Karl B. DeBlaker, Associated Press Photo

By Scott Lowe - MYHockeyRankings.com

I’m happy to say that for the first time in a several years, the National Hockey League season actually snuck up on me. Nevertheless, here we are a week into the 2022-23 campaign and all systems are go.

Finally.

After two years of delays to the season start thanks to the uncertainty surrounding the spread of COVID-19 and previous seasons that lasted deeper into the summer than usual, the NHL kicked off (faced off?) its season just a few days later than normal. The last time an NHL campaign started “on time” was 2019, when play began on Oct. 2. This year the season got underway Oct. 7, with Nashville and San Jose facing off in a pair of “Global Series” regular-season games in Prague.

The Predators won both those contests by a combined 7-3 margin to jumpstart their season, but perhaps the trip wore them down a little as they managed only two goals in 4-1 and 5-1 losses to Dallas upon returning home. Nashville proceeded to blow a two-goal third-period lead and failed to convert an overtime power-play in a home loss to the Kings Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, the Sharks dropped three more games once back in the States and now have scored just eight times in five outings, while the aging Stars have sprinted out of the gates to a surprising 3-0 start after Monday’s 4-1 victory against Winnipeg. Always strong defensively thanks mainly to Jake Oettinger’s goaltending, Dallas has surrendered just three goals in three contests.

Even with the European prelude to the 2022-23 NHL season, the North American Puck drop Oct. 11 still caught me a bit off guard.

This hit home as I sat down to watch the Rangers-Lightning opening-night tilt and realized I had no idea Jimmy Vesey was back with the Rangers. A favorite of teammates at all five of his previous NHL stops, the Harvard grad made the team out of camp after receiving a pro tryout offer and adds veteran depth and character to a younger team looking to take the next step this year. He played with the Blue Shirts from 2016-19 and was with the Devils last season, so metropolitan New York really amounts to home for a guy who has played in five cities since 2016.

Most of us follow the chaos and coverage of Free Agent Frenzy every July as many big names sign lucrative long-term contracts right away once they are allowed to hold formal contract talks with their suitors. When the media attention fades away, however, there always are contract buyouts, trades and other less-publicized free-agent signings that take place throughout the rest of the summer. Hence, there are many, “When did that happen?” moments even for serious fans during the season’s opening weeks.

With the 2022-23 campaign about a week old, a quick glance at the standings shows that Boston is 3-1-0 after Tuesday’s 7-5 loss at fun-to-watch Ottawa and is sitting on top of the Atlantic Division, while division-favorites Florida, Toronto and Tampa Bay are fourth, fifth and ninth, respectively. Buffalo and Detroit, neither expected to contend, have jumped into the second- and third-place slots. 

In the Metro, Carolina, considered a Stanley Cup contender once again after adding injured Max Pacioretty and Brent Burns to an already-deep lineup, is 3-0, and on top, followed by the upstart Flyers under new coach John Tortorella. Philly is not expected to contend for anything other than the blocked-shots crown, but the Rangers, another contender, and the high-scoring Pittsburgh Penguins are right behind them. Washington, which also figures to be a playoff team as Alex Ovechkin continues to pursue Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record, is tied with the scoring-poor New York Islanders in fifth.

Moving to the Western Conference, two teams that appeared likely to battle for the final playoff berths in the West – Dallas and Vegas – led the Central and Pacific divisions, respectively, with identical 3-0-0 records before the Golden Knights blew a two-goal lead at Calgary Tuesday to fall to second. That victory moved the Flames, who are expected to contend for the conference championship, on top in The Pacific. 

The other top Western Conference team, the defending Stanley Cup-champion Colorado Avalanche, currently are third in the Central Division behind the Stars and Preds, and the rest of the West expects to be a free for all the remainder of the season. Edmonton, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Vancouver and Winnipeg all are expected to battle for playoff berths, but the Wild and Canucks are both off to horrific starts. 

Vancouver and Minnesota have nice-sized holes to dig out of early in the season, as both the teams have gotten off to less-than-ideal starts. Vancouver is averaging three goals per game but has surrendered 18 total goals in its four losses, while Minnesota has allowed seven, seven and six goals in its three setbacks. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. 

This is just the beginning, and we all know the season is a marathon and a sprint. A lot can – and will – change between now and April, so don’t panic and create a fire-your-coach hashtag on social media just yet if things aren’t going as planned.

