What's every NHL team's best and worst jersey in franchise history?

New York Times

19-07-2025

In the NHL, jerseys are more than just uniforms; they are symbols of a legacy, history and pride for teams and their fan bases.
Throughout the years, teams have revealed jerseys that have stood the test of time. On the other side, there have also been some duds that teams couldn't ditch soon enough.
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This week, The Athletic asked its NHL staff for the best and worst jerseys for every club in franchise history. Writers were asked to be as specific as they wanted in their selections.
What do you think your favorite team's best and worst jerseys are? Let us know in the comments below.
Long live the eggplant. The Ducks have only brought it back on rare and special occasions since retiring it as their regular jersey in the 2006 rebrand, and the current orange duds with the retro logo combine the Disney and Henry Samueli ownership eras. But the eggplant and jade combination remains a unique one that worked so well.
You might think that Wild Wing busting through the ice is a slam-dunk choice. That infamous alternate from 1995-96 has a love-hate element thanks to the return for the NHL's 2021 Reverse Retro series because of its comical weirdness. But the white road threads from 2014-24 weren't clean at all. Too much going on. Way too much. — Eric Stephens
The gold jersey and gold socks played quite nicely against the black pants.
It's a cartoon. — Fluto Shinzawa
The Sabres brought back this classic look for a reason. After trying a different color scheme, a different logo and a different shade of blue, this jersey has proven to be timeless.
Then Sabres president Ted Black said of this alternate jersey, 'If it's a turd burger, I'll have to eat it.' And thus the 'turd burger' nickname for these jerseys was born. Yellow as a primary color for a Sabres jersey hasn't been attempted since. — Matthew Fairburn
In 2009, Calgary experimented with a red homage to the 1980s. What started as an alternate jersey eventually turned into their home jerseys. Their road whites were worn during the 2019 Heritage Classic, also a slam dunk. Personally, I'm also a big fan of the 'Blasty' jersey, their current alternates.
There are way too many stripes and the color scheme is similar to an old candy you'd find in your grandma's purse. Calgary won their outdoor game in these jerseys, though, so who am I to judge? But there are way better jerseys in their arsenal. Honorable mention: the 'Pedestal' jersey of the mid-1990s. — Julian McKenzie
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The Whalers' logo and colors are iconic, and the white jersey really pops with the green pants. While the franchise has been in Raleigh longer than it was in Hartford, it's likely the team will never get out from under the uniform shadow cast by The Whale.
The diagonal 'CANES' logo never really hit its mark, and Carolina seems to have a bit of an identity crisis by not using their main logo as the crest on either of their main jerseys. The white jersey looks particularly bad when occasionally paired with the team's black helmet. The entire road uniform is in desperate need of a refresh. — Cory Lavalette
The Blackhawks' traditional red jerseys are most people's favorites. That's fair. But for me, the 2019 Winter Classic jersey just popped, especially in that outdoor setting, with the black jersey and white stripes. It was a great look.
Nobody on the Blackhawks seemed to want to acknowledge publicly back then how bad the Adidas jerseys were, but what they did to the collars was unforgivable. Players and fans were pleased when the team moved on from them. — Scott Powers
The Avalanche have had a lot of good alternate jerseys over the years. As a Colorado native, I love the 2022-23 Reverse Retro with the state flag color scheme, and the 2021 Reverse Retro ode to the Nordiques worn at Lake Tahoe looked great. But nothing compares to the classic look with the Yeti foot on the shoulders from the late '90s.
These are bad. I appreciate the attempt to spice up the helmet, but nothing about this design looks good. The thought was there, trying to pay homage to the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel with the giant triangle, but it ended up looking like the players were wearing giant napkins tucked into their collars as if they were about to eat a seafood boil. — Jesse Granger
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Nothing against Stinger, the Blue Jackets' human-sized bug mascot, but his lime green-ness has no place on an NHL sweater, especially a crisp red, white and blue classic. In 2004, Stinger was removed as a shoulder patch, a good first step. In 2007, the Jackets left behind their original 'CBJ' kit with a lime green stick jutting through the middle.
