by: Nate Underdog
Montreal Canadians – Montreal has a whole new regime coming in, so it’s an absolute rebuild. Goaltender Carey Price is likely gone for the season so questions in net, Nick Suzuki is the new captain at only 23 years old, the defense will not be very good.
Players to watch
Sean Monahan – 3-time 30 goal scorer, he’s had surgeries each of the past 2 seasons but says he feels like a kid again after hip surgery.
Kirby Dach – Struggled in Chicago over his past 3 seasons in limited action. #3 pick in 2019 is looking for a real shot and a lot of ice time in Montreal.
Arizona Coyotes – They will continue the rebuilding process focusing on the draft and player development. They hope Clayton Keller will be ready to start the season after having surgery on his broken leg. Can Jakob Chychrun go back to the form of the 20-21 season where he led all defensemen in scoring? The Goaltending will be bad none of them are NHL ready, and worst of all they play 20 of their first 24 on the road.
Players to watch
Lawson Crouse – Is he ready to take it to the next level? The 25-year-old had career highs with 20 goals and 34 assists in 65 games.
Nick Schmaltz – Had 59 points in 63 games last season including seven points in 1 game. Can he lead the Coyotes to a better record than last season?
Chicago Blackhawks – Richardson has his work cut out for him rebuilding this gutted Chicago team in his 1st NHL coaching job. Petr Mrazek is coming off a tough season of injuries and is determined to have a fully healthy season in net, they return Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane
but they are the last players from the 2015 Stanley Cup championship year.
Players to watch
Lukas Reichel – 20-year-old forward who led Rockford with 57 points in 56 games is a crucial piece to the rebuilding here in Chicago.
Taylor Raddysh – Had 6 goals, 4 assists in 21 games as a rookie last year after being traded to Chicago from Tampa Bay.
Buffalo Sabres – The Sabres have arguably the top prospect pool in the NHL, with several players expected to break through in the next few seasons. They will give them every chance to make the team in the preseason, Power the 19-year-old #1 pick out of Michigan leads the group, he seems ready for the moment having 2 goals and an assist playing the last 8 games last season.
Players to watch
Dylan Cozens – The 21-year-old kid is ready for a breakout season having 51 points over 120 games, started to show form in the IIHF World Championship having 13 points in 10 games.
Jack Quinn – The 20-year-old was voted AHL top rookie last season with 61 points in 45 games. Expect big things from this youngster.
Philadelphia Flyers – New coach John Tortorella comes in and establishes himself early “I’m going to tell them what we’re looking for, we’re going to push to that level, and if some guys aren’t willing to get there, or maybe there’s some stubbornness about getting there, we’ll look to someone else.” Everything about this team is a rebuild that will be no fun to watch at all. 3.59 goals given up last season, dead last on the PP. They have a lot of work to do.
Players to watch
Wade Allison – His rookie season last year was a never-ending list of injuries that held him out, they hope he can stay healthy and find out what they have in him.
Ivan Provorov – With the hiring of Tortorella and the new defensive structure they hope he gets back to the guy who had NHL career highs in goals (17; tied for NHL lead among defensemen), points (41) and shots on goal (203) in 2017-18.
Columbus Blue Jackets – The Blue Jackets arguably landed the prize of free agency by signing left wing Johnny Gaudreau, who finished tied for second in the NHL with a career-high 115 points (40 goals, 75 assists) in 82 games for the Calgary Flames. The sneaky understory is they also signed Patrik Laine to a 4-year contract. Outside of a proven 1st line they don’t have much behind it.
Players to watch
Adam Boqvist – 22-year-old Defenseman who finished last season with 22 points 11 goals and 11 assists in 52 games he should skate top pair this season.
Jack Roslovi – Lead the Blue Jackets last season in points 5 on 5 and could find himself on the top line between Gaudreau and Laine.
San Jose Sharks – Quinn has a second chance to coach in the NHL after the 56-year-old was fired by the New York Rangers on May 12, 2021. He will have to manage a lot of new faces in his first season as the head coach on a team that finished 30th in goals per game last season. It’s not if, but when Eklund, who turns 20 on Oct. 12, and Bordeleau, a 20-year-old will nudge a veteran out of the lineup. These two will look to make a splash at some point this season.
Players to watch
Alexander Barabanov – The late bloomer has really come in to his own and now he projects to be on the top line with Meier and Hertl.
William Eklund – Look for this youngster to work his way into the top 6 he’s a huge rookie prospect for the Sharks this season.
Anaheim Ducks – Ryan Getzlaf, who played 17 seasons for the Ducks and was captain for the past 12, retired after last season. So, this team will be looking for someone to take over the leadership role for the squad. The Ducks also need to find a consistency on defense this season. They had a nice offseason with Ryan Strome and Frank Vatano signing on to be 2nd line forwards, and Klingberg who was considered the best defenseman available in the offseason.
Players to watch
Jamie Drysdale – finished second among NHL rookie defensemen with 32 points (four goals, 28 assists) in 81 games last season.
Mason McTavish – Most Valuable Player at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship for Canada in August when he led all scorers with 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in seven games.
Detroit Red Wings – The Red Wings have a new coach and several new players, including goalie Ville Husso, defensemen Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta, and forwards Andrew Copp and David Perron. #1 goal this season needs to be improve the defense that has been such a problem the last few years finishing dead last. Develop the younger players as they come join Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, no player will be rushed but as soon as they are ready for a regular role, they will be plugged in.
Players to watch
Filip Zadina – Has not reached the goal scoring ability he was drafted #6 in 2018 for, but now with talent around him and a new 3-year contract maybe he finds another level to his game.
Andrew Copp – He will be the #2 center on a line with Vrana, Perron and/or Tyler Bertuzzi. Should lead to a lot of scoring chances.
Seattle Kraken – Ron Francis used a different approach. His stated goal at the outset of his tenure as Seattle Kraken GM was that he was committed to “building a team through the draft.” That, to me, means Francis and the Kraken ownership group have a more long-term strategy than fans will be hoping for. Their biggest move this off-season is a solid tie between their 4th overall draft pick of Shane Wright, signing former Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup winner, André Burakovsky.
Players to watch
Matty Beniers – The 2nd overall pick out of Michigan made a late cameo the last 10 games of last season and did not disappoint with 3 goals and 9 assists.
Andre Burakovsky – The huge free agent signing from the Avs had 22 goals and 39 assist in 80 games last season, they hope he can build on that and lead their young team.