If the season snuck up on you like it has on me, that’s a quick summary of what’s happened to date and what you might expect going forward. Now, here’s a look at SOME of the new faces who are in new places for 2022-23:

 

Eastern Conference – Atlantic Division 

Boston Bruins

New Faces:

David Krejci, Pavel Zacha, Anton Stralman

New Places:

Erik Haula, Curtis Lazar

Stanley Cup Odds: 28-1

With Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand starting the season on Long-Term Injured Reserve, the Bruins propped their Stanley Cup window open for a little longer by moving to bring Krejci back from Europe and signing 35-year-old blue-liner Stralman. Unfortunately, Stralman has been delayed in joining the team because of visa issues, but Krejci looks rejuvenated after a year away from the NHL and David Pastrnak has been lighting it up in a contract year. Boston is off to a fast start and should be dangerous as long as the team avoids too many more serious injuries and Marchand and McAvoy return to form in time for the postseason.

 

Buffalo Sabres

New Faces:

Eric Comrie, Ilya Lyubushkin

New Places:

Colin Miller, Will Butcher, Mark Pysyk

Stanley Cup Odds: 150-1

Not too many big names coming or going for the perennially rebuilding Sabres. Craig Anderson is back at age 41 to tend goal, with Comrie, a first-round pick in 2013 coming in to compete for the job after finally breaking into the NHL last year and posting an impressive .921 save percentage in a small sample size. Buffalo has a lot of first-round draft picks and other young prospects in their early 20s on its roster, led by 6-foot-6 2021 top-pick Owen Power, so the Sabres should be fun to watch as we figure out if they ever will become a playoff contender.

 

Detroit Red Wings

New Faces:

David Perron, Ben Chiarot, Andrew Copp, Ville Husso, Domanik Kubalik, Olli Maata, Mark Pysyk. 

New Places:

Thomas Greiss, Marc Staal

Stanley Cup Odds: 60-1 

One of the league’s bottom dwellers in recent years, Detroit General Manager and favorite-son Steve Yzerman decided to fast-forward the rebuild in the offseason with a flurry of signings that included a nice mix of youth and experience for what had been one of the league’s most inexperienced rosters. The Red Wings should be fun to watch and competitive this year, but probably are a year away from serious playoff contention. However, it’s not out of the question that the Wings could sneak into one of the final postseason spots with a heroic performance in goal from newcomer Ville Husso, who took over the starting job in St. Louis last season before Jordan Binnington reclaimed it in the playoffs.

 

Florida Panthers

New Faces:

Matthew Tkachuk

New Places:

Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Mason Marchment

Stanley Cup Odds: 9-1

The high-flying Panthers continued the Presidents’ Trophy jinx last year. After a fortunate first-round playoff victory against the Capitals, Florida was swept in the second round as the two-time defending-champion Lightning exposed the Panthers as a team not built for postseason success. Enter the gritty and talented Matthew Tkachuk. Tkachuk and his bulldog mentality will help but will that be enough for a team that didn’t improve its goaltending situation and also lost a 100-point scorer in Huberdeau, a top D-man in Weegar and a solid role player in Mason Marchment? The Panthers also have a new coach as veteran Paul Maurice takes over for interim Andrew Brunette. Regular-season regression is expected, but Florida will make the playoffs, so we’ll see if the Panthers learned from last year’s disappointing ouster.

 

Montreal Canadiens

New Faces:

Kirby Dach, Mike Matheson, Evgenii Dadonov

New Places:

Alex Romanov, Jeff Petry

Stanley Cup Odds: 200-1

A year removed from a surprising run to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Canadiens sunk to unexpected depths last year. Despite the presence of rising young offensive stars Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki – as well as the addition of former top-five draft pick Kirby Dach – the team was horrendous defensively and shipped Romanov and Petry out of town. That doesn’t bode well for goaltenders Jake Allen and Samuel Montembeault, who will hold down the crease in the absence of injury-plagued Carey Price, who is out for the year.