We should start by thanking original GM Doug MacLean, because if it weren't for him — gasp! barf! — the franchise's first sweater would have had a green bug for the primary logo. Appalling. These first-year sweaters hold up well as a retro 'oh my God, they wore that' look, but they couldn't have moved on from them soon enough. — Aaron Portzline
This one is a toss-up for me between a few different options, but I'll go with the innovative look they had at the outdoor game five years ago. It was a bit based on the old Dallas Texans of the United States Hockey League and involved beige pants and old-time leather-looking gloves. The Big Star jerseys from their Cup win also rank up there, too.
The Stars' short-lived black alternates became the subject of ridicule for the weird star cow logo thing, but the red, yellow, black and green with swooshes combined to make this probably one of the worst jerseys in modern NHL history. Moo. — James Mirtle
The Red Wings' main uniforms are iconic, likely why they don't have many alternates (and rather bland ones when they do). But the 2014 Winter Classic jerseys were sublime, incorporating history and legacy with a distinct look that jumps off the sweater. We'll see what Detroit has planned for its centennial season, but these will be hard to top.
It's not the most offensive-looking jersey in the world, but it's so boring. It's hard to go wrong with a logo as good as the winged wheel, but this jersey puts that to the test by doing basically nothing else. Frankly, it looks like a practice jersey. — Max Bultman
The Oilers never won wearing these jerseys, but they had some epic moments. They reached Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final. Curtis Joseph, Todd Marchant and Kelly Buchberger all came up with defining postseason plays. The copper color is more emblematic of oil compared to orange. The oil driller with a hockey stick on the shoulder is a nice touch.
The NHL came out with new jerseys ahead of the 2007-08 season. The Oilers were one of the teams that suffered the most. The vertical piping down the front is off-putting. Cutting off the arm bands under the numbers is bizarre. No stripes at the bottom make them look plain. These were awful and fittingly worn during the worst era in franchise history. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman
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It's a tough call because the retro Panthers jersey was a strong option and one I think many would choose here. But the rebrand under new owner Vinnie Viola has modernized the look, and the '90s one feels better as a good third jersey.
There's a lot going on here, and that baby blue is pretty wild for a main color. The palm tree might help bring in free agents, though. — James Mirtle
It's true that the black-and-white color scheme with the home plate/chevron logo represents their most successful period, but the 'Forum blue' and gold era still rules. Variations were made in the early years, especially in the shoulder yokes, to better incorporate both colors in the home and road sets. Even the white 2022-23 Reverse Retro was sharp.
I will not have it this way. No. A thousand times no. (Honorable mention: The 2020 Stadium Series threads. Not good.) — Eric Stephens
I'm one of the rare people who loved the old red Christmas jerseys. In fact, there are a number of Wild players who have told me they wish they still wore them. I also loved the green classic sweaters back in the early 2010s with 'Minnesota Wild' in script. But the current whites look so clean and neat and perfect close up and on the ice.
I'm tempted to go with the North Stars-inspired Subway-looking third jerseys to rile you up, but the Winter Classic ones were worse thanks to the weird beige elbow pads and pants that looked like diapers from afar in the sub-zero Minnesota temperatures. It didn't help that the Blues' jerseys looked so good and that the Wild played poorly in the game. — Michael Russo
This question does not really apply to the Canadiens. There have been a handful of moments in more than 100 years of team history where the sweater has changed, but the look has largely been extremely consistent. There's a reason for that.
These sweaters, originally worn in 1912-13, brought the Canadiens such bad luck, they stopped using them earlier than they were supposed to as part of the team's interminable centennial celebrations. — Arpon Basu
These beauties, worn in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, had a navy base, the Predators' main logo in the center, a checkerboard pattern along the waist and tiger skulls on the shoulders. They are icy, clean and good enough that the franchise should have adopted them full-time and eliminated gold as a primary color.
