Behind the scenes at the NHL’s incredible dunk tank, golf events
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Hockey fans have seen Sidney Crosby raise the Stanley Cup, win Olympic gold and receive MVP honors. They had never, until this week, seen him emerge saturated and giggling after tumbling into a water-filled tank on a Florida beach.
For the past two seasons, the NHL has incorporated pre-taped outdoor events into its annual All-Star skills competition, held the night before the All-Star Game. In 2022, players shot pucks on the Las Vegas Strip and in the iconic fountains at The Bellagio casino.
With the Florida Panthers hosting the 2023 All-Star Game, the NHL tailored its events to the Sunshine State: One event that combined hockey with golf, and another that had the Pittsburgh Penguins captain and five other stars falling into five feet of water when their opponents shot a puck off an NHL logo target.
“I’m still soaked from it,” Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar said, hours after he dropped into the Enterprise NHL Splash Shot tank Thursday. “But it was a lot of fun. I think the NHL’s doing a great job of trying to come up with new games to bring fans in.”
These pre-taped events have come to define both the skills competition and the reinvigorated spirit of the annual event. It wasn’t too long ago that players begrudgingly attended NHL All-Star Weekend and were so wary of being put in awkward situations that the league stopped doing its trick shot competition for a few seasons.
How times have changed. Now, Crosby is lobbying the league to let him compete in a dunk tank event and recruiting his friend Nathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche to be his partner.
“I just thought it would be cool,” Crosby told ESPN. “We’re in Florida. We’re at the beach. It was Nate and the guys. It was something different that we hadn’t done before.”
Both the hockey golf and dunk tank events were challenging undertakings, from concept to execution, from mechanics to the unpredictability of the environment.
“We knew coming to Florida that it’s a risk,” NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer said. “Doing an event like this, which you can imagine is not cheap. If we’re in a rainy week, this is a disaster. But it’s worth the risk.”
Here’s how the NHL pulled off events that had players shooting pucks at colorful surfboards at the beach and over a water hazard at a country club. It wasn’t without its challenges, but it had plenty of triumphs.
Wednesday: Hockey meets golf
Police vehicles lined the traffic circle in front of Plantation Preserve Golf Course and Club on Wednesday, the first signifier that something out of the ordinary was happening at the public golf facility.
The second signifier was seeing four NHL players dressed for golf, wearing hockey gloves and using their sticks to shoot pucks at the grassy fairway in front them.
The setup of the Chipotle NHL Pitch ‘n’ Puck had four players — Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson, Arizona Coyotes center Clayton Keller, Columbus Blue Jackets winger Johnny Gaudreau and Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki — competing to see who could sink their putt first on a par-4 course.
The hockey twist: The players launched pucks with their sticks from patches of movable synthetic ice — something that protected the course and gave the players a better chance of lifting their shots. Once they cleared a water hazard and reached the putting green, they then used their sticks to knock a golf ball into the hole.
To protect the grass, the NHL put a large patch of turf where the unorthodox putting happened. The NHL originally looked at a synthetic ice surface that covered the area around the hole. “But every time [the puck] would hit, it just kept rolling, and it sucked,” Mayer said. “We built a wall and it would just bounce off the wall, too.”
It was 140 yards from the tee to the pin, with a large water hazard lingering 81 yards away. Each player had one “mulligan” to use. Assisting them with expert advice was Corey Conners, a Canadian golfer on the PGA Tour, who grew up playing hockey.
“I’d much rather hit a golf ball. The puck’s hard to get a distance on,” Conners said. “It’s tough. You have to manage the trajectory out here. It’s landing on grass. There are some funny bounces with the puck. They had some spin on it — it was curving sideways when it hit the grass.”
The players had varying degrees of golf experience. Robertson “had basically never picked up a golf club before,” according to Mayer. Still, he was the star of the warm-up round, as he nearly landed a puck all the way to the putting green from the tee box and skipped another one along the water like a pebble.
Suzuki, meanwhile, is an avid golfer. His first question when arriving for the event: Could he play a round after hockey golf was over?
He did, with Conners.
“We ended up playing five holes. It was an unreal afternoon,” Suzuki said. “Just to watch him play is special. I’ve never been that close to a PGA pro.”
Suzuki reported that Conners shot two under par while he was around two over par.
Mayer said he wished more players could have taken their swings in the golf event, but a combination of factors limited the field. There was the need to “spread the wealth,” considering that there are seven skills events in total. But the biggest factor was that the golf competition had to be held Wednesday, with only a handful of NHL players already in town ahead of Friday’s skills competition night.
Last season marked the first time the NHL decided to hold pre-taped skills competition events outside of the arena hosting the All-Star Game. It was a decision inspired by Las Vegas and the chance to create some events in the spirit of Sin City. The NHL set up a giant rack of playing cards set up on The Strip for Hockey Blackjack — players shot pucks at the cards in an effort to make 21. Across the sidewalk and in the middle of a manmade lake, the NHL also held a shooting accuracy competition in the fountains of The Bellagio casino.
