CarterHud

Last year’s Wild team was easily the best in franchise history. They finished with 100 points for the fifth time, at 113. That was seven points more than 2016-17, the previous best regular season. Sadly, it ended like a lot of other Wild seasons, with a first-round exit. Salary cap issues made their team considerably worse in the offseason, as they had to part with one of their best players. But with over $5 million in space at the time being, it ponders the question, could they have kept Kevin Fiala?

Offseason additions: F Sam Steel, G Jonas Gustavsson, D Andrej Sustr.

Offseason subtractions: F Kevin Fiala, D Dmitry Kulikov, G Cam Talbot, F Nick Bjugstad, D Jordie Benn, F Nicolas Deslauriers.

Forwards

Following a political scare in Russia, Kirill Kaprizov is back after a fantastic season. Many questioned Minnesota’s decision to give him a monster extension after his rookie season in a shortened season, but the team was quickly rewarded. Kaprizov scored 47 goals with 61 assists for 108 points. Kaprizov was top-five in both goals and points in the league. He played on the top line with two of the league’s surprise players. In his age-34 season, veteran Mats Zuccarello set a new career-high with 79 points in 70 games. Kaprizov and Zuccarello combined for 116 assists alone, with 29 of them coming on the man advantage. The goals on the line went to Kaprizov and center Ryan Hartman, who transitioned from bottom-six forward to top line center. Hartman scored 34 goals at age 27, and was definitely the most unpredictable thirty-plus goal scorer last season.

With Fiala traded to Los Angeles, the third line is certainly the second-best on the team at both ends of the ice. Marcus Foligno led the team with a 57.03 xGF% and a 1.82 xGA/60. He scored a career-high 23 goals on an inflated shooting percentage with 238 hits. Brady Tkachuk, Tom Wilson, and Tanner Jeannot were the only other players with at least 20 goals and 200 hits. Both Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek have had some Selke hype over the past two seasons, with Eriksson Ek finishing fourth in 2020-21 and seventh last season. His offensive game kicked in for the first time, scoring 26 goals with 49 points in 77 games. Jordan Greenway only had 27 points playing on that line last year, but he had a team-high 68.6 GF%. Sure, a 104.8 PDO was extremely lucky, but the entire Wild team had some puck luck last year.

It will be very interesting to see how Matt Boldy plays in his sophomore season without Fiala. Boldy was dominant as a rookie in 47 games, doing enough to finish eighth in Calder voting. He scored 15 goals with 39 points, plus a 4.33 goals for per 60 minutes. Boldy’s primary center was Frederick Gaudreau, who can move to the wing. Gaudreau’s first year with Minnesota was his breakout season, scoring 14 goals with 44 points in 76 games. In his four years prior, he had 18 points in 108 games for Nashville and Pittsburgh. The threat to move Gaudreau to the wing is Marco Rossi, the 2020 ninth-overall pick who played in two NHL games last season. He played in 63 games at the AHL level after missing just about all of 2020-21 from a COVID-19 related issue. Rossi scored 18 goals with 53 points for the Iowa Wild.

Tyson Jost was involved in the rare player-for-player swap between two contending teams at the deadline when the Avalanche sent him to Minnesota for Nico Sturm. Neither player tore it up with their new team, with Jost having six points in 21 games. He had no points in the playoffs, while his team of six years went on to win the Cup. While he never lit it up in the AHL, Brandon Duhaime won a roster spot last season, and played in 80 games with 17 points. Duhaime had 122 penalty minutes with 201 hits, so his goal scoring wasn’t why he was in the lineup. Former Ducks’ first-round pick Sam Steel signed with the Wild this offseason after Anaheim non-tendered him. He had 20 points in 68 games in 2021-22. Steel is in a competition with Connor Dewar, who had 17 points in 19 AHL games. Dewar played in his first 32 NHL games, scoring twice with four assists. Kyle Rau, who played in five NHL games, dominated the AHL last season as well. In 55 games, he scored 25 goals with 53 points.

Defensemen

One of the three defensive captains in the NHL, Jared Spurgeon’s streak of eight consecutive seasons with triple-digit blocked shots was broken last season, in which he had 83 in 65 games. Spurgeon added 40 points, the second-highest of his career. The most indicative stat of his season was his average ice time. It was his lowest since his rookie season of 2010-11. The Wild got him a new partner at the deadline in Jacob Middleton, who had five points in 21 games. His 50.87 GF% after the trade was the second lowest on the defensive core, so he needs some time to adjust.

