True Crime: Zodiac Killer, The Most Famous Unknown Serial Killer

Published

2 years ago

May 26, 2023

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Ted Bundy. Jeffrey Dahmer. Richard Ramirez. All serial killers identified and captured by authorities after local and nationwide manhunts. But the Zodiac killer, one of the most famous serial killers of all time, remains unnamed nearly 55 years after his first confirmed kills.

On December 20, 1968, high school students Betty Lou Jensen and David Arthur Faraday were on their first date. Around 10:15 p.m., they pulled over to a lovers lane within the city limits of Benicia, California, to be alone. Investigators believe that just before 11 p.m., another car parked beside the couple and a man stepped out, possibly ordering the couple out of their own vehicle. It is suspected that Faraday exited the vehicle first and was shot in the head when he was halfway out. Jensen took off running, and the killer shot her five times in the back. Her body was found 28 feet from the car. Their deaths became known as the Lake Herman Road murders.

Bettmann / Contributor. Getty Images. San Francisco murder victims; Betty Lou Jensen, David Faraday, and Darlene Ferrin, alleged to be victims of the Zodiac Killer.

The next murder attributed to the Zodiac came on July 4, 1969, at Blue Springs Park in Vallejo. Just before midnight, Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau parked and sat in the car until a second car parked next to them. The second car almost immediately pulled away, but about 10 minutes later, it returned and parked behind them. The driver got out with a flashlight and a handgun, shined the flashlight in the couples eyes and then shot at them five times. Ferrin and Mageau were both hit, and several bullets went through Mageau into Ferrin. The killer then walked away from the couple but returned to shoot each victim twice more before leaving.

Ferrin was pronounced dead following the incident, but Mageau survived and told police his attacker was a 26-to-30-year-old white male, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, around 195 to 200 pounds, which short, curly light brown hair.

Around 12:40 a.m. on July 5, a man called the Vallejo Police Department from a phone booth at a gas station three miles away to report the murders and take credit for them. He also claimed to have killed Faraday and Jensen the previous year.

About a month after the attack, someone claiming to be the killer sent letters to the San Francisco Chronicle, The San Francisco Examiner, and the Vallejo Times Herald. The letters were nearly identical, except each one contained one third of a cryptogram the author said contained his identity. In the letters, he also claimed credit for the Lake Herman and Blue Rock killings while demanding they be printed on the papers front page. If they werent, the author threatened to drive around on the weekend and kill a dozen people.

Bettmann / Contributor. (Original Caption) San Francisco, California: The Zodiac killer broke his silence to boast in letters and cryptograms that he has now murdered seven persons.

The Chronicle published its portion of the cryptogram on page four alone with a quote from the Vallejo Police Chief saying he didnt think the letter was written by the actual killer and asked the writer to send in more facts to prove who he was.

Twelve people did not die over the weekend as threatened, and all three portions of the cryptogram were eventually published.

About a week after the first letters were sent, the Examiner received a second letter where the author identified himself as the Zodiac. This letter provided details of the killings that hadnt been released yet to the public, and the author again said that if they solved the cryptogram they would have their murderer.

The day after the second letter was sent, Donald and Bettye Harden of California seemingly solved the cryptogram. It contained numerous spelling errors and referenced the fictional story The Most Dangerous Game, but did not name the killer.

Bettmann / Contributor. Donald G. Harden, school teacher at Alisal High in Salinas, is the man who broke the code of the psychotic killer who calls himself Zodiac.

The cryptogram, according to the Hardens, contained the following message (all typos original):

I like killing people because it is so much fun it is more fun than killing wild game in the forrest because man is the most dangeroue anamal of all to kill something gives me the most thrilling experence it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl the best part of it is thae when I die I will be reborn in paradice and all the I have killed will become my slaves I will not give you my name because you will try to sloi down or atop my collectiog of slaves for my afterlife ebeorietemethhpiti.

On September 27, 1969, Pacific Union College students Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard decided to have a picnic on a small island on Lake Berryessa. At some point, a white man about 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing more than 170 pounds approached the couple wearing a black hood with sunglasses and a symbol on his chest of a circle with a cross through it. The man raised a gun at the couple and told them he was an escaped convict from another state and had already killed a guard and stolen a car. He demanded the couple give him their car so he could flee to Mexico.

The man then gave Shepard precut lengths of clothesline and told her to tie up Hartnell. The man then tied up Shepard and checked her work, tightening the line around Hartnells hands. Instead of simply stealing the car and leaving, the man then stabbed Hartnell and Shepard repeatedly, killing Shepard and severely wounding Hartnell.

