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Ryan S. Clark
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Four Lightning skaters eclipsed the 35-goal mark, two hit 40-plus (there were only eight players in the league who reached that benchmark) and Nikita Kucherov won the Art Ross Trophy (again) with 121 points.
Suffice to say, Tampa Bay felt confident in running it back with a similar roster of offensive threats. Is that wise, though?
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde will have a better handle on the Lightning system after coming in at the deadline, but beyond those new faces Tampa Bay is counting on a repeat from Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, Kucherov & Co. to maintain their place as perennial postseason contenders. Given how the Lightning continually find ways to keep the spark alive, so to speak, it won’t be shocking if they maintain their status quo. But it’s worth wondering how far they can stretch when their Atlantic rivals keep loading up around them.
The Maple Leafs accepted a true gut punch when trading Marner to Vegas before he could walk away (for nothing) in free agency. And no disrespect to Nicolas Roy — the returning player in that transaction — but losing a top-line, 102-point producer who appears in every situation — including as one of your most reliable penalty killers — creates a crater no team would envy trying to fill. The Leafs’ success this season will depend on their ability to do just that.
More responsibility than ever falls on Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Matthew Knies and John Tavares to anchor Toronto’s top two lines, while depth performances will be more critical than ever to keep the Leafs from falling too far off a cliff offensively.
What sort of strategy will head coach Craig Berube employ to have Toronto evolve into a new chapter for the franchise? Don’t forget: former president Brendan Shanahan is gone, too, and there are new voices behind the scenes being amplified. This is a transitional time for the Leafs in multiple respects. What sort of maturity have they cultivated to be able to handle what’s ahead?
Metropolitan Division
Carolina Hurricanes
Did Carolina do enough to tackle its scoring woes?The Hurricanes landed a big fish in free agency when Nikolaj Ehlers came on board with a six-year, $51 million contract. That cemented him as the consistent scoring winger Carolina’s been lacking in previous seasons (particularly when it came to the postseason).
But even with Ehlers in the mix, Carolina has questions to answer about its offense.
The Hurricanes have been using Jesperi Kotkaniemi in a second-line center role for which he’s not wholly suited. Carolina opted not to re-sign free agent Jack Roslovic — who remains a free agent, and could be an option in that spot — and there’s no obvious upgrade over Kotkaniemi at the moment.
Will Logan Stankoven or Seth Jarvis have to move off the wing to cover for Carolina’s flimsy depth down the middle? Or will GM Erik Tulsky look at what’s available on the market before the season starts and make a change? It has to still sting the way Carolina produced just 10 total goals in their Eastern Conference finals loss against Florida last spring. If the Hurricanes expect to advance to the Cup Final, they’ll need to have the scoring prowess to match the competition.
The Blue Jackets didn’t have trouble scoring goals last season. It was keeping pucks out of the net that held Columbus back.
GM Don Waddell’s priority was addressing the latter issue this offseason and, well, he did. Sort of. As some of the top free agent defensemen were snapped up on July 1, Waddell opted to simply re-sign Ivan Provorov to a seven-year, $59.5 million contract.
Meaning there has been no specific upgrade on a blue line that — while anchored by a Norris Trophy-worthy performance from Zach Werenski — ranked eighth-worst in the NHL in goals against last season (3.26 per game). Considering Columbus was also eighth overall in goals scored (with 3.26 per game), it’s clear the defensive deficiencies were a serious factor in the Blue Jackets falling just shy of making the playoffs.
Are they doomed to a similar fate this season? Coach Dean Evason was transparent about Columbus’ need to improve on the back end; the only question is whether there’s enough internal improvement to make that a reality early and often. Steady goaltending would help in this regard as well; will the low-risk move of trading for Ivan Fedotov give the Blue Jackets some insurance behind (or beside) Elvis Merzlikins?
It’s not every team that has a single player capable of making or breaking their success. Jack Hughes is that for New Jersey, though.
The top-line forward just isn’t available as much as the Devils need him to be. Hughes has been hampered by injuries throughout his young career, limited to 62 or fewer games in two of his six seasons, and currently coming off shoulder surgery that cost him the final 25 regular-season games and five playoff contests.
Hughes is practically a point-per-game player when he’s healthy, and the 24-year-old is inarguably New Jersey’s best, most impactful skater. But what more might the Devils be able to do in helping Hughes maintain his on-ice presence? Is there something amiss in their training protocols? Does he require more rest days? Whatever the recipe for keeping Hughes on the ice ultimately has be New Jersey’s priority to figure out. The Devils can’t afford to lose more of what a generational talent like Hughes can bring to their lineup on a nightly basis.
