PFHL 2024-2025 Season Preview - Central Division
Sept 6, 2024 15:17:20 GMT -6
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Post by San Jose Sharks on Sept 6, 2024 15:17:20 GMT -6
Chicago Blackhawks:
General Manager: Tyler Hetherington
Head Coach: Bruce Boudreau
Star Player: Artemi Panarin
Starting Goalie: Anthony Stolarz
20 Man Roster Average OV: 76.2
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 82
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 78.8
23-24 Regular Season Record: 44-26-12
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 4th
23-24 Playoffs: First Round Exit
23-24 Recap:
The Chicago Blackhawks took the Central Division title in the 23-24 season with a solid 0.610 winning percentage. This should have meant a favourable match-up in the first round of the playoffs, but thanks to a stacked Pacific Division this wouldn’t be the case. Instead, the Blackhawks would have to faceoff against the LA Kings who finished the regular season with a better 0.640 record. There was some hope still however, as head-to-head the Blackhawks had come out on top two out of three times, with the third coming down to a shootout loss. The Hawks had also been a bit unlucky in the regular season, tying with the St Louis Blues for the most overtime losses in the league. All that pointed to a team that could, on its day, happily beat out the Kings. As it turns out, their run of bad luck didn’t end with the regular season. Despite outscoring the Kings over the series 18 to 15, the Kings prevailed in 6 and sent Chicago packing. Not the kind of ending GM Hetherington would have expected after finishing as the 2nd seed in the West.
24-25 Predictions:
Chicago returns again this year with much of the same roster. The joint second highest goal scorer in the league last season, Artemi Panarin (58), will be leaned upon heavily again, along with Finnish wonder and assistant captain Mikko Rantanen. Zach Werenski and Samuel Girard lead a well-balanced blue line, and returning number one goalie Anthony Stolarz will be expected to keep up the strong numbers he showed last season. The real question mark for Chicago will be the form of Captain Evgeni Malkin. The big Russian recorded a massive 59 goals and 144 points in the PFHL inaugural season, but since then a steady decline has set in and you have to wonder if age is catching up with him. At 37 years old, Malkin has still proven a solid point per game producer in the past couple of seasons, but it feels like it’s only a matter of time before his performances start to affect the wider team.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Central Division
Colorado Avalanche:
General Manager: Jussi Kalmi
Head Coach: Peter Laviolette
Star Player: Pierre-Luc Dubois
Starting Goalie: Spencer Knight
20 Man Roster Average OV: 75.3
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 79.2
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 76
23-24 Regular Season Record: 39-37-6
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 6th
23-24 Playoffs: First Round Exit
23-24 Recap:
The Colorado Avalanche chopped and changed like crazy last year. The team that finished the season was barely recognisable to the one that started it, with their top nine scorers doing it on multiple teams. Whatever GM Kalmi did seemed to work though, with the Avalanche going from the worst team in the PFHL with a 28-47-7 record, to a playoff bound 39-37-6. Still, vast improvements aside, you have to agree that the league demographic helped significantly as the 3rd place in their division translated to a 20th place overall. I think this does under sell what the Avs were and are now capable of though. Had they of started the season with the roster they had at the end, it might have been a very different story.
24-25 Predictions:
Colorado have continued to make alterations throughout the off-season, but the basic core is still in place. Pierre-Luc Dubois will be looking to take that next step into the realm of franchise leader this year, potentially replacing an aging Sidney Crosby as the #1C. Meanwhile last year’s standout and mid-season addition Pavel Buchnevich will be looking to replicate his incredible form that would have seen him hit the 57 goal, 125 point mark had he of been with the Avs at the game one puck drop. Young defenseman Jake Sanderson will also look to make continued strides following an impressive rookie year, and might even earn himself some extended top pairing minutes as the season progresses.
