1 Word for Every NHL Team's 2022-23 Season
What a wild ride the 2022-23 NHL season was.
We saw the Boston Bruins rip through regular-season records only to fall to the eighth-seeded Florida Panthers in the first round of the playoffs. We saw a conference finals featuring an exclusively non-traditional ensemble with the Panthers, the Golden Knights, the Dallas Stars and the Carolina Hurricanes and all the awful takes that came along with it.
We saw the Cinderella Panthers emerge with the clutch factor to travel all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, and then we saw the chip-on-the-shoulder Golden Knights end the fairytale with a 9-3 win in Vegas.
Let's hit rewind on the season that was with one word for every NHL team's 2022-23 campaign.
Atlantic Division
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Boston Bruins: Shocking
After low offseason expectations, it was shocking that the Bruins went on to have the best regular season in NHL history. They ended up with multiple NHL records, including wins with 65 and points with 135.
There wasn't a flaw to dissect about this team, whether it was the league-best performance from Vezina finalist Linus Ullmark, top-notch defense all-around, the franchise scoring records set by David Pastrňák, the resurgence of Jake DeBrusk, the return of Captain Patrice Bergeron and franchise legend David Krejčí, and Year 1 for head coach Jim Montgomery.
It was even more shocking that this team managed to blow it in the first round, falling apart at the hands of the No. 8-seeded Florida Panthers. Weeks later, it's still pretty jarring, and it's harder to appreciate Boston's historic season now we know the ending.
Buffalo Sabres: Almost
I was so ready for the Sabres to finally end their league-longest playoff drought this season. They had so many convincing and fun runs throughout the season, and you had the emergence of Tage Thompson as a league force, Jeff Skinner's Between 2 Stalls, and the pressure that came with Jack Eichel's situation gone.
They ended up blowing it again after their early-season blunders were just too hard to come back from, but it felt different this time. Rasmus Dahlin was great, and Owen Power was a great complement on their blue line. Maybe next year will actually be the year.
Detroit Red Wings: Yzerplanning
The Red Wings have similar vibes as the Sabres this year, just less urgency. You thought maybe they could sneak into the playoffs in that packed Eastern Conference playoff race, but you weren't shocked that they didn't. Moritz Seider is still growing into his role as the No. 1 defenseman on a team that is actually trying to be good, and that's perfectly fine.
But it isn't perfectly fine if we don't see a real push coming from the Yzerplan this offseason. This felt like the last real "we'll be patient" portion of the rebuild, and they're in a tremendous spot right now. They're entering the offseason with more than $30 million in cap space, and, at the same time, they've got two first-round picks and five picks in the first two rounds in the upcoming draft.
It could be time to make a splash in free agency or trade for a borderline star player who could ease the team into its next winning era.
Florida Panthers: Magic
What a ride the Florida Panthers had from start to end this season.
It wasn't just being an eighth-seeded team sneaking into the playoffs. They defeated the historic Bruins, topped the Leafs in the second round and swept the Hurricanes. The way they did it, though, was extra special.
You had Matthew Tkachuk growing the game with his People Magazine interviews, confident attitude and chippy vibes. You had all of the clutch moments, whether it was the multiple goals to tie games up late in regulation, the spotless overtime record, or the ability to capitalize on opponent's turnovers in a pinch.
The vibes obviously ran out as Tkachuk and Radko Gudas' injuries were felt in the Cup Final, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped performing miracles. But what a run it was, and with Tkachuk signed long-term at only 25 years old, maybe it's just getting started.
Montreal Canadiens: Business
Gotta give some sort of nod to the Canadiens for doing exactly what they set out to do: be bad and continue their rebuild.
They also took care of Cole Caufield's contract, locking him up for the long term at eight years, $62.8 million. At a cap hit of $7.85 million, you kind of wonder why his camp didn't push harder for a bridge. But hey, the Canadiens will take it as they continue to build.
Next up, find a goaltender.
Ottawa Senators: Ugh
Look, I'm sure new Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer is great, and it seems like he's done solid work with the Hamilton Bulldogs.
But ugh. It could've been Ryan Reynolds, or Snoop Dogg and the first Black ownership group in NHL history. Instead, we get another hockey guy as the next owner of the Senators. I guess I'm just salty that such an interesting ownership race ended how they usually do, but maybe it sets a precedent that more interesting and worldly people are interested in investing in hockey.
"Ugh" extends to the Senators' season itself, with unfortunate injuries understandably spoiling what could have been a return to the playoffs. But at least they've got Jakob Chychrun for two more seasons.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Twilight
There was an exchanging of vibes as the Lightning dynasty fell to the formerly cursed Maple Leafs in the first round, becoming the first team to lose to this Leafs core in the first round.
This was a weird season for Tampa Bay. It qualified for the playoffs relatively easily in a tough conference, but it had some really confusing bouts that raised eyebrows.