The best all-around line on the team consists of Matt Dumba and Jonas Brodin. Dumba was an offensive forced in 2017-18 and 2018-19, but hasn’t been able to produce since. He had 27 points in 57 games with 114 hits. Brodin is the best defensive defender on the team, with a 1.92 xGA/60 last season. He had a career-high 30 points and was nominated for the Lady Byng Trophy.

The Wild shockingly received offensive dominance from veteran Alex Goligoski. While he only had 30 points himself, he had a 4.31 GF/60. He was the only NHL defender over four with at least 1000 minutes of ice time. Calen Addison, who was a part of the Jason Zucker trade in 2020, was impressive in 15 games last year. Addison had four points with a 63.06 xGF%. That is higher than any other Minnesota defender, albeit in a small sample size. The emergence of Addison and last year’s acquisition of Middleton could move Jon Merrill to the seventh-defenseman role. Merrill has played for five teams in his career, with both his 69 games played and 20 points last year being career-highs. So were his 112 blocked shots.

Goaltending

The goalies were such an issue last season that the Wild traded for Marc-Andre Fleury midseason. While he was coming off a Vezina-winning season, Fleury’s overall numbers with Chicago and Minnesota were nothing special. He had a .910 save percentage in 11 regular season games after the deal before making it through just five playoff games until being replaced. Cam Talbot started that final game of the season, but was dealt this offseason to Ottawa for Filip Gustavsson. Minnesota gets more potential, as Gustavsson had a .933 save percentage in nine 2020-21 games. But in 2021-22, he had a rough 3.55 GAA and .892 save percentage in 18 games. That won’t play for a contender.

Projected Lines

Kirill Kaprizov – Ryan Hartman – Mats Zuccarello

Marcus Foligno – Joel Eriksson Ek – Jordan Greenway

Matt Boldy – Marco Rossi – Frederick Gaudreau

Sam Steel – Tyson Jost – Brandon Duhaime

Scratched: Connor Dewar, Kyle Rau

Jonas Brodin – Matt Dumba

Jacob Middleton – Jared Spurgeon

Alex Goligoski – Calen Addison

Scratched: Jon Merrill

Marc-Andre Fleury

Filip Gustavsson

No team made a bigger leap forward than the Kings last year. They went from a rebuilding year that could have turned ugly to making the postseason with some help from a Vegas collapse and a weak Pacific Division. The Kings managed 99 points and took the Oilers to seven games in the first round. Now, with a new toy up front and everyone healthy, Los Angeles will look for the next step.

Offseason additions: F Kevin Fiala, F Nate Thompson (PTO).

Offseason subtractions: F Dustin Brown, F Andreas Athanasiou, D Olli Maatta.

Forwards

As Anze Kopitar enters his age-35 season, the Kings have to hope that he can avoid the sharp decline from superstardom that other California stars like Patrick Marleau, Ryan Getzlaf, and Corey Perry had. Kopitar still led the Kings in points last season with 67, forty-eight of them being assists. Kopitar has a pair of Selke Trophies, a Lady Byng, and has always averaged at least 20 minutes of ice time, aside from 2014-15. The aforementioned shiny new toy is Kevin Fiala, acquired from Minnesota. The Wild lacked the cap space for him, so Los Angeles was able to swoop in and then extend him for seven seasons. Fiala is coming off a career season in which he scored 33 goals with 85 points in 82 games. Another player who had a career year was Adrian Kempe. Not only did Kempe score 20 goals for the first time, but he finished with 35. There were only five players with at least 35 goals scored and over 110 hits last season. They were Chris Kreider, Alex Ovechkin, Timo Meier, Filip Forsberg, and Kempe.

The Kings’ last offseason brought in key players for 2021-22 and beyond, although no one matches up to what Fiala has done for Minnesota. After the Canadiens perhaps underutilized Phillip Danault, he signed with the Kings to be their second-line center. Many in Montreal doubted his offensive prowess, but Danault scored 27 goals with 51 points last season. He also was eighth in Selke voting, finishing top-8 for the fourth year in a row. Following two tough seasons in a row, Viktor Arvidsson got back to where he was previously in his first season with Los Angeles. The undersized winger played in 66 games, scoring 20 goals with 49 points. He had the best xGF% on the forward core. The most used line last year consisted of Danault, Arvidsson, and Trevor Moore, so the expectation is that it will continue. Moore is coming off the best season of his career, scoring 17 goals with 48 points. He had the fifth-worst goals saved above expected in the league last year. That either means that Moore has a bad shot, or just got unlucky.

