CarterHud

Last year’s Rangers team saw their mini-rebuild completely pay off, mostly thanks to one man. Their underlying numbers were overall average, but they received some of the best goaltending we have seen in a long time. Igor Shesterkin didn’t win the Hart Trophy, but there was certainly a case there. New York saw a ton of rentals leave this offseason. Are their skaters strong enough to get them back to the Conference Finals, where their 2021-22 season ended.

Offseason additions: F Vincent Trocheck, F Ryan Carpenter, G Jaroslav Halak, G Louis Domingue, F Jimmy Vesey (PTO).

Offseason subtractions: F Ryan Strome, F Andrew Copp, F Frank Vatrano, F Tyler Motte, G Alex Georgiev, F Kevin Rooney, D Patrik Nemeth, D Nils Lundkvist, F Greg McKegg, D Justin Braun.

Forwards

Last season was a magical one for Chris Kreider, who will have trouble replicating it due to how amazing his year was. Kreider scored 52 goals with 77 points in 81 games. His previous career-highs were 28 goals and 53 points. While he did have a 20.2 percent shooting rate, its inflation wasn’t the only reason why Kreider went off. He led the league with 26 power play goals and 11 game winning goals in the regular season, and scored 10 more goals in 20 postseason games. Maybe Kreider’s dominance stunted the ridiculous scoring rates that Mika Zibanejad had been on during the two shortened seasons. He still scored 29 times, and focused on being more of a playmaker. Zibanejad had 52 apples to set a career-high in points with 81. The Rangers rocked a kid line in the playoffs that was very successful, but they need to break it up as their depth took a hit. This would mean that Kaapo Kakko would go back to the top line. The second overall pick in 2019 is yet to live up to that status. He had just 18 points in 43 games last season, even after an increase in ice time. Kreider, Zibanejad, and Kakko were the only Ranger forwards (minimum 500 TOI with the time) with an expected goals for percentage over 50 during the regular season.

While he still had 16 points in 20 games, Artemi Panarin’s playoff performance was underwhelming, aside from a huge goal to win the first round versus Pittsburgh. He clearly wasn’t as dominant as he can be. Panarin almost averaged an assist per game in the regular season, with 74 in 75 games. He added 22 goals to break his career-high in points by one. Panarin’s regular center, Ryan Strome, could not be retained in free agency. The replacement will be Vincent Trocheck, who comes in on a seven-year contract. Trocheck was a fantastic second-liner in Carolina, scoring 21 goals with 51 points. He had 78 penalty minutes, which is too much for a player with his skillset. That is not to say that Trocheck is not physical. He had a career-high 185 hits last season, and has triple-digit checks in each of the past seven seasons. A trade request put Vitali Kravtsov in an awkward situation last year. He didn’t play at all in North America, but is in Rangers training camp for now. Kravtsov went back to the KHL, with 13 points in 19 games, and 10 in 15 playoff matches.

Kakko’s disappointment on the score sheet has often been compared to Alexis Lafreniere, the top pick in the 2020 draft. However, Lafreniere provided solid production in his sophomore season. He scored 19 goals with 31 points, then had nine points in the playoffs. He also had the fourth-best xGF% on the forward core. That was right ahead of Filip Chytil, who has had either 22 or 23 points in each of the past four seasons. He broke into the league at age 18, but has just settled into the third line center role, which isn’t a terrible thing. However, he has won just 40.5 percent of draws in his career. If New York does keep the kid line together, then Sammy Blais is a top contender to play on the top line. He was a part of the Pavel Buchnevich trade with St. Louis that has backfired on the team, although that is not on Blais. He had four assists in 14 games before tearing his ACL and missing the rest of the season.

The Rangers traded a draft pick before last season for Ryan Reaves, and got exactly what they wanted from him. Reaves had just 13 points in 69 games, but all of those points were an added bonus. Reaves had 279 hits, second among forwards to just Nashville’s Tanner Jeannot. He also had just 43 penalty minutes, continuing a promising trend from the end of his Vegas tenure, as he was still a physical force while limiting time spent in the box. The Flames signed former Rangers fourth line center Kevin Rooney, so naturally he was replaced by Ryan Carpenter, a deadline acquisition by Calgary. Carpenter had 12 points in 67 games for the Flames and Blackhawks last year, with 136 hits. New York traded for the rights of Barclay Goodrow last offseason, then signed him to a six-year deal. The offensive production in his first season was more than the Rangers were even looking for, as he scored 13 goals with 33 points, both career-highs. More importantly, he was a leader and a physical presence while contributing to the penalty kill. After having a limited role with the Panthers and Coyotes, Dryden Hunt earned a regular spot with the Rangers last season, dressing for 76 regular season games and three more in the postseason. He had 17 points with 153 hits. While Julien Gauthier dressed for 49 games last season, he had the lowest average time on ice among Rangers with at least 15 games played. The former first-rounder had seven points.