The killer then drew the circle with a cross symbol on the car door along with other notes: Vallejo

12-20-68

7-4-69

Sept 27696:30

by knife

Bettmann / Contributor. Getty Images. Captain Don Townsend displays door of auto belonging to stabbing victim Bryan Hartnell, 20, of Troutdale, Oregon.

The killer allegedly called the Napa County Sheriffs office from a payphone to take credit for the killings, say he wanted to report a murder no, a double murder, before saying he was the killer. Police were able to get to the payphone, which was near the sheriffs office, and lift a palm print, but have never been able to match it to anyone.

A man and his son who were fishing near Hartnell and Shepard heard their screams and called park rangers. Sheriffs deputies arrived to help the couple. Shepard was conscious and provided a detailed description of her attacker, but went into a coma while being taken to the hospital and never woke up, dying two days later. Hartnell survived the attack and told the media what had happened to him.

Two weeks after the attack at Lake Berryessa, Paul Stine was driving his cab in San Francisco when a white man entered and told him to drive to Presidio Heights. Stine, for some reason, drove a block past where the man asked to be dropped off, and the passenger shot him in the head with a handgun, took his wallet and keys, and ripped off a section of his bloodied shirt. Three teenagers saw what happened and reported it to police.

Initially, police believed the murder to be a robbery gone wrong, but on October 13, the Zodiac sent a letter to the Chronicle taking credit for the crime. He included the torn piece of shirt as proof he had committed the crime. He also in this letter threatened to kill children riding a school bus.

Bettmann / Contributor. A letter and a blood-soaked piece of shirt have alerted San Francisco police to the possibility that the slayer of cab driver Paul Stine.

On November 8, 1969, a person believed to be the Zodiac sent another cryptogram, known as the 340 cipher because of the number of characters included, which remained unsolved for 51 years. In December 2020, however, three amateur code breakers believed they cracked the cipher. The code was allegedly solved by Virginia software developer David Oranchak, Belgian computer programmer Jarl Van Eycke, and Australian mathematician Sam Blake. They believe the message contains a misspelling of the word paradise, but says: I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me

That wasnt me on the TV show which bringsup a point about me

I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradice all the sooner

Because I now have enough slaves to work for me where everyone else has nothing when they reach paradice so they are afraid of death

I am not afraid because I know that my new life will be an easy one in paradice death.

The TV show reference is to The Jim Dunbar Show, a television talk show that aired in the San Francisco area. In 1969, a man claiming to be the Zodiac killer called into Dunbars show repeatedly, saying a few words before hanging up each time. The cipher that has been decoded was sent to the Chronicle two weeks after the show aired. The man who called in was found to be a mental patient with no connection to the Zodiac.

In addition to the above confirmed victims, there are 13 additional victims speculated to have been killed by the Zodiac. Raymond Davis, Robert Domingos and his fiance Linda Edwards, newlyweds Johnny and Joyce Swindle, Cheri Jo Bates, couple Enedine Martinez and Fermin Rodriquez, John Hood and his fiance Sandra Garcia, Kathleen Johns, Richard Radetich, and Donna Lass are all speculated as Zodiac victims.

The most well known of these alleged victims is Cheri Jo Bates, who was murdered on October 30, 1966, after studying at the Riverside City College library annex. She left the annex when it closed at 9 p.m., and neighbors reported hearing a scream an hour and a half later. Bates body was found the following morning between two abandoned houses on campus.

A month after her murder, two nearly identical letters were sent to the Riverside police and the Riverside Press-Enterprise, in which the author claimed credit for Bates murder and said she was neither the first nor the last victim. The letter contained details about Bates murder that hadnt been released to the public, and the handwriting was similar to that of the Zodiac letters.

Six months after Bates murder, her father, the police, and the Press-Enterprise all received nearly identical letters.

In 2016, the author of the letters was identified through DNA analysis. He apologized and admitted to committing a hoax by writing the letters and that he had been a troubled teenager seeking attention. He was determined not to be the Zodiac.

Another letter was sent to the Los Angeles Times five months after Bates murder, believed to have been sent from the actual Zodiac. He claimed credit for the murder, and said there were more bodies in Riverside, California. It is still unclear whether the Zodiac is actually connected to Bates murder. The Riverside Police Department has said the Zodiac was not responsible, but acknowledged that the Zodiac may have sent letters to falsely claim credit.

Many men have been accused of being the Zodiac killer, but two have been the most notorious. Arthur Leigh Allen has been accused of the killing, with some limited circumstantial evidence (he owned the same typewriter as was used to type the Zodiacs letters, he wore a Zodiac wristwatch, and lived near one of the victims), but no solid evidence ever pointed to his involvement. In fact, the San Francisco Police Department in 2002 compared partial DNA found on the stamps used on Zodiacs letters to Allen, but there was no match. Further, a retired police handwriting expert said Allens writing didnt even come close to resembling the Zodiacs.