The Islanders made a no-brainer decision by drafting defenseman Matthew Schaefer at No. 1 overall in June. The just-turned 18-year-old has all the makings of a franchise blueliner who will capably patrol New York’s back end for years to come. The question is whether that NHL tenure starts immediately, or if the Islanders ease Schaefer into the pro game. It’s a trajectory that will have ripple effects at multiple levels of the organization.
There’s a scenario where Schaefer jumps right into the Islanders’ lineup, joining Adam Pelech, Alexander Romanov and Ryan Pulock to punctuate their top-four rotation and start this new era for a New York defense corps that saw Noah Dobson depart via trade on draft night. Throwing Schaefer directly into that mix would be a strong statement about how the Islanders’ view their coveted new addition. But defensemen notoriously take longer to thrive in the NHL than their forward counterparts, and New York won’t want to shake Shaefer’s confidence out of the gate, either.
It’s a delicate balance, and how the Islanders choose to manage him ahead of their season opener could have short- and long-term effects on the team’s year overall.
New York Rangers
How will Mike Sullivan restructure the Rangers?There’s no doubt New York needed a new voice behind the bench. And it’ll fall on Mike Sullivan to build the Rangers back into a contender.
Sullivan’s first task will be deciding where exactly Mika Zibanejad should be playing — at center or on the wing. Zibanejad turned in a disappointing 62 points over 82 games last season — his lowest output through a full campaign since 2017-18 — and it wasn’t until Zibanejad moved from center to J.T. Miller‘s wing in the latter half of the season that he began to look like himself again. Does that encourage Sullivan to load up the Rangers offense by keeping Miller and Zibanejad together? Or does he put Zibanejad back at center so as not to disrupt the team’s overall depth?
And beyond where to place Zibanejad, who exactly will Sullivan find to make up for the contributions that left with Chris Kreider — looking at you, Will Cuylle?
But before we move on from the subject of who plays where, how will Sullivan piece together the blue line now that Vladislav Gavrikov is in the lineup? Fortunately for Sullivan, he’s had a long summer to think about what might work for the Rangers. The preseason will be a valuable time to tinker with the various options to get this team back among the postseason contenders.
Philadelphia Flyers
Have the Flyers upgraded enough at the right spots?Philadelphia had two glaring needs after last season: better center depth and stronger goaltending.
The Flyers acquired Trevor Zegras from Anaheim in the hopes he could slot into a top-six center role despite the 24-year-old having spent the better part of the previous two seasons pushed off to the wing. Zegras maintains he’s more comfortable at his natural center position, and that should be music to Philadelphia’s ears — if Zegras’ defensive game can match his offensive capabilities. Going after him was a low-risk, high-reward move for the Flyers. New coach Rick Tocchet should give him every chance to excel there.
But then there’s the Flyers’ goaltending. GM Danny Briere brought in veteran Dan Vladar to play opposite Samuel Ersson, but given the numbers each netminder produced last season (with an .898 SV% and .883 SV% respectively), there’s reason to wonder whether Philadelphia is truly better off with that tandem. Vladar stated his case to suit up in more than 30 tilts as he did a year ago, and if sharing an even workload gives Ersson more confidence when he is in the crease, the experiment may work.
Time will tell if Briere’s offseason changes will move the needle for Philadelphia.
There’s no such thing as an un-moveable star. If the Edmonton Oilers would trade Wayne Gretzky, well, it could happen to anyone.
Is this the year Pittsburgh completes a once-unfathomable transaction of its own by trading franchise icon Sidney Crosby? If the Penguins were ever going to do it, is now the time?
Crosby is under contract with Pittsburgh through the 2026-27 season (thanks to a team-friendly extension he inked last year). But the 37-year-old wants (and deserves) another chance or two at not just competing in the playoffs, but contending for the championship. Those aren’t necessarily opportunities Pittsburgh can offer him now. The Penguins are young and hungry, and they are being guided by a first-year NHL coach in the newly instated Dan Muse.
Evgeni Malkin is in the final season of his contract, too, signaling that more changes are to come in the next 12 months for the Penguins. It may be in everyone’s interest — Crosby and Pittsburgh — to part now while the return can help the Penguins in their ongoing re-tooling. And while Crosby wearing another NHL sweater would be jarring, there’s no denying he’s earned the right to make the final years of his career as successful as they can be. But whether the Penguins could find a suitable partner who checks all the boxes on both sides remains to be seen.
