iNHL 2021/22 Preseason power rankings, WESTERN CONFERENCE
Aug 22, 2017 7:27:52 GMT -5
bjernagris (PHI) and stlrs95 (PIT) like this
Post by Ville (SJS) on Aug 22, 2017 7:27:52 GMT -5
Power rankings and season predictions, western conference
1. St Louis Blues boasts a top-6 of Teuvo Teräväinen, Dylan Larkin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Kyle Palmieri, Elias Lindholm, Jaden Schwartz and Putintsev looks like he could slot in there too. Quality and depth on offense, would probably benefit from a solid checking center and some other bottom-six guys. But such is the firepower on the offense that it won't be a big problem.
Defense has gone slightly younger, but the Franchise cornerstone in Pietrangelo remains strong on the blueline. Rasmus Dahlin is the finest young defenseman the league has seen this decade. Only 21 years old, he was already chosen to the all-star team and will feature on there forever probably. Connor Murphy and Ben Hutton are the experienced workhorses on the defense and Ralp Jarrat, Luke Green and David Farrance are also going to feature.
The biggest change has to be parting ways with Carey Price, who was the starter for the Blues for four seasons. Now the job is up for grabs, and there are several candidates for it. Interesting to see who will be the Blues goalie this year.
2. Anaheim Ducks are led by superstar Steven Stamkos who is entering a the final season of his 10m deal, just as Tyler Johnson is entering the final year of his contract. Consequently it seems as the Ducks should be in serious win now -mode. Jonathan Ang and Logan Couture are also good at center, so that position is definitely sorted for the Ducks, better than most teams even. Sonny Milano, Pastrnak, Kevin Roy and William Nylander are all top-6 material on the wings and that still leaves solid wingers for the bottom lines. The Ducks look very good and deep on offense.
On defense Noah Juulsen, Olli Juolevi, Travis Dermott and Madison Bowey are all more or less offensive minded defensemen. Young Case McCarthy looks like the most complete 2-way of the bunch once he reaches his full potential. So the Ducks should have no problem in moving the puck up the ice to their talented offense. On paper at least it seems that they might encounter some problems when defending. Somebody sometime said that offense is the best defense, since you have the puck, so that might not be a problem for these Duck after all. They also have a really solid goalie tandem, so look out.
3. Edmonton Oilers have decided to bring back veterans Anze Kopitar and John Carlson, who both were hitting free agency this summer. Kopitar will probably be 2nd line C behind Connor McDavid, who's coming off his best season so far with 80 points. The Oilers were unlucky with injuries last year, but do look dangerous with those boys at center and Burakovsky, Kapanen, Schenn and young Levin to throw on their wings. The Oilers might benefit from one more true top-6 forward and they even have the cap space to go and get one if needed.
In goal the Oilers had to choose between Gibson and Cormier in the expansion draft. The choice was made to keep Cormier, who has shown he can play and was the considerably cheaper option. On the defense the Oilers have Carlson and Gudbranson, the veterans and loads of talent in McAvoy, Werenski, Spencer and Busby. Defense looks dynamic, offense looks dynamic and there's no reason why the Oilers would't be heading for another good season.
4. Winnipeg Jets went all in last season trading for future hall of famer Ovi8. Wasn't quite enough and Ovi is gone, where are the Jets now? Well, Peter Tiivola, Kyle Connor, Johnny Gaudreau and Chris Kreider are backed by some young talent and that makes this offense really dangerous. Late bloomer Peter Tiivola has found his place in Winnipeg and Kyle Connor has established him as a elite center. So even without Alexander Ovechkin the Jets offense looks good enough to push them through.
On defense there are the experienced McDonagh and Beaulieu that can deal with any situation and Josh Morrissey would be top-4 on most teams. After that, there aren't any big names, but Sergachev, Dunn and maybe free agent signing DJ King should be able to handle the task. Kaapo Kähkönen had an excellent first season in net for the Jets, and goaltending shouldn't be proble either.
Overall the Jets look like a playoff team, slightly thin on defense, but if they get some breakout players on that position, they shoud be fine.