The player hurt the most by the acquisition of Fiala is Alex Iafallo, who will have to move from the top line to the third. Playing with Kopitar made sense for him, as Iafallo is a defensive forward who can chip in offensively. But a reduced role means that his 17 goals and 37 points from 2021-22 could be taking a drop. The guy with a ton of expectations this year is Quinton Byfield, the 2020 2nd overall pick who hasn’t been as good in his first two professional seasons as many hoped. He had six points in 11 AHL games, with 10 points in 40 NHL games. On the positive side, he had good defensive numbers in a bottom-six role. The Kings have so much young talent that has gotten stuck between the NHL and the AHL. Both Byfield and Gabe Vilardi are a big part of that group. Vilardi dominated at the AHL level last year, with 38 points in 39 games. But in just 25 NHL games, he had seven points. He scored 10 goals in 54 games the year before, so Vilardi can lock down a roster spot.

One of the players to break through from the tweener group last year was Blake Lizotte, who found a role as a fourth line center. Lizotte had 24 points in 70 games, with the third-best xGA/60 among Los Angeles forwards. The two guys better than him could be his linemates. After a successful AHL season in 2020-21, Arthur Kaliyev scored 14 goals in an 80-game rookie season. For how much his scoring ability was touted, seeing Kaliyev with a 7.2 personal shooting percentage is surprising. If the scouts are right on him, then look for a big jump in scoring this upcoming season. Carl Grundstrom played in 54 games last season at the NHL level, scoring nine goals with 134 hits. Despite his physicality, Grundstrom has just 56 penalty minutes in 129 career games, which is a positive. If the Kings don’t want discipline, then they can go with Brendan Lemieux instead. He had 97 penalty minutes with 122 hits in 50 games. Jaret Anderson-Dolan has 12 points in 50 career NHL games. He was one of the best players on the Ontario Reign (AHL) last season, scoring 24 goals with 47 points in 54 games. Other young forwards in the mix for a spot include Rasmus Kupari, Lias Andersson, Alex Turcotte, and Samuel Fagemo.

Defensemen

Drew Doughty had been very vocal about the narrative that he was declining, and he did prove people wrong in an injury-shortened season. Doughty played in only 39 games, but had 31 points with great underlying numbers at both ends of the ice. Doughty had a 55.43 xGF%, the second-best among Los Angeles defenders. The former Norris winner played primarily with Mikey Anderson in the left-hander’s second full season. Anderson, a former fourth-round pick, had eight points with 69 blocked shots and 133 hits last season.

The only two Kings defenders making over $3 million a season are Doughty and Matt Roy. Good goaltending luck and great defensive play led to Roy having a ridiculous 1.79 GA/60 last season. That was the third-best among defenders in the NHL (minimum 1000 TOI). Roy added 103 blocks and 124 hits to the pile. He was playing with the since-departed Olli Maatta and veteran Alex Edler, who was in his first of 16 seasons not with the Canucks. Edler only got into 41 games, but was very effective. He had 19 points with a team-leading 57.72 GF% and 57.12 xGF%. No other defender on the team was anywhere near Edler’s offensive production in xGF/60.

Not only did Sean Durzi make his NHL debut last year, but he cemented himself as a regular by playing in 64 games with a legitimate share of ice time. Durzi had 27 points with 121 blocked shots and played on both special team units. Former first-rounder Tobias Bjornfot played in a career-high 70 games, but had no goals with eight assists. In fact, he had the most total ice time for a player without a goal. Only three other players (Danny DeKeyser, Erik Brannstrom, and Matt Benning) had no goals and over a thousand minutes of ice time. It also doesn’t help that Bjornfot had a 47 xGF%, the worst among regular defenders on the team. He will be competing with Sean Walker for a spot. Walker missed all but six games with a torn ACL last season, but was a regular in the two years prior.

Goaltending

In 2020-21, the power balance in net looked like it was shifted away from Jonathan Quick, to Cal Petersen. That changed last year, as Quick finished 11th in goals saved above expected. He started 46 games with a .910 save percentage and a 2.59 GAA. Both were his best since 2017-18. Petersen was in negative territory after a 13th-place finish in 2020-21. He had a weak .895 save percentage while replicating his 2.89 GAA from the season before.

