A new GWMHL season is just days away. Draft picks have been made. Rosters have been finalized. Let’s take a look at what this season might have in store for all 22 teams, beginning with the six from the Plante Conference.

Baltimore Crab

24-25 record: 36-34-12 (lost in second round)
24-25 leading scorers: Sidney Crosby (82, 43-77-120), Filip Forsberg (82, 52-60-112), Jonathan Marchessault (82, 49-42-91), Cale Makar (77, 17-43-90)
2025 draftees: Sam Rinzel (12), Elias Pettersson (34), Max Sasson (60), Patrick Giles (81)Key arrivals: Mark Jankowski, Nikolai Kovalenko, Simon Edvinsson
Key departures: Jesper Fast
25-26 outlook: The Crab have a pretty strong top six, led by Sidney Crosby, Mark Scheifele, and Filip Forsberg, who all played a big part in sneaking this team into the playoffs and taking eventual finalist El Dorado to seven games, but it also lacks meaningful depth down the lineup. Secondary scoring could be this team’s Achilles heel. The goaltending tandem of Karel Vejmelka and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen also comes with question marks. On the bright side, Simon Edvinsson is set to join the team’s blueline–fellow youngsters Simon Nemec and Sam Rinzel remain a year away–which should help the defense corps make up for the age-related declines of Ryan McDonagh and Brent Burns. Baltimore looks like a bubble team, short of some big midseason acquisitions.

Charleston Chiefs

24-25 record: 48-25-9 (lost in third round)
24-25 leading scorers: Jared McCann (80, 43-64-107), Brayden Point (81, 43-51-94) Brock Boeser (81, 44-44-88), Casey Mittelstadt (80, 19-45-64)
2025 draftees: Joel Blomqvist (18), Victor Mancini (50), Ville Ottavainen (61), Nikke Kokko (84)
Key arrivals: Timothy Liljegren, Joel Blomqvist
Key departures: Kevin Labanc, Troy Stecher, Philipp Grubauer
25-26 outlook: The Chiefs surprised many with last year’s performance, helped by its reliable stars (Kyle Connor, Brayden Point, Miro Heiskanen, and Adam Fox) but truly driven by career years from Jared McCann and Brock Boeser. Dumping Philipp Grubauer is probably addition by subtractions, but that also leaves the starter as the very, very shaky Alexandar Georgiev (Anthony Stolarz figures to be something of a 1B). Timothy Liljegren does help solidify the defense somewhat, but if McCann and Boeser fall off, Charleston won’t be able to outscore bad goaltending and may struggle to make the playoffs.

Denver Spurs

24-25 record: 33-41-8 (missed playoffs)
24-25 leading scorers: Matt Duchene (80, 40-59-99), Vladimir Tarasenko (76, 31-63-94), Morgan Rielly (72, 14-58-72), Evander Kane (77, 41-28-69)
2025 draftees: Fabian Lysell (30), Drew Commesso (52), Helge Grans (74)
Key arrivals: Joel Hanley, Josh Mahura, Keaton Middleton, Juustus Annunen
Key departures: Evander Kane, Scott Wedgewood
25-26 outlook: Cursed by perennial injuries to crucial players, the Spurs have struggled to mount consistent seasons in recent years. They also traded what would turn out to be the 4th overall pick to West Virginia–at least the player they got in return, Morgan Rielly, had an excellent point-per-game season. Still, losing Evander Kane (cut due to injury) and with Vladimir Tarasenko being able to repeat his 94-point performance seeming unlikely, a bounceback isn’t looking realistic. Too many middle-sixers, like J-G Pageau and Warren Foegele, will be asked to be load-bearing contributors. This team might be able to stay out of the bottom five, but a playoff spot would take a minor miracle unless Jordan Binnington turns in a performance for the ages.

El Dorado Lynx

24-25 record: 50-19-13 (lost in final)
24-25 leading scorers: Ryan O’Reilly (82, 31-54-85), William Nylander (82, 35-49-84), Clayton Keller (77, 46-30-76), Adrian Kempe (77, 25-46-71)
2025 draftees: Seamus Casey (21), Joakim Kemell (43), Ethan Cardwell (64), Aleksei Kolosov (75), Devin Kaplan (87)
Key arrivals: Lukas Dostal
Key departures: Andrew Cogliano, Nico Sturm, Erik Brannstrom, Jonathan Quick
25-26 outlook: The Lynx have pretty consistently been at or near the top of the conference in recent seasons, and they have one title to show for it. What once was unequivocally Alex Ovechkin’s team is now so deep on the wings that they’ll barely feel it if Ovi has a down year. Kenny Johnson, Jordan Kyrou, and Mason Marchment could all well end up in the bottom six. The team’s biggest weakness remains offensive punch from the blueline, with only Matthias Ekholm really able to chip in on that front. A serious injury to John Marino doesn’t help, either. Still… that winger depth. If Ryan O’Reilly and Mikael Granlund can be serviceable top-six centres and newcomer Lukas Dostal can adequately relieve Sergei Bobrovsky, there’s nothing to suggest that El Dorado won’t be vying for top seed yet again.

Great Lakes Pilots

24-25 record: 43-27-12 (lost in first round)
24-25 leading scorers: Evan Bouchard (81, 29-69-98), Lucas Raymond (82, 36-48-84), Connor Bedard (68, 30-53-83), Rasmus Dahlin (81, 30-53-83)
2025 draftees: Rutger McGroarty (16), Sam Colangelo (38), Albert Johansson (58), Georgii Merkulov (82)
Key arrivals: Cutter Gauthier, Jackson Blake, Mavrik Bourque, Sam Colangelo, Jacob Berner-Docker, Albert Johansson, Elvis Merzlikins
Key departures: Michael Carcone, Hendrix Lapierre
25-26 outlook: The Pilots were the feel-good story of last season, a scrappy young club that surprised everyone by climbing out of the cellar with the conference’s third-best record. Sure, the playoffs could have gone better, but it was still a big success and one that the Pilots would like to build on. The team’s looking solid at most positions now, and it’s about to get a serious injection of youth with Cutter Gauthier, Jackson Blake, and Mavrik Bourque all poised to join the roster. It remains to be seen if this team will get the kinds of performances it did last season, but bigger contributions from vets like Ryan Donato would go a long way. The only question mark, and it’s a big one, is in goal. Thatcher Demko is hurt. Devon Levi isn’t ready for primetime. In desperation, the team acquired Elvis Merzlikins to take the starter’s net. He’ll have to outperform his recent seasons to give Great Lakes a chance to take another step forward.

Hershey Bears

24-25 record: 26-46-10 (missed playoffs)
24-25 leading scorers: Brandon Hagel (82, 30-50-80), Adam Henrique (82, 17-45-62), Wyatt Johnston (82, 22-35-57), Brady Skjei (80, 20-32-52)
2025 draftees: Ryan Leonard (6), Noah Ostlund (26), Marc Del Gaizo (48), Andre Lee (70)
Key arrivals: Adam Gaudette, David Perron, Emil Andrae
Key departures: Nick Cousins, Mike Reilly
25-26 outlook: The Bears have bounced in and out of the playoff bubble over the years, boosted early by striking gold with Brandon Hagel and Carter Verhaeghe. The future is pretty bright, with Ryan Leonard set to join the team next year and Leo Carlsson ready to break out. For now, improving on last season will be a challenge: even though Joey Daccord brings some stability in goal, the team is staring down big injuries to three key players in Valeri Nichushkin, Boone Jenner, and Hampus Lindholm. Hershey probably isn’t a playoff-bound team this year.