The time has arrived. Four months of waiting has come to an end. Thirty Two teams. An eighty two game regular season for each of them. It is here and now the 2023-24 National Hockey League season is upon us. Vegas is the defending champs, hoping to be able to keep the Cup out west. Boston is looking to bounce back after having egg on their face from what happened in the opening round last year. Can Toronto build off last years first round win? Can Florida continue its success with a repeat trip to the finals? All those questions and more will be answered in the coming months.
Right now lets dive right into it. Here's how we see the 202324 NHL Season playing out.
Western Conference:
Central Division:
1. Dallas Stars 112 Points*
2. Colorado Avalance 109 Points*
3. Nashville Predators 100 Points*
4. Minnesota Wild 95 Points*
5. St Louis Blues 90 Points
6. Winnipeg Jets 84 Points
7. Chicago Blackhawks 80 Points
8. Arizona Coyotes 78 Points
Coming off a 2nd place finish in the division last year, the Stars take their game to the next level this year and reach even higher than the year before. Yes Jamie Benn is slowing down, but that's coming with age. Matt Duchene and Craig Smith have been brought in to add more depth. This is going to be in support of the guy who had his breakout year last year In Jason Robertson, who is expected to have another big year again this year. Expect another good year out of Ottinger in net two. Now we have the Avalanche, who are going to have no problem keeping pace with Dallas most of the year. it will be a little tough without their captain Gabe Landeskog in the lineup due to injury. But there's still plenty of talent on this team to keep them in pace. Druin was brought in to get top line minutes with their two best players in MacKinnion and Rantanen. With Makar and Towes healthy this blue line can be good. And there's hope with Georgiev playing as well as he did last year, the Avs will be just fine. Now we go to the Predators, with a new coach and GM in place things could be good for the Preds this year. The netminders are good with Saros leading the charge, and Josi and McDonagh at the front of the blue line the defense can look good. Ryan O'Reilly was brought in to solidify the center position, which he is more than able to do. There are still a few things brewing with the Wild in terms of heading in the right direction. They got a solid goaltending tandom in Fleury and Gustavsson. The blue line is well built up and down with Spurgon leading that group. Krill Kaprizocv is going to have another mosnter year this year, leading a fairly well balanced attack. Depth here might keep them a little bit back from reaching a playoff spot but its going to be close in Minnesota
Shifting more west, we have the Blues who pose an interesting bunch. They have a balanced scoring attack, leadu by Jordan Kyru and Brayden Schenn. What is holding this offense back is they don't really have a true game breaker yet in their lineup that's going to stick with the top teams ahead of them in the standings. The defensive core is all north of 30 years old. Still good yes but not getting any younger. And Jordan Binnington is solid in net, but there is question marks behind him. Moving further North, we have the Jets, who are still looking to build on last year but it doesn't seem like it could be there this year. They are still solid in net with one of the best in the game in Connor Hellebyuck manning the pipes. Socring has punch with Connor and Scheifele, but again it comes down to lack of depth and well rounded scoring from this club. The blue line could be decent, but its not up to snuff compared to the rest of the division. We now have a new era coming in with the Blackhawks. The Connor Bedard era has begun. He is without a doubt the brightest star on a team that's going to be in rebuild for quite some time. On paper there's no depth around him yet to make them even close to becoming a contending club. Finally, rounding out this division nis the Coyotes. You have offensive hope with Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz. Goaltending and defense are huge question marks out in Arizona, which is going to result in another last place finish.
Pacific Division
1. Edmonton Oilers 110 Points*
2. Vegas Golden Knights 108 Points*
3. Los Angeles Kings 105 Points*
4. Seattle Kraken 100 Points*
5. Calgary Flames 93 Points
6. Vancouver Canucks 89 Points
7. San Jose Sharks 79 Points
8. Anaheim Ducks 75 Points
Things are looking pretty good for the Oilers right about now. You have two of the top offensive players on earth with McDavid and Draisitil. There's plenty of depth scoring to complement those two guys. Defense is solid and look for Stewart Skinner to have a bigger year between the pipes this season. Seems like the Oilers are right there to take the next step in the West. Behind them are the defending Cup champions the Golden Knights. Logan Thompson and Aidin Hill are going to be splitting the load in net, but Hill is going to try and build off his successful run in the playoffs. Helping keep the puck out of the net is Alec Martinez and Alex Pietrangelo. And then there's the scoring punch lead by Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault. Now this might not be as powerful at the top as what you got in Edmaonton, but its good enough for them to be a major force in the West again this season. Now you have a team coming on their tails in the form of the Kings. Cam Talbot now really has a chance to put his stamp on the LA crease. A place of question is depth on the blueline behind Drew Doughty, who isn't getting any younger. Neither is their top forward in Anze Kopitar. They have a nice complement behind him in Fiala, Dubis, and Kempe. It may not be enough to really challenge the top two dogs in this division, but it will be more than enough to get them where they want to go. Right on their heels are going to be the Kraken. They are going to build off last season success in getting into the playoffs. Grubauer is going to be counted on again to take the lion share in net, and he will do just fine with that work load. Then you have Schultz and Dunn leading things on the blueline which looks like it could be solid again. Scoring still shows a little lack of depth. Benniers and McCann will carry things again for this team but there isn't enough, while it is good, to really be able to hang with the top three.
