager, Stan Bowman, two years ago, and he’s made his presence felt. The Tristan Jarry deal was bad the second it was made, and while I like the Devon Levi bet, he is still a goalie who hasn’t shown much recently.

I considered questioning new head coach Mike Babcock’s impact, but I think these two go hand-in-hand. The Oilers were structurally so bad last season that the roster didn’t give their goaltending any support, even if their goalies played poorly.

If Babcock’s system leads to improvement, it should remedy a bit of the issue, but I’m still not comfortable with their tandem heading into the season.

Los Angeles Kings

Biggest Question: Can they score enough?

The Kings snuck into the playoffs last year in a Western Conference with a wild-card race full of teams that weren’t good enough. They were fourth-worst in goals scored last season and had a minus-22 goal differential, the worst by any playoff team in the last two seasons.

I don’t love the team overall, but their boring brand of hockey likely won’t get them back into the playoffs. They’ll have a full season of Artemi Panarin, and I liked the Mats Zuccarello addition – both will help them offensively – but they’ll need strides from Quinton Byfield to improve their goals for.

Minnesota Wild

Biggest Question: Do they have enough at center?

The biggest concern I had about the Wild heading into the playoffs was their center depth. I still have those concerns. A first- and second-line center combination of Joel Eriksson Ek and Ryan Hartman simply isn’t good enough.

Wild GM Bill Guerin has yet to address the position. He has been heavily linked to Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin (who has requested out of Detroit). If Guerin can pull off that deal, I would feel much better about the roster, but that hasn’t happened yet. I know Wild fans like Danila Yurov, but he isn’t ready to take on a large role and fill the gap in the Wild’s lineup.

Guerin still has work to do before I consider this roster an upper-echelon Cup contender. He has just $1.15 million in cap space right now, but maybe we’ll see a Filip Gustavsson trade before the deadline to open up some options.

Nashville Predators

Biggest Question: How much do the veterans have left?

Former GM Barry Trotz filled his Nashville Predators team with veterans who were once fantastic players, and it has gone extremely poorly. New GM Chris MacFarland has done a good job infusing some youth into the roster with a savvy trade to pick up Mavrik Borque from the Stars and Jack Drury from the Avalanche.

I understand Drury isn’t necessarily young at 26 years old, but on a roster full of players in their mid 30s, he provides a good middle ground, especially as a good third-line center.

Although I like what MacFarland has done in his first offseason with the team, 2026-27 will come down to whether he can get a good season out of Steven Stamkos, who quietly scored 42 goals last season, Ryan O’Reilly, Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg. If they can squeeze one more good season out of those veteran stars, maybe the Preds can hang around in the hunt for a wild-card berth.

San Jose Sharks

Biggest Question: Do they have enough on the blue line?

The San Jose Sharks’ upside is undeniable, but my real questions are with their blue-line acquisitions. Sharks GM Mike Grier decided to upgrade his blue line this offseason, but I’m not a fan of the direction he went in. Signing Trouba to an expensive deal, worth $8.25 million annually for four years, wasn’t a good move, and giving up assets for Darnell Nurse was even worse.

I look at the projected top pairing of Trouba and Nurse, and it’s not good enough to make them a real contender. Maybe Sam Dickinson will take some strides to help raise the team’s ceiling and floor, but he looked out of place in the NHL at times last season. The Michael Kesselring trade was a nice move for Grier, but it wasn’t enough to address the blue line.

Seattle Kraken

Biggest Question: Can you be relevant?

I feel bad for Seattle Kraken fans, but the reality is the team has been one of the most irrelevant franchises since they beat the Avalanche in Round 1 of the 2023 Playoffs. All I want from Seattle is a compelling storyline to get us talking about them this season.

The forward corps doesn’t have a real standout player, and they’re already looking to move Shane Wright four years after drafting him fourth overall. The group of defensemen they have is fine, and I am a Vince Dunn fan, but again, nothing jumps off the page.

I understand they’re trying to make moves. This offseason, they were unfortunately rejected by Jason Robertson after offering him an eight-year deal with an AAV of $15 million, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. They needed someone like Robertson, and I hope they’re in on the Kirill Marchenko market because he’s an exciting forward who’s available right now and would make for a good storyline.

St. Louis Blues

Biggest Question: How will the new roster gel?

The St. Louis Blues had a lot of turnover this offseason, bringing in Mason McTavish, Connor McMichael, Jonatan Berggren, Ross Johnston, and Brandon Carlo. They also lost long-time Blue Jordan Kyrou in a trade with the Washington Capitals, where McMichael was part of the return.

