We don’t mean to preempt Pittsburgh’s parade, but when the Penguins raised the Stanley Cup on Sunday in San Jose, they closed the book on the 2015-16 NHL season.
While they celebrate in the Steel City, it’s time for everyone else to turn their eyes to the NHL’s 100th official season, 2016-17. Storylines are fluid, and the upcoming NHL Draft and free agency period will alter the landscape dramatically, but here’s an early look at the top 10 angles for the league’s centennial season.
Where will Steven Stamkos play?
The safe money is still on Stamkos returning to Tampa Bay, but the Lightning got a look at life without their star forward and it didn’t look so bad. Tampa advanced to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final (in which Stamkos played) before falling to Cup champ Pittsburgh.
Maybe Bolts GM Steve Yzerman will decide Stamkos is no longer vital to success and spend that big money elsewhere. Maybe he’ll realize Tampa had one of the easiest paths to the conference final in recent memory (eliminating Detroit and the New York Islanders) and bring Stamkos back into the fold. If Stamkos doesn’t return, there are a number of possibilities.
Toronto was thought to be the leader for his services because he is from nearby Markham and the Leafs have the money to spend. There are two potential sticking points, however, beyond that troubling Canadian-American exchange rate and the related tax implications.
First, how much does winning a Cup matter to Stamkos because that isn’t happening any time soon in Toronto? Second, Toronto won the NHL Draft Lottery and the right to draft center Auston Matthews. How badly would the Leafs want Stamkos with a franchise center already in the fold? Would Stamkos play more wing? Would the Leafs trade the No. 1 pick to a team like Arizona and still sign Stamkos?
There are plenty of other suitors to consider if Stamkos makes it to free agency. Nashville still needs offensive help, St. Louis could let captain David Backes walk and sign Stamkos, and Montreal is in dire need of more elite forwards, to name a few teams.
What is the league’s expansion plan?
Virtually everyone with a credible source is expecting the league to announce the addition of Las Vegas to the NHL roster for the 2017-18 season. The fact that teams already have a detailed plan for an expansion draft is the latest proof, but really, this has been one of the worst kept secrets in league circles despite the rumors that the Hurricanes could relocate there.
The addition of Las Vegas will bring the league to 31 teams and leave the Western Conference one team shy of balancing out the East.
Your move, Seattle. The league is waiting, maybe even begging you, to find an arena solution so it can enter the North American market it covets the most.
(Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)
Will the Coyotes have a new arena or play another season in limbo?
Coyotes president and CEO Anthony LeBlanc said last month that he would be shocked if the team didn’t make an arena announcement before the NHL Draft on June 24-25 in Buffalo. That’s 10 days away, but the Coyotes have taken the prudent tack of not commenting further until that announcement is ready.
Arizona’s arena lease agreement with the City of Glendale expires after next season and it’s unclear whether Glendale would offer a short-term lease if it knows the Coyotes are eventually moving. Regardless, the Coyotes need some sort of clarity this month — for their sponsors and for potential free agents they hope to lure to the desert.
Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale… Any place is better than Glendale, given the franchise’s irreparable relationship with that city’s leadership.
Are the Blackhawks still a contender?
Chicago could benefit greatly from a long summer of rest. Entering this postseason, the Blackhawks had played more playoff games than any team since 2009 and had won three Cups in six years.
The Blackhawks still need help on defense (regardless of what coach Joel Quenneville says publicly), they still need more depth and speed up front, and they still have the albatross of Bryan Bickell’s contract weighing them down for one more season.
But the core of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and aging Marian Hossa is still intact. Despite a first-round exit against St. Louis in seven games, it seems prudent to heed captain Toews’ words.
What will the Kings do?
Missing the playoffs after winning the Cup in 2014 was thought to be an anomaly. L.A. was the league’s best possession team last season and the Kings were the odds-on favorite to win their third Cup. Then they bowed out in a listless first-round performance against San Jose. Now what?
L.A. has major cap constraints so it is unlikely the Kings will be able to do much heavy lifting this offseason unless they swing a substantial trade. Has L.A.’s window closed or can the Kings stand pat and experience a San Jose-like revival?
(Photograph by Bob Frid/Icon Sportswire)
Who will be the top rookie?
The Connor McDavid-Jack Eichel battle never lived up to the hype. McDavid missed half a season with a collarbone injury and while Eichel had a good year, he was not named a Calder Trophy finalist.
This year’s top two prospects are center Auston Matthews and wing Patrick Laine. Matthews is still the presumed No.1 pick because he’s a center and that position impacts the game at both ends, far more than a wing. Matthews may not be on McDavid’s level, but he has the look of an elite centerman.
That said, don’t sleep on forwards Jesse Puljujärvi, Matthew Tkachuk and defenseman Olli Juolevi.
Will Canada’s Cup drought reach 24 years?
We can say with near certainty that it will. All seven Canadian teams missed the postseason this year and the top contenders from this decade, Montreal and Vancouver, appear to be in decline, although Carey Price’s return in goal cold resuscitate the Habs.
Calgary is probably the team with the best current upside, but Edmonton and Toronto have reasons for hope with loads of young talent and more coming in this year’s draft. Then again, no two teams have managed to bungle their way through the past decade better than the Oilers and Maple Leafs.
Is this the year Detroit’s playoff streak finally ends?
With Pavel Datsyuk likely headed back to Russia to play in the KHL, we think so. Detroit wasn’t a very good team this season but made the playoffs in a shallow Eastern Conference.
Datsyuk is aging (he’ll be 38 next month), but he still finished second on the team with 49 points in 66 games, and first in points per game. His loss would have a major impact on the ice and off of it.
The Red Wings have made the postseason for 25 straight years, the longest active streak of the four major North American professional sports.
Who will be the surprise team of 2016-17?
Calgary and Ottawa were the Cinderellas two years ago; Florida won the Atlantic Division last season.
Can Edmonton finally realize it’s potential? Are Carolina or Buffalo ready for a big move? What about the Coyotes, who hope to be active on the trade front and at the draft?
Can the Penguins repeat?
No team has done it since the Red Wings won back-to-back Cups in 1997 and 1998 but hey, Bovada has already installed the Penguins as the favorites. Pittsburgh has all of its key pieces and support pieces under contract for another year but it will have to do some salary shaving to get under the cap.
Playing in the Penguins’ favor is the fact that the Eastern Conference still isn’t as deep as the West, so the usual suspects like Washington and Tampa are the known commodities standing in the way. On the flip side, the Penguins may have benefitted from a slip by the West’s top teams, making the road to the Cup more perilous next season should they reach the final.
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