You've seen our 2019 NHL Rank list, our projection of the top 50 players for the 2019-20 season. And now our experts weigh in on the results.

Which player was snubbed? Who was ranked too high or too low? And who is a lock to make the list in 2020? Let the debating begin.

Jump to:
Snubs | Too low | Too high
2020 locks | The complete list

Who was the biggest snub?

Mathew Barzal, C, New York Islanders. There's some recency bias here because his offensive numbers took a hit post-John Tavares and in coach Barry Trotz's defensive system, so let's take the long-range view: He's a top-30 player in goals (25.2) and wins above replacement (4.5) among forwards despite that. One of the most dynamic playmakers in the NHL, with an improving defensive game. -- Greg Wyshynski

Morgan Rielly, D, Toronto Maple Leafs. I was surprised not to see Rielly on the list. Perhaps he just gets overshadowed by the Maple Leafs' star-studded forward group. Rielly finished third in defensive scoring last season (72 points) and first in goals (20); he probably should have been a Norris Trophy finalist thanks to his strong overall play as well. -- Emily Kaplan

Ryan O'Reilly, C, St. Louis Blues. I'm not sure how we could leave off one of the league's best all-around centers. Coming off of a Selke Trophy and a Conn Smythe Trophy, I wonder if the potential for Stanley Cup hangover knocked him down our collective list. The guy finished 13th in Hart Trophy voting last season, and I think there are so few players who play the game as effectively as he does in all areas of the ice. -- Chris Peters

Sean Couturier, C, Philadelphia Flyers. What more does the guy have to do to get his proper due at this point? He had 33 goals and 76 points; he chewed up the sixth-most minutes among all forwards; he had a massive positive impact on his team's underlying numbers; he drew 13 more penalties than he took; and he rejuvenated Claude Giroux's career after it looked as if the Flyers icon's best days were behind him, by bumping him to the wing and taking the defensive responsibilities of a center off his plate. -- Dimitri Filipovic

Jamie Benn, C, Dallas Stars. The numbers aren't what they used to be, but Benn remains entrenched as the engine that drives the Stars. When asked who's toughest to compete against, skaters in the Western Conference most often reference the one-time Art Ross Trophy winner (along with Predators defenseman Roman Josi). That counts for a lot. Also, for what it's worth, many anticipate a rebound campaign, numbers-wise, from the 30-year-old Stars captain this season. -- Victoria Matiash

Our position ranking preview series continues as we look at the most important group of all, the goalies. Even more so than the others, there's many different things to consider when discussing this position.

Contrary to the idea in football that "if you have two quarterbacks you have none," NHL hockey is changing, and it's become vital not to be overly reliant on just one workhorse netminder. Having a strong pair is now the name of the game.

The tricky thing about evaluating the position is separating the performance of the goaltender from the defense and coaching in front of them. You don't want to heap all of the praise on a goalie playing behind a stingy, well structured team, and you also don't want to completely bury a goalie that's being hung out to dry by their skaters.

With that in mind, let's count down the goalie groups around the league from 31 to 1:

Jump to a team:
ANA | ARI | BOS | BUF | CGY | CAR | CHI
COL | CBJ | DAL | DET | EDM | FLA
LA | MIN | MTL | NSH | NJ | NYI
NYR | OTT | PHI | PIT | SJ | STL
TB | TOR | VAN | VGS | WSH | WPG

31. Ottawa Senators

Mirroring the rest of the Senators organization, it's been an awfully rough two seasons for Craig Anderson since his special 2016-17 performance. He's struggled to keep his head above the .900 mark in save percentage, and that's probably going to be the case again in 2019-20. He's carved out a genuinely impressive career for himself, but it wouldn't be surprising if this was it for him, considering his age and contract status.