Although on the surface the Avalanche might be suffering from a lack of depth, the big thing that stands out to me is the defensive capabilities of Kalmi’s roster up and down the lineup. There is a strong defence heavy focus throughout and with the addition of Jordan Binnington to the goalie tandem, teams might find goals hard to come by in Denver this year. As such, I would expect Colorado to improve upon last seasons record and they should find themselves in the playoffs once again come spring.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Central Division
Dallas Stars:
General Manager: Jimmy Houghton
Head Coach: Patrick Roy
Star Player: Aleksander Barkov
Starting Goalie: Jack Campbell
20 Man Roster Average OV: 76.5
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 82.5
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 75.8
23-24 Regular Season Record: 36-35-11
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 12th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
Dallas just barely had a positive record last season at 0.506, and that’s about the only positive you can take away from the year. Missing the playoffs by the wide margin they did will come as a massive disappointment to all of those involved with the organisation, especially star forward and captain Aleksander Barkov. The Finn finished off the season with a strong 47G-94PTS record, but with little help outside of fellow Scandinavian Mika Zibanejad (36G-89PTS), production was hard to come by up and down the lineup.
24-25 Predictions:
If the Stars are to make the playoffs this season, they’ll need a lot more secondary scoring from the likes of Jonathan Huberdeau and Jack Hughes this year. Both finished the 23-24 season with 65 points which is fine for the up-and-coming Hughes, but with Huberdeau’s $8.5million dollar contract eating up a chunk of cap space, Houghton will be expecting a lot more from him this season. The addition of winger Jakub Vrana might help get more pucks in the net and spur some more offense from others, but will it be enough?
The other big area that needed attention was the defensive core of the team. As shown by other teams, generally you need top level offensive defensemen chipping in regularly to be successful and that is something the Stars severely lacked and continue to lack. Last season they had the 4th worst powerplay in the league and not much has been done to address this deficit in the off-season with last year’s highest scoring defenseman Jared Spurgeon no longer with the team. Like Colorado, they do also have a strong defensive focus, but last season they were let down by goaltender Jack Campbell who finished 25th in GAA and save percentage. He will also need to up his game if Dallas are to improve.
It’s hard to predict how the Stars will do this season. If they can get the chemistry working amongst their forward lines and if Campbell can keep a few more pucks out of the net, they might have a chance of a wildcard spot. If history repeats itself again though, they’ll be hanging up the skates early again this year.
TL; DR: Wildcard Contender
Minnesota Wild:
General Manager: Eric Wolf
Head Coach: Andrew Brunette
Star Player: Nathan MacKinnon
Starting Goalie: Jake Oettinger
20 Man Roster Average OV: 72.7
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 76.7
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 76
23-24 Regular Season Record: 32-41-9
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 15th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The Minnesota Wild are a bit of an odd ball team for the most part. They had/have a massive stockpile of draft picks for 2024 and 2025 suggesting a full rebuild is at work, yet they’ve got star players such as Nathan MacKinnon, Roman Josi and Jake Oettinger in the lineup. What this results in is what feels like a half-hearted attempt to stay competitive so their rookies have some talented veterans to bed them in avoiding a nightly slaughter. What it actually means is they aren’t competitive enough to launch an effective campaign for a playoff place, but also aren’t bad enough to pick up one of the big name 1st or 2nd overall draft picks. Whether this strategy will work out in the long term remains to be seen, but with a 15th place finish in the West and a 0.445 win percentage, last season can be chalked up as another one to forget.
24-25 Predictions:
It’s more of the same for the Wild this season. Nathan MacKinnon will likely continue his dominant run as the team’s top scorer (55G-123PTS) with the likes of Teuvo Teravainen and Roman Josi contributing towards an overall lacklustre team scoring record. Moritz Seider and Nils Hoglander were two bright sparks amongst the young upcoming talent on the team who will look to build on successful seasons this year, but overall the steep drop off outside of the top lines will prevent this team from mounting much of a challenge. It definitely feels like the opportunity to get maximum value out of the likes of MacKinnon and Teravainen may have passed GM Wolf by with both approaching unrestricted free agency, but then again maybe that was the plan. Either way, I don’t see Minnesota being much of a threat come game one without some changes.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
Nashville Predators:
General Manager: Kyle Bowden
Head Coach: DJ Smith
Star Player: Cale Makar
Starting Goalie: Tristan Jarry
20 Man Roster Average OV: 75.9
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 78.8
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 79.5
23-24 Regular Season Record: 44-34-4
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 5th
23-24 Playoffs: Round 2
23-24 Recap:
Last season can definitely be considered a success for the Predators. They made it to the playoffs again in a very familiar second in the Central, but unlike the year before they made it out of the first round, beating close rivals the Colorado Avalanche in 7. Although that suggests it was a tightly fought series, in reality the Preds always had the Avs number, outscoring them 27 to 17 overall, but a massive 21 to 8 at home (5.25GF average). The only reason the series went to 7 is because the Predators continued their abysmal away record from the regular season in the playoffs (2.0GF average). Over the course of 41 regular season road games, the Predators were one of only two automatic division qualifiers to have a losing away record (18-20-3). The other you ask? Well, that was the Colorado Avalanche. It almost seemed to be destiny that these two would both trade wins at home and that’s exactly what happened. It makes you wonder if Colorado had the home advantage, would they have walked away with the series win instead?