 

Ottawa Senators

New Faces:

Alex DeBrincat, Claude Giroux, Cam Talbot, Tyler Motte

New Places:

Matt Murray, Connor Brown

Stanley Cup Odds: 55-1

An aggressive offseason combined with some exciting young preexisting talent makes Ottawa a team worth watching this season as well as one that could surprise and make a run at a playoff berth. There is a lot to overcome from a culture perspective for a franchise that has finished among the bottom five in the league in each of the past five seasons, but the Senators should be much improved and more than just competitive. Cam Talbot solidifies the goaltending situation, and all eyes are on first-round pick Jake Sanderson to see if he eventually will help take the defensive group to a new level. Bringing in 40-goal-scorer DeBrincat and veteran playmaker Giroux to join a forward group led by Brady Tkachuk adds depth, skill and scoring punch. There also is a nice mix of grit to go along with the natural talent. This team will be fun to watch.

 

Tampa Bay Lightning

New Faces:

Ian Cole, Vladislav Namestnikov, Haydn Fleury, Phillippe Myers

New Places:

Ondrej Palat, Ryan McDonagh, Jan Rutta

Stanley Cup Odds: 12-1

The three-peat didn’t happen, and the salary-cap-pinched Lighting lost more key players, but coach Jon Cooper and the organization seem to find lower-price veterans who fit nicely into the system and culture and keep the team at the top of the standings every season. Tampa Bay also makes savvy moves at the deadline and adds homegrown talent to the lineup every year. This has become one of the NHL’s elite organizations, and that won’t change this year. The only issue facing the Bolts is that some of their vets are aging, and they’ve played a ton of hockey the past three years. No matter what, though, they have the world’s best goalie and know how to pace themselves during the season and peak at the right time. The playoffs are a given, and does anyone really want to bet against them at least getting to the conference finals?

  

Toronto Maple Leafs

New Faces:

Matt Murray, Ilya Samsonov, Calle Jarnkrok

New Places:

Jack Campbell, Petr Mrazek, Ilya Mikheyev, Ilya Lyubushkin

Stanley Cup Odds: 7-1

The team with as much talent as any in the NHL has yet to figure it out between the pipes. Not surprisingly, this team also hasn’t figured out how to get out of the first round of the playoffs. Toronto fans may not want to hear this, but doing just that should be the organization’s No. 1 priority. Don’t worry about the regular season. No talk about the Stanley Cup. Develop and perfect a style throughout the year that will translate into postseason success, let players rest, try to keep key contributors healthy, figure out which goalie gives you the best chance to win a playoff round and point toward winning that first series. After that, the pressure will evaporate, and the team’s talent can take over. But until the Leafs take that first step, any talk of Cups or championships should be put on hold. Toronto blew up its goaltending situation again and brought in former Stanley Cup-winner Matt Murray, who is on the downside of his career, and Ilya Samsonov, a younger and talented former first-round pick with loads of potential but who disappointed on and off the ice in Washington. As always, it should be interesting in Toronto.

 

Metropolitan Division

Carolina Hurricanes

New Faces:

Max Pacioretty, Brent Burns, Ondrej Kase, Dylan Coghlan, Ryan Dzingel

New Places:

Vincent Trochek, Ian Cole, Tony DeAngelo, Max Domi, Josh Leivo

Stanley Cup Odds: 11-1

Will this be the breakthrough year for a Carolina team that continues to be one of the most consistent groups during the regular season? Pacioretty will join the lineup coming off the injured list at some point, which will add fresh legs and a top-tier offensive talent to a team that already has depth and a good mix of skill and grit. The Canes will be in the playoff mix even without him and will have plenty of time to put it all together before April. Burns probably is on the downside of his career, but still is an elite defenseman who will make the power play better. He’s a huge upgrade over DeAnelo and help fills the void created when Dougie Hamilton left before last season. Carolina was derailed by goaltender injuries last spring, but the Canes have one of the league’s top tandems in Frederik Andersen and Antii Raanta. Their health is key. Carolina has everything it takes to make a deep run. If not now, when?

 

Columbus Blue Jackets

New Faces:

Johnny Gaudreau, Erik Gudbranson

New Places:

Oliver Bjorkstrand

Stanley Cup Odds: 100-1

The Blue Jackets made the biggest splash of the summer by signing Gaudreau, but it won’t be nearly enough to make this team a contender. He and Patrick Laine will be fun to watch, but there isn’t much there to support them. The goaltending duo of Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo took huge steps back last year opening the door for Daniil Tarasov. It will be hard for any of those guys to carry this lineup, which is very weak defensively.

