A guide to the competitive stage each team is at

[madmike77]

The Flames are $20 million under the cap. They’re not trying to be average. They’re tanking. They’ll be bottom -5 this year.

 

[AD1066]

"One must imagine Buffalo fans happy."

I take it back, Camus was wrong.

 

[Bizz]

The Sharks are literally a goalie and a top end RHD away from being cup favorites.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

I thought this would be useful for a new NHL fan who wonders where each team is heading at currently.

Contenders - Trending up
- Colorado
- Edmonton
- Rangers
- Vancouver

Contenders - middle of the wave
- Toronto
- Florida
- Dallas
- Nashville
- Vegas

Contenders - Trending down
- Tampa
- Boston
- Carolina

Trying to stay competitive but not strong enough to contend
- Winnipeg
- Los Angeles
- Seattle

Direction of the team unclear (trying to stay average?)
- Islanders
- St. Louis
- Minnesota
- Columbus

Trending down - Should start a rebuild but aren't in a position to do so
- Washington
- Pittsburgh
- Calgary

Rebuild over and trending up
- New Jersey
- Detroit
- Utah
- Buffalo
- Ottawa

Late stages of a rebuild
- Montreal
- Anaheim

Early stages of a rebuild
- Philadelphia
- San Jose
- Chicago

Vegas seems to think NJ is a contender ahead of many of these teams.

 

[ameselare]

Vegas seems to think NJ is a contender ahead of many of these teams.

There were a lot of "NJ is gonna win the cup" predictions coming into the 23-24 season. I thought it was ridiculous considering the youth + goaltending. Key injuries and McLeod leaving screwed their playoff hopes but their team is a hell of a lot better this year than last year. Still think the young guys need a few more years to really hit their stride but if Jack Hughes can stay healthy, he's a force.

As soon as I saw Toronto in the same bracket as Florida I stopped reading

Similarly, so many people completely wrote Florida off going into 23-24 due to the injuries to Ekblad and Montour. It was very stupid.

This Toronto team doesn't seem like a cohesive unit of players at all. They'll be good but I don't think they'll be making any real progress in the post season.