Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Just because your favorite NHL team didn’t make the playoffs doesn’t mean there isn’t room for optimism moving forward.
Some teams like the San Jose Sharks or Chicago Blackhawks were always realistically going to be at the bottom of the standings. In contrast, others like the Philadelphia Flyers or Detroit Red Wings outplayed their projections and challenged for playoff spots.
With the playoffs just getting underway and the draft lottery not for a couple of weeks, it is the perfect time to look at the teams that missed the post-season and give a reason for hope for each one.
San Jose Sharks
Welcome to rock bottom. It’s now time to take steps forward.
It’s tough to get much worse than where the Sharks were at this season. That said, they saw legitimate steps from William Eklund in the NHL. A number of young players excelled in the AHL, including Daniil Gushchin, Shakir Mukhamadullin and Ethan Cardwell. There was also the excitement of Filip Bystedt arriving in North America toward the end of the season, notching seven points in eight games at the AHL level.
The Sharks were near-historically bad this year. They had long losing streaks and tough stretches of hockey where they didn’t seem to have much going at all. Thankfully, most of their best prospects have yet to reach the NHL level full-time. All that pain earned them the best odds in the lottery, hoping to add Macklin Celebrini, who would be the centerpiece of their rebuild.
Related: The Sharks’ Ties to Macklin Celebrini Make This a Banner Year to Bottom Out
Chicago Blackhawks
Connor Bedard is good at hockey.
This one is pretty simple. The first overall pick in last year’s NHL draft was every bit as good as advertised. His shot was lethal, and his playmaking elevated his linemates regardless of who he played with. When he was out of the lineup with a fractured jaw, the team was putrid. It was evident he was the team’s best player from Day 1.
On top of Bedard, Kevin Korchinski and Alex Vlasic looked solid on the back end. When Frank Nazar got into the lineup late in the season after his NCAA season ended, he added even more speed and skill to the lineup. With plenty of other prospects in the pipeline and a high pick in this upcoming draft, the Hawks look like they have a bright future ahead.
Anaheim Ducks
If you squint, you can see it.
With the addition of Leo Carlsson this season, the Ducks’ future is becoming increasingly clear. With Mason McTavish already in the fold, they traded for Cutter Gauthier to give themselves three centers under 22 years old who could all handle top-six duties. With high-end wingers like Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry, the Ducks look fantastic up front.
On the back end, they moved out the oft-injured Jamie Drysdale to get Gauthier, but they could only do that because they have Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger, who both had some success at the NHL level this year. With Lukas Dostal looking solid in the crease, the Ducks seem to be covered just about everywhere. Adding one more piece in the draft this year could be the final ingredient as they look to make progress over the next couple of years.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Fantilli was fantastic despite questionable coaching.
There were so many nights this season when Adam Fantilli was the best forward on the Columbus Blue Jackets before his injury. Unfortunately, whether it was third-line deployment, moving him to the wing or playing with below-replacement-level linemates, the Jackets’ coaching staff often found ways to make it hard for him. Fantilli battled through it all and showed why he was such a highly valued prospect.
Other young forwards found success throughout the year as well. Rookie Dmitri Voronkov showed himself to be a legitimate goal-scorer at the NHL level. Kirill Marchenko led the team in goal-scoring. Cole Sillinger took a step this season. It certainly wasn’t all roses, but there are building blocks for the future.
Montreal Canadiens
Slafkovsky’s ascent has begun
After a rookie year cut short because of injury, 2022 first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky showed exactly why the Canadiens had faith in him. When they finally put him alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the top line, he was a force to be reckoned with.
His playmaking was brought to the forefront of his game, using his size and strength to win puck battles and immediately find teammates in the middle of the ice. He notched 20 goals and hit the 50-point mark as well. The Canadiens may still need that truly high-end talent, but Slafkovsky asserting himself as a top-line forward was fantastic to see.