The second round was a different story unfortunately for the Preds. Again, it went to 7 games and again the scoring was there for Nashville (28 goals in 7 games) but with a more even distribution across both home and on the road. The big difference though, LA scored 33 goals instead of the 17 the Avs managed in round 1. It was a death blow for the Predators and a season ending one at that. It might have been expected given the Kings superior regular season record, but it still would have come as a big disappointment to GM Bowden.
24-25 Predictions:
The Nashville Predators will be looking to go one better this season and they’ve made some adjustments in the hope of just that. Star defenseman Cale Makar returns, as does last seasons leading scorer Robert Thomas. The hope will be that both can not only replicate last seasons numbers, but improve upon them as well. Thomas especially will be expected to continue to up his game as he takes on more of the workload as a gradual replacement for an aging Jonathan Toews.
The biggest change this year comes with a rebalancing of the team though. Out goes PPG forward Jason Robertson and in comes two-way defenseman Oscar Klefbom. This very quickly turns an offense heavy team into a more balanced one, with Klefbom expected to eat up big minutes on both the powerplay and penalty kill. This balance continues down the lineup and throughout the roster, but there is no obvious replacement for Robertson’s offense. The hope will be that late season acquisition Frank Vatrano, along with rookie Jack Quinn, can provide some secondary scoring to fill the gap.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Central Division
St Louis Blues:
General Manager: Charles-Antoine Poulin
Head Coach: Rick Tocchet
Star Player: Nikolaj Ehlers
Starting Goalie: Semyon Varlamov
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 77.5
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 76
23-24 Regular Season Record: 31-39-12
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 14th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The St Louis Blues weren’t expecting much of anything last season and that’s exactly what they got. Still deep into a rebuild the Blues mailed in a 14th overall in the West with a 0.451 win percentage and -62 goal differential. Blake Wheeler led the team with 29 goals and 81 points in 79 games, with Garland and Rubtsov chipping in 79 and 71 points respectively. The big standout however was rookie sensation Adam Mascherin. The Ontario native finished second in rookie scoring with 29 goals and 71 points, and St Louis will be hoping he can continue to develop and put points on the board at the same rate in seasons to come.
24-25 Predictions:
The Blues and GM Poulin are starting to show signs of life again after some time in the dark. Morgan Rielly was retained on a hefty $8.12million contract, whilst the likes of Wheeler, Garland, Klingberg and Rubtsov will be returning to go again in 24-25. This time however, they’ll have some much needed back up. Nikolaj Ehlers and Sam Reinhart have been added up top and bring some serious goal scoring prowess with both expected to lead the team in scoring in the upcoming season. Brady Skjei was also retained to help round out an improved defensive core thanks to the addition of rookie Dylan Samberg, whilst a swap of number one goaltending has occurred with Robin Lehner ousted and Semyon Varlamov taking over the top spot.