Defensemen

He wasn’t able to defend his Norris Trophy, but Adam Fox still finished fifth in voting for best defenseman. He set a career-high with 74 points. His 63 assists alone would have been the record, although the shortened season in 2020-21 plays a factor into that. Fox is also the best defensive-defender on the team, along with partner Ryan Lindgren. While he only had 15 points, Lindgren had 141 blocks and 129 hits, plus a 2.29 xGA/60.

The Rangers finally named their first captain since Ryan McDonagh was traded, and it was surprisingly Jacob Trouba. In his third year with the team, Trouba’s 39 points was the second-highest of his career. He is also a force to be reckoned with on the ice. He had 88 penalty minutes with 177 blocked shots and 207 hits. The most untapped potential on the defensive core comes from K’Andre Miller, a six-foot-five monster who has a lot more to offer offensively than his 20 points from last season suggests. Miller was never eased into the NHL, getting a large share of ice time in both of his seasons.

The only lock on the third pair for now is Braden Schneider, a 21-year-old who played in 43 games in his rookie season last year. Schneider added 11 points with 52 blocked shots. Miller, Lindgren, and Schneider were the only three Ranger defenseman with under two goals against per 60 at even strength. The other spot is a competition between Zac Jones and Libor Hajek, with other entries encouraged. Jones has much more upside, with the 2019 third-round pick scoring 35 points in 52 AHL games last year. He has six assists in 22 career NHL games. Hajek has played in 94 games over the past four seasons, but the results have not been good. He had a 41.67 xGF% in 17 NHL games last year, and a 40.33 percentage in 44 games the season prior.

Goaltending

Shesterkin’s 2021-22 season was so good that it feels impossible for him to replicate. He had a 2.07 GAA, a .935 save percentage, a 44.9 GSAA, and a GSAx of 37.2. He led the league in all four of those categories, and it wasn’t particularly close. Shesterkin easily won the Vezina Trophy, and was third in Hart voting as well. He continued to carry the team in the postseason, with a .929 save percentage. He now has a veteran to share the workload with in Ranger killer Jaroslav Halak. The 37-year-old Halak played in 17 games in a forgettable Canucks stint in which he had a .903 save percentage.

Projected Lines

Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Kaapo Kakko

Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Vitali Kravtsov

Alex Lafreniere – Filip Chytil – Sammy Blais

Barclay Goodrow – Ryan Carpenter – Ryan Reaves

Scratched: Dryden Hunt, Julien Gauthier

Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox

K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba

Zac Jones – Braden Schneider

Scratched: Libor Hajek

Igor Shesterkin

Jaroslav Halak

Right when people started to believe that the Islanders were legit, they regressed to a mediocre team. While the team’s goaltending was still amazing, they failed to score and their defense was surprisingly sloppy. A dependance on veterans clearly failed, and could have been what caused Barry Trotz’s surprise firing. But GM Lou Lamoriello doubled down on his team, mostly staying with the team he had. There could be some addition by subtraction, but last year’s players will have to be the ones to make up for the season.

Offseason additions: D Alex Romanov, D Dennis Cholowski, F Nikita Soshnikov.

Offseason subtractions: D Zdeno Chara, D Andy Greene, F Austin Czarnik, F Michael Dal Colle, D Thomas Hickey.

Forwards

Mat Barzal will be a restricted free agent again at the conclusion of the season, and he needs to earn his worth. He won’t have the excuse of being hampered by Trotz’s system anymore. Last season really was disappointing for Barzal, as he scored a career-low 15 goals with 59 points in 73 games, losing the top center spot for a good part of the season. Islander fans love to hate Josh Bailey for a multitude of reasons, which all became elevated as he struggled last year with his foot speed declining. Bailey still finished with 44 points, his most since 2018-19. The final numbers for Kyle Palmieri in his first season on the Island were 15 goals and 33 points, which were both underwhelming. He had just one goal with six assists in 29 games before the all-star break, but responded with 14 goals in 40 games following it. Add in the fact that he was oddly deployed and had an incredible amount of goals disallowed in the second half, and there is confidence for Palmieri to bounce back in 2022-23.