The success of those events sparked a new All-Star Game tradition: Creating events that are themed to the All-Star Weekend’s host city.
“The first thing we did, and we’ll probably do it now to the end of time, is make the list of everything in the area that it’s known for,” Mayer said. “Golf is so prevalent here. We’re never shy to mix in another sport [with hockey], and our guys love to play golf, so why not?”
To design the event, Mayer needed some test subjects. He once again turned to the NHL Department of Player Safety, which helps craft and assess the annual skills competition events.
“George Parros was the key to this,” Mayer said of the NHL’s senior vice president of player safety. “He lives on a golf course. He would constantly go out and test different distances.”
Parros was impressed with how the players handled the event. “A legitimate birdie is great on any day, let alone one with two pucks and a golf ball. Hats off to them,” he said.
To further the testing, the NHL had former Florida Panthers players Shawn Thornton and Keith Yandle play every distance, shot and angle in order to figure out what worked best. The NHL filmed their session, and determined what it felt was the ideal distance to the hole and to the water.
“We wanted them to lay up. We didn’t want them to go for it in one [stroke],” Mayer said.
The four players took golf carts to the course, driving through a collection of Florida Panthers season-ticket holders and premium box owners. After five practice swings, they began lining up to take their first shots at the puck — rather than black rubber, it was painted white to better show up on the course.
As a drone filming the event buzzed overhead, Suzuki’s shot caught a great roll after hitting the grass. He waved to the crowd with this glove. Keller’s shot was flat but had good distance, Robertson’s shot was flat and did not and Gaudreau’s long drive had great backspin to set up his approach shot.
The four artificial ice surfaces were transported down the fairway. Now came the part Mayer was most looking forward to seeing: Sending the pucks across the river.
“If I’m being honest, we wanted them to hit it into the water,” he said. “And they didn’t. That kind of blew me away, that they all got it on the green.”
All four hockey golfers safely cleared the water, with Gaudreau coming the closest to missing. Suzuki’s low shot had a friendly bounce to land near the hole. Someone in the crowd shouted “Boo-ya!” as it settled.
“It was harder than it looked,” Suzuki said. “The second shot was kind of scary: Into the wind a little bit, with the water. You really didn’t know how to touch it in there.”
The players walked over to the green. Their pucks were replaced with golf balls. Some leaned down to measure the distance to the hole with their hockey sticks.
Robertson missed, took his mulligan and missed wider. Gaudreau missed, took his mulligan and came close to the hole. Keller’s first shot lipped out, and he missed wide after taking his mulligan. That left Suzuki with a chance to birdie the hole and win.
The crowd was hushed. He stepped to his ball, around 12 feet away from the hole. He knocked the ball in with his stick and casually waved to the crowd.
“It was weird, trying to get the technique down,” Suzuki said. “I honestly thought my putt was too far to the left and then it broke in. I knew I had the mulligan in my back pocket, so that helped.”
Conners was impressed. “It was a pretty unique challenge. It looked very, very difficult but these guys are All-Stars,” he said. “They made it look really easy. Myself, I would have had a hard time getting the puck over the water. I thought there was going to be some reloads out there, but the guys were awesome.”
After the celebration, Suzuki was informed that he was the winner of a year’s supply of Chipotle, the sponsor of the event.
“It’s a huge bonus. Big bowl guy. Steak and chicken,” he told ESPN’s John Buccigross after the event.
Later, Suzuki admitted he might have to give his prize away. “We don’t have it in Montreal. Maybe I can give it to my brother,” he said. “It was a really fun event. It’s going to be a hit for sure.”
Thursday: The dunk tank
Sidney Crosby sat with his legs dangling into five feet of water and a nervous grin on his face. Mikko Rantanen shot a puck that clanged off the large NHL logo. Crosby’s seat collapsed. The Pittsburgh Penguins captain raised his arms as he submerged into the dunk tank’s water. He returned to the surface with a hearty laugh, the black baseball hat he was wearing temporarily adrift.
“I haven’t ever been in a dunk tank. I wouldn’t say I was happy about it,” Crosby said. “But Rantanen went 3-for-3 and I was like, ‘OK, this is happening.'”
Crosby asked for this. Mayer said the Penguins star heard about the dunk tank event, called NHL Discover Splash Shot, from an NHL marketing call. He petitioned the league to be part of it, a proposal they quickly accepted.
“He wanted to find someone to do this with. He’s the one who made the phone calls,” Mayer said.
Crosby partnered with his friend and fellow Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.
The NHL figured it could find chemistry and camaraderie in the event by having teammates competing as duos. For example, Toronto Maple Leafs stars Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner were set to compete together before Matthews was forced out of All-Star Weekend with an injury.
MacKinnon’s teammates Makar and Rantanen formed a team, as did New York Rangers teammates Adam Fox, a defenseman, and Igor Shesterkin, a goaltender.
Shesterkin’s involvement was a surprise, since goalies are rarely involved in events that primarily focus on skaters. When the NHL discussed the event with the Rangers, the team offered up Shesterkin as a possibility to team with Fox. “They said he wanted to do it,” Mayer said of Shesterkin, who wielded his goalie stick in the competition.
