Reports from Elliott Freidman and Jonathan Davis, who is a reported that is on my betting show all the time, say that there were players that hated Bruce Cassidy so much that they didn't even want to go to the rink last year. You could see it on the ice as well. The players  often looked frustrated and defeated last year. Vegas might have the best defense on paper in the league and with Eichel, Marner and Stone leading a pretty deep group up front and a full year of Carter Hart I think we see a different team this year. 

Macklin Celebrini is a player i want to hitch my wagon to. Celebrini gives off an energy that doesn't just say he is winning, it says he already won. I am not sure I have seen a player that makes me feel like he already won the battle every time he is on the ice like him. Not only was Maklin amazing offensively last year, but he also boomed defensively as well. Just a leader in every way and with the addition of Marchment, who is also very good in all three zones and can bring a little net front that might have been missing last year this forward group is deep and can hurt you many ways. Adding Nurse and Trouba to the D is ok I guess although I do think Nurse will look better playing with better players this year. Nurse was shackled with ice time with the Oilers bottom 6 last year which was one of the worst bottom 6s in the league. A fresh start for Nurse should bring his confidence back. San Jose may struggle a bit defensively but in the regular season they can out score their problems.

The Oilers are a team that I could see going many ways this season. The Oilers could win the West, and I wouldn't be surprised and they could bubble in and I would feel the same way. Connor McDavid leads the way of course and he is still the best in the league in my mind for now. The bottom 6 forward group finally got a boost last year with the addition of Jason Dickinson , who is an elite shutdown center, Stan Bowman did some nice work in the Darnel Nurse trade, freeing up cap space for potentially another top 6 forward which would help a ton. Nurses replacement in Shea is about the same as Nurse at half the price and Mukhamadullin is certainly and upgrade in the bottom pair. The big question really is whether one of Devon Levy, Tristan Jarry or Frederik Andersen is an upgrade in goal. I have my doubts, but we will see. Also, how will the Oilers adjust to the new coach in Babcock who is really good at commanding accountability and pointing fingers but not taking it, Babcock is a great x's and o's and systems guy apparently so we will see.

Anaheim got just hammered with an offer sheet for Leo Carlsson this summer from the Philadelphia Flyers that sent their cap structure a blaze really. The Ducks had to cut Chris Kreider loose with no return and now has to go into the season with a pretty green defense as well. They might have to trim more off the roster yet to get their leading score Cutter Gauthier signed but with Cutter, Carlsson, Senneke and a very aggressive offensive system I think they can out score their problems in the regular season and their goalie Lukas Dostal with underrated Dman Jackson Lacombe holding the fort just enough for them to squeak in this year. Any significant injuries to Dostal or the backend though could have Anaheim on the outside looking in.

This will be the first year for the L.A. Kings post Anze Kopitar's retirement. His replacement offensively was picked up last year with Artemi Panarin who played well after coming over from the Rangers but something just feels uninspiring with this roster. Manager Kenny Holland found some decent players over the summer with Zuccarello and Haula but both are well past their primes, especially Haula who has declined rapidly the last three years. Zuccarello had a good year feeding Kaprizov in Minny last year but can he keep it up at 39 years old? The defense after Anderson, Clarke and Doughty gets really thin and old as well. Top that off with a goaltending tandem of Anton Forsberg who had a career year at 33 years old and was really not close to what he was last year before that and an injury prone and inconsistent Darcy Kuemper and I see a bubble team that needs to hope things go south for Anaheim.

Check out my run down on the rest of the division and more commentary from my show here