Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim Ducks. Injury. Those two went hand-in-hand last season and 2018-19 isn’t off to a particularly good start either. They’ve already lost Corey Perry for the next five months after he suffered a torn meniscus and underwent surgery to repair it. If there is any silver lining there, it’s that this presented Perry with an opportunity to repair pre-existing MCL damage. Apparently, he had been playing through the MCL injury for years now rather than undergo surgery, so once comes back from this, he should be in a much better position than he was at any point in recent years.
In the meantime, Ondrej Kase might end up playing alongside Ryan Getzlaf, though for what it’s worth, that’s not the direction the Ducks went in for Saturday’s preseason game. Instead, Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell were on a line with Troy Terry. Kase was on the third line with Andrew Cogliano and Sam Steel. Terry is someone to keep an eye on. Even if he doesn’t end up on the top line, the Perry injury does increase the chances that the 21-year-old rookie will see significant ice time. He excelled with the University of Denver last season, scoring 14 goals and 48 points in 39 games.
Ryan Kesler (hip) has been making progress but hasn’t been cleared for contact yet and probably won’t be ready at the start of the season. As noted above, Steel was on the third line for Saturday’s preseason game and Kesler’s likely unavailability has improved the chances that he will start with the team. Steel had 131 points in 66 WHL games in 2016-17 and 83 points in 54 WHL contests last season.
Arizona Coyotes
Clayton Keller
Arizona is a team that’s been pegged by a lot of people as a 2017-18 non-playoff team that might leap into the postseason this time. That still might happen, but they’ll have to endure a bit of a rough patch right off the bat. Alex Galchenyuk is week-to-week with what’s probably a groin injury while Christian Dvorak (lower body) is technically day-to-day, but he hasn’t practiced yet during training camp, so his return probably isn’t imminent. That leaves the Coyotes without their second and third-line centers.
Vinnie Hinostroza or Clayton Keller could potentially start the season playing up the middle to help plug that hole. Meanwhile, Dylan Strome might open the campaign as the third-line center. It’s a good opportunity for Strome, who was drafted third overall in 2015 amid very high expectations but hasn’t yet lived up to them. He’s only played in 28 games with Arizona so far, but he did excel in the AHL last season with 22 goals and 53 points in 50 contests.
The injuries might also have an impact on Lawson Crouse, who was originally projected to start on the fourth line but might play a more significant role. It helps that he’s looked good in the preseason. In 2017-18, he had 15 goals and 32 points in 56 AHL contests as well as a goal in 11 games with Arizona.
Calgary Flames
Going into the preseason, one of the big questions involving the Calgary Flames was the status of their top line. Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan would compromise two-third of it – that much was obvious – but who would be the third member? The Flames signed James Neal and acquired then signed Elias Lindholm over the summer, creating the expectation that one of those two would take that top line job. As it turns out, they might share it.
Flames GM Brad Treliving recently raised the possibility that Neal and Lindholm will alternate on the top line depending on the situation. That might not last as the Flames might ultimately start to favor sending out one with Gaudreau and Monahan more often than the other, but it at least seems like we won’t get a more definitive answer by the end of training camp.
On the defensive side of things, Juuso Valimaki is a strong candidate to make the opening game roster. He scored 14 goals and 45 points in 43 WHL games last season after being taken with the 16th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He’s looked good in the preseason to push himself into this favorable position as we approach the deadline for the Flames to submit their roster. Dillon Dube has probably done enough to make the Flames as well. He’s been busy in the preseason with four goals and six points in six games. Dube, 20, had 38 goals and 84 points in 53 WHL contests.
Edmonton Oilers
Ty Rattie
Ty Rattie has 19 points in 49 career NHL games. In the 2018 preseason he’s scored seven goals and 11 points in four contests. That’s pretty crazy, but Oilers fans probably remember another player that excelled in exhibition games only to fizzle out just a year back. Kailer Yamamoto had five goals and seven points in six preseason games in 2017, which isn’t quite at Rattie’s level, but it was still exciting to see coming from a player that just turned 19-years-old and wasn’t expected to be NHL-ready yet. When it came to the regular season though, Yamamoto had three assists in nine games before being returned to the WHL.
There’s another similarity between them too. While Yamamoto didn’t consistently play alongside Connor McDavid, the superstar was Yamamoto’s most common linemate. Similarly, Rattie is now projected to play alongside McDavid and much of his recent production can be attributed to who he’s sharing the ice with. There’re differences too though. While Rattie doesn’t have an extensive NHL resume, the 25-year-old is certainly significantly more experienced and was already expected to make the team. More importantly though is the position each player is in. Plus, the Rattie experiment with McDavid has been going on longer than just the preseason. In Rattie’s 14 games with Edmonton in 2017-18, he spent a large majority of his 5-on-5 ice time alongside McDavid and Rattie recorded five goals and nine points as a result.
So, there is some reason to believe that the Rattie-McDavid experiment has staying power and while we’re not expecting anything like the superstar numbers we’ve seen out of Rattie in the preseason to continue, he should be a pretty solid contributor if he stays on that top line.
On a less upbeat note, Mikko Koskinen, who is slated to be the Edmonton Oilers’ backup goaltender after excelling in the KHL, has been a mixed bag in the preseason. That created some speculation that Al Montoya would earn the job over Koskinen, but ultimately Montoya was put on waivers while Koskinen is still with the team. It’s not too surprising of an outcome. Edmonton made a $2.5 million commitment to Koskinen, so they’re not going to change course before a single regular season game has even been played.