All in all, it’s been a productive off-season for the Blues. They’ve gone from a top 6 offensive average OV of 74 to 77.5, and a 20-man roster average OV of 72 to 74. Pretty large jumps and something that should definitely be reflected on the ice. As such, I would expect them to improve to a positive win percentage this year and possibly even challenge for a wildcard spot. The issue though will be that when push comes to shove, the wildcard contenders in the Pacific are still just that little bit better.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
Utah Hockey Club:
General Manager: Alex Buitenhuis
Head Coach: Todd McLellan
Star Player: Dylan Larkin
Starting Goalie: Alex Nedeljkovic
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74.6
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 78.2
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 75.8
23-24 Regular Season Record: 37-38-7
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 13th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The Arizona Coyotes, or Utah Hockey Club (eww), were another also-ran in the 23-24 season. Similarly to the Minnesota Wild, they were caught a little bit in between two mindsets with a partial rebuild in place and just like the Wild this is reflected in their regular season fortunes. A fairly neutral 0.494 left Utah just shy of a positive record, but with only 261 goals for they had one of the worst offensive records in the league. Hardly surprising when you see that after top scorers Vladimir Tarasenko (36G-92PTS) and Dylan Larkin (37G-90PTS) there was a very steep drop off to third place Nolan Patrick with just 18 goals and 54 points. If Utah want to see any improvements in the future, they’ll need to find some secondary scoring from somewhere.
24-25 Predictions:
The best way to describe Utah’s off-season is a minor re-tooling. An addition or two here, a subtraction or two there. For the most part it all feels much of much the same with the top performers not changing much. Buitenhuis will be hoping rookie Mattias Maccelli can generate some additional offense with his playmaking abilities, whilst Wennberg and Kubalik add a little offensive depth. The big change comes in net for Utah with Carey Price not only losing the number one spot, but also potentially the number 2 spot with it. Alex Nedeljkovic will start the season between the pipes after a strong year in San Jose, with Cayden Primeau potentially taking the backup spot. There is a chance Price holds onto his role if the organisation deems Primeau’s development better suited as a starter in Tucson, but whether it's this season or next, the writing appears to be on the wall.
Utah get a fresh new home and fresh new look but not a fresh new team. A much needed upgrade in goal could see them peak over that 0.500 mark, but ultimately there have only been minor forward steps rather than the large leap required to turn this franchise into a contender.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
Winnipeg Jets:
General Manager: Sir Thomas Gidlow
Head Coach: Mike Sullivan
Star Player: Dougie Hamilton
Starting Goalie: Juuse Saros
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74.2
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 76.5
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 78.3
23-24 Regular Season Record: 31-43-8
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 16th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The Winnipeg Jets had a miserable 2023-2024 season finishing bottom of the Western Conference with a 0.427 win percentage. It was hardly surprising given the names on the scorecard by the end of the season, but it’s not something GM Gidlow would have wanted given that they didn’t have their own 1st overall pick. Still, it was all in the grand strategy for this team and you have to look at the positives… like the fact they were still better than four other teams in the league last year. Or maybe the fact that they ended up making 23 picks in the 2024 draft class. You’ve got to hope that when you throw that much shit at the wall, something has to stick.
24-25 Predictions:
The Jets are a changed team for the upcoming season. Gidlow has been hard and work wheeling and dealing and has managed to land a couple of white whales in the process. First and foremost, we have to talk about Quinn Hughes. The 24 year old offensive defenseman had an excellent season with the Flyers, scoring 19 goals and 74 points, and at such a young age that production is only going to climb. He won’t be going it alone either, with the Jets also adding Dougie Hamilton, Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund, Matthias Ekholm and Juuse Saros to name a few highlights. This all points to a team that is ready to compete now, whilst an impressive and deep prospect pool means they could maintain a level of competitiveness for many seasons to come.
