The Top Storylines for the 2014-15 NHL Season

With the 2014-15 season upon us, it's time to take a look at some of the themes to follow this year.

From new rules to some new faces in different places, there is plenty to watch for once the puck drops. Some big names are injured; others will be trying to get their names mentioned early and often as they attempt to get their NHL careers off the ground.

It's never too early to toss a few names out as potential trade bait, either.

Here are some of the top storylines to track.

Woe Canada

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Only one Canadian club got into the playoffs last season, and it might be tough for the others to join the Montreal Canadiens this time around, too.

The already struggling Ottawa Senators lost their best player in Jason Spezza, the Edmonton Oilers are still trying to find the right mix of players during a lengthy and painful rebuild, the Calgary Flames are young and starting from scratch and the Winnipeg Jets are a long way from being a factor in the powerful Western Conference.

The Toronto Maple Leafs may be able to rebound if they can stay consistent and avoid a second-half collapse, and the Vancouver Canucks are looking to prove last year was a fluke and that they can win without Ryan Kesler.

Still, it seems the Canadiens are the only club north of the border with a decent chance of bringing a Stanley Cup to Canada for the first time since the Habs did it in 1993.

Going by the Book

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With new rules in place for the coming season, the NHL is cracking down on diving. The question is whether consistency will prevail.

Escalating penalties for both coaches and players range from $2,000-$5,000, and the hope is that adding coaches to the mix will help enforce the culture of honest play and avoiding embellishments. Can you imagine the practice repercussions of a frequent offender who costs his coach money for a fourth offense?

A couple of other modifications will see the league go back to the more traditional, with goalie trapezoids widened a couple of feet so netminders can play the puck more and the shootout spin-o-rama banned on penalty shots and shootouts.

Tripping will be called in any instance when a player lays himself out to take the puck away from an opponent and it results in the other player falling—yes, even if he hits the puck first. You have to wonder if that will cause more players to dive in those circumstances.

There's also a new sheriff in town with Brendan Shanahan being replaced by Stephane Quintal as head of the department of player safety for a full season after taking over in the playoffs last spring. Things took a turn in the right direction under Shanahan, so Quintal has a tough task of continuing to dish out appropriate suspensions and fines regardless of star status.

The rules have changed for the draft lottery, too. While no self-respecting NHL franchise would ever intentionally lose games, the idea of perhaps not putting in a great effort late in a season that is a lost cause certainly isn't foreign.

But the odds of landing the first pick as the worst team decreases this year, and they change even more in 2016 when the first three spots in the draft are determined by the lottery, with the worst team in danger of falling as far as fourth on the draft list. It should make things interesting at the bottom of the standings.

The Hurt Locker

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Jordan Staal broke his leg, Pavel Datsyuk separated his shoulder and Derek Stepan fractured his fibula during the preseason. These aren't minor injuries to role players, either. Each of them being sidelined makes their team's chances of a strong start to the regular season more difficult.

Pittsburgh Penguins stars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby have missed most of the preseason schedule with ailments, and Jonathan Quick had offseason wrist surgery, which Los Angles Kings fans will hope doesn't become a factor after a small workload through camp.

Health is often a key element for contenders, so how these stars respond will be a big factor in how the early part of the season goes for their teams.

No Beasts in the East

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The Eastern Conference has had its favorites in Boston and Pittsburgh, but there are more teams in the mix for the top spots than ever with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils all capable of getting to—and doing damage in—the playoffs.

You can't count out the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders, either, with both having spurts last season that would have had them in the hunt had they been more consistent.

Fewer than 10 points separated the No. 4 and No. 11 seeds in 2013-14 in the Eastern Conference, and things could be even tighter this season.

The Calder Watch

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Last year, Colorado Avalanche rookie Nathan MacKinnon dominated the voting as an 18-year-old. This year's rookie of the year could be one of the fresh faces just drafted this past spring or one of the older young guns seeking a regular spot on their respective teams.

The third pick in the 2013 draft, Jonathan Drouin, is dealing with a thumb injury and hasn't been able to strut his stuff in the preseason, but once healthy, he could click with Steven Stamkos and become a front-runner for the Calder Trophy. Diminutive Calgary Flames winger Johnny Gaudreau proved in the preseason that size doesn't matter in hockey if you've got high-end skill.

Third overall pick Leon Draisaitl looks to have locked up a spot with the Edmonton Oilers, according to Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun, and the big, skilled center will get plenty of ice time and talented linemates to work with there.

Young goaltenders Jake Allen of the St. Louis Blues and John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks have the opportunity to take control of their respective nets in time shares, and both have the professional pedigree to make a massive impact.

Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov joined the Washington Capitals from the KHL late last season and put up nine points in 17 games. The 22-year-old could take another step forward.

The West Is Still Best

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The Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings have helped the Western Conference claim four of the past five Stanley Cup championships, each winning a pair. Once again, these modern-day dynasties have to be favored to come out on top of a tough conference.