Washington Capitals
Can Washington’s offense run deeper than before?The Capitals had an enviable 2024-25 season, producing 111 points as the Eastern Conference’s top squad — and having Alex Ovechkin break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record. The problem is, Washington was top-heavy. They leaned on their top six to produce, and while Dylan Strome, Ovechkin, Pierre-Luc Dubois & Co. were happy to oblige with impressive output, it’s rarely a championship-winning strategy to rely too much on too few.
So, the question must be asked: Is Washington deeper now than they were last year?
Connor McMichael is key to that answer. If he can step into a third-line center role for Washington — and build off his career-best totals from last season in goals, points and assists — then the Capitals will be in good shape. They’d be better off though knowing how various personnel will deploy on the wing. Lars Eller, Taylor Raddysh and Andrew Mangiapane are gone. The Capitals then will turn to their own internal skaters — like Ryan Leonard and Hendrix Lapierre, plus trade acquisition Justin Sourdif — to fill in the gaps.
Washington can’t count on a repeat of the extraordinary years that guys like Ovechkin and Strome had in 2024-25. Coach Spencer Carbery will need to maximize the Capitals’ collective talent to see their success stretch beyond just the regular season.
Central Division
Chicago Blackhawks
How much advancement does their rebuild make in 2025-26?Suggesting this is one of the most frustrating stretches in the Blackhawks history isn’t quite as hyperbolic as it sounds.
Having a fifth straight season of less than 70 points is the franchise’s longest streak of that regard since they went seven consecutive campaigns of doing the same from 1953 through 1960 — when the NHL had only six franchises.
Many items contributed to why the Blackhawks finished with the second-fewest points in the NHL last season. They were in the bottom 10 in goals scored per game, goals allowed per game, shots per game, shots allowed per game and team save percentage per 60.
Finding a solution to those challenges is what awaits Jeff Blashill in his first season in charge of a team that will seek to find cohesion with its young core led by Connor Bedard and a veteran group that added Andre Burakovsky in the offseason.
Colorado Avalanche
Is their supporting cast enough or do they need to add more?Signing Brent Burns and Victor Olofsson was an indication of two items facing the Avalanche entering the season. The first is the need to find proven depth at a team-friendly price, which is why Burns signing for $1 million and Olofsson for $1.575 million has its own value.
The second is: Do the Avs have enough options within their supporting cast, or should they use the rest of their $1.325 million in projected cap space to do so?
Burns is expected to play on the Avs’ third defensive pairing with Sam Malinski, while Olofsson looks as if he’ll be on the third line with Ross Colton and Jack Drury. It leaves them a fourth line that could have Parker Kelly, Joel Kiviranta and rookie Ivan Ivan.
What complicates the decision to spend their remaining cap space is Logan O’Connor. He underwent knee surgery and is slated to come back some time between November and December, meaning they’ll need space for him when he does return.
Dallas Stars
What adjustments will Glen Gulutzan make to reach the Cup Final?Are there other questions that could be asked about the Stars? Sure. It’s just that any question that’s worth considering all comes back to if it can be the difference between the Stars winning the Stanley Cup or falling in a fourth straight Western Conference finals — or possibly not returning to the conference finals at all.
Championship windows are difficult to open, with the argument that they might be even harder to sustain for an extended period. Part of the reason why the Stars hired Gulutzan, who previously coached the team between 2011 and 2013, was his experience as an Oilers assistant. He has been on teams that advanced to the conference finals three times in four years — and the Cup Final two years in a row — with their two most recent appearances coming after a coaching change.
Any time a star player or a team’s most important player is in the final year of his contract, it’s always going to be a primary topic of conversation. The discussion around Kaprizov further intensified on Sept. 10 when Frank Seravalli reported that Kaprizov turned down an eight-year extension worth $128 million that would have given him the highest average-annual-value deal in the NHL.
Wild GM Bill Guerin said on a podcast later that day that he and Kaprizov’s agent have “a very good relationship” while both sides were “working through things.” Guerin stated that he didn’t want the market to go into “an all-out panic mode” while noting he believes the Wild are “in a really positive place” with their star winger. But this remains a significant question until pen is put to paper on a new deal.
Nashville Predators
Can the Predators find the defensive stability that eluded them last season?The Predators’ 2024-25 challenges can be viewed in one of two ways. The first is that Brady Skjei, who played in all 82 games, was the only Preds defenseman who played more than 70 games in 2024-25. Another is that he was one of 15 defensemen whom the team used to get through a campaign that began with high expectations — only to end with Nashville being high in the draft lottery.
