Puck drop is just over forty-eight hours away. The hard work that National Hockey League front offices have done is nearly complete. It’s just about time to see if that hard work will pay off. It’s time to see if the long hours at the office were worth it, and for hockey fans it’s time to get excited.
As always, some teams have more hope than others. Some teams have more to look forward to than others. You will have teams that have Stanley Cup or bust mentalities and you have teams that are already looking towards the 2016 NHL draft. We’re here to figure out what all NHL teams are looking forward to this season.
Anaheim Ducks- Stanley Cup or bust. The Anaheim Ducks have put themselves in a great position to compete for the Stanley Cup for the next couple of seasons. With Key players like Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler and Cam Fowler signed long term this Ducks team has the potential to be good for a long time. Anaheim also plays in a division in which they should own once again. The Kings, Sharks, Flames and Canucks are all pretty far behind Anaheim right now. The Pacific division this season should be a little more competitive this season with the possible rebound seasons from the Kings and Sharks but the Ducks are still the best team by a pretty hefty margin. If you ask me right now before the season starts the Anaheim Ducks are favorites in the western conference and my pick for the Stanley Cup.
Arizona Coyotes- 2016 NHL Draft. We go from the top of the league and pacific division to the bottom of the division and likely league. Preseason shouldn’t be a big deal and anything that happens during this time shouldn’t be taken too seriously. But with most people assuming the Coyotes will be a bad team looking to draft as high as possible what happened this preseason should be taken seriously. A winless preseason highlighted by scoring just four goals in their entire preseason and a 200+ minute stretch between goals. This team is not very good and will count on a bad season to get a good player in the draft next summer.
Calgary Flames- Playoff run. Twelve months ago this was one of the worst teams in the entire NHL. Here we are now talking about a team that is coming off a season where they made the playoffs and got to the second round before their season was ended by Anaheim. After a good defensive team made a big move for a good or great defensive player in Dougie Hamilton expectations were raised and now a playoff run is expected. Stanley Cup may be out of reach and if you’re hoping for that as a Flames fan maybe you need to step beck a little bit, but if you get hot in the playoffs you never know. The Flames have a lot to look forward to this season but could be in for disappointment in a better pacific division.
Chicago Blackhawks- Stanley Cup run. I can’t put Stanley Cup or bust here even though I think a lot of people would. A Cup run would be good enough after some big changes. The Blackhawks will still be a good team and they have Panarin and Tikhonov to watch this season which could be two big additions. The worry for me about Chicago is they play in a stacked division, the Blackhawks have to worry about St Louis, Colorado, Minnesota, Dallas and Nashville at least. Losing proven players like Sharp and Saad hurts and if Panarin, Tikhonov and Teravainen can’t help right away It’s not out of the question that this team miss the playoffs completely. When the season is over I doubt we say Chicago is the fifth best team in their division but coming off their Stanley Cup this team has some questions.
Colorado Avalanche- Return to the playoffs. The Avalanche are a hard team to judge. The 2013-14 season was great for them, they were one of the best teams in the league. None of the stats said they were one of the best though. Last season they did not improve on those stats and they fell in the standings as well. If Colorado can improve on the possession side of the game and keep more pucks out of their net they could push for a playoff spot. There is still a lot to look forward to, like watching young players like Duchene, Landeskog, MacKinnon and others, Colorado should be a fun team to watch whether they make the playoffs or not.
Dallas Stars- A Bad Season. I think I’m in the minority here but I don’t see the defense getting any better in Dallas and they need better goaltending. If Lehtonen can have a great season they can push for the playoffs but he is inconsistent and the new backup Antti Niemi is no better. The offense should be explosive like last season but in a tough division the better defensive teams will finish above them.
Edmonton Oilers- In playoff contention past November. Doesn’t sound that great but if the Oilers can be in a spot to reach the playoffs in 2016 this is one heck of a year. A pretty deep forward group should score a lot of goals, defense is still a question but better than recent years and goaltending a question as well but there is hope there with former New York Ranger backup Cam Talbot. This should be a fun season for Oil Country. Oh and they get to watch Connor McDavid for hopefully 82 games.
Los Angeles Kings- A return elite status. A “Year Off”, An offseason to regroup and heal up and get ready for another run this season. Healthy players, a new passion and new players like Milan Lucic, this Kings team has a lot to look forward to. A return to the playoffs and a possible cup run is to be expected.
Minnesota Wild- A playoff run. This might be more of a hope for Minnesota Wild fans. It’s been to many years that the Wild have been a good team, just a good team only to lose to the Blackhawks in the playoffs. If the Wild don’t take a step up this year it might be time for change, what change, we’ll discuss this maybe next summer.
Nashville Predators- A playoff run. If the Predators can maintain what they did last season, with teams like St Louis and Chicago taking steps back, this could be a big opportunity for Nashville. Winning the division is a big possibility which could mean a playoff run from Smashville.
San Jose Sharks- A return to the playoffs. Hopefully for San Jose a restart button has been pressed and they will get back to being one of the best teams in the NHL. A new coach and a new mentality should get the Sharks back on track. Good forward depth and good defense should get this back back to the playoffs. A new goalie could cause trouble if they can’t get good goaltending but for a team this deep average goaltending should at least get them to the playoffs.
St Louis Blues- A Stanley Cup run. How many times have I written that the only reason (insert team here) didn’t get far in the playoffs was because of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blues are not different. The Blues are still a good/great team but if they can’t make a good run in the playoffs changes WILL be made and the window will slam shut. Big time pressure this season in St Louis.
Vancouver Canucks- Missing the playoffs. That’s not really something to look forward to but it may be a cruel fact for Vancouver. I have four teams ahead of Vancouver in their own division and the pacific division isn’t going to get two wild card spots with the great teams in the central most likely hogging those spots. Watching Bo Horvat is something to look forward to though, he is a fun player to watch and a great player for the future.
Winnipeg Jets- Missing the playoffs. It was a nice little run last season that got the Jets to the playoffs. The central division is too deep and I think they will fall short of the wild card race with Calgary, San Jose and LA in the pacific division. There is still something to look forward to, young players like Schiefele, Trouba, Myers, and the return of Burmistrov. The Jets are just unlucky right now to be in a great division.
The one thing you should probably take of of reading this, the western conference is a pretty deep conference. Of the fourteen teams you could argue six plus could make a cup run and somewhere around ten could make the playoffs easily with other teams pushing.