The Kings will now have Marian Gaborik for an entire season, arguably the deepest group of centers in the league and one of the top NHL goaltenders in Jonathan Quick. If the team stays healthy, it should be among the last ones standing. The Blackhawks have steady defense and a talented top-six forward group.

But there's even more competition with the Dallas Stars improving by bringing in Jason Spezza and Alex Hemsky in the offseason, the Anaheim Ducks picking up Ryan Kesler and the St. Louis Blues stealing Paul Stastny away from the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs responded by signing sniper Jarome Iginla, and the Vancouver Canucks hope Ryan Miller can be a stable presence in net and that a new coach will mean a big rebound from last year's awful season.

San Jose might have had a terrible collapse in the playoffs, but it did rack up 111 points in the regular season a year ago and retained all of its key players.

It's going to be a dogfight.

Let the Auditions Begin

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It's never too early to talk trade bait, and teams that are outside the playoff picture by midseason might be looking to dump their pending unrestricted free agents at the deadline, which means the start of the season is audition time for those who could be on the move.

Names like Curtis Glencross in Calgary, Chris Stewart and Drew Stafford in Buffalo, Jiri Tlusty in Carolina, Scottie Upshall and Sean Bergenheim in Florida, Mike Fisher, Mike Ribeiro and Derek Roy in Nashville, Antoine Vermette in Phoenix, Toronto's David Booth and Cody Franson and Mike Green and Joel Ward in Washington are all candidates whose names could become fodder as the year progresses.

From Outhouse to Penthouse

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The Colorado Avalanche were the worst team in the Western Conference and had the second fewest points in the NHL in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.

They jumped to second in the conference and third in the league with 112 points last year.

It was a massive leap.

Could one of the bottom-feeders make that kind of jump this season?

The best bet might be the Vancouver Canucks, who earned 83 points last year—sixth worst in the league—but had dismal seasons from their top stars. Any improvement from the Sedin twins and stability in net with Ryan Miller could help the slightly tweaked Canucks make a move up the standings this season. They may not climb to the top of the conference, but the playoffs are a real possibility.

The New York Islanders are another team that has room for big improvements after a 79-point campaign a year ago, which followed a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Adding goalie Jaroslav Halak and forwards Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin might be enough of a boost to get back on track.

New Coaches and New Directions

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A half-dozen coaches will try their hand at leading new teams to better fates this season.

Which has the most success will be one of the most interesting storylines to follow in 2014-15. The Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers all have new bench bosses.

Willie Desjardins replaces John Tortorella in Vancouver, and the change in environment may be what the doctor ordered in terms of bringing the Canucks back to health. The Tortorella experiment failed miserably, and after just one season, the team paid him to go away. Desjardins preaches an up-tempo attack game, which is essentially the opposite of what Tortorella taught. There's nowhere to go but up.

Barry Trotz will try to get Alex Ovechkin on the same page in Washington, where the Capitals have underachieved for years. Trotz did great things with a Nashville team lacking top-end talent, so it will be interesting to see what he does with plenty of it on the roster.

Bill Peters is next up for the Carolina Hurricanes in their attempt to right the ship, while the Florida Panthers look to Gerard Gallant for guidance. The Hurricanes haven't been in the playoffs since 2009, while the Panthers are on their eighth coach since 2003.

With Dan Bylsma out in Pittsburgh, the Penguins turn to Mike Johnson, a 57-year-old rookie NHL coach who has plenty of star power on the roster but the heavy burden of convincing those influential men that they should follow his lead.

In Nashville, Peter Laviolette takes his offensive-minded approach to the land of defense, where Trotz's philosophy of tight checking and good goaltending ruled for more than a decade.

Who Made the Best Moves?

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There was no shortage of jersey swapping this summer, and the moves were not minor.

The Anaheim Ducks are depending on Ryan Kesler to give them the combination of grit and scoring they need on the second line. Jason Spezza joined the Dallas Stars, and so did his recent Ottawa Senators linemate Ales Hemsky, giving the Stars an experienced and potent alternative to the stellar young duo of Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.

Goaltender Ryan Miller is in Vancouver, where the Canucks are looking to bounce back from a brutal 2013-14 campaign. To do that, they need Miller to return to form after a tough stint for St. Louis as much or more than they need the Sedin twins to rebound from their rough season.

Thomas Vanek gives the Minnesota Wild another sniper, and with James Neal in Nashville, the Predators hope they have the legitimate top-end scorer they need to turn the franchise into an offensive threat.

Veterans like Jarome Iginla (Colorado Avalanche), Michael Cammalleri (New Jersey Devils), Brad Richards (Chicago Blackhawks) and Dan Boyle (New York Rangers) will look to make a difference for their new teams as well.

How these players fit with their teams could help turn them into contenders or allow them to stay on top of the competition.