The 2026-27 NHL season is going to bring pressure in different forms for different teams, but a few clubs are carrying far more of it than the rest. Some are chasing a championship with a superstar who has little time left on his deal. Others are staring at a roster built to win now, with no interest in another early playoff exit.
And then there’s the kind of pressure that comes when a team has spent years getting close, only to keep falling short.
Edmonton is the clearest example of that kind of heat. Connor McDavid is entering year 12 of his career and has only two years left on his contract.
He has already done just about everything an NHL player can do, except win the Stanley Cup. That missing piece only grows louder with each season that passes.
He has to win at some point.
They have to win.
The longer that goes on, the more the question hangs over everything: when does he decide he’s had enough? The Oilers have also made themselves a target by bringing in controversial head coach Mike Babcock, a move that has already drawn plenty of criticism. If that decision blows up, the fallout figures to reach everyone in the organization.
Dallas is in a different spot, but the urgency is just as real. The Stars reached three straight Western Conference Finals before dropping back in 2025-26 and losing in the first round. Injuries mattered, sure, but this was supposed to be a team with championship ambitions, and it never even made it to the second round.
Now Jason Robertson is sitting on a one-year contract and can become an unrestricted free agent next offseason. That kind of setup changes the feel of an entire year.
If Robertson were planning to stay long term, he likely would have already signed something bigger. Instead, Dallas is heading into a season where every move carries extra weight because a major piece could be gone soon.
Minnesota’s pressure looks a lot like Dallas’, only with a different star at the center of it. The Wild gave up a steep price to get Quinn Hughes during the 2025-26 season, hoping to pair him with Kirill Kaprizov and build a true contender around a top-10 forward and a Norris Trophy-level defenseman.
There was also the hope, maybe a hopeful stretch, that Hughes could be convinced to stay.
But everything points in another direction, with Hughes seemingly set on joining his brothers, Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes, with the New Jersey Devils once he can hit free agency. Minnesota could still trade him this season, even while contending. If it keeps him and goes all in, though, this may be one of its best shots for a while.
Tampa Bay rounds out the list, and while the Lightning are not carrying the same kind of desperation as the other three, the pressure is still there. They have won two Stanley Cups in the last decade, so this isn’t about proving they belong. It’s about whether this core has enough left to make another run.
The last four playoff trips have ended in first-round exits. Nikita Kucherov is in the final year of his contract, and a lot of the key players around him are getting deeper into their 30s.
That combination matters. The window does not stay open forever, and for Tampa Bay, it may already be starting to narrow if Kucherov does not re-sign.
In Other News...
Stars Win May Have Just Created A Wild Problem To Watch
Minnesota wrapped up its preseason with a loss to Dallas, but the bigger concern coming out of that game was less about the final score and more about what happened on the blue line. The Wild are now in the stretch run before opening night, with two regular-season games left to get ready, and they have already started sorting through special teams work and defensive pairings in case their lineup has to absorb an early-season adjustment.
Brock Fabers status is the piece everyone is watching after he was hurt in the final preseason game and then stayed out of the next two practices. John Hynes said Faber was home resting, and the club was expecting a further update Tuesday, leaving Minnesota to prepare without knowing yet whether one of its key defensemen will be available when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Stars Final Forward Decisions Say A Lot About This Veteran Push
The opening night roster says plenty about where this Stars group believes it is headed. Dallas went with 12 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders, keeping the blue line and crease intact while leaning into a familiar core up front. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn are still part of the plan, a sign the Stars are continuing to build around veterans who know the standards in this room.
There is also a bit of movement around the edges of the forward group, and that part of the roster has its own intrigue. Joel Kiviranta is back in Dallas after three seasons with Colorado, giving the club another familiar face as it tries to balance experience, depth and fit on the wing. The final forward decisions hint at a team trying to stay in win-now mode without straying too far from the identity that has carried it this far. [Read more 🡒]
Stars May Regret This Goalie Decision Sooner Than Expected
Remi Poiriers strong preseason put him in the mix for the backup job behind Casey DeSmith, but the opportunity never quite turned into a roster spot in Dallas. The Stars moved him to waivers, ending his push for the No. 2 job and opening the door for another club to take a closer look at the young goalie.
New Jersey did exactly that, and the fit could make the decision harder to ignore in hindsight. Poirier now has a chance to compete for what may be his first real NHL workload with the Devils, leaving Dallas to wonder whether a promising camp performance was overlooked at the wrong time. [Read more 🡒]