In October 2021, Case Breakers, a volunteer group of investigators led by investigative journalist Thomas Colbert, claimed to have identified Air Force veteran Gary Francis Poste as the Zodiac. Poste died in 2018. The identification has been questioned by police and Zodiac experts, who say the Case Breakers identification relies on circumstantial evidence and claims that werent made by witnesses. For example, the Case Breakers said Poste had scars on his forehead similar ones on the killers head, but author Tom Voigt, who has investigated the killer, said that no witnesses claimed the killer had scars on his forehead.

In May 2023, Case Breakers again professed that Poste was the Zodiac, saying that he had been listed as a suspect at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. They attributed the claim to a senior FBI agent.

The felon has been secretly listed as the Zodiac suspect in Headquarters computers since 2016 with his partial DNA safely secured at the feds Quantico, Virginia lab, Case Breakers claimed.

The FBI maintains that the case is still unsolved and remains open and active.

In a press release , Case Breakers claimed it had found DNA on a hiking mat Poste owned and confirmed the DNA using a living relative. The group has asked the FBI to compare that DNA to hairs found on Cheri Jo Bates, believed by the group to be one of the Zodiacs victims.

Numerous people have claimed to be relatives of someone they believe to have been the killer.

Other serial killers have been cleared as suspects in the Zodiac killings. Ted Bundy, Edward Edwards, Ted Kaczynski, and the Manson family were all posited as the killers but eliminated as suspects for various reasons.

There have also been several Zodiac copycat killers, such as Heriberto Seda in New York City and a 14-year-old boy in Japan, who used the alias Seito Sakakibara but has been identified in various outlets as Shinichiro Azuma.

The real Zodiac continued to write letters to law enforcement and news outlets until his final confirmed letter, postmarked January 29, 1974. In his final letter, he claimed to have killed 37 people. Additional letters, suspected of being hoaxes made to look like the Zodiac, were also sent to news outlets for decades after the killings.

With everything known about the Zodiac and with so many serial killers caught and identified, it seems inconceivable that we still dont know who committed these killings, or whether the Zodiac was telling the truth about killing 37 people. Maybe advances in forensic technology will be able to identify the killer and finally close this decades-long trail of death.

Entertainment

Rapper Ghetts charged after man killed in hit-and-run

Published

23 mins ago

October 24, 2025

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Rapper Ghetts charged after man killed in hit-and-run

The rapper Ghetts has been charged after a man was killed in a hit-and-run in northeast London.

The musician, whose real name is Justin Clarke-Samuel, was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He allegedly failed to stop after hitting a 20-year-old man in Ilford last Saturday, the Met Police said.

The 41-year-old appeared at Stratford Magistrates’ Court on Monday – the same day the man died in hospital.

The indictment is expected to change from causing serious injury to causing death by dangerous driving at the next hearing.

Ghetts was remanded into custody and is due to appear at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on 27 October.

The police are appealing for witnesses to the crash to come forward.

Ghetts is a grime rapper who played at Glastonbury last year and has collaborated with Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and Skepta.

He also had a role in the Netflix drama Supacell.

Last year, he received the Mobo Pioneer Award for his significant contribution to British black culture.

Sports

NHL Power Rankings: 1-32 poll, plus small-sample superstars

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23 mins ago

October 24, 2025

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NHL Power Rankings: 1-32 poll, plus small-sample superstars

It is way too early to make any definitive conclusions about the 2025-26 NHL season.

But then again, it’s the perfect time to celebrate some small-sample superstars.

As part of this week’s new edition of the ESPN NHL Power Rankings, we’ve identified a player on each team that has excelled way beyond expectation thus far.

How we rank: A panel of ESPN hockey commentators, analysts, reporters and editors sends in a 1-32 poll based on the games through Wednesday, which generates our list.

Note: Previous ranking for each team refers to the previous edition, published Oct. 17. Points percentages are through Thursday’s games; other stats are through Wednesday’s games, unless otherwise noted.

Previous ranking: 3
Points percentage: 81.3%

Scott Wedgewood. The 33-year-old journeyman netminder had backstopped five different clubs since his debut in 2015-16. Are we witnessing a breakout a decade later? Wedgewood started the season 5-0-2, generating a 1.84 goals-against average and .927 save percentage, helping the Avs roll to the top of the standings.

Next seven days: @ BOS (Oct. 25), @ NJ (Oct. 26), vs. NJ (Oct. 28)

Previous ranking: 6
Points percentage: 85.7%

Jack Eichel. Eichel has many accomplishments in his career, but has yet to hit the 100-point benchmark in a single season, coming closest in 2024-25 with 94. The NHL’s current scoring leader had 16 through seven games, which is a 187-point pace; it’s unlikely he hits that lofty mark, but triple digits does seem in play.

