The 2023-2024 NHL season has snuck up on us, and the season’s first puck drop is tonight. After a short four-month offseason, teams are back on the ice with the subtraction of old faces and the addition of new ones.
Over the offseason, there has been immense turnover, and this is how teams stack up coming into the season.
1 Vegas Golden Knights
The reigning Stanley Cup Champions roster is virtually unchanged, besides the departure of veteran Reilly Smith. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Knights have missed the playoffs just once in their franchise’s existence and look to recreate the 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning’s magic by going back-to-back.
2 Colorado Avalanche
The 2022 Champions couldn’t trump the Stanely Cup hangover last season, which ended abruptly with a first-round exit. The now-hungry Avalanche added to their already deep roster to amalgamate with one of the league’s best trios – Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen.
3 Carolina Hurricanes
Since hiring head coach Rod Brind’Amour in 2018, the Hurricanes haven’t missed the playoffs. The recently extended (8 Years, $78 Million) Sebastion Aho heads a once-young core that has grown and learned the game together. After getting swept out of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hurricanes reinforced their offense with veteran Dmitry Orlov (2 Years, $15.5 Million) and Calder Trophy finalist Michael Bunting (3 Years, $13 Million). The Hurricanes recognize their window and hope to reach the mountaintop for the first time since 2006.
4 Dallas Stars
Dallas wants to reignite the Stars magic they had in the early 2000s. They are coming off of a Western Conference Finals appearance, losing to the eventual champions in five games. Jason Robertson has formed into one of the best forwards in the league, finishing seventh in goals (46) and sixth in points (109). He will complement nicely with one of the sneakiest offseason signings of veteran Matt Duchene, who now has a chip on his shoulder after the Predators bought out the remaining three years of his contract. The Stars have a nice mix of young and old and could be set up for a deep run.
5 Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers are clearly deep into their championship window, which is why their game-six loss to the Knights in the second round cut so deep. The Conner McDavid and Leon Draisaitl duo were firing on all cylinders during the ’22 season. McDavid is still easily the best player in the league. He finished first in goals, assists, points, and goals created. Draisaitl was right on his tail. The Robin to McDavid’s Batman finished first in powerplay goals, second in points and goals created, and fourth in goals. When the duo is on the ice, it is always a must-watch.
6 Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs are in a constant state of despair. The organization is deep in the midst of the longest championship drought in the NHL and the sixth-longest drought in all four major sports. After winning the first NHL Finals in 1918, the Leafs picked up 13 championships until 1967. It has been 55 years since the Leafs won a Stanley Cup, but they haven’t missed the playoffs since Auston Matthews broke into the league. Matthews has one of the sharpest shots in the league, and offseason additions of Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, and Ryan Reaves may be what the Leafs need to finally make it over the hump.
7 New Jersey Devils
The Devils shocked everyone with a 49-point increase from the ’21 season to the ’22 season. They won 52 games and gathered 112 points in the Metropolitan Division. The Devils have a young and exciting team led by All-Star Jack Hughes, who will now be joined by his younger brother Luke, who the Devils drafted fourth overall. The Hughes family now has a firm grasp of the NHL, as Quinn Hughes, the middle child, plays for the Vancouver Canucks. The Devils will expect immediate output from the rookie and look to clinch their second straight playoff birth, something they haven’t done since 2009.
8 Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are coming off their first season in which they missed the playoffs since 2006. The aging Penguins are looking for their last hoorah as the legendary trio of Sydney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang will become the longest-tenured trio in NHL, MLB, NFL, and NBA history. The three have played on the same team for 18 years and are now joined by veterans Reilly Smith and Kris Letang. The Penguins are making one final push for the Cup before even thinking about disassembling the Hall-of-Famers.
9 Boston Bruins
The 2022 Presidents Cup champions are in a time of turmoil. For the first time since 2006, the player wearing the captain’s ‘C’ won’t be named Zdeno Chara or Patrice Bergeron. Controversial star Brad Marchand will take the honor and lead a team without Bergeron or David Krejci. Although the Bruins won the most games in the history of the NHL last season, the massive losses of Bergeron and Krejci transformed the Bruins into an entirely new team.
