Sport News 1 Reason for Every NHL Team to Be Optimistic a Month Before the 2024-25 Season
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Nathan MacKinnonMichael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images
The beauty about the start of NHL training camp is the idea of hope.
Everyone is back to square one with the idea of skating around the ice with the Stanley Cup come June. And whether a team is a true contender or a big dreamer, the idea that “anything can happen” sustains us all.
Anything can happen, of course. Anything can also be good or bad, but we’re keeping the vibes positive because hockey is just getting started with teams having their rookie camps and prospect tournaments going on ahead of the official start of training camp.
We’re working on being positive ourselves and we’re going to lean into it by scheming up one reason for every team to think big with the season on the horizon in October. Does every team realistically have a shot at going all the way? Definitely not, but success for one team would be a huge disappointment for others and it’s all a matter of perspective here.
Sara Civian got the ball rolling last week with a wish list for every team in the NHL ahead of training camp, but this week, but this time around it’s all about looking on the bright side.
Anaheim Ducks
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Frank Vatrano and Radko Gudas.Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images
Fun
Maybe we’re guilty of being influenced by the spate of young players Anaheim has, but despite the Ducks being one of the NHL’s worst teams the past two years, it just kind of feels like things will get better this season and maybe even a little better than expected.
With Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Frank Vatrano, Leo Carlsson, Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger, Cutter Gauthier and Mason McTavish, there’s a boatload of talent there. It’s just mostly really young players who are still finding their way.
But it’s a league that’s getting younger by the season and with John Gibson and Lukas Dostal in goal and Radko Gudas making everyone mad elsewhere, the Ducks are going to make those late-night starts on the East Coast a lot more exciting to stay up and watch.
They need to grow together, and other guys have to get an honest feel for the league yet, but this team should be a lot of fun to watch regardless.
Boston Bruins
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Matthew PoitrasAndrew Burke-Stevenson/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Inevitability
How many years have you thought it was time for the Bruins to fall from grace only to see them rumble through the regular season and into the playoffs? Too many to count, right?
Like Thanos, the Bruins are inevitable and whatever they do always seems to work out for them.
Sure, they lost a few guys this summer (Linus Ullmark, Jake DeBrusk) but they added Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov who will be a folk hero in Boston almost immediately with how he plays. They’re getting Matthew Poitras back from injury, and whenever they get Jeremy Swayman re-signed, they’ve got their goalie settled for years to come.
Go ahead, say it’s time for the Bruins to have to fight to get into the postseason, they dare you. But we all know exactly what will happen and where they will be when the season wraps up in April.
Buffalo Sabres
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Rasmus DahlinBill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images
Jelling with a punch
We’ve all been waiting for the core of outstanding young stars in Buffalo to figure things out and become the scary good team they look like on paper.
Guys like Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch have been together for a few seasons now and younger guys such as Dylan Cozens, Owen Power, JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn are helping bring along even younger guys like Zach Benson.
But they need someone to give them more direction and a push and that’s where new-old coach Lindy Ruff comes in. His high-intensity style of play and take-no-nonsense demeanor will bring them together come hell or high water.
The Sabres will have all the ability to score and they’re going to play the kind of hockey that will remind everyone of what they used to play like when they were coached by Ruff the first time around 20 years ago.
Calgary Flames
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MacKenzie WeegarGerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images
Clearing the decks
When the spate of former Flames stars all decided they weren’t going to stick around Calgary and the team had to move on from them and figure out how to fix it on the fly, they’ve been living in limbo ever since. Not anymore.
The Flames were stuck and attached to the old plan that former GM Brad Treliving set forth for them. Now with Jacob Markström off to New Jersey and Dustin Wolf taking over in goal, it at last feels like they’ve moved on and can start anew.
That won’t be without a lot of pain, but getting to see more of Connor Zary, Yegor Sharangovich and a reinvigorated Anthony Mantha up front with MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson on the back end, there are reasons to be hopeful for the years ahead. If Jonathan Huberdeau can find his game again, then that would be great, too.
The bandage got ripped off fully at last and that’s a good thing, even if it means things get tough for a bit.