Related: Juraj Slafkovsky Broke Out for Canadiens This Season
Utah Hockey Club
New places, new faces, new beginnings are on the way.
This is really simple. The players from the now-inactive Arizona Coyotes franchise will no longer be playing in a college hockey arena. They and the hockey operations staff are moving to Salt Lake City under new ownership with Ryan and Ashley Smith, the owners of the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
Utah has a bright future on the ice with good, young players, highlighted by Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley. Plenty of other talented players are on the way, as well. They have a boatload of draft picks and a willingness to spend to the salary cap to make the team competitive.
Ottawa Senators
It’s a fresh start for a team on the cusp.
The Ottawa Senators have been close to breaking through for a couple of years now. But the previous management group did a poor job of surrounding the young, talented core with players who would stay and elevate their core, aside from Claude Giroux. Goaltending has also been a longstanding issue with the squad.
Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson and Shane Pinto have all been great up front. Jake Sanderson, Jakob Chychrun and, when healthy, Thomas Chabot, have all been the players the team hoped for. Now that the team is under new management with GM Steve Staios, the rebuild may finally be over sooner rather than later.
Seattle Kraken
Although last year’s Calder Trophy winner, Matty Beniers, took a bit of a step back this year, the future remains bright for the NHL’s most recent expansion team. Shane Wright looked great in his late-season call-up, posting five points in as many games. Beniers and Wright can form a young, talented one-two punch down the middle as early as next season.
The prospect pool is loaded with players who had big years. Jagger Firkus tore the WHL apart with a league-leading 126 points. David Goyette led the OHL in scoring with 117, while Carson Rehkopf was a top-10 scorer in the same league. The Kraken weren’t supposed to be good yet, but they had a great year last year and made a run in the playoffs before taking a step back this year. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that they are right back to challenge for a playoff spot next year, with some young talent added to the roster.
Calgary Flames
The rebuild has begun.
Even if there are some bad contracts on the books, the management group led by GM Craig Conroy seems to be set on making his bets to rebuild the Calgary Flames. Young players got opportunities throughout the season. They made trades for futures leading up to the trade deadline, and they will likely have a top-10 pick in this year’s draft.
Connor Zary looked great in the Flames’ lineup after being called up. Matthew Coronato had his moments in the NHL when he wasn’t torching the AHL. Dustin Wolf showed signs of being capable of playing at a high level in the NHL. The young players are coming, but the Flames are still early in the process of rebuilding. It’s at least comforting to know they have a direction.
Related: Has Jacob Markstrom Played His Final Game with the Calgary Flames?
New Jersey Devils
We all know they’re better than this.
With everyone picking the Devils to be one of the top teams in a weak Metropolitan Division, they failed to even make the playoffs after a rash of injuries, inconsistent play and subpar goaltending. The talent on the roster was obvious, but it wasn’t on the ice cohesively enough to generate consistently positive results.
Jack Hughes is an absolute stud and seems poised to break into the upper echelon of NHL centers. His younger brother Luke looked like a real catalyst from the back end. Nico Hischier is still one of the best two-way centers in the NHL. Dawson Mercer and Alexander Holtz are still finding their way, but they have plenty of potential. Healthy seasons from Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Dougie Hamilton, along with league-average goaltending, could help the Devils get back to the top of the NHL standings as soon as next year.
Buffalo Sabres
Progression isn’t linear, but the Sabres are coming.
Last season, the Sabres were scoring the lights out and couldn’t get any goaltending. This year, the scoring dried up, and the story in net was largely the same until Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen took the reins. Unfortunately, the season was a bit of a step back, but young talent in the Sabres system and on the roster still holds plenty of promise.
With the addition of Bowen Byram to the blueline, the Sabres boast a strong group on the back end with high-end puck-moving ability. Owen Power, Rasmus Dahlin and Byram are all left shots, but they’ve found some success with Power and Byram playing their off-sides. Mattias Samuelsson is a strong defensive blueliner and provides a bit of balance to the group as well.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers took flight (and then crashed, but let’s not talk about that).
