One Positive Takeaway for Each NHL Non-Playoff Team

It's not all bad if your team missed the NHL playoffs this year.

I mean, it's pretty bad, but not all bad.

Whether your team was a lottery pick contender or a playoff contender that missed in spectacular fashion, this slideshow will give you at least one reason to look forward to next year.

And if not next year, then definitely the year after that.

Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames have missed the playoffs in three straight years, but at least they've had 90 points or more in each of those seasons.

But seriously, their inability to make it must especially hurt for captain Jarome Iginla.

He's too skilled a player and too good a person to never win the Stanley Cup, much less miss the playoffs for the rest of his career.

The prospect pool in Calgary isn't exactly rich, and Iginla and star goalie Miikka Kiprusoff aren't getting any younger.

Perhaps their latest failure of a season will finally necessitate a rebuild.

The return for Iggy and Kipper would jump-start that process. The Flames could be back in the postseason picture sooner than you think.

Dallas Stars

Even a team that features high-end talent like Loui Eriksson, Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro cannot stay competitive in the long run without financial stability.

Now that the team has a new owner in Tom Gaglardi, it will be able to go into next season knowing the franchise will be safe for at least a few more years.

With the new ownership, the Dallas Stars will ideally be willing and able to make bigger splashes in the free agent market and bigger and bolder trades, see improved brand marketing and have stronger attendance.

That's cause for excitement.

Buffalo Sabres

The 2011-12 season was obviously a huge disappointment. There were high expectations, especially after the big-money signings of defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and forward Ville Leino.

The team in its current form is too good to miss the playoffs.

They dug themselves an early hole and, to their credit, managed to claw their way back into contention.

To have a playoff-calibre team go through a slump like that is unacceptable, and if anything like that happens again next season, some dynamite is going to be needed.

So the positive takeaway?

The Buffalo Sabres are a playoff team and are making the playoffs next year.

Colorado Avalanche

Gabriel Landeskog's stats from his rookie season: 22 goals, 52 points, 51 PIMs and a team-leading plus-20 in 82 games played, also team-leading.

His plus-minus is remarkable, but made more so given that the Avs' top two point-getters in Ryan O'Reilly and Paul Stastny were minus-one and minus-eight, respectively.

Milan Hejduk and David Jones, who were tied for fourth on the team with 37 points, were minus-12 and minus-eight, respectively.

You can't help but marvel at the rookie's numbers.

Another positive that Avalanche fans can take away from this past season is the fact that Colorado improved by 20 points over the 2010-11 season.

That's some serious progress.

Tampa Bay Lightning

How about 60-goal man Steven Stamkos?

But easily forgotten in all the Stamkos talk is the career year that winger Teddy Purcell had.

In 81 games played, Purcell posted 24 goals and 65 points and was a team-leading plus-nine.

Not bad for an undrafted player.

And speaking of undrafted players, how about Marty St. Louis? He had a bit of a down year by his standards, but still produced at nearly a point-a-game pace with 74 points in 77 games.

He turns 37 in June, but don't tell him that.

Are the Eastern Conference finals a possibility for the Bolts next season? Technically yes, but it's not realistic to expect them to get that far again, at least not so soon.

The playoffs are a different story.

Winnipeg Jets

You did good, Winnipeg. You did good.

The Jets have the best barn in the league and their home record reflected that.

There's some work to do with regard to their road game, but the team exceeded the modest expectations that were attached to it prior to the season.

After all, they were the Atlanta Thrashers.

Including its final year in Atlanta, the team missed the playoffs for four straight seasons.

When the Thrashers relocated, most of the Jets' current core group of players (Andrew Ladd, Evander Kane, Ondrej Pavelec, etc.) were already part of the organization.

You can understand why expectations weren't exactly high, at least from the prognosticators' points of view.

Making the playoffs would have been the cherry on top, but the return of the Jets and their impressive home record are definitely the feel-good story of the year in the NHL.

That's a solid foundation to build on for next year.

Carolina Hurricanes

A seventh straight 70-point season from captain Eric Staal.

A breakout year from former 13th overall pick Jiri Tlusty (17 goals, 36 points), who many in Toronto thought to be a bust. He could just be a late-bloomer.

The emergence of young defenseman Justin Faulk.

Another season of Ward saying no. Goalie Cam Ward had his worst statistical season in four years, but still managed a save percentage of 0.915 and a goals-against-average of 2.74.