Remember when head coach Jon Cooper benched the stars for an entire period, then they showed up to the next game arguably even worse?
That's just one example from a season that made you question if we're nearing the end of the Lightning dynasty.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Uncursed
Speaking of the Leafs, they finally got out of the first round. Interestingly enough, that meant the end of GM Kyle Dubas' tenure, even though he had his strongest trade deadline yet.
Go figure.
Maybe the reversal of the curse was the Final Boss of the Leafs' suffering, and now they want to enter a new era with a fresh start and new faces. Or maybe a second-round exit just doesn't cut it, which would be the case for any other franchise that has made the playoffs this many times over the past few years.
Hopefully for Toronto fans and the Core Four, advancing to the second round is a monkey off their back that paves the way for the real journey to start. But as always with the Leafs, we'll just have to see.
Metropolitan Division
2 of 4
Carolina Hurricanes: Ticking
It felt like the Hurricanes had a real shot at the Stanley Cup this year after a solid season atop the Metropolitan Division and a return to the Eastern Conference Final.
Instead, they got swept (a common occurrence for Carolina in the conference finals) by the underdog story of the year in the Panthers.
Was it just a matter of bad injury luck star forward Andrei Svechnikov injured? Could the Hurricanes have done more to boost scoring at the trade deadline with Max Pacioretty's cap hit off the books? Maybe the Hurricanes' perennial playoff appearance without a Cup Final comes down to luck and lack of a hot streak from a goaltender.
Whatever it is, the clock is officially ticking in Raleighwood.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Sigh
Not many expected the Blue Jackets to make any sort of significant playoff run last season, but Johnny Gaudreau taking his talents to Columbus in free agency gave a potentially decent team a boost of optimism.
That optimism quickly flew out the window as a slew of injuries took stars like Patrik Laine out of the lineup for a significant time, but even then, their 25-48-9 record was an embarrassment. So, what do they do? Trade assets away for Ivan Provorov and hire Mike Babcock as head coach.
Sigh.
We'll see how it plays out next season as the roster returns to better health.
New Jersey Devils: Relevant
The relevancy of the New Jersey Devils had been anticipated since they drafted Jack Hughes, and after a few shrewd acquisitions and some patience, it happened four seasons into his NHL career.
It's no coincidence this was also his breakout season, as he scored 43 goals and 99 points in 78 games, almost doubling his previous goal and point records.
Hughes and the Devils grew in confidence and took down the rival Rangers in seven games to advance to the second round, but the experienced Hurricanes were a bit too much for New Jersey in this core's first playoff run.
Is rookie Akira Schmid the answer in net? He had exciting flashes of potential in his small 18-game regular-season sample size and was awesome in the first round, but he learned some lessons in round two. His first true season should be interesting.
New York Islanders: Sorokin
What else can you say about the 2022-23 New York Islanders?
Vezina finalist Ilya Sorokin is easily the No. 1 reason they were able to drag themselves into the playoffs. He ended third in the league in Goals Saved Above Expected with 38.7, behind only Juuse Saros and Linus Ullmark, who were playing with significantly better defense. The Islanders also constantly struggled to score, and there was many a night when Sorokin had to hold it down in his own end.
He played a whopping 62 games and ended with a .924 save percentage and a 2.34 goals against average. He enters the last year of his $4 million AAV contract next season, and the team better take advantage of that unbelievable value while it can.
New York Rangers: Disappointing
I know it's wrong to say we were all rooting for the New York Rangers, but the vast majority of us at least enjoyed the dramatic trade deadline that gave them Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko.
Maybe we put too much stock in two older stars immediately fitting in and making enough of an impact to push the Rangers over the edge.
And that's the thing: Kane and Tarasenko weren't the problem. The problems were inconsistent five-on-five play, an invisible Artemi Panarin and some of the regulars underperforming. But when we look back at the 2022-23 Rangers season, we'll remember they were a first-round exit after acquiring Kane and Tarasenko. At least they only gave up one first-rounder.
Philadelphia Flyers: Sad
Can we all agree that it's tough to watch a John Tortorella-coached team go through a rebuild? Whatever you think about the way he operates, he has a certain urgency and fire that is not always conducive to a team that is bad on purpose.
Beyond that, the whole "rebuild" aspect of their 2022-23 season was a failure, namely the trade deadline in which former GM Chuck Fletcher vowed to make the team younger and instead did nothing.
New GM Daniel Brière came in and immediately made a splash, though, shipping once-hopeful franchise defenseman Ivan Provorov to Columbus for several assets that will indeed make the team younger and better in a few years.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Consequential
The Eastern Conference race to the playoffs was a brutal one and there was perhaps no bigger casualty than the Pittsburgh Penguins.