Rounding out the field of four were a pair of brothers: Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk, the hometown pick from the Florida Panthers fans that made up part of the estimated 1,200 fans in attendance.
As one might expect, the atmosphere at the beach was more boisterous than it was at the golf event. A group of New York Islanders fans chanted “let’s go Islanders!” at the Rangers players; Florida fans drowned that out with “let’s go Panthers!” before one solitary Ottawa fan chanted “Go Sens Go,” which drew laughter from the other fans in attendance. It was that kind of afternoon.
The dunk tank event was initially conceived for the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis. Mayer said they wanted to do a dunk talk on the ice during the skills competition. “At that time, there were some controversial figures in and around hockey that we thought people might want to dunk,” he said.
The NHL opted for something a little less splashy: a variation on Top Golf that incorporated NHL stars and women’s national team players. But the dunk tank concept was so popular, they kept it in mind for future installments.
“The ones we think are pretty good never die,” Mayer said.
Once the NHL knew its Fan Fest would be located on the Fort Lauderdale beach, their creative brainstorming began. One early idea: Somehow incorporating live alligators into an event. Mayer said that proved to be “a little complicated.” Instead, the NHL ran back the dunk tank concept.
The NHL was concerned that a traditional dunk tank setup — shooting pucks at a target to trigger the drop — would too closely resemble the shot accuracy skills competition, where players fire pucks at targets placed in each corner of the net. So the league added elements to make Splash Shot stand out: Competitors would have to knock down six foam surfboards before getting a chance to shoot at the target.
The tanks were placed directly in front of the beach — pucks that missed the boards would fly off into the sand or, in some cases, all the way into the ocean. Fans dove in to scavenge for them after the event. The Splash Shot would also be a timed event: The team that shoots first establishes a time that the second team has to beat.
After the players applied some sunscreen — it was sunny and in the mid-80s at the NHL FanFest where the event was held — Matthew Tkachuk and Shesterkin climbed into their respective tanks.
Fox took several shots to knock down the surfboards but hit the NHL logo with one wrister. Tkachuk tumbled into the water, and remained there to cool off.
Brady Tkachuk took his turn to the right of Fox, hitting a few boards before running out of time. Shesterkin shrugged and then eventually jumped into the tank on his own.
“I have to admit: I’m not sure everybody knew how deep the water was when they got here. But they were great about it,” Mayer admitted.
Or, as Makar put it: “It was definitely deeper than we expected.”
0:33
NHL splash shot explained
Take a look at the rules for the NHL All-Star Splash Shot.
Makar and Crosby entered the tank next. Rantanen made quick work of the boards before dunking Crosby. As he shook the water out of his hair, a fan chanted “Let’s go Flyers!”
MacKinnon shot from Rantanen’s right. He hit all the targets … but four of them refused to fall down. For the second shooter in a row, direct hits to the targets didn’t bring down the boards.
The Avalanche and Rangers teams made the final round. Fox climbed into the tank on the right side. Makar, still saturated, shot at the surfboards to his right. Again, two fell but his hard shots at the others couldn’t topple them.
Something was wrong.
“We were ripping it hard. I think it had something to do with the wind because the [water] tanks were blocking the other side,” Makar theorized.
The NHL rehearsed all morning with a collection of hockey influencers known for their shooting skills. The event went off without a hitch. The wind later in the day was one issue. Another was the shooting position of the NHL stars: They were shooting from the side rather than straight on like the shooters in the practice run, who moved down the line to shoot at each board.
The NHL decided to call an audible. Makar would shoot again, this time on the left side. Fox climbed over to Rantanen’s seat. “Let’s redo this final! Let’s get a fair winner!” the event announcer said.
“You never can predict [what happens] in these events,” Mayer said. “For some reason, if there wasn’t a direct hit here, they didn’t fall because the wind was coming from the back. So we made adjustments.”
Makar dunked Fox in 18 seconds. Shesterkin stepped up next with the event on the line. Wielding his goalie stick, Shesterkin knocked down five boards before time ran out. The fans chanted his name. He returned to knock down the final board and hit the target to dunk Rantanen, but the event was done. The Avalanche were “Splash Shot” champions.
“It was fun. It was unique,” Makar said. “As long as the fans are happy, we’re happy.”
“The beauty of editing makes me feel like this is going to look beautiful on television,” Mayer said.
For the second straight year, the NHL had taken its action outside the arena and offered its fans a different kind of event while giving its All-Stars a memorable experience.
“I don’t get many moments with the greatest players, and they were so cool,” Mayer said. “They were trash talking. Sidney Crosby goes in a dunk tank and laughs about it. For all those reasons, it was a complete success.”
-
Kristen Shilton
Sports can provoke all sorts of emotions.
New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad, for example, couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry after his team was shut out in their first three home games of the season — something that had never happened previously in NHL history.
