Around this time of the year, we see NHL team and prospect rankings come out. But most of the time, they’re separate.
In this post, we’ll be graphing each NHL team based on how good their current team is and how good their team might look five years down the line.
Please note that all of these rankings were compiled by me, so you might disagree with some of them. Also, even if a team is projected to finish with a high draft pick in 2027, their future ranking won’t reflect that.
Note: This post was inspired by Mike Bartner’s YouTube video on the same topic.
In their own way, the top-left, top-right, and bottom-right corners are all desirable ones.
Of course, everyone wants to have a good roster now that should stay that way for a while, but teams like the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers are modern-day Stanley Cup contenders. Meanwhile, the San Jose Sharks, even if they still have work to do, have a strong foundation.
Though each corner is labeled, as well as the center, I think each team can be categorized. In the next section, you’ll find 13 different groups. Each team will be analyzed.
Starting things off in the top-left corner are the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks. They’re similar in that their foundations are strong, but there are question marks.
Let’s start with the Ducks. I’m a big fan of their young core and some of the players they have in the system, so they’re the No. 5-ranked team for the future.
However, I do have some concerns with their contracts. Leo Carlsson’s $18 million cap hit for the next five years is a deal he will probably never live up to (it’s a higher percentage of the cap than Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid got on their first deals). The contract could have an impact on what Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke sign for, making it harder to build a complete team.
With that said, the Ducks’ prospect pool is relatively strong, and they have plenty of long-term building blocks. They could be a future contender if they do the right things from here on out.
Next up are the Sharks, and they’re in a similar position. Macklin Celebrini is a great player, but at an average cap hit of $18.8 million, it could be tricky to build a team around him once the team’s other stars get paid.
The Sharks’ forward group is better than the Ducks’, but the defense is a concern. I’m a bit lower on Keaton Verhoeff than consensus, and Sam Dickinson struggled defensively last season. He’s very young, but it’s worth noting. Overall, San Jose still needs help on the back end, and goalie Yaroslav Askarov will need to break out soon.
Both the Ducks and the Sharks are set up to be future contenders, but seeing as there’s work to be done, they may never get there.
I put the Ottawa Senators and Utah Mammoth in a “long-term good team” category. They need to prove themselves as contenders, but their core is young, and they made the playoffs in 2025-26.