5. Arizona Coyotes made the conference finals last season, so the pressure is on now to build on that performance. The Coyotes can field a deadly first line if they choose to do so, and probably at least on the PP, where they were 3rd in the league last year, Domi, Matthews and Puljujärvi will feature together. Add to that PP Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Dante Fabbro, who had a real breakout season, and the opposition PK will be in trouble. Behind that top trio on offense there are Kuznetsov, Letunov, Rödbjerg and maybe Wahlström who look like they could be top-6 players for the Yotes.
On the defense, behind OEE and Fabbro, Mattias Samuelsson, Steven Santini, Kyle Capobianco and Kale Clague complete the starting defense. Depending on how Clague and Samuelsson can fill out a top-4 role, the Coyotes should be fine on defense too. In a rather surprising move the Coyotes did trade away franchise goaltender Malcolm Subban, and as it looks now it seems to be Jon Gillies in net to start the season. Gillies has done well in this league, and time will tell how that works out.
6. Nashville Predators parted ways with franchise defenseman Shea Weber, otherwise the team remains pretty much the same from last season. Despite losing Weber, the Predators have a solid top-4 in Cody Ceci, Joonas Lyytinen, Torey Krug and PK Subban. Former 1st rounder Casey Staum, Jonas Siegenthaler and Josh Anderson are probably the guys battling out for the fnal two spots. Solid defense as we have gotten used to with the Predatos. Evan Sarthou had another strong season and will try to replicate that in goal.
One of the biggest stars in the league, Filip Forsberg leads the offense. Nail Yakupov, Mike McCarron, Kyle Betts and Justin Skinner are the other top-6 forwards. There are decent bottom-6 guys too, so solid offense too for the Preds. This is one of the more patient teams in the league, not making hasty decisions and staying true to their own thing. Therefore playoffs will be calling for the Predators once again.
7. Calgary Flames it seems have had people going in and out like a train station lately. GM MacDonald is clearly up to something big. Big names on offense include Taylor Hall, Evander Kane, Gabe Vilardi and Nikita Scherbak, who had a fine season last year. Sebastian Aho, Brett Murray and Kaprizov also looking to get in there. After the trading of Micke Granlund it suddenly seems a bit thin on the Flames offense. Is something up maybe?
The defense looks good, and Hedman, Chabot and Matheson would probably slot in the top-4 on most teams. Kostalek, Henley, Valiev and Gavrikov all solid NHL defensemen. Not all too much offense among the Flames defensemen, but they all can play and that shouldn't be any problems. Joey Daccord looks like he'll be getting the starting job in net, at least for now.
Flames are looking a bit thin on offense. A couple of big stars, but lacking in overall top-6 talent.
8. Dallas Stars have Carey Price in goal, Seth Jones to orkestrate the defense and Sidney Crosby to lead the line. What else? Well, on defense we will see Trevor Carrick, David Savard and Ryan Ellis, all solid and experienced guys + Max Gildon who is one of the league's premium up and coming stay at -home defensemen. So defense is ok, not flashy, not the best, but not the worst either. Solid and if Jones stays despite the rumours, should be enough too.
Center position is solid throughout, featuring Crosby, Cole Cassels and Jared McCann among others. On the wings Lawson Crouse, Saku Mäenalainen, Tomas Tatar, Toby Lindberg could all feature in the top-6 and that still leaves quality wingers for the bottom-6. Offense should definitely be enough to take this team to the postseason for the first time since the 15/16 season. If everybody stays healthy and the Dallas annual trade carousel stays silent, this team just might have a chance.
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9. Vancouver Canucks rather surprisingly offloaded Tommy Vannelli, Jared McCann and Bo Horvat in the offseason. As one would expect, the team looks weaker as a result, but still has good talent available to field a competitive team. On offense Leon Draisaitl, Jonathan Drouin, Jake Virtanen and Brock Boeser are easily top-6 material, but after those guys there is a drop to some inexperienced and unproven players.
The defense looks solid and with Darnell Nurse, Kris Letang, Carl Neill an Alexander Andersson as the top-4 guys would leave the defensive guys Pyrochta, Stephens and Geertsen for the bottom pairing. Not too flashy, but NHL material for sure and young guys with room to grow. Samsonov continues to play well in goal for the Canucks.