 

New Jersey Devils

New Faces:

Ondrej Palat, John Marino, Erik Haula, Vitek Vanecek 

New Places:

Ty Smith, Pavel Zacha

Stanley Cup Odds: 50-1 

New Jersey appears to be building a potential future contender after reaping the rewards of picking high in the draft for many years. But additions like Palat, Marino and Haula would seem to be more sensible for teams ready to make a run to the playoffs right now, and this team may be a year away. Vanecek’s time in Washington showed that he is likely to be a solid NHL backup and not a guy who can carry a team on his back. Dougie Hamilton performed well below expectations. He and Jack Hughes both battled injuries last year and must remain healthy for this team to have a chance of making any noise.

 

New York Islanders

New Faces:

Alex Romanov

New Places:

Zdeno Chara, Andy Greene 

Stanley Cup Odds: 40-1 

The Isles developed into a consistent Stanley Cup contender thanks to the bench wizardry of Barry Trotz, a strong defense and solid goaltending. But years of ignoring their offensive shortcomings finally caught up with them last year. The lack of offense combined with a horrific schedule and COVID ultimately proved to be too much for the Islanders to overcome. And it unfairly cost their coach his job. The only offseason addition was a young defenseman. Makes sense for a team that can’t score. It’s going to be a on long year on the Island.

 

New York Rangers

New Faces:

Vincent Trocheck, Louis Domingue, Jaroslav Halak, Jimmy Vesey

New Places:

Andrew Copp, Nils Lundqvist, Alex Georgiev, Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, Justin Braun

Stanley Cup Odds: 20-1

The addition of Trochek provides needed offensive depth to a team that is very top-heavy in terms of offensive production. If Trocheck lives up to expectations – he doesn’t have to blow it out of the water – and the young guns who stepped up in the playoffs can continue to play at or near that level, this team has tremendous upside. They have a top-three defenseman in Adam Fox, a top-three goalie in Igor Shesterkin, a deep and young defensive core, one of the league’s top first lines. There’s a lot to like here. Trading Georgiev is risky, but they probably felt they owed him a chance to start somewhere given Shesterkin’s rise to Vezina status. Halak is an able backup, but there will be a big regression if the starter goes down. Chris Kreider is not likely to approach the career-high 52 goals he scored last year, so where is the secondary scoring coming from? If New York figures that out it will be a fun ride in Manhattan this year.

 

Philadelphia Flyers

New Faces:

Tony DeAngelo, Justin Braun

New Places:

Martin Jones, Oksar Lindblom

Stanley Cup Odds: 150-1

What the Flyers lack in depth and talent they will make up for in intensity behind the bench. John Tortorella is the right guy to get the most out of his players, but this team was at the bottom of the NHL offensively last year, and Ryan Ellis, their big defensive addition from last offseason, is dealing with a pelvic injury that leaves his future uncertain. Injuries to top offensive threats Sean Courturier and Kevin Hayes crippled the Flyers last season, and it remains to be seen when Courturier might return. Injuries also hampered other productive forwards such as Joel Farabee, Cam Atkinson and Scott Laughton. Travis Konecny led the team with 52 points, and he’s very good but can’t do it all himself. DeAngelo and Braun will help the defense, but Carter Hart has struggled recently and also can’t do it alone. Philly is off to a good start. Tortorella will make them better in reality than they are on paper, but that’s not likely to make them a playoff contender.

  

Pittsburgh Penguins

New Faces:

Jeff Petry, Jan Rutta, Ty Smith 

New Places:

Mike Matheson, Evan Rodrigues, John Marino

Stanley Cup Odds: 20-1

Under Mike Sullivan, it doesn’t seem to matter who comes or goes; the Penguins are always in the playoff mix and always seem to figure out how to overcome a ton of injuries and advance to the postseason. That’s a tribute to Sullivan’s coaching and organizational depth, but in the year that the Pens figured to blow it up and possibly let veteran stars Evgeni Malkin and Chris Letang walk in favor of younger, cheaper players, Pittsburgh’s front office made a statement that they want to make one more run with the band intact. Can those two and Sidney Crosby stay healthy? If so, this team will be competitive with anyone. If Sullivan can figure out how to rest his superstars enough to keep them fresh heading into the playoffs, anything can happen. But there always danger in relying on aging, proud players who may or may not know how to pace themselves. The Pens are solid on defense, although the departure of Marino doesn’t help, the goaltending of Tirstan Jarry seems adequate and Jake Guentzel has become a star. Bringing Richard Rakell back to go along with Jason Zucker, Jeff Carter, Bryan Rust and Kasperi Kapanen gives the Pens as much depth up front as almost anyone. So, you’re saying there’s a chance? 

