The 10 NHL Teams Most Likely to Decline in the 2015-16 Season

These days, the only predictable thing about the NHL's regular-season standings is unpredictability.

One year ago, I don't think too many of us were expecting both the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings, and Presidents' Trophy winners, the Boston Bruins, to finish the year outside of the playoff picture.

Hockey's order of supremacy is bound to experience another shakeup this season. Once again, for every team that climbs the standings, another will get pushed down.

As the 2015-16 campaign heads into its second week, here's a look at the 10 teams who are most likely to see their regular-season fortunes decline this year.

All 2015-16 results used here are current through games on Monday, October 12.

10. New York Rangers

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2014-15 Outcome: 113 points, first in Metropolitan Division, won Presidents' Trophy, reached Eastern Conference Final

Early Record in 2015-16: 3 GP, 3-0-0

Why Fans Should Worry: There's nowhere for the New York Rangers to go but down—during the regular season, at least.

The Blueshirts have gotten themselves tantalizingly close to the Stanley Cup for the last two seasons, but last year's 113-point regular season set a franchise record—one point better than the 112 points of the storied 1993-94 group that brought home the Rangers' last championship.

The Rangers have started the season in good health, with breakout rookie forward Oscar Lindberg pacing the offense, but the sample size is small.

Don't count the Rangers out of the playoff picture, but do expect a bit of a dip in the Metro standings, in part thanks to improvement from rivals like the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders.

9. Calgary Flames

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2014-15 Outcome: 97 points, third in Pacific Division, reached second round of Western Conference playoffs

Early Record in 2015-16: 2 GP, 1-1-0

Why Fans Should Worry: As Aaron Vickers reported at NHL.com back in August, the Calgary Flames are at risk of coming back down to earth after taking a large and unexpected leap forward as a franchise last season.

The Flames will have a tough time defying the advanced stat metrics for a second straight year, and the crowded crease could create a distraction until the organization decides which two of Jonas Hiller, Karri Ramo and Joni Ortio are going to be the team's go-to goalies.

After laying an egg in a 5-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks in their season-opener, the Flames showed their trademark grit when they bounced back with an overtime win against the same team three nights later.

Expect some ups and downs this year as the Flames adjust to their new status as a playoff team. If the Flames get back to the postseason in 2015-16, it'll be by the narrowest of margins.

8. Chicago Blackhawks

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2014-15 Outcome: 102 points, third in Central Division, won Stanley Cup

Early Record in 2015-16: 3 GP, 2-1-0

Why Fans Should Worry: Even the Chicago Blackhawks haven't been able to win back-to-back Stanley Cups in today's salary-cap world.

Chicago's offseason roster purge was intense. On opening night, the Blackhawks featured five brand new faces and were without seven players who appeared in more than 10 games during last spring's Stanley Cup run, per NHL.com.

Last season, the Hawks followed the L.A. Kings model—flirting with missing the playoffs and giving up home-ice advantage, then relying on their now-deep pool of postseason experience to lead them to the championship.

Don't expect to see Chicago fall out of the playoff picture this season, but do expect them to lurk near a wild-card spot at the end of the year.

7. St. Louis Blues

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2014-15 Outcome: 109 points, first in Central Division, eliminated in first round of playoffs

Early Record in 2015-16: 2 GP, 1-1-0

Why Fans Should Worry: The St. Louis Blues may have peaked without solving their playoff puzzle.

The Blues come into 2015-16 after four straight years of finishing among the top two teams in the tough Central Division, but they have won just one playoff round over those same four seasons.

Frustration is building in an organization that is trying to achieve different postseason results without making too many changes to a group that performs well during the regular season.

Now four years removed from his Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year in 2011-12, Ken Hitchcock is working on just a one-year contract—an indication that management's willing to go in a new direction in a hurry if things don't go well this season. Captain David Backes is also an unrestricted free agent who could be looking for a new home come trade-deadline time.

Expectations for this franchise remain high in St. Louis. It won't take much of a wobble to kick-start some dramatic changes.

6. Nashville Predators

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2014-15 Outcome: 104 points, second in Central Division, eliminated in first round of playoffs

Early Record in 2015-16: 2 GP, 2-0-0

Why Fans Should Worry: After a significant roster overhaul and the addition of new coach Peter Laviolette, the Nashville Predators recorded a 16-point improvement in the standings last season and reached the playoffs for the first time in three years.

Nashville's off to another good start in 2015-16, but one mustn't read too much into a 2-0 record when it's built through home wins over the offensively challenged Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers.

Last season, Nashville started strong but faded down the stretch. The Preds were 30-10-5 before the All-Star break but went just 17-15-5 in the second half before dropping their first-round playoff series to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Expect to see those second-half numbers more closely reflect Nashville's performance this season. The improving Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets could make it tough for Nashville to repeat as a playoff team.

5. Pittsburgh Penguins

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2014-15 Outcome: 98 points, fourth in Metropolitan Division, eliminated in first round of playoffs

Early Record in 2015-16: 2 GP, 0-2-2

Why Fans Should Worry: Despite an exciting preseason that delivered plenty of offense, the Pittsburgh Penguins have struggled to score now that the games count.

