With the NHL preseason ending and the regular season on the horizon, we can now talk about how teams are expected to do this season. Here’s my ranking of all 32 NHL Teams
- The Calgary Flames ended last year with a roster that does not look too promising. With very few moves in the offseason, they look to do about the same this year— bad.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets had a tragic and horrible offseason with the death of Johnny Gaudreau. Already having a shaky roster, they now have to put their hopes on Adam Fantill as they traded away Patrick Laine to Montreal.
- The San Jose Sharks offseason put their team in the right direction by adding Boston University forward Macklin Celebrini, veteran Tyler Toffoli, and goalie Yaroslav Askarov. But that will still not be enough for them to be contenders in spite of optimistic fans like Hingham High School student Colin Enright, who said, “Give me the Sharks to win it all.”
- Just south of San Jose, The Anaheim Ducks’ very young roster makes it look like they will improve a decent amount this year if Trevor Zegras can bounce back and have a great year.
- The Philadelphia Flyers are a team that impressed people, almost making the playoffs last year. But with a not-so-great offseason, people expect that they need to rebuild before being serious contenders.
- The Chicago Blackhawks are a team heading in the right direction but will not be contenders even with the additions of Tyler Bertuzzi, Alec Martinez, and Teovu Teravainen.
- Montreal’s future with Cole Caufield is secure as he has seven more years left in Montreal. The Canadiens look to build around him by adding Patrick Laine and Juraj Slafkovsky to a long-term deal.
- Minnesota’s offseason could not be competitive due to their salary cap issue, but they brought in Brock Faber to try to help them for the foreseeable future.
- The Seattle Kraken salary cap problems continue as they signed Chandler Stephenson who might have the most overpaid contract in the league. The Kraken are counting on Hingham-born Matty Beniers to have progressed from last year and hopefully carry the team on his back.
- Utah is heading in the right direction with a whole new identity as a team. Their biggest hope this season is that their young forwards will progress and help them try to make a playoff push.
- The St. Louis Blues’ only chance of making the playoffs is if new signing Phillip Broberg can have a breakout year, but they still struggle with depth on the defensive side.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins front office felt a sense of relief as they extended the kid, Sydney Crosby, for possibly his final two years. They have also added a good amount of players as they hope to add depth to their lineup.
- With Detroit losing Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasinko, they look to regress this year as they have not tried to fill both player’s old positions.
- The Buffalo Sabers are a team whose success depends on whether their new goaltender, Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen, performs well. Due to his small sample size, there is some big uncertainty about whether it was a good pickup or not.
- The Los Angeles Kings would be a playoff lock if they had a better off-season. Losing Matt Roy due to free agency leaves much-needed skill for this Kings team.
- The New York Islanders hope to make a push this year as they added solid player Anthony Dunclar in hopes of getting some more players that can make plays offensively.
- Ottawa’s biggest problem last season was how bad their goaltending was. That issue has finally been resolved. This offseason, they picked up elite goalie Linus Ullmark. They hope their team is now good enough to make a playoff push in a very competitive Eastern Conference.
- The Vegas Golden Knights offseason had an awful offseason as they saw their star forward and goaltender leave them. They hope to be a contender this offseason without them.
- The Winnipeg Jets made no moves and like last year, will have to rely on Connor Hellebuyck even with no real team around him.
- The Carolina Hurricanes lost a lot this offseason but had some impactful pickups consisting of Seth Jarvis and William Carrier while keeping Jacob Slavin.
- The Washington Capitals had fantastic offseason inquiries for Logan Thompson, Matt Roy, and Jakob Chychrum. Along with that, the hopes of Alexander Ovechkin breaking the scoring record this season might be enough for them to win a round or two this postseason.
- After a surprisingly strong season, Vancouver looks to lead the Pacific division in back-to-back years as they added Jake DeBrusk. If goalie Thatcher Demko does not have any long-term injuries this year, they will hopefully look like a true cup contender.
- Tampa Bay’s offseason had its ups and downs— the latter including losing long-time Captain, Steven Stamkos to the Predators and trading Mikhail Sergachev. On the upside, they got Jake Guentzel and kept Ryan McDonough.
- Toronto’s offseason is a disappointment. Other than signing Chris Tanev, they did nothing while they could have helped out their playmaking depth a lot this offseason.
- With Joe Pavelski retiring, Dallas may not be as good of a team as they were last year, but with the help of star Jason Robinson, they look to still be contenders for the cup.
- Colorado’s front office did not make any major splashes in the offseason, which might hurt them as they do not have a crazy amount of depth in their lineup and still have questions goalie-wise.
- The Bruins are looking to do what they have planned to do in the last few which is to win a championship. Although there are some concerns with Swayman, they answered some questions about their center position with Elias Lindholm. Bruins fan Brett Larson was asked about the Swayman situation and responded with “Swayman will sign, and everything will be alright.”
- Nashville’s front office should be looking forward to this season after having a great offseason. The additions of Steven Stamkos, Brady Skjei, and Jonathan Marchessault should give them better finishing near the net.
- Injuries and goaltenders were the two things holding back New Jersey last year. Their incredible offseason helps their goaltender problem by adding Jacob Markstrom, and all of their stars are healthy to start the season. If injuries aren’t too big of an issue, this New Jersey team will be a team you do not want to play.
- Florida had an offseason of no roster moves because they did not need to after winning the cup. The one thing that might be holding them back is what Edmonton has this year, drive and hunger to win the cup.
- The Rangers did not make a very massive splash this offseason, which is not a horrible thing but does not help their biggest issue, which is their defensive speed. They hope that Captain Jacob Trouba will have a great season and Igor can stay healthy between the pipes.
- Edmonton’s hunger after losing in the finals last year may be enough to get them the cup this year, but their offseason did not help their lack of defensive depth.