The best forward on the Islanders was easily Brock Nelson last year, as he scored 37 goals in 72 games. While a 21.6 percent shooting rate played a big role in that, Nelson was the only one on the team scoring at times. Only Auston Matthews had more goals scored above expected. That is a testament to his sniping ability, as well as his luck in last season. Anders Lee scored 28 goals after coming back from a torn ACL, an encouraging sign for the Isles’ captain. The team missed his presence in front of the net on the power play, where he scored nine goals. The biggest letdown on the team was easily Anthony Beauvillier, who scored just 12 goals with 34 points in 75 games. This came right after he had 15 goals in 47 games in the shortened season of 2020-21. He was the only real tradable asset for the Isles this offseason, so Beauvillier’s survival on the roster is good news for him.

A hand injury sustained in the 2021 playoffs clearly hindered Jean-Gabriel Pageau last season, especially in the beginning. Scoring 11 goals with 24 points in his final 32 games saved Pageau’s total stats, but he wasn’t the two-way player the Islanders needed. He still received a Selke vote and set a career-high in hits with 171. Another player who is out of excuses with Trotz gone is Oliver Wahlstrom, who got off to a hot start but was often invisible after that. Wahlstrom scored 13 goals with 11 assists in 73 games. He was often healthy scratched, and didn’t get a ton of ice time when he did play. New York signed Zach Parise for third-line production, and they had to have been pleased with the results, as he was extended for the 2022-23 season. Parise finished with 15 goals and 20 assists. He was the most consistent player night in and night out, and even at age 37 was the only player to play in all 82 games for the team.

The infamous Islanders’ fourth line had cracks through it last year, disrupted by injuries and poor play. They never were relied on for offense, but produced a lot less than what was wanted. Casey Cizikas took too many penalties last year, especially for how essential he is to the team’s penalty kill. He had 16 points in 73 games and won a career-best 55.6 percent of draws. Cal Clutterbuck’s 2.03 xGA/60 was the best on the team, directly ahead of Cizikas and Matt Martin. Clutterbuck had 229 hits in 59 games, while scoring nine goals, his most since 2015-16. Even with two more years left under contract, Matt Martin might be getting phased out of the lineup. He played in 71 games last year with 235 hits. But the striking thing is that he was healthy scratched at times, a treatment that the Isles didn’t give his linemates. The team also gave enforcer Ross Johnston another four-year deal, which wouldn’t make sense if he got no playing time. Johnston racked up 90 hits and 44 penalty minutes in 32 games last year. Former first-rounder Kieffer Bellows got his best look at the NHL last season, dressing for 45 games. He had 19 points with 103 hits, securing a $1.2 million contract for this upcoming season. The problem for him is a roster spot, as he seems like the odd man out.

Defensemen

The 2021-22 season was a sad one for the Isles, but Adam Pelech kept going. He didn’t have as much support as in years past, and still was on the ice for just 1.91 goals against per 60 at even strength. Pelech also set a new career-high in points with 28, while blocking 128 shots. Injury separated him from Ryan Pulock, as well as a decision to keep them apart as the rest of the defense labored. Pulock was never his best self last year, and couldn’t take on as high as an ice time share as the team needed him to.

Luckily for Pulock, the emergence of Noah Dobson eased him in. The six-foot-four Dobson still had some defensive struggles while playing with Zdeno Chara, but Dobson’s offense was amazing. He had 51 points in 80 games and took over the power play quarterback role that the Islanders have been needing for years. Of Dobson’s 38 assists, exactly half of them were on the man advantage. He should have some more support next to him this year, as the team sent their first-round pick to Montreal for Alex Romanov. The 22-year-old Romanov had 144 blocked shots and 227 hits in his second NHL season, while earning a second-pairing role for a lowly Canadiens team. Romanov’s offense isn’t exactly what the Islanders were looking for, but he is skilled enough defensively to make him a huge upgrade over Chara.

Within the next 365 days, Scott Mayfield is going to sign a contract that surprises a lot of people. He has been a physical, right-handed shot defenseman who has played mostly on the second-pair for a contender over the past three seasons. Before knowing his name, teams would be lining up for that type of player. There will be an open competition for the last two spots on the team for a defenseman. One will start, while the other is the seventh-defender. Robin Salo struggled in his first 21 NHL games last year, but demonstrated impressive skating and has the offensive potential that the team is looking for. Sebastian Aho got a much better look last year, but had 41.1 xGF% in 36 games. A 2016 first-round pick by Detroit, Dennis Cholowski signed a two-way deal with the Isles this offseason. After being picked in the expansion draft, Cholowski had three assists in 11 games for the Kraken and Capitals last year.