Projected Lines

Adrian Kempe – Anze Kopitar – Kevin Fiala

Trevor Moore – Phillip Danault – Viktor Arvidsson

Alex Iafallo – Quinton Byfield – Gabe Vilardi

Carl Grundstrom – Blake Lizotte – Arthur Kaliyev

Scratched: Brendan Lemieux, Jaret Anderson-Dolan

Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty

Alex Edler – Matt Roy

Tobias Bjornfot – Sean Durzi

Scratched: Sean Walker

Jonathan Quick

Cal Petersen

The 2021-22 regular season was the year of the Panthers. A high-octane offense coupled with decent defense and goaltending led to a President’s Trophy and the inevitable playoff failure that comes with that award. Florida went all-in at the deadline, and saw the effects pay off this offseason. The Panthers are clearly not as good as they were last year. But are they still a Cup contender?

Offseason additions: F Matthew Tkachuk, F Colin White, F Nick Cousins, F Rudolfs Balcers, D Marc Staal, F Eric Staal (PTO), F Chris Tierney, D Michael Del Zotto, F Gerald Mayhew.

Offseason subtractions: F Jonathan Huberdeau, D MacKenzie Weegar, F Claude Giroux, D Ben Chiarot, F Mason Marchment, F Joe Thornton, F Noel Acciari, D Robert Hagg, F Maxim Mamin.

Forwards

The Panthers traded away their all-time point leader after a 115-point season. If that doesn’t put pressure on the front office, then nothing will. In return for both Jonathan Huberdeau, top-pairing defender MacKenzie Weegar, and a first-round pick, Florida acquired Matthew Tkachuk. The good news is that Tkachuk is a superstar capable of replacing Huberdeau. But no forward could match the impact of both players. Tkachuk scored 42 goals with 104 points in 82 games for the Flames last season. He’ll get the chance to play with Aleksander Barkov, who has been nominated for the Lady Byng Trophy in each of the past seven seasons. A Byng and Selke winner, Barkov scored 39 goals in 67 games last season, with 88 total points. Barkov had an xGF% above 58, just like linemate Carter Verhaeghe. Verhaeghe has been a star since coming to the Panthers. He scored 24 goals with 55 points in the regular season, then scored six times with six assists in 10 postseason games.

Florida will be missing a key producer until at least December in Anthony Duclair, who has an Achilles injury. Duclair scored 31 goals with 58 points last season. Sam Reinhart’s first season with the Panthers couldn’t have gone any better. He scored a career-high 33 goals with 82 points in 78 games. Reinhart was tied for the second best xGF% on the team at 59.51 percent. Meanwhile, Sam Bennett proved that his amazing numbers after being acquired from Calgary in 2020-21 were not a fluke. He scored 28 goals with 49 points, both career-highs. He did this while being a full-time center for the first time since 2016-17. With Duclair hurt and Mason Marchment gone, the second-line left-wing is open. Of the new acquisitions, Rudolfs Balcers has the most offensive upside. Along with solid underlying numbers, he scored 11 goals with 23 points in 61 games for the Sharks last season.

Lost in the Calder race last season was Anton Lundell, who finished sixth in voting. The 2020 first-round pick scored 18 goals with 44 points in 65 games. Lundell was on the ice for a ridiculous 4.37 GF/60 at five-on-five. The next player for the Panthers to fix is Colin White, who was bought out by the Senators. White has just 51 points in his last 130 games after having 41 in his first full season. He played in only 24 games for Ottawa in 2021-22, recording 10 points. Veteran Nick Cousins will join his sixth NHL team, and play on the third-line. He had 22 points for the Predators last season. He doesn’t offer a ton of offense or play special teams.

Aside from Lundell, the Florida fourth-line could actually be better than the third. Veteran Patric Hornqvist is a huge part of it, even with his ice time being significantly cut back last season. Hornqvist had 28 points in 68 games with an amazing 65.26 xGF%. Ryan Lomberg had 92 penalty minutes with 117 hits in 55 games, while also scoring nine goals. Lomberg doesn’t get a ton of ice time when he does play, but had nearly one goal scored individually per 60 minutes. The final member of the line is Eetu Luostarinen, who has settled into a regular role after coming over from Carolina in the Vincent Trocheck trade. Luostarinen had 26 points in a career-high 78 games played. Another Senator trying to redeem himself is Chris Tierney, who started his Ottawa tenure off well, but struggled the last two seasons. He had 18 points in 70 games in 2021-22. In 40 games for the Ducks and Flyers last year, Gerald Mayhew scored 11 goals, putting him into an NHL roster spot discussion. The Panthers also have Eric Staal in camp on a PTO. He didn’t play in the NHL last year, instead playing in the Olympics.

