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Northwest Division
COLORADO AVALANCHE
42-19-13-8, 105 points, first in division, lost in conference quarter-finals.
New faces: LW Paul Kariya, RW Teemu Selanne, D Karlis Skrastins, G Phillipe Sauvé, C Andrei Nikolishin, D Chris McAllister, LW Peter Worrell, D John-Michael Liles.
Say goodbye to: G Patrick Roy, D Greg de Vries, D Bryan Marchment, D Bryan Muir, C Steve Reinprecht, LW Eric Messier, LW Mike Keane, C Vaclav Nedorost, RW Scott Parker, C Jeff Shantz.
Outlook: In the aftermath of last year's opening-round playoff loss to Minnesota (and Patrick Roy's decision to retire), the Avalanche remade almost one-half of their roster. The additions of Selanne and Kariya will enhance an already potent offence that features the reigning scoring champion, Peter Forsberg, and the reigning goal-scoring leader, Milan Hedjuk. The Avalanche also remade their weakling supporting cast, getting centre Andrei Nikolishin and his faceoff skills to enhance their penalty-killing unit. The underrated Skrastins replaces the equally underrated de Vries on the roster, leaving only one significant question mark: Can David Aebischer provide championship-level goaltending in his first chance as an NHL starter?
VANCOUVER CANUCKS
45-23-13-1, 104 points, second in division, lost in conference semi-finals.
New faces: G Johan Hedberg, D Jiri Slegr, LW Magnus Arvedsson,
Say goodbye to: G Petr Skruda, D Murray Baron, LW Trent Klatt, C Trevor Letkowski.
Outlook: The Canucks boast an underrated offence (second in the conference to Detroit last season) built mainly around one line, Brendan Morrison between Todd Bertuzzi and Markus Naslund. A second scoring line, featuring the Sedin twins and newcomer Arvedsson would add balance and take some of the pressure off Naslund to produce 45-plus goals a season. Goaltender Dan Cloutier, who struggled with his form at times during last season's playoffs, will get competition for playing time from Hedberg, the former starter in Pittsburgh. Vancouver's defence, which revolves around Ed Jovanovski and Mattias Ohlund, does a good job in transition. It may be enough just to duplicate last year's impressive 104-point total this time.
MINNESOTA WILD
42-29-10-1, 95 points, third in division, lost in conference finals.
New faces: C Marc Chouinard.
Say goodbye to: C Cliff Ronning,
In limbo: Marian Gaborik.
Outlook: Jacques Lemaire's coaching and exceptional goaltending from Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson led the third-year expansion team to unexpected heights: two seven-game series wins over heavily favoured Colorado and Vancouver before running out of gas in the conference final against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Gaborik's absence in a contract dispute and the decision not to re-sign Ronning will undermine an already suspect offence (only 13th among the 15 teams in the conference).
EDMONTON OILERS
36-26-11-9, 92 points, fourth in division, lost in conference quarter-finals.
New faces: G Ty Conklin, D Marc-André Bergeron, LW Jani Rita.
Say goodbye to: C Todd Marchant, LW Dan Cleary, G Jussi Maarkanen.
In limbo: C Mike Comrie.
Outlook: The Oilers essentially remade their team at last season's NHL trade deadline, so the challenge will be to further integrate the new faces — from forwards Radek Dvorak, Brad Isbister and Raffi Torres to defencemen Cory Cross, Alexei Semenov and maybe even Bergeron. Dvorak and fellow former New York Ranger Mike York will be counted on to provide regular scoring, but the biggest need is for goaltender Tommy Salo to get his game back on track. The Oilers sank from second to 18th in goals-against season-over-season, with Salo taking the brunt of the heat. It didn't help that the Oilers had to give up Janne Niinimaa (and his $2.9-million contract) in the deal with the New York Islanders.
CALGARY FLAMES
29-36-13-4, 75 points, fifth in division, missed playoffs.
New faces: C Steve Reinprecht, D Rhett Warrener, LW Krzysztof Oliwa, LW Josh Green, RW Chuck Kobasew.
Say goodbye to: C Chris Drury, C Scott Nichol, LW Steve Begin, RW Blake Sloan, D Bob Boughner.
Outlook: The Flames have missed the playoffs for an NHL-leading seven consecutive seasons and will end that unhappy run only if Roman Turek plays a more consistent brand of goal and the team develops some secondary scoring to support Jarome Iginla and Craig Conroy, who accounted for almost a third of the team's goals last season. Two possibilities are left winger Dean McAmmond, reacquired from Colorado at the trade deadline, and centre Reinprecht, a speedy forward who sometimes lacks finish around the net. Calgary's young defence corps, led by Robyn Regehr, boasts a nice blend of skill and muscle and represents the best hope for the future.
