TORONTO — We’ve officially ticked past the quarter mark of the 2025-26 NHL season, and somehow it feels like we know less about what to expect from this season than we did before it all started. The season has gone all pear-shaped.

I’ll explain what I mean with seven takeaways from the 2025-26 season to date below.

Atlantic’s reign of terror is over

On Tuesday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning took down the New Jersey Devils by a score of 5-1. That brought their goal differential on the season out of the negative, and up to plus-three. Before that game, no team in the Atlantic Division had a positive goal differential.

For the past decade, the league has looked to the Atlantic as the home of true Stanley Cup threats, whether it’s been the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay or even

See Full Page