This in, a social media list from fans and pundits around the NHL of their hottest take for the coming 2025-26 NHL season.
A hot take, of course, isn’t a sane prediction. It’s a wild one.
The exercise was kicked off on Twitter X by Edmonton Oilers blogger Shaedon of the Oil Rig and the Tundracast podcast, who asked for the top three or four hot takes from others, and kicked off things with his own:
Oilers blogger Shaedon @Shae_Nuge93
1. McDavid finally shoots again scores 45+ goals.
2. Podkolzin and Mangiapane combine for 65+ points
3. EDM adds a top 6 F (Rust?) + tandem goalie (Brossoit?)
4. They beat FLA in 7 for the cup
Here are some of the hottest takes that flowed in at his request:
Leafs fan nylander4mvp @STYLESINTHE6IXX
1. Leafs Presidents Trophy
2. Matthews 70 goals
Oilers fan AllHustleNoHands @stevezieskidoo
1. The Oilers D clearly establishes itself as top 3 in the league, which leads to
2. Surprisingly strong goalie stats. No one believes them. But
3. No clear upgrade is available, so instead we make a splash for a young rhD.
4. Savoie scores ~50 points and PKs; Howard struggles.
Oilers fan X- Zak @Zak_oil73
1. McDavid, Hyman, Draisaitl all finish with 50+ goals
2. Stu skinner rebounds significantly and is in Vezina conversation
Flames fan Fueling the Fire @fueledbyfire91
Wolf has a down year.
Oilers fan Brock W. Harrison 🇨🇦 @BrockWHarrison
Draisaitl finishes with more points than McDavid.
Flames fan Bravo Flames @teapot_toff
We lose in conference finals against Colorado Avalanche.
Oilers fan Not Just Anyone @NotJustAnyonemc
1. Frederic looks like a completely different player from what we saw in the playoffs, scores 25 goals
2. Evan Bouchard wins the Norris
Oilers fan Madi-Pudding Head🗿 @Madi39
1. Darnell Nurse gets demoted to third pairing duties
2. Ike Howard puts up 25 goals
3. David Tomasek and Noah Philp anchor the bottom 6 into being a top 5 group as a whole putting up 55+ goals as a group
Habs fan Ill Feed It To Ya @JBully17
Montreal Canadiens powerplay is top 5 in the league at the end of the season.
Dallas fan bamboozle @ibamboozIe
1. Sam Steel 20-20-40 in an elevated role (if Dadonov could do it, he can)
2. Robertson gets to 100pts again
Leafs fan @leafsplswin
William Nylander scores 50 goals
Oilers fan nick | howard for calder @2003nicko
Jarventie plays games with Edm this season
Oilers fan Vasily Podkolzin Fan Account @Spencer03_09
1. Noah Philp scores 15+ goals
2. Oilers DONT play the Kings in the first round
Leafs fan 👍🏼 @BurnerFaith
Anthony Stolarz vezina winner
Leafs fan Reese @ReeseBeLeaf
Leafs has the best 3rd line in the NHL with Joshua-Roy-Macelli
Leafs fan T🇨🇦 @tddt_5115
– Nic Roy overtakes Tavares for 2C by the end of the year
Oilers fan crfoilers @crf04oilers
Skinner turns into a true starter under the new goalie coach
Sens fan Chych(en) Run @fastAF_10
1. Sanderson finishes top 5 in Norris voting.
2. Ullmark goalie goal.
3. Cozens gets outscored by Pinto
Sens fan 50 in 07 @_50_in_07_
Stutzle scores 90 points
Oilers fan Oil Can🇨🇦 @Troggle3003
Pod is the new Brown, Philp is the new Pod
Habs fan The HuttDogg 🌭 @Bergerino
Hutson + Demidov become Calder Boys/Best friends (probably get awful matching tattoos)
Oilers fan Calvin Pickard Glazer @MrFergus30
1. Pickard wins the Vezina and puts up a .924 SV% and 45 wins
2. Hyman finishes the year under 40 points
Leafs fan Alex_culer @culer_alex__
Matthews scored 55+ goals without Marner and becomes a better overall player having the puck more
Habs fan Denis Pettigrew @DenisPMtl
Slafkovsky reveals his high potential as power forward leading the NHL new version of Perfect Line
