An early summer power ranking of the 32 NHL teams
9. Carolina Hurricanes - 2023-24 Result: Lost in Second Round
The Carolina Hurricanes are a lock to compete for a high-playoff seed
Can the Carolina Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup? Things just got much harder for them as they lost Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, and Teuvo Teravainen to free agency so they have to find a way to replace them with the "next man up" mentality.
It may be a more difficult regular season for them but they will still be one of the better teams in the league. We'll see if they do anything to address these issues.
10. New Jersey Devils - 2023-24 Result: Missed Playoffs
The New Jersey Devils are going to be much better again in 2024-25
We all know why the New Jersey Devils missed the playoffs in 2023-24 following an elite year prior. They dealt with some bad injury luck and horrific goaltending for the entire season.
Now, they have added a few good defensemen in guys like Brett Pesce and Brendan Dillon. They will play in front of Jacob Markstrom who has also been acquired. With Dougie Hamilton back from his season-ending injury, this group will be great.
New Jersey has stars like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier up front. However, they added guys like Stefan Noesen, Tomas Tatar, and Paul Cotter to their bottom six so that they could have some more depth.
It is a great roster on paper. Now, it's on Sheldon Keefe to bring them all together in his first year with the club.