Just awful. 'SMASHVILLE' in all caps on two lines, with the tri-star logo of the Tennessee state flag in the center. The color scheme of navy on top, gold in the middle and navy on the bottom isn't bad, but the lettering ruins everything. Fashion is cyclical, but some things — such as plaid leisure suits and these jerseys — should never see the light of day again. — Joe Rexrode
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The black sweaters with 'Jersey' on the front are sleek and pop whenever they are on the ice. The font is perfect and the bits of red still pop, which is important given the team's branding.
Most of the Devils jerseys look the same, so it's hard to pick one out as dramatically worse than the others. The Stadium Series jersey was fine in 2014, but the green pants don't always do it for me. — Peter Baugh
The 1996-98 home jersey is a close second, because it combines the classic Islanders logo with a really unique stripe pattern. The home jersey of the late '70s just brings the best elements together, the orange V-neck adds a classic vibe and the orange bordering on the name/numbers adds more intrigue, without being a distraction.
As much as a black-and-white color scheme made sense for the Islanders' Barclays Center era, it's a total miss. The logo is sharp, but there just isn't enough character to make it a primary logo (versus a shoulder patch) — especially on a bland base of a jersey. There are too many black jerseys in this league, and this one was particularly forgettable. — Shayna Goldman
The Rangers' white road jerseys are simple, clean and some of the best in the league. There's a reason the look has stuck around so long: no need to change what looks good.
It's not terrible, but it doesn't look as good as the Rangers' normal jerseys and it felt a little boring for an alternate. — Peter Baugh
A classic Senators jersey that stood the test of time for 15 years before they moved away from it at the start of the 2007-08 campaign. The hallmark of the jersey is the 2D logo, which should never have been taken off their jerseys. Honorable mention to their 2011-17 alternate. You know, the one Rihanna made famous?
We just hope both teams are having fun at the Rihanna concert tonight 🥰 🎶 #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/5ibr7Py4ny
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) February 13, 2023
I'm usually a big fan of jerseys with black as their base. But this ain't it. A loud 'SENS' on the front looks tacky and the way the red and black are assembled on the jersey just doesn't look great. It's not a fashionable jersey worth wearing on and off the ice. — Julian McKenzie
When the Flyers introduced new sweaters prior to the 2023-24 season, it was noticeable that they looked pretty similar to the sweaters in which they won their only two Stanley Cup championships.
The only time the Flyers messed with their classic logo came when they used these monstrosities that didn't last very long. — Kevin Kurz
The 1992-97 sweater, made famous by Snoop Dogg in the 1994 music video for 'Gin and Juice,' is an all-time classic. While it wasn't totally original — it looks an awful lot like the Rangers sweater — something about the color scheme just pops. Prime Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in those uniforms make it even more special for Penguins fans.
Drop (that puck) like it's hot.
Hi @SnoopDogg! 👋 pic.twitter.com/PyCCXr9zPP
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 13, 2019
The Penguins went back to their roots after a decade of these hideous uniforms and have been more visually pleasing ever since. Just a drab collection of colors that never looked right. — Josh Yohe
Teal. For real. The Sharks were bad in those early years, but man, they managed to look so good while being horrible. Even with some changes over the decades, the color has worked so well that they've never gone away from it. Good call.
First off, the Sharks have never had some truly awful designs. Props to them. Even the black-based alternates over the years have been solid. (Black is overdone as a uniform color, but the pops of teal helped break it up.) This combination wasn't terrible. It just wasn't a winner. — Eric Stephens
The Kraken's 2024 Winter Classic jersey, which paid tribute to the old Seattle Metropolitans look, is one of the coolest single hockey jerseys any NHL team has worn across the past decade.
The Kraken's 2022-23 revere retro sweater paid tribute to the 1940s era Seattle Ironmen, but in contrast with the other clean, simple Seattle looks in the franchise's brief history, it was just a little bit too busy. — Thomas Drance
The Blues went back to their roots with the jersey concept they wore in the 2017 Winter Classic against the Chicago Blackhawks. It's a simple, clean look that features the heritage blue color they used from the late 1960s and early '70s. It's so good they've decided to make it their full-time uniform in 2025-26.