Goaltending

If it wasn’t for Ilya Sorokin, last season could have gotten ugly for the Islanders. Sorokin was third in goals saved above expected at 21.55. Only Igor Shesterkin and Frederik Andersen were better. The standard numbers are actually even more impressive, especially when you consider how much of a mess the team in front of him was. Sorokin posted a .925 save percentage with a 2.40 GAA and seven shutouts. He finished sixth in Vezina voting, which was a crime. The Isles decided not to trade Semyon Varlamov this offseason, even with the veteran entering the final year of his contract and with multiple teams needing goalies. Varlamov struggled as he returned from an injury, with a 2.91 GAA and a .911 save percentage. He still managed a positive goals saved above expected.

Projected Lines

Josh Bailey – Mat Barzal – Kyle Palmieri

Anders Lee – Brock Nelson – Anthony Beauvillier

Zach Parise – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Oliver Wahlstrom

Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Cal Clutterbuck

Scratched: Ross Johnston, Kieffer Bellows

Adam Pelech – Ryan Pulock

Alex Romanov – Noah Dobson

Robin Salo – Scott Mayfield

Scratched: Sebastian Aho

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov

We are at the annual part of the year where we get hyped up about the Devils. They always seem to be a winner in the offseason, only for things to go completely wrong once the puck drops. Last year, it was some of the worst team goaltending we’ve seen in a long time. The expectations for New Jersey aren’t as high as in years before, but a season of health can do them wonders. They just have to execute.

Offseason additions: F Ondrej Palat, G Vitek Vanecek, D John Marino, F Erik Haula, D Brendan Smith, D Thomas Hickey (PTO), F Zach Senyshyn (PTO).

Offseason subtractions: F Pavel Zacha, D PK Subban, D Ty Smith, F Janne Kuokkanen, F Jimmy Vesey.

Forwards

While injuries shortened in to just 49 games, Devils fans got the season they were waiting for out of Jack Hughes. In his third NHL year, Hughes scored 26 goals with 56 points, while finishing top-10 in Lady Byng voting. He’s a center, but you have to wonder how long Hughes will stay there for. He has a 35.4 percent face-off win rate in his career. He intermittently played with Jesper Bratt, who was the team’s best player all season long. He had 73 points in 76 games in a huge season that broke him free from the middle-six forward that he was before. In his sophomore season, Yegor Sharangovich scored 24 goals while adding 22 assists. Both Sharangovich and Hughes saw the effects of the team’s goaltending first-hand, with a goals against per 60 over four despite a solid-enough xGA/60.

Captain Nico Hischier was healthy last year after various injuries limited him to 21 games in 2020-21. The result was a career-high 60 points while playing top line minutes split between a seemingly infinite number of linemates. Obviously injuries could change things, but the Devils need to give him stability on his wings. Something to look for this year is how Ondrej Palat adjusts from the dominant Lightning to the Devils in his age-31 season. Palat had 49 points in 77 regular season games, but made his money in the postseason. Palat scored 11 goals with 10 assists for 21 points in 23 games as Tampa Bay went to the Cup finals once again. Dawson Mercer was well in the Calder race in the beginning of the season, but cooled off as Moritz Seider and Trevor Zegras ran away with the discussion. Mercer still finished with a very encouraging rookie campaign, scoring 17 goals with 42 points while playing in every game.

New Jersey is taking a gamble by trading Pavel Zacha, a key member of the team for the last few seasons, to Boston for Erik Haula. The Devils will be Haula’s seventh team, as the veteran is coming off one of his best seasons. He filled in for David Krejci on the Bruins’ second line, and scored 18 goals with 44 points. Behind Hischier and Hughes, his role will be diminished. But Haula brings two-way value that is ideal for a third line center. When the Devils bought low on Tomas Tatar before last year, there was hope that he could outperform the 30 points in 50 games that he had in 2020-21. However, he just matched it while playing in 26 more games. You could look at his on-ice shooting percentage to cope, as Tatar’s 6.86 was the second-lowest on the forward core to only Jimmy Vesey. After a tough 2020-21 in which he had just 11 points in 50 games, Andreas Johnsson had 17 points in his first 19 games. The rest of the year wasn’t as good, as he finished with 35 points in 71 games, scoring just four more goals after that initial hot streak.

