1 Word for Every NHL Team's Offseason Outlook
The bad news? The 2024-25 season is over, and it'll be 100-plus days until NHL hockey is back. The Florida Panthers wrapped a bow on it Tuesday with a 5-1, Game 6 win over the Oilers for their second straight Stanley Cup.
The good news? We've still got the draft and free agency right around the corner, and it's shaping up to be a fascinating scene all around with an increased salary cap.
Before the madness kicks off, let's assign one word to every NHL team's offseason outlook.
Anaheim Ducks: Rangersy
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Between the Anaheim Ducks acquiring Jacob Trouba last trade deadline and more recently snagging Chris Kreider, the Chris Drury-to-Pat Verbeek pipeline is strong. The Ducks are anticipating taking a huge step into relevancy as their youth movement hits its prime.
Will becoming the Rangers with Mickey Mouse ears on help them in that quest?
Boston Bruins: New
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The Bruins finally have decent draft capital for the first time in dang near a decade. This is a strong draft class at center, which bodes particularly well for them and their No. 7 overall pick.
Will GM Don Sweeney cultivate some goodwill and excitement about this new era for the Bruins with the right picks?
Buffalo Sabres: Bruh
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It all hurts too much. Congratulations, Sabres fans, you just got to watch Sam Reinhart score four goals to clinch the Stanley Cup with the Panthers as your team once again fell just short of the playoffs.
We award you with the No. 9 pick, which isn’t terrible, but the Islanders are picking No. 1 overall and they ended with a better record. It’s hard to see a way out of this perpetual mess until something drastic happens.
Calgary Flames: Realistic
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Even though it didn’t work out as the Flames ended a few points short of an out-of-nowhere playoff run, it was nice to see management let the group attempt it as is.
Now it’s time to get to the real rebuilding work this offseason as the team looks to the future with a potential franchise goalie in Dustin Wolf emerging. They’ve got just north of $36 million in cap space to start building.
Carolina Hurricanes: Interesting
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A few years into GM Eric Tulsky’s tenure, we know we can expect interesting moves from the Hurricanes each offseason—even if we don’t know exactly what’s coming.
Brent Burns, Dmitry Orlov, Eric Robinson and Jack Roslovic are among the notable pending free agents. Tulsky will have significantly more space to work with compared to last season, and he’s got a 2025 first-round pick to sweeten any pots.
Chicago Blackhawks: Valuable
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The Blackhawks didn’t improve much on paper last season, but they made some moves and spun some wheels to set the scene for a productive step in the right direction this offseason. The most notable? Unloading Seth Jones’ $9.5 million AAV contract and firing coach Luke Richardson.
After they checked the Ryan Donato extension off the to-do list earlier this week, will they spend big money in free agency? It may finally be time to utilize more of the team's overflowing cap space on currently great NHL players.
Colorado Avalanche: Tough
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Coming off a heartbreaking first-round loss to the Stars, the Avalanche are in a tough spot this offseason. With Gabriel Landeskog’s return—and with the decision to extend trade-deadline acquisition Brock Nelson—the team’s left with just $1.2 million in cap space.
With a slew of free agents to sign or let go of, more moves are inevitable. Perhaps now that they’ve secured a top-six center in Nelson, the Avalanche will shop Ross Colton and his $4 million cap hit.
There have been rumors that Martin Necas, acquired for Mikko Rantanen, is not thrilled with his time in Colorado, so keep an eye out for his name too.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Foundational
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It stunk that the Blue Jackets’ great season was derailed by injury (and let’s be real, not always the best goaltending), but it was an overperformance compared to where we thought the rebuilding franchise would be.
Now, it’s time for GM Don Waddell to roll up his sleeves and build the team up with those good vibes from last season in mind. He’s got two first-round draft picks to help him do so.
Dallas Stars: Careful
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The Stars reached the Western Conference Final without advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight season, and scoring depth was the culprit. It’s a precarious situation to be in as a franchise: So close with nothing to show for it. Do you blow it up or stay the course?
With younger players headed into their primes and Rantanen locked in, GM Jim Nill should be careful to not force anything too drastic. Dallas needs to focus on team-friendly deals and a bit more scoring.
Detroit Red Wings: Huge
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OK, the funny business is over. The Red Wings’ midseason turnaround had them firmly in the playoff race until the wheels fell off last season. Now, the clock is ticking on the Yzerplan and folks are expecting an actual ticket to the playoffs next season.
GM Steve Yzerman has been reluctant to make any truly aggressive moves as the young core has been developing, and now it might be time to shop for major improvements on defense and/or for the overall complexion of the team.