Defensemen

Without Weegar, the Panthers’ defense looks a lot shallower. All of a sudden, they are dependent on Aaron Ekblad, who has sustained a major injury in the last two seasons. While playing in only 61 games last year, Ekblad scored a career-high 57 points, with 15 of them being goals. He finished sixth in Norris voting. His xGF% led Panther defenders by nearly four percentage points. The next man up on the left side is Gustav Forsling, who regularly played with every right-handed defender but Ekblad last year. Forsling has been a great find since being claimed off waivers in 2021. He had 37 points in 71 games last year but had a 3.33 xGA/60. The only Panther defender at a worse number was rental Ben Chiarot.

Brandon Montour unsurprisingly set a new career-high in points in his first season with the Panthers, scoring 11 goals with 26 assists. Montour’s 55.5 xGF% was second behind Ekblad on the Florida defense. Former Chicago draft pick Lucas Carlsson played in a career-high 40 games, although he averaged less than 13 minutes of ice time. Carlsson had nine points with a 2.67 xGA/60, the best among semi-regular Panther defensemen.

The physical presence that is Radko Gudas completed his second season in Florida with 355 hits. That didn’t only lead the NHL, but was also the seventh-most hits in a single season since it started to be tracked in 2005-06. Gudas is 13th in hits all-time in that span. He could easily pass Zdeno Chara, Dion Phaneuf, and maybe even Chris Neil this season to sneak into the top-ten. Gudas could be paired with Marc Staal, who is top-50 in blocked shots all-time. Staal only had 16 points in 71 games, but his GF/60 led Detroit defenders. Veteran Michael Del Zotto had 13 points in 26 games for the Senators last season, which is a good pace. If he gets into a game, the Panthers will be Del Zotto’s ninth NHL team.

Goaltending

The wild inconsistency of Sergei Bobrovsky continued in his third season with the team. Thankfully for Florida, it benefitted them this time. Bobrovsky had a .913 save percentage and a 2.67 GAA, which isn’t special by any means. However, he was top-ten in goals saved above expected, and was the sixth-best goalie in the playoffs. That doesn’t live up to his salary, but still nice to see after a few bad seasons. The concern lies on Spencer Knight, who had a disappointing rookie season. Knight played in 32 games, with a .908 save percentage, a 2.79 GAA, and a negative GSAx. Before jumping to conclusions, remember that it was his age-20 season.

Projected Lines

Matthew Tkachuk – Aleksander Barkov – Carter Verhaeghe

Rudolfs Balcers – Sam Bennett – Sam Reinhart

Nick Cousins – Anton Lundell – Colin White

Ryan Lomberg – Eetu Luostarinen – Patric Hornqvist

Scratched: Chris Tierney, Gerald Mayhew

Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Lucas Carlsson – Brandon Montour

Marc Staal – Radko Gudas

Scratched: Michael Del Zotto

Sergei Bobrovsky

Spencer Knight

Are the narratives that the Oilers are wasting Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl dead? Sure, Edmonton still hasn’t been to the Stanley Cup Finals with the best player in the league and another guy who is in the top-five. But they built a much better team last year, and in the heated Battle of Alberta, came out on top. After beating the Flames, they went to the Conference Finals, but lost to the Avalanche. But is there shame in losing to a team as good as Colorado? The Avalanche have taken a step back on paper. Is this Edmonton’s year?

Offseason additions: G Jack Campbell, F Mattias Janmark, D Ryan Murray, F Greg McKegg.

Offseason subtractions: D Duncan Keith, G Mikko Koskinen, F Zack Kassian, D Kris Russell, F Kyle Turris, F Colton Sceviour, F Derick Brassard.

Forwards

Of course, you have to start with McDavid. He is so ridiculously good that the Oilers will throw anyone on his line and he makes it work. He scored 44 goals with 79 assists for 123 points, capturing his fourth Art Ross Trophy in seven seasons. He received some heat after the Jets swept the Oilers in four games last year, and he scored just once. But McDavid responded in grand fashion, scoring 10 goals with a total of 33 points in 16 playoff games. The Zach Hyman contract still won’t age well in all likeliness, but he brought exactly what the Oilers needed in his first year. Hyman scored a career-high 27 goals with 54 points in 76 games. Despite a very good 3.11 xGF/60, Hyman had an actual goals for per 60 of just 2.54, signaling that his best could be to come. The controversial decision to sign Evander Kane midseason paid off on the ice enough to where the team extended him for four more seasons. Kane scored 22 goals with 39 points in 43 regular season games, then scored 13 goals in the playoffs. However, he served a costly suspension when the team was eliminated.