If anything goes wrong, the Devils have the option of Alexander Holtz to play in the bottom-six. He had two assists in nine NHL games, with 51 in 52 AHL games. Until them, the fourth line will likely be a familiar mix of young players that the Devils have tried before. Jesper Boqvist had his best season yet, scoring 10 goals with 13 assists in 56 games. He doesn’t bring the size or physicality that his potential linemates have. Center Michael McLeod won over fifty-seven percent of draws, while producing 20 points and 145 hits in 77 games. After losing him the expansion draft, the Devils claimed back Nathan Bastian on waivers following 12 games in Seattle. Bastian scored 11 times in 60 games with 194 hits after he returned. We will have to see where Miles Wood fits in. He was limited to just three games last season after he scored 17 goals in 55 games the year before. Right now, it appears as if he will have to win out a spot. An intriguing option is Fabian Zetterlund, who had eight points in 14 NHL games last season. He dominated at the AHL level, scoring 24 goals with 52 points in 58 games.

Defensemen

The big splash of last offseason for New Jersey was signing defenseman Dougie Hamilton to a seven-year deal. His first year with the Devils was his age-28 season, and Hamilton had been nominated for the Norris Trophy in five consecutive seasons. In a year limited to 62 games, he was definitely disappointing. Hamilton had 30 points, while finishing fourth on the team’s defense in xGF%. He was lower than his partner, former Avalanche Ryan Graves. Taking on a bigger role after a trade to New Jersey, Graves blocked 135 shots with 28 points in his first year as a Devil.

When the Devils gave Jonas Siegenthaler a five-year contract extension this offseason, some understood the decision, while others were befuddled. The truth is that since coming over from Washington in 2020-21, Siegenthaler has been a fantastic defensive-defender. He limited opponents to a 2.17 xGA/60 at even strength last year, while no other defender on the team was under 2.5. In fact, he was the third-best defenseman with at least 500 minutes of ice time at even strength in xGA/60 relative to his teammates. Playing alongside him was Damon Severson, who enjoyed an offensive outburst. He tied his career-high in goals with 11, while setting a new high with 35 assists.

The Devils sent Ty Smith, who was once regarded as the future of the team’s blue line, to Pittsburgh for John Marino. He will likely see his role be diminished as the Devils are stronger on the right side of defense than the Penguins, but Marino has been a very good second-pairing player since debuting in 2019-20. The Devils won the draft lottery again this offseason and had the second overall pick, with which they selected Slovakian defender Simon Nemec. He’s not a lock to make the team, but Nemec has already played in the Olympics, and had 26 points in 39 games in Slovakia. He added 17 more points in 19 playoff games. Veteran Brendan Smith signed with the Devils after providing depth for the Rangers and Hurricanes over the past few seasons. He’s a big body who contributed 73 hits and eight points in 45 games for Carolina in 2021-22.

Goaltending

Seven different goaltenders had multiple starts for the Devils last year, and the highest save percentage among them was .902. That was held by veteran Jonathan Bernier, who missed most of the season with an injury. As of now, he is under contract but doesn’t appear to fit into the team’s plans. The team crucially needs Mackenzie Blackwood to live up to the hype he had when he was a second-round pick in 2015. Blackwood was limited to 25 games last year, and had a rough .892 save percentage and a 3.39 GAA. He had the sixth-worst GSAx in the league last year. Of the five guys worse than him, only Joonas Korpisalo had less games played. The Devils sent two draft picks to Washington for another pick and Vitek Vanecek at the draft. While he still was average at best, Vanecek would have been a huge upgrade for New Jersey last year. In 42 games for the Capitals, he had a .908 save percentage and a 2.67 GAA.

Projected Lines

Yegor Sharangovich – Jack Hughes – Jesper Bratt

Ondrej Palat – Nico Hischier – Dawson Mercer

Tomas Tatar – Erik Haula – Andreas Johnsson

Jesper Boqvist – Michael McLeod – Nathan Bastian

Extras: Miles Wood, Fabian Zetterlund

Ryan Graves – Dougie Hamilton

Jonas Siegenthaler – Damon Severson

John Marino – Simon Nemec

Extras: Brendan Smith

Mackenzie Blackwood

Vitek Vanecek

Is there any proof that the Predators actually made the playoffs last season? The record books say so, but we can’t be so sure. With Juuse Saros injured, Nashville acted like a tune-up for the Avalanche to get ready for their deep run. No team wants that on their record. The Predators finally had offensive contributions, something that they have lacked throughout their short history. The offseason was headlined by the huge accomplishment of signing Filip Forsberg long-term. But can they be a legitimate contender while he is still in his prime?

Offseason additions: F Nino Niederreiter, D Ryan McDonagh, G Kevin Lankinen, F John Leonard, F Markus Nurmi, F Zach Sanford.

