Photo: USA Today Sportsbook
With the NHL free agent market having been open for two-and-a-half weeks, teams have moved up and down from where they finished last season after adding and/or losing particular players. NoVa Caps takes a look at where every team stands in our annual post-draft and free agency power rankings. (⬆️Up, ⬇️Down, ➡️No Change represent spaces moved since spot finished last season).
LOTTERY CONTENDERS
32. San Jose Sharks
San Jose definitely improved after adding Macklin Celebrini, Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Wennberg, and Jake Walman but a lot of surgery is still required. Will Smith and William Eklund’s growth should definitely excite the Sharks. ➡️
31. Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus is expected to stay among the NHL’s bottom-dwellers after adding just Sean Monahan with the team hoping for steps forward from youngsters Kent Johnson, Yegor Chinakov, Adam Fantilli, and Dmitri Voronokov this season. Johnny Gaudreau must improve after his production fell to 12 goals and 60 points last season. ⬇️2
30. St. Louis Blues
St. Louis did not do much this offseason, just adding Ryan Suter. They are still in a rebuild and have some nice pieces up front with Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours. ⬇️14
29. Calgary Flames
Calgary is rebuilding after parting with Tyler Toffoli, Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Andrew Mangiapane, Chris Tanev, and Jacob Markstrom over the past 13 months. They added Anthony Mantha, Ryan Lomberg, and Jake Bean to complement their young players and will likely have 23-year-old Dustin Wolf as their starting goaltender. ⬇️5
28. Montreal Canadiens
Montreal did not add nor lose anyone significant this offseason and hope Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Mike Matheson, and Juraj Slafkovsky can build off of their career-best seasons. Highly touted defensive prospect Lane Hutson is expected to make the jump to the NHL full-time this season. ➡️
27. Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim did not make any significant changes but look to their young players in Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras, Cutter Gauthier, Mason McTavish, and Leo Carlsson to take steps forward in their development. ⬆️3
26. Utah Hockey Club
Utah made significant upgrades to their blueline by bringing in Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino. They have a very good foundation with Clayton Keller leading the way and look for Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, and Matias Maccelli to improve after all established themselves as top-six forwards last season. ⬆️1
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN BUT NOT GOD AWFUL
25. Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago loaded up for year two of the Connor Bedard era with Alec Martinez and T.J. Brodie in on defense; Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Ilya Mikheyev in for their top-six forward group; and Craig Smith and Pat Maroon on board to support their fourth-line and provide leadership. The Blackhawks are also looking to Bedard, Frank Nazar, Kevin Korchinski, and Alex Vlasic to help the team take the next step, which may be held back as long as Laurent Brossoit and Petr Mrazek make up their goaltending tandem. ⬆️6
24. Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh appears ready to take a step back with a quiet offseason as Matt Grzelyck, Kevin Hayes, and Anthony Beauvillier were their only major additions and still lack depth to surround their core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson. ⬇️5
23. Ottawa Senators
Ottawa finally got a starting goaltender after acquiring Linus Ullmark and also got David Perron, Michael Amadio, and Nick Jensen. Though, losing Jakob Chychrun made their defense worse. The Senators have some young talent with Jake Sanderson, Tim Stutzle, Riley Greig, Drake Batherson, and Josh Norris as their core. How much will competent goaltending lift them? ⬆️3
22. Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia impressed last season in a rebuilding year but is sticking to the course despite overperforming. Everyone is excited about Matvei Michkov coming over but it is possible that Travis Konecny could be on the move and the team needs Sean Couturier to bounce back. The Flyers’ expected goalie tandem of Ivan Fedotov and Sam Ersson has just 66 games of NHL experience. With John Tortorella at the helm, expect the orange and black to show up every night. ⬇️1
21. Minnesota Wild
Minnesota will go into this season with a very similar roster to last with Yakov Trenin the only major player coming in and, assuming he stays, needs Filip Gustavsson to bounce back after the 26-year-old took a step back last season. ⬇️1
BUBBLE TEAMS
20. Seattle Kraken
