The 2024 offseason is long gone, and the 2024-25 NHL regular season is 24 hours away, with the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres set to drop the puck in Prague as part of the NHL’s Global Series on Oct. 4. It wasn’t the wildest or busiest offseason trade-wise, but a few notable moves could be game-changers for some teams this season.
Linus Ullmark
The Ottawa Senators have had relatively high preseason expectations the last couple years, but they’ve never met them during the regular season. They’ve never really come close, either, as they’ve finished well outside the playoff picture. Now, here we are again, and there’s hope the Senators could finally break the trend and finish in a playoff spot for the first time since 2016-17.
Goaltending was a significant reason they missed the postseason in 2023-24. Joonas Korpisalo was one of the worst goalies in the NHL, finishing with goals saved above expected of minus-16.1, the second-worst number in the NHL to Arvid Soderblom. That’s why general manager Steve Staios swapped Korpisalo for Linus Ullmark in a trade with the Boston Bruins.
Related: NHL’s Top 10 Defensemen for 2024-25
The Bruins seem to know how to get the most out of their goalies. Whether it’s been Tim Thomas, Tuukka Rask, Jeremy Swayman or Ullmark, Bruins goaltending has consistently been among the best in the NHL over the last 10-15 years. Ullmark was no exception, finishing his Bruins tenure with a .924 save percentage across 130 games.
I wouldn’t expect Ullmark to be a .924 netminder with the Senators, but his track record speaks for itself. He has a .918 SV% across 247 career games, and even if he’s slightly below that — say around .910 — I’d expect the Senators to take a step forward and compete for a playoff spot in the Atlantic.
Patrik Laine
The Montreal Canadiens will be without Patrik Laine for the first 2-3 months of the season after an unfortunate knee-on-knee collision that should’ve never happened in a preseason game. But the news could’ve been much worse, given what the injury looked like in real-time. Laine doesn’t need surgery, and there should be enough season left for him to make an impact with the Canadiens when he returns.
I already had talked about Laine as one of ten potential bounce-back candidates for 2024-25, and even though injury dampens that a bit, he could give the Canadiens a look at the future once he returns. Even though Laine only appeared in 111 games over his final three years with the Columbus Blue Jackets, he was nearly a point-per-game player (108 points).
The Canadiens are still rebuilding and weren’t likely to be a playoff team with Laine anyway, but there’s talent for him to work with in the top six. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach would’ve been good complements for Laine, and the reverse is true, too. Assuming he returns closer to the two-month timeline in early December, he could make the Canadiens a tough out the final two-thirds of the season.
Jacob Markström
There were a few reasons the New Jersey Devils missed out on the playoffs in 2023-24, and goaltending was certainly one of them. General manager Tom Fitzgerald acquired Jake Allen at last season’s trade deadline to address the backup situation, but there was more work to do.
The Devils and Calgary Flames almost linked up for a deal to send Jacob Markström to the Devils at last season’s trade deadline, but that fell apart at the 11th hour. That led to the two sides re-engaging in talks this offseason and linking up for a deal to send Markström to the Devils for a first-round pick and defenseman Kevin Bahl.
Markström did tail off a bit after last season’s trade deadline, but who could blame him? He was clearly not happy with how the Flames handled his situation, especially since he had to waive his no-move clause to go to the Devils. But before that, he was one of the best goalies in the NHL.
Even with the dropoff over the final five or six weeks of the season, Markström finished with a goals save above expected of 13.7, ranked ninth in the NHL. He was also in the 99th percentile in high-danger save percentage, something previous Devils goalies — Vitek Vaněček and Akira Schmid — struggled with. The Devils need to stay healthier than they did a season ago, but they should be back in the playoff conversation if Markström ranks in the top ten in goals saved above expected and 99th percentile in HDSV%.
Rutger McGroarty
It’s tough to place value on a prospect who hasn’t played NHL games yet, but Rutger McGroarty could give the Pittsburgh Penguins a much-needed injection of youth and scoring upside. After it became apparent he would not sign with the Winnipeg Jets, they traded him to the Penguins in exchange for their top prospect, Brayden Yager.
McGroarty was one of the best players in the NCAA last season, totaling 52 points in 36 games for the Michigan Wolverines. After two years of playing college hockey, he looks ready to jump to the NHL. Though I wouldn’t put too much stock into preseason games, he has fared well.
McGroarty has an expected goals share (xG%) of 72.1 percent at five-on-five in four preseason contests and has totaled two assists, both of which were primary helpers. The Penguins don’t have the deepest roster, so there’s room for him to start in a middle-six role at worst. But it wouldn’t shock me if he plays in the top six sooner rather than later.
Acquiring McGroary wasn’t just about this season, of course. But if he can total around 20 goals and 40 points as a rookie, the Penguins will certainly take that as they try and make a push back into the playoffs.
Jakob Chychrun
The Washington Capitals were a surprise team last season, making the playoffs with a woeful minus-37 goal differential. They got their lunch served to them in Round 1 of the playoffs by the New York Rangers, but management didn’t sit on their hands this offseason. They were one of the busiest teams in the NHL, with Jakob Chychrun being one of their primary acquisitions.
All the Capitals had to give up for Chychrun was a second-round pick and defenseman Nick Jensen. That’s a significant upgrade on what they had before, and he should give the Capitals’ top four a major boost, along with Matt Roy. Chychrun has long been a solid two-way, top-four defender capable of double-digit goals and close to 40 points a season. Health has been a concern with him, but he did play in all 82 games in 2023-24.
Chychrun is in the final year of his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent in July 2025. The Capitals could choose to re-sign him if he excels, but at least for 2024-25, he could have a big-time impact on a Capitals team looking to stay in the playoff picture.
Markström and Ullmark may make the biggest differences since goaltending can significantly influence the standings. But don’t underestimate McGroarty, Chychrun or Laine (when he returns) performing at high levels, too.
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