Offseason subtractions: F Luke Kunin, F Nick Cousins, D Philippe Myers, F Mathieu Olivier, G David Rittich, D Matt Benning, F Matt Luff.

Forwards

The big problem with signing Forsberg is that he has missed games in each of the past five seasons. He played in 69 games in 2021-22 while setting career-highs in goals and assists with 42 of each. He led the team in goals for and expected goals for, while also having a solid xGA/60. The most important breakthrough for the team last year was Matt Duchene, who scored 43 goals with 43 assists after disappointing in his first two seasons with the club. While he only scored 11 goals, Mikael Granlund quietly had his best season since 2017-18 while acting as the playmaker for Forsberg and Duchene. Granlund set a new career-high with 53 assists, hitting the 60-point mark for the third time in his career.

Just as much as Duchene did, Ryan Johansen had to prove that he still had some game left after a terrible 2020-21. While he wasn’t a point-per-game player, Johansen scored 26 goals with 63 points. The former is tied for the second-highest in his career, while he missed his most points as a Predator by one. It felt like Eeli Tolvanen was on the verge of becoming a regular for years by the time he had 22 points in 40 games in 2020-21. However, the encouraging step for the now-23-year-old was canceled out by a lack of progress last year. In 75 games, he scored 11 goals with 12 assists, for just one extra point in 25 more games. Nashville got a pretty solid middle-six upgrade when they sent Luke Kunin to San Jose and signed Nino Niederreiter. The Swiss veteran was a key contributor to the Hurricanes last season, scoring 24 goals with 20 assists on the third line. Niederreiter was second on his team, who dominated opponents, in xGF%.

While he might not have been the oldest rookie to have a great season in 2021-22, Tanner Jeannot finished seventh in Calder voting after scoring 24 goals with 17 assists. He was always a physical presence, leading all forwards with 318 hits, and was third in the league with 130 penalty minutes. Jeannot played primarily with Yakov Trenin and Colton Sissons, the latter of which was nominated for the Selke. Sissons had 28 points, his most since 2018-19, while winning 55.7 percent of draws. Trenin scored 17 goals despite low expected goals numbers. The trio combined for almost 700 hits.

The only real lock for the fourth line right now is Philip Tomasino, the 24th-overall pick in the 2019 draft. While he didn’t blow anyone away, Tomasino had a solid rookie season, scoring 11 goals with 32 points in 76 games. He finished fifth among the regular forwards in goals for per 60, behind only the top line and Johansen, who also spent time on the first line. The time is now for Cody Glass, drafted sixth-overall in 2017. He had just one assist in eight games last season, but succeeded in the AHL. For the Milwaukee Admirals, Glass scored 14 goals with 62 points in 66 games. Former Canadien Michael McCarron took a ton of draws after mostly playing wing in the NHL. McCarron was an effective penalty killer in the 51 games that he played in, and scored seven goals (one short-handed). New Jersey native John Leonard came back from San Jose for Kunin after having two points in 14 games for the Sharks last year. The former UMass-Amherst star scored 17 goals with 32 points in 45 games for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. A more experienced option is Zach Sanford, who scored nine goals with 21 points in 80 games between the Senators and Jets last season. Sanford, most known for his goal in game seven of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, had a career-high 169 hits last season. Finnish import Markus Nurmi, a former sixth-round pick by Ottawa, is also in the fight for a role. He played in 56 games for TPS Turku in Finland, scoring 20 goals with 19 assists. In 18 playoff games, he had 19 points.

Defensemen

While he didn’t win the Norris Trophy because of the two-way game that Cale Makar brings, Roman Josi had an incredible 2021-22 season. The Nashville captain scored 23 goals with 73 assists for 96 points in 80 games. He led all defenders in points by 10, while also leading with 37 power play points. Only Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, JT Miller, and Jonathan Huberdeau had more points on the man advantage than Josi. He was a workhorse, averaging over six more minutes of ice time on average than his partner, Dante Fabbro. The 24-year-old had his best season yet, scoring 24 points in 66 games while also leading the d-core with a 53.05 xGF%.

At age 32, Mattias Ekholm isn’t the defensive stalwart that he used to be, but still is trusted by the Nashville coaching staff. He had 31 points with 96 blocked shots. It was his first full season without 100 or more blocks since 2013-14, his rookie year. A good case study for the effects of PDO would be Alex Carrier, who rode a 103.4 PDO to a 63.01 GF%. While the expected numbers don’t believe that it was legitimate, Carrier had 30 points with a 1.55 GA/60, which is a great rookie season.