In a season where the Flyers were supposed to compete for the first overall pick, they held a playoff spot until the final week of the season. Even though they collapsed and fell out of contention in the season’s waning days, they found ways to win early in the year. They dealt with goaltending issues, inconsistent offense and a defensive group that found ways to make it work.
The Flyers’ best years are yet to come for this generation of fans. Matvei Michkov was a force in the KHL this year. Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey are a couple of the London Knights’ best players as they vie for an OHL and Memorial Cup championship. All three were drafted this past June and have the potential to be impact players for the Flyers down the line.
Minnesota Wild
New pillars for the future are emerging.
Kirill Kaprizov is just 26 years old, and he remains the centerpiece of the Wild’s core. But this iteration of Minnesota’s core looks promising, with players like Brock Faber, Marco Rossi, and Matt Boldy emerging this year. Other late-season additions like Liam Ohgren and Marat Khusnutdinov also looked solid in their brief NHL auditions.
The Wild have one more season of more than $14 million in dead cap thanks to the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, so they will need all of that young talent to contribute next year if they want to get back into the playoffs. They certainly aren’t a bad team, and they should be in contention for the post-season once again next season.
Related: NHL Calder Trophy Tracker: Connor Bedard Beats Faber, Hughes in Final Rookie Ranking
Pittsburgh Penguins
Sidney Crosby is still one of the NHL’s top players.
The future is for losers. The charge at the end of the season by the Pens was so much fun to watch. Sidney Crosby continues to be one of the NHL’s best players despite being 36 years old. His drive and intensity on every shift keep him at the top of his game, and the skill hasn’t faded yet. While some of his aging teammates (looking at you, Evgeni Malkin) have struggled to maintain their form, Crosby almost powered the Pens into the playoffs.
Kyle Dubas was always pretty good at finding some depth scoring when he was the Leafs’ GM, and he will be tasked with doing the same for the Pens this year. The Penguins are likely all-in for next season, as Crosby won’t be around forever, especially not at this level of play. If Crosby can get one more legitimate crack at the playoffs and a long run, that’s what Dubas will be tasked with doing.
Detroit Red Wings
There’s the rise of Raymond and hope on the horizon.
Hockeytown hasn’t been to the playoffs since its 25-year streak ended in 2017. This season, they were in a playoff spot for much of the year until a brutal March, made worse by an injury to captain Dylan Larkin, derailed their season. Every player seemed to falter, collapse and accept their fate to a degree, except for Lucas Raymond.
Raymond put the team on his back, willing them back into the fight and staying in the playoff race until the very last minutes of their season. He had nine points in the final five games, including an overtime-winner and a game-tying goal in the final minutes of another game.
Detroit has a lot of things to take care of this off-season, from signing stud defender Moritz Seider to an extension to sorting out their defense and goaltending, but none may be as important as locking Raymond up long-term. It will be Raymond and Seider who lead the next wave of young Wings into the playoffs.
St. Louis Blues
The rebuild on the fly is going as planned.
The Blues were the best of the rest in the west as the first team outside of the playoffs. They have had to turn a corner as a franchise, and the front office wanted nothing to do with a full-scale rebuild, instead opting to retool on the fly as they’ve successfully done in the past.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong is one of the savviest roster builders in the game, and he knows what it takes to win. He has some of the core sorted out with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, but he needs to build around them. Jake Neighbours is already on the roster, and with players like Zach Dean, Zachary Bolduc and Otto Stenberg on the way up front, he has a solid group of young forwards to come in to complement Thomas and Kyrou. They have some work to do on the blueline, but Joel Hofer looks like the goalie of the future for St. Louis.
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News Summary:
- A Reason for Hope for Every Non-Playoff Team in the NHL in 2023-24
- Check all news and articles from the latest NHL updates.