Leading OFF
Who’s facing most pressure with new NHL season underway?
When the Columbus Blue Jackets ownership put out a statement after coach Mike Babcock resigned following an NHL Players’ Association investigation, it said, “We do not anticipate further changes to our hockey leadership team at this time.”
The “at this time” part ramps up the pressure on general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and president John Davidson. They admitted a mistake in hiring Babcock, who asked players to share photos off their phones, and now they have to get the team performing on the ice.
“We’re in the win-loss business,” Davidson said.
With the 2023-24 NHL season getting underway this week, here are the people and teams facing the most pressure:
Blue Jackets management
Since Kekalainen became GM in 2013, the Blue Jackets have one playoff series victory, albeit a stunning sweep of the 62-win Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019. They also upset the Toronto Maple Leafs in a play-in round during the 2020 bubble playoffs. But they haven’t been to the playoffs since. The signing of Johnny Gaudreau and re-signing of Zach Werenski showed that Columbus can be a free agent destination, and the Blue Jackets added to their defense with Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson. They’ll need to be more like the 81-point team of 2021-22 (or perhaps better) than the one that dropped 22 points in the standings amid major injuries.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup champs and 2022 runners-up learned they will be without award-winning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (back surgery) for the first two months of the season. That wasn’t the news they needed after being eliminated in the first round and getting hit hard again by the salary cap. The latest departures were Alex Killorn, Ross Colton, Pat Maroon and Corey Perry. Their core remains strong and coach Jon Cooper is excellent at making adjustments, but with Atlantic rivals getting stronger, could this mark the end of Tampa Bay’s playoff run? Cooper said the goalie’s absence is big, but added, “We’ve gone on spurts without him before. The big thing, in any team, is if you can limit the chances against, it’s going to help. That’s a big focus.”
Ottawa Senators coach D.J. Smith
The Senators have new ownership under Michael Andlauer. Ottawa appears to be heading toward ending a six-year playoff drought after a series of acquisitions that began in the summer of 2022 and continued this offseason. The Senators had a seven-game winless streak in the first month last season and missed the playoffs by six points. Smith and company can’t afford another slow start.
Calgary Flames F Jonathan Huberdeau
Huberdeau’s production dropped by 60 points (115 to 55) last season after his trade from the Florida Panthers, and he’s entering the first year of his eight-year, $84 million contract extension. The Flames’ coaching change could help Huberdeau. Calgary’s season will be interesting because it’s trying to get back to the playoffs while having to make decisions on pending unrestricted free agents Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin and others.
Buffalo Sabres defense
They are heading in the right direction to end the league’s longest active playoff drought (12 seasons). They missed out by one point last season, hurt by another poor November, and added defensemen Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton. It will be up to the defense, the young goaltenders and the rest of the team to give up significantly fewer than 300 goals, second worst in their division last season. The offense can do the rest.
Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland
Holland is in the final year of his contract and the Oilers have hired Connor McDavid’s former agent, Jeff Jackson, as CEO of hockey operations. Holland is 67 and hasn’t discussed his future beyond this season, but the Oilers are in a Stanley Cup-or-bust mode.
Florida Panthers defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Mike Reilly
They get a chance to prove themselves after being bought out by their previous teams because the Panthers will be without injured defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour to start the season. Florida also lost Radko Gudas and Marc Staal to free agency. The Panthers made the playoffs by one point then stunned the Boston Bruins on their way to the Stanley Cup Final. They can’t afford a slow start.
Boston Bruins
The team will try to overcome its firstround exit after a record-setting regular season. There’s good history because four of the last five Presidents’ Trophy winners have gone to the Stanley Cup Final the season after they were the top regular-season team, with three winning it all. But the Bruins are light at center with the retirement of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, plus they lost their trade deadline acquisitions and other players. Veteran winger Brad Marchand has the unenviable task of replacing Bergeron as captain and won’t have him centering his line.
N.Y. Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin
He finished second in Vezina Trophy voting after recording a league-best six shutouts last season. The Islanders didn’t do much during the offseason to improve their 22nd-ranked offense, so he’ll need to stand on his head again.
St. Louis Blues coach Craig Berube
He won the Stanley Cup as a midseason replacement in 2018-19, but he has gone 8-17 in the postseason since and missed the playoffs last season. He’s in the second year of a three-year contract extension, but he probably can’t afford another playoff miss.