B/R NHL Top 10 Vibe Rankings for the Start of the 2024-25 Season
Training camp for the 2024-25 NHL season is finally upon us, and with it brings a whole new batch of vibes for each team.
The San Jose Sharks, for instance, are trending up from comically miserable to potentially bearable with the additions of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. The Boston Bruins, however, are bringing ominous vibes into training camp with RFA goaltender Jeremy Swayman still unsigned and not in attendance.
Don't get it twisted: A better vibe doesn't necessarily make for a better team. Some of the best teams in the league are at the end of their windows, facing immense pressure under tough circumstances. The best vibes generally exist at the center of the Venn diagram between "potentially fun to watch" and "no pressure."
All that being said, here are the top 10 teams with the best preseason vibes as camp commences.
10. New York Rangers
1 of 10
For those of you who are about to argue that the Rangers should be higher on the pre-season vibes ranking, please remember this isn't necessarily about being the best team. It's a look at the least worries to most fun ratio, and yes, the likelihood of winning weighs heavily in the fun column, but the stakes of losing really drag the Rangers down here.
Captain Jacob Trouba, who was the subject of plenty offseason trade rumblings, said it best as training camp opened this week:
"In all likelihood, this will probably be the last crack for this core," he told The Athletic. "I don't think that's a secret by any means."
Trouba's only got one year left on his contract after this season, and his $8 million AAV is hard to stomach as extensions for Igor Shesterkin, Alexis Lafreniere, and K'Andre Miller all loom.
The tremendous playoff vibes, notably Lafreniere's breakout party and that Chris Krieder hat trick last season, ended in Eastern Conference Final heartbreak as New York's offensive juice ran out against the Panthers.
The pressure is on for one last go of it with this core, and sometimes that makes even a high level of success less enjoyable. Still, though, Lafreniere is going to be a joy to watch, Shesterkin's contract year play will be must-view, and the "power play merchants" (all good teams are) are entertaining to watch.
9. Nashville Predators
2 of 10
When former popular NHL head coach Barry Trotz became GM of the Nashville Predators, the franchise had been in a perpetually sticky spot—always competitive enough to make the playoffs or hover around, but rarely competitive enough to attempt to go the full distance. It looked like it was going the same way last season until that fateful U2 concert.
When the Preds gritted it out and turned their season around, Trotz decided to put his faith in the team and buy, not sell, at the deadline. Now, Juuse Saros has not only not been acquired, but he also signed an eight-year, $61.92 million extension with the Predators in free agency. Plus, Trotz went out and snagged top-of-the-league veterans like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei among others.
Will it be enough to get them past the first round this season? Who knows? But under Trotz, the Predators have a clear direction, and it looks pretty vibey to me.
8. Toronto Maple Leafs
3 of 10
A year ago—a few months ago, even—you'd be hard-pressed to find me describing the Toronto Maple Leafs as "fun."
But the vibes are the vibes, and I can't deny the Leafs have a je ne sais quoi about them heading into this season.
Of course, it all started at the end: Another predictable first-round loss to the Bruins. But this time, some meaningful change ensued with the firing of head coach Sheldon Keefe and the hiring of Craig Berube. The impact there is TBD, but the vibe is assuredly different. Then, John Tavares passed the captain torch to Auston Matthews. And really, if he isn't ready now in a pivotal season for the core four, he'll never be. He looks up to the task.
They've even got William Nylander starting training camp at center after a career year. The thing about these Leafs is they've faced so much pressure and have "failed" so many times that it's almost like the pressure is off with what looks to be the final year of the core four together.
They either finally make some magic or it's finally all over, and either one is sort of a relief.
7. Philadelphia Flyers
4 of 10
The Flyers enjoyed a chaotically, unexpectedly fun season for a while there last year under John Tortorella. Eventually things fell apart, and they dropped nine of their last 11 games to miss the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.
As brutal as that was, it gave you a sense of where they could be in a few years. Or, ya know, where they might be this year with lauded rookie Matvei Michkov in the fold. It also did a nice job of tempering expectations as the team continues its rebuild.
No one is expecting the Flyers to win the Cup, but you get the sense they're going to be fun to watch and potentially in the playoff mix. The vibes are hopeful and fun...once they get past Torts' skate test.