 

Washington Capitals

New Faces:

Dylan Strome, Connor Brown, Darcy Kuempmer 

New Places:

Ilya Samsonov, Vitek Vanecek, Justin Schultz, Michael Kempny 

Stanley Cup Odds: 40-1

Ahh, the Caps. Familiar faces Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson are gone – because of injuries – but Wilson will be back probably before Christmas and Backstrom says he’s finally feeling like himself after hip surgery. Some teams will be looking to add pieces at the trade deadline, while the Caps could be bringing back one of their all-time greats with fresh legs and a healthy body after several years of battling hip pain. And Washington didn’t stand pat, bringing in Dylan Strome and Connor Brown to solidify their forward depth. The Great 8 will be the Great 8. He still scores goals like almost no other. And the Caps still have TJ Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Anthony Mantha and one of the league’s top fourth lines. Analytically, they have been very good (surprisingly) the past few years on defense. John Carlson provides blue-line offense, and the Dmitry Orlov-Nick Jensen combo has played hundreds of games together and is one of the league’s most underrated tandems. The missing piece since the departure of Braden Holtby has been in goal, so the Caps brought in one of the best in Stanley Cup-champion Darcy Kuemper. They are aging and share many of the risks the Penguins are dealing with, but it might be fun to see one more seven-game playoff tilt between Ovie and Sid the Kid, eh?

 

Western Conference – Central Division

Arizona Coyotes

New Faces:

Troy Stetcher, Zach Kassian

New Places:

Phil Kessel

Stanley Cup Odds: 1000-1

The odds say it all. This team has missed the playoffs all but one of the past nine seasons and is moving into a temporary 5,000-seat arena. Stetcher and Kassian are solid NHL players and losing Kesslel at this point in his career is of no consequence. The Coyotes are bad, and their best defenseman Jakob Chychrun wants out. Connor Bedard, anyone?

 

Chicago Blackhawks

New Faces:

Andreas Anthanasiou, Petr Mrazek, Colin Blackwell, Max Domi 

New Places:

Alex DeBrincat, Kirby Dach, Dylan Strome, Kevin Lankinen

Stanley Cup Odds: 1000-1

An organization that appeared to be assembling promising young pieces to possibly give veterans Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane one last shot at making a playoff run before retirement suddenly decided to start blowing it up over the summer. The Blackhawks shipped out budding-star Alex DeBrincat, a 40-goal scorer, and former No. 1 draft pick Kirby Dach. They let another top-six forward in Dylan Strome sign with Washington and solid netminder Kevin Lankinen also was allowed to move on. The pieces that were brought in won’t make it better. Chicago actually might be worse in 2022-23. Tough times in the Windy City. 

 

Colorado Avalanche

New Faces:

Alex Georgiev, Evan Rodrigues

New Places:

Darcy Kuemper, Nazem Kadri, Andrei Burakovsky 

Stanley Cup Odds: 4-1

Stanley Cup champions never remain intact the year after winning. A key player who steps up during the playoffs on a big stage in front of a large audience usually gets more money than he probably deserves somewhere else, top veterans whose contracts have expired become too expensive and championship-winning players always are in demand among contending teams that have yet to win a title. Colorado lost Kadri, a free agent who was due a big payday; Kuemper, who was looking to sign his last big contract; and Burakovsky, a talented player with two Stanley Cups and many good years left who was going to get more money than the Avs were willing to play and was a great fit for a team like Seattle that is trying to build its culture. The trade for Georgiev was slick and smart, and he already has paid dividends. This team is still deeper up front and on the blue line and faster than just about everybody with superstar-level forwards and defensemen. The Avs are a playoff lock, and barring a major upset, they should be a good bet to at least advance to the conference finals.

