D8 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS
NHL:SEASON PREVIEW
The Stanley Cup champion
came from the Western Conference
last season, but the winner wasn’t
one of the teams that dominated
early in the decade.
The Chicago Blackhawks, who
won in 2010, 2013 and 2015, and the
Kings, who prevailed in 2012 and
2014, missed the playoffs last season
and plunged into roster rebuilds.
While they fell, the St. Louis Blues
became first-time Cup winners,
mixing brawn with skill and the
stellar goaltending of rookie Jordan
Binnington.
Winning back-to-back Cup titles
is tough, but the Blues bring back
the heart of their championship
team, with the notable exceptions of
trading hard-hitting defenseman
Joel Edmundson to Carolina for
puck-moving defenseman Justin
Faulk and letting hometown hero
Pat Maroon leave as a free agent.
Here are the big questions in the
Western Conference leading into the
season:
Can the Blues repeat?
Their rise from last place overall
in January to champions in June
made them a popular winner, as did
their status as the only surviving
team from the Second Six expan-
sion in 1967 that hadn’t won the Cup.
Fans of old-time hockey liked them
because they were big and physical
and bucked the NHL’s trend toward
emphasizing speed and skill,
though they have ample talent. It’s
tough to sustain bruising hitting
over a full season. In their favor:
They have kids bringing energy, and
three-time All-Star Faulk should
boost their power play.
How will the Kings do?
They ranked 30th and had an
NHL-worst minus-61 goal differen-
tial, so the only way to go is up. Todd
McLellan — general manager Rob
Blake’s third coaching hire in less
than two years — wants to bring
structure and a faster tempo. They
need both. Their ability to be com-
petitive depends on whether goalie
Jonathan Quick (3.38 goals-against
average, .888 save percentage) and
winger Tyler Toffoli (13 goals in 82
games) can rebound from bad sea-
sons. If they can’t, Blake will have to
make sweeping changes. It will be
interesting to see whether 36-year-
old winger Ilya Kovalchuk, misused
last season while scoring 16 goals in
64 games, can again be productive.
A long season looms.
How will the Ducks do?
They also have a new coach, but
Dallas Eakins coached many of
their young players at San Diego of
the American Hockey League. They
didn’t have to go through a com-
plete makeover, but they could
struggle to score again after ranking
last overall last season with an
average of 2.39 goals per game.
Goalie John Gibson (2.84 goals-
against average, .917 save percent-
age) is among the NHL’s best but
doesn’t get enough help. Ryan Get-
zlaf, who is 16 games from 1,000 in his
career, must mesh with younger
players now that longtime linemate
Corey Perry was bought out. The
playoffs are a longshot.
Who’s on an upswing?
The Arizona Coyotes finished
four points out of a wild-card playoff
spot last season without having a
20-goal scorer. They will welcome
Phil Kessel, who has scored at least
20 goals in 11 straight seasons and
feasts on the power play. ... The
Dallas Stars, who took St. Louis to
double overtime in Game 7 in the
second round of the playoffs, gained
experience and scoring potential
when they signed Perry and Joe
Pavelski but also got older in a
youth-driven league. ... Colorado
defenseman Cale Makar will be a
rookie-of-the-year candidate and
has superstar potential. Nathan
MacKinnon (41 goals, 99 points) is
already at the elite level.
Who’s on a downswing?
The Winnipeg Jets are hurting.
Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, their
ice-time leader last season, took a
leave of absence and might retire.
They couldn’t sign defenseman
Jacob Trouba and traded him; they
lost another big-minutes defense-
man, Tyler Myers, to free agency.
Signing holdout forwards Patrik
Laine (two years, $13.5 million) and
Kyle Connor (seven years, $50 mil-
lion) was vital to their future. ... The
Minnesota Wild always seems to be
good but never great. Look for new
general manager Bill Guerin to keep
coach Bruce Boudreau on a short
leash. ... The San Jose Sharks’ win-
dow of opportunity could be closing.
Extending Erik Karlsson’s contract
left them no money to keep Pavelski,
a big loss. Their defense drops off
after Karlsson, Brent Burns and
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Martin
Jones’ .896 save percentage last
season wasn’t good enough.
When will Seattle start playing?
The still-unnamed team will
debut in the 2021-22 season. General
manager Ron Francis made an
inspired choice by hiring women’s
hockey pioneer and Olympic gold
medalist Cammi Granato as a
scout. The cost for the team’s arena
has soared past $900 million and its
opening has been pushed back, but
it’s expected to be ready in the sum-
mer of 2021.
— Helene Elliott
WESTERN
CONFERENCE
QUESTIONS
Eastern Conference teams had
four of the top five regular-season
records in 2018-19, but only the Boston
Bruins went far in the Stanley Cup
playoffs.
Tampa Bay, which tied an NHL
record by winning 62 games, made a
shockingly meek exit by losing four
straight to Columbus in the first
round. The third-ranked Bruins
reached the Cup Final, in which they
lost to St. Louis in seven games. But
fourth-ranked and defending cham-
pion Washington was upset by Car-
olina in seven games in the first
round, and the No. 5 New York Is-
landers were swept out of the second
round by Carolina.