Adding Nicolas Hague and Nick Perbix in the offseason gave the Preds a pair of proven options who have been top-four fill-ins when needed. But how will they handle being a consistent top-four option for the first time in their careers?
The same questions exist for Justin Barron and Nick Blankenburg. Barron emerged as a top-four option after he was traded to the Predators, and Blankenburg played more games last season than he had in his previous three combined.
St. Louis Blues
Where do they fit in the Western Conference landscape?The Blues scraped together a playoff appearance last season. The moves they made in the offseason — adding Nick Bjugstad, Logan Mailloux and Pius Suter — along with the idea that prized prospect Jimmy Snuggerud is expected to challenge for a top-six place, suggest that they are in a window to return to the playoffs for the foreseeable future.
But what if the Blues are more than just “a playoff team”? Should they be included in the group of top Stanley Cup contenders in the Western Conference?
They return seven players who finished with more than 16 goals, with the expectation that Snuggerud can join that group. Meanwhile, Suter scored a career-high 25 goals in 2024-25. Couple that with how they responded to systematic changes made by Jim Montgomery, and the Blues should be setting their sights higher in 2025-26.
Utah Mammoth
Will they make the playoffs in 2025-26?Exactly what was it that prevented the Mammoth from making the playoffs in their first season in Salt Lake City? Was it not scoring enough goals? Was it goal prevention? Was it both?
Or was it something different altogether?
Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong’s actions in the offseason saw him provide a potential answer to those questions.
Armstrong traded for one of the most sought-after top-six winger options in JJ Peterka, with the hope he can help the Mammoth improve upon being 21st in goals per game. Their defensive concerns led to them signing a proven two-way, bottom-six forward in Brandon Tanev, a veteran top-six defenseman in Nate Schmidt and goalie Vitek Vanecek.
Schmidt and Vanecek, who won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers, now give the Mammoth five players in their defensive setup with a championship ring, joining Ian Cole, Olli Maatta and Mikhail Sergachev.
Winnipeg Jets
Can their new-look second line find continuity amid change?Options aren’t necessarily the challenge facing Scott Arniel and his staff when it comes to what they’ll do with their second line. If anything, it’s more about what’s the best way to manage their second-line situation, with the realization that change might be the constant, at least to start the season.
Nikolaj Ehlers is gone. Adam Lowry is recovering from a hip surgery but told reporters last week that he is targeting a late October/early November return. Jonathan Toews is coming back to the NHL after missing the past two seasons with inflammatory and immune system issues. Gustav Nyquist is seeking cohesion on his third team in the past year, and Cole Perfetti could be in line for a breakout season after scoring a career-high 50 points.
It appears the Jets might use Perfetti, Nyquist and Toews on their second line to start the season, with the idea they’ll face a decision about finding the strongest possible combination when Lowry returns.
Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks
Is this the season the Ducks reach the playoffs again?While still young, their homegrown core has varying levels of experience, from Troy Terry going into his seventh season to Cutter Gauthier seeking to build on a 20-goal rookie campaign. Over time, the Ducks have insulated that group with veterans. What began with getting Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano years ago continued this offseason as they added Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund.
They finished the 2024-25 campaign with 80 points for the first time since the 2018-19 season, which gives the Ducks confidence to reach the next stage of their rebuild — that stage being the end of the rebuild itself.
So, is this the season in which the Ducks transition from promising project to the latest perennial playoff contender? Or is this the campaign that allows them to understand what gaps they must fill in order to reach that desired destination?
One of the Flames’ most important players is entering the final year of his contract. This is nothing new for them, based on recent history. But Andersson’s circumstances are different from those of Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm because this version of the Flames is in contention for a playoff spot.
Teams will be willing to pay a premium for a proven top-pairing, right-handed defenseman like Andersson. The Flames need to determine the strongest window for them to maximize any potential return if they can’t re-sign Andersson.
Does it make more sense for them to see how they start the season before making a decision? Do they wait until closer to the trade deadline? Could they hold off if they’re in a playoff spot or close to one at the deadline, and seek to add help instead? What can they receive for him? Or do they possibly risk losing him for nothing?
It’s going to be fascinating to watch this saga play out.
Edmonton Oilers
Is this version of the Oilers as good as the past two seasons?There will be frequent conversations surrounding 2026 free agent Connor McDavid and his future — and if that future includes staying with the Oilers or heading elsewhere next summer.
But another issue that’s likely to be raised is whether this can be the season in which the Oilers win another Stanley Cup and, in turn, allow the game’s premier player to win a title and stay with the only pro team he has known.