Oilers fan ben_oilers @oilers_mcdrai
1. Drai under 50 goals but over 75 assists
2. team sv% above .910 by the end of the year
Vegas fan End 2 End Hockey @end2end_hockey
1. Marner, Eichel play on different lines, both hit 90+ points.
2. Schmid wins 10+ games as Vegas backup
3. Marner finally produces in game 5,6,7 in the postseason
4. Vegas falls to the Wild in the WCF.
Jets fan @WPGJ0CUPS
1. Kyle Connor signs 7 X 10.5 ( woof)
2. Hellebuyck goes full dumbass for the 4th straight playoffs
3. KC- Scheif- Villardi play most minutes 5-on-5 entire league with a -3 goal differential
4. Jets finish regular season with 96 points and lose in the first round again
Oilers fan BMAX64🎮 @BMAX644
Draisital Scores 60 Goals
Leafs fan pre-50 goal season william @willynylly
Nylander 50/100 season
Leafs fan Kevoisthegoat @kevoisthegoat
Cowan becomes the t6 we need after impressing in his 9 game trial and plays with Tavares and Nylander
Oilers fan Resplendent Beetle @rangerbob94
1. Filip Gustavsson is the goalie add.
2. First round ouster.
Flames fan Scottos @Scottos_
1. Calgary makes the playoffs in a divisional spot
2. Seven 20 goal scorers
Habs fan Demidovsky @HabsRSus
Laine & Caufield 40+ Tucks
Oilers fan Bendro @Bouchslapper
1. Both skinner and Pickard won’t be on the oilers come playoffs
Oilers fan Connor Cairo @connorccairo
Ike Howard wins the Calder after a neck and neck battle with Demidov
Habs fan ඞ @MATHESONOUT
1) Demidov unanimous calder winner
2) Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson both fall off hard compared to last year
3) Kirby Dach plays his last game for the habs pre trade deadline
Oilers fan themanthesmyththelegend @mansmythlegend
1. Stuart Skinner gets traded midseason
2. Stuart Skinner gets waived midseason
3. Stuart Skinner’s contract gets terminated midseason
4. Stuart Skinner gets sent down midseason
Habs fan Alex 🇨🇦 @AbsCoverage
1. Newhook hits 50+ pts
2. Dach stays healthy
Oilers fan Adrian “Ferns” Fernando @Browndalorian
1. McDavid and Draisaitl score 50+
2. Cup
3. Stu Skinner above .910 all year
Canucks fan MajorMoose 🫎 @MajorMoose_
1. Pettersson bounces back and is a 90 point player and elite defensively
2. Aatu Raty breaks out as a legit 3C
3. Thatcher Demko stays healthy
Sensy Jones Burner @SensyJones
1. Brady Tkachuk scores 40+ goals
2. Cozens doesn’t hit 55 points
3. Sens finish in the 2nd WC spot
4. They beat FLA in 5 in the first round and go all the way to cup finals and lose in six to the oilers.
Wild fan jordyn @jordynbtw
1. Boldy hits 40 goals
2. Buium struggles and plays majority season in AHL
3. Brodin gets traded at the deadline
4. Gustavsson finishes top 5 in Vezina voting
bobisawesome @zach_20007
By the trade deadline Henrique and janmark are gone and Phillip and jarventie take their spots.
Oilerfs fan 🪐. @PlayoffMcDrai
1. Not a hot take on my team but Florida won’t make the cup finals next year
2. Frederic will prove a lot of the haters wrong next season and show he’s worth his contract
Habs fan Francesco Iaderosa @FrancescoIader1
Hutson takes a major friendly deal
Panthers fan 🏆🏆 – northern panthers fan @northerncatsfan
1. Samoskevich scores 35 goals
2. Verhaeghe returns to 2022-23 form and puts up solid offensive numbers and makes Team Canada
3. Seth Jones scores 20 (lol)
4. Florida pulls off the 3peat (not necessarily a hot take practically speaking but statistically it is)
OIlers fan Brian Sylvester @FabulousBS
1. McDavid gets injured, Oilers claim last WC in Central Division.
2. Howard gets sent to Bako after 20 games
3. Bouchard gets 85+ pts, enters Norris conversation
4. Oilers add new goalie in January
Oilers fan kevybet @kevybet
1. Bouchard earns his pay and silences any remaining doubters
2. McDavid scores 50+ goals and out scores his buddy Leon
3. Stu Skinner is just fine and has a good year
4. Savoie gets 50+ points
5. BUT Oilers get bounced in 1st rd
Oilers fan SKinTheWest🇺🇦 @KropiniskiBoys2
Florida gets bounced in the first round due to injuries.
Oilers fan Alex @AlClemBee
Draisitl stays fully healthy and pots 60+
Oilers fan Brad Lauder @OILfanincowtown
1. Skinner won’t be the starter after American Thanksgiving
2. One of the 2 Rookies (Savoie/Howard) end up in the minors for a long stretch
3. Oilers finally start on time this year
4. Bowman makes a massive trade at some point this season for a legit starting goalie
My take
And my own hot takes?
* Darnell Nurse will be the story of the 2026 playoffs — but in a good way this time
* The Oilers will trade for Evander Kane at the deadline.
* Noah Philp will be the surprise player of the year, like Podkolzin was last season.
At the Cult of Hockey
‘The dream is to play in the NHL’: Top Russian forward makes clear his Edmonton Oilers plans
Cult of Hockey prospect series 2025
Forwards: Maxim Berezkin (3rd), William Nicholl (8th), Tommy Lafreniere (14th). David Lewandowski (15th)
Dmen: Paul Fischer (16th), Nikita Yevseyev (18th), Asher Barnett (19th)
Goalies: Nathaniel Day (17th), Eemil Vinni (20th)