In the second part of our 2025-26 season previews, we take a look at the remaining teams in the Plante Conference. Read part 1 here.

Parry Sound Orrsmen

24-25 record: 37-42-3 (missed playoffs)
24-25 leading scorers: Auston Matthews (73, 70-33-103), David Pastrnak (82, 32-60-92), Matthew Boldy (73, 27-53-80), Connor McDavid (76, 24-53-77)
2025 draftees: Gabe Perreault (10), Jani Nyman (29), Maxim Tsyplakov (53), Ryan Greene (76)
Key arrivals: Maxim Tsyplakov, Lane Hutson, Simon Benoit, Dan Vladar
Key departures: Jesper Boqvist, Drew O’Connor, Mark Kastelic, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, John Klingberg, Erik Gustafsson
25-26 outlook: After years of struggling to find the right support for stars Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, and David Pastrnak, some important things have fallen into place for the Orrsmen. They’ve steadily added depth on the wings, and last year’s arrival of Brock Faber, along with the upcoming debut of Lane Hutson, completely changes the complexion of the blueline, long a Parry Sound weakness. Last season was a disappointment, but McDavid, Pastrnak and supporting players like Rickard Rakell have much more to give than what they showed in 24-25. Goaltending let them down as well, and while Stuart Skinner has proven to be an unreliable starter, the hope is that Jake Allen and Joel Hofer can compensation. This team could find itself in a race for one of the last playoff spots, but there’s also a chance it cruises into the postseason with ease.

Pittsburgh Hornets

24-25 record: 39-35-8 (lost in second round)
24-25 leading scorers: Jason Robertson (82, 42-50-92), Quinn Hughes (82, 24-65-89), Evgeni Malkin (82, 26-59-85), Charlie Coyle (82, 34-42-76)
2025 draftees: Oliver Moore (14), Hunter Brzustewicz (36)
Key arrivals: Philip Tomasino, Aatu Raty
Key departures: Anthony Duclair, Sam Malinski, Lukas Dostal
25-26 outlook: The Hornets have done a good job shoring up the ranks to compensate for the slow decline of star Evgeni Malkin, with Marco Rossi and Pavel Dorofeyev the latest two to emerge as legit scoring options. That leaves the team with solid depth up front to go along with what continues to be one of the best bluelines in the business, led by Quinn Hughes and Victor Hedman. Pittsburgh was a bit let down by Andrei Vasilevskiy last season; if he rebounds they could make some noise. But with few significant roster changes, this team is a good bet to make the playoffs but might not have what it takes to truly separate it from the middle of the pack.

Salem Sabercats

24-25 record: 22-53-7 (missed playoffs)
24-25 leading scorers: Anze Kopitar (81, 26-31-57), Gustav Nyquist (81, 13-44-57), Bo Horvat (81, 22-21-43), Will Borgen (80, 2-38-40)
2025 draftees: Matvei Michkov (2), Owen Pickering (25), Zachary L’Heureux (37), Justin Hryckowian (47), Nolan Allan (69)
Key arrivals: Matt Coronato, Zachary L’Heureux, Nick Blankenburg
Key departures: Logan Couture, Dakota Joshua, Ondrej Palat, Torey Krug
25-26 outlook: When things finally fell apart for the once-mighty Sabercats, it happened in a big way: a bottom-three finish. The rebuild is officially on. Salem has some young pieces to help form the basis for a solid roster in a year or two, including Connor Zary, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Jack Quinn) but the addition of Matt Coronato and especially 2nd overall pick Matvei Michkov could be real difference-makers. The D is so-so at best, beyond Brandon Montour and Jake Walman, and the Kevin Lankinen/Pyotr Kochetkov tandem doesn’t inspire much confidence either. Salem is heading for another top pick.

South Side Renegades

24-25 record: 38-36-8 (lost in first round)
24-25 leading scorers: Brady Tkachuk (81, 38-43-81), Teuvo Teravainen (76, 25-51-76), Dylan Larkin (68, 28-36-65), Nico Hischier (71, 35-27-62)
2025 draftees: Dalibor Dvorsky (13), Maveric Lamoureux (35), Isaiah George (55), Oskar Back (78)
Key arrivals: Mitchell Chaffee, Isaiah George
Key departures: Sonny Milano, Conor Sheary
25-26 outlook: The South Side Renegades have excellent strengths and some glaring weaknesses. Starting with the good: players like Matthew Knies have helped to fill out the top of the lineup around the excellent centre depth of Dylan Larkin, Nico Hischier, Anthony Cirelli, and Mason McTavish, and Connor Hellebuyck and Joseph Woll could well be the best goaltending tandem in the league. On the flip side, the team lacks depth on the wings, especially on the right side where Kappo Kakko continues to flounder, and the the team has far too little offense from the blueline, beyond Seth Jones and (arguably) Vladislav Gavrikov. Not much has changed going into this season, so the Renegades remain squarely in the playoff bubble zone.

Winnipeg Falcons

24-25 record: 22-54-6 (missed playoffs)
24-25 leading scorers: Elias Pettersson (82, 41-61-102), Frank Vatrano (82, 38-48-86), Jamie Benn (82, 23-52-75), Adam Lowry (81, 12-21-33)
2025 draftees: Macklin Celebrini (1), Lian Bichsel (24), Jack Finley (46), Dennis Hildeby (68)
Key arrivals: Macklin Celebrini, Connor Brown, Morgan Barron, Lian Bichsel
Key departures: Marcus Johansson, Ben Chiarot, Joonas Korpisalo
25-26 outlook: It was a disastrous year for the Winnipeg Falcons, with one big silver lining: moving up one spot in the draft lottery enabled them to grab Macklin Celebrini. With questions surrounding Elias Pettersson’s ability to sustain his 100-point performance from last year and the inevitable decline of Jamie Benn, Celebrini projects to step right into a top-six role and may even be the 1C before you know it. The team has high hopes that Dylan Holloway can grow into a solid contributor, which would help as well. The D looks better these days, with Luke Hughes, Owen Power, and Dylan Samberg providing the depth they lacked for several years, and the Darcy Kuemper/Calving Pickard tandem in net should do fine. But the forward depth is likely going to be this team’s weakness and keep them far from playoff contention for at least another year.