6. Detroit Red Wings
5 of 10
The Yzerplan moves in silent and mysterious ways, and that got to us at times this offseason with dealings like the Jake Walman "trade."
But we're less than a week into training camp, and the Red Wings have managed to lock in both Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider to long-term deals.
Raymond signed his eight-year, $64.6 million contract days before training camp. That one might end up a steal, as the 22-year-old has continued to take the necessary steps—not to mention the way the cap keeps rising. Seider's seven-year deal with an $8.55 million cap hit isn't too shabby either, as we look to the 2022 Calder Trophy winner to bounce back and establish himself as a premier NHL defenseman.
Locking two pillars of your present and future up allows you to focus on the training camp vibes, which are undoubtedly good.
5. Utah Hockey Club
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Sometimes the most enticing vibe starts as a blank slate. When no vibe has been established, you've got an opportunity to create your own vibe. Where will the Utah Hockey Club take it?
The uncertainty of it all is fun. The fresh ice and newness of a team in its first year of existence gives us all that back-to-school vibe. What will they be named? Which players will use this opportunity for a fresh start and surprise us all? How will management operate?
We've already seen some of the pleasantly aggressive offseason moves, like the Mikhail Sergachev acquisition and the Tij Iginla draft pick. Let's see what's next!
4. New Jersey Devils
7 of 10
Is the hockey world perhaps overhyping the Devils right now in anticipation of a significant bounce-back? I'd say so. But it's fun when there are a lot of key moving parts on a team expected to be good, and that's what's going on here.
The vibe can't get much worse than last season, when a slew of injuries—most notably the absence of star center Jack Hughes and defenseman Dougie Hamilton—left huge holes in the lineup. To make matters worse, subpar goaltending exposed a weak blueline, and the Devils couldn't outscore their problems.
This time around, they've got a potentially Vezina-caliber goalie in Jacob Markstrom, a healthy squad, the addition of sturdy blueliner Brett Pesce, and in the words of GM Tom Fitzgerald, "No d--kheads."
The vibes are trending, indeed.
3. Edmonton Oilers
8 of 10
The vibes are, to an extent, heavy and serious in OilTown as Edmonton turns the page on the Game 7 loss that deemed them Cup runner-ups. But they've also proven they have finally reached that stage and are as close as you can get to actually doing the thing. They're going to be confident, and reflecting on that Cup run—all of the special-teams prowess, the emergence of Zach Hyman, Darnell Nurse finally showing up—they should be confident.
Some notable players like Dylan Holloway and Warren Foegele became cap casualties, but a significant portion of the roster was retained given the tricky cap situation. Plus, Leon Draisaitl got his deal done and became the highest-paid player in the league. With Draisaitl locked down, Connor McDavid presumably isn't going anywhere. With anyone other than McDavid and Draisaitl, you might look at the last Cup Final and think this team missed its golden opportunity.
But you kind of know McDavid and Draisaitl will just create another one, and I'm excited to watch them do it.
2. Florida Panthers
9 of 10
It's clear the Panthers love playing for their team and for South Florida. It's also clear that Paul Maurice has become one of the most interesting figures in hockey, as have his on-ice and off-ice cats:
The Stanley Cup champions managed to get through the offseason relatively unscathed and managed to re-sign star Sam Reinhart to an extremely reasonable eight-year, $69 million extension with an $8.6 million cap hit.
You've got your goalie (and a couple potential options in the cupboard). You've got all of your key players (save for a priced-out Brandon Montour), and you've got a team that has been through it all and has come out stronger.
1. Dallas Stars
10 of 10
Though they haven't escaped the conference finals since their 2020 Stanley Cup loss, the Stars are one of the best teams in the league right now.
Of course they're feeling the pressure, particularly the veterans like Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene who have yet to win a Cup. But they're in a pretty uniquely fun situation for a team in a Cup window.
Last season's top scorer, Jason Robertson, is only 25. The Stars' No. 2 scorer, Wyatt Johnston, is 21. Up-and-coming star defenseman Thomas Harley is re-signed and is 23. Late-season call-up Logan Stankoven, who made some electric plays and could be an offensive force, is 21. Goalie Jake Oettinger, who feels primed for a new gear, is just 25.
Rarely do we see a team in a Cup window that also has multiple key players growing in front of our eyes. The potential longevity of the core mixed with the current trajectory make the Dallas Stars the vibeyist NHL team headed into 2024-25.
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