Anders Nilsson was actually decent and had some strong performances after being acquired during the season, but we've seen this act from him enough times to be able to sniff it out and not buy into it. And even if that wasn't the case and he was legitimately good, it would be tough to sustain it behind this defense. There's going to be a lot of shots against, a lot of premium scoring chances, and plenty of goals against.

Anderson and Nilsson aren't going to be around by the time this franchise is competitive again, but I can see why they wouldn't want to subject prospects Marcus Hogberg or Filip Gustavsson or any other young goalie to this type of a morale-crushing situation.

30. Edmonton Oilers

The Mikko Koskinen contract extension was a fitting final act for Peter Chiarelli's glorious time in Edmonton, serving as one final stink bomb for someone else to have to try to clean up after him. Months later, it still seems surreal that an NHL team gave a 31-year-old with 31 career games at this level a three-year deal worth $13.5 million. It's tough to say what the best part was in hindsight: the idea that they needed to rush to do so during the season because there'd be other suitors lining up for a bidding war in the summer, or that Chiarelli was allowed to execute the negotiation before promptly being fired two days later.

After starting the season on a high note, Koskinen was a mess, completely falling apart in the second half as the Oilers mercilessly rode him into the ground because of a combination of not having better options and trying to justify their impulse buy. He had a .901 save percentage in 28 games following the extension.

Their brilliant idea to help shore things up in net this summer was to bring in 37-year-old Mike Smith, who is coming off a season when he was 53rd in save percentage (.898) and 47th in goals saved above average (-6.16) out of 60 qualified goalies, all while playing behind a significantly superior team. What could possibly go wrong?

29. Columbus Blue Jackets

I admire the way the Blue Jackets are handling their goalie situation this season. After Sergei Bobrovsky left in free agency, they fully embraced their new reality and will now attempt to find their next netminder organically from within the organization. Instead of taking a half measure and bringing in some recycled backup with a limited upside because that's what conservative NHL teams typically do, they're instead going to see what they have with a couple of unproven but intriguing young goalies.

Joonas Korpisalo has never really lived up to all of the prospect hype that made him one of the "next big things" in net in the eyes of evaluators, but he's still only 25 and has never really gotten a consistent look because of how much of the work Bobrovsky soaked up. It's impossible to know how numbers from the Swiss League will translate, but Elvis Merzlikins looks like an electric young player who's dominated all of the competition he's ever faced. There's more substance to him than just the name, but boy is the name ever good in and of itself. The Blue Jackets have Veini Vehvillainen and Daniil Tarasov in the pipeline, but both of them are a ways away.

It's tough to rank them highly heading into the season because of how much of an unknown they are at the moment, but there's legitimate upside, and that's more than we can say about a lot of other teams in this neighborhood.

28. Buffalo Sabres

Good for Carter Hutton. He made the NHL for the first time as a 29-year-old after signing as an undrafted free agent, and parlayed a hot 30-game stretch behind the Blues defense into a nice payday; he played 50 games in a season for the first time as a 33-year-old. That's not a career trajectory you'll see that often.

His numbers last season took a hit, but it's unfair to lay the blame on him considering how dreadful the Sabres group in front of him was during the second half of the season. I'd like to see them give Linus Ullmark more run to see what they have in him, because we already know what Hutton is at this point. But in reality, both guys are just keeping the seat warm until 20-year old Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is ready to shine.

27. Detroit Red Wings

I'm still waiting for a coherent explanation for why the Red Wings felt compelled to give Jonathan Bernier a three-year, $9 million deal in the first place. The only interesting thing here will be following how Jimmy Howard plays early on, and if he does well, which contender goes out and trades for him to fill a need in net. A team like the Sharks makes a lot of sense, but there's plenty of time between now and then.

The only thing we do know is that he will likely be traded at some point, barring injury. The one-year extension he signed doesn't contain any type of trade protection, and provides him with a $1.1 million playoff bonus. A future deal has never been telegraphed more clearly.

26. San Jose Sharks

I feel bad for crushing Martin Jones, because he's in an unenviable position.