I like the look of the Blues’ retool, infusing their roster with prospects Jimmy Snuggerud, Jake Neighbours and Dalibor Dvorsky, as well as trading for more promising young players. The biggest question mark is how long it takes for their roster to mesh. A slow start isn’t the end of the world, but in a competitive Western Conference, the Blues can’t afford to throw points away.

I’m also excited to see more from Joel Hofer in goal after Jordan Binnington had yet another poor season in St. Louis. There is a ton of youth and tons of turnover for Blues fans to be excited about heading into this season.

Utah Mammoth

Biggest Question: Do the offseason additions push them into a new tier?

The Utah Mammoth were an exciting team last season, making the playoffs for the first time since moving to Utah. They put up a good fight against the Golden Knights, but ultimately fell in six games to the eventual finalists.

They already had a lot of speed on the roster, but I liked their acquisitions who will provide something a little different this season. Vincent Trocheck and Anders Lee can provide offense and skills in different aspects of the game.

I am also a big fan of picking up goaltender Sebastian Cossa from the Red Wings to give their starter, Karel Vejmelka, some support. Vejmelka was fantastic last year, but a 64-game season isn’t sustainable. Cossa isn’t a solidified backup, but I like the bet on him. If he can get to that level, giving Vejmelka a true backup will hopefully make him stronger late in the season and into the playoffs.

With these additions, I’m curious to see if the Mammoth can fight for a top-three spot in the Central, given how dominant the top three were last season.

Vancouver Canucks

Biggest Question: How does the Elias Pettersson situation play out?

I’m not unearthing anything new here, but sometimes the obvious choice is the right choice, and in this instance, Elias Pettersson is still the biggest question mark hounding the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks are tanking, and most fans will rightly be focused on the young talent in the lineup once the season starts.

To me, the tone around Pettersson has been surprising, especially after the front office changed hands. I’m not sure why, but I thought maybe we’d see management take a softer stance, but new GM Ryan Johnson and the Sedins have been, rightly, hammering home the fact that he has to prepare better.

Pretty direct stance from #Canucks CO-POHO Henrik Sedin on forward Elias Pettersson, who makes $11.6 million a season.”It’s up to him now, we’re all here, we’ve all been here to help him, but in the end, this is a professional sport.”#100PercentCanucks @JShannonhl @LandonFerraro pic.twitter.com/W08tv1GujC

— Tyson Fedor (@TysonFedorTV) May 22, 2026

I’m not getting the impression that a new front office makes Pettersson’s chances of staying in Vancouver much stronger. Of course, moving him is complicated by his dip in play and off-ice issues, paired with the $11.6 million cap hit, which really tanks his value.

Although there is talent there and some teams might want to take a chance on him, I don’t think a team is willing to take on his full cap hit. If the season goes poorly again, I wonder if the Canucks will have to make a trade from a terrible position, or if they will hold onto him until he finds his game again.

Vegas Golden Knights

Biggest Question: Can anybody stop a puck?

This is pretty much identical to the Oilers question, but is anyone going to give the Golden Knights a save this season? Carter Hart’s reputation throughout the playoffs was that he just had to make one more save than the goalie at the other end, but that came crashing down in the Cup final. When it got really bad, the organization, along with former head coach John Tortorella, didn’t trust Adin Hill enough to give him even a minute in the crease.

They’re not going to address the position, and it seems like they will run back the same tandem unless they can move Hill’s $6.25 million contract that only expires after the 2030-31 season. Goaltending sunk them when it mattered most last season, and I don’t see any reason why it won’t happen again.

Winnipeg Jets

Biggest Question: Does Connor Hellebuyck actually get traded?

In my Eastern Conference article, my Red Wings section was really short because the trajectory of their season depends on what they can get in a trade for Larkin. While that isn’t as true for the Winnipeg Jets with Connor Hellebuyck, there is a similarity between the two.

If Hellebuyck is moved for futures, we’ll be on prospect watch in Winnipeg this season. If they get real roster players in return, we’ll be talking about whether Mark Scheifele can get close to the 103-point season he posted in 2025-26.

The difference between Detroit and the Jets is that Winnipeg will have a few young players in the lineup with question marks around them. Does Viggo Björck make the team, and if so, how does he adapt to the NHL? Does Cole Perfetti finally take a big jump? Will Brad Lambert stick around as a full-time NHLer? Can Isak Rosén be a player for the Jets?

So while there are things to watch regardless of a Hellebuyck trade, I think the direction of not only the season, but the franchise will hinge on the return.

Two games will kick off the NHL’s 2026-27 regular season, both in the Western Conference with the Canucks visiting the Oilers and the Blackhawks visiting the Golden Knights. Both games are on Sept. 29.