- Daily Faceoff has the Capitals, Panthers, Maple Leafs, Predators and Mammoth as the NHL’s five most improved teams
- Washington missed the playoffs on the same point total as the Golden Knights, then went out and added Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou and Boone Jenner
- Read below for why Toronto’s roster overhaul and Florida’s healthy core made the cut
Nobody in hockey had a louder summer than Washington.
Matt Larkin of Daily Faceoff put the Capitals first on his list of the five most improved teams heading into 2026-27, and he handed them a title on the way by. “If we hand out an unofficial ‘won the offseason’ crown, it clearly goes to Washington,” Larkin wrote.
The starting point was already fine. Washington finished last season on the same point total as Vegas, a team that won the Pacific and reached the Stanley Cup Final, and piled up 10 more regulation wins than the Flyers.
None of that got them into the playoffs. Then the shopping started.
Tuch, Kyrou and Jenner all joined the forward group, Vincent Desharnais landed on the third pair, and full seasons from Cole Hutson and Ilya Protas are on the way. Check out the welcome Tuch got in D.C.:
Florida made the list without doing much shopping at all. Injuries gutted the Panthers last season, starting with Aleksander Barkov tearing his ACL and MCL on the first day of camp.
Matthew Tkachuk played 31 games. Seth Jones played 52. Only one Panther dressed for 80.
That group is healthy now, and Brady Tkachuk is in the middle of it. A top nine built around Barkov, both Tkachuks, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett is not missing the postseason.
Toronto went the other way entirely. John Chayka turned over half the roster with Darren Raddysh, Sergei Bobrovsky, Jack Roslovic, Colton Sissons, Nick Paul, Teddy Blueger, Brandon Duhaime and Emil Andrae, then added Gavin McKenna with the first pick in the 2026 draft.
Here’s our first look at McKenna in full Leafs gear, wearing No. 92:
Nashville and Utah close out the five. Larkin credits Chris MacFarland for prying restricted free agent Mavrik Bourque out of a cap-strapped Dallas team, then filling in around him with Jack Drury, Ross Colton and Nils Hoglander.
Utah has climbed from 77 points to 89 to 92 in three seasons. The Mammoth traded for goalie Sebastian Cossa and center Vincent Trocheck this summer, then signed Anders Lee on the first day of free agency:
Larkin ran the companion list too, tagging the Ducks, Sabres, Avalanche, Stars and Golden Knights as the five teams that got weaker this summer.
Camps open in a few weeks, and Washington will start the season as the roster the rest of the Metropolitan has to plan around.