Overall, the Rangers are currently 2-3-0 under new coach Mike Sullivan; but those two wins came against the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, so the jury is still out on whether the Rangers can be goal-scoring threats (who pumped in 10 over their pair of road victories) or if they can’t covert against tougher competition (specifically in their own barn).
Consider New York an early-season enigma. And they’re not the only group drawing all manner of overreaction from around the hockey world.
That’s our time-honored sporting tradition though, to build up and tear down teams after only a few outings in a months-long season. The 2025-26 NHL campaign is only in its second week, and there are things to discuss — such as, what clubs are overachieving early? Which ones are cringe-inducing off the bat? And of course, what’s going on in the mushy middle?
It’s a short shelf life for observations of a tiny sample size. Get the takes while they’re hot in a quick spin around the league to highlight a few teams in each category — starting with the happy ones.
POSITIVE SURPRISES
What’s happened: Boston jumped out to a 3-0-0 record — matching the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers for the best statistical start of the season. Not bad for a Bruins team that finished with 76 points last season, missed the playoffs and generally wasn’t saddled with high expectations going into this new season. Boston is wearing its underdog status with pride.
Why it happened: Well, it’s worth mentioning that last season was … odd in Beantown.
Jeremy Swayman vastly underperformed after a combative contract negotiation bled into the preseason. Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm suffered injuries that cratered Boston’s blue line prospects, and by March there wasn’t much GM Don Sweeney could do but send players elsewhere — including Brad Marchand to the aforementioned Panthers.
Somehow the lower expectations heading into 2025-26 have been freeing. Boston has benefitted from a light schedule thus far, topping the Chicago Blackhawks and Sabres out of the gate, but hey, you play who’s on the schedule. The Bruins are fifth in goals against, giving up just 2.25 per game, and that’s with Lindholm being out with an injury again.
David Pastrnak is averaging over a point per game, an excellent sign for Boston’s offense. And Swayman is 2-0, with a .966 save percentage. Even though the Bruins fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday for their first defeat of the season, it wasn’t an altogether bad effort. Just an indication that if Boston wants to stay on track, they’ll need to not be too self-satisfied by what they have achieved.
Will it continue? It would be easy to dismiss the B’s after their Lightning loss as incapable of stacking up against tougher foes. That may prove to be the case — especially when their starts are that lethargic. The best-case scenario for the Bruins from here is staying in the playoff contention mix, and working in as many prospects as they can to get experience when stakes are lower than they’ve been in some time for a perennial contender. They haven’t resigned themselves to falling for top draft prospect Gavin McKenna just yet.
What’s happened: Seattle went from bringing up the Pacific Division’s rear last season to scrambling their way up the standings with a strong push into this new campaign. That’s included already topping one key divisional opponent — the Vegas Golden Knights — and doing so without a singular superstar in the mix. Intriguing!
Why it happened: The Kraken have cracked down defensively. Seattle is tied for sixth-fewest goals against per game (2.33) and they’re averaging fewer than 30 shots on goal per game. Even when the Kraken are making errors, it’s in wildly entertaining games like their overtime thriller in Montreal that ended with Seattle’s first loss of the season.
The Kraken have gotten strong goaltending from Joey Daccord (.918 SV%), but the impressive thing about Seattle is they don’t exactly have a stable of top-end skaters. They appear to excel by the committee approach. Jared McCann and Vince Dunn pace the team with four points each, and the Kraken already have seven different goal scorers.
Seattle wasn’t meant to be a head-turner this season, but their slow and steady approach could yield more positive dividends.
Will it continue? The Kraken’s lack of elite talent may eventually catch up to them as other squads get their defensive games in order. Seattle has an uphill battle given who’s in their division — hello, Edmonton! — and they’ll need to keep proving themselves against tougher competition. The same could be said for other teams, though. Consider the Kraken to be an underdog who will at least contemplate making additions instead of subtractions prior to the trade deadline.
What’s happened: Nashville was not a good surprise last season. That could change this season.
The Predators sputtered about in 2024-25 despite Steven Stamkos coming aboard — in what was, admittedly, a disappointing individual campaign for him. Nashville vowed to regroup under now second-year head coach Andrew Brunette, and the Predators have looked (mostly) true to their word with a 2-1-1 record, a sensational goaltender, and stars ready to stay alight.
Why it happened: Don’t let that third period against Toronto define your opinion of the Predators. They were tied 2-2 with the Maple Leafs going into the third period on the second half of a back-to-back with No. 2 netminder Justus Annunen making his first start of the season. Nashville showed resiliency coming back from a 2-0 deficit and they grinded to the finish line.
What’s been working for the Predators is spreading the wealth offensively. Ryan O’Reilly is a commanding top-line center (with two goals in four games), while Erik Haula and Jonathan Marchessault (both with a pair of markers) are clicking on their third unit.
The real revelation though is goaltender Juuse Saros. He’s off to a 2-0-1 start with a .947 SV%. Saros has been Nashville’s savior in years past, and it’s hurt them to rely too heavily on his contributions. If Nashville can supplement it’s goaltending with solid defense — led by the often-impeccable Roman Josi — and even more offensive firepower — Stamkos and Filip Forsberg are still coming along — then the Predators can stay on the right side of surprise this time.