Seattle improved after bringing in Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour but need Matty Beniers to break out this season after the 2023 Calder Trophy winner suffered through the sophomore slump last season. Shane Wright is expected to play his first full NHL season and starter Joey Daacord looks to build off of last year, when he established himself as the Kraken’s No. 1 goaltender. ⬆️5
19. New York Islanders
New York added Anthony Duclair to their forward group and should be in the mix for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference but with others in the Metropolitan Division improving their roster and the Islanders not doing much, it is going to be awfully tough to move up. If they are going to do that, Ilya Sorokin must rebound. ⬇️4
18. Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo finished strong last season and have some young talent with Tage Thompson, Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, Dylan Cozens, Zach Benson, Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram, and Owen Power all growing in addition to the possibility of Isak Rosen coming in. However, it will be tough for the Sabres to make the jump into the postseason with James Reimer and Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen as their goaltending tandem. ⬆️4
17. Tampa Bay Lightning
Despite adding Jake Guentzel, Tampa Bay appears poised to take a step back with Sergachev and Steven Stamkos out. The salary cap has decimated their roster this decade and Andrei Vasilevskiy’s save percentage has declined for three straight seasons to a career-worst .900 in 2023-24. You cannot count out a squad with Guentzel, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Victor Hedman there but their team is getting older and being without Stamkos will take some time getting used to. ⬇️5
16. Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles is arguably the team that has gotten the worst this offseason as they saw Matt Roy, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Viktor Arvidsson, and Cam Talbot go with Darcy Kuemper, Tanner Jeannot, Warren Foegele, and Joel Edmundson coming in. They should still compete for a postseason spot with Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, Quinton Byfield, Trevor Moore, and a few promising young players remaining but the Kings’ trajectory took a turn for the worse after the Dubois trade last summer backfired. ⬇️4
15. Detroit Red Wings
Detroit appears ready to snap their eight-year postseason drought after tying for the final wild-card seed in the East last season; adding Vladimir Tarasenko, Erik Gustafsson, and Tyler Motte; and having a healthy Patrick Kane. However, is a goaltending tandem of Talbot and Alex Lyon going to cut it? ⬆️3
14. Carolina Hurricanes
It has been a very rough offseason in Raleigh as Teravainen, Guentzel, Brett Pesce, Stefan Noesen, Brady Skjei, and Evgeny Kuznetsov have all left town with just Jack Roslovic, William Carrier, Tyson Jost, Sean Walker, and Shayne Gostisbehere coming in. While their roster has the depth, the Hurricanes lack the high-end talent needed to be Cup contenders and could use a second-line center, especially if Martin Necas heads elsewhere. Though, Rod Brind’Amour should still keep Carolina in the mix. ⬇️11
13. Washington Capitals
Washington arguably improved their roster the most with Dubois, Mangiapane, Chychrun, Roy, and Logan Thompson all coming in and Kuemper, Jensen, Beck Malenstyn, Max Pacioretty, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel out. They are still trying to build around Alex Ovechkin, who enters this season 42 goals away from the NHL’s all-time record, and looking for continued growth from young pieces Connor McMichael, Hendrix Lapierre, Aliaksei Protas, Ivan Miroschnichenko, Martin Fehervary, and Alexander Alexeyev to remain a postseason contender. Will Charlie Lindgren build off of his breakout season? ⬆️4
LOOKING GOOD
12. Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas may have lost a lot with Martinez, Stephenson, Mantha, Carrier, Thompson, and Jonathan Marchessault all out the door but still have a strong team all around, though Marchessault’s departure could be a tough one to recover from. Victor Olofsson, Alexander Holtz, and Ilya Samsonov all come with high upside to help one of the best cores in the NHL. The team still has Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo, and Mark Stone; highly touted prospect Brendan Brisson is expected to get more opportunity; and they will get a full season of Noah Hanifin and Tomas Hertl. Staying healthy is going to be more important for the Golden Knights this year, though. Will Shea Theodore stay in Vegas? ⬆️2
11. Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg suffered a couple of tough blows after losing Toffoli, Monahan, and Brenden Dillon (though, they were a contender in the West before adding Monahan and Toffoli at the trade deadline) and brought in Hadyn Fleury, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, and Kaapo Kahkonen. The Jets still have one of the best defenses in the NHL in front of Connor Hellebuyck and a deep offense, headlined by Kyle Connor, Mark Schiefele, and Gabriel Vilardi. Will Nikolaj Ehlers remain in Winnipeg? ⬇️7