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings didn’t make a lot of changes over the summer, but they did make one big move by signing Ilya Kovalchuk. He’s perhaps this season’s biggest X-Factor because he was one of the league’s best snipers when he left, but we’ll have to see what he’s like at the age of 35 and after five seasons in the KHL. For what little it’s worth, Kovalchuk has a goal and an assist in three preseason games.
There was talk of him rounding out the first line of Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, but that experiment didn’t last. Instead, it looks like the 2017-18 line of Kopitar, Brown, and Alex Iafallo will remain intact while Kovalchuk will play on the second line with Jeff Carter and Adrian Kempe.
As far as the bubble players go, it looks like Jaret Anderson-Dolan has managed to earn a spot on the squad. That’s pretty impressive for the 19-year-old whose pro career only consists of five AHL games thus far, but the reason why he’s being called a bubble player is because he will likely serve on the fourth line and might even end up as a healthy scratch on occasion. Also, even if he makes the team it could just be a temporary arrangement. He’s on an entry-level contract, so the nine-game trial rule applies, and it wouldn’t be shocking if he ends up back in the WHL before he gets to log that 10th game with Los Angeles.
San Jose Sharks
The big story for the San Jose Sharks is obvious: They acquired Erik Karlsson from the Ottawa Senators. With that move, San Jose arguably now features the top two best offensive defensemen in the league between Karlsson and Brent Burns.
That duo are expected to play together on the top power-play unit, but not on even strength. Instead, it looks like Karlsson will play with Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who is another amazing defenseman and while he’s not an elite offensive force, he’s no slouch in that regard either. Vlasic and Karlsson might prove to be the best pairing of the 2018-19 campaign. What about Burns? Joakim Ryan will probably be his partner. Ryan was Burns’ most common even-strength partner last season too, so there’s no real surprise there. That would leave them with a third pairing of Brenden Dillon and Justin Braun.
In terms of forwards, Antti Suomela has been a standout in training camp and it seems like he’s done enough to make the team. You can pencil him in as the third-line center at this point, perhaps alongside Joonas Donskoi and Kevin Labanc. Joe Thornton is also good to play after missing the second half of 2017-18 with a knee injury. Because of the injury, he’s only now getting a chance to play alongside trade deadline acquisition Evander Kane. They’re likely to be on the top line together with Joe Pavelski.
Vancouver Canucks
VANCOUVER, BC - SEPTEMBER 20: Vancouver Canucks centre Elias Pettersson (40) skates against the Los Angeles Kings in a NHL hockey game on September 20, 2018, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. (Photo by Bob Frid/Icon Sportswire)
In 2017-18, Brock Boeser established himself as the face of the Vancouver Canucks’ rebuild, but he’s about to get some company. Elias Pettersson is aiming to break into the NHL directly from the Swedish league and so far, it’s looking like he’ll do just that. Every rookie comes with a degree of risk, but at least going into the season it’s reasonable to view Pettersson as a potential contender for the Calder Trophy, just as Boeser was last season.
Another very promising forward prospect, Adam Gaudette, has been sent to AHL Utica though after getting a long look in training camp. He dominated with Northeastern University last season, recording 60 points in 38 contests and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him get called up at some point in 2018-19.
Defenseman Olli Juolevi will begin the season in the AHL as well. He spent the 2017-18 campaign in SM-liiga, but he also played in the OHL for two seasons, so he does have some experience in North America. Probably the bigger issue with Juolevi is that he underwent back surgery over the summer and consequently couldn’t start training until the middle of August, so it’s not surprising that he couldn’t force his way onto the lineup this time. In the long run though, he could be a significant part of the Canucks’ blueline.
Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas has been nothing if not eventful over the last month. The first big story to break was a rather unpleasant one as Nate Schmidt received a 20-game suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA's Performance Enhancing Substances Program. Schmidt’s agent did assert that his client’s actions were unintentional, but regardless of the circumstances, the bottom line is a defenseman who recorded 36 points and averaged 22:14 minutes last season will miss the first quarter of the campaign.
That naturally left the Golden Knights with an opening on defense. It did look like Erik Brannstrom might make the team as a result, but the 19-year-old will instead start the season in the AHL. That’s probably not a bad idea given that this is his first campaign in North America after coming over from Sweden. Instead, it looks like Jake Bischoff got the final spot on the Golden Knights’ blueline. He’s 24-years-old and had seven goals and 23 points in 69 AHL contests last season.
The next major event was Vegas acquiring Max Pacioretty from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki and a 2019 second round pick. Vegas gave up quite a bit to get Tatar from Detroit at the trade deadline, but he never really found a spot with the Golden Knights, so it’s not surprising to see him be dealt again, even if it arguably is at a significant loss compared to what Vegas paid. As for Suzuki, he’s a great prospect, but wouldn’t have been a factor this season, so at least in the near-term, this trade represents a big boost for Vegas.
Pacioretty and the summer signing of Paul Stastny gives the Golden Knights the makings of a really strong second line. The third member of that unit is up for debate, but Erik Haula and Alex Tuch appear to be the finalists for that gig.
Finally, RFA Shea Theodore agreed to a seven-year, $36.4 million contract on Sept. 25. He did miss part of training camp, but at least he signed with enough time to get back into the swing of things before the regular season starts. Having him on board is also particularly important right now given the absence of Schmidt and given that his cap hit looks pretty reasonable, this was a nice signing for Vegas.