Goalies playing for great teams really get the short end of the stick. They're expected to play well, and if the team wins it's because of all the talented skaters they have. But if they waver for a second and the team falls short of expectations, the fingers immediately get pointed at the goalie as every single mistake they made gets overanalyzed. The other caveat is that the Sharks make it difficult on a goalie because of the attacking style of game they play. They're aggressive, they're always pushing the envelope, and as a result they often surrender a lot of odd-man rushes and scoring chances coming back the other way.

All of that said, Jones wasn't remotely good enough last season. His .896 save percentage was ugly, and his -5.95 goals saved above average was just 46th out of 60 qualified goalies. For a team with Stanley Cup aspirations and for a goalie making $5.75 million annually, he needs to be better. Especially since the bar that this team needs to clear with its offense is so low. Even something hovering around league average would likely be good enough to push them over the top. Being a league-worst 31st in save percentage at 5-on-5 as well as all situations won't get it done.

25. Los Angeles Kings

Let's play a little blind résumé game from last season:

• Player A: 46 games played, .887 save percentage, -31.42 goals saved above average

• Player B: 42 games played, .926 save percentage, +12.56 goals saved above average

Player A had a $5.8 million cap hit and made $7 million in real dollars last season, and will continue to do so this season. Player B is actually two players combined, who combined to make $1.6 million. Player A is Jonathan Quick, and Player B is an amalgamation of Jack Campbell and Cal Petersen's stats.

We'll give Quick the benefit of the doubt because he was actually really good in 2017-18, and has been consistently above average even if he's been perennially overrated by his biggest defenders. But considering that he's turning 34 years old this season and playing for a team that's in full rebuild mode, the Kings are in a bit of a tricky situation when it comes to how they're going to divvy up their starts in net. You want to be respectful to a player that's done so much for your organization and is still a fan favorite, but you also want to get more looks at what you have in two younger and cheaper alternatives. Especially if they're going to kind of outperform the older option.

24. Minnesota Wild

No goalie was used more heavily than Devan Dubnyk was last season, and only Frederik Andersen and Sergei Bobrovsky have more total games to their names in the four seasons since he became a full-time starter in Minnesota. His statistical résumé last season is one of the more topsy-turvy ones of any goalie because of the imbalance between his traditional metrics and his underlying ones.

On the surface, he had a .913 save percentage, which was above league average. When you look at his goals saved above average, his -16.64 that he cost the Wild was 59th out of 60 qualified goalies, ahead of only Jonathan Quick. The explanation for that is that Corsica's model loved Minnesota's defensive stats as a team, having them at a league best expected goals against clip for the season.

The true measure of his performance is likely closer to the former because it's hard to believe that he was the second most negatively impactful goalie in the league, but it's an interesting disparity nonetheless. His actual talent level at this point of his career is somewhere around league average if not slightly above. The weird thing is the Wild's choice to attach themselves to Alex Stalock as his backup, because it presents next to no upside. I get why teams like Minnesota opt to do that -- allowing younger options like Kaapo Kahkonen to play full time in the AHL rather than sitting on the bench in the NHL and not being able to fully develop -- but it's still too safe, in my opinion.

23. Calgary Flames

David Rittich's first season in the NHL with anything close to a full workload can really be neatly broken down into two segments:

• Before the All-Star break: 30 games, .918 save percentage

• After the All-Star break: 15 games, .898 save percentage

If you're a glass-half-full type of person, you can chalk those splits up to a goalie that struggled adjusting to the physical and mental rigors of a full NHL season. If you're a glass-half-empty type of person, he was playing over his head in the beginning and eventually the league figured him out.

