NHL SEason Preview: How These 5 Teams Stand Prior to the STart of the SEason

By: Avery Donnellon

The 2024-25 NHL season is right around the corner, and with some major trade acquisitions and rookies on the rise, it’s bound to change up the dynamics across the league. Before the season gets into full swing, here are five teams hockey fans should keep their eyes on this year.

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1. Washington Capitals
   

When most people think about the Capitals, one player has come to mind for the last 15 years. However, with Alex Ovechkin closing in on the goal scoring record, and reaching the twilight of his career, it’s time to start looking at what’s around him, and what the future of this franchise looks like. ​

The Capitals have quietly been stocking their prospect pantry with players who will soon be taking the spotlight, led by Ivan Miroshnichenko, an amazing prospect who recovered from cancer in 2022, before leading the Capitals AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, to back-to-back Calder Cup championships. He is primed for a breakout season this year, in the hopes of keeping the Caps in the fight.

It is important to put a ceiling on their success, however. This team has no illusions of being a serious contender. But, with input from new acquisitions such as left winger Andrew Mangiapane, defensemen Matt Roy and Jacob Chychrun, and their biggest splash of the offseason, centerman Piere-Luc Dubois, they can at least hope to surround their star with as much talent as they can for his last push to the Great One’s scoring record.

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2. Utah Hockey Club

​After replacing the poorly managed Arizona Coyotes, the newest team in the league has not exactly been given a very high bar to clear, given how their predecessors performed over the last few seasons. However, those low expectations may be misguided, as this team looks like it’s ready to make progress.

The Coyotes were on the verge of competing when they were disbanded, putting the Hockey Club in a good position to turn things around, most likely building around young center Clayton Keller, a 33 goal and 76 point scorer last season. Another key point in Utah’s success is in their depth, with players like forward Michael Carcone, who developed from nearly complete irrelevance in the NHL to a 21 goal scorer last season. 

If Utah hopes to be competitive this year, they will need to hope for more support from him and their other up and coming players, such as right winger Dylan Guenther, center Logan Cooley, and rookie right winger Josh Doan (son of former Coyotes captain Shane Doan).

Again, much like the Capitals, the ceiling is still fairly low for this team, but with the rookies entering their system, and a new atmosphere in Salt Lake City, there is hope for the Club to make big strides this season.

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3. Edmonton Oilers

​After coming within one goal of the Stanley Cup, this team has clearly beaten the fraud allegations, but can they run it back? If they hope to do so, they’ll have to stick to what made them a serious contender last year – depth. 

It’s no secret that the Oilers have their top players settled; both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl scored over 100 points last season, and they have shown no signs of slowing down. However, what really brought Edmonton to the cup final last season was what was built up around them. 

Most of their previous failures resulted from their lack of depth scoring and defense, two areas that they have made major strides in during the last year. Their ability to win low scoring games has improved, with their average goals against per game dropping precipitously from previous seasons. Their main goal now is to find a quality starting goaltender, and to keep what they had going.

With the Oilers, there is no single depth player to highlight, because what made them good last season was the cohesion between them. They have made relatively few moves this offseason, so it will be interesting to see how they stack up when other teams are making moves around them. Regardless, with a core of McDavid and Draisaitl, they’re bound to make waves in the league, so the question is: Can the rest of the team keep up?

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4. Vancouver Canucks

Coming off of an unprecedented playoff run, the Vancouver Canucks are where they want to be. Any team would kill for a core of young defenseman and captain Quinn Hughes, center and veteran leader J.T. Miller, young centerman Elias Petterson, and 40 goal scorer, right wing Brock Boeser. Losing by one goal to the Oilers in a best-of-seven series is a fantastic starting point for this group, putting them in a good spot to contend this year.​

The team has not made many changes, though few were really necessary. The loss of Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov in free agency will hurt, but the team is strong enough that they can manage. With 2nd and 3rd line pieces such as centerman Dakota Joshua and right winger Connor Garland, their depth scoring is handled. Their biggest question is in goal, as their starter, Thatcher Demko, has been afflicted by a rare muscle condition that has the potential to keep him off the ice for the first few months of the season.

It isn’t all over, however. Their recent signing of former Nashville Predators goalie Kevin Lankinen, along with the breakout playoff appearances of rookie goaltender Arturs Silovs puts the Canucks in a favorable position in goal. With these factors combined, the Vancouver Canucks are definitely a favorite to go far in this year’s playoffs.

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5. Ottawa Senators

This team is particularly interesting, because despite their clearly talented core, they have consistently underperformed over the last five years. A core of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, and Shane Pinto should not end their season seventh in their division with a losing record. 

However, there is hope, as the previously mentioned Canucks were in a very similar position in 2023, and a few small changes were all that were needed to turn a team from “mid” to a playoff contender. So, the question is: are the changes the Senators made the right ones?
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Their largest deal involved the acquiring of their new starting goaltender, Linus Ullmark. It was known by most fans that the legendary Bruins tandem of Ullmark and Jermemy Swayman wouldn’t last, and it makes sense that Ottawa would be on the hunt for a new goalie, after none of their goalies surpassed a save percentage of .890 last season. 

Ullmark, on the other hand, won the Vezina trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 2023, and had a save percentage of .915 last season, an enormous improvement. Along with other acquisitions, such as left winger David Perron and defenseman Nick Jensen (brought in to replace Jacob Chychrun), Ullmark may be what the Canadian capital city needs to imitate the success of Vancouver.

​These five teams, while varying wildly in structure and goals, all have the chance to surprise NHL fans this season, so keep an eye out for big waves in the standings (and the playoffs) this year.