The East also was home to five of
the six worst teams last season. The
New York Rangers, Buffalo, Detroit
and New Jersey ranked Nos. 26
through 29, and — after the No. 30
Kings — Ottawa ranked last at 31st.
The Devils, relying on No. 1 overall
draft pick Jack Hughes, and the
Rangers, banking on the immense
skill of No. 2 overall pick Kaapo
Kakko and a wave of young forwards,
are most likely to escape the bottom
this season.
Here are the big questions in the
Eastern Conference leading into the
season:Will the Lightning try to avoid fin-
ishing first again?
Tampa Bay won the Presidents’
Trophy for compiling the best regu-
lar-season record but got swept by
Columbus in the first round. Only
eight of 33 Presidents’ Trophy win-
ners have captured the Cup the same
season; the last instance was the
Chicago Blackhawks in the lockout-
shortened 2012-13 season. The Light-
ning will start the season without
forward Brayden Point (41 goals,
92 points), who is recovering from hip
surgery. Otherwise, Tampa Bay — led
by Vezina Trophy-winning goaltend-
er Andrei Vasilevskiy (2.40 goals-
against average, .925 save percent-
age) and scoring champion and NHL
most valuable player Nikita
Kucherov (41 goals, 128 points) —
appears deep and ready for another
big season.Will the Maple Leafs’ Cup drought
end?
To the relief of long-suffering
Leafs Nation, Toronto general man-
ager Kyle Dubas signed restricted
free-agent forward Mitch Marner to a
six-year deal with an annual salary-
cap hit of $10.893 million. With Auston
Matthews’ cap hit at $11.634 million
and John Tavares’ at $11 million,
Dubas has a top-heavy roster with
more than $55 million committed to
forwards this season. The Maple
Leafs acquired help on defense by
trading for creative defensemen
Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci, and
that’s a good start. This is the fifth
season for coach Mike Babcock, who
hasn’t gotten his team past the first
round of the playoffs and will feel heat
if Toronto has a slow start. The Maple
Leafs, who last won the Cup in 1967,
have the pieces for a long run, but
they’re not a sure thing.How good will the Devils be?
New Jersey took a huge leap for-
ward when it won the draft lottery
and chose Hughes, a center whose
preseason performances reinforced
the notion he’s a generational talent.
Veteran Taylor Hall, returning from a
knee injury, is entering the final year
of his contract and has incentive to
produce another MVP-level season.
Nico Hischier, the No. 1 overall pick in
2017, has progressed nicely, and the
acquisition of defenseman P.K. Sub-
ban in a trade with Nashville will
boost the blue line. Veteran forward
Wayne Simmonds brings leadership.
The Devils could contend for a playoff
spot.Who’s on an upswing?
Hiring three-time Cup-winning
coach Joel Quenneville and signing
former Columbus goalie Sergei Bo-
brovsky gave the Florida Panthers
credibility and a strong shot at the
playoffs. Forward Aleksander Barkov
(35 goals, 96 points) is a marvel. ...
Philadelphia seems to have made its
best goaltending find since it drafted
a combative guy named Ron Hextall.
Goalie Carter Hart (2.83 goals-
against average, .917 save percentage
in 31 games last season) is only 21 but
has shown poise and maturity. Kevin
Hayes could fit well as the second-
line center.Who’s on a downswing?
The Blue Jackets took a big step
back when they lost two key free
agents. Bobrovsky, twice a winner of
the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top
goalie, signed a seven-year, $70-mil-
lion deal with Florida, and forward
Artemi Panarin got a seven-year,
$81.5-million contract with the Rang-
ers after he scored 28 goals and had a
career-best 87 points. Forward Cam
Atkinson (41 goals) and defenseman
Seth Jones are stars, but Columbus
will need a great season from goalie
Joonas Korpisalo. Forward Alex-
andre Texier was solid in preseason
play and could be a big contributor as
the Blue Jackets look for scoring by
committee. ... The Islanders were
surprisingly successful last season
but lost goalie Robin Lehner to free
agency. He shared the Jennings
Trophy (fewest goals against) with
Thomas Greiss. Coach Barry Trotz’s
teams are always competitive and
solid defensively, so don’t write them
off yet.
— Helene ElliottEASTERN
CONFERENCE
QUESTIONSa lot to look forward to when the
2019-20 season begins Wednes-
day.
An uptick in scoring contin-
ued last season when NHL
teams scored an average of 3.01
goals per game, a psychologi-
cally important rise from the
previous season’s per team
average of 2.97. The 3.01 average
was the highest since teams
averaged 3.08 in 2005-06, the first
season played under rules that
reduced obstruction.
Those rules produced an
unusually high average of 5.85
power-play opportunities per
game. It’s a good sign that last
year’s average climbed despite
the average number of power-
play opportunities falling to 2.92
per team per game.