The Flames clearly seem to be in the camp of the former, because they chose to bring him back on a two-year deal without any real threat to his gig. With all due respect to Cam Talbot, he's had an awfully rough go of it the past two years after the Oilers blatantly rode him into the ground by playing him 80 times in a single season. Edmonton and Philadelphia weren't exactly the best situations in that time, so it makes sense that Calgary would be betting that they could salvage something productive out of him on a low-risk, one-year deal. The contract itself is low risk, but the decision to go this route with their goaltending is quite the opposite. The Flames should once again be considered a contender based on the talent of their roster, but there's quite a few question marks that still need to be answered in net before we can feel confident about them.

22. Philadelphia Flyers

Considering the history there, being tasked with the job of single-handedly putting an end to the goalie carousel in Philadelphia would be a daunting one for anyone. Especially for a 20-year-old with zero NHL experience coming in. But Carter Hart looked unphased by the entire situation last season once he was finally called up, and showed more than enough to inspire hope that the Flyers have finally found their guy.

The final stat line of a .917 save percentage over 31 games doesn't seem overly special, but when you account for the situation he was thrown into and how things were going before he got there (and that it was brought down by a couple of ugly isolated showings to end the campaign), it represents a massive improvement overall. After having to try out seven different goalies before they even got to him, just a little bit of consistency would go a long way in Philadelphia.

21. New Jersey Devils
20. Vancouver Canucks

These two teams belong together because they enter the season with similar situations in net. They each have a starting goalie who appeared to be a lost cause before ending last season in strong fashion, and young backups who have the pedigree and look like they're ready for a larger piece of the pie.

The Cory Schneider story is interesting. The Devils goalie used to be one of the most reliable goalies in the league before injuries sapped him of his abilities. Considering that he posted save percentages south of .910 in back to back seasons and went 14 months without a win, it was fair to wonder whether this was it for him at age 33. But by all accounts he's finally healthy now, and had a .921 save percentage in 17 games after the All-Star break.

Jacob Markstrom is younger and his situation was never as bleak, but he'd also never achieved the heights Schneider had nor the expectations people had for him when he broke into the league. His overall numbers last season for the Canucks were nothing special, but he similarly had a .920 save percentage in 23 games following the All-Star break. You don't want to throw away years of evidence after just 20-some-odd games, but if the reports that he fundamentally changed his game and the results followed are true, then there could be something here.

As for the backups, the Devils' Mackenzie Blackwood has proven more in the NHL, but Thatcher Demko was considered to be a better prospect coming up and had better numbers in the AHL before being called up. It remains to be seen just how many starts they'll each get this season, but considering all of the question marks about the goalies ahead of them on the depth chart, they should be remain ready for their call.

19. Carolina Hurricanes

Just like with pretty much everything else about this team, the Hurricanes' situation in net is a fascinating one. There's not many franchises that would be as gleeful about having the 14th best save percentage at 5-on-5 and 16th best overall as they are, but after what they had been through over the years, those figures represented a seismic leap in quality.

Maybe the most surprising part was the source of it however, considering that they had scooped Curtis McElhinney off waivers and signed Petr Mrazek to a one-year deal when no one else really wanted him. Considering how much their performances meant to the team, you would've understood if they'd been emotionally attached to the situation, potentially even overpaying just to bring the band back together. Instead they let McElhinney walk, lost goalie coach Mike Bales, and retained Mrazek on another below market two-year deal.

They replaced McElhinney with James Reimer, who fits the bill of a reasonable reclamation project. There clearly wasn't going to be room for him in Florida after the Panthers decided to go big on Bobrovsky, but they'd presumably already soured on him after his disappointing performance last season. I'm willing to give Reimer some leeway on that, because the situation in front of him was so bad that it was impossible for any goalie to really shine in that environment. He comes into a much better situation, one where he could conceivably steal the starting job if he regains his form. From the Hurricanes' perspective, the logic behind the moves completely checks out, and they made the most out of the cards they had in front of them. But as always, if there's one thing that's going to get in the way of Stanley Cup contention, it'll be the goaltending.