Edmonton parted ways with veterans such as Viktor Arvidsson, Connor Brown, John Klingberg, Evander Kane and Corey Perry in cost-cutting decisions this offseason. That opened the door for them to make the trade for Isaac Howard, with the intent that having young forwards such as Howard and Matthew Savoie can provide the Oilers with promising talents on cheap cap hits.
Like any team, the Oilers face questions about what lies ahead, and if there are any other changes that need to be made prior to the postseason. It’s just that those questions are ramped up with the world’s best player on an expiring contract.
Los Angeles Kings
Does the regular season really matter that much for the Kings?Posing that particular question is usually reserved for teams that have won a championship, or ones that are in a championship window, mainly with the idea that the regular season is a necessary formality in order for them to advance to the postseason.
This current iteration of the Kings hasn’t won a championship. Nor has it shown it is in a tangible championship window. What the Kings have shown is that they’re a perennial playoff team that can finish with more than 100 regular-season points.
But failing to get beyond the first round for a fourth straight postseason ultimately cost GM Rob Blake his job and led to a summer overhaul that saw his replacement — Hall of Famer Ken Holland — sign numerous veterans. Above all, it’s also led to the reality that any of the major questions about the Kings won’t be answered until the end of the first round of the playoffs.
San Jose Sharks
Can they win 30 games this season?The strongest sign concerning the state of the Sharks’ rebuild was witnessing the three main pillars of the young core — Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund and Will Smith — finish in the top four on the team in points in 2024-25. More growth is expected from that trio this season, with the expectation that goaltender Yaroslav Askarov could be the next promising prospect to carve out a key role.
Part of the team’s growth was fostered thanks to veterans such as Tyler Toffoli. The addition of more experience in the form of John Klingberg, Dmitry Orlov and Jeff Skinner this summer could lead to additional gains.
Is that enough for the Sharks to win 30 games this season? They’ve finished with fewer than 30 wins for three straight campaigns. That’s only the second such sequence in franchise history. In fact, the Sharks have won 30 games just once since their most recent playoff appearance in 2019.
Seattle Kraken: What changes will new coach Lane Lambert make?
Through their first five years of existence, the Kraken are already on their third head coach, with Dan Bylsma lasting one season before they hired Lambert. In that time, they’ve gone through a number of questions that essentially come back to the same place: What must the Kraken do to attain consistency throughout all facets of their game?
Although they were 13th in 5-on-5 goals and 16th in goals per game last season, they finished in the bottom 10 in high-danger scoring chances, total scoring chances and shots per game. They also had a power play that was 23rd, with an 18.9% success rate.
Their defensive play also faced struggles, as the Kraken were in the top 10 in most goals allowed, most high-danger scoring chances allowed and total scoring chances allowed in 5-on-5 play, with a penalty kill that was 21st with a 77.2% success rate.
Vancouver Canucks
Is their current center situation good enough for them to compete in the loaded West?There was Elias Pettersson‘s decline from finishing with 89 points in 2023-24 to scoring nearly half that amount (45 points) a year later. The friction between Pettersson and J.T. Miller going public led to Miller being traded, with the Canucks losing another proven scoring option down the middle. That was further compounded when Pius Suter and his 25 goals left for the Blues in free agency this summer.
Entering training camp, there’s a belief that Pettersson could rediscover the spark that allowed him to emerge as a franchise center. But what does that mean for the rest of the group?
Second-line center Filip Chytil, who came over in the Miller trade, has one 20-goal season in his career, which was also his only 40-point campaign on an NHL résumé that has been interrupted by injuries.
As for the Canucks’ bottom six? Teddy Blueger‘s two-way consistency makes him a consistent contributor who can chip in more than 25 points a season. Aatu Raty‘s stint with the club last season included seven goals and 11 points in 33 games, in his longest run in the NHL to date.
Yes, the Knights made the splashiest move of the offseason in landing Mitch Marner. But there was major news on the blue line, as Pietrangelo will miss this season while recovering from femur reconstruction surgery and might never play again.
That poses questions about how the Golden Knights will fill the void left by a physically imposing, right-shot, top-pairing defenseman who led them in average ice time and was second in short-handed minutes — while trying to win another Stanley Cup after winning in 2023.
Vegas’ current top-four setup could have Brayden McNabb partner with Shea Theodore on the top line, while Noah Hanifin could be joined by Zach Whitecloud, who lost his longtime defensive partner, Nicolas Hague, in a trade with the Predators. That would slot Kaedan Korczak and Jeremy Lauzon as the third pairing.
Under that potential configuration, Korczak and Whitecloud are the Golden Knights’ only right-handed defensemen.
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