10 Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning are two years removed from winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup, and they still have the core of their offense. Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Victor Hedman will all retake the ice for the Lightning on opening night, but the Lightning will be without their elite goaltender. Andrei Vasilevskiy underwent back surgery during the offseason, and the Lightning will feel the absence of one of the best goalies in the NHL. Nonetheless, the Lightning will be competitive and come back strong once Vasilevskiy returns in December.
11 LA Kings
Although the Stanley Cup may be too big of a wish to be granted for the Kings, they are obvious contenders. Back-to-back first-round exits due to the Oilers haven’t given the Los Angeles fans much to root about, but they have the deepest room of centers led by Anze Kopitar. The Kings signed goalie Cam Talbot in the offseason, who should significantly improve the bottom half of the Kings game.
12 Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild stayed out of free agency talks. Instead, they opted to extend the players already on the roster. Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman, and Marcus Foligno all stay in the Twin Cities for one more year. The Wild may be tied down to the same restraints as last year: one of the best defensive teams in the league but can’t manage an elite offense. Besides the magic of winger Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild don’t have an explosive offensive weapon, and putting the net past the keeper may keep the Wild out of serious playoff contention.
13 New York Rangers
The New York Rangers went all in at the trade deadline at the beginning of 2023. They traded for Patrick Kane, Jonathan Quick, and Vladimir Tarasenko to fall short to the Devils in seven games. The Rangers let Kane and Tarasenko go while holding onto the veteran Quick as a backup goalie. The Rangers still have an elite player at every position. Igor Shesterkin in net, Adam Fox at the blue line, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, and Mika Zibanajad all up front will make the Rangers one of the most feared teams in the league.
14 Florida Panthers
After an incredible Stanley Cup finals run, the Panthers are looking to prove it wasn’t a fluke. The Panthers entered the playoffs as the eighth seed and a team no one took seriously. Matthew Tkchuck willed the Panthers into the finals by himself. The Panthers went on a miraculous run but fell just short, losing to the Knights in five games. There are big question marks surrounding the reigning Eastern Conference Champions. They will be without their best defensemen. Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour are both out until at least December. Tkchuck suffered a broken sternum in the Finals in June. He is healthy now, but it is unknown if he will return to his Finals form.
15 Seattle Kraken
The NHL has an excellent system for expansion teams. The Knights are on top of the hockey world, and the Kraken had a great first two years in the league. Seattle improved 19 wins and 40 points from their inaugural season to the ’22 season. They shocked the Avalanche and knocked the defending champions out of the playoffs in the second round before losing in six to the Dallas Stars. They will need Philipp Grubauer to be on top of his game if the Kraken want to go deep.
16 New York Islanders
The Islanders are one of the least fun teams to watch in the NHL, but they are a probable Wild Card spot. On the back of goalie Ilya Sorokin, the Islanders will be a contending team, and the Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal duo may be all the offense the Islanders will need to sneak into the playoffs.
17 Calgary Flames
The Flames featured massive turnover in their front office and coaching staff, which should let them reboot their team magic. The main focus of the Flames season will be if they can win the close games. They played in the most one-score games and lost the most one-score games in the NHL last season. If they can flip the script, the Flames could be a contender.
18 Winnipeg Jets
The Jets have dug deep into their renewal. Winnipeg has gotten all of the old blood out of the building. Pierre Luc-Dubois and Blake Wheeler are out for some new, young blood. The Jets have a new vibe in their building, which could propel them to one of the open Wild Card spots in the west.
19 Ottawa Senators
The young Senators team was held back last season by goaltending. Ottawa started seven goalies over the course of last season, but Joonas Korpisalo will look to minimize that situation. They agreed to a five-year deal to help the Senators compete in the stacked Atlantic division.