10. Minnesota Wild have missed the playoffs two years in a row now. The new management will have their hands full with getting the Wild back in. Tyler Seguin was brought in to try and accomplish that, and could form a deadly 1st line with Eriksson Ek and Gagne, who both had 30 or more goals last season. Oliver Björkstrand, Alex Tuch and Fabrice Herzog will provide extra firepower, also Brady Tkachuk left college and will probably get some icetime too.
Offense doesn't look too bad and the younger guys are probably getting even better, so the Wild could be ready to provide some surprises early on.
On defense there are a couple of dynamic figures in Dylan Labbé and Anthony DeAngelo, who came over form Winnipeg in a trade. Ryan Suter, still going strong and Gustav Bouramman the other top-4 guys probably. Besides those guys only Dillon Heatherington and maybe Jack Dougherty are established NHL defensemen, so could be said that the wild are slightly thin on defense. Starting goalie position is up for grabs with Skapski and Demko, maybe Luukkonen in the running.
Offense looks good enough, defensively, including goaltending the Wild might run into trouble.
11. Colorado Avalanche have a good, young top-4 on defense. Rasmus Ristolainen, Erik Cernak, Shea Theodore and Kyle Wood/Joe Hicketts are all just hitting their prime and a very solid group. Depth might be an issue here too with only eight defensemen under contract and injuries could cause big problems. If everybody is healthy, this team isn't going to fall because of the defense at least. Amundrud in goal also looks like a star in the making.
Nathan MacKinnon is one of the top wingers in the entire league and Jonathan Huberdeau would be top-6 on most teams. But on offense, that's about it. There are some solid bottom-6 guys, some talented guys, but as it looks at the moment not quite enough playmakers on the offense. If the two star players stay healthy and make the guys around them better, it might end up in really good things. Projection at this point is that it won't be enough for playoff hockey just yet.
12. San Jose Sharks Missed the playoffs last season and as it stands right now, looks to do so again this year. The defense looks solid with Michael Brodzinski leading the way. Behind him there are 4-5 good NHL defensemen, young too, so this defense looks pretty good for years to come. The goaltending is sorted with Jake Allen coming in to take over.
Who is the 1st line center here? Nick Shore? Martin Reway? This department looks worryingly thin. Some decent NHL:ers there but nobody really stands out. Valeri Nichuskin is the star on offense, constantly putting up 60 point seasons and being the driving force in offensive situations. Solid wingers also in Senyshyn, Silverberg and Moreau, who all put up decent numbers last season.Some of these players would need to really up their game for the Sharks to succeed this season. Or maybe young Mansurov will step up..
Bottom line is that this looks a solid team, but the lack of top end talent, especially at center, could leave them short this year. Lots of good things to build on though and they just might surprise us, but the west is strong.
13. Chicago Blackhawks have been drifting for several seasons now, missing the playoffs four years straight and going through several personnel changes. They got Pat Kane back last season to lead the way for the younger players and he looks like a good fit with last seasons breakout players Robby Fabbri, Jaeger White and Logan Brown. On top of those guys there are big boys Nick Ritchie and Anthony Mantha, who experienced a kind of a slump last season compared to his earlier work. Pavel Karnaukhov could be an interesting figure as well with 84 points scored in the AHL last season. Offense, if everybody plays to their potential, shouldn't be too bad in windy city.
Chicago does have 6 NHL-level defensemen, on top of that they have one more defenseman under contract. 7 defensemen under contract for a 82-game season is nowhere near enough. Chicago is in a similar hole as the Penguins, they have 33 players under contract at the moment and just barely under the cap. Of those 33 only seven are defensemen, and even though those are some some good and promising d-men, depth is badly needed. The Hawks also have only three goalies under contract. Jonathan Quick can handle the starting job, but depth would be needed here too.
14. Vegas Golden Knights are fielding a more NHL-ready defense, while the offense might not include the names that the Sea Lions have. Matt Dumba, Mitch Vande Sompel, Santeri Saari, Nikita Zadorov and Loik Leveille all played full 82-game seasons last year, so at least in theory they should have a totally NHL -ready defense. That will certainly show on the ice too.
The only problem the Knights seem to have in goal is that they have too many goalies. KHL-signing Stezka and Callum Booth probably closest to the starting job.
