Vancouver likely won't win the division and takes a step back, but they'll still be good. Vegas I absolutely see falling and missing the playoffs.
In the East, the Canes lost a lot of players to free agency, so I can see them taking a step back. They'll still make the playoffs though because the rest of the division outside of them and the Rangers isn't very good.
Man, I want to believe we are still going to skate to the playoffs, but I am having a tough time seeing it. Losing Skjei and Pesce is going to hurt. Walker and Gost are good, but I really need to see how they perform before I am really confident in the defense, especially knowing how long it sometimes takes for new defensemen to gel in our system. And offensively, Guentzel is a huge loss, and part of the reason why we needed him was because Teravainen sucked, so now formally not having him isn't great, and Noesen was one of the very few players on the team who actually drove the net to clean up rebounds. Will Roslovic and Carrier do enough to offset what we lost? I'm not sold.
I do think we'll be better in net with Kochetkov getting the bulk of starts, but I am worried we're going to take a bit of a step back right at the same time the rest of the division takes a step forward.
NJ got a lot better. Pesce alone is going to help that defense far more than anyone is expecting.
NYI never goes away. They're like cockroaches, you think they're dead, but they always come back.
Pitt still has Sid. He's fully capable of willing them to another playoff bid.
Philly is getting Mitchkov. They showed a lot of potential last year, and getting an elite player like that might see them realize it.
And Washington had a sneaky good summer. They could surprise people.