Central Division
DETROIT RED WINGS
48-20-10-4, 110 points, first in division, lost in conference quarter-finals.
New faces: G Dominik Hasek, D Derian Hatcher, RW Ray Whitney, C Jiri Hudler.
Say goodbye to: C Sergei Fedorov, C Igor Larionov, LW Luc Robitaille, D Jesse Wallin, D Patrick Boileau.
In limbo: G Curtis Joseph.
Outlook: The Red Wings' two major changes — bringing back goaltender Dominik Hasek after a one-year absence and losing centre Sergei Fedorov as an unrestricted free agent — were precipitated mainly by outside forces. Hasek's desire to play again put Detroit in the awkward position of needing to move Joseph and his $25-million guaranteed contract. Fedorov left to join the Ducks after contract talks broke down. Detroit moved quickly to spend Fedorov's money by adding Hatcher, one of the most feared defencemen in the league, and Whitney, a 76-point scorer with Columbus last season. Detroit was the conference's top-scoring team last season; the Red Wings' new identity will see the team focus more on defence.
ST. LOUIS BLUES
41-24-11-6, 99 points, second in division, lost in conference quarter-finals.
New faces: LW Peter Sejna, C Mike Danton, D Murray Baron.
Say goodbye to: LW Cory Stillman, LW Tyson Nash, G Fred Brathwaite.
Outlook: Getting Chris Pronger back for a full season after he played only five regular-season games a year ago, recovering from career-threatening wrist surgery, will greatly enhance the Blues' always solid defence — and maybe take some of the pressure off 40-year-old Al MacInnis to play upwards of 27 minutes a game. The Blues also lost Doug Weight and Keith Tkachuk for hunks of the season, so a return to good health for all is a must if they plan to contend. So, too, is a solid season from goaltender Chris Osgood, a trade-deadline acquisition.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
30-33-13-6, 79 points, third in division, missed playoffs.
New faces: C Tuomo Ruutu, C Scott Nichol, LW Ville Nieminen, LW Igor Radulev, D Deron Quint, D Lasse Kukkonen.
Say goodbye to: C Andrei Nikolishin, C Mike Eastwood, LW Chris Simon, C Mike Eastwood,
In limbo: RW Theo Fleury.
Outlook: The Blackhawks' youth movement began at the trade deadline when general manager Mike Smith shipped out Phil Housley, Steve Thomas, Lyle Odelein and others, and continued in the summer when Nikolishin and Eastwood were sent packing. The Blackhawks are unlikely to bring Fleury back, even though he is under contract for next year. Instead, the Blackhawks signed top prospect Ruutu, considered the best player outside the NHL last season, and will look at some of the young Russians Smith drafted a few years back (Igor Radulev, Anton Babchuk and perhaps Pavel Vorobiev).
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
27-35-13-7, 74 points, fourth in division, missed playoffs.
New faces: D Marek Zidlicky, D Robert Schnabel, D Dan Hamhuis, D Curtis Murphy, D Tomas Kloucek, D-LW Jamie Allison, LW Jim McKenzie, RW Jordin Tootoo.
Say goodbye to: D Cale Hulse, D Andy Delmore, D Karlis Skrastins, D Bill Houlder.
Outlook: The Predators made an unexpected playoff run in February, which prompted GM David Poile to be a buyer rather than a seller at the trade deadline, and he then watched as injuries took the bottom out of his team. Poile's response was to remake his defence corps, opening up spots for a handful of minor-leaguers whom he hopes are ready for prime time. Goaltender Tomas Vokoun was the backbone of the team's second-half surge after the Predators dealt the former No. 1 goaltender, Mike Dunham, to New York. Vokoun kept Nashville in games, but they were ultimately undone by their popgun attack, which featured a conference-low 183 goals. And it looks as if it'll be another year of living goallessly in Music City.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
29-42-8-3, 69 points, fifth in division, missed playoffs.
New faces: D Darryl Sydor, C Todd Marchant, C Trevor Letkowski, G Fred Brathwaite.
Say goodbye to: LW Ray Whitney, C Mike Sillinger, D Jamie Allison, RW Matt Davidson.
Outlook: The Blue Jackets lost their leading scorer, Whitney, after failing to come to contract terms. That was the bad news. The good news was they replaced him with energetic Marchant, who had a career season with the Oilers last season. The Blues Jackets will give Marchant every chance to duplicate that offensive success, pencilling him in as the No. 2 centre and playing him with highly regarded youngster Rick Nash, who figures to play a more prominent role in his sophomore season. A statistical oddity: Only six teams scored more than 70 power-play goals last season and Columbus was one of them. Sydor's addition can only enhance their special teams' work, which was one of last season's bright spots.