18. New York Rangers

There was once a time when the only three constants in life were death, taxes, and Henrik Lundqvist finishing the season with a save percentage above .920. It's been three seasons now since he's done that, but I won't completely attribute that downswing to his own decline. As he gets closer and closer to 40 years old and 1,000 career games played, the margin for error certainly continues to shrink, but I suspect the deteriorating supporting cast in front of him had a lot to do with it too. Even with the save percentages dipping, he's still been an above average netminder for the majority of that time when you account for the quantity and quality of shots to which he's been subjected.

What's interesting is that he actually had a .920 save percentage for the first two months of last season before they threw in the towel and starting trading talent away. Even if the roster is still a work in progress, the additions of Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox will help. As will forwards like Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko, who should do wonders for the team's possession game and keeping the puck out of the defensive zone.

It would be great for Lundqvist to have one last consequential chapter to his NHL story, but if this is it, let's just appreciate the insanely consistent excellence we've been treated to over the past decade-plus from him. To put the sheer volume of it all in perspective, here's the leaderboard for cumulative goals saved above average since 2007:

Henrik Lundqvist: +220.03
Jaroslav Halak: +99.61
Cory Schneider: +93.69
Sergei Bobrovsky: +89.51
John Gibson: +87.96
Corey Crawford: +76.19
Roberto Luongo: +70.96
Frederik Andersen: +58.17
Carey Price: +57.19
Tim Thomas: +48.93

17. Washington Capitals

The Capitals are rapidly approaching a weird crossroads with Braden Holtby. He's been an exceptional goalie over the years, which includes being one of the best playoff performers of all time. But he's now coming off of two straight regular seasons in which his play has dipped, and he just turned 30 years old. He's up for a new contract next summer and would presumably like to cash in handsomely one last time while he still can.

The issue for Washington is that they're eventually going to have to start thinking about the next chapter for their franchise and what that will look like when this entire core is no longer around. Just based on logistics, Holtby may very well be the first one of that group to go. Especially if top prospect Ilya Samsonov can regroup after a poor first season in North America, and show that he is indeed the goalie of the future.

16. Pittsburgh Penguins

It was encouraging to see the way Matt Murray turned his season around after a rough start, considering the miserable season that followed. He had an .877 save percentage in 11 games out of the gate, eventually ceding the crease to Casey DeSmith and missing some time with injury.

Once he came back he was awesome, putting up a .930 save percentage in 39 appearances the rest of the way. It's strange to think that he's only 25 years old given how long he's been in our lives and the impact he's had in the league, but it's an important thing to remember as we look ahead for him.

15. Arizona Coyotes

The clock is ticking on Antti Raanta. It's hard not to be smitten with the talent and the numbers on a per-game basis. Since coming into the league in 2013 he has the sixth best 5-on-5 and fifth best all-situations save percentage. If you could bottle that ability up and sprinkle it over a full season, you'd have something special.

However, showing up is a big part of the battle, and in Raanta's case he just can't seem to stay on the ice for an extended period of time. The 47 games he played in 2017-18 represented the only time he's ever been north of 30 in a single season, and he's never gone over 50 at any point, dating back to his career overseas. Speaking of 30, he's now officially on the wrong side of it, which is why the opportunities to finally be the player everyone thinks he can be are dwindling.

The good news for the Coyotes is that they have a strong defensive system, and a more than serviceable backup in Darcy Kuemper should Raanta get hurt again. It would be silly to expect Kuemper to replicate his performance from last season, considering he's never done anything close to that before -- the 55 games he played were a career high by a significant margin, and his .925 save percentage and +11.48 goals saved above average were both comfortably in the top 10 league-wide -- but he should be fine if needed. It would just be less than ideal if they needed him as much as they did last season.