10. Nashville Predators
Nashville followed their strong finish to last season when they finished an NHL-best 19-5-3 after Presidents’ Day and gave the Pacific Division-winning Vancouver Canucks a run for their money in the first round by adding Marchessault, Stamkos, and Skjei. Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi remain in Music City but are the Predators good enough to get past the Dallas Stars or Colorado Avalanche in the postseason? ⬆️1
9. New Jersey Devils
New Jersey finally got the starting goaltender they have craved since Martin Brodeur left down in Markstrom, improved their defense by adding Dillon and Pesce, and bolstered their bottom-six forward group with Noesen and Tomas Tatar coming in. With one of the most talented cores that features Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Dawson Mercer, and Dougie Hamilton, the Devils are expected to return to contender status in the Eastern Conference. ⬆️14
8. Colorado Avalanche
Colorado will be without Valeri Nichushkin for the first 5-6 weeks of the season due to suspension but still have one of the best cores in the league with Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, and Devon Toews still in Denver. The Avalanche need Alexandar Georgiev to be much better this season. ➡️
CONTENDERS
7. Florida Panthers
Florida suffered a huge loss to their blueline after Montour signed with Seattle and saw a lot of depth leave town but still have the high-end talent to compete in the Eastern Conference with Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling, and Sergei Bobrovsky remaining. The defending champions, who could use more from Aaron Ekblad and Anton Lundell, added depth with Jesper and Adam Boqvist, Nate Schmidt, and Tomas Nosek all signing in Florida. ⬇️6
6. Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto improved the defensive corps, adding Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Jani Hakanpaa. The Maple Leafs still have Auston Matthews and William Nylander leading the way but could Mitch Marner be on the move soon? ⬆️4
THE CREAM OF THE CROP
5. Boston Bruins
Boston got the top-six center they have needed since Patrice Bergeron retired with Lindholm coming to town and strengthened their already stout blueline, adding Zadorov after losing Jake DeBrusk. Jeremy Swayman is coming off of an outstanding season but how will he react to being the full-time starter after spending the first four years of his career in a time-share situation? With Brad Marchand and Hampus Lindholm getting older, the question of how much longer the Bruins’ Stanley Cup window will be there but they should be a top team again this season after adding an established center and with Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak still in their primes. ⬆️2
4. Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver got deeper in both their forward and defense groups with DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Derek Forbort, and Vincent Desharnais all coming in. The Canucks still have lots of talent with J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes, and Thatcher Demko as their core. They need to determine whether they see Miller as a full-time center and they have a hole to fill in their second-line if that answer is no. ⬆️2
3. Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton looks even better today than the team that lost in Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final less than a month ago after adding Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner. There could be a discussion of whether Stuart Skinner is good enough to be the Oilers’ starter after the team sat him for a couple games in the postseason but with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Evan Bouchard, they should be among the top threats for the Stanley Cup again. ⬇️1
2. New York Rangers
The reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners arguably improved after adding Reilly Smith to complement their star players and Sam Carrick to step into the fourth-line. New York still has some of the best players in the NHL with Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox, and Igor Shesterkin. Alexis Lafreniere took a big step last year and they need him, Kaapo Kakko, and Brennan Othman to take another. How will Vincent Trocheck follow up the best campaign of his career? Will captain Jacob Trouba stay a Ranger before opening night? ⬆️1
- Dallas Stars
While they lost Tanev and Joe Pavelski, Dallas has the depth to overcome them with Logan Stankoven ready to take on a bigger role; Thomas Harley and Miro Heiskanen leading a strong defense group; and Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, Heiskanen, and Harley returning. Jake Oettinger needs to bounce back after a disappointing regular season. ⬆️3
By Harrison Brown