New acquisition Phil Kessel is leading the team in goals—but that's because he's the only player that has scored so far in Pittsburgh's season-opening losses to the Dallas Stars and Arizona Coyotes.

Better forward depth and less injuries were supposed to set the stage for an improved season by the Penguins, but the lines are already in a blender as coach Mike Johnston tries to conjure up some offensive chemistry.

If it doesn't happen soon, another prime year of superstar talents Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin could be wasted as the Penguins miss the playoffs for the first time since Crosby was a rookie in 2005-06.

4. Toronto Maple Leafs

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2014-15 Outcome: 68 points, seventh in Atlantic Division, missed playoffs for second consecutive year

Early Record in 2015-16: 3 GP, 0-2-1

Why Fans Should Worry: The Mike Babcock era hasn't begun with much promise.

Toronto Maple Leaf fans know that their team's in the midst of a teardown, but even as new coach Babcock's program is yielding a harder-working, more structured group on the ice, early returns indicate that Toronto's going to come out on the losing end of the score sheet more often than not this season. 

Without Phil Kessel, who was traded during the offseason, the Leafs will struggle to score goals. That's a serious problem when goaltenders Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer have both shown consistency issues in the early going.

If fans in Toronto can stay focused on the big picture, the best result for their team this year might be a spot near the bottom of the standings, in the running for a draft lottery win.

3. Carolina Hurricanes

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2014-15 Outcome: 71 points, eight in Metropolitan Division, missed playoffs for sixth consecutive season

Early Record in 2015-16: 2 GP, 0-2-0

Why Fans Should Worry: There's no indication yet that the Carolina Hurricanes have hit bottom.

Last season, the Canes dropped 13 points off their 2013-14 performance. Their 71 points were the worst total since they earned 61 in 2002-03 and ranked them 26th in the NHL.

The Hurricanes are injecting youth into their lineup. They have some talented prospects in players like Elias Lindholm (20), Victor Rask (22), Justin Faulk (23) and Noah Hanifin (18).

But the Hurricanes defense is severely depleted after newly acquired defensive anchor James Wisniewski tore his ACL just 47 seconds into his debut with Carolina, per Adam Gretz of CBS Sports. Meanwhile, the offense is struggling to score, with only four goals in the Hurricanes' first two games.

General Fanager reports that the Hurricanes currently have just nine roster players signed to contracts that extend beyond the end of this season, with faces of the franchise Eric Staal and Cam Ward, among others, set to reach unrestricted free agency on July 1.

If Carolina commits to a serious rebuild, expect to see plenty of veteran players on the move—and a corresponding drop even further down the Eastern Conference standings.

2. Boston Bruins

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2014-15 Outcome: 96 points, fifth in Atlantic Division, missed playoffs

Early Record in 2015-16: 3 GP, 0-3-0 

Why Fans Should Worry: The once-mighty Boston Bruins are falling fast.

Last season, Boston dropped 21 points and 16 places in the NHL standings after its Presidents' Trophy-winning campaign in 2013-14. During the summer, general manager Peter Chiarelli was dismissed, and key players Milan Lucic and Dougie Hamilton were traded, but 2015-16 has opened on a grim note.

The Bruins have allowed 16 goals in their first three games of the season—all losses—for their worst defensive start in 50 years, according to ESPN.

Injuries were an issue in Boston last season and look like they'll be a key storyline this year as well.

Core defenseman Dennis Seidenberg is on the shelf till late November as he recovers from back surgery, Brad Marchand is sidelined indefinitely with a concussion, per NHL.com, and Zdeno Chara missed the first two games of the season with an upper-body injury, then was pointless and a minus-two in his return to the lineup for Boston's 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 12, also according to NHL.com.

Boston's rocky start positions the team closer to a full rebuild than to climbing back up among Eastern Conference contenders.

1. Los Angeles Kings

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2014-15 Outcome: 95 points, fourth in Pacific Division, missed playoffs

Early Record in 2015-16: 2 GP, 0-2-0

Why Fans Should Worry: In the early stages of the new season, the Los Angeles Kings are showing no signs of regaining the swagger that carried them to two Stanley Cup championships.

Even when they were at their best, the Kings weren't a great regular-season team. Last year, they dropped by just five points from their 2013-14 performance, which led to a Stanley Cup. The difference, though, was that those five points were enough to leave them on the wrong side of the playoff cut line.

The biggest problem facing L.A. at this point seems to be the organizational angst that has surfaced as a result of the team's myriad off-ice issues—Slava Voynov's domestic violence arrest and subsequent return to Russia, Mike Richards' arrest and subsequent contract termination and the drug arrest of soon-to-be-free-agent Jarret Stoll last April.

If the Kings' first two lackluster games of the new season are indications of the dark vibe that's currently permeating the L.A. locker room, you can expect to see the once-mighty Kings dropping even further down the Pacific Division standings in 2015-16.