 

Dallas Stars

New Faces:

Mason Marchment, Colin Miller, Will Butcher 

New Places:

John Klingberg, Vladislav Namestnikov

Stanley Cup Odds: 45-1

Head coach Pete DeBoer keeps finding a home after wearing out his welcome somewhere else. Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn on the downside, and it seems unlikely that top forwards Jason Robertson and Roope Hitz will be able to provide what those players did when they were at the top of their games. Losing Klingberg hurts, but goaltender Jake Oettinger is a stud as he proved in posting a .954 save percentage in seven playoff games vs. Calgary last spring. As good as he is, though, it won’t be possible for Oettinger play at that level for an entire season. Miro Heiskanen is a defensive bright spot, and the top-four is above average on the blue line. There’s enough here for Dallas to make the playoffs, but from there how far the Stars can go will depend on Oettinger. 

 

Minnesota Wild

New Faces:

Filip Gustavsson 

New Places:

Kevin Fiala, Cam Talbot 

Stanley Cup Odds: 19-1

Not much change here for a team that has done a complete 180 the past few years and gone from being a boring, plodding defensive-minded team to one of the NHL’s top offensive clubs. Finding an elite, electric talent like Kirill Kaprizov, who scored 108 points last year, certainly helped move the team in that direction, and the hope in Minnesota is that 2020 first-round pick Marco Rossi can approach that level in the near future. Fiala was the team’s No. 2 scorer a year ago, so he won’t be easy to replace, but the Wild still excel at limiting scoring opportunities with Matt Dumba and Jared Spurgeon anchoring the defense, and Marc Andre Fleury has more big-game experience than any other NHL netminder at this point. Unfortunately, he’s gotten off to a terrible start and the team is giving up tons of goals thus far. Minnesota is a very opportunistic offensive team statistically, but if the Wild has to score four or five goals every night to have a chance, that pressure can lead to a lot of payers squeezing their sticks. Minnesota should right the ship and be a playoff team, but the Wild better figure it out soon.

 

Nashville Predators

New Faces:

Nino Neidereitter, Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Lankinen

New Places:

Philippe Myers, Luke Kunin, David Rittich

Stanley Cup Odds: 35-1

No one means more to his team than Preds goalie Juuse Saros, and that became evident when he was injured prior to last year’s playoffs. Saros gives them a chance against literally anyone. Having a backup like Lankinen surely would have helped last spring, but the reality is that this team isn’t equipped to compete with teams like the Avs. Filip Forsberg, Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen are formidable top-six forwards, but Forsberg probably is the team’s only legitimate top-three guy at this point. Duchene’s 43-goal season was a pleasant surprise, but surprises don’t often repeat themselves. That was by far his most productive year, so it’s probably not smart to count on those 86 points again. But he’s still a very good player. Neiderreiter, a regular 20-goal scorer, is a bit of an under-the-radar middle-six forward who adds speed, skill and some grit. Some younger forwards are going to have to come a long way this season to make this team better, however. Having arguably the league’s top defenseman in Roman Jossi, along with a top-three goalie, places the Preds in the playoff mix for sure and adding Stanley Cup-winner McDonagh on D was a smart move. This is a solid team; if Saros stays healthy and a couple of pieces are added at the trade deadline, a run is possible.

 

St. Louis Blues

New Faces:

Thomas Greiss, Josh Leivo, Noel Acciari

New Places:

David Perron, Ville Husso, Dakota Joshua

Stanley Cup Odds: 40-1 

It’s hard to imagine the Blues getting better after letting Ville Husso, who emerged as the starting goaltender during the regular season last year, and veteran forward David Perron ride off into the sunset. St. Louis is banking on Jordan Binnington, who has been inconsistent since the miracle Cup run, playing consistently as well as he did in the playoffs when he reclaimed the starting job. Newcomer Greiss isn’t pushing to be a starter at this point in his career. The Blues still are strong defensively with Tory Krug, who they hope can stay healthy, Colton Parayko and Justin Faulk patrolling the blue line. St. Louis had the second-best power play in the NHL last year, but how will the loss of Perron loss impact that? Vladamir Tarasenko still can light it up, and the Blues are deep – if not spectacular – up front despite not having a bunch of big names. They appear to be a playoff team that will go as far as Binnington takes them – again.