With a completely revamped roster it’s hard to predict where Winnipeg will land. The overall balance seems to skew towards the defence, which coupled with one of the leagues better goalies could make them a hard team to play against. But there is no denying a lack of offensive threats from the team. Matt Duchene and Charlie Coyle make up a strong two-way forward unit, but there seems to be a distinct lack of goal scoring ability across the board. If head coach Mike Sullivan can find some chemistry and get the best out of his team there is the potential for Winnipeg to cause an upset, but ultimately I think they are just a little short of the mark for now and will need to improve through trades or rookie additions to challenge for a playoff spot.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
2024-2025 Standings Prediction:
1. Chicago Blackhawks
2. Nashville Predators
3. Colorado Avalanche
4. Dallas Stars
5. St Louis Blues
6. Winnipeg Jets
7. Utah Hockey Club
8. Minnesota Wild
General Manager: Tyler Hetherington
Head Coach: Bruce Boudreau
Star Player: Artemi Panarin
Starting Goalie: Anthony Stolarz
20 Man Roster Average OV: 76.2
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 82
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 78.8
23-24 Regular Season Record: 44-26-12
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 4th
23-24 Playoffs: First Round Exit
23-24 Recap:
The Chicago Blackhawks took the Central Division title in the 23-24 season with a solid 0.610 winning percentage. This should have meant a favourable match-up in the first round of the playoffs, but thanks to a stacked Pacific Division this wouldn’t be the case. Instead, the Blackhawks would have to faceoff against the LA Kings who finished the regular season with a better 0.640 record. There was some hope still however, as head-to-head the Blackhawks had come out on top two out of three times, with the third coming down to a shootout loss. The Hawks had also been a bit unlucky in the regular season, tying with the St Louis Blues for the most overtime losses in the league. All that pointed to a team that could, on its day, happily beat out the Kings. As it turns out, their run of bad luck didn’t end with the regular season. Despite outscoring the Kings over the series 18 to 15, the Kings prevailed in 6 and sent Chicago packing. Not the kind of ending GM Hetherington would have expected after finishing as the 2nd seed in the West.
24-25 Predictions:
Chicago returns again this year with much of the same roster. The joint second highest goal scorer in the league last season, Artemi Panarin (58), will be leaned upon heavily again, along with Finnish wonder and assistant captain Mikko Rantanen. Zach Werenski and Samuel Girard lead a well-balanced blue line, and returning number one goalie Anthony Stolarz will be expected to keep up the strong numbers he showed last season. The real question mark for Chicago will be the form of Captain Evgeni Malkin. The big Russian recorded a massive 59 goals and 144 points in the PFHL inaugural season, but since then a steady decline has set in and you have to wonder if age is catching up with him. At 37 years old, Malkin has still proven a solid point per game producer in the past couple of seasons, but it feels like it’s only a matter of time before his performances start to affect the wider team.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Central Division
Colorado Avalanche:
General Manager: Jussi Kalmi
Head Coach: Peter Laviolette
Star Player: Pierre-Luc Dubois
Starting Goalie: Spencer Knight
20 Man Roster Average OV: 75.3
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 79.2
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 76
23-24 Regular Season Record: 39-37-6
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 6th
23-24 Playoffs: First Round Exit
23-24 Recap:
The Colorado Avalanche chopped and changed like crazy last year. The team that finished the season was barely recognisable to the one that started it, with their top nine scorers doing it on multiple teams. Whatever GM Kalmi did seemed to work though, with the Avalanche going from the worst team in the PFHL with a 28-47-7 record, to a playoff bound 39-37-6. Still, vast improvements aside, you have to agree that the league demographic helped significantly as the 3rd place in their division translated to a 20th place overall. I think this does under sell what the Avs were and are now capable of though. Had they of started the season with the roster they had at the end, it might have been a very different story.
24-25 Predictions:
Colorado have continued to make alterations throughout the off-season, but the basic core is still in place. Pierre-Luc Dubois will be looking to take that next step into the realm of franchise leader this year, potentially replacing an aging Sidney Crosby as the #1C. Meanwhile last year’s standout and mid-season addition Pavel Buchnevich will be looking to replicate his incredible form that would have seen him hit the 57 goal, 125 point mark had he of been with the Avs at the game one puck drop. Young defenseman Jake Sanderson will also look to make continued strides following an impressive rookie year, and might even earn himself some extended top pairing minutes as the season progresses.