The Blues had primarily worn two colors in their history — blue and yellow — before introducing red in the 1990s. Players and fans were mortified. In '97, Blues executive Jim Woodcock worked wonders to return the team to blue. Interestingly, with the introduction of retros, the red is back — and some fans even like them. — Jeremy Rutherford
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This look is just iconic for the Lightning — especially in black. The shoulder patch with the bolt over Florida is really clean. The silver shimmer adds the perfect pop. And the blue accents tie it all together perfectly, as a border on the bottom hem, sleeves and collar. The simplified lettering on the back made the jerseys more readable by 2001.
The black alternate feels like a tease of the originals, but falls short. It's a little more interesting than the black 'BOLTS' third from 2014, but with more blue accents, this should be a cooler jersey. The logo is too small and the striping pattern is just wrong. There's so much squandered potential. — Shayna Goldman
There's just something about these jerseys that I really dig. Clean, crisp and classic with two different versions of the old-school Leafs logo. I especially like the white edition, with the horizontal blue lines. Bring these back!
It's mostly about the logo, which screams corporate. There's no soul to this look either. It's bland and boring. — Jonas Siegel
We haven't officially seen these uniforms in an NHL game yet, but it was either these or their inaugural jerseys from this past season. The Mammoth name and logo are a huge upgrade compared to the generic branding from this past season.
The color scheme of Utah's first jerseys was nice, but these uniforms were generic-looking and lacked a clear logo. The Mammoth branding and logo will be significant upgrades this coming season. — Harman Dayal
This is an unpopular opinion in the Vancouver market, especially given Canucks fans' refusal to see the 'Flying skate' logo as the design abomination that it very clearly is. The orca jersey with the 'Vancouver' wordmark on the front, combined with stick-in-rink adornments on the shoulders, is the cleanest and best jersey in franchise history.
The 'Flying V' was designed in consultation with snake oil salespeople psychologists to be 'aggressive,' and it is definitely aggressively ugly. Mustard yellow, an unsightly two-colored V-shaped sash on the front, the spaghetti-plate flying skate on the shoulders and another 'Flying V' on the pants. An absolute mess. — Thomas Drance
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Vegas has always been creative with its jerseys, but none have been cooler — or looked better — than their 2022-23 Reverse Retro jerseys with glow-in-the-dark numbers. The color scheme is good. The old-school Las Vegas casino font has such a good vibe, and it glows in the dark! They're easily my favorite sweaters in the team's short history.
watch out for me, I'm about to glow 🤩#GlowKnightsGlow | #ReverseRetro pic.twitter.com/NCobDnowoh
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 27, 2022
The Golden Knights have only worn a handful of different jerseys over the last eight years, so there wasn't a lot to choose from. The Winter Classic jerseys from 2024 are the most blah of the bunch, for my money. I understand what they were going for, with a vintage, wild west type of feel, but I'm not a fan of the cream color or the strange 'V' logo. — Jesse Granger
The fan base loves the 'Screaming Eagle' jersey, and so does Alex Ovechkin, so it's the pick. Washington's alt jersey history isn't great and its current look (successful as it's been) is a little stale.
Fauxback looks can be rough, and this one certainly qualifies. There are some historical nods, which is fine, but … maroon? For the Capitals? Nope. — Sean Gentille
This is an easy, obvious answer — except it's also agonizing, because the white version of Winnipeg's heritage jerseys is also an all-time classic. We opt for the blue version here out of love for the depth of the blue, the red accents and fond memories of Bryan Little's overtime-winning goal against Calgary at the 2019 Heritage Classic.
Winnipeg was ambitious with this design, choosing a new, bright blue color palette — a bold and relatively unique choice in the scheme of NHL jerseys. There are also subtle design elements, such as an F-18 fighter hidden in the Jets' logo. Still, the 'aviator' failed to capture public imagination, feeling more like a one-off than a new Jets classic. — Murat Ates
— Research courtesy of The (unofficial) NHL Uniform Database
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Andre Ringuette, Dave Sandford / NHLI, Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)