Will it continue? Nashville can’t afford to be one-dimensional. Saros can’t carry them to the point that they are winning one-goal games every time out. And at some point, the power play will have to get rolling (5.9% isn’t going to cut it).
What Nashville is showing so far is character. They’ve got some juice. How far does it take them? Possibly to a wild-card playoff spot — the Central Division is a beast, after all — and that’s more likely to happen if the Preds dedicate as strongly on the defensive side as they do offensively.
This team is having a whole lot of fun (and not just because they passed out some incredible Wild Wing-inspired masks to fans this week). Anaheim seems to have found new life under first-year head coach Joel Quenneville.
And so too has veteran forward Chris Kreider, who joined Anaheim in an offseason trade from the Rangers, and has four goals through three games. He’s been aided by rising star Leo Carlsson — one of those high draftees (second overall in 2023) who seemed destined to always be deemed “underrated” by those less engaged with the Western Conference — and Cutter Gauthier — who has found the fresh start he was looking for outside Philadelphia. The Ducks have the league’s fourth-ranked offense (averaging four goals per game) and the second-best power play, at 36.4%.
To splash a little water on the party, Anaheim is also allowing the sixth-most goals per game, and they aren’t exactly a defensive powerhouse yet, despite some seasoned veterans like Radko Gudas and Jacob Trouba on the blue line. Their 2-1-0 record to open the season is something to note as the Ducks perhaps begin sprinting towards daylight at the end of their rebuild.
SURPRISING STRUGGLERS
What’s happened: The Sabres weren’t necessarily counted among the elite Stanley Cup contenders heading into this season. But it took Buffalo fans all of three games to start “Fire Adams!” chants and wear paper bag adornments on their heads. So, aside from an out-of-character outburst on Wednesday night, not much good is going on right now.
Why it happened: Injuries have certainly played a role in Buffalo’s bumbling. Josh Norris — who arrived with health concerns when the Sabres acquired him in a trade last season for forward Dylan Cozens — is sidelined for at least eight weeks with an upper-body injury. Zach Benson was unavailable the first three games, defensemen Michael Kesselring and Mattias Samuelsson are out, starting goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is ailing and Jordan Greenway is still rehabbing from a summer surgery. That’s quite the full infirmary.
Regardless, Buffalo still has most of its top players available, and they aren’t doing nearly enough. The Sabres were outscored 10-2 in their opening 0-3-0 skid (to average a league-worst 0.67 goals per game). Their power play went 0-for-11 in that span. Alex Lyon has stepped up in net with Luukonen out, but he can’t make up for the Sabres’ lack of offense.
Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch have one goal apiece; Jason Zucker is the real standout, with three (!). and Rasmus Dahlin has tossed in a trio of assists. However, most of that output came in Wednesday’s game against Ottawa, where Buffalo showed signs of life against a team depleted by the loss of captain Brady Tkachuk.
Can that momentum translate against other clubs? We shall see. The Sabres haven’t shown they necessarily have the depth to account for their injured parties and it’s an indictment on Adams’ management (hence those jerseys flying onto the ice). Buffalo doesn’t have the defensive details to hold their opponents at bay without further goal support. And it’s put them behind the eight ball early.
Will it continue? The Sabres aren’t hurting for talent; they’re starved for execution. Benson returned for Wednesday’s game and that was a boost Buffalo needed. One bad week (or two) won’t define a season for Thompson, Tuch or Dahlin. It’s really whether the Sabres can command confidence through their struggles that might determine success from here.
It’s been 14 years since Buffalo made the playoffs. It’s not a benchmark players want to hear about every day, but that’s what comes up when your start is this shaky. Negativity can galvanize a group, though. If the Sabres can rally around one another and push back against their critics, they can stop their slide before it avalanches. Unfortunately, history isn’t exactly on their side.
What’s happened: The Canucks’ sputtering stars have led to a lackluster start that’s fallen well below what level their talent should be capable of achieving. As it is, Vancouver is 1-2-0 to hold a share of the Pacific Division basement.
Why it happened: Vancouver’s top line has been a disaster. Jake DeBrusk, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser clearly don’t complement one another. There’s no real “worker” on that unit to go in the corner and dig pucks out; all three are looking to score. Which is good — but only if you’ve got the puck long enough to do so.
In general, Pettersson isn’t proving to be the true first-unit pivot that Vancouver needs. The Canucks’ highest-paid player is coming off a woeful 2024-25 season where he scored just 15 goals in 64 games. Vancouver isn’t exactly reveling in a bounce-back showing now. Pettersson — with one assist and three shots to his credit — is mostly invisible on the ice offensively (although he’s only been on for one goal against). The Canucks can’t thrive without him finding a rhythm, with or without his current linemates.
Vancouver’s power play has yet to convert too, and that’s left them to languish with the league’s 24th-ranked offense (averaging 2.67 goals per game). The Canucks are fortunate to have an all-world defenseman in Quinn Hughes and a possible Team USA Olympian goaltender in Thatcher Demko, who is 1-1-0, with a .944 SV%. Until Vancouver’s offense generates a spark, the defensive efforts won’t be enough to carry the Canucks up the standings.