While Nashville will likely be hurt down the line for taking on the last four years on Ryan McDonagh’s contract, they still will get a very solid defender. McDonagh was the backbone of a strong Tampa Bay defense, blocking 137 shots and was nominated for the Lady Byng Trophy. Many criticized the Predators for trading a second-rounder at the deadline for Jeremy Lauzon. Nashville apparently disagreed with them, extending the young defender for four seasons. Lauzon had 224 hits with seven points in 66 games split between the Predators and Kraken. If they want to crank up the physicality even more, they have Mark Borowiecki. The veteran had the most penalty minutes in the league with 151 in 57 games. Borowiecki added 196 hits and four assists.

Goaltending

The Predators definitely don’t make the playoffs last season if not for Juuse Saros. He finished third in Vezina voting with a .918 save percentage and a 2.64 GAA while playing in the most games. He finished ninth in GSAx and had a GSAA of 23.0. The depth chart behind him looks shaky, with Kevin Lankinen set to be the backup. Lankinen had a .891 save percentage and a 3.50 GAA in 32 games for Chicago last season. Only Philipp Grubauer had a worse GSAx.

Projected Lines

Matt Duchene – Mikael Granlund – Filip Forsberg

Nino Niederreiter – Ryan Johansen – Eeli Tolvanen

Tanner Jeannot – Colton Sissons – Yakov Trenin

John Leonard – Cody Glass – Philip Tomasino

Scratched: Zach Sanford, Michael McCarron

Roman Josi – Dante Fabbro

Mattias Ekholm – Alex Carrier

Ryan McDonagh – Jeremy Lauzon

Scratched: Mark Borowiecki

Juuse Saros

Kevin Lankinen

Going into last season, the Canadiens felt like they had achieved the record for least enthusiasm from the public for a team that was coming off a Stanley Cup Finals appearances. Still, no one expected it 2021-22 to be as bad as it was. The Habs managed to finish worse than the Coyotes. However, they won the draft lottery and the Shane Wright sweepstakes… only to pick Juraj Slafkovsky first instead. The Slovakian forward dominated at the Olympics, and could start the season with the big club. But with a crowded forward room, the AHL is also a possibility to better his development. With a full season under Head Coach Martin St. Louis about to start, there is optimism that the franchise can take a leap forward.

Offseason additions: F Evgenii Dadonov, F Kirby Dach, F Sean Monahan, D Mike Matheson.

Offseason subtractions: D Jeff Petry, D Shea Weber (Contract), D Alex Romanov, F Ryan Poehling, F Mathieu Perreault, F Tyler Pitlick, F Cedric Paquette.

Forwards

The Canadiens traded away Shea Weber, who will almost certainly never play again due to injuries, opening up the captaincy for Nick Suzuki. While most of the team struggled, Suzuki was their best player, setting career-highs with 21 goals and 40 assists for 61 points. He also has not missed a game in his three NHL seasons. Suzuki has developed into the franchise’s number one center, even if analytics don’t support him as much. The team collective improved after St. Louis took over, and there is no better example than Cole Caufield. He had just one goal and seven assists in 30 games until Dominique Ducharme was fired. After that? He played in 37 games, leading the team with 22 goals and 35 points. Power forward Josh Anderson scored 19 goals with 32 points in his second season with Montreal, along with 65 penalty minutes and 153 hits. Anderson and Suzuki were the only forwards on the team with over 1000 minutes of ice time at five-on-five, showing how hurt and inconsistent they were.

Brendan Gallagher has long been an analytical darling, and that didn’t change in 2021-22. But his production just wasn’t there. He played in 56 games, scoring just seven goals with 17 assists. Gallagher is still only 30, and had either been great or scored at a good pace in each of the prior four seasons, so don’t worry too much yet. One of the many reclamation projects on the team is Kirby Dach, the former third-overall pick who experienced the trauma of playing for the Blackhawks last year. Dach is only 21, but his numbers in the NHL have not been as good as expected. He played in 70 games last year, scoring nine goals with 26 points. Mike Hoffman’s first season with the Canadiens showed that he still has offensive value, but with weak defense. Hoffman contributed 15 goals with 20 assists, but had just a 2.12 xGF/60.

