Who will be tanking for Gavin McKenna in 2025-2026?

[Minnesota Knudsens]

After lose for Hughes and fail for Nail, I'm having a hard time coming up with a pun for McKenna.

I kind of like the ring of “Give In for Gavin”

 

[Pantokrator]

2nd place doesn't count because they didn't move up

So if a team is the worst for 5 years in a row, that doesn't count as winning the lottery? I think that makes sense, but I hate the way they say a team won the lottery if it was their natural position anyway.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Detroit, Philadelphia, San Jose, Montreal and Columbus will be the lottery teams

Feel like Calgary will be down there

 

[blueswede22]

After lose for Hughes and fail for Nail, I'm having a hard time coming up with a pun for McKenna.

Crash like Senna for McKenna

 

[Headshot77]

I feel like we're due for another pair of generational talents. It's been a while.

 

[TageGod]

Burnt Sienna is a nice color to go with a shitty team tanking for Mackenna

Maybe something with Dilemma for Mackenna.

 

[Juxtaposer]

The Sharks might still be really bad in two seasons, but we’re 100% done intentionally tanking (this was the only season we did so).

 

[InfinityIggy]

Calgary and Pittsburgh.

 

[crazyfisherman]

Hopefully Calgary and vegas

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Pittsburgh may not be totally there in 2 years but 3-4 is when they will be down in that range.

Then the fun begins.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

The Pittsburgh Cycle.

 

[Realgud]

Booed in our arena for McKenna

 

[Daishi]

The thing that kid has going for is his surname starts with M. M's don't bust if they go as first pick. He'll be better than Bedard for sure.

 

[majormajor]

San Jose and Chicago will still be atrocious, they don't need to try to be bad. Pittsburgh and Calgary are due to crash and burn, but based on team history it's unlikely Calgary will embrace it, while Pittsburgh loves to tank for a star player. One issue though is where does Crosby fit in this? Are they actually going to trade him?

 

[CanadienShark]

Vegas.... only to realize far too late we don't have this pick

Please please please.

 

[MHO]

My gut fears Pittsburgh. They just get lucky like the San Antonio Spurs do with David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and Victor Wembanyama. I'm a Blackhawks fan and I'd be very surprised if they were in the running for #1 in 2 years but you never know.

 

[blankall]

Feel like Calgary will be down there

They will be the only intentionally tanking team mentioned so far. They'll sell off a few more vets at the end the next season. Coleman, Backlund, Mantha, and Kuzmenko. Possible Weegar, Kadri, or Andersson.

The team is depleted now. By 2025/26 they'll be in extreme tank mode. Unless Wolf emerges as a superstar, they are a lottery team.

 

[blankall]

All of Chicago, Pittsburgh, and SJ will have enough talent to drag them into bottom 10, not not necessarily bottom 5 position. In two years Bedard and celebrini will be very good. SJ now has two top level BU players, who will have built in chemistry plus whoever they acquire this year. They'll likely start adding picks this off season.

Crosby will still be good enough in 2025/26 to keep the team as more of a bubble team. Plus he'll continue to force the organization to acquire pieces here and there.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

Here we go againa, this time for McKenna

 

[Donuts]

canucks win cup this upcoming season and tank the next and win #1oa pick

crazzzy lol

 

[DJB]

Absolutely Pittsburgh. I seriously wonder what would happen if they *DIDN'T* have a Lemieux or Crosby for even a minute

They would have been in Atlanta in the 80’s.

That franchise has been saved twice by generational talents. They deserve to be mediocre for the next 20 years

 

[DitchMarner]

Absolutely Pittsburgh. I seriously wonder what would happen if they *DIDN'T* have a Lemieux or Crosby for even a minute

That happened for about three years, during which their best player was merely some scrub named Jagr...

 

[Silky Johnson]

He isn’t a special talent, he is good, and is going to go top-5 in 2026. But Speical? No.

He is the OVERWHELMING favourite to go first in 2026 right now. What he is currently showing is caparable to McDavid.

He was fantastic at the U18 significantly outplaying 1st round picks from a draft class two years before his.

He could regress but as it stands now he is pacing to be one of the best prospects of this millennium.

 

[Michoulicious]

Florida and Calgary will finish bottom 10 this year and Calgary's unprotected 2026 1st then will end up in Montreal (Monahan's trade to Montreal).

They will then win the 2026 draft lottery and McKenna will center a line of Demidov and Caufield while Suzuki will play with Slafkovsky and Dach in 2026-2027.

Let me dream, ok?

 

[Hanji]

Chicago will magically get the #1 pick. Bank on it.