Next seven days: @ FLA (Oct. 25), @ TB (Oct. 26), @ CAR (Oct. 28)

Previous ranking: 1
Points percentage: 85.7%

Seth Jarvis. The 23-year-old already made a name for himself with back-to-back 30-goal seasons and a strong showing at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Does he have another gear? He scored nine points through six games (including six goals).

Next seven days: @ DAL (Oct. 25), vs. VGK (Oct. 28), vs. NYI (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 11
Points percentage: 85.7%

Jake Allen. With all due respect to Jesper Bratt (with a team-high 11 points through seven games) and Jack Hughes (who led the team to a win against the Maple Leafs with a hat trick), the nod goes to goaltender Allen. He is 3-0-0 thus far this season, with a .931 save percentage (his career mark is .908) and 1.91 goals-against average (compared to 2.75 for his career).

Next seven days: vs. SJ (Oct. 24), vs. COL (Oct. 26), @ COL (Oct. 28), @ SJ (Oct. 30)

Jack Hughes scores hat trick in Devils’ win

Jack Hughes leads the Devils to a 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs with his third career hat trick.

Previous ranking: 12
Points percentage: 71.4%

Mark Scheifele. The Jets’ top-line center has reached double digits in goals every season since 2013-14, topping out at 42 in 2022-23. Is this the season he gets 50? With seven through six games, he’s off to quite the start.

Next seven days: vs. CGY (Oct. 24), vs. UTA (Oct. 26), @ MIN (Oct. 28), vs. CHI (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 7
Points percentage: 71.4%

Tom Wilson. Certainly known more for his truculence and intimidation than a deft scoring touch, the 31-year-old winger has 10 points to his name through seven games. Perhaps more surprisingly, he has just two penalty minutes in that same span!

Next seven days: @ CBJ (Oct. 24), vs. OTT (Oct. 25), @ DAL (Oct. 28)

Previous ranking: 9
Points percentage: 62.5%

Emmitt Finnie. Has a new entrant entered the Calder Trophy chat? A seventh-round pick (No. 201 overall) in 2023, Finnie has been riding shotgun on the Wings’ top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond this season. So far, so good, as he’s registered six points through the first seven games.

Next seven days: vs. STL (Oct. 25), @ STL (Oct. 28), @ LA (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 8
Points percentage: 66.7%

Jakub Dobes. All honor to captain Nick Suzuki, who has 11 points through eight games, but the lean goes to Dobes, who won his first four starts while generating a .950 save percentage and 1.47 goals-against average.

Next seven days: @ VAN (Oct. 25), @ SEA (Oct. 28)

Previous ranking: 24
Points percentage: 75%

Nick Schmaltz. For the Mammoth to earn a playoff spot out of the brutal Central Division, they’ll need everyone firing on all cylinders — and some breakout performances too. Schmaltz’s start certainly fits into the latter category, as his 10 points through seven games has him on pace for well over 100, which would shatter his career-best mark of 63 he set last season.

Next seven days: @ MIN (Oct. 25), @ WPG (Oct. 26), @ EDM (Oct. 28)

Previous ranking: 21
Points percentage: 754%

Justin Brazeau. Many believed that the 2025-26 season was going to go similarly to the 2024-25 campaign, and that the Penguins would elect to trade away veterans in exchange for picks and prospects to help the rebuild. Instead, they were in second place in the Metro Division through seven games, and Brazeau — with a previous single-season career high of 22 points — already has eight points in those seven contests.

Next seven days: vs. CBJ (Oct. 25), vs. STL (Oct. 27), @ PHI (Oct. 28), @ MIN (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 5
Points percentage: 44.4%

Brad Marchand. Now in his 18th NHL season, Marchand has been many things throughout his career. Rarely is he a point-per-game player, a feat he last eclipsed in the late 2010s and early 2020s. But through eight games, he’s right on that pace, with three goals and five assists.

Next seven days: vs. VGK (Oct. 25), vs. ANA (Oct. 28)

Previous ranking: 13
Points percentage: 50%

William Nylander. The 29-year-old winger has been a steady source of production throughout his Leafs tenure, but has never scored triple-digit points. Is this the season that changes? With 13 through seven games, he’s well ahead of that pace.

Next seven days: @ BUF (Oct. 24), vs. BUF (Oct. 25), vs. CGY (Oct. 28), @ CBJ (Oct. 29)

Previous ranking: 15
Points percentage: 50%

Jimmy Snuggerud. The Blues haven’t gotten off to the start they’d envisioned, but rookie winger Snuggerud has been every bit as good as expected. If he continues to score goals at this pace, he’s certain to earn a sizable portion of Calder Trophy votes.