Six players scored 100 points
or more last season, led by
Tampa Bay forward Nikita
Kucherov’s 128. The last time
that many players scored 100
points or more was in 2006-07,
when seven players reached or
passed that mark.
Also, two players scored 50
goals last season, Washington’s
Alexander Ovechkin (51) and
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (50).
The last season in which more
than one player reached 50 was
201 1-12, when Steven Stamkos
had 60 for Tampa Bay and Ev-
geni Malkin scored 50 for Pitts-
burgh.
Building around speed and
youth has become essential the
last few seasons, and it has been
a welcome trend.
But will it be reversed be-
cause the St. Louis Blues won
the Stanley Cup in June by
playing “heavy hockey”? There’s
little innovation in the NHL and
teams are inclined to copy what
has succeeded elsewhere, but
the Blues’ style isn’t likely to
inspire widespread imitation.
It’s too difficult to play that
way for a full season; the Blues
knew they’d have to muscle
through opponents for only 28
games at most. Being fast and
playing fast will continue to be
fundamental, though heavy
hockey might reappear in the
playoffs.
In the hired-to-be-fired de-
partment, there are seven
coaches in new positions: Dallas
Eakins in Anaheim, RalphKrueger in Buffalo, Dave Tip-
pett in Edmonton, Joel Quen-
neville in Florida, Todd McLel-
lan with the Kings, D.J. Smith in
Ottawa and Alain Vigneault in
Philadelphia. In addition, Blues
coach Craig Berube, who took
over for Mike Yeo last Novem-
ber, had the “interim” label
removed from his title.
There are four new general
managers: Steve Yzerman
returned to Detroit, Ken Hol-
land moved from Detroit to
Edmonton, Bill Guerin took
over in Minnesota, and Kelly
McCrimmon was promoted in
Vegas when George McPhee was
appointed director of hockey
operations.
Several rule changes will take
effect. Referees will be allowed
to review major and match
penalties by looking at a moni-
tor and can confirm the call or
reduce the infraction to a minor
penalty but can’t rescind the
penalty. There’s no provision toreview major fighting penalties.
Referees also can review
double-minor penalties for
high-sticking and can confirm
the call or rescind it if a review
shows a teammate, not an oppo-
nent, was responsible for the
infraction. The double-minor
can’t be reduced to a two-min-
ute minor. Reviews apply only to
calls that have been made and
can’t result in adding a penalty
or increasing the severity of a
penalty.
The coach’s challenge rule,
which was limited to challenges
for offside and goaltender inter-
ference, was expanded to in-
clude the possibility to ask for a
review of a play in the offensive
zone that led to a goal but
should have been whistled dead,
such as when pucks hit the
netting above the glass, a player
makes a hand pass to a team-
mate, or a puck is high-sticked
to a teammate in the offensive
zone.
The consequence for an
unsuccessful challenge will be
the same in all three cases: The
first unsuccessful challenge will
result in a minor penalty for
delay of game, and a second
unsuccessful challenge would
result in a double-minor penalty.
Coaches are permitted to ask for
a review as many times as they
like. Video reviews in the final
minute of regulation and
throughout overtime will still be
handled by the Situation Room
in Toronto.
Also, if a player who is on the
ice loses his helmet, he will get a
minor penalty unless he exits
the ice or retrieves and replaces
his helmet within a “reasonable”
period of time. That player is
permitted to make or finish a
play before he must leave or
replace his helmet.
A player who intentionally
removes an opponent’s helmet
will get a minor penalty for
roughing. And in a procedural
change, the offensive team will
have the choice of which dot a
faceoff will take place on after an
icing as well as at the beginning
of a power play.
The best change of all is that
there’s no longer a reason to
expect a lockout in the near
future. Enjoy the scoring, the
saves and the labor peace while
you can.THE LIGHTNING’SNikita Kucherov led the NHL with 128 points last season and was
named league MVP, but 62-win Tampa Bay was swept by Columbus in a first-round upset.Brynn AndersonAssociated PressLeague has labor peace
and increase in scoring
[Elliott,from D1]WASHINGTON’SAlex Ovechkin, diving above, had an NHL-best 51 goals last season. An
uptick in offense continued when league teams scored an average of 3.01 goals per game.Bruce BennettGetty ImagesHow they’ll
finish
Times columnist Helene Elliott
predicts the order of finish in
the Western and Eastern
conferences. The top three
teams in each division, as well
as the next two conference
teams with the best records,
qualify for the playoffs.WEST
Pacific- Calgary
- Vegas
- San Jose
Central - St. Louis
- Nashville
- Dallas
Wild card 1
Colorado
Wild card 2
Winnipeg
Out
Kings
Ducks
Arizona
Minnesota
Vancouver
Edmonton
Chicago
EAST
Atlantic- Tampa Bay
2. Toronto
3. Boston
Metropolitan - Washington
2. Pittsburgh
3. Carolina
Wild card 1
Florida
Wild card 2
New Jersey
Out
Philadelphia
Columbus
N.Y. Islanders
N.Y. Rangers
Montreal
Buffalo
Detroit
Ottawa