Every NHL Team's Best-Case Scenario for 2024-25 Season 
When every new NHL season begins there is always a sense of what every team is capable of over the 82-game schedule and playoffs. Sometimes it ends up being a little overly optimistic, and sometimes teams can exceed expectations. But there is always a pretty good, general idea for what your team can do. There is a bare minimum expectation, and there is a potential ceiling.
Here we are going to take a look at each team's potential ceiling and the best-case scenario for their 2024-25 season.
It could be a specific goal like finishing at a certain spot in the standings, simply making the playoffs, reaching a certain point in the playoffs or perhaps even seriously competing for—and perhaps even winning—the Stanley Cup. Or it could be a more general, long-term outlook like simply hoping that some young individual players develop or some players have big seasons.
Either way, every team has a best-case scenario for this season. This is what we are thinking for them.
Anaheim Ducks: Young Player Development
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The Anaheim Ducks are not yet a playoff team, and the expectation should not be there quite yet.
Still, for as frustrating as the past few seasons have been there is at least a very strong core of young talent here that could produce some better results sooner rather than later.
The important thing for the Ducks this season is for a lot of that young talent to start making its presence felt with meaningful impacts.
They need Trevor Zegras to bounce back and play closer to the player he was during his first two years in the league. Mason McTavish needs to build on his strong 2023-24 season and have a breakout year offensively. Leo Carlsson needs to play like a No. 2 overall pick and start to become a core player. Cutter Gauthier needs to establish himself as an NHL player.
These are all pretty reasonable goals, and in some cases should be expected.
If the Ducks get big seasons from that core group, it would go a long way toward showing that things are moving in the right direction overall.
Boston Bruins: Win a Playoff Round
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My expectations for the Bruins are a lot lower than they have been going into recent seasons.
Are they are a playoff team? Most likely.
Are they a Stanley Cup team? Probably not.
There were already a lot of flaws starting to build with this roster in recent years, from the lack of a true No. 1 center to some declining defensive play that needed to be consistently bailed out by an elite goaltending duo.
A lot of those flaws still exist, and I am not sure they got any better with the offseason moves to spend big money on Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. Add in the fact half of that elite goaltending duo is now playing in Ottawa (Linus Ullmark) and this is a team that might have a far tougher fight to get into the playoffs than it is used to having.
Assuming they get there, their ceiling might simply be a second-round playoff appearance. The center position and defensive zone play are big, big concerns.
Buffalo Sabres: Just Make the Playoffs
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Just make the playoffs.
That is all anybody is asking for here.
You do not need to win the Stanley Cup this year, or even seriously compete for it, or even win a round. Just show everybody that you are capable of progressing this thing to a point where your team becomes relevant again.
That should be a reasonable goal. There is good young talent here, especially on defense, and a lot of powerhouse teams in the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division are starting to take some steps backwards.
You also have more than $6 million in salary cap space. Use it. Find somebody that can help you. There has to be somebody out there that can. You can not miss the playoffs for a 14th consecutive season and have that much unused salary cap space and still pretend to be a serious franchise.
The bar here is so low. It should be easy to clear.
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Calgary Flames: Jonathan Huberdeau Becomes Productive Again
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The Flames are off to a surprisingly strong start, but there should be some skepticism that will continue over an 82-game season.
This is still a very thin roster and a team that is clearly in the early stages of a rebuild. Or at least a re-tooling.
Do you know what would be beneficial for the Flames?
If Jonathan Huberdeau started to play like the Jonathan Huberdeau they thought they were getting a couple of years ago.
They can not have a 50-point player taking up $10.5 million in salary cap space for the next seven years. That is not manageable, and there is almost no way to get out of that. At least not easily.
If he can start producing again it either gives them a player they can count on to carry some offense in the event they are actually better than expected, or it might make it at least a little bit easier to maybe get out of that contract in the future.
Carolina Hurricanes: Reach the Stanley Cup Final
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The Hurricanes have established themselves as one of the NHL's best teams over the past six years, making the playoffs every season, winning at least one round five teams and reaching a pair of Eastern Conference Finals.