The Knights traded for Mikael Granlund, one of the top scorers in the league last season. That will be a more than welcome help on offense, where Daniel Bernhardt and Mark Scheifele are the only forwards with some good production in the NHL. Solid performers, but like that other expansion team, desperately lacking top end talent. Will be interesting to see which expansion team ends up with more points.
15. Seattle Sea Lions are just starting their journey in the league after the expansion draft. The Sea Lions have done pretty well to try and be competitive right out of the gates. Veteran centers Derek Stepan and Jordan Staal were drafted and the team also traded for Bo Horvat, so looks pretty solid at center. On the wings their hopes lie pretty heavily on Brendan Gallagher as he is the only established scorer among the wingers. Probably also expecting results from Pastujov, Sokolov and Maschurin especially.
On defense there's veteran Bogosian with loads of NHL experience, Parker Wotherspoon, Jeremy Lauzon and Thomas Schemitsch with a notable amount of NHL -games, Schemitsch with a 40 point season even. Star goalie John Gibson will carry the load and be a busy man in goal. Being a expansion team it's clear that the team is lacking in top talent. On offense there are some big names, on defense not so much. There is some talent in place, though so they won't be all overrun all the time but playoff hockey will be a far away dream for some time.
16. Los Angeles Kings have, much like the Blackhawks been adrift for severeal seasons, which has caused them losing seasons for five years in a row now, last year saw them win only 20 games all season. Now the Kings have a 1st line center to build around in Austin Pratt, who scored 50 points last season, and is definitely going to improve on that. Maxime Comtois is another good looking piece for the Kings to keep around. The Kings have now put their faith in some established veterans, star player Malkin and Jakub Voracek and Gustav Nyqvist. Talented Kristian Vesalainen sadly had a career ending head injury last season, so the Kings are doing what they can to try and compete.
On the defense Lukas Peric might be a piece to build around, but otherwise the team is lacking top-end talent on defense. The defense are pretty much fringe guys that have been around the league without really sticking anywhere. That said, there are some guys with upside and with the playing time their lookin at here, somebody just might blossom up to be a top-4 caliber player. Goalie situation is very much sorted with Murray and Schneider.
A long way to go for the Kings.
1. St Louis Blues boasts a top-6 of Teuvo Teräväinen, Dylan Larkin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Kyle Palmieri, Elias Lindholm, Jaden Schwartz and Putintsev looks like he could slot in there too. Quality and depth on offense, would probably benefit from a solid checking center and some other bottom-six guys. But such is the firepower on the offense that it won't be a big problem.
Defense has gone slightly younger, but the Franchise cornerstone in Pietrangelo remains strong on the blueline. Rasmus Dahlin is the finest young defenseman the league has seen this decade. Only 21 years old, he was already chosen to the all-star team and will feature on there forever probably. Connor Murphy and Ben Hutton are the experienced workhorses on the defense and Ralp Jarrat, Luke Green and David Farrance are also going to feature.
The biggest change has to be parting ways with Carey Price, who was the starter for the Blues for four seasons. Now the job is up for grabs, and there are several candidates for it. Interesting to see who will be the Blues goalie this year.
2. Anaheim Ducks are led by superstar Steven Stamkos who is entering a the final season of his 10m deal, just as Tyler Johnson is entering the final year of his contract. Consequently it seems as the Ducks should be in serious win now -mode. Jonathan Ang and Logan Couture are also good at center, so that position is definitely sorted for the Ducks, better than most teams even. Sonny Milano, Pastrnak, Kevin Roy and William Nylander are all top-6 material on the wings and that still leaves solid wingers for the bottom lines. The Ducks look very good and deep on offense.
On defense Noah Juulsen, Olli Juolevi, Travis Dermott and Madison Bowey are all more or less offensive minded defensemen. Young Case McCarthy looks like the most complete 2-way of the bunch once he reaches his full potential. So the Ducks should have no problem in moving the puck up the ice to their talented offense. On paper at least it seems that they might encounter some problems when defending. Somebody sometime said that offense is the best defense, since you have the puck, so that might not be a problem for these Duck after all. They also have a really solid goalie tandem, so look out.
