B/R NHL Roundtable: Staff Hot Takes for the 2024-25 Season
With the NHL preseason well underway, it's time to put the B/R NHL staff under pressure.
After all, this is the perfect time to gauge hot takes for the new campaign. Every team starts with a 0-0-0 record on Opening Night and every team—in theory—has a shot to win the Stanley Cup.
So with that in mind, let's put the team to the test. Will we see a big trade? Which team will disappoint? Which team will overachieve?
Read our latest and submit your thoughts in the comments section of the B/R app.
Laine Will Lead Habs to Playoffs
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This take is so hot you'll need oven mitts to handle it.
Some of you will argue Patrik Laine has struggled through injuries and inconsistency over the past four seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Some will point out he missed most of last season in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program for mental health reasons.
Even though he's only 26, he seems to have lost his scoring mojo since reaching a career-high 44 goals in 2017-18 with the Winnipeg Jets.
Those are valid points, but after getting traded to the Montréal Canadiens in August, Laine is coming into this season with a fresh start in a city where he wants to play on a team that could help him get his career on track.
The Canadiens spent the past three seasons rebuilding with promising young talent like Juraj Slafkovský, Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson. They're hoping to make real progress this season by getting into the hunt for a playoff berth.
A lack of scoring depth beyond the top line of Slafkovský, Cole Caufield and captain Nick Suzuki doomed the team last season. Adding Laine to a second line with a healthy Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook should provide the boost it needs to end its playoff drought.
Laine will also be playing under head coach Martin St. Louis, who's garnered a reputation for helping once-struggling players like Caufield and former Hab Sean Monahan regain their form.
The former two-time Art Ross Trophy winner will help Laine rediscover his 40-goal touch, powering the Canadiens into the 2025 postseason.
- Lyle Richardson
Devils Will Reach Eastern Conference Final
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Remember those year-end team recaps that NFL Films used to do?
Well, here's the perfect title for one franchise's most-recent retrospective: A Season When Nothing Went Right: The Story of the 2023-24 New Jersey Devils.
You may recall 2022-23, when the Garden State side set the world on fire with a rise from 28th overall to third and ignited a hungry fanbase whose last dance in the dark came when local hero Bruce Springsteen was a fresh-faced 54-year-old.
Last season, though, those same Devils bit the dust.
Leading scorer Jack Hughes missed 20 games, the precise number that ace defenseman Dougie Hamilton actually played in. And the goaltending went from a respectable ninth-best overall to a horrific fifth worst, allowing 57 more goals across the same schedule and sending coach Lindy Ruff out the door to recapture a little glory elsewhere.
He's back in Buffalo. But when it comes to 2024-25 in Newark, as a newly minted 75-year-old "Boss" might croon, these are better days.
Hughes and Hamilton are back after surgeries to fix a battered shoulder and a torn pec, respectively. A defense that allowed 30 shots a night was upgraded with Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon. And the gaping hole in net was plugged by a trade that brought Jacob Markstrom, his string of seven 20-win seasons and his .910 save percentage over that stretch—sixth-best in the league behind guys with six Cups between them—from Calgary for a prospect and a pick.
None of this is to suggest the Eastern Conference will be anything less than a thunderous road to navigate. But considering the Devils are statistically among the league's youngest teams and unquestionably among its most skilled and explosive, merely returning to moderate health all but guarantees a playoff meeting across the river with the Metropolitan rival New York Rangers and the berth in the final four that'll come from it.
And if they're looking for someone to do the anthem as an encore, don't forget...the rink is just a short run from Bruce's hometown. And he seems as if he's born to do it.
- Lyle Fitzsimmons
Ducks Will Trade Trevor Zegras Before Trade Deadline
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It's not a hot take to proclaim Trevor Zegras will not spend his whole career in Anaheim. The center has been the subject of trade rumors for the last year, but it's been a lot of smoke and no fire so far.
Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek gave the All-Star a three-year bridge deal rather than a long-term contract last summer and questions persist about whether Anaheim actually see Zegras as a long-term fit.