Next seven days: @ DET (Oct. 25), @ PIT (Oct. 27), vs. DET (Oct. 28), vs. VAN (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 22
Points percentage: 62.5%

Spencer Knight. Honorable mention here to the Blackhawks’ dynamic young duo of Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, both of whom scored seven points through seven games. We’re giving the nod to Knight, who came over in the Seth Jones trade last season and looks every bit like a future franchise netminder in the small sample of 2025-26: through five games, he’s generated a .937 save percentage and 1.96 goals-against average.

Next seven days: vs. LA (Oct. 26), vs. OTT (Oct. 28), @ WPG (Oct. 30)

Ryan Donato scores late winner for Blackhawks

Ryan Donato scores with less than a minute left on the clock to give Chicago a 3-2 win over Tampa Bay.

Previous ranking: 4
Points percentage: 56.3%

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The longest-tenured member of the Oilers, the Nuge’s current career high in points is 104, a mark he hit in 2022-23. Through seven games, he’s at seven points, on pace for 82, which would be the second most in his career.

Next seven days: @ SEA (Oct. 25), @ VAN (Oct. 26), vs. UTA (Oct. 28), vs. NYR (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 25
Points percentage: 50%

Dan Vladar. For a franchise which has had a Sisyphean pursuit of goaltending excellence for decades, might they have found it in the 28-year-old Vladar? Through four starts, the Czech native has gone 3-1-0, with a .929 save percentage and 1.75 goals-against average.

Next seven days: vs. NYI (Oct. 25), vs. PIT (Oct. 28), vs. NSH (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 14
Points percentage: 62.5%

Jaden Schwartz. Schwartz has never been known as a high-scoring forward — his career high of 63 was set back in 2014-15. But his five points through seven games are tied for the team lead as Seattle is shockingly in playoff position midway through the first month.

Next seven days: vs. EDM (Oct. 25), vs. MTL (Oct. 28)

Previous ranking: 28
Points percentage: 50%

Thatcher Demko. Perhaps the Canucks’ spot in the standings is a mild surprise. But if Demko keeps playing as he started — 3-1-0, with a .922 save percentage and 2.28 goals-against average — it’ll provide the foundation for a real contender, and potentially get him on the U.S. Olympic team too.

Next seven days: vs. MTL (Oct. 25), vs. EDM (Oct. 26), vs. NYR (Oct. 28), @ STL (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 17
Points percentage: 64.3%

Beckett Sennecke. Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish are also off to hot starts, but that was expected. The surprise of the forward group thus far is Sennecke, the No. 3 pick of the 2024 draft who has five points through six games, skating on the second line and second power-play unit.

Next seven days: @ TB (Oct. 25), @ FLA (Oct. 28)

Previous ranking: 2
Points percentage: 50%

Thomas Harley. The Stars have a quartet of skaters who registered six points through the club’s first six games: Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston and Harley. The three forwards have approached or eclipsed a point-per-game pace for a full season previously; if Harley keeps this pace, he’ll shatter his single-season mark of 50, set in 2024-25.

Next seven days: vs. CAR (Oct. 25), @ NSH (Oct. 26), vs. WSH (Oct. 28), @ TB (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 16
Points percentage: 43.8%

Matt Boldy. Two Wild skaters scored five goals through the club’s first eight games. One of them signed a $17 million average annual value contract extension this preseason that kicks in in 2026-27, while the other will be making $10 million less per season on his through 2029-30. So while Kirill Kaprizov‘s start is great, we give the nod to Boldy.

Next seven days: vs. UTA (Oct. 25), vs. SJ (Oct. 26), vs. WPG (Oct. 28), vs. PIT (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 18
Points percentage: 44.4%

Igor Shesterkin. By season’s end, the Rangers may well be among the NHL’s best. The goal scoring has lagged thus far, but the goal prevention has been top-notch thanks to Shesterkin, who has thus far generated a .957 save percentage and 1.17 goals-against average; and yet, he started 2-3-1 thanks to a lack of goal support.

Next seven days: @ CGY (Oct. 26), @ VAN (Oct. 28), @ EDM (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 26
Points percentage: 50%

Kirill Marchenko. Marchenko tied for the team lead in goals last season, with 31, and appears to be motivated to best that total in 2025-26. Through six games, he has five goals, including a hat trick against the Wild back on Oct. 11.

Next seven days: vs. WSH (Oct. 24), @ PIT (Oct. 25), @ BUF (Oct. 28), vs. TOR (Oct. 29)

Previous ranking: 30
Points percentage: 57.1%

Matthew Schaefer. The Islanders thought they might have landed a special player with the first overall pick in the 2025 draft. Little did they know that 18-year-old Schaefer would be leading all rookies in scoring with seven points through six games, and leading his own team in average ice time, with 22:06 per game.