He only finished ninth in Hart voting, but Leon Draisaitl scored 55 goals while matching the 110 points he had in his Hart-winning 2019-20 season. Draisaitl doesn’t get enough credit for how good of a scorer he is. He has sustained a 17.6 percent shooting rate over his career. Even Alex Ovechkin is under 13. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has dialed back on his goal scoring in recent seasons, instead becoming a playmaker. He scored just 11 goals in 63 games, but had 39 assists. Nugent-Hopkins’ goal scoring rates increased in the playoffs, as he scored six times in 16 games. Following a tough 2020-21 season, Kailer Yamamoto rebounded with his first 20 goal season. He had a total of 41 points while playing with either McDavid or Draisaitl. Yamamoto gets judged a ton for his height, something that isn’t unique to him. But he is still a physical player, with 114 hits last season.

The Oilers and analytical darling Jesse Puljujarvi seemed destined for a divorce this offseason, but the two sides agreed to a one-year deal. Puljujarvi scored 14 goals with 36 points in 65 games last year. That isn’t anything special before you factor in the effects of playing on Edmonton. But Puljujarvi led the team with both a 59.1 xGF% and a 64.4 GF%. Only Kane and McDavid were on the ice for more goals for per 60 in the regular season. In his first full season, former second-rounder Ryan McLeod didn’t play a ton and had 21 points in 71 games. He was solid defensively, with the second-best xGA/60 on the team. The offense wasn’t there, but he also suffered the lowest on-ice shooting percentage on the team. Promising defender Ethan Bear was traded before last season for Warren Foegele, who gave standard bottom-six production. Foegele had 26 points with 127 hits in the regular season. But he didn’t help enough in the playoffs, with just one assist in 13 games.

Defensive forward Mattias Janmark signed with the Oilers. While his production, 25 points in 67 games, is similar to Foegele, Janmark is not as physical. He had just 19 hits with 21 penalty minutes, although the latter is more of a positive. Center Derek Ryan won 55.9 percent of his face-offs, just over his career number of 55.5 percent. He scored 10 goals and was one of 71 players to receive a Lady Byng vote. Journeyman Devin Shore played in 49 games in his second season with the Oilers. He gave the team no offense, which is to be expected, but his xGA/60 was bottom-six on the team. Another well-traveled player is Greg McKegg, who is entering his tenth NHL season. The Oilers would be his eighth team. McKegg played in 43 games for the Rangers last year, the third-most in his career.

Defensemen

As Darnell Nurse’s huge contract extension kicks in, there has to be some sense of regret at the $9.25 million cap hit that he carries. Predictably, he didn’t match the 16 goals and 36 points he had in 56 games the season prior, but Nurse still had 35 points in 71 games. Averaging over 25 minutes a game, Nurse blocked 132 shots with 196 hits. He has triple-digits in both of those categories in each of the past five seasons. Evan Bouchard finally got a shot to play consistently, and he flourished. Bouchard scored 12 goals with 31 assists for 43 points in 81 games. He added nine more points in the postseason.

The Oilers found a much-needed defenseman in Brett Kulak, who they extended after acquiring at the deadline. Kulak had good two-way numbers on a lowly Montreal team, then had a 57.9 xGF% with eight points in the regular season after the trade. Kulak has received third-pairing ice time for most of his career, but has shown that he can handle a bigger role. Tyson Barrie saw his ice time get cut back in his second season with the team, becoming more of a power play specialist. Of his 41 points, 21 of them were on the man advantage. His defense wasn’t crippling this year, as he had a 2.6 xGA/60 and a 2.49 GA/60.

Philip Broberg gets a ton of slack since he is not Trevor Zegras, the guy drafted directly behind him in 2019. Broberg made both his AHL and NHL debut last year, with 23 points in 31 AHL games, and three in 23 NHL matches. He had just a 36.85 GF%, but don’t read too much into that as he had a 92.7 PDO. Cody Ceci set a career-high in points in his first Oiler season. He had 28 points in 78 games with 121 blocks and 117 hits. Ceci’s 52.3 xGF% was the sixth-best on the team. Only Puljujarvi, McDavid, Nurse, Hyman, and Bouchard were better. For the second consecutive season, Slater Koekkoek was a depth defender who received limited ice time when he did play. Koekkoek has five points in 37 games over the past two years. Both Koekkoek and Ryan Murray were top-ten picks in 2012, with Murray going second behind famous Oiler Nail Yakupov. Murray signed a one-year deal with Colorado last year, playing in 37 games but none in the postseason. Injuries have long been a problem for him.