20 Buffalo Sabers
The Sabers have the longest playoff drought in the NHL, as they enter their 13th season without making the postseason. They are banking heavily on their young stars to make a jump if they want to pour water on the desert and end the drought.
21 Washington Capitals
The days of the Capitals dominance are far in the rearview mirror. Alex Ovechkin and his 2018 championship will live in the hearts of NHL fans forever. Washington missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014 last season but was ravished by injury. The Capitals hope Spencer Carbery can turn the ship in the right direction in the first season of his first NHL head coaching job.
22 Nashville Predators
The Predators are clearly rebuilding but still have a surprising upside. The first-year GM Barry Trotz made immediate changes, bringing his own coach in and bringing in veterans like Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Schenn. Nashville may not be good, but it could be a squad to keep your eye on as a sneaky good team.
23 Columbus Blue Jackets
The hilarious storylines of Mike Babcock’s short tenure as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets may be all fans remember of the ’23-’24 season. The Blue Jackets are rebuilding and preparing for a rough season. GM Jarmo Kekalainen still has a lot of work to do.
24 Detriot Red Wings
The Pavel Datsyuk days of the Red Wings are just a memory at this point, but GM Steve Yzerman made waves in the offseason. They brought in JT Compher, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Alex Newhook to help beef up their offense, but many questions still surround this roster, and the Red Wings probably will miss the playoffs this year.
25 Montreal Canadians
The Habs are still deep in a rebuild of their own, but they have many fun parts for their young team. Cole Caufield was on pace for 50 goals before getting hurt last season, and Nick Suzuki had an impressive campaign in his first season wearing the captains’ C.’ The Canadians still have a ways to go, but they could be entertaining this season.
26 St. Louis Blues
The Blues rely on their inconsistent goalie, Jordan Binnington. When Binnington is on, he is one of the best goalies in the league, but his abysmal .894 save percentage last season dragged St. Louis into the depths of the standings. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018, but if Binnington is on, he can drive the whole team back to the playoffs like they did in 2019 to win tCupCup.
27 Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have plenty of star power in Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, who both could score 40 or more goals this season. But their depth is something to fear if you are a Vancouver fan, and the Canucks will have to surprise everyone to be a competitive team this season.
28 Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes are stuck as one of the worst organizations in the league. They almost got locked out of their own arena by the City of Glendale after missing tax payments. The Coyotes will play their second consecutive season at Mullett Arena, the 5,000-seat arena of Arizona State. They brought in some real players, in opposition to their offseason moves of the past few years, to surround the young phenom Logan Cooley.
29 Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers have some things to look forward to, but this season is independent of those goals. The Flyers are deep into their rebuild with some young stars on their roster, but this season’s outlook is rather bleak. They are among the few teams gunning for the draft lottery even before the season started.
30 Chicago Blackhawks
The once-overpowered Blackhawks teams of the early 2010s are no longer alive. With the captain of those teams, Jonathan Toews, stepping away after becoming a free agent, nobody on the championship teams remains on the Blackhawks roster. But a new generation is being born into the NHL, and the leader of that generation, Connor Bedard, will make his NHL debut tonight. The Blackhawks could be the team of the 2020s, but this season will not be their year, as the mandatory losing season for a generational talent is imminent for the Bedard and the Blackhawks.
31 San Jose Sharks
After the Sharks traded away their only completive player, Erik Karlsson, San Jose is in for some dark times. The first step of a rebuild is dumping the players who don’t have a spot in the next phase of the organization, so it was a good move for the Sharks. But that doesn’t mean this season will be any prettier, and the Sharks will get much worse before getting any better.
32 Anaheim Ducks
The only bright spot for the Ducks is that they got the electric RFA Trevor Zegras to resign before opening night, but that comes with its own darkness. It took a lot to get Zegras back on the Ducks, and without any promise, they could see the magician walk to a contender after his extension runs out. The Ducks will be the worst team in the league, and this rebuild still has a lot of steps before it turns pretty.
