It’s been an extremely slow—and some would even say painful—offseason for most NHL fans. With little to no news to fill social media feeds, many teams have hit the snooze button when it comes to making moves. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to get excited about. Training camp is just around the corner, followed by preseason games, and before we know it, the NHL season kicks off on Oct. 7.
Related: NHL Contenders vs. Pretenders: 2025-26 Edition
In the meantime, there’s no better time than now to pick a bandwagon team to follow. Even if you already have a favorite, why not add another? Think of it as your “alter ego” team—your hype team that comes out when your favorite hits a skid.
Today, we look to find the perfect 2025-26 NHL bandwagon team for all NHL fans to follow as the NHL season approaches and excitement builds.
Step One: Eliminate 2025 Playoff Teams
Step one is easy: eliminating teams that were in the playoffs last year. No, it wouldn’t be fair for fans to follow the Panthers, who could three-peat after winning the previous two Stanley Cups. That just wouldn’t be fun, would it?
The same applies for the Oilers, Connor McDavid is really, really good, but what’s the fun in following him when you know what he’ll do (or at the very least what he’s capable of doing)? There needs to be some spice for goodness’ sake. Throw in the Golden Knights with newly acquired Mitch Marner; they don’t count either.
- Winnipeg Jets
- Washington Capitals
- Vegas Golden Knights
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Dallas Stars
- Los Angeles Kings
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Colorado Avalanche
- Edmonton Oilers
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Florida Panthers
- Ottawa Senators
- Minnesota Wild
- St. Louis Blues
- New Jersey Devils
- Montreal Canadiens
Yes, it does seem a little unfair to include the Canadiens and Senators, two teams in the Atlantic Division who finally broke through with their young cores, but rules are rules.
At the end of the day, this is supposed to be an up-and-coming team, not someone who is in the playoffs every year. Now, that’s step one, with plenty more on the way to find the 2025-26 NHL bandwagon team.
Step Two: Focus On Teams Trying to Contend
Step two is where things can get tricky: eliminating teams that won’t be contending. Who wants to root for a team and hop on the bandwagon train if they aren’t even trying to compete?
I like what the Sharks did this offseason; they are clearly trying to mesh both the young guns in Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini, and Yaroslav Askarov with the veterans, Jeff Skinner, Dmitri Orlov and yes, Ryan Reaves. They are still a couple of years from sniffing the playoffs, but they will be a fun team to follow in the near future.
The same applies to the Penguins. It’s a blast to follow and watch Sidney Crosby, but at this point in his career in Pittsburgh, the playoffs are a long shot, unfortunately.
- San Jose Sharks
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Nashville Predators
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Buffalo Sabres
- Seattle Kraken
Same with the rest of the teams (especially the Sabres, sorry Buffalo fans), who won’t be in the mix of things. Maybe in the near future, but for now, these seven teams are not your 2025-26 NHL bandwagon to follow.
Step Three: Set Aside Recent Stanley Cups
The Red Wings and Ducks may be a surprise here as they’ve both been in the mix of things for a while now, but we’re going to eliminate teams that have won a Stanley Cup this century. The Ducks took home the Stanley Cup in 2007, and the Red Wings did so in 2002 and 2008.
Both teams should be exciting to watch; however, with the Red Wings having a new tandem in net with former Duck John Gibson and the Ducks with their young, talented core led by Leo Carlsson and company.
- Detroit Red Wings
- Anaheim Ducks
- Boston Bruins
The Bruins are an obvious candidate to eliminate here, too. While they missed the playoffs this past season and watched Brad Marchand win his second Stanley Cup with the Panthers, they’ve had a ton of success in the past century.
They most recently won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and made it to the Final in 2019, but lost to the Blues. All Boston teams have had far too much success to hop on their bandwagon and root for them.
Step Four: No Familiar Faces in April
This is where we really start narrowing the teams down. We can’t hop on a bandwagon if the team has been in the mix of things in April, May and even June in recent seasons, that’s just not fun.
The Islanders, who recently drafted Matthew Schaefer first overall this past summer after winning the NHL Draft Lottery, might be a surprise here, but they’ve made the playoffs five times in the past seven seasons.
General manager Mathieu Darche had a terrific offseason. The future on Long Island is bright, but they aren’t going to be the bandwagon team to follow this season.
- New York Islanders
- New York Rangers
- Vancouver Canucks
The same applies to the Rangers and Canucks. Just two seasons ago, the Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy but missed action beyond April, missing the playoffs this past season.
The Canucks went through a handful of internal conflict with J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson this past season, which saw Miller get dealt to the Rangers. With a new head coach, Adam Foote, the hope is there will be less drama and more wins in Vancouver, but that’s not for certain, so we’re not hopping on the Canucks hype train quite yet.
Step Five: Playing the Stars
Now we narrow it down even further, really dissecting the teams that remain. Now we take a look at the stars on the remaining teams. Is there a player to rally around and get behind? Yes, all teams have that kind of player; some may have a more prevalent star.
The Flames are led by their young goalie Dustin Wolf. The 24-year-old stole the show numerous times last season and has the potential to be the Flames’ backbone in net for years to come.
They also have Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar, and Nazem Kadri, but not a true superstar. When they traded Matthew Tkachuk for Jonathan Huberdeau and Weegar, they hoped they would turn into superstars, but that hasn’t panned out exactly like that.
They’ll be a fun team to watch this season with a good mix of youth and veterans, but won’t be our 2025-26 NHL bandwagon team to follow.
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Calgary Flames
The Blue Jackets were an entertaining team to follow last season, especially as the season came to an end and they missed out on the playoffs by just two points. Led by defenseman Zach Werenski, it was a toss-up between the Blue Jackets and the ultimate 2025-26 NHL bandwagon team to follow.
With Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, and so much more, they are an up-and-coming team that has a bright future, especially with GM Don Waddell at the helm of things, but won’t be the bandwagon team to follow in 2025-26.
Step Six: Who’s the 2025-26 Bandwagon Team?
Now, the answer you’ve been waiting for, the team to hop on the bandwagon for the 2025-26 NHL season is the Utah Mammoth. The newest NHL team has made moves, such as acquiring J.J. Peterka, and has an influx of youth in Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley, and their captain, Clayton Keller.
The Mammoth missed out on the playoffs last season by seven points and will have every chance to be in the mix once again with a healthy defense and an incredibly talented top-nine.
The 2025-26 NHL season kicks off in under 50 days, and if you don’t have a team already, you might want to hop on the Mammoth bandwagon train, as they’ll be one of the most exciting teams to follow throughout the 2025-26 season.