But there is still another step for them to take, and we keep patiently waiting for them to take it.
That step is breaking through and reaching the Stanley Cup Final.
Why can't this be the year that it happens? Even though they lost a lot of talent over the offseason (Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Brett Pesce), the main core is still in place and there are still some young players on the roster that have a chance to become the type of impact players they have been lacking come playoff time (Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis).
The Eastern Conference is very much wide open with almost every team having a pretty significant flaw somewhere on the roster. This team is capable of winning the Eastern Conference, and this season seems as good of a chance as any for them to actually do it.
Chicago Blackhawks: Another Franchise Player Emerges
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This is going to be another long year for Chicago Blackhawks fans, but it at least be softened by the presence of Connor Bedard. He is great. He is going to be great. His best days are ahead of him. He is worth the price of admission every single night no matter how bad the team loses or often it loses.
What the Blackhawks need this season is for somebody else in the organization to emerge as a long-term, franchise-changing core player to go alongside him.
Whether it is 2024 No. 2 overall pick Artyom Levshunov, or 2022 first-round pick Frank Nazar, or a player like Alex Vlasic (or ideally all of the above) they need some other players to show they can be cornerstone building blocks.
It always takes more than one superstar to change a rebuild. Chicago has one. Now it needs help around him.
Colorado Avalanche: Win a Couple of Rounds
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The Avalanche still have the core to be a Stanley Cup contender, but their depth and goaltending is not what it was during their peak from a few years ago.
There is still time for that to change.
If Gabriel Landeskog and/or valeri Nichushkin are able to return and play like they have in the past, that would go a long way toward fixing some of their depth concerns.
If Alexandar Georgiev plays like he did in his first year with the Avalanche, that would give them a chance on most nights given the strength of their defense. If he does not, they need to find another option that can give them that.
Those are some big ifs, however, and as the team is currently constructed right now their ceiling might simply be a second round or Western Conference Final appearance. They are a top-10 team. But are they a top-two or championship team? That remains to be seen.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Development of Young Players
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This is the Eastern Conference version of the Anaheim Ducks or Chicago Blackhawks.
It is a rebuilding team that is clearly still a couple of years away from the playoffs, but has a really good collection of young talent and a pretty deep prospect pool. There is a bright future here if you really squint and look closely.
This is a successful season if some of those young players play well and become long-term answers on the roster.
The key names to watch here are Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger, Kirill Marchenko, Yegor Chinakhov, David Jiricek and Kent Johnson. Fantilli is the one that can really move the needle and speed up the process of the rebuild.
Dallas Stars: Win the Stanley Cup
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The Stars might have one of the most talented rosters in the NHL from top-to-bottom, and their success over the past five years speaks to that.
They have been in the Western Conference Finals two years in a row and in three of the past five years, including one Stanley Cup Final appearance.
They have All-Star level talent at each level of the ice (forward, defense and goalie) and a constant pipeline of young talent that keeps getting stronger. The first wave had Jason Robertson, Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz and Jake Oettinger. Then Wyatt Johnston came along. Now it is Thomas Harley and Logan Stankoven.
They defend, they can score, and when Oettinger is on his game he can be one of the most game-changing goalies in hockey.
If you were to put together a list of the top-five teams with the best chance to win the Stanley Cup this season, the Stars would have to be near the top of it.
Detroit Red Wings: Make the Playoffs
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This is the sixth year of the Steve Yzerman general manager era in Detroit, and it is time for some real progress here.
They have had top-10 draft picks, they have spent money in free agency, they have made a couple of big trades and they have been very patient in trying to rebuild this organization.
Now it is time for results and meaningful progress.
The problem is the roster still might not be good enough to produce the desired results. They are still a long way from serious Stanley Cup contention, and given the state of the defense and goaltending there is still not much reason to believe this is a guaranteed playoff team or a team that is capable of doing anything if it actually does get there.
They were one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL a year ago, and there is no real sign they are much better this season. Through this weekend's games they were 23rd in the NHL in expected goals against per 60 minutes and 30th in expected goal share during 5-on-5 play. That is not close to good enough, and it is still clear something is missing here. The ceiling here might simply be a Wild Card team. At some point that has to get frustrating for ownership.