The Canes have an All-Star goalie, an All-Star franchise centreman, one of the best young players in the game in Jeff Skinner and one of the best rookies in the game in Faulk.

They've got every position covered. All that's missing are a few solid complementary players.

Minnesota Wild

Despite an epic failure of a second half, the big positive to come out of the 2011-12 season for the Minnesota Wild is that they know they are a very good team when healthy.

For the first half of the season, the Wild were at or near the top of the NHL standings.

Captain Mikko Koivu finished second on the team with 44 points (12 of them goals), but played in only 55 games.

That can be good news or bad news depending on how you look at it.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard played in only 37 games. Guillaume Latendresse played in just 16 games.

You never like to use injuries as an excuse, but in this case, you can't ignore the impact these and other injuries had on the team.

Toronto Maple Leafs

On the bright side, ticket prices at the Air Canada Centre probably won't go up anytime soon.

Even if the owners are contemplating it, it will take them a little more effort than normal to convince Leafers to buy up.

That's kind of good news.

That Jake Gardiner kid isn't half bad, either.

I guess Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul's career years are worth mentioning as well.

Anaheim Ducks

Like so many other teams in this slideshow, the Anaheim Ducks had high hopes for the 2011-12 season.

When you can boast having one of the best top lines in the NHL along with a living legend in Teemu Selanne, you kind of expect a playoff berth.

It was a bit of a roller coaster ride, and a late-season push offered hope that the playoffs could be reached, but the Ducks ultimately fell short for the second time in three years.

Selanne turns 42 on July 3rd, but this past year, he led the team with 66 points.

That should tell you he still has gas left in the tank, which is wonderful news not only for Ducks fans, but hockey fans worldwide.

It's definitely tough to find positives in a season like that, but Selanne's play was a big one.

From every hockey fan to the Finnish Flash: Please, at least one more year.

New York Islanders

Rookie Nino Neiderreiter had a very tough year, earning a single point (a goal) in 55 games played. He was a staggering minus-29.

However, the big three of John Tavares, Matt Moulson and P.A. Parenteau all had career years.

You kind of expect JT to put up big numbers and he did not disappoint this season, posting an impressive 81 points in 82 games.

Moulson, the Los Angeles castoff, scored 36 goals and 69 points in 82 games played. He was tenth in the league in goal-scoring, just one goal behind big names Ilya Kovalchuk, Phil Kessel, Scott Hartnell and Corey Perry.

Pierre-Alexandre, you'll remember, got traded from the New York Rangers to the Islanders in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick.

You can't get traded for anything less.

He had 18 goals and 67 points in 80 games.

With the fourth overall pick in this June's draft, the Islanders might be able to draft a kid who came immediately make the jump to the NHL.

If that happens, they will be a dark-horse contender in the Eastern Conference.

Montreal Canadiens

Max Pacioretty and Erik Cole led the Montreal Canadiens in scoring and had 33 and 35 goals, respectively.

One of the biggest stories to come out of Montreal, however, was the return of Andrei Markov.

On March 10, Markov played in his first game in roughly 16 months. He tallied an assist.

The other good news is that due to their disastrous 2011-12 campaign, the Habs now possess the third overall pick in this June's draft.

According to the final rankings of the top North American skaters, defenseman Ryan Murray has moved ahead of centreman Mikhail Grigorenko to second, so Montreal will likely pick the latter.

The current Quebec Rempart, assuming he makes the jump to the NHL in the fall, will instantly give Montreal the big, top-six centreman they've so desperately craved for years.

Edmonton Oilers

Draft lottery winners.

Whether they keep the pick and draft Nail Yakupov or trade down and draft a defenseman, the organization wins big this offseason.

Imagine Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov in your top-six and picture them in five years.

Is it too early to say "dynasty"?

I shudder to think of the salaries the Oilers will have to throw at them, but that's a bridge they'll cross when they get there.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The addition of Jack Johnson during the season has to rank as one of the bigger positives in the past year for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Getting forced down a spot in the upcoming draft has to hurt, and the possible (probable?) departure of their long-time captain and face of the franchise in Rick Nash will be a tough pill to swallow as well.

However, with Johnson anchoring the D and the assets that Nash will be able to bring back, the Jackets will have some valuable pieces to move forward with.

A deal involving the Jackets' captain could definitely bring back a legitimate starting goaltender as the centrepiece.

Assuming they do acquire a goalie this summer, whether it is via a Nash trade or otherwise, the Jackets will be well on their way toward respectability.