Next seven days: @ PHI (Oct. 25), @ BOS (Oct. 28), @ CAR (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 23
Points percentage: 50%

Adrian Kempe. The start of the 2025-26 campaign hasn’t gone as well as planned for the Kings, but Kempe has kept the fire burning a bit. Through seven games, he was on pace for 105 points, which would shatter his career-best mark of 75, set in 2023-24.

Next seven days: @ NSH (Oct. 25), @ CHI (Oct. 26), @ SJ (Oct. 28), vs. DET (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 20
Points percentage: 50%

Roman Josi. As the Predators hope to reverse course from last season’s debacle, a key component will be Norris Trophy-caliber play from blueliner Josi. Skating 24:56 per contest and leading the team with five points through seven games, he’s doing his part.

Next seven days: vs. LA (Oct. 25), vs. DAL (Oct. 26), vs. TB (Oct. 28), @ PHI (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 32
Points percentage: 42.9%

Zach Benson. Still just 20 years old, this is Benson’s third season after making the NHL right after being drafted 13th overall in 2023. But, are we witnessing his breakout? He has six points through four games, playing in all-situations for the Sabres.

Next seven days: vs. TOR (Oct. 24), @ TOR (Oct. 25), vs. CBJ (Oct. 28), @ BOS (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 10
Points percentage: 33.3%

Pavel Zacha. If the Bruins’ season goes sideways, we may hear a lot of buzz on Zacha being a trade target. But if he keeps performing the way he has — he maintained a point-per-game pace through the first eight contests — the second-line anchor will be a big reason why the B’s remain at least somewhat competitive.

Next seven days: vs. COL (Oct. 25), @ OTT (Oct. 27), vs. NYI (Oct. 28), vs. BUF (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 27
Points percentage: 43.8%

Shane Pinto. With captain Brady Tkachuk out injured, the Senators need everyone to step up. Pinto, the 24-year-old Long Island native, has answered the call best, with seven goals through seven games.

Next seven days: @ WSH (Oct. 25), vs. BOS (Oct. 27), @ CHI (Oct. 28), vs. CGY (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 19
Points percentage: 28.6%

Anthony Cirelli. A player generally considered more in the mold of 200-foot pivots like Patrice Bergeron and Aleksander Barkov, Cirelli’s three goals through six games put him well ahead of his career-best pace of 27, set last season.

Next seven days: vs. ANA (Oct. 25), vs. VGK (Oct. 26), @ NSH (Oct. 28), vs. DAL (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 31
Points percentage: 18.8%

Nazem Kadri. It’s a bit of a stretch to find a small-sample “star” for the Flames, so we’ll go with their current leading scorer, with four assists through eight games. Kadri is in the fourth of seven seasons on his current deal, but could entice teams in need of depth and toughness down the middle ahead of the trade deadline.

Next seven days: @ WPG (Oct. 24), vs. NYR (Oct. 26), @ TOR (Oct. 28), @ OTT (Oct. 30)

Previous ranking: 29
Points percentage: 28.6%

Dmitry Orlov. The positive ascent for the franchise and its young core group continues. But will this also be a breakout campaign at age 34 for Orlov? The veteran blueliner — who made his debut when Macklin Celebrini was five years old — is on pace to eclipse 60 points, which would shatter a career high of 36 he tallied when he played on a team with Alex Ovechkin.

Next seven days: @ NJ (Oct. 24), @ MIN (Oct. 26), vs. LA (Oct. 28), vs. NJ (Oct. 30)

Sports

Which NHL teams have the most to prove in 2025-26? Placing 13 teams into tiers

Published

23 mins ago

October 24, 2025

admin

Which NHL teams have the most to prove in 2025-26? Placing 13 teams into tiers

Neil PaineOct 22, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
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Few teams in NHL history have proved themselves in the face of their doubters more than the Florida Panthers of the past few seasons.

After getting humiliated as a Presidents’ Trophy winner in 2022 — swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning as their historic offense was mostly silenced — Florida rebuilt its identity under Bill Zito and Paul Maurice, traded for toughness with Matthew Tkachuk, leaned into defense and the goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky, and turned those lessons into a championship blueprint: three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances, back-to-back titles and a bona fide dynasty.

But when one team proves so much, it doesn’t leave much room for others to do the same. So in many ways, this NHL season will be defined by the teams outside of South Florida that need to do a lot of proving of their own.