Edmonton Oilers: Win the Western Conference
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The Oilers have flaws, but man can they be fun.
It is really difficult to bet against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and those two guys are capable of dragging this obviously flawed roster a long, long way. They helped take them all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final a year ago.
But that also required a shocking run from starting goalie Stuart Skinner at the right time of year, and a lot of things to go their way. Can all of that be repeated? Can Skinner be a capable goalie over the course of a full season and another playoff run? Do they have enough defensive depth after the Evan Bouchard-Mattias Ekholm pairing?
Those are big questions that might not have good answers for the Oilers.
As long as you have elite players, you have a chance. But with the number of flaws the Oilers have there is also a ceiling with teams like this. For the Oilers, that might still be just short of a championship even if it does get them a couple of series wins.
Florida Panthers: Contend for the Stanley Cup
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The Panthers have been the NHL's most successful team over the past three seasons, winning a Presidents' Trophy and appearing in two Stanley Cup Finals (winning one of them). They are bringing back largely that same roster, which should leave expectations extremely high.
On paper, the roster is as good as it gets in the NHL and they back it up on the ice.
The only thing that is a potential issue for them is the fact it is just really, really difficult to get back to a Stanley Cup Final three years in a row. That is a lot of hockey and a lot of things to all go right at the same time.
They will compete for the Stanley Cup, and they definitely have a potential championship ceiling. But it should not be seen as a failure if they do not get back or win it again.
Los Angeles Kings: Advance Beyond First Round
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The Kings are stuck in a really tough middle ground.
Their rebuild has progressed to the point where they have become a steady playoff team, and a really good playoff team. But they keep running into a wall that is the Edmonton Oilers with three consecutive first-round defeats at the hands of the exact same team.
It is a problem, because if you can not get through Edmonton, how can you get through any other top contender in the league? The Kings have some questions in goal regarding whether or not Darcy Kuemper is the guy to handle the position, and their offense took a big step backwards in the second half of the 2023-24 season.
They still seem to be lacking enough impact players to be a serious championship team. If they can get back into the playoffs and finally win a round or two that might be their high point as currently constructed.
Minnesota Wild: Make the Playoffs
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The Wild have had to manage a nearly impossible salary cap situation the past few years due to the ongoing buyouts with Zach Parise and Ryan Suter and the salary cap hits that have come from that.
For the most part, the Wild have managed it well. They have made the playoffs a couple of times and they have a pretty good core of talent. Kirill Kaprizov is a superstar, and there are some excellent young players coming through the system.
But the salary cap situation has made it nearly impossible to build a deep, fully competitive roster. They only have this season to worry about the biggest cap hits on those buyouts before it becomes more manageable in future seasons.
If the Wild can make the playoffs this season given that disadvantage, that should be seen as a success. Anything more than that would be a pretty significant bonus.
Montreal Canadiens: Don't Finish in Last Place
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The Canadiens are not ready to contend for a playoff spot, and that's fine. But they have enough young talent here that it should be time to start making some progress and not finish in last place in the Atlantic Division for a fourth consecutive season.
If nothing else, it should be attainable goal.
The top-line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky has a chance to be outstanding, and when Patrik Laine returns he has a chance to be another legitimate goal-scoring option. Even in in his down years in Columbus he was still scoring at a 30-goal pace over 82 games. There are still a lot of depth and defensive concerns that will keep them from being a serious contender for a playoff spot, but they might be able to at least move up a spot or two in the standings.
Nashville Predators: Contend for Stanley Cup
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Contending for the Stanley Cup is not only the best-case scenario for this team, it should also be the expectation given the talent on the roster and the money they spent over the summer.
The Predators were already a playoff team in 2023-24 with strong underlying numbers, but simply lacked the difference-makers needed throughout the roster to make a serious run at a championship.
They added those difference-makers in free agency by signing Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. The addition of defenseman Brady Skjei is also a big addition.
