The Gauntlet
Every Gauntlet season compared
Each season's Gauntlet side by side: who won, how long it ran and how the games went.
Counting every Gauntlet game since 2023-24. The seasons before 2026-27 are the Gauntlet run on their real NHL results.
| 2026-27 | 2025-26 | 2024-25 | 2023-24 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Still going, 12 teams left | Kraken | Rangers and Stars | Sabres, Kraken and Avalanche |
| Qualification night | Oct 13, 2026 | Oct 11, 2025 | Oct 22, 2024 | Oct 24, 2023 |
| Last Gauntlet game | Still going | Jan 6, 2026 | Jan 24, 2025 | Mar 29, 2024 |
| Nights with a Gauntlet game | 4 | 16 | 14 | 14 |
| Teams put out | 20 | 31 | 30 | 29 |
| Virtual matches | 6 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Head-to-head games won by one goal | 4 | 14 | 10 | 10 |
| Ties broken | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Goals per head-to-head game | 7.1 | 6.4 | 5.7 | 6.9 |
| Most goals | Sidney Crosby (Penguins), Brady Tkachuk (Panthers), Josh Anderson (Canadiens), Martin Necas (Avalanche) and Artturi Lehkonen (Avalanche), 3 | Jordan Eberle (Kraken), 7 | Brandon Hagel (Lightning) and Tage Thompson (Sabres), 4 | Tage Thompson (Sabres), 7 |
| Most points | Sidney Crosby (Penguins), Erik Karlsson (Penguins) and Matthew Tkachuk (Panthers), 5 | Matty Beniers (Kraken), 9 | Zach Werenski (Blue Jackets), 9 | Tage Thompson (Sabres) and Alex Tuch (Sabres), 10 |
Goals and scoring count Gauntlet games only. A head-to-head game is one where the two Gauntlet teams played each other.
What is the Gauntlet?
A proposal for an NHL in-season tournament. All 32 teams start alive, every Gauntlet game is a game already on the regular-season schedule, and lose one and you are out.