The Habs traded a first and a second-round pick to Arizona for Christian Dvorak before last season. With how bad they ended up being, Dvorak had to live up to that value and more. Unfortunately, he gave them third-line center production, which is really what he had always been with the Coyotes. Dvorak scored 11 goals with 33 points in 56 games. He was the team’s best offensive penalty-killer by goals against per 60. Montreal was the team to finally end up with Evgenii Dadonov, who the Golden Knights continuously tried to trade. He was actually one of Vegas’ best players last season, but the salary cap loomed large. Dadonov scored 20 goals with 43 points, finishing third and fifth on the team, respectively. Jonathan Drouin’s return to the NHL was disrupted by a wrist injury, as he played in just 34 games. Drouin was never a big goal scorer, but he had just six goals last year, with 14 assists. He played at a 48-point pace, which would have trailed just Suzuki for the team lead.

The Canadiens acquired a future first-round pick for taking on the contract of former Flames first line center Sean Monahan. While he is just three seasons removed from an 82-point year and two from a 48-point campaign, Monahan has fallen off a cliff. He scored just eight goals with 23 points in 65 games while dropping to the fourth line. He doesn’t have the physicality of a fourth-liner, but even his most recent production fits the role well. Montreal picked up Rem Pitlick off waivers early in the season, then gave him over 17 minutes of ice time on average. Pitlick rode a shooting percentage over 23 percent, leading to a total of 15 goals in 66 games for the Habs and the Wild. In 46 games for the Canadiens, he had nine goals with 26 points. Another one of the few Canadiens to take a step forward last season was Jake Evans, who scored 13 goals with 29 points in 72 games. His xGA/60 at even strength was the second-best on the forward core, behind only Artturi Lehkonen, who was dealt at the deadline. The odd-man-out seems like Joel Armia, who had a big 2019-20 but hasn’t produced much since. The six-foot-four winger had 104 hits with 14 points in 60 games last season. If Armia is out, then Paul Byron is left in a sticky situation. He could start the season on LTIR to make a roster space for Slafkovsky, or be an extra forward scratch. The two-time 30-goal scorer had just four in 27 games last year.

Defensemen

A complete overhaul of the defense has left in it a bit of a mess. After a year of Jeff Petry trade rumors, the Habs were able to get a legitimate player back for him in Mike Matheson. The concern with Matheson is that he didn’t really take off until he was traded to Pittsburgh, but he is a great skater with offensive talent. He set a career-high in points with 31 last season, and the Quebec native could be paired with another one in David Savard. A physical veteran defender, Savard racks up hits and blocked shots, but struggled in his first season with the club. With defense being his specialty, it was disappointing to see that he had a 3.15 xGA/60, the worst of the team’s six regular defenders.

The team missed Joel Edmundson last year, as he was limited to just 24 games. He had a 47.96 GF%, which was the best on the defensive core. However, he also had the worst xGF%. At the end of the season, Edmundson played with Justin Barron, a 2020 first-rounder who came over from Colorado for Lehkonen. Barron scored a goal with an assist in five games after the trade as a 20-year-old. He played in 43 AHL games, recording 20 points.

Another late-season prospect add who played in NHL games was Jordan Harris, a third-rounder in 2018 who signed with the team just before he could have become an unrestricted free agent. Harris scored a goal in 10 games after completing his fourth season at Northeastern University. Playing in 39 games, he scored five goals with 15 assists. The Habs took a flier on former Senator Chris Wideman after he lit up the KHL. The plan was for Wideman to be a third-pairing defender who could provide power play help, and he did exactly that. In 64 games, Wideman had 27 points, with 12 of his 23 assists coming on the man advantage. He was rewarded with a two-year extension. Until prospects like Mattias Norlinder and Kaiden Guhle are ready for a full-time role, the seventh-defender looks like it will be Corey Schueneman. The 27-year-old had six points in 24 games in his rookie season last year. He had 11 more points in 32 AHL contests.

Goaltending

With Carey Price set to go on long-term injured reserve after playing in just five games last season, the goalie situation in Montreal will stay with what it was for most of the year. Jake Allen actually had a positive goals saved above expected, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from how his final numbers ended up. In 35 games, he had a .905 save percentage and a 3.30 GAA. His backup, Sam Montembeault, had the seventh-worst GSAx in the league last season, at -14.52. He is young, but a 3.77 GAA is very concerning, especially in as large of a sample size as 38 games.

Projected Lines

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Josh Anderson

Mike Hoffman – Kirby Dach – Brendan Gallagher

Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Evgenii Dadonov

Rem Pitlick – Sean Monahan – Jake Evans

Scratched: Joel Armia, Paul Byron

Mike Matheson – David Savard

Joel Edmundson – Justin Barron

Jordan Harris – Chris Wideman

Scratched: Corey Schueneman

Jake Allen

Sam Montembeault