The Golden Knights are the team to beat in 2023-24. How could they not be? They still have Mark Stone and Jack Eichel under contract for the next few years. That will be Vegas' Stanley Cup window. I'm excited to see how aggressive the team can be in its pursuit of another championship.
2The battle between the Oilers and Golden Knights will be fun to watch next season. Edmonton looked poised to make a Stanley Cup run of its own this past spring, but Vegas put an end to that in the second round. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl should be on a mission in 2023-24. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Oilers and Golden Knights meet in the playoffs again next year
3The Avs will be without captain Gabriel Landeskog for the entire 2023-24 campaign, and they have eight pending unrestricted free agents. While some may see that as a problem, I see a lot of cap room and flexibility for GM Joe Sakic to reload. The team's core is already locked in for the long haul, so it now becomes about strengthening the supporting cast.
4New Jersey took a huge step forward this past season, and the team will have a boatload of cap space to work with this summer. A good chunk of that will have to go toward re-signing Timo Meier (they've already locked up Jesper Bratt), but there should still be some money left over to upgrade a very talented and very young roster. The Devils' ascent will continue into 2023-24.
5The Hurricanes have been one of the Eastern Conference's best teams for several years now, and their core is still somehow relatively young. Sebastian Aho is 26, Martin Necas is 24, Jesperi Kotkaniemi is 22 and Seth Jarvis is 21. If Carolina can use some of its roughly $24 million in cap space to upgrade its scoring touch -- and perhaps tweak its offensive system -- watch out.
6Somehow, the Stars have Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski under contract for the 2023-24 season for a combined cap hit of less than $20 million. That will allow them to tinker around the edges of a roster that went to the Western Conference Final this past season. Dallas should be considered a legit Cup contender next season.
7Perhaps this is too low for the Eastern Conference champions, but we saw a wide range of outcomes from the Panthers in 2022-23. For most of the season, we saw the worst-case scenario, when they were out of a playoff spot. Then, we saw their peak, as they made mincemeat of their conference opponents in the postseason. The real Panthers are probably somewhere in between, so we'll split the difference here.
8Speaking of teams that might be too low, the Bruins just set the NHL record for most wins and points in a single season, and they barely sneak into the top 10. The issues in Boston are that the roster isn't getting any younger, the team has eight pending UFAs and very little cap space with which to work. GM Don Sweeney has his work cut out for him.
9For each of the past two seasons, the Kings have run into the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs, and they have been eliminated both times. Los Angeles has potential to take a huge step forward in 2023-24. The question is whether their young prospects can start taking over. Much of the team's success this past season was driven by older veterans. That can't continue forever.
10There needs to be a sense of urgency in New York, and there was at this past trade deadline, but it just didn't work out. That happens sometimes. The Rangers need to keep that same approach in 2023-24, because core forwards like Mika Zibaneja, Atremi Panarin and Chris Kreider are on the wrong side of 30. Vincent Trocheck will be there too in July.
11Now we're in the middle of a run on Eastern Conference teams I'm not quite sure about heading into next season. This past spring, Toronto got over that first-round hump only to hit a second-round hump against the Panthers. New GM Brad Treliving seems open to trading one of the Core 4: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares. That said, I'm not sure those players have been the problem for the Leafs recently.
12The Lightning have done an excellent job of keeping their championship window open for a long time now, but that will prove to be even more difficult this summer. As usual, Tampa Bay is scraping up against the salary cap, and it needs to make decisions on a handful of players.
13I bought stock in the Sabres throughout the 2022-23 season, and I'm not about to jump off the bandwagon as it gets ready to explode. Buffalo has a strong young core in place with Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Owen Power leading the way. The team now has some flexibility to improve its depth and shore up its goaltending situation.
14I was high on the Flames going into last season, and I got burnt. Looking ahead to the 2023-24 season, I'm cautiously optimistic, at least for now. I still really like Calgary's roster, and the coaching change should help, even if it just means getting a new voice in the locker room. Assuming Jacob Markstrom doesn't play like one of the worst goalies in the NHL next year, the Flames will be back in the playoffs.
15The Kraken went from finishing last in the Pacific Division in 2021-22 to coming within one win of the 2023 Western Conference Final. It was a magical season in Seattle, and it culminated with the team taking down the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs. I still have questions about the sustainability of the Kraken's success, but they have the room to make some upgrades this summer.
16Starting in 2023-24, Minnesota will battle some salary cap issues because the team is paying Ryan Suter and Zach Parise over $7.3 million to play for other teams in each of the next two years. The Wild need to upgrade their forward group, but the lack of cap space could hamper them in that endeavor.