It has been a bit of a rocky start with a 3-5-1 record entering play on Wednesday, but with Stamkos, Marchessault, Filip Forsberg, Juuse Saros, Roman Josi, Ryan O'Reilly and Gustava Nyquist this should be a team that not only makes the playoffs, but also has a chance to make some serious noise if and when it gets there.
New Jersey Devils: Contend for Stanley Cup
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The Devils were a huge disappointment during the 2023-24 season, and it really was not hard to see why.
Their goaltending was a mess and injuries took several of their top players out of the lineup for significant portions of the season, including several of them at the same time.
The goaltending should be significantly better with Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen in the crease, and assuming they get better injury luck this is one of the best teams in the NHL on paper. While the Markstrom trade got most of the headlines over the summer, the signing of Brett Pesce was also huge.
Jack Hughes is an elite offensive player, Nico Hischier is consistently underrated and they have a nice young collection of talent all in place. They may have missed the playoffs a year ago, but the Stanley Cup should be within reach this season.
New York Islanders: Make the Playoffs
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The Islanders are the same team they always are.
They do not have the most talented roster, they will not score a lot of goals and when they do win it will probably be ugly. But they always seem to find a way to win and sneak into the playoffs. Their upside is not much more than that, unless Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov go on a goaltending hot streak that can carry them through a few rounds.
While that is possible, it is probably not very likely.
The Islanders have quietly been one of the more successful teams in the NHL over the past five seasons, and the playoffs are a strong possibility, but the ceiling is probably not much more than a wild card spot and a first-round exit against a superior Stanley Cup contender.
New York Rangers: Reward Igor Shesterkin
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There are two layers to this best-case scenario.
The first is that the Rangers reward starting goalie Igor Shesterkin by playing better in front of him during 5-on-5 play and making it so they do not have to completely depend on him to win games. if they do that, the Rangers go from being an outstanding team to a potentially great team. Maybe even a Stanley Cup winning team.
The second is that they reward him by giving him a new contract extension that keeps him with the team.
That is also the best-case scenario for the organization and Rangers fans, because as long as they play the way they do they are going to need Shesterkin to remain on the team to keep their window as open as it is.
He is so good, and their power play is so good, that it will mask whatever 5-on-5 flaws they might still have and help them win 45-50 regular season games, earn a top spot in the Metropolitan Division (perhaps even the top spot) and win at least one round in the playoffs. Probably two rounds. Whether or not that is enough to get them through teams like, say, Florida, in a best-of-seven series remains to be seen.
Ottawa Senators: Make the Playoffs
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The Senators have not been in the playoffs since their surprising trip to the 2016-17 Eastern Conference Finals, going through an extensive rebuild that saw them unload pretty much every core player and completely rebuild the team. It has been an extremely slow and frustrating process.
There is a really good core of talent at the top of the roster, and the addition of starting goalie Linus Ullmark over the offseason fixes what has been a constant problem in recent seasons.
Given the addition of Ullmark, the high-end talent in players like Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle, as well as some teams in the Atlantic Division perhaps taking a step backwards there does seem to at least be a path for the Senators to snap their playoff drought this season.
Philadelphia Flyers: Matvei Michkov Becomes a Star
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Despite hanging around in the playoff race for most of the 2023-24 season, far longer than anybody could have reasonably expected, the Flyers are still acting like a team that is in the middle of a rebuild. That is because they are still in the middle of an extensive rebuild and are still at least a year away from being a serious playoff contender.
That does not mean the season will be a total waste of time.
This season marks the beginning of the Matvei Michkov era, one of the most anticipated prospects to join the Flyers organization in years.
The best-case scenario here is that Michkov matches the hype and establishes himself as a franchise cornerstone, accelerating the rebuild to a point where they can seriously start trying to win and compete during the 2025-26 season.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Erik Karlsson Bounces Back
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It is pretty clear early in the season that the Pittsburgh Penguins are not really going to be going anywhere this season in terms of the playoffs. They have major flaws all over the roster, and even though Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin still seem to have something left to offer the rest of the team is short on talent. They do not have scoring depth, they do not have a strong defensive structure, they do not have goaltending and they do not really seem to have much of a vision at the moment.