Pacific Division
DALLAS STARS
46-17-15-4, 111 points, first in division, lost in conference semi-finals.
New faces: D Teppo Numminen, D Don Sweeney, LW Antti Miettinen, C Steve Ott.
Say goodbye to: D Derian Hatcher, D Darryl Sydor, D Lyle Odelein, RW Kirk Muller.
Outlook: Dallas will be hard pressed to defend its regular-season conference championship after losing Hatcher, the team's captain, to archrival Detroit as a free agent. Numminen, who came over from the Phoenix Coyotes, is a nice addition, but lacks Hatcher's physical presence. Coach Dave Tippett's primary goal will be to instill chemistry in a team that unsuccessfully shopped a number of prominent players — such as Pierre Turgeon and Bill Guerin — in a cost-cutting attempt. Signing Mike Modano to a one-year contract extension was an important first step, and getting goaltender Marty Turco — he of the record 1.77 goals-against average — signed was another productive move.
ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS
40-27-9-6, 95 points, second in division, lost in Stanley Cup final.
New faces: C Sergei Fedorov, LW Vinnie Prospal, LW Craig Johnson.
Say goodbye to: C Adam Oates, LW Paul Kariya, C Marc Chouinard.
Outlook: The Ducks remedied what could have been a catastrophic public relations blunder —allowing Kariya to escape as an unrestricted free agent — by getting Fedorov under contract. Fedorov once played for GM Bryan Murray in Detroit and is well schooled in the defence-first approach favoured by coach Mike Babcock. After years of being a cog in Detroit's machine, Fedorov is the Ducks' absolute go-to guy, and how he reacts to that will determine, in large measure, whether Anaheim is for real or a Carolina-like flash in the pan. Ultimately, they will go only as far as goaltender J..S. Giguère takes them.
LOS ANGELES KINGS
33-37-6-6, 78 points, third in division, missed playoffs.
New faces: G Roman Cechmanek, G Milan Hnilicka, C Josef Stumpel, RW Trent Klatt, LW Luc Robitaille, C Esa Pirnes, D Bryan Muir.
Say goodbye to: G Felix Potvin, G Jamie Storr, LW Craig Johnson, LW Erik Rasmussen.
Outlook: Devastated by injuries last season, the Kings were waiting and hoping that two-thirds of their No.1 line, Jason Allison and Adam Deadmarsh, would get medical clearance to play after suffering head injuries last season. Stumpel, reacquired from the Boston Bruins in the summer, was reunited with fellow Slovak Ziggy Palffy, and for now, second-year forward Alexander Frolov is holding down the third spot on the line. The Kings revamped their goaltending from a season ago (Cechmanek and Hnilicka are in, and Potvin and Storr out). If Cechmanek can duplicate his numbers of last season, and their premier forwards stay out of sick bay, the Kings could challenge for the division title.
PHOENIX COYOTES
31-35-11-5, 78 points, fourth in division, missed playoffs.
New faces: D Cale Hulse, D David Tanabe, C Mike Sillinger, LW Dan Cleary, D Bryan Helmer.
Say goodbye to: D Teppo Numminen, D Danny Markov, LW Paul Ranheim, C Kelly Buchberger.
Outlook: A series of injuries to goaltender Sean Burke, who was fourth in balloting for most valuable players two years ago, seriously undermined the Coyotes' season. Phoenix and Nashville were the only teams that didn't have a 25-goal scorer, and it's difficult to win those 2-1 games without exceptional netminding. The Coyotes were another team that made most of its changes at the trade deadline, so it remains to be seen how much of a difference Chris Gratton, Jan Hrdina and Sillinger will make. The Coyotes moved their two best defencemen, Numminen and Markov, in salary dumps, so there will be pressure on Ossi Vaananen and Paul Mara to step up. Two years ago, it was fashionable to pick the Coyotes to finish last in the conference, and they were surprisingly competent. This year? It could happen.
SAN JOSE SHARKS
28-37-9-8, 73 points, fifth in division, missed playoffs.
New faces: LW Alex Korolyuk, RW Scott Parker, C Marcel Goc.
Say goodbye to: RW Teemu Selanne, LW Adam Graves.
Outlook: After moving Owen Nolan to Toronto at the trade deadline and losing Selanne as a free agent, the primary question in San Jose is: Who scores now? One possibility is Korolyuk, who returns to the team after playing in Russia last season. Another might be Scott Thornton, who missed half of last season recovering from a concussion and slipped to nine goals from 26. The Sharks have a decent defensive nucleus — Brad Stuart is back from a concussion, Kyle McLaren gets to play a full season after joining San Jose midway through last season. A year ago, the Sharks were a fashionable dark-horse choice for the Stanley Cup. This time around? Just getting back into the playoff picture would represent a real coup.
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