Will it continue? It’s fair to say there are growing pains for plenty of teams with a new coach. Adam Foote took over this season, and he’s still putting his mark on this group. Vancouver has the raw material. The Canucks’ fourth line has been particularly solid. Vancouver needs more of that work ethic from the rest of their skaters.
Self-inflicted wounds and giving up response goals have hurt the Canucks as well. It’s their details more than anything that aren’t sharp. Scoring breeds confidence though, and if Vancouver can light the lamp a little more — and serve up fewer odd-man opportunities the other way to torpedo their progress — there will be brighter days ahead here.
If we’re going to call out the Canucks for top-line chemistry issues, it’s only fair to note they are not the only Pacific Division club dealing with those difficulties.
The Golden Knights acquired Mitch Marner in a trade with Toronto then signed him to a massive eight-year, $96 million extension, with the intention Marner would ride shotgun with Jack Eichel to dominate offensively. That hasn’t happened — yet.
Eichel and Marner worked together throughout the preseason but after three games, coach Bruce Cassidy had to separate his stars — as least temporarily. Those two are pass-first players (and excellent ones at that), but someone must do the scoring, and it can’t be on Ivan Barbashev alone to get that job done when they’re a trio.
Cassidy must find some way to get Marner and Eichel to click. Vegas starting 1-2-0 probably wasn’t what GM Kelly McCrimmon was envisioning when he went after the star winger. The good news is that Vegas has endless potential; all that’s required is tapping into it.
-
Greg Wyshynski
Can a superstar still be a breakout player?
We ask because Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel looks like he’ll obliterate his career high in goals (36) while skating with Ivan Barbashev and the newly acquired Mitch Marner this season — a line with incredible chemistry already at the start of the season.
But ultimately, a superstar can’t be a breakout player. That’s reserved for players who are known but not yet household names. Or players we’ve been waiting to see blossom since their draft year. Or the rookies embarking on their first full season of service, ready to make an unexpected impact.
Here are 30 NHL players poised for a breakout in 2025-26, organized into tiers that explain the circumstances surrounding their potential emergence. Enjoy!
Jump to a tier:
New scenery
New linemates
Young star to superstar
The wait is over
Rookie sensations
Tier 1: New scenery
These players switched teams and could see their stock rise with new scenery.
Matias Maccelli is not Mitch Marner, nor is he expected to suddenly become a 100-point winger because he’s helping to replace Marner in Toronto.
But the 24-year-old former Utah forward, who was a frequent healthy scratch with the Mammoth last season, has a top-line role next to Auston Matthews. If he can be the playmaker he was two seasons ago in Arizona and retain this spot, Maccelli should clear his previous career high in points (57) even if he doesn’t reach the offensive heights of Marner’s years with the Leafs.
The Rangers didn’t want to pay Miller for potential, so they traded the restricted free agent to Carolina, where he signed an eight-year, $60 million deal.
Outside of Florida, no other NHL team has been as adept at leveling up acquired defensemen from other organizations — a credit to coach Rod Brind’Amour’s system and the work of assistant coach Tim Gleason, whose focus is on the blue line.
Miller’s offensive game dropped sharply over the past two seasons. He’ll be positioned to find it again in Carolina — and fulfill the rest of his potential.
Peterka landed on fans’ radars via NHL trade deadline boards, as the pending restricted free agent’s name was circulated last season. Now, fans know him as one of the most significant acquisitions of the nascent Utah Mammoth, who traded Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring to Buffalo for Peterka, 23, before signing him to a five-year, $38 million contract this offseason.
Peterka already had a plum gig in Buffalo, skating next to star center Tage Thompson. How much higher can Peterka’s numbers climb on a line with the explosive Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther on Utah’s top line?
GM Bill Zito has been fond of Tarasov’s potential since Zito’s time as an assistant general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Tarasov was the primary backup to Elvis Merzlikins for the past two seasons before his rights were traded to the Panthers in June.
The Stanley Cup champs lost Vítek Vanecek to Utah in free agency, and traded Spencer Knight to Chicago last season, creating a need to find a backup for and potential successor to Sergei Bobrovsky. Enter Tarasov, who goes from the 24th team in five-on-five defense to the fourth-best squad in the NHL.
If it’s ever going to happen for Tarasov, it’ll happen in Florida behind that system and with Roberto Luongo’s goaltending department to rely on.
When asked about what he wants people to say about him after Year 1 in Philly, Zegras told ESPN: “I want them to go from saying ‘he’s good at hockey’ to ‘he’s a hockey player.'”
Having the support and structure of coach Rick Tocchet should help. But Zegras said to recapture the magic he had when he started his career in Anaheim, he needs to have fun again.
Playing center on a line with Matvei Michkov would help him find his hockey joie de vivre.
Tier 2: New sidekicks
These players could thrive with new linemates.
