Now that we’ve just passed the halfway point of the NHL’s 2025-26 regular season, it’s fair to judge the teams that have been major disappointments this year.
Sure, a bad week or two (or three) could put a team behind the eight ball when it comes to being in a Stanley Cup playoff position, but after 41 games, we have a much clearer indication of the franchises that have let down their fan base with sustained subpar performances.
Most teams are indeed within a handful of points of getting into a playoff spot. However, the competitive bar that has been set has proved to be challenging for more than a couple of teams to clear. In some cases – including cases we’ll discuss below – it feels like certain teams have already seen their chances at earning a playoff position completely buried beneath a mountain of letdowns.
With that said, let’s get to it. Here are four teams that have been the biggest disappointments thus far this year. In alphabetical order:
New Jersey Devils
For a few years now, the Devils have been a team many observers have selected to do great things. But that really hasn’t materialized for New Jersey – especially this season, as they currently own the Eastern Conference’s fourth-worst record at 22-20-2. The Devils have the East’s worst goal differential at minus-22, and that’s the third-worst goal differential in the NHL, behind the St. Louis Blues (minus-45) and the Vancouver Canucks (minus-32).
That says a lot about the lack of fight in this New Jersey team. And it’s only gotten worse for the Devils, as they’ve gone 6-13-1 in their past 20 games. Despite having many talented offensive-minded players, New Jersey has the second-worst goals-for average, at 2.55.
And given that the Devils’ defense is positively mediocre – they currently sit tied for 16th place at 3.11 goals-for per game – it’s no wonder that New Jersey is a team in dire need of a significant shakeup. The Devils aren’t good enough, confident enough, or deep enough to get the job done, and New Jersey fans are rightfully irate at the state of the Devils right now.
New York Rangers
The Rangers were one of the biggest disappointments last season, and after GM Chris Drury made some notable changes this past summer, not much has changed for them. The Blueshirts have had many low points this year – including their abysmal home record of 5-11-4 – but rock bottom came Saturday afternoon, as the Rangers lost 10-2 to the Boston Bruins.
You can blame the loss on the absence of star goalie Igor Shesterkin and star defenseman Adam Fox. But when you’ve given up a touchdown and a field goal to a mediocre team like the Bruins, there are bigger issues at play. With Saturday’s defeat, the Rangers have gone 5-8-4 in their past 17 games. They now occupy 14th place in the East and seventh place in the Metropolitan Division – and the last-place-in-the-Metro Columbus Blue Jackets trail the Rangers by only three points, and the Blue Jackets have three games in hand on the Rangers.
It’s all adding up to an even worse season than the Blueshirts had last year. At least in 2024-25, the Rangers finished the year in fifth place in their division. This season, they could turn out to be the worst squad in the conference and one of the worst in the NHL.
Vancouver Canucks
We’ll take full ownership – prior to the season, we had the Canucks as a bounce-back team this year, and we projected them to finish third in the Pacific Division. But Vancouver has proved to unworthy of any praise or belief that they can turn things around, as they’re now tied with the Winnipeg Jets for the worst team in the league at 16-22-5.
Sure, you can look at the trade of superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild as a key reason behind the Canucks’ plummet down the Western Conference standings. However, Vancouver currently has the NHL’s sixth-worst offense, averaging 2.72 goals-for, and its defense is even worse, with the league’s second-worst goals-against average at 3.53.
Any way you cut it, the Canucks have completely cratered this season. Now, if they finish at the bottom of the standings, win the draft lottery and the Gavin McKenna Sweepstakes, Vancouver’s woes this year may be worth it.
But they’ve gone 8-14-5 in their past 27 games, and the rest of the season could be even uglier. It’s tough to preach patience for a franchise that can’t perform well at either end of the ice, but that’s where the Canucks are right now. And it’s going to be a long time before they have a clean slate and get to start anew with a different roster.
Winnipeg Jets
It’s a fact of life that, in a parity-filled league like the NHL, teams can fluctuate between being winners one season and losers the very next year. But in Winnipeg’s case, they’ve gone from winning the President’s Trophy as the league’s top regular-season team last season to bottoming out as the worst team in the NHL thus far this year.
The Jets have the league’s worst road record at an abominable 7-13-2 mark. And since Nov. 18, they’ve gone 4-15-5, including a record of 2-10-4 in their past 16 games. Nine of their past 11 losses have been one-goal defeats, but that’s almost worse than getting blown out of the water night in and night out. One way or another, Winnipeg continues to find new ways to lose, and at this stage, it would take a miracle for them to squeeze into the playoffs this season.
The Jets could also benefit from winning the McKenna Sweepstakes, but Winnipeg fans accustomed to seeing their team in the playoffs every year face a sobering reality. The Jets have dug themselves too big a hole to crawl out from, and it’s very likely they’re going to be faced with playing out the second half of the year knowing full well they won’t be playing meaningful hockey until next season begins.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
