Making bold predictions is a little bit like signing up to throw darts at your local watering hole on a Wednesday night.

You will catch the rare bullseye, throw a few that land near the target and mix in a bunch that just make you look like you’ve been overserved.

Welcome to our 32 bold predictions for the 2026-27 NHL season:

1. The Ottawa Senators will knock off the Florida Panthers in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

How about that for the Ottawa’s first series win since 2017? It will come down to Linus Ullmark, but don’t sleep on the Sens’ top three D of Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub. Prettttty, pretty good.

2. Dylan Larkin will be traded to the Minnesota Wild before Christmas

It’s no secret the interest is mutual. After years of searching, a true No. 1 centre is right in front of the Wild, and GM Bill Guerin will present an offer that addresses more of Detroit’s immediate needs to get it done — just like he did for Quinn Hughes.

3. Bright spot in a dark year: Elias Pettersson will score 30 goals for the first time in three seasons

Unable to generate significant return to trade him, the only way out for EP40 is through, and he’ll pique interest now. He hasn’t had the best relationship with the Sedins, but perhaps this season is a great reset for all.

4. Four 18-year-olds from the 2026 NHL Draft class will stick for the season: San Jose’s Ivar Stenberg, Winnipeg’s Viggo Bjorck, New York’s Alberts Smits and Toronto’s Gavin McKenna

That’s more than the last two drafts combined. It’s Smits who is the most physically ready for the NHL grind, something the Rangers knew when they picked him.

5. Connor McDavid does not sign a contract extension in Edmonton next summer, when first eligible, and plays out 2027-28

My belief: Though undecided, if McDavid is ultimately changing teams, it won’t be via trade, as he won’t want to weaken the next team before his arrival. Think small sign-and-trade with a piece for his rights, similar to Mitch Marner.

6. The Seattle Kraken will win the 2027 NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select Landon DuPont from Michigan

Kraken GM Jason Botterill is a Michigan guy. He’s got work to do to reshape Seattle — and the best way to do that is to draft the top-end talent that the Kraken have failed to acquire in their short franchise history.

32 Thoughts: The PodcastHockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.Latest episode

32 Thoughts: The Podcast

Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from........

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