Top 3 reasons to get excited about the 2020-21 NHL season

2. Rivalries Renewed

One of the most fascinating storylines to keep an eye on throughout the 2020-21 NHL season will be the impact Division Realignment has.

Due to the ongoing chaos caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic coupled with the continued border issues, the NHL was faced with a logistical nightmare when trying to map out a plan for the new season.

With Canadian teams unable to travel and with the rest of the league unable to fly freely into Canada, the NHL had to think on their feet and come up with a clever solution.

And that they did.

After months of speculation and a plethora of different reports, we finally saw what Division Realignment will actually look like in the NHL in 2020-21.

And it is fantastic.

Let’s start with the All-Canadian Division, or the North Division as it will be called, that will see all seven teams play each other 10 times throughout the season.

Now, all you need to know is that it means we will be treated to 10, yes 10, Battle of Alberta showdowns between the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames in 2020-21.

Oh boy.

It is a rivalry that has really exploded and found its own identity again in recent years, and to see those two teams beat up on each other, plus getting to witness the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Johnny Gaudreau all on the same ice together, is just fantastic and it should add another layer of excitement to the 2020-21 season.

All the other Divisions have the ingredients to be a hell of a lot of fun too, including the West Division which features the St. Louis Blues, the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights.

I mean, the Avs and the Golden Knights are two absolutely loaded juggernauts and to see those two Stanley Cup favorites slug it out eight times in one season will be incredibly fun to watch, while the Blues are still a legitimate contender too.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will be hoping to defend their crown in 2020-21 and they should have a fairly easy time of it in what looks to be a weak Central Division on paper, although the Dallas Stars will be looking to exact revenge for their loss to the Lightning in the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Final.

Don’t count out the likes of the Carolina Hurricanes, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Nashville Predators, though, who will all fancy their chances of trying to take down Tampa Bay.

And let’s not forget what is an absolutely stacked East Division, one that could turn out to be the most entertaining Division in the entire National Hockey League.

With the Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres thrown into the mix, we will get eight showdowns between the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders, eight Hudson River rivalry games and some tantalizing Original Six showdowns between the Rangers and the Bruins.

You should be pumped about eight chapters in the Battle of the PA too, while this Division is absolutely stacked from top to bottom.

The Bruins may have the edge heading into the season but the Flyers are an emerging force, the Washington Capitals are still in their win-now window, as are the Penguins, the Islanders are legit, the Sabres have Jack Eichel AND Taylor Hall and the Rangers will be led by the likes of Artemi Panarin, Alexis Lafreniere and Mika Zibanejad.

Put good money on the East Division going right down to the wire, and also be confident that Division Realignment will prove to be a good thing for the NHL in 2020-21.

And we are all in for it.

3. The New Wave

Now that we know we are getting an NHL season in 2020-21, it will now be time to start churning out previews and looking at what players may impress or break out.

It will also be time to start really projecting what the new wave of rookies might do, and we will get to witness an uber-talented crop in 2020-21.

Headlined by the No. 1 overall pick at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft in Alexis Lafreniere, this rookie class won’t have as many games in which to impress so it should make the race for the Calder Trophy even more fascinating and thrilling.

Lafreniere will obviously be the headline act and the stage is set for the generational talent to really flourish with the New York Rangers under the bright lights of Broadway, with the elite winger joining an already loaded offense boasting the likes of Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Kaapo Kakko.

There are a boatload of other young studs to keep an eye out for, though, including the naturally gifted Kirill Kaprizov, who could be the spark the Minnesota Wild need to propel themselves out of hockey obscurity.

Defenseman Alexander Romanov will arrive in the NHL with a boatload of hype and he could slot straight into a top-four role with the Montreal Canadiens, while this could be the year that the Colorado Avalanche opt to unleash Bowen Byram on the rest of the NHL.

Then you have the prospects from the 2020 NHL Entry Draft to consider, with powerful two-way forward Quinton Byfield likely to start the year in the NHL with the LA Kings, while German forward Tim Stuetzle will be looked upon to help accelerate the rebuild for the Ottawa Senators.

Other names to consider include Igor Shesterkin, Grigori Denisenko, Alex Turcotte, Liam Foudy and, of course, goaltender Ilya Sorokin, who will finally make his long-awaited NHL debut for the New York Islanders in 2020-21.

That is a lot of young talent set to be on display and rookies making a glowing first impression will only add to what should be a thrilling 2020-21 season, even if it will be shorter and more different than others.