The Flames are going to hang around a bit in this race, but fade near the end cause of lack of depth. There is hope in net that Jacob Markstrom can keep them in a lot of games. Noah Hanafin was brought in to bolster that blueline which has potential to be solid. Its scoring that could hold Calgary back a little this year. Huberdeau didn't have as good a year his first year in Calgary coming over in trade, so look for him to have a bounce back season this year. Still there isn't much depth here with this team to really have them near the top of the heap in this division. There's a little more high hopes for the Canucks this year to take steps upward in this division. There's an interesting one-two punch in net with Demko and bringing in DeSmith. Love Hughes leading the charge from the back end, but there's a little lack of depth behind him to build around. Up front, you got two stars there in Pettersson and JT Miller. You also got a budding star in Kuzmenko who can take his game to an even higher level this year too. Still not enough to draw the Canucks back up to contender just yet. Now as for the Sharks, that is going to be in a rebuild mode if I ever saw one. Goaltending is below par in the Bay. Defense same thing. There's a glimpse of hope with offense, if they can stay healthy, With Couture and Hertl, that's a good start. Nothing behind it. Things get worse for the Ducks when it comes to finding a foothold here in this division. Killorn was brought in during the offseason, but he got hurt in camp and will miss time. John Gibson didn't look the same last year in net. Fowler still the leader on the blue line but there's not much help for him there. There's talent with Zegras and Terry up front and a bit of a slow build for a supporting cast, but Anaheim appears to be heading in the right direction.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
1. Toronto Maple Leafs 110 Points*
2. Florida Panthers 107 Points*
3. Boston Bruins 102 Points*
4. Tampa Bay Lightning 99 Points*
5. Buffalo Sabres 97 Points
6. Ottawa Senators 87 Points
7. Detroit Red Wings 80 Points
8. Montreal Canadiens 70 Points
Things starting to head in the right direction for the Maple Leafs last season, winning a playoff round for the first time in twenty years. What really worries me, and has for a long time with this team, is the problem in net. Samsonov and Wall have been good and will be this year, but they need to get it done come spring time. Same thing with the blue line. Morgan is going to be relied upon a lot to play big minutes. There's no denying that with Tavares, Mattehws, Marner and Nylander leading the charge up front, that this team can score. Question is can they really put it all together when it matters most come spring? We know one team that did, the defending conference champs the Panthers. Matthew Tkachuk had himself a massive year for Florida leading that charge and will be counted on to do it again this season. Barkov, Reinhart and Verhaeghe are going to be counted on to support their offensive star it Tkachuk. Ekblad is hurt to begin the year, but Ekman-Larosn and Kulikov should be fine holding the fort down till he comes back healthy. And of course Bobrovsky will again be carrying the load between the pipes. Following them up will be the Bruins, who are taking a step back after their Presidents Trophy, record setting season last year. Bergeron is gone, and Marchand is taking over as captain of this good club. They won't be able to replicate last season's success, but they still have a talented group with Pastrnak leading the offensive charge. They brought back in some veteran leadership with Lucic and JVR into the mix. On the blueline, MacAvoy and Grizlik bring plenty to the table. Between the pipes is Ullmark, who's coming off his Vezina season and a young and hungry Swayman. There still a good group here, just not quite as good as last year. Now we move on to the Lightning, who are very much still in the mix. It going to hurt not having Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes from the start, as he gonna miss two months following back surgery. Jonas Johansson going to have to carry the load till Vasey gets healthy and can take the job back. Victor Hedman looks like his old self in camp, after having what was a down year by his standards a season ago. He going to be counted on to take a bulk of the work on a solid blueline. Losing Alex Killorn over the summer hurt, but the core up front with Stamkos Point and Kucherov has this team looking like they going to be in the mix. Bottom six are going to have to step up if the Bolts hope for a long run in the playoffs.
