BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The 2024-25 NHL season is underway and ahead of us is a wild ride until the Stanley Cup is claimed.
Between now and then, there will be all kinds of thrills, surprises and disappointments. As the campaign begins, here are five questions we’ll be tracking.
– Can the Edmonton Oilers take the final step?
The Connor McDavid-led Oilers came so close to completing a huge comeback in the Stanley Cup Final, reaching Game 7 after dropping the first three clashes to the Florida Panthers. That experience, combined with shrewd additions in forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, gives Edmonton every reason to believe its first Cup title since 1990 is possible.
The Oilers have their share of question marks, especially on defense, but it will be no surprise if McDavid, the league’s most dominant player, adds Cup champion to his resume.
– Can the Florida Panthers repeat?
Speaking of the Panthers, Florida paid a heavy price for the crown, with key defensemen Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson departing via free agency, along with forwards Vladimir Tarasenko, Kevin Stenlund, Ryan Lomberg and Nick Cousins.
The Panthers have a pair of pending unrestricted free agents in Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett and a restricted free agent in Aaron Ekblad. That is an issue for later, but before then the Panthers have a golden shot to hoist the Cup again.
– Will Alex Ovechkin break Wayne Gretzky’s record?
Ovechkin needs 42 goals to surpass Gretzky’s career goal-scoring mark of 894. Can he become the league’s all-time sniper this season? As great has he has been, it appears something of a long shot. Last season, Ovechkin managed only nine goals in the first 44 games before a second-half tear got him to 31.
Ovechkin, 39, has two seasons remaining on his contract and should take the mantle before retiring.
– Whose run of futility will end?
The Buffalo Sabres have missed the playoffs in a league-record 13 consecutive seasons. The Detroit Red Wings last reached the postseason in 2015-16 and the Ottawa Senators in 2016-17. Technically, the Utah Hockey Club, formerly the Arizona Coyotes, reached the playoffs in 2020, but that was because of the expanded playoffs when the league started up following the COVID-19 stoppage. The franchise last made the playoffs during a full season in the 2011-12 campaign.
Can any of them reach the second season? All should be in the mix down to the wire, which is good news for the league. Not all will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but one or two making a giant leap could be in the cards.
– Which teams are due to step backward?
Every season, one or more clubs take a tumble. Unquestionably, somebody will. Here are our best bets.
The Vancouver Canucks claimed last season’s Pacific Division crown, but it will be a surprise if they repeat, especially with goaltender Thatcher Demko still battling a knee injury that knocked him out of the playoffs.
The Winnipeg Jets were atop the league in January last season, but the offseason was far from kind to their depth, at both forward and defense.
There are other teams who likely will not be able to replicate last season’s success, namely the regular-season champion New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes, but don’t bank on either of them falling from the playoff picture.
The Jets and Canucks, however, are prime candidates to suffer the biggest drops in the standings.
–Field Level Media