Although on the surface the Avalanche might be suffering from a lack of depth, the big thing that stands out to me is the defensive capabilities of Kalmi’s roster up and down the lineup. There is a strong defence heavy focus throughout and with the addition of Jordan Binnington to the goalie tandem, teams might find goals hard to come by in Denver this year. As such, I would expect Colorado to improve upon last seasons record and they should find themselves in the playoffs once again come spring.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Central Division
Dallas Stars:
General Manager: Jimmy Houghton
Head Coach: Patrick Roy
Star Player: Aleksander Barkov
Starting Goalie: Jack Campbell
20 Man Roster Average OV: 76.5
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 82.5
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 75.8
23-24 Regular Season Record: 36-35-11
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 12th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
Dallas just barely had a positive record last season at 0.506, and that’s about the only positive you can take away from the year. Missing the playoffs by the wide margin they did will come as a massive disappointment to all of those involved with the organisation, especially star forward and captain Aleksander Barkov. The Finn finished off the season with a strong 47G-94PTS record, but with little help outside of fellow Scandinavian Mika Zibanejad (36G-89PTS), production was hard to come by up and down the lineup.
24-25 Predictions:
If the Stars are to make the playoffs this season, they’ll need a lot more secondary scoring from the likes of Jonathan Huberdeau and Jack Hughes this year. Both finished the 23-24 season with 65 points which is fine for the up-and-coming Hughes, but with Huberdeau’s $8.5million dollar contract eating up a chunk of cap space, Houghton will be expecting a lot more from him this season. The addition of winger Jakub Vrana might help get more pucks in the net and spur some more offense from others, but will it be enough?
The other big area that needed attention was the defensive core of the team. As shown by other teams, generally you need top level offensive defensemen chipping in regularly to be successful and that is something the Stars severely lacked and continue to lack. Last season they had the 4th worst powerplay in the league and not much has been done to address this deficit in the off-season with last year’s highest scoring defenseman Jared Spurgeon no longer with the team. Like Colorado, they do also have a strong defensive focus, but last season they were let down by goaltender Jack Campbell who finished 25th in GAA and save percentage. He will also need to up his game if Dallas are to improve.
It’s hard to predict how the Stars will do this season. If they can get the chemistry working amongst their forward lines and if Campbell can keep a few more pucks out of the net, they might have a chance of a wildcard spot. If history repeats itself again though, they’ll be hanging up the skates early again this year.
TL; DR: Wildcard Contender
Minnesota Wild:
General Manager: Eric Wolf
Head Coach: Andrew Brunette
Star Player: Nathan MacKinnon
Starting Goalie: Jake Oettinger
20 Man Roster Average OV: 72.7
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 76.7
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 76
23-24 Regular Season Record: 32-41-9
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 15th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The Minnesota Wild are a bit of an odd ball team for the most part. They had/have a massive stockpile of draft picks for 2024 and 2025 suggesting a full rebuild is at work, yet they’ve got star players such as Nathan MacKinnon, Roman Josi and Jake Oettinger in the lineup. What this results in is what feels like a half-hearted attempt to stay competitive so their rookies have some talented veterans to bed them in avoiding a nightly slaughter. What it actually means is they aren’t competitive enough to launch an effective campaign for a playoff place, but also aren’t bad enough to pick up one of the big name 1st or 2nd overall draft picks. Whether this strategy will work out in the long term remains to be seen, but with a 15th place finish in the West and a 0.445 win percentage, last season can be chalked up as another one to forget.
24-25 Predictions:
It’s more of the same for the Wild this season. Nathan MacKinnon will likely continue his dominant run as the team’s top scorer (55G-123PTS) with the likes of Teuvo Teravainen and Roman Josi contributing towards an overall lacklustre team scoring record. Moritz Seider and Nils Hoglander were two bright sparks amongst the young upcoming talent on the team who will look to build on successful seasons this year, but overall the steep drop off outside of the top lines will prevent this team from mounting much of a challenge. It definitely feels like the opportunity to get maximum value out of the likes of MacKinnon and Teravainen may have passed GM Wolf by with both approaching unrestricted free agency, but then again maybe that was the plan. Either way, I don’t see Minnesota being much of a threat come game one without some changes.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
Nashville Predators:
General Manager: Kyle Bowden
Head Coach: DJ Smith
Star Player: Cale Makar
Starting Goalie: Tristan Jarry
20 Man Roster Average OV: 75.9
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 78.8
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 79.5
23-24 Regular Season Record: 44-34-4
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 5th
23-24 Playoffs: Round 2
23-24 Recap:
Last season can definitely be considered a success for the Predators. They made it to the playoffs again in a very familiar second in the Central, but unlike the year before they made it out of the first round, beating close rivals the Colorado Avalanche in 7. Although that suggests it was a tightly fought series, in reality the Preds always had the Avs number, outscoring them 27 to 17 overall, but a massive 21 to 8 at home (5.25GF average). The only reason the series went to 7 is because the Predators continued their abysmal away record from the regular season in the playoffs (2.0GF average). Over the course of 41 regular season road games, the Predators were one of only two automatic division qualifiers to have a losing away record (18-20-3). The other you ask? Well, that was the Colorado Avalanche. It almost seemed to be destiny that these two would both trade wins at home and that’s exactly what happened. It makes you wonder if Colorado had the home advantage, would they have walked away with the series win instead?