First team on the outside looking in is going to be the Sabres. They just missed out on the post season a year ago. With a good offensive core led by Tage Thompson, Buffalo has something to really pull for. With him, Tuch, Cozens, Dahlin on the back line, there's hope in Western New York. Only thing that is going to hold Buffalo back is in goal. It looks like Comrie and Levi are the go to tandom in net. If Buffalo wants any shot at the playoff hockey, one of these two is going to have to take hold of the starting job and really run with it. Right behind them are going to be the Senators, who have the exact same problem. Korpisalo isn't a true number one goalie and Forsberg can't take the job straight away from him. Top defense pair of Chabot and Chychrun are pretty good but the bottom four doesn't leave much room. Same goes for the forwards. Top line of Giroux, Stutzle and Tkachuk are going to be good this year. Tarasenko was brought in on a one year deal and should proved some spark, but they aren't quite at the level they need to be at just yet. Now we got the Red Wings, who are still in the process of rebuilding, but its getting made in the right direction. Husso is going to be healthy and should take the bulk of the load between the pipes. There something to build around with Seider on the back line, along with Gostisbehere and Petry. Adding more depth up front by bringing in DeBrincat was huge for this team. They got talent with Larkin and Raymond. Its going to be a little ways away still but its going in the right direction. Finally there's the Canadiens. Sure Nick Suzuki is their best forward, but there's not much to really be able to build around him. The blue line still needs work and so does goaltending.
Metropolitan Division
1. Carolina Hurricanes 111 Points*
2. New Jersey Devils 110 Points*
3. New York Rangers 108 Points*
4. Pittsburgh Penguins 105 Points*
5. New York Islanders 98 Points
6. Washington Capitals 92 Points
7. Columbus Blue Jackets 86 Points
8. Philadelphia Flyers 80 Points
Another year, another division crown for the Hurricanes, who seem to just keep getting better. It stings at the start of the season for the Canes having Andrei Svenchnikov being out with injury, but this team is still deep enough to go on a deep run. Last year it was injuries catching up to them late that cost them in the conference finals. A healthy Freddy Andersen could be huge again in the Carolina net. There a good mix of youth and vets on the blue line. Scoring punch is going to be solid again this season, with Aho and Necas leading the way with Andrei missing time. This team is deep and gonna be good for a long time. Right behind them are the Devils, who are looking to build off a very strong season a year ago. Vanacek is the number one man in the Jersey nets, but with the way Schmid played in the playoffs that could lead to a good problem for the Devils to have. Hamilton and Segenthaler lead the defense corp, who have high expectation for Luke Hughes on the back end. Him along with his brother Jack are expected to carry this team for a long time. Jack Hughes is going to look to build off his outstanding performance a season ago and lead this team to the promise land, and adding in a talent like Tyler Toffoli to a loaded team makes the Devils that much better. The Rangers are a team that took a step backwards a season ago, but this year they will be right back in the thick of it in the Metro. Igor Shesterkin is expected to once again carry the load in the nets on Broadway, a task he has no problem handling. Truba, Fox and Miller are going to take the lead for this young and hungry defense group. Scoring should hold up fairly well with Panarin and Zibanejad doing what they do best and Kappo Kako building on his numbers from a year ago. The wild card here in this division is going to be a rebuilt Penguins team. Last season was the first one in which Pittsburgh had missed the playoffs since 2006. This year they get back. They added Erik Karlsson to the blue line, who's coming in off of a monster season last year. He joins a good but slightly older defensive group. They still have a good offensive group with Crosby, Malkin, Rust and Guentzel but they aren't getting much younger. The one thing that could keep the Pens on the fence for a playoff spot this season is in net. Can Jarry be the guy to take them there?
As for the Islanders, they were a playoff team a season ago but can they get back there again? No problem to worry about in net with Sorokin and Varlamov manning the cage. The blue line is lead by Pullock and Pelech and looks to be solid. What leaves me a little worried is scoring. Horvat and Barzal had some magic together, but they went a little out of wack when Barzal got hurt near the end of last season> Nelson should also have another solid year producing. But what has one worried about this team is whether or not there's the scoring depth to be able to get this team not only into the playoffs but on a deep run again. If you look for a team that's had a fall from grace of sorts, its going to be the Capitals. At this point in his career, there's so few milestones for Alex Ovechkin to really reach, but he got his sights set on a few this year and could get close to Gretzky records. There still Oshie, Backstrom and Kuznetsov to help Ovie with the scoring which will keep them out of the playoffs. That and lack of goaltending. Kumper is good but not good enough to help them reach the playoffs. Then we have the Blue Jackets, who are still a ways away but are taking steps in the right direction. Johnny Hockey is starting to live up to his contract and with Laine on the line with him, its something to build around. They added more depth pieces to be excited about with Adam Fantilli drafted and Cole Sillinger developing for another season. If either Merslinkins or Spencer Martin can take over the number one job the Jackets could surprise people. Finally, there the Flyers who don't have much hope. You have Owen Tippet and Morgan Frost to be able to build around but there a ways away from getting to the promise land.