17The Senators have a lot of great young players on their roster, but there are still some holes in the lineup. Ottawa must improve its middle-six forward group and its depth, but the pieces are in place for the franchise to contend for a playoff spot next season. The biggest problem is that Alex DeBrincat may be on his way out, but perhaps the Sens could get some NHL-ready players in a trade.
18The Red Wings took a slight step forward last season, but it probably wasn't as big as GM Steve Yzerman had hoped. The good news is that Yzerman has some freedom to be aggressive on the trade market and in free agency. He will have to keep in mind that Moritz Seider has just one year left on his ELC.
19The Islanders barely snuck into the postseason last year, and they lost to the Hurricanes in the first round. The Isles will probably be stuck in that position again in 2023-24. GM Lou Lamoriello doesn't have much flexibility with his roster in the offseason, and a number of key players are approaching or over 30. Can Ilya Sorokin keep this team near the top of the Metro Division standings on his own?
20Kyle Dubas has some work to do in his first season as the Penguins' President of Hockey Operations. Pittsburgh missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006 after losing to the Blackhawks in its home finale. The Penguins have 15 players under contract right now, and 10 of them are at least 30-years-old. The Pens have to inject some fresh blood into their lineup this summer.
21After stumbling to the finish line in the regular season, the Jets were unceremoniously ousted from the playoffs in five games by the Golden Knights. Head coach Rick Bowness seemed fed up with some of the veteran leaders after the season. Connor Hellebuyck might be on the trade block. Changes could be on the way in Winnipeg.
22The Blues are an interesting team here. They have a ton of draft capital and a little salary cap space now that their best young forwards have been signed long-term. The problem St. Louis will have this summer is finding a way to unload at least one of its big-ticket defensemen. If they can do that, the Blues could improve their roster rather quickly.
23Much like the Penguins, the Capitals have an aging core and will struggle to get drastically better in one offseason. Washington was below .500 in 2022-23, and while the team did deal with a slew of injuries, it wasn't in the same zip code as the best teams in the conference. It might be time for the Capitals to look to the future.
24After their fire sale at the trade deadline, the Predators went on a run and nearly got into the playoffs, but a lot of that had to do with the brilliant play of Juuse Saros. Nashville has a few elite players, but the roster is full of holes, and the young prospects need a couple more years to develop. A step back may not be the worst thing in the world for a Preds team that has a wealth of draft picks in 2023 and 2024.
25Once Rick Tocchet took over as the head coach midway through the 2022-23 season, the Canucks showed some improvement, but this franchise is still in a tough spot. Vancouver has no salary cap room, and it doesn't have a roster capable of being a serious contender. The Canucks are floating in no man's land, and that will probably continue for at least one more year.
26Montreal is on the right track, but it may be a couple of years before the franchise gets back to being a playoff threat. If the Canadiens can get Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Jets, he would help expedite that process, but the Habs would still fall short when compared to other Eastern Conference contenders. At least one more year of selecting at the top of the draft would benefit this franchise.
27There is some reason to believe that the Jackets will be better next season. The team recently traded for Damon Severson and Ivan Provorov in hopes of bolstering the blue line, but the latter is coming off a bad season in Philadelphia, and the organization made the interesting choice to hire Mike Babcock as its next head coach. Maybe that works, but it also has the potential to go south quickly.
28Expect the rebuild to continue for the Flyers in the 2023-24 season. Philadelphia has plenty of draft picks this year, and they will be able to keep stocking their draft pool. That should be exciting for fans in Philly, but it won't help the on-ice product next year. The return of Sean Couturier will, but even with him at full health, the Flyers will likely be wallowing near the bottom of the conference.
29The 2022-23 season was a rough one in Anaheim. The Ducks got roasted on a nightly basis, finished with a -129 goal differential, and didn't even get Connor Bedard out of the deal. Adam Fantilli is a nice consolation prize, and there are some fun young forwards on the team, just not quite enough. This past year underscored how just big the problems are on the pond.
30Connor Bedard is going to sell a lot of tickets in 2023-24, and there is no way the Blackhawks can be as bad as they were this past season... but they will still be nowhere near good. At least not yet. The losses will probably hurt a lot less in Chicago knowing that the team's future is set.
31The Sharks made some progress in their rebuilding effort last year, but there is still a long road ahead. Finding a way to trade Erik Karlsson this offseason would be a big win, but getting rid of a 100-point player is not going to make them better in the short-term. In fact, it might make San Jose one of the worst teams in the league.
32Bringing up the rear we have the Coyotes, who are still looking for a permanent home in the desert amidst rumors that the team will be relocated. Clayton Keller, the team's best player, might be running low on patience. The shame is that Arizona is a great place, and there are some decent prospects on the Coyotes, but the organization has suffered from instability for a while now.