Edmonton Oilers: Reckoning
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Look, the Oilers had two offseasons and two trade deadlines to figure out a stronger goaltending situation, and they declined. Now they’ve lost two straight Stanley Cup Finals as goaltending remains a top-three concern.
Edmonton has even bigger fish to fry, as franchise cornerstone and best player in the world Connor McDavid has just one year left on his contract. Clearly, McDavid is frustrated with the way things have gone.
“We kept f--king trying the same thing over and over again, just banging our heads against the wall,” he said after Florida’s Cup-clinching Game 6 win. “Credit to them. They played well.”
Does that mean McDavid explicitly wants to leave Edmonton? No. But the pressure is all the way up for the front office to have a productive offseason addressing the flaws this Panthers team keeps exposing.
Florida Panthers: Giddy
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Some people have all the fun, and the back-to-back Cup champions are those people.
Plenty of the Panthers’ most important contracts have already been figured out. Their biggest task is re-signing Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett, who was an absolute monster in the postseason and is anticipating a significant raise.
The Panthers were able to re-sign Sam Reinhart days after last year’s Cup win at a relatively modest eight years and $69 million. Will Bennett seek his best chance at a huge payday?
Los Angeles Kings: Exposed
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This was the Kings’ best opportunity to finally defeat the Oilers in the first round and make a significant Cup run in this window, and they blew it. The series against the Oilers showed just how lacking in depth this Kings team is, despite the fantastic pieces they’ve failed to build around.
Ken Holland took over as GM after the disappointing run. Will he provide the team with the depth necessary to compete with the best of the best?
Minnesota Wild: Positive
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The Wild had a solid showing in the playoffs despite the first-round exit. The Golden Knights lost the even-strength game and won with a bit more of the “clutch factor” that can rear its head in the playoffs, but the Wild should be encouraged that a few tweaks and some gained experience will help them next season.
The best part? They’ve actually got some cap space to work with this offseason. They weren’t thrilled with Marco Rossi’s playoff performance, so if they end up moving the RFA, they’re looking at more than $20 million in cap space to work with. There’s no reason they don’t improve on last season.
Montreal Canadiens: Chill
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The Canadiens accelerated their rebuild with a ticket to the 2024-25 playoffs, and they showed us a fun glimpse of what’s to come as the skilled core keeps developing.
Still, there’s not a huge rush for GM Ken Hughes to move too fast with the franchise as he looks to build sustainable success. Montreal has two picks in both the first and second rounds this draft, and it’s a great opportunity to put some final touches on the meat of the rebuild.
Nashville Predators: IDK
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Anyone who claims to understand what is going on with the Nashville Predators at this point is lying to you. The Predators will be one of the most interesting teams of the offseason as they’ve put themselves in a brutal position of failing to win now or focus on the future.
At least their young players took some steps forward regardless of last season, but big signings like Steven Stamkos, Brady Skjei and Jonathan Marchessault were swings and misses. Do we chalk it up to down years for almost everyone including goaltender Juuse Saros, or is something fundamentally off, here?
We’ll see if GM Barry Trotz believes a bounceback is imminent or it’s time to focus on the future.
New Jersey Devils: Better
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The Devils had brutal injury luck at the worst times last season. It hurt even more considering they did everything they were supposed to in the previous offseason, like signing goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who was excellent despite the team’s first-round exit.
The good news? New Jersey just has to get healthy and add a few more scoring threats to get right back into the elite conversation. As long as no one on the roster is participating in extreme sports this summer, it should be fine.
New York Islanders: Momentous
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Woah! After a few too many stagnant years, the Islanders parted ways with longtime NHL GM Lou Lamoriello. Suddenly, luck was in their favor as they won the draft lottery and the potentially franchise-altering Matthew Schaefer.
Just like that, the vibes are fresh and there’s hope in the air on the Island.
New York Rangers: Recovering
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You could argue that the Rangers needed to hit rock bottom after a beyond tumultuous season where they fell from the Cup conversation to missing the playoffs. After trading Kreider to the Ducks, it feels like the Rangers’ cleanse is nearing the end as they look to turn the page and focus on the future.
With a strong leader in Mike Sullivan now at the helm, and a bounceback likely for some of last season’s disappointing players, maybe the light of the tunnel—and a clearer direction—will emerge.
Ottawa Senators: Window
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The biggest pressure – getting the monkey off the back and making the playoffs – is finally over for the Senators as they enter a window of long-awaited relevancy. Now we can expect Ottawa to be relatively active this free agency period in search of more depth scoring that will take the team past the first round. They’ve got a decent amount of cap space to get it done at around $18 million.
