The beginning of the NHL season has been strange. The slate technically started last weekend in Europe, but the full weight of the schedule actually started Tuesday.
So today, two days after the “real” season started, feels like the cosmically correct time to fully preview the year. Right? Sure. We have esteemed senior writer James Mirtle here to help.
My mind first goes to Edmonton, which has the best player in hockey, has the best chance to win the Stanley Cup and is coming off an incredible comeback (and gutting loss) in last year’s final. What should we even expect from them?
James: The Oilers are everyone’s darling Stanley Cup pick this year after coming within one game last year, and I can see why. They had a strong offseason, bringing in quality pieces like Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, and they’re deeper up front. But they subtracted on the back end and will need to address that by the trade deadline. The bigger hurdle? This league is so wide open that there are probably seven or eight favorites; it’s incredibly difficult to repeat in the NHL right now — and even getting to the finals in back-to-back seasons is tough. Hard to bet against Connor McDavid, though. (Note: The Oilers got wiped out 6-0 against the Jets last night).
I want to stay north of the border with a team you’re extra familiar with. The Maple Leafs should be elite — can they actually make a deep playoff run this year?
The eternal question. The Leafs’ Cup drought hit 57 years last spring, they didn’t dramatically overhaul the roster and they’ve won one playoff round in eight years, so the easy answer is … probably not? That said, Toronto is in that group of seven or eight I’m talking about. If their Core Four of stars finally delivers in the postseason, they have enough talent to make a push with such a wide-open field.
Simplest for last: Give us one team that will surprise everyone, and one team that could disappoint.Â
I’m going to go off the board a bit and pick Utah, the NHL’s new market, as a potential surprise playoff team. They had a shotgun start to get ready for this season — they don’t even have a name, or an arena suited for hockey — but there’s a lot of young talent on that roster that could break out in a better environment than they’ve had the last few years in Arizona.
As for a team that could disappoint … picking the Leafs would be too easy. I’m a bit concerned about my hometown club, the Vancouver Canucks. Goaltender Thatcher Demko is such a huge part of their success, and his mysterious knee injury has put his availability in question early this season. If he takes a step back, they could drop off from last year’s surprise 109-point campaign.
Everyone say thank you to James. You can read season previews and predictions for the entire league here.
