The NHLPA unveiled the results of its 2025-26 NHLPA Player Poll on April 17, putting Kris Letang and other NHL names into a survey snapshot released just one day before round one of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs was set to begin.
The poll, now in its 11th edition, drew anonymous responses from players from each of the league's 32 clubs during the first half of the season and covered everything from the most intense training regimen in the League to the fiercest rivalries, home-game sweater colors, the best ice, the best visiting dressing room, social media presence, fashion, future coach potential, golfers among NHL players and possible expansion destinations. The NHLPA said the results were available on its social channels and on NHLPA.com, turning a standard player survey into one more piece of playoff-week conversation.
That timing gave the poll extra reach. The league was already shifting toward the postseason, and the survey landed as a broad look at how players view the sport around them, not just how they play it. Because the voting was anonymous, the results are meant to capture candor rather than branding, which is part of why the poll has become a recurring piece of NHL season content.
The NHLPA also noted that T-shirts featuring Pastrnak, Binnington, Nylander and Keller were available through 500L, adding a commercial wrinkle to the release. Four unique shirt designs tied to the poll extended the project beyond the results page, a sign that the union sees value in packaging player opinion for fans as the playoffs begin the next day.
For Letang, whose name appeared in the release, the poll is part of a broader portrait of the league taken from inside the dressing rooms rather than from the stands. The real takeaway is that, on the eve of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the NHLPA used its annual survey to remind fans that the season's final chapter is built on opinions players are willing to share only when their names are not attached.