Benson played a bit with Tage Thompson last season in Buffalo, but is expected to start the season with the Sabres’ top offensive player and Josh Norris, the center they acquired from the Ottawa Senators for Dylan Cozens last season.
The results last season were promising for Benson, 20, entering his third NHL season. If he earns the right to replace Peterka with Thompson, Benson could really pop offensively this season.
Carlsson appeared in this tier last season, but he is here again thanks to Chris Kreider, who was acquired from the New York Rangers in June, waiving his trade protection to join the Ducks. He had 326 goals and 256 points in 883 career games with the Blueshirts, but that output cratered last season because of injuries: just 22 goals and 8 assists in 68 games.
A relatively healthy Kreider, 34, could have an impact on both ends of the ice for Carsson, a 6-3 center who had 20 goals and 25 assists in 76 games for Anaheim last season, his second after being selected second overall in 2023.
Chris Kreider’s loss is Will Cuylle’s gain. Cuylle, 23, moved up to the Rangers’ top line this season with new captain J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad, Kreider’s longtime linemate.
Cuylle had 20 goals and 25 assists in 82 games last season, playing the kind of blunt physical style that immediately endeared him to fans in his first two NHL seasons. That would seem to fit well with Miller’s production as a top-line center.
Not many players finished stronger than rookie Goncalves last season. The rookie had 18 points in his final 33 games in 2024-25, and then added four more points in five playoff games for Tampa Bay.
He has earned the right to see copious amounts of time with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel on the team’s second line this season. In limited minutes together last season, that trio generated a 63% expected goals rate.
With Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov out for considerable periods of time, the Panthers will look for some offensive solutions from within.
One of them will be Samoskevich, the 22-year-old winger drafted 24th in 2021.
He had 15 goals and 16 assists in 72 games last season for the Stanley Cup champions, skating 13:19 per game. Already, he had two assists on opening night for Florida.
Seeing him have an increased role — and more famous linemates — isn’t out of the question with the short-handed Panthers.
Tier 3: Young star to superstar
You might already know these names. Get ready to hear them a lot more.
Dorofeyev was already slated for this tier before his opening night hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings. But that effort underscored what the 24-year-old can bring to the Golden Knights this season after breaking out with 35 goals in 82 games during 2025-26.
He’s one of the purest shooters on the roster, with a 13.8% shooting percentage on 254 shots last season.
Gauthier goes from the rookie tier to closing in on stardom with the Ducks this season. He had 20 goals and 24 assists in 82 games last season, almost all of them at even strength.
With increased power-play time and a more effective man advantage — Anaheim was a league-worst 11.8% on the power play last season — those numbers could increase dramatically.
“Who is Jackson LaCombe?” was one of the most frequently asked questions from casual NHL fans in the past few months, after his surprise invite to the U.S. Olympic Hockey Orientation Camp and his signing an eight-year, $72 million contract extension earlier this month.
After this season, everyone might know his name: The 24-year-old defenseman had 12 goals and 29 assists in 75 games last season. Though he spent the majority of his time with bruising veteran Radko Gudas, it’d be fun to see him have more time next to fellow youngster Olen Zellweger this season.
Perfetti is our only holdover from last season’s third tier. His season was impressive, with 18 goals and 32 assists in 82 games for the NHL’s best regular-season team. But he hadn’t quite reached the ubiquity of a true breakout yet.
His season has gotten off to a bumpy start, as Perfetti opens the campaign on injured reserve because of an ankle injury. But when he returns, he should be on the Jets’ second scoring line.
Stankoven was the key player coming back to Carolina from Dallas in the Mikko Rantanen trade. Stankoven had shown to be a tenacious, if undersized, forward for the Stars after scoring 12 goals during his rookie season.
The Hurricanes are hoping he can fill a critical hole in their lineup at second-line center.
The addition of Nikolaj Ehlers on the Canes’ top line means that Andrei Svechnikov will shift down to the second line, likely across from promising winger Jackson Blake. If Stankoven clicks with them, it’s good news for Carolina and for those waiting for the 22-year-old forward’s true breakout.
Tier 4: The wait is over
Players we’ve been waiting to see break out that finally will.
At some point, Clarke is going to force the Kings to take the training wheels off him. The 6-2 defenseman, drafted eighth overall in 2021, had 33 points in 78 games last season in 16:17 of average ice time.
He was on the plus side of shot attempts, shots created and expected goals percentage relative to his teammates last season. He’s always been the future of their blue line. Increasingly, that future is now.
Jackets fans have anticipated the moment when Jet Greaves takes flight and takes over the Columbus crease from incumbent Elvis Merzlikins. He was brilliant in 11 games last season, going 7-2-2 with a .938 save percentage and 14.5 (!) goals saved above expected.
He got the opening start for Columbus this week. It could be the first of many this season for the 24-year-old, who signed with the Jackets in 2022 as an undrafted free agent.
Kasper was set up for success in his rookie season, spending a good portion of his season (273 minutes) with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond on the team’s top line. For an encore, Kasper will be asked to drive his own line this season, potentially in the middle of Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane.