The 23-year-old is highly skilled but purely an offensive presence who relies heavily on a finesse game. The Ducks may prefer to be more well-rounded at the center position and have invested lottery picks in both Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson. Those two seem poised to be the foundation in Anaheim for the long term.
If it's a matter of when they move on from their viral sensation, then the safe bet would be that it happens when he becomes a restricted free agent in 2026. Or, at least, during the summer. But I'm going to predict it happens prior to the March 8, 2025 trade deadline.
It can be awkward when a player is hanging around an organization that does not necessarily want him. Particularly when that team is rebuilding.
Furthermore, the market for centers this spring projects to be dire; Mikael Granlund, Alex Kerfoot and maybe Yanni Gourde are the best names who could be available among prospective sellers. When there's a void in the market, teams get creative. Anaheim may look to take advantage by throwing Zegras onto the table.
Is that take not bold enough? Fine. Let's take it a step further and predict the Philadelphia Flyers will be the team that acquires him.
They are looking to take that next step but are still in something of a rebuilding mode. Zegras, who turns 24 in March, fits a long-term vision.
The Flyers are very weak at center—Sean Couturier took a massive step back last season and Morgan Frost hit 40 points—and in particular are lacking a true offensive creator at the position.
GM Daniel Briere has three first-round picks in 2025 plus a strong prospect pool. The Flyers can afford to make this type of deal, and Zegras may be happy to move closer to his home in the New York suburbs.
- Adam Herman
Utah Hockey Club Will Reach the Playoffs
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You want a hot take? Here's one: Utah Hockey Club is going to the playoffs this year.
Its roster has a few young, high-end offensive players to create offense. Clayton Keller leads the way, of course, but with Matias Maccelli, Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther, it's got speed, skill and playmaking ability to run free.
The Utah defense was a sore point the past few seasons, but it addressed that in a huge way by adding Mikhail Sergachev.
John Marino is a really good acquisition as well, although his start in Utah will be a little delayed with an upper-body injury. With Connor Ingram in goal and Karel Vejmelka backing him up, they've got a solid tandem.
Yeah, Utah plays in a wicked Central Division with Dallas, Colorado, Winnipeg and Nashville at the top, but the wild-card race is wide open for contenders and the Pacific Division isn't exactly bringing the thunder outside of their top three of Vancouver, Vegas and Edmonton.
Weird things happen in hockey and teams relocating to new, excited markets for hockey get a boost.
Utah played hard and pesky last season in a less-than ideal situation in Tempe, Arizona, but now with full-throated support of fans in Salt Lake City? That's a momentum driver for a team that's got enough talent to surprise a lot of opponents and pundits this season.
- Joe Yerdon
The 'Yzerplan' Fails to Get Red Wings to Playoffs Again
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The Detroit Red Wings haven't reached the playoffs since 2016. Unfortunately for Hockeytown, that streak is going to continue after this season.
On the surface, the Wings would have everything you want in an up-and-coming team.
Lucas Raymond, who just signed an eight-year extension, is a star in the making and led Detroit in scoring last season with 72 points. Moritz Seider signed a seven-year extension and could be the bedrock on the blue line the Red Wings have desperately needed ever since Nicklas Lidstrom hung up his skates.
But then you take a deeper look and you find a somewhat unbalanced roster with weak goaltending, overpaid depth players and reliance on veteran forwards who have seen better days. No offense to Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko, but they can't be top-line forwards for you in a playoff charge with both men in the mid-to-late 30s.
However, the biggest issue is the goaltending, with the three-headed monster of Ville Husso, Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon all better suited to be backups at this point in their careers.
Talbot had the best numbers of the trio last season—a 2.50 goals against average and a .913 save percentage—but at the age of 39, it's asking a lot to carry the load this season.
Things could change on the roster later this season. But until they do, expect Detroit to miss out on the postseason again.
- Lucky Ngamwajasat
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