The second round was a different story unfortunately for the Preds. Again, it went to 7 games and again the scoring was there for Nashville (28 goals in 7 games) but with a more even distribution across both home and on the road. The big difference though, LA scored 33 goals instead of the 17 the Avs managed in round 1. It was a death blow for the Predators and a season ending one at that. It might have been expected given the Kings superior regular season record, but it still would have come as a big disappointment to GM Bowden.
24-25 Predictions:
The Nashville Predators will be looking to go one better this season and they’ve made some adjustments in the hope of just that. Star defenseman Cale Makar returns, as does last seasons leading scorer Robert Thomas. The hope will be that both can not only replicate last seasons numbers, but improve upon them as well. Thomas especially will be expected to continue to up his game as he takes on more of the workload as a gradual replacement for an aging Jonathan Toews.
The biggest change this year comes with a rebalancing of the team though. Out goes PPG forward Jason Robertson and in comes two-way defenseman Oscar Klefbom. This very quickly turns an offense heavy team into a more balanced one, with Klefbom expected to eat up big minutes on both the powerplay and penalty kill. This balance continues down the lineup and throughout the roster, but there is no obvious replacement for Robertson’s offense. The hope will be that late season acquisition Frank Vatrano, along with rookie Jack Quinn, can provide some secondary scoring to fill the gap.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Central Division
St Louis Blues:
General Manager: Charles-Antoine Poulin
Head Coach: Rick Tocchet
Star Player: Nikolaj Ehlers
Starting Goalie: Semyon Varlamov
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 77.5
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 76
23-24 Regular Season Record: 31-39-12
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 14th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The St Louis Blues weren’t expecting much of anything last season and that’s exactly what they got. Still deep into a rebuild the Blues mailed in a 14th overall in the West with a 0.451 win percentage and -62 goal differential. Blake Wheeler led the team with 29 goals and 81 points in 79 games, with Garland and Rubtsov chipping in 79 and 71 points respectively. The big standout however was rookie sensation Adam Mascherin. The Ontario native finished second in rookie scoring with 29 goals and 71 points, and St Louis will be hoping he can continue to develop and put points on the board at the same rate in seasons to come.
24-25 Predictions:
The Blues and GM Poulin are starting to show signs of life again after some time in the dark. Morgan Rielly was retained on a hefty $8.12million contract, whilst the likes of Wheeler, Garland, Klingberg and Rubtsov will be returning to go again in 24-25. This time however, they’ll have some much needed back up. Nikolaj Ehlers and Sam Reinhart have been added up top and bring some serious goal scoring prowess with both expected to lead the team in scoring in the upcoming season. Brady Skjei was also retained to help round out an improved defensive core thanks to the addition of rookie Dylan Samberg, whilst a swap of number one goaltending has occurred with Robin Lehner ousted and Semyon Varlamov taking over the top spot.