To help sort out which clubs have the most on the line in this prove-it 2025-26 season, we grouped 13 of them into five categories of teams with work to do and boxes to check. These range from longtime contenders still knocking on the door to hyped up-and-comers, possibly-past-their-prime powers and franchises whose fans would simply love them to prove they can make the playoffs every so often.

The common thread for all is that they have to change the story around their team, just like Florida had to do a few years ago. Let’s unpack each — and see who’s under the most pressure to get the job done this season.

The now-or-nevers

We’ve written about it here before, but the primary victims of Florida’s success in recent seasons have been the teams that repeatedly came close to a title but couldn’t break through. So this group is all about those that are seeking to prove they can finally make the championship leap — and especially those with a ticking clock on how long they can keep trying, and failing, to turn their potential into a parade.

Chief among this type of team? Clearly the Edmonton Oilers, who finally skated for the Cup for the first time in the Connor McDavid–Leon Draisaitl era in 2024 after never previously advancing further than being swept in the conference finals. But back-to-back losses to Florida have raised the question of whether they can ever truly get over the hump.

The main things to prove might be whether the returning tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard can provide better goaltending than the .866 SV% they collectively posted in last season’s Final — and if this season’s offense, bolstered by the additions of Jack Roslovic and Andrew Mangiapane, can score enough for it not to matter.

Though McDavid recently inked a contract extension, it only runs through 2027-28, so the Oilers’ window to compete still has a short shelf life.

And then there are the Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars, who are well past the point where they need to at least break through to the Final, if not win the Cup. The two teams have combined to win an incredible 62 playoff games (32 for Dallas, 30 for Carolina) since 2022 without a single Stanley Cup Final appearance to show for it. No other team in the league had more such wins than the New York Rangers‘ 23.

For Carolina, the team must demonstrate that its strategy of dominating possession — the Hurricanes have led the NHL’s offensive zone time-tracking metric every year it has existed — isn’t destined to forever be stonewalled by an elite goalie when the team runs up against one in the playoffs.

Dallas needs to prove that all the offseason moves it made (including moving on from coach Peter DeBoer to Glen Gulutzan) were necessary to get this team to the next level.

Dallas is younger, whereas Carolina has more of its core locked up longer, but both teams can feel the weight of time, and expectations, demanding a Finals run … maybe even against one another.

The snakebit histories

Now we get to the teams that haven’t even made it far enough to qualify as a now-or-never breakthrough candidate. These teams have had plenty of regular-season success, but they perpetually lose in Round 1 of the playoffs — or, on the odd occasion, win a series before a big letdown in the next round.

And over the past handful of seasons, nobody fits this mold more than the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets.

Since 2018-19, Toronto and Winnipeg rank third and seventh in total standings points, respectively, and yet they are the only members of the top eight on that list to fail to win 40 playoff games in that span — and neither is even close to that mark. (Neither has 30 wins, much less 40.)

The Leafs‘ history of choking in the playoffs is extensive and well-documented. Before 2023, this team hadn’t so much as won a single postseason series since 2004, and the Leafs still haven’t reached the conference finals since 2002 — to go with zero Cups since 1967, the final year of the NHL’s Original Six era.

As part of that, they own an eight-game losing streak in winner-take-all playoff games, the second-longest such skid in hockey history. There are micro-level things Toronto also needs to convince us about, such as offensive life after Mitch Marner (so far, so good) and if it can ever get the playoff goaltending it needs. But the main thing to prove is that the Leafs can overcome the ghosts of this franchise’s many past failures.

Winnipeg‘s playoff struggles feel less biblical but are no better in the aggregate. After winning two total series in its first go-round — before the franchise relocated to Arizona — the version that rose from the ashes of the Atlanta Thrashers made a conference finals run in 2018 but has advanced to the second round only twice since then.

Last season was supposed to change all that, but the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets barely beat the Blues in Round 1 and were then knocked off by the Stars as league MVP Connor Hellebuyck was outplayed by Jake Oettinger in net. Now the Jets have to show that their ascendance last season was no fluke, that they can be a playoff team in addition to a regular-season one, and that Hellebuyck can handle the pressure after three straight terrible postseason performances.

The hype trains

This is the place for those teams with young, exciting talent that haven’t exactly proved what they can do yet. They’re fun, marketable and full of promise — but as so many of the league’s up-and-coming squads of the past can tell you, promise alone lasts only so long.

Within this group, the New Jersey Devils stand out a bit because they have been riding the hype train a little longer than the other two teams. The 2022-23 Devils appeared to announce themselves early as the league’s next big thing behind a roster that ranked fourth on offense, eighth on defense … and third youngest in average age.

But electric center Jack Hughes missed parts of the next two seasons, the team regressed and fired its coach, and the Devils only slightly reclaimed their prior potential last season. The 2025-26 version is off to a good start, but New Jersey needs to win some playoff series to get back to where we assumed it would be by now.

