After missing out on the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, three teams have made the right moves and have given themselves a solid shot of flipping the script come the next post-season.
After missing out on the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, three teams have made the right moves and have given themselves a solid shot of flipping the script come the next post-season.
Parity in the NHL means decent teams miss the playoffs every year.
A team could be one of the league's best in one year and miss the playoffs in the next. Another could be finishing up a rebuild and failing to make the post-season in their first or first few attempts. Either way, it causes disappointment and frustration.
But after the NHL draft and the beginning of free agency, some teams are suiting themselves up for a chance at either ending their playoff drought or bouncing back from a rough season. Here are three of those teams.
New Jersey Devils
2023-24 season: 38-39-5 (seventh in the Metropolitan division)
Everything that could’ve gone wrong for the New Jersey Devils last year did go wrong, and then some.
New Jersey had 288 man-games lost to injury. They were also atrocious defensively, allowing the most goals against per game in their division (3.43) and ranking 30th in team save percentage (.886).
But things are looking on the upswing for a Devils team that’s two years removed from a second-round appearance.
GM Tom Fitzgerald signed one of the best defensemen in the sport, Brett Pesce, to a six-year, $33-million contract. He also signed Brenden Dillon — another solid defensive defenseman who plays with some sandpaper — to a three-year, $12-million deal. Both players should bring stability alongside young up-and-comers Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes.
Plus, after acquiring one of the best goalies in the league, Jacob Markstrom, their goaltending woes seem to be a thing of the past.
Up front, Fitzgerald made some sneaky good tweaks, too. For all the excitement this core has demonstrated, the Devils have always lacked strong cycle scorers and hard-nosed forecheckers in their bottom six. Those are key ingredients to playoff success, and the acquisitions of Stefan Noesen and Paul Cotter go a long way in alleviating that weakness.
But above all, Jack and Luke Hughes, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt are all a year older and hungrier. Given their upgrades, it’s hard to bet against that core.
Seattle Kraken
2023-24 season: 34-35-13 (sixth in the Pacific division)
The Seattle Kraken may not have the sexiest roster on paper, but they’re a deep team with a sneaky-high ceiling.
Following a year where they were one of the NHL’s worst offensive teams — ranking 29th in goals per game (2.61) — GM Ron Francis handed out seven-year contracts to Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour, the best offensive defenseman on the market.
Seattle’s always had a well-balanced roster, although it’s lacked true star power. Luckily for the Kraken, they’ve got two center pillars in Shane Wright and Matty Beniers who could bring some much-needed pop to their lineup next year.
Wright, the fourth-overall pick in 2022, is coming off a stellar rookie pro season that saw him named to the AHL’s top prospect team and record 13 points in 12 playoff games with the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Beniers, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, may have had a sophomore slump last year, but the 2023 Calder Trophy winner is still undoubtedly one of the best young two-way centers in the world. He’s due for a bounce-back year.
Utah Hockey Club (formerly Arizona Coyotes)
2023-24 season: 36-41-5 (7th in Central Division)
People seem to forget that the Arizona Coyotes were fairly competitive for the first half of last season.
They started the year out 23-19-3 and were in the thick of the Western Conference wild-card race until relocation rumors surfaced.
Utah’s coach, Andre Tourigny, pinpointed Jan. 24 as the tipping point of the team’s season.
“That's the day we started a 14-game losing streak, so we cannot pretend it did not affect our team," Tourigny told reporters in April.
But under the tutelage of a new and much more stable ownership group, Utah’s personnel should be more than capable of making the post-season.
It starts from the bottom up. They’ve got one of the best dollar-for-dollar tandems in Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram — two of the more underrated goalies in the league who earn a combined $4,675,000.
GM Bill Armstrong revamped the team’s D-core, acquiring a bona fide top-pairing defender in Mikhail Sergachev and a solid top-four defenseman in John Marino while also signing a reliable meat-and-potatoes second- or third-pairing option in Ian Cole. They’ve also got Sean Durzi, who’s fresh off a breakout season.
Defense wins championships, they say.
Up front, Utah’s roster doesn't have much star power aside from winger Clayton Keller, although Logan Cooley could very well pop off and have a breakout year. Granted, they’ve got $23,021,667 million in cap space and a hoard of draft capital to play with to add another scoring forward before the season.