 

Winnipeg Jets

New Faces:

David Rittich

New Places:

Eric Comrie

Stanley Cup Odds: 60-1

A few years back it seemed as though the Jets were a perennial pick to finally have that breakthrough season and make a run at the Stanley Cup. It never happened. Now, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler are a year older, and Pierre-Luc Dubois is very good but isn’t a guy who can carry a team offensively. Kyle Connor can be that guy, but he isn’t surrounded by a ton of depth. He is a legit top-line threat up front, and the Jets would benefit tremendously if Nilolaj Ehlers can stay healthy and repeat or build upon his best season to date. The defense is bad and got no better. Connor Hellebuyck is one of the NHL’s best goalies, but he plays too many games and always is a risk to wear down and burn out. He may be good enough to allow Winnipeg to sneak into the playoffs, but it will be a battle to the wire.

 

Pacific Division

Anaheim Ducks

New Faces:

John Klingberg, Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano

New Places:

Eric Comrie

Stanley Cup Odds: 150-1

There is no doubt that this team will be fun to watch, and the future seems to be bright. But there are so many holes, and the biggest question of all is whether John Gibson ever will return to the level of play that had him pegged at one point as the NHL’s next great goalie. Trevor Zegras (19) is very close to being an elite player already, and he’s clearly an elite talent. Troy Terry (25) had a breakout year in 2021-22 and possess seemingly unlimited skill to go along with his new-found ability to finish. Top draft-pick Mason McTavish is ready to contribute and contribute a lot. Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano and John Klingberg make the Ducks better. Anaheim is worth watching, and if the organization stays on task, the Ducks will be a contender in the coming years. It would be fun if they could contend for a postseason berth this year, but early returns indicate that likely won’t happen. Anaheim will continue to get better throughout the year, though, and might be able to make a late run to provide some excitement.

 

Calgary Flames

New Faces:

Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Nazem Kadri, Sonny Milano

New Places:

Johnny Gaudreau, Matthe Tkachuk, Calle Jarnkrok, Erik Gudbranson

Stanley Cup Odds: 17-1

Has a team ever lost its top-two offensive players and at the same time gotten better? It looks as though that may be the case in Calgary. Tkachuk wanted out once Gaudreau signed with Columbus, and the Flames granted his wish and got 115-point scorer Huberdueau and potential top-pair defenseman Weegar in return. Then they went out and signed Kadri, who is coming off a career year and a Stanley Cup championship. Not bad. Now, Calgary is being talked about as the probable Pacific Division winner and having a chance to oust Colorado as the Western Conference champions. The key likely will be goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who bounced back from a subpar 2021-22 to post an impressive .922 save percentage last year. Calgary became one of the NHL’s top defensive teams last year under Darryl Sutter.

 

Edmonton Oilers

New Faces:

Jack Campbell, Mattias Janmark

New Places:

Mike Sith, Mikko Koskinen, Zach Kassian

Stanley Cup Odds: 16-1

Edmonton looked to upgrade one area from last year’s team that made a run to the Western Conference finals. Any guess what that might be? The Oilers let both goalies go and brought in veteran Jack Campbell, a solid-but-not-spectacular netminder who is great in the locker room. Campbell’s numbers have declined over the past few years, but he’s not the only goalie in NHL history to experience that while playing in Toronto. If Campbell can step up his game even a little bit, he will be a huge addition to a deep and talented Edmonton lineup and could make the difference. It likely will be a Battle of Alberta for the top spot in the Pacific Division, and what would be more fun than that? The Oilers won 26 of their final 37 games heading into the postseason last year and are hoping that momentum will carry over. The names up front are mostly the same – Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Evander Kane, Kailer Yamamoto, Jesse Puljujarvi and Ryan Nugent Hopkins – and the defense is comprised of solid veterans Darnell Nurse, Cody Ceci and Tyson Barrie along with budding star Evan Bouchard. 

 

Los Angeles Kings 

New Faces:

Kevin Fiala

New Places:

Andreas Anthanasiou, Troy Stetcher, Olli Maatta

Stanley Cup Odds: 35-1

The Kings have rebuilt to become a playoff-caliber team without having to deal with several years of being absolutely terrible. Their return to the postseason last year was a pleasant surprise for California hockey fans, and now with an infusion of skill and scoring-ability coming from Kevin Fiala, Los Angeles looks to take another step forward in 2022-23. The Kings appear to be a solid playoff team once again playing Todd McLellan’s suffocating defensive system. Longtime blue-line stalwart Drew Doughty missed more than half the season last year, so his return makes this team better while his absence allowed some younger players to get thrown into the fire and develop. Viktor Arvidsson also missed a large chunk of time last year, so his return also points to the Kings improving. Cal Petersen didn’t have a great year in goal, but apparently the threat of him becoming the starter motivated veteran Jonathan Quick to return to form. Quick had had his best year in recent memory, and Petersen should be better this year. They should be able to split time and be well-rested heading into the postseason.