Carolina Hurricanes
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Andrei Svechnikov and Seth JarvisMichael Mooney/NHLI via Getty Images
Shots, shots, shots, shots
It’s fun to see teams lean into what they are even in the face of distressing times.
The Carolina Hurricanes could’ve panicked when they lost defensemen Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei and forward Teuvo Teravainen in free agency, but they opted to put their head down and own who they are: A team that plays fast and shoots a ton.
They brought back Shayne Gostisbehere for the blue line and added Sean Walker as well to give them an ultra-mobile blue line that can create offense and score. Locking up Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas to new contracts was good business and adding Jack Roslovic and William Carrier gave them speed and physicality to jar pucks loose to take the other way to score more goals.
Carolina drives opponents mad by throwing everything at the net and now it’s even more capable of doing that. Annoying? Only to non-Hurricanes fans. Good luck hanging onto the puck and trying to get it back from the ‘Canes.
Chicago Blackhawks
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Connor BedardPatrick McDermott/Getty Images
Year 2 of Connor Bedard
Listen, we know Chicago did a lot to help make its lineup deeper with actual NHL talent this summer. That was a good thing to do considering how relatively inexperienced it was last season.
But let’s be real here: This season is all about seeing what Connor Bedard will do with a year of NHL experience under his belt.
For megastars, the second season is where we get to really see them explode. Had it not been for a broken jaw last season, we would have gotten a full look at what Bedard can do; but this season, with more veterans to work with and even better fellow prospects vying for the NHL lineup, it’ll be even more exciting.
The Blackhawks probably aren’t going to be a playoff team again, but they’re also not going to be a lot of fun to play against either, especially with Bedard running the show and being even more comfortable in his role in the league.
Colorado Avalanche
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Gabriel LandeskogMike Carlson/Getty Images
Ferocious competitors
The Avalanche will be a joy to watch again this season and will be even more so when captain Gabriel Landeskog returns after missing the past two seasons. Colorado has been excellent without their leader, but there’s no doubt they’re a much more difficult team to play against with him.
With Landeskog rejoining Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar and Devon Toews it’s like having Voltron or the Power Rangers put back together again as a full unit ready to rule the roost.
The Avs have a great team, and they can be Stanley Cup champs again this season even in a brutally competitive division and conference, but with the speed and edge they play with all year led by MacKinnon and Makar, they’re a nightmare for opponents.
Getting the band back together again with Landeskog after adding guys like Casey Mittelstadt they’ve got the sort of depth in their attack to make everyone wish they didn’t have to face them.
Columbus Blue Jackets
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Zach WerenskiJason Mowry/Getty Images
Unity
It’s so hard to see the Columbus Blue Jackets deal with tragedy again after the death of Johnny Gaudreau. And it’s even harder to see the pain everyone in the organization feels because of that.
In the wake of such circumstances, the Blue Jackets will play this season together for Johnny and his family, and that kind of inspiration will make all of us want to see good things happen for them all year.
Seeing the players come together to win games for Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau will make us wish to see a dream season come together.
With so many very good, young players at Columbus now (Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, David Jiricek) and on the way in short order (Gavin Brindley, Cayden Lindstrom, Denton Mateychuk), having them all rise up now amid this sadness would help provide a much-needed light.
Dallas Stars
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Wyatt Johnston and Jamie BennCurtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Next New Wave
The Dallas Stars have had their best players arrive in waves over the past decade or so.
From Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin to Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson. Now, the next generation is ready to carry the weight with Wyatt Johnston and Thomas Harley becoming stars the past two years, and Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque now ready to join the party.
Watching Stankoven thrill in his handful of games last season was the alarm sounding that another guy is ready to crash the net and score goals. And after the monster season Bourque had in the AHL, he won’t be far behind. Oh yeah, the Stars are also still extremely good and will be a top contender for the Stanley Cup again.
It’s a regular conveyor belt of talent the Stars have going for them. If fans in Dallas weren’t already optimistic, maybe they were too focused on the stars on the Cowboys helmets instead of the Stars on ice.
Detroit Red Wings
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Patrick KaneJohn Russell/NHLI via Getty Images
Eventuality
Fans in Detroit have been patiently waiting for GM Steve Yzerman to put it all together to get the Red Wings back to the playoffs.