3. Edmonton Oilers have decided to bring back veterans Anze Kopitar and John Carlson, who both were hitting free agency this summer. Kopitar will probably be 2nd line C behind Connor McDavid, who's coming off his best season so far with 80 points. The Oilers were unlucky with injuries last year, but do look dangerous with those boys at center and Burakovsky, Kapanen, Schenn and young Levin to throw on their wings. The Oilers might benefit from one more true top-6 forward and they even have the cap space to go and get one if needed.
In goal the Oilers had to choose between Gibson and Cormier in the expansion draft. The choice was made to keep Cormier, who has shown he can play and was the considerably cheaper option. On the defense the Oilers have Carlson and Gudbranson, the veterans and loads of talent in McAvoy, Werenski, Spencer and Busby. Defense looks dynamic, offense looks dynamic and there's no reason why the Oilers would't be heading for another good season.
4. Winnipeg Jets went all in last season trading for future hall of famer Ovi8. Wasn't quite enough and Ovi is gone, where are the Jets now? Well, Peter Tiivola, Kyle Connor, Johnny Gaudreau and Chris Kreider are backed by some young talent and that makes this offense really dangerous. Late bloomer Peter Tiivola has found his place in Winnipeg and Kyle Connor has established him as a elite center. So even without Alexander Ovechkin the Jets offense looks good enough to push them through.
On defense there are the experienced McDonagh and Beaulieu that can deal with any situation and Josh Morrissey would be top-4 on most teams. After that, there aren't any big names, but Sergachev, Dunn and maybe free agent signing DJ King should be able to handle the task. Kaapo Kähkönen had an excellent first season in net for the Jets, and goaltending shouldn't be proble either.
Overall the Jets look like a playoff team, slightly thin on defense, but if they get some breakout players on that position, they shoud be fine.
5. Arizona Coyotes made the conference finals last season, so the pressure is on now to build on that performance. The Coyotes can field a deadly first line if they choose to do so, and probably at least on the PP, where they were 3rd in the league last year, Domi, Matthews and Puljujärvi will feature together. Add to that PP Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Dante Fabbro, who had a real breakout season, and the opposition PK will be in trouble. Behind that top trio on offense there are Kuznetsov, Letunov, Rödbjerg and maybe Wahlström who look like they could be top-6 players for the Yotes.
On the defense, behind OEE and Fabbro, Mattias Samuelsson, Steven Santini, Kyle Capobianco and Kale Clague complete the starting defense. Depending on how Clague and Samuelsson can fill out a top-4 role, the Coyotes should be fine on defense too. In a rather surprising move the Coyotes did trade away franchise goaltender Malcolm Subban, and as it looks now it seems to be Jon Gillies in net to start the season. Gillies has done well in this league, and time will tell how that works out.
6. Nashville Predators parted ways with franchise defenseman Shea Weber, otherwise the team remains pretty much the same from last season. Despite losing Weber, the Predators have a solid top-4 in Cody Ceci, Joonas Lyytinen, Torey Krug and PK Subban. Former 1st rounder Casey Staum, Jonas Siegenthaler and Josh Anderson are probably the guys battling out for the fnal two spots. Solid defense as we have gotten used to with the Predatos. Evan Sarthou had another strong season and will try to replicate that in goal.
One of the biggest stars in the league, Filip Forsberg leads the offense. Nail Yakupov, Mike McCarron, Kyle Betts and Justin Skinner are the other top-6 forwards. There are decent bottom-6 guys too, so solid offense too for the Preds. This is one of the more patient teams in the league, not making hasty decisions and staying true to their own thing. Therefore playoffs will be calling for the Predators once again.
7. Calgary Flames it seems have had people going in and out like a train station lately. GM MacDonald is clearly up to something big. Big names on offense include Taylor Hall, Evander Kane, Gabe Vilardi and Nikita Scherbak, who had a fine season last year. Sebastian Aho, Brett Murray and Kaprizov also looking to get in there. After the trading of Micke Granlund it suddenly seems a bit thin on the Flames offense. Is something up maybe?