All in all, it’s been a productive off-season for the Blues. They’ve gone from a top 6 offensive average OV of 74 to 77.5, and a 20-man roster average OV of 72 to 74. Pretty large jumps and something that should definitely be reflected on the ice. As such, I would expect them to improve to a positive win percentage this year and possibly even challenge for a wildcard spot. The issue though will be that when push comes to shove, the wildcard contenders in the Pacific are still just that little bit better.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
Utah Hockey Club:
General Manager: Alex Buitenhuis
Head Coach: Todd McLellan
Star Player: Dylan Larkin
Starting Goalie: Alex Nedeljkovic
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74.6
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 78.2
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 75.8
23-24 Regular Season Record: 37-38-7
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 13th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The Arizona Coyotes, or Utah Hockey Club (eww), were another also-ran in the 23-24 season. Similarly to the Minnesota Wild, they were caught a little bit in between two mindsets with a partial rebuild in place and just like the Wild this is reflected in their regular season fortunes. A fairly neutral 0.494 left Utah just shy of a positive record, but with only 261 goals for they had one of the worst offensive records in the league. Hardly surprising when you see that after top scorers Vladimir Tarasenko (36G-92PTS) and Dylan Larkin (37G-90PTS) there was a very steep drop off to third place Nolan Patrick with just 18 goals and 54 points. If Utah want to see any improvements in the future, they’ll need to find some secondary scoring from somewhere.
24-25 Predictions:
The best way to describe Utah’s off-season is a minor re-tooling. An addition or two here, a subtraction or two there. For the most part it all feels much of much the same with the top performers not changing much. Buitenhuis will be hoping rookie Mattias Maccelli can generate some additional offense with his playmaking abilities, whilst Wennberg and Kubalik add a little offensive depth. The big change comes in net for Utah with Carey Price not only losing the number one spot, but also potentially the number 2 spot with it. Alex Nedeljkovic will start the season between the pipes after a strong year in San Jose, with Cayden Primeau potentially taking the backup spot. There is a chance Price holds onto his role if the organisation deems Primeau’s development better suited as a starter in Tucson, but whether it's this season or next, the writing appears to be on the wall.
Utah get a fresh new home and fresh new look but not a fresh new team. A much needed upgrade in goal could see them peak over that 0.500 mark, but ultimately there have only been minor forward steps rather than the large leap required to turn this franchise into a contender.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
Winnipeg Jets:
General Manager: Sir Thomas Gidlow
Head Coach: Mike Sullivan
Star Player: Dougie Hamilton
Starting Goalie: Juuse Saros
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74.2
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 76.5
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 78.3
23-24 Regular Season Record: 31-43-8
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 16th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The Winnipeg Jets had a miserable 2023-2024 season finishing bottom of the Western Conference with a 0.427 win percentage. It was hardly surprising given the names on the scorecard by the end of the season, but it’s not something GM Gidlow would have wanted given that they didn’t have their own 1st overall pick. Still, it was all in the grand strategy for this team and you have to look at the positives… like the fact they were still better than four other teams in the league last year. Or maybe the fact that they ended up making 23 picks in the 2024 draft class. You’ve got to hope that when you throw that much shit at the wall, something has to stick.
24-25 Predictions:
The Jets are a changed team for the upcoming season. Gidlow has been hard and work wheeling and dealing and has managed to land a couple of white whales in the process. First and foremost, we have to talk about Quinn Hughes. The 24 year old offensive defenseman had an excellent season with the Flyers, scoring 19 goals and 74 points, and at such a young age that production is only going to climb. He won’t be going it alone either, with the Jets also adding Dougie Hamilton, Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund, Matthias Ekholm and Juuse Saros to name a few highlights. This all points to a team that is ready to compete now, whilst an impressive and deep prospect pool means they could maintain a level of competitiveness for many seasons to come.
With a completely revamped roster it’s hard to predict where Winnipeg will land. The overall balance seems to skew towards the defence, which coupled with one of the leagues better goalies could make them a hard team to play against. But there is no denying a lack of offensive threats from the team. Matt Duchene and Charlie Coyle make up a strong two-way forward unit, but there seems to be a distinct lack of goal scoring ability across the board. If head coach Mike Sullivan can find some chemistry and get the best out of his team there is the potential for Winnipeg to cause an upset, but ultimately I think they are just a little short of the mark for now and will need to improve through trades or rookie additions to challenge for a playoff spot.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
2024-2025 Standings Prediction:
1. Chicago Blackhawks
2. Nashville Predators
3. Colorado Avalanche
4. Dallas Stars
5. St Louis Blues
6. Winnipeg Jets
7. Utah Hockey Club
8. Minnesota Wild