Goaltending

With Mike Smith expected to go on LTIR, the Oilers finally have their franchise goalie. After building his stock up and then down in Toronto, Jack Campbell signed a five-year, $25 million deal this offseason with Edmonton. Campbell had a solid .914 save percentage and a 2.64 GAA before struggling in the playoffs. His GSAx was nearly minus-eight. However, Campbell also had a 2.15 GAA in 2020-21 and was amazing in that year’s postseason. Keep an eye on Stuart Skinner, a 23-year-old who was impressive in 13 games last season. He had a .913 save percentage while both Smith and Mikko Koskinen were struggling.

Projected Lines

Evander Kane – Connor McDavid – Zach Hyman

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Leon Draisaitl – Kailer Yamamoto

Warren Foegele – Ryan McLeod – Jesse Puljujarvi

Mattias Janmark – Derek Ryan – Devin Shore

Scratched: Greg McKegg

Darnell Nurse – Evan Bouchard

Brett Kulak – Tyson Barrie

Philip Broberg – Cody Ceci

Scratched: Slater Koekkoek, Ryan Murray

Jack Campbell

Stuart Skinner

The Red Wings are yet to win anything since the Datsyuk and Zetterberg era, but the fanbase has trust in the ‘Yzerplan’. Team legend and general manager Steve Yzerman had himself a big offseason, going on a spending spree to make this team more competent. Detroit may not be in contention yet, but they are a big part of a shifting Atlantic Division.

Offseason additions: F David Perron, F Andrew Copp, D Ben Chiarot, G Ville Husso, F Dominik Kubalik, D Olli Maatta, D Mark Pysyk, F Austin Czarnik, D Robert Hagg.

Offseason subtractions: F Sam Gagner, G Thomas Greiss, D Marc Staal, D Danny DeKeyser, F Mitchell Stephens, F Carter Rowney.

Forwards

It is astonishing to even think about, but Dylan Larkin will be an unrestricted free agent after 2022-23. Larkin was in a decline in 2019-20 and 2020-21, but came back with a great season last year, leading Detroit in points in 69, with 31 of them being goals. His 2.86 xGF/60 led the team, although he struggled defensively. With how good Tyler Bertuzzi is, not being able to play in Canada is crippling for the team. Bertuzzi played in 68 games last year and scored 30 goals with 62 points. Bertuzzi and Larkin were two of the three Red Wings with over three goals for per 60 at five-on-five. The other one? It was veteran defender Marc Staal, oddly enough. He was overshadowed by another rookie on his team, but Lucas Raymond was in the Calder conversation for the first half of the season. He finished with 57 points, and his 18 on the power play was the most for a Red Wing forward.

The biggest thing that Yzerman has done since returning to Detroit has been revamping the second-line. Jakub Vrana’s first full season with the Red Wings was disrupted when he had preseason shoulder surgery and was limited to just 26 games. When he played, Vrana was great, scoring 13 goals with six assists. He has 21 goals in 37 games since coming over from Washington. That is eight more in 14 less games than Anthony Mantha, who he was traded for. Speaking of impressive deadline acquisitions, Andrew Copp was a game changer for the Rangers after coming over from Winnipeg. He had 18 points in 16 games, then added 14 more in 20 playoff games. The Rangers liked Copp for his center and wing flexibility. Detroit needs a center more. After completing his third stint with the Blues, David Perron signed a two-year deal with the Wings. While he was eighth on the team in scoring, Perron still netted 27 goals with 57 points in 67 games. The Wings will be missing Robby Fabbri for the first month of the season due to injury. Fabbri has had his career plagued by them. He scored 17 goals with 30 points in 56 games last year.