That is why the best-case scenario here is that a player like Erik Karlsson bounces back from a disappointing 2023-24 season—and brutal start to this season—and starts to play like a high-level defenseman again so that they can maybe find a taker for his contract or bring back some young assets for the future.
The Penguins acquired Karlsson to take another big swing at keeping their window open for the remainder of the Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang era. It was also an effort for Karlsson to get his name on the Stanley Cup. It has not worked as planned, and it seems unlikely that Karlsson is going to get his championship here. Maybe everybody needs a fresh start. That is just going to be difficult with the contract and his current level of play.
San Jose Sharks: Just Be a Competitive NHL Team
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The 2023-24 San Jose Sharks were one of the worst non-expansion teams in the modern NHL era.
Some of that was to be expected given the way they finally committed to a full-scale rebuild.
Some of that was just embarrassing, uncompetitive hockey.
All of the losing did help them land a potential franchise player in forward Macklin Celebrini with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and they made an effort to bring in some more proven NHL players this offseason.
Nobody reasonably expects this team to go from absolute-worst-team-in-the-league to the playoffs in one year, especially not after another brutal start to this season, but they should at least try to play like a competitive, functioning NHL roster. That is a low bar. It should be easy to reach.
Seattle Kraken: Young Players Take Step Forward
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The Kraken have been a really inconsistent franchise since entering the NHL.
They were unable to match the expectations that Vegas had set for new expansion teams in year one, they came back in year two and not only made the playoffs but advanced to the second round, and then took a major step backwards in year three and missed the playoffs again.
The roster, for now, lacks difference makers and has some questionable contracts after signing Chandler Stephenson to one of the most bizarre contracts of the summer.
They could make the playoffs, but it would not be a huge surprise if they did not.
The best-case scenario here is that their most important young players take a step forward, specifically Matty Beniers and Shane Wright. Those two were expected to be cornerstone players for the next decade. Beniers took a big step backwards in year two, while Wright has yet to make a meaningful impact in the NHL.
If those two guys start to become players, that will be the biggest victory of the season for the Kraken.
St. Louis Blues: Make the Playoffs
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The Blues are one of the teams stuck in the NHL's murky middle ground where they are not quite a guaranteed playoff team, and they are not quite in the middle of a rebuild.
They are just .... there.
They made an aggressive effort to add some young talent during the offseason when they signed defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway away from the Edmonton Oilers in restricted free agency. They were solid moves, and Broberg definitely adds a much-needed change to a defense that has gotten stale in recent years, but it is far from a guarantee to make them a playoff team.
If the Blues sneak in as a wild card, that would be exceeding expectations. They should not be expected to do much more than that.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Win Playoff Round
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The Lightning are not quite the dominant team they were between 2016 and 2022 when they were a constant in the Eastern Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final. Their depth is not what it was, some of their core players are getting older, and one of them (Steven Stamkos) is playing for somebody else (Nashville). They also have lost in the first round in consecutive seasons.
They still have enough talent to make the playoffs—and should be expected to make the playoffs—but their ceiling is probably a lot lower than what it has been due to the lack of depth.
If they can get through to the second round that would probably a successful season.
Anything beyond that would be bonus.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Core Proves It Is Worth Keeping Together
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How can the Maple Leafs core prove it is worth keeping together?
Win in the playoffs.
We know the Maple Leafs can win some regular season games and score some goals, but that is not enough at this point. This current core group of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares has only won its division one time (the shortened season, all Canadian division), has won just a single playoff series, has won just one game in the second round and has been a constant disappointment come playoff time.
Two of those core players—Marner and Tavares—are eligible for unrestricted free agency after this season, while the team has shown little willingness or desire to break up this group.
There is a good chance at least one of Marner or Tavares is back next season, and in the case of the former it would be a potentially massive contract.
The only way anybody can—and should—take that seriously is if they actually win a round or two in the playoffs and reach a level this group has not yet experienced.
Utah Hockey Club: Make the Playoffs
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The Utah Hockey Club was one of the biggest stories in the NHL over the first week of the season, but things have cooled off considerably ever since.