To be fair, they did it to themselves by losing to the tanking Chicago Blackhawks. You'll recall it was that loss that officially punched Florida's ticket to the playoffs and they rode that ticket to the Stanley Cup Final.
Playing "what if" is a useless endeavor, but it's impossible not to with the 2022-23 Penguins.
Washington Capitals: Declining
The juxtaposition of the joy of watching Alex Ovechkin rip through NHL scoring records with a child-like smile on his face and the pain of watching the Capitals enter their post-Cup decline is real.
At least they're handling it gracefully, unloading players like Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway with dignity and letting Ovechkin do his thing.
And hey, maybe they aren't done quite yet with a tandem of Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren in net for at least a few more years.
Central Division
3 of 4
Arizona Coyotes: Devastating
Yes, the writing has been on the wall that the Coyotes franchise has been struggling through controversial management decisions, tank-o-palooza, and oh, Mullett Arena.
Still, it was somewhat shocking and disappointing to see the Arizona Coyotes' plan to build a new arena in Tempe as part of a $2.1 billion entertainment district get rejected by voters in May. That's the peril of leaving an arena up to voting citizens, but that's a story for a different day.
It's devastating to think the Coyotes could be relocating due to a string of avoidable problems, but at least there's some hope while they play in Mullett again in 2023-24.
According to Craig Morgan, the league is not imminently forcing owner Alex Meruelo to sell the team and ownership is exploring a few options.
It's all still been a tough pill to swallow for the Coyotes and it's hard to focus on the on-ice product when the team isn't particularly great right now.
Chicago Blackhawks: Tank
Well, well, well, the Blackhawks tanked and won the Connor Bedard sweepstakes. They jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 in the lottery. The last time they did that, they selected...Patrick Kane.
The tall task ahead of young GM Kyle Davidson now is expediting the rebuild around Bedard. He's got tons of cap space and an effectively blank roster to work with.
He was gifted Bedard, but what he does to build around him will be the true indication of what he's made of early on in his career.
Colorado Avalanche: Ouchie
Of all the teams in the league expected to contend for a Cup, I probably blame the 2021-22 champion Avalanche the least for not getting it done.
Riddled with untimely injury after untimely injury, their roster started to look like the Blackhawks, except they were very much in the playoff race.
The worst of all was the loss of captain Gabriel Landeskog, who is now out for the entire 2023-24 season as well after a cartilage transplant in his knee. At least now they know they'll be without him and will be able to seek an on-ice replacement, although his voice in the locker room won't be replaced.
Dallas Stars: Stupid
When I think about the 2022-23 Dallas Stars, I think about two things: The fact that they somehow blew that four-goal Joe Pavelski game and that Jamie Benn suspension after he "fell" on Mark Stone.
What an egregious and irresponsible penalty from a captain when his team needed him the most.
As much as I loved the resurgence of Benn, Tyler Seguin and Pavelski throughout the season and the playoffs, I started to wonder if it prevented budding stars like Jason Robertson from having their moment.
It might be time to start letting the kids take the reins.
Minnesota Wild: Mid
For the past few years, it's almost felt like Dallas, Minnesota, and Nashville are constantly having a mid-off that begs the question: Who is the most boring team in the West?
Well, folks, the Stars are too good, and the Predators are officially too bad. The Minnesota Wild are just right. They officially won the mid-off with their loss to the Stars in the first round of the 2022-23 playoffs.
We like to clown on the Leafs, but the Wild just lost in the first round for the third consecutive year. That is, after they were a first-round exit every year from 2015-18, did not qualify in 2018-19 and lost in the qualifying round in 2019-20. A similar resume to the Toronto Maple Leafs with significantly less drama? Put it all together and we've got the winner of the mid-off.
Nashville Predators: Finally?
Imagine what the Predators' season would've looked like without the absolute sorcery coming from Juuse Saros in net.
Even with Saros' heroic performance (that should've landed him in the Vezina finalist pool), the perpetually middling Predators failed to qualify for the playoffs this season.
As much as that stinks for Predators fans, the team hasn't been a legitimate contender for a while and maybe this was the push the franchise needed to finally start building for the future. There will be tons of eyes on the Preds next season with Barry Trotz transitioning from a coaching career to his first general manager role with the team.
St. Louis Blues: Confusing
No franchise gives me whiplash quite like the St. Louis Blues ever since that fateful 2018-19 season in which they went on that early season losing streak, had a practice fight and turned it around to win the Stanley Cup. They've been chasing whatever weird-but-positive juju since, but they've been unable to find it. That was abundantly clear this season throughout the droughts and eventual failure to qualify for the playoffs. They finally did trade franchise legend Vladimir Tarasenko, though, and a few other moves clear the way for budding stars like Robert Thomas to step into the spotlight. As unsuccessful as St. Louis was in 2022-23, I'm not ready to pull the plug on their playoff hopes next season just yet.