That line actually produced strong defensive results (1.2 goals against per 60 minutes) last season to go along with its offensive pop.
Blackhawks fans probably exhaled a bit — as did a certain Chicago center drafted first overall in 2023 — when Nazar rolled to nine points in his last eight games and then 12 points in Team USA’s history-making win at the IIHF world championships.
Connor Bedard needs all the help he can get. Nazar enters the 2025-26 season as the team’s No. 2 center, driving a line that can help take the pressure off the phenom in the Windy City.
Savoie was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in July 2024 in the Ryan McLeod trade, and percolated with the Bakersfield Condors last season.
As the Oilers seek high-talent players with low-cost contracts to populate around Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Savoie fits the template after a solid playmaking in the AHL.
He was drafted in 2022. This is finally the moment for the rookie make his mark after playing only five NHL games before this season.
Overlooked thanks to the Calder-nominated season from first overall pick Macklin Celebrini was an outstanding rookie campaign from his linemate Smith. The fourth overall pick in 2023, Smith had 45 points (18 goals, 27 assists) in 74 games for the Sharks, skating to a minus-15.
They should pair up again on the Sharks’ top line. Given the expectations around Celebrini taking another leap in points production, Smith should jump right with him.
Tier 5: Rookie sensations
First-year players who aren’t waiting for their breakout.
Once the goalie of the future in Nashville, the Sharks acquired Askarov in August 2024 as their new hope between the pipes. The majority of his action was with the AHL Barracuda last season, but the 13 games he played in San Jose were solid: Askarov was the only Sharks goalie to finish on the positive side of goals saved above expected outside of Mackenzie Blackwood.
It’s expected that the 23-year-old rookie could get most of the starts for coach Ryan Warsofsky’s team this season.
The preseason favorite to win the Calder Trophy, Demidov arrived in the NHL late last season after having been a human highlight reel in the KHL.
A creative puck handler and explosive offensive talent, the Canadiens are relying on him to provide goal-scoring spark for a team that was 17th in goals per game last season.
The 24-year-old made his NHL debut last postseason, appearing in four playoff games for the Hurricanes.
At 6-3 and around 220 pounds, he’s a ferocious hitter who could become one of the league’s best young defensemen if his offensive game blossoms.
A terrific puck-moving defenseman with a great hockey IQ. The anticipation is that Buium, 19, could become the Wild’s power-play quarterback before too long.
The Wild have him partnered up with steady veteran Jared Spurgeon to start.
If he sticks around rather than being sent back to the OHL, Parekh has the stuff to be one of the best young offensive defensemen in the NHL.
And one hopes he does stick around, because what does a defenseman who had 107 points in 61 games last season have left to prove?
Snuggerud gave the Blues a nice preview at the end of last season with four points in seven games after his career at the University of Minnesota was over.
The son of former NHLer Dave Snuggerud, the playmaking winger should bolster the Blues’ secondary scoring.
The 6-4 defenseman is going to have a big role this season in Chicago, playing top-pairing minutes and getting a chance to run the Blackhawks’ top power play.
The first overall pick in the 2025 NHL draft, Schaefer is an elite offense-driving defenseman with his passing and his skating. The fact that he’s going to bring a bit of charisma to the Islanders too is the cherry on top.
The 24-year-old earned a spot here not only for some tantalizing moments as a Canuck, but for his opening night shutout in Madison Square Garden.
Silovs was named one of Team Latvia’s first six players for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
-
Ryan S. Clark
Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is the latest member of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions to suffer a long-term injury.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday that Kulikov will be out for five months after having shoulder surgery to repair a labrum tear that he sustained in their 2-1 win over the Flyers last Thursday in just their second game of the season.
The loss of Kulikov for five months is the latest in a long list of injuries for the Panthers in their bid to become the first team to win three straight titles since the New York Islanders won four in a row from 1980 to 1983. Since then, there have been six instances in which teams have won consecutive Stanley Cups but failed to win a third straight.
That list includes captain and star center Aleksander Barkov, who will be out seven to nine months with a knee injury. Then there’s star forward Matthew Tkachuk, who is out until at least December with a torn adductor muscle, while bottom-six forward Tomas Nosek is out with a long-term injury.
The earliest Kulikov could return to the Panthers lineup would be mid-March should the timeline with his prognosis hold.
Kulikov, who was drafted by the Panthers in 2009, came back to the club for a second stint at the start of the 2023-24 season. He had 20 points in 76 games while averaging more than 16 minutes per contest en route to helping the club win the first championship in its history. Last season saw him have 13 points in 70 games while averaging more than 19 minutes in a campaign that saw them win a second straight title.
Ever since he returned, Kulikov ranks third on the Panthers in short-handed minutes and is fourth in terms of total 5-on-5 minutes played going back to the 2023-24 season, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Overall, the Panthers still have their top-four defensive group in place with Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling on the top pairing with Seth Jones and Niko Mikkola are on the second pairing while Uvis Balinskis and Jeff Petry are expected to be their third-pairing option.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024