ESPN Predicts Florida Panthers to Repeat as Stanley Cup Champions in 2026-27

ESPN has released its predictions for how every NHL team will finish during the 2026-27 season, forecasting that the Florida Panthers will once again claim the Stanley Cup.

The predictions cover the full 32-team league, offering forecasts for each club's regular-season finish and playoff outlook before puck drop on the new campaign.

ESPN frames the exercise as a way for fans to get ahead of the season's storylines without needing to watch every game as it unfolds, providing an early guide to where analysts expect teams to land.

The Panthers enter the predictions as the team to beat, reflecting the club's recent success in the postseason. ESPN's report does not detail the specific regular-season records or point totals used to arrive at the rankings in the material available for this summary.

Season-long prediction pieces like this one have become a staple of ESPN's hockey coverage, giving fans a full-league snapshot before the results start rolling in.

Full team-by-team breakdowns and reasoning behind each forecast are available in ESPN's complete predictions package.