As for the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks, both have started the season fairly strong with rosters that rank 1-2 in the NHL in youngest average age.

Along with the Devils, the Canadiens were anticipated to be one of the league’s most improved teams this season, building on their playoff return a season ago with a young core that is now pretty well locked in after defenseman Lane Hutson‘s recent contract extension.

Now the job for Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Noah Dobson, Hutson & Co. is to see how much better they can continue to get this season — and whether they’ll belong in the Cup-contending conversation by the spring.

The Blackhawks are further from that goal than the Canadiens, but new coach Jeff Blashill has them playing much better than they did a season ago. Connor Bedard continues to make progress, and Frank Nazar has been an early-season star, while the Blackhawks appear to be a bit better on the goal-prevention side as well.

Chicago must prove that last season was simply a disappointing speed bump along its road to rebuilding a new winner with Bedard as the centerpiece.

The do-overs

Last season, the hype machine broke down for a number of teams that were expected to be Cup contenders, and perhaps no teams were bigger offenders than this trio. Each is out to show that 2024-25 was a fluke and it deserves another shot in 2025-26.

The New York Rangers‘ collapse might have been the most jarring. A team that had finished top seven in fewest goals allowed per game for three straight seasons suddenly ranked 19th, allowed the sixth-most shots per game and got a combined .896 SV% from Jonathan Quick and Igor Shesterkin, who couldn’t paper over their issues anymore. The Jacob Trouba trade fractured the locker room, the power play cratered and a team that had made the Eastern Conference finals in 2024 unraveled far faster than anyone expected.

After making even more offseason changes — out were Peter Laviolette, Chris Kreider and K’Andre Miller; in were Mike Sullivan and Vladislav Gavrikov — the remade Rangers must get back to their previous business.

The Boston Bruins‘ fall was even steeper by the numbers. In fact, the Bruins saw the largest year-over-year drop in goal differential of any team (minus-1.13 goals per game) after transitioning from what was once a record-breaking veteran core to the league’s eighth-youngest lineup. What was supposed to be a smooth handoff turned into a full-scale identity crisis when Boston’s seven-year streak of top-five scoring finishes snapped to the tune of a No. 26 ranking on that side of the ice in 2024-25.

Now the remaining nucleus of David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman has to prove that it, too, can carry an era of Bruins hockey the same way Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejčí, Zdeno Chara, Tuukka Rask, Torey Krug and others did in the past.

And then there were the Nashville Predators, whose 68-point season represented a staggering 31.5-point shortfall versus their preseason Vegas projection — the biggest miss in the NHL. What once looked like a loaded Preds roster with scoring, depth and Juuse Saros in net instead seemed disjointed from the start and never found success at either end.

Most of the group that was supposed to win last season is back now, and some are bouncing back nicely. Others, however, are like Steven Stamkos, Brady Skjei and Filip Forsberg — from whom Nashville still needs more bang for the salary-cap bucks being spent.

The drought-enders

When the Ottawa Senators finally made the playoffs last season, for the first time since going to the 2017 Eastern Conference finals, they ended what was tied for the NHL’s seventh-longest postseason drought of all time.

However, Ottawa was not the only franchise with a playoff-less streak that long — or even longer — and its achievement just turned up the pressure on the other two teams in that category to make their own postseason returns.

First, the Buffalo Sabres: Their playoff drought is now an NHL-record 14 seasons long — four more than the second-longest in league history — and the organization is well past the territory where incremental improvements suffice anymore. The youngest current Sabre, Zach Benson, was still in kindergarten the last time Buffalo played a postseason game, and zero players on this season’s roster were in the NHL when the drought began.

After a modestly positive goal differential in 2023-24, Buffalo backslid to minus-22 last season, and that regression has seemed to carry over to 2025-26 thus far. The Sabres’ low playoff odds already don’t paint a pretty picture, but they have to prove they can end this streak one of these years.

Finally, there are the Detroit Red Wings, whose own nine-season drought is not too far off from Buffalo’s — and completely uncharacteristic for one of hockey’s most storied franchises. The “Yzer-plan” was designed to restore the glory years, but Detroit has ranked better than 24th in goal differential just once during the skid (2023-24) and gave back all of those gains last season.

The good news in Hockeytown is that the 2025-26 team has started strong, bringing its playoff odds up above a coin flip. But Detroit has been down this early-season path before, only to collapse down the stretch, so the Wings hanging on to their playoff position might be the biggest prove-it on our list.

Both clubs have stockpiled young talent and patience in equal measure, but the next step remains to end their droughts and prove the long rebuilds were worth the wait.