Philadelphia Flyers: Patient
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Look, John Tortorella made it clear at the end of his tenure that he wasn’t happy with the team’s decision to take the foot off the gas in the latter stages of the season.
But in all reality, the Flyers weren’t making the playoffs without a suitable No. 1 goalie, and now they’re headed into the draft with three first-round picks and four second-round picks. As frustrating as it’s been to watch the Flyers miss the playoffs for five consecutive seasons, it could pay off during this draft.
New head coach Rick Tocchet should have an interesting training camp on his hands, and we’ve been patient with this Flyers team, but it’s time to start making it click after the draft.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Active?
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The Penguins are clearly trying to be active under GM Kyle Dubas, but what moves can they realistically make? Sorry, Nathan MacKinnon, but Sidney Crosby doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. Evgeni Malkin might be a tough sell with his no move clause, and Kris Letang is a tough sell given his contract and age.
Could Pittsburgh actually unload Erik Karlsson? What would they do with the money?
At the end of the day, Dubas is going to wheel and deal, but it might be in more of a draft capital style than any of these tough-to-move active players.
San Jose Sharks: Whimsical
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The Sharks are absolutely swimming in cap space (still), Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith have their rookie years under their belts, and they’ve got the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming draft. It’s time to really dream about the youth movement even though we’re a few years away from a competitive roster.
Seattle Kraken: Pressure
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There’s some pressure on the Kraken to establish more of an identity as they’ve now missed the playoffs in three of their first four years as a franchise. The emergence of Joey Daccord has been huge in net, but they need to look for some more stability on defense this offseason as this core really struggled in its own end all 2024-25.
St. Louis Blues: Quiet
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There’s not much the Blues can—or need—to accomplish after a shrewd year all around from GM Bill Armstrong.
They’ve got around $7 million in cap space to work with and only have one RFA (Joel Hofer), and two UFAs (Ryan Suter and Radek Faksa) to deal with.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Interesting
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The Lightning rarely have significant cap space to work with these days, and even then GM Julien BriseBois has been able to pull off some masterclasses. Now they’ve got around $9.1 million to work with, it’ll be interesting to see how they use it after this year’s first-round exit to the eventual Cup champions (who said Tampa Bay was their hardest opponent).
Perhaps some extra insurance behind Andrei Vasilevskiy in net could go a long way.
Toronto Maple Leafs: *Shudders*
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You know what? We’ve all heard the same Mitch Marner discourse for months at this point to no avail. Please take this moment to unclench your jaw, crack your knuckles, and take a deep breath.
Utah Mammoth: Growth
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The Mammoth showed some flashes of brilliance in their inaugural season, but they struggled to maintain scoring consistency and there was some serious regression on offense.
Recovering from key injuries will help heading into next season, as will younger players gaining more experience in close-game situations they struggled with last season. Now that this franchise is free from the cap crunching the Coyotes had to do, though, you’d like to see the team acquire more top-end scoring to compete for a playoff spot.
Vancouver Canucks: Groan
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OK, the coaching situation has been figured out with promoting Adam Foote, who is well-liked among the team and has actually been a pretty good defensive systems coach.
Of course, two out of three of the Canucks’ top scorers are UFAs in Brock Boeser and Pius Suter. The team’s got about $15 million in cap space, so you’d think they’d be able to get at least one of these deals done. But it’s the Canucks, so it looks like Boeser is on his way out. Can they attract a similar free agent at this point?
Vegas Golden Knights: Anticipatory
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The Golden Knights don’t have many pressing issues to worry about this offseason, but they need to keep next offseason in mind while making any deals. Next offseason, Jack Eichel’s contract will be up, and there will only be one year left on the contracts of Mark Stone, Alex Pietrangelo, and William Karlsson.
Washington Capitals: Options
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The Capitals, the best team of the East in the regular season and one of the most offensively productive, dried up in the second round against the Hurricanes. But they showed us this team’s talent isn’t a fluke, and Alex Ovechkin will be hungry for one more Cup in his (potentially) last NHL season. With TJ Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom off the books, could the Capitals shore up their scoring depth and help the heavy-hitters?
Winnipeg Jets: Ticking
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The Jets have far too much cap space to have ended up here, a second-round exit after not doing enough to enhance the team in the offseason and at the deadline. There’s no reason the Presidents’ Trophy-winning team should have a projected $36 million in cap space headed into an offseason after their best opportunity to win it all became the latest in a string of failures.
It’s time to shore up every position on the roster – especially in the scoring department.
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