  

San Jose Sharks  

New Faces:

Oskar Lindblom, Luke Kunin, Markus Nutivaara

New Places:

Brent Burns, Rudolf Balcers, Ryan Dzingel

Stanley Cup Odds: 180-1

Apparently given their 180-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup, Las Vegas thinks more highly of the Sharks than many hockey pundits. A team that failed to qualify for the postseason in 2021-22 didn’t do much to improve in the offseason and moved its best player, Brent Burns, to Carolina. Burns is on the downside of his career but still is a very good NHL defenseman and was fourth on the team in scoring. Defensemen Erik Karlsson and Marc-Edouard Valsic are both getting old, and Karlsson can’t stay healthy. The Sharks were a bottom-10 defensive and offensive team a year ago. Timo Meir and Tomas Hertl are very good up front, but Logan Couture who is only 33 but seems to have played in the NHL forever, is starting to show the mileage from his 14 years in the league.

 

Seattle Kraken

New Faces:

Andrei Burakovsky, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Justin Schultz, Martin Jones, Michael Kempny 

New Places:

Haydn Fleury 

Stanley Cup Odds: 100-1

The Kraken didn’t make any huge offseason splashes with their free-agent signings, but they did bring in a group of very good postseason-tested veteran players who can help build a winning culture. Burakovsky and Bjorkstrand will bolster the top six up front, with Burakovsky having played on two Stanley Cup-winning teams since 2018. Schultz and Kempny are solid defensemen who also have won Cups, and Bjorkstrand had his best NHL campaign last year, recording nearly 30 goals and 60 points for a weak Columbus team. While that may not be enough to make Seattle a playoff contender, the Kraken aren’t far away and could make some noise If goalie Philipp Grubauer returns to form after a terrible 2021-22.

 

Vancouver Canucks

New Faces:

Ilya Mikheyev, Andrei Kuzmenko, Dakota Joshua, Curtis Lazar

New Places:

Jaroslav Halak, Brad Hunt

Stanley Cup Odds: 50-1

Bruce Boudreau stepped in and turned another team around last year, winning 32 out of 57 games after taking the helm in December. It wasn’t enough to earn a playoff berth, but a return to the postseason is possible for Vancouver in 2022-23. They are set in goal with a long-term solution in Thatcher Demko, who has posted a .921 save percentage over two seasons, and he has done that while shouldering a heavy workload. So it’s not a fluke. Vancouver was a top offensive team under Boudreau and had the league’s most-efficient power-play unit. More is expected from the team’s top offensive players this year, so that may just be the tip of the iceberg. The Canucks were not great defensively and were awful killing penalties, but they have a goalie capable of bailing them out. It’s possible that a couple of additions to sure up the defense at the trade deadline could push the Canucks into the postseason, but they will have to start playing better soon after getting off to a disappointing start.

 

Vegas Golden Knights

New Faces:

Phil Kessel, Adin Hill

New Places:

Max Pacioretty, Evenii Dadonov, Dylan Coghlan, Mattias Janmark

Stanley Cup Odds: 25-1

Vegas got off to a flying start last year and was considered a frontrunner to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup finals. But injuries intervened and the team’s performance cost the coach his job and left the Golden Knights out of the playoffs for the first time in team history. The addition of Jack Eichel proved to be more of a distraction than anything, while moving on from Marc-Andre Fleury angered fans and frankly didn’t work out. Now, injured starting netminder Robin Lehner is expected to miss the entire season, leaving the goal in unproven hands. Vegas still has a strong defensive unit anchored by veterans Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, Alec Martinez and Brayden McNabb, which should keep goalies Logan Thompson and Hill from having to win games on their own. The Golden Knights traded away their top offensive producer, and the aging Kessel will not fill that void for a team that was average offensively a year ago. Vegas probably is strong enough on D to find its way to the playoffs, but how far can the Knights go with their offensive shortcomings and unproven goalies?