Who Will be Tanking for Gavin Mckenna in 2025 2026

[TGWL]

Depends who wins the lotto this year. Might eliminate a team if they win their 2nd #1 lotto in 5 years.

 

[Gabrielor]

Buffalo will be a front-runner in Feb, 26, go on a weird win streak after their 15th straight playoff math elimination, and pick some hot prospect 8th that'll help your favorite team win a cup in 7-8 years.

 

[StreetHawk]

Depends who wins the lotto this year. Might eliminate a team if they win their 2nd #1 lotto in 5 years.

Said before in order to Tank, GM needs to be secure in their job to be in the bottom 3 next season to go into it with the expectation to be bad. Otherwise if they are likely to be fired if they are bottom 3 bad they will aim to make moves to better the club in summer of 2025.
I don’t think Davidson of Chicago has that luxury.
Grier, in SJ might have 1 more year to be that bad.
Buffalo, don’t think Adams can afford it.
Francis in Seattle, probably can afford it.
Trotz in Nash? Would need to look at selling a couple more vets if they do.
Pitt, hard to see them that bad so long as Sid is healthy.
Ana, got better this season. Would be a massively disappointment if they go from close to 80 points to maybe 70 next season.
Isles, if they get a new GM he’d be given the grace period to be that bad.

That’s how I look at it. Tanking is intentionally planning on being in the bottom 3 going into the season. So, only so many GMs would survive to benefit from doing that.

 

[Dead Coyote]

Intentional or not, nothing can save the Seattle Kraken from being absolutely god awful and losing the majority of games to put them in a top 5 draft spot.

Would need like 5 unlikely things to happen to even have a chance

1) Grubs gets jettisoned to the sun
2) Daccord doesn't get injured
3) Stezka or Grubs replacement is solid
4) Beniers, Kakko and Wright all continue playing well or elevate their game
5) FA signing to replace Bjorkstrand and Gourde
6) Dunn + Montour + Evans + Oleksiak + basically our whole D stop shitting the bed constantly
7) McCann plays more like he did the last few years instead of looking like he's nursing an injury the entire year
8) McCann learns how to shoot
9) We somehow pull a 1C/2C out of our ass

 

[StrawHatEklund]

Sharks will likely be bottom 5 next year. Definitely not out right tanking but I would be surprised if we are say the 6th or 7th worst team. But we should be on the outside fighting for a WC the following year hopefully. I don’t want to have high odds for DuPont. It means we aren’t progressing well.

 

[GrandBison]

Boston should. As a Habs fan, we need the Bruins back in shape sooner than later. Habs-Bruins playoffs is the meaning of hockey.

 

[Kevinsane]

Pittsburgh will be brutal by this time in 2026. My money is on them to draft McKenna.

 

[Kevinsane]

Pittsburgh will be brutal by this time in 2026. My money is on them to draft McKenna.

Seattle may be that bad without ever being that good, and be the first team to look like an expansion team twice in five years.

 

[Darren McCord]

Pittsburgh will be brutal by this time in 2026. My money is on them to draft McKenna.

Accept it’s going it’s going to be with the rangers pick

 

[StreetHawk]

Seattle may be that bad without ever being that good, and be the first team to look like an expansion team twice in five years.

I doubt Francis goes into the summer aiming to build a bottom 3 team. Question is would he survive to make the pick if they do end up that bad and win the lottery?
He is signed to 2027. But most of the time you never leave a GM going into their final year. So either you extend him in 2026 or fire him. Not going to just let him finished out the final year.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Depends who wins the lotto this year. Might eliminate a team if they win their 2nd #1 lotto in 5 years.

You mean Chicago, specifically. If Chicago is not 32nd in the league and wins the 1st overall pick this year, then they become ineligible to win McKenna. Montreal was already last when they won the 2022 1st overall pick and San Jose was already last when we won the 2024 1st overall pick. NJ (who moved up in 2022) isn't going to be lottery eligible this year, Anaheim dropped from 1 to 2 in 2023, and Chicago stayed at 2 in 2024. So the only team that has moved up since the rule change has been Chicago for Bedard.

 

[lakai17]

Blackhawks will just sign more nhl fillers for this reason alone. I wouldn't blame them as they can pull it off. While Bettman is in anyway!

 

[ColbyChaos]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Chicago barred from winning the lottery until 2028 because they won the last two years? Or does winning second place not count?

They only won in 2023. In 2024 they just maintained their draft position at 2.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Flyers are a bit of a dark horse. They are plummeting like a stone down the standings to end the year and it’s hard to see help on the way in the near future. The center depth is among the worst in the league

 

[The Last Red]

Among th

Flyers are a bit of a dark horse. They are plummeting like a stone down the standings to end the year and it’s hard to see help on the way in the near future. The center depth is among the worst in the league

Among the worst? I think it’s far and away the worst. Not even a legit 2C, let alone a 1C.

 

[Ignatius]

I think Pittsburgh is past due for accidently winning another draft lottery for a generational talent. I mean Chicago got theirs, Toews and Kane leave and whaddya'know they accidentally wins the draft lottery immediately afterwards and gets Bedard. Uncle Gary needs to come through for the Steel City again!

 

[BFLO]

I don’t know. The all-in tank hasn’t done a whole lot for Chicago or Buffalo recently. There’s more than one way to build a contender.

The Pens also have a much better core of 30+ players, but it’s not hurting their tank

The Sabres all in tank ended a decade ago, the 2014-15 season. Everything after that was incompetence

 

[waitin425]

In the east Sabres, Flyers, Pens.

In the west, Hawks and Kraken.

That's my prediction for bottom 5 next year. Somehow the Pens win the lottery.

 

[Summer Rose]

I hope the Blackhawks win this year’s lottery so they can’t draft Gavin McKenna next year.

 

[Nazzz]

2026 Mckenna:
32 Boston
31 Seattle
30 Chicago
29 Pittsburgh
28 San Jose

2027 Dupont
32 Pittsburgh
31 Philadelphia
30 Boston
29 NYRangers
28 Seattle

 

[newsportsfan123]

Intentional or not, nothing can save the Seattle Kraken from being absolutely god awful and losing the majority of games to put them in a top 5 draft spot.

Would need like 5 unlikely things to happen to even have a chance

1) Grubs gets jettisoned to the sun
2) Daccord doesn't get injured
3) Stezka or Grubs replacement is solid
4) Beniers, Kakko and Wright all continue playing well or elevate their game
5) FA signing to replace Bjorkstrand and Gourde
6) Dunn + Montour + Evans + Oleksiak + basically our whole D stop shitting the bed constantly
7) McCann plays more like he did the last few years instead of looking like he's nursing an injury the entire year
8) McCann learns how to shoot
9) We somehow pull a 1C/2C out of our ass

I don’t think they will be bad enough. Nyman might be the real deal. I wonder did Francis find the next Finnish star. Liiga is so weird because I feel like only 4 of the top u20 players in the last 10 years have actually made an impact in the NHL. Like it’s so weird to me and probably one of the hardest leagues to scout. They make good bottom-6 fore checkers though.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Flyers are a bit of a dark horse. They are plummeting like a stone down the standings to end the year and it’s hard to see help on the way in the near future. The center depth is among the worst in the league

They aren't gonna tank, not under Torts. But they will be so terrible that they get 1OA anyway... And then Mckenna + Michkov comes true...