Even with that regression, there is still some real excitement with this team given the finally settled ownership situation, playing in front of a full building and seeing their young talent all emerge at the same time at the NHL level.
They made big moves to bolster their defense in the offseason by acquiring Mikahil Sergachev and John Marino. Marino and Sean Durzi are both sidelined at the moment due to injuries, putting a big dent in their defense, but this is still an exciting team with some good young forwards that might have a chance to be a player in the Western Conference playoff race.
This can absolutely be a playoff team this season, but it is probably a couple of years away from making a push for the Stanley Cup.
Vancouver Canucks: Western Conference Final Appearance
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The Canucks returned to the playoffs in 2023-24 and finished on top of the Pacific Division.
They are fun to watch, they are exciting, they are talented and they have some truly great players at the top of the lineup in forward Elias Pettersson and reigning Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes.
The two big wild cards here are going to be whether or not they have enough depth beyond the top of their lineup, and the health of starting goalie Thatcher Demko. If Demko is able to return, stay healthy and play up to his capability this is a team that could absolutely reach the Western Conference Final.
But if Demko's injury lingers, or if he struggles upon his return, that might lower the ceiling just a bit.
Vegas Golden Knights: Win Playoff Round
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The Golden Knights went into the 2023-24 Stanley Cup Playoffs as one of the heavy Stanley Cup favorites. Not only because they were, at the time, the reigning Stanley Cup champions, but also because they pulled off a trade deadline masterclass and loaded up on star players like Noah Hanifin and Tomas Hertl.
Despite the talent on the roster, they really struggled down the stretch, went into the playoffs as the second Wild Card team in the Western Conference and were beaten in the first round.
They are good, but they might not be as good as the hype that has surrounded them.
They are clearly not as good as their 2023 Stanley Cup team, so the bar should be a little lower. They can absolutely win a playoff round, especially if they get the right matchup, but expecting anything more than that this season might be expecting too much.
Washington Capitals: Play Like Legitimate Playoff Team
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The Capitals made the playoffs in 2023-24, but did so with one of the worst goal differentials of all-time for a playoff team and some of the worst possession and shot-metrics in the league.
They were the definition of mediocre across the board, with a few areas mixed in where they were downright bad.
It was a lucky season to get in the playoffs.
The good news for the Capitals is they recognized how flawed the roster was and made a serious effort this offseason to strengthen the roster with the additions of Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane at forward, as well as the additions of Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy on defense. They also upgraded in goal with veteran Logan Thompson coming over from Vegas. The early returns have been sensatioal as the Capitals are not only winning their early games, they look like an actual playoff team with strong underlying numbers as well.
The 2023-24 team had a terrible process and good results.
So far the 2024-25 team has a better process and also with good results. That is the more sustainable option.
Winnipeg Jets: Win Playoff Round
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The Winnipeg Jets qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs on a pretty regular basis, but do not always do anything when they get there. They have made the playoffs in five of the past six seasons, but only have a single playoff series win to show for it during that time.
They are off to a sensational start this season an 8-1-0 record entering play on Wednesday, making them one of the best early season teams in the league.
They also have some serious high-end talent at the top of the roster, including Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers and Joshua Morrissey, with starting goalie Connor Hellebuyck being the biggest game-changer of them all.
Hellebuyck's play and production, which has made him a two-time Vezina Trophy winner in his career, including this past season, is what gives Winnipeg its best chance every night.
While Winnipeg's roster is outstanding at the top, it may not have the depth to compete with the other top Stanley Cup contenders like Dallas, Edmonton, and some of the Eastern Conference teams. Hellebuyck's play is also so good that it masks a lot of flaws, resulting in management not always being eager to make changes. After all, if it is good enough to get in the playoffs one year, why would it not be good enough the next season. It is a problem teams with elite goalies consistently run into. They are so good at masking the team's flaws that it can lead to general managers and front offices not always objectively look at their roster and how it plays.
Winnipeg can be a playoff team again, but its ceiling is probably in the first round. They need more help around Hellebuyck and their top players at forward and at defense.
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