The defense looks good, and Hedman, Chabot and Matheson would probably slot in the top-4 on most teams. Kostalek, Henley, Valiev and Gavrikov all solid NHL defensemen. Not all too much offense among the Flames defensemen, but they all can play and that shouldn't be any problems. Joey Daccord looks like he'll be getting the starting job in net, at least for now.
Flames are looking a bit thin on offense. A couple of big stars, but lacking in overall top-6 talent.
8. Dallas Stars have Carey Price in goal, Seth Jones to orkestrate the defense and Sidney Crosby to lead the line. What else? Well, on defense we will see Trevor Carrick, David Savard and Ryan Ellis, all solid and experienced guys + Max Gildon who is one of the league's premium up and coming stay at -home defensemen. So defense is ok, not flashy, not the best, but not the worst either. Solid and if Jones stays despite the rumours, should be enough too.
Center position is solid throughout, featuring Crosby, Cole Cassels and Jared McCann among others. On the wings Lawson Crouse, Saku Mäenalainen, Tomas Tatar, Toby Lindberg could all feature in the top-6 and that still leaves quality wingers for the bottom-6. Offense should definitely be enough to take this team to the postseason for the first time since the 15/16 season. If everybody stays healthy and the Dallas annual trade carousel stays silent, this team just might have a chance.
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9. Vancouver Canucks rather surprisingly offloaded Tommy Vannelli, Jared McCann and Bo Horvat in the offseason. As one would expect, the team looks weaker as a result, but still has good talent available to field a competitive team. On offense Leon Draisaitl, Jonathan Drouin, Jake Virtanen and Brock Boeser are easily top-6 material, but after those guys there is a drop to some inexperienced and unproven players.
The defense looks solid and with Darnell Nurse, Kris Letang, Carl Neill an Alexander Andersson as the top-4 guys would leave the defensive guys Pyrochta, Stephens and Geertsen for the bottom pairing. Not too flashy, but NHL material for sure and young guys with room to grow. Samsonov continues to play well in goal for the Canucks.
10. Minnesota Wild have missed the playoffs two years in a row now. The new management will have their hands full with getting the Wild back in. Tyler Seguin was brought in to try and accomplish that, and could form a deadly 1st line with Eriksson Ek and Gagne, who both had 30 or more goals last season. Oliver Björkstrand, Alex Tuch and Fabrice Herzog will provide extra firepower, also Brady Tkachuk left college and will probably get some icetime too.
Offense doesn't look too bad and the younger guys are probably getting even better, so the Wild could be ready to provide some surprises early on.
On defense there are a couple of dynamic figures in Dylan Labbé and Anthony DeAngelo, who came over form Winnipeg in a trade. Ryan Suter, still going strong and Gustav Bouramman the other top-4 guys probably. Besides those guys only Dillon Heatherington and maybe Jack Dougherty are established NHL defensemen, so could be said that the wild are slightly thin on defense. Starting goalie position is up for grabs with Skapski and Demko, maybe Luukkonen in the running.
Offense looks good enough, defensively, including goaltending the Wild might run into trouble.
11. Colorado Avalanche have a good, young top-4 on defense. Rasmus Ristolainen, Erik Cernak, Shea Theodore and Kyle Wood/Joe Hicketts are all just hitting their prime and a very solid group. Depth might be an issue here too with only eight defensemen under contract and injuries could cause big problems. If everybody is healthy, this team isn't going to fall because of the defense at least. Amundrud in goal also looks like a star in the making.
Nathan MacKinnon is one of the top wingers in the entire league and Jonathan Huberdeau would be top-6 on most teams. But on offense, that's about it. There are some solid bottom-6 guys, some talented guys, but as it looks at the moment not quite enough playmakers on the offense. If the two star players stay healthy and make the guys around them better, it might end up in really good things. Projection at this point is that it won't be enough for playoff hockey just yet.
12. San Jose Sharks Missed the playoffs last season and as it stands right now, looks to do so again this year. The defense looks solid with Michael Brodzinski leading the way. Behind him there are 4-5 good NHL defensemen, young too, so this defense looks pretty good for years to come. The goaltending is sorted with Jake Allen coming in to take over.