Winnipeg Jets: Over
As so many of the Jets' stars are entering the final years of their contracts, it's clear it's time to trade at least some of them and move on from whatever it is that is keeping the vibe so horrendously bad in Winnipeg. In retrospect, Paul Maurice straight-up walking away from this team and moving on to the team that had the best vibes in the league says a lot. There's a lack of accountability. In any event, this team is in search of a leader, and I liked head coach Rick Bowness' honest call out at the end of the season, even if the poor first-round showing of the team also falls on him.
It's time for a bad-vibe exorcism.
.png?w=256 "Playoff Winners and Losers")
Pacific Division
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Anaheim Ducks: Hilarious
The Ducks were comically bad, bending what we even knew possible of a rebuild. The funniest part was they weren't rewarded for it. The Blackhawks instead jumped from third to first in the draft lottery to win the Connor Bedard sweepstakes, and the Ducks will pick second.
Look, this is a solid draft class and Adam Fantilli could've potentially been the No. 1 pick in many other drafts. But it's Bedard. And the Ducks had a sub-100 goal differential through many parts of the season. You hate to see it.
Calgary Flames: Unlucky?
The Flames had such a bizarre season that ended in them failing to qualify for the playoffs. The best way to sum it up is the whopping 17 overtime losses. They just didn't have it this year and it was pretty surprising. Jakob Markstrom's down year in net was a big reason, so were all the changes (AKA losing Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau), and apparently Darryl Sutter's attitude.
Maybe with a new coach and some more time for the new acquisitions to acclimate, things will improve for the Flames next season.
Edmonton Oilers: Hopeful
It was another year and another Cup-less season for Connor McDavid and the Oilers and I think I can speak for all of us when we say we want to see the best player in the league contend for a Cup.
But (gasp) dare I say the Oilers actually trended in the right direction in 2022-23? Mattias Ekholm was arguably the best acquisition of the trade deadline, and Edmonton's blue line clearly improved. They tried something new in net with Stuart Skinner and that worked for the most part until it didn't. McDavid and Leon Draisaitl didn't have to run the show by themselves, and that's a step forward.
Los Angeles Kings: Hmm
You kind of thought the Kings had the right vibe and situation to get past the Oilers this time headed into the playoffs. They were dominating, they were fun, and they had Vladislav Gavrikov (and with his new contract, they still do!). But they fell apart at the hands of the Oilers a few games in and it became clear there are a few more tweaks the team needs to address before it is a true contender, even if most of it is just more experience for the young core.
San Jose Sharks: Norris
Much like Alex Ovechkin in Washington, if your team is going through rough times, the best-case scenario is a situation like Erik Karlsson absolutely tearing it up and contending for a Norris in the process. Best part? He seemed perfectly content to roll with the Sharks' punches then, even if he wants a trade next season.
Karlsson had every opportunity to shine on a team that was not-so-shiny in contrast, and he took it with a career-high in goals and points at 25-76--101 in 82 games. The 33-year-old is a Norris finalist for good reason, and it's the most memorable thing about the 2022-23 Sharks.
Seattle Kraken: Future
The Kraken weren't exactly playoff underdogs, with their 100-point regular season as a resume. But who expected them to not only make the playoffs, but advance to the second round and take the Stars to the second round?
Young offensive talent led by Calder finalist Matty Beniers shined and this roster showcased some of the best scoring depth in the league. You never knew quite who was going to be the hero for the Kraken on any given night and it makes you wonder if the future of the league will steer away from "checking" lines entirely to more scoring everywhere.
Vancouver Canucks: Tired
Please just start the rebuild and take us all out of this will-they-won't-they misery. Between the off-ice drama and the rollercoaster that is the Canucks somehow sneaking in and out of the playoff race once again last season, once again with no high draft pick or playoff appearance to show for it, it's getting old. We are tired. Figure it out.
Vegas Golden Knights: Champions
After six years, the Vegas Golden Knights franchise finally has a Stanley Cup. We joke, but the success of the Golden Knights should be celebrated and the haters confuse me. Hockey is thriving and growing at every level in a non-traditional market because of this team and the way it has been run in a region begging for a sports team to rally around. The team's home opener was Oct. 10, 2017, days after the tragic Las Vegas mass shooting. Players attended blood drives, honored victims and continued to provide a community for the people of Las Vegas ever since. They honored the victims with a banner during the Cup celebration and it was another reminder about the purpose of sports -- to cultivate community and bring people together.
The Golden Knights were a solid team hovering atop the Pacific Division for most of the season, and the way their rush, checking from all lines, and the surge of Adin Hill just systematically decimated playoff opponents was so automatic, it was almost boring.
They are your 2022-23 Stanley Cup Champions and they couldn't deserve it more.
.png?w=480 "Playoff Winners and Losers")