The third line will consist of two players signed after the Blackhawks non-tendered them as restricted free agents. Pius Suter had 27 points in 55 games as a rookie with Chicago. While his scoring rates dropped last season, he still scored 15 goals with 36 points. The only returning Red Wing forwards with a better xGF% last year than Suter are the first liners. After scoring 30 goals in 68 games as a rookie in 2019-20, Dominik Kubalik has fallen back to Earth in the two seasons since. He scored 15 goals with 32 points last year, with shockingly-low impact in the offensive zone. When Filip Zadina was drafted sixth overall in 2018, his shot was highly touted, but he has just a 7.6 percent shooting rate in 160 NHL games. Seventy-four of them came last year, with Zadina scoring 10 goals. Both his personal and on-ice shooting percentages were under seven percent.

Six-foot-six center Michael Rasmussen scored 15 goals in his best season yet, although you still want more out of a former top-ten pick and a center picked over other centers including Nick Suzuki, Josh Norris, and Robert Thomas. Rasmussen was on the ice for 3.37 goals against per 60, worse than every Red Wing forward but Larkin. The Wings acquired two roster players and a draft pick at the deadline when they sent Nick Leddy to St. Louis. The veteran coming back was Oskar Sundqvist. He had eight points in 18 games following the trade, but had a 37.66 xGF%. The plan for Joe Veleno will be interesting this year. The young forward was a regular last season, but had just 15 points in 68 games. Veleno had 10 points in 11 AHL games. The competition for him on the fourth line is Adam Erne, who knows new Head Coach Derek Lalonde from their time in Tampa Bay. Erne had 19 points in 79 games last year, less than he had in 45 games the season prior. Erne is in the lineup for physical play, and he did have 161 hits last year. In 46 games last year, Givani Smith had an impressive 2.27 xGA/60, the best on the team among semi-regular players. Smith added seven points with 108 penalty minutes.

Defensemen

The Wings will be down two men on defense to start the year, with both Mark Pysyk and Jake Walman injured. Walman barely got ice time in St. Louis, but his average ice time increased by over five minutes a game after a trade to Detroit. Pysyk has been a bit of an analytical darling for multiple teams in his career.

The reason why Raymond was not talked about a lot in the Calder race was because Moritz Seider ran away with it. He had 50 points with 161 blocks and 151 hits, becoming a force in both zones. Seider had 19 power play assists while averaging over 23 minutes of ice time. His main partner is gone in Danny DeKeyser, but the team did sign two veteran left-handed defenders. Ben Chiarot has a great reputation as a physical, top-four defender, but the numbers say otherwise. He was average relative to his teammates on Montreal last season, which was the worst team in the league. He improved after a trade to Florida, but his defense still wasn’t impressive.

In his fourth NHL season, 24-year-old Filip Hronek set a new career-high in points with 38. His expected goals for and against per 60 were only a small step down from Seider. After two seasons in Los Angeles, Olli Maatta signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings. He blocked 94 shots with eight points in 66 games in 2021-22.

The rookie to look out for at the start of the season is Simon Edvinsson, who was picked sixth overall in 2021. Edvinsson could at least play until Pysyk and Walman return, or longer if he looks good. In 44 games for Frolunda in Sweden last year, he had 19 points. Young Gustav Lindstrom finally got an extended look in the NHL, and the results were decent. He had 13 points in 63 games, and a 45.97 xGF%. Only Seider was better on the Detroit blue line. Veteran Jordan Oesterle is an option to start if Edvinsson isn’t ready. The Michigan native struggled in his first season, with eight points and a 41.5 xGF% in 45 games played.

Goaltending

Goalies are incredibly volatile, but Detroit has a big upgrade in net this year. A perfect example of their volatility is Ville Husso, who comes in on a three-year deal. Husso had a save percentage of .893 in 17 games in his rookie season of 2020-21. But he took the starting job from Jordan Bennington this season, with a .919 save percentage and a 2.56 GAA. He was seventh in goals saved above expected. However, Husso fell apart in the postseason. He had a 3.67 GAA in seven games. Alex Nedeljkovic was a Calder finalist in 2020-21 for Carolina. He was still eligible for the award last year, but only received one vote. He had a .901 save percentage and a 3.31 GAA, plus the 13th-worst GSAx.

Projected Lines

Tyler Bertuzzi – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Jakub Vrana – Andrew Copp – David Perron

Dominik Kubalik – Pius Suter – Filip Zadina

Michael Rasmussen – Joe Veleno – Oskar Sundqvist

Scratched: Adam Erne, Givani Smith

Ben Chiarot – Moritz Seider

Olli Maatta – Filip Hronek

Simon Edvinsson – Gustav Lindstrom

Scratched: Jordan Oesterle

Ville Husso

Alex Nedeljkovic