Who is the 1st line center here? Nick Shore? Martin Reway? This department looks worryingly thin. Some decent NHL:ers there but nobody really stands out. Valeri Nichuskin is the star on offense, constantly putting up 60 point seasons and being the driving force in offensive situations. Solid wingers also in Senyshyn, Silverberg and Moreau, who all put up decent numbers last season.Some of these players would need to really up their game for the Sharks to succeed this season. Or maybe young Mansurov will step up..
Bottom line is that this looks a solid team, but the lack of top end talent, especially at center, could leave them short this year. Lots of good things to build on though and they just might surprise us, but the west is strong.
13. Chicago Blackhawks have been drifting for several seasons now, missing the playoffs four years straight and going through several personnel changes. They got Pat Kane back last season to lead the way for the younger players and he looks like a good fit with last seasons breakout players Robby Fabbri, Jaeger White and Logan Brown. On top of those guys there are big boys Nick Ritchie and Anthony Mantha, who experienced a kind of a slump last season compared to his earlier work. Pavel Karnaukhov could be an interesting figure as well with 84 points scored in the AHL last season. Offense, if everybody plays to their potential, shouldn't be too bad in windy city.
Chicago does have 6 NHL-level defensemen, on top of that they have one more defenseman under contract. 7 defensemen under contract for a 82-game season is nowhere near enough. Chicago is in a similar hole as the Penguins, they have 33 players under contract at the moment and just barely under the cap. Of those 33 only seven are defensemen, and even though those are some some good and promising d-men, depth is badly needed. The Hawks also have only three goalies under contract. Jonathan Quick can handle the starting job, but depth would be needed here too.
14. Vegas Golden Knights are fielding a more NHL-ready defense, while the offense might not include the names that the Sea Lions have. Matt Dumba, Mitch Vande Sompel, Santeri Saari, Nikita Zadorov and Loik Leveille all played full 82-game seasons last year, so at least in theory they should have a totally NHL -ready defense. That will certainly show on the ice too.
The only problem the Knights seem to have in goal is that they have too many goalies. KHL-signing Stezka and Callum Booth probably closest to the starting job.
The Knights traded for Mikael Granlund, one of the top scorers in the league last season. That will be a more than welcome help on offense, where Daniel Bernhardt and Mark Scheifele are the only forwards with some good production in the NHL. Solid performers, but like that other expansion team, desperately lacking top end talent. Will be interesting to see which expansion team ends up with more points.
15. Seattle Sea Lions are just starting their journey in the league after the expansion draft. The Sea Lions have done pretty well to try and be competitive right out of the gates. Veteran centers Derek Stepan and Jordan Staal were drafted and the team also traded for Bo Horvat, so looks pretty solid at center. On the wings their hopes lie pretty heavily on Brendan Gallagher as he is the only established scorer among the wingers. Probably also expecting results from Pastujov, Sokolov and Maschurin especially.
On defense there's veteran Bogosian with loads of NHL experience, Parker Wotherspoon, Jeremy Lauzon and Thomas Schemitsch with a notable amount of NHL -games, Schemitsch with a 40 point season even. Star goalie John Gibson will carry the load and be a busy man in goal. Being a expansion team it's clear that the team is lacking in top talent. On offense there are some big names, on defense not so much. There is some talent in place, though so they won't be all overrun all the time but playoff hockey will be a far away dream for some time.
16. Los Angeles Kings have, much like the Blackhawks been adrift for severeal seasons, which has caused them losing seasons for five years in a row now, last year saw them win only 20 games all season. Now the Kings have a 1st line center to build around in Austin Pratt, who scored 50 points last season, and is definitely going to improve on that. Maxime Comtois is another good looking piece for the Kings to keep around. The Kings have now put their faith in some established veterans, star player Malkin and Jakub Voracek and Gustav Nyqvist. Talented Kristian Vesalainen sadly had a career ending head injury last season, so the Kings are doing what they can to try and compete.
On the defense Lukas Peric might be a piece to build around, but otherwise the team is lacking top-end talent on defense. The defense are pretty much fringe guys that have been around the league without really sticking anywhere. That said, there are some guys with upside and with the playing time their lookin at here, somebody just might blossom up to be a top-4 caliber player. Goalie situation is very much sorted with Murray and Schneider.
A long way to go for the Kings.