Dazzling young players, Patrik Laine in the middle lane and Jarmo Kekäläinen’s Columbus. Urheilu’s NHL editor Tommi Seppälä lists what you should watch when the NHL season starts.
We have the best generational talent for the NHL Connor McDavid’s. The waves are hitting high, even though the belt does not have the first official match with bucks. The shot is world-class and the player has all the skills to attack directly in the front row to become the decider. The team around him doesn’t dazzle, but Bedard already made big headlines in his rookie season. Last summer’s number one booking.
Newcomers
The emergence of young players should be followed more widely in the starting season. Last summer’s triple booking in Columbus Adam Fantilli showed in the training season that he is ready to play the scoring unit game in the NHL. Anaheim is home to top Swedish talent Leo Carlssonthe third and perhaps the most talented member of the Hughes family from New Jersey Luke Hughes and so on. Young people push through here and there. The skills to play at a young age are tough.
Patrik Laine in the middle
The most interesting Finnish topic of the season. Can he perform well in the training season Patrick Laine to really jump in the NHL world at the age of 25 suddenly to the demanding center forward position? You can’t give much importance to the performances of training matches, so only autumn and winter will show the truth. It would be easy to predict the difficulties, but let the games show.
Will the championship return to Canada?
Canada has been waiting 30 long years for the Stanley Cup to return to the sport’s homeland. Montreal’s victory in the summer of 1993 remains the most recent victory by a Canadian team. Toronto and Edmonton are once again potential winners, but can the game, the health and the tape hold up to the pressure created by the community? Edmonton, in particular, has a slightly weaker track in the west until the end. Toronto has a slightly better team, but the battle in the East will be tougher.
Salary cap
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman promised during the season a multi-million dollar increase to the salary cap at the end of the year, but right now it doesn’t help the clubs living in the middle of salary cap hell. In the current season, the ceiling is 83.5 million dollars. Right now, 11 teams don’t have a dollar in cap space – 19 teams have a maximum of a million, according to the Capfriendly website. Doing player deals on this basis becomes really difficult. If a buck comes in, a buck has to go out.
Calgary Flames
One of the most interesting teams of the season. Last year was a huge setback for the team, both as a collective and for many individuals. In many places, the head coach who got the boot was put in limbo Darryl Sutter’s to the spike, so now the table should be clean. Under all reviews, the star player who played last season Jonathan Huberdeau with the lead, the Flames have to wash their face in the coming season. A return to the playoffs is a fitting goal.
Trainer rally
Around the NHL, there is often talk of a small circle that revolves around the coaching market. The district has really moved, because starting from 2022, 19 different clubs have changed their coaches. For the current season, six different teams changed their coaches. And not only old acquaintances have been chosen for the teams, but nine new head coach names have joined in just under two years.
The transition of power in the Eastern Conference
Will the final change of power begin now in the Eastern Conference? Among the enduring successes of the past years, Pittsburgh and Washington are heading inexorably towards the lower floors. Neither of them reached the playoffs in the spring. Boston has also experienced great changes and has weakened. Tampa doesn’t seem like a super team like in previous years, although it’s still a tough team. Now the eyes turn to Toronto, Carolina, New Jersey, the Rangers and, for example, Buffalo. Who will be the next ruler of the east?
Buffalo – either?
Buffalo is a hot name in the East. The long-lost club has been building a better tomorrow for a long time and diligently, and the only obstacle to the new arrival seems to be the team itself. There is talent, there is coaching expertise and so on. Last season, the playoff spot was just a couple of points away. The club has not reached the playoffs for twelve years and this streak must now be broken. The future looks good.
Columbus Blue Jackets
One of the NHL’s most interesting clubs ahead of time. There has been enough turbulence for several years now, and last summer was no exception. Bullying coach Mike Babcock got his shoes just a few weeks before the start of the series, as a result of which the team starts the season again under the leadership of an inexperienced coach. Paine club leader Jarmo Kekäläi towards is growing and it shined from between the lines also in the press release prepared by the owner that followed the coach’s firing. Last season was a disaster, now we can’t afford the same.