14. Winnipeg Jets

The Jets have a lot invested in the idea that Connor Hellebuyck is legitimately good and a lock to be their goalie of the future. They made sure of that when they bet big on him in the summer of 2018, after the team made it all the way to the Western Conference final and he finished second in Vezina Trophy voting. Year 1 of his pricey six-year, $37 million extension didn't go exactly according to plan, with Hellebuyck posting a very average .913 save percentage and -0.94 goals saved above average.

It didn't help matters that Laurent Brossoit played out of his mind, finishing with a .925 save percentage and +12.64 goals saved above average. Similar to how the backup quarterback is the most popular man in an NFL town, weird things happen when the starting goalie starts getting outplayed by his understudy. Considering how financially invested the team is in one of them compared to the other, don't expect their usage to be flipped any time soon. That said, Hellebuyck has a lot to prove this season, and he's got his work cut out for him with Winnipeg's depleted blue line.

13. Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche let Semyon Varlamov walk in free agency this summer, and I think they're going to be just fine without him. Philipp Grubauer now becomes the starter, but he already took that job for himself during the stretch run last season. He was out of his mind in the final 25 games he played from March 1 on (including the playoffs), stopping 93.9% of the shots he faced and posting four shutouts. That's especially impressive considering that most of those games came against the Flames and the Sharks in the playoffs, two of the best offensive teams in the league.

It's slightly concerning that Grubauer has never played 40 games before in a regular season, but he might not have to play too much more than that this season if backup Pavel Francouz can keep doing what he's been doing his entire career. He may be an unknown in NHL circles, but he's a goalie who has been wildly effective at every stop thus far, whether it be the Czech league, the KHL or the AHL.

12. Vegas Golden Knights

He's been more than up to the task to this point, but it's a bit concerning how much the Golden Knights have relied upon Marc-Andre Fleury in the first two seasons of their existence, considering that he'll be 35 and reach 1,000 NHL games (including playoffs) this season. He's been excellent, but they haven't really been able to find a permanent source of quality starts on the nights he can't go:

• Fleury: 107 games, 64 wins, 12 shutouts, .919 save percentage, +20.65 goals saved

• All other Vegas goalies: 65 games, 30 wins, 2 shutouts, .898 save percentage, -20.3 goals saved

Malcolm Subban has shown flashes and he's still only 25 years old, but he's also running out of time to show that he's either the man for the job right now or someone who should firmly be in their plans once Fleury's usage inevitably needs to be dialed back. The Golden Knights are going to rip through the league this season and should be one of the most dominant 5-on-5 teams around. At this point, the only thing that can really slow them down appears to be Fleury's age, whether it be in the form of health or performance. Then again, there aren't too many teams out there that wouldn't have an issue if their No. 1 goalie went down.

11. St. Louis Blues

It feels weird to say that a player who finished second in Calder Trophy voting and led their team to a Stanley Cup has a lot to prove this season, but there will be a lot of eyes on Jordan Binnington to see how he follows up all of the success he enjoyed after bursting onto the scene.

As good as his regular season numbers look, and as huge as he was for the Blues when they needed him in big moments last postseason, it remains to be seen what his numbers will look like in Year 2 as the sample size grows and shooters get more tape on him. While it's not crazy on the surface to say that he's probably not a .927 save percentage goalie who posts a shutout one out of every six games like he did last regular season, the opinions of him and what his true talent level are vary wildly. It's worth noting that those numbers were largely inflated by a surreal 15 or so game stretch in January and February, after which he cooled off and posted a .912 save percentage in his final 12 regular season games from March 1 on.

What he has working for him is that he's in a great spot playing behind one of the best defensive teams in the league. That's why the Blues don't need him to be as good as he was last season, because they presumably won't dig themselves the same type of hole again. But they do need him to prove that he's a legitimately above average goaltender, because at this point I feel fairly confident saying that Jake Allen is not.

10. Chicago Blackhawks

Corey Crawford is a great goalie, but after he was only able to play 28 and 39 games in the past two seasons, it was imperative for the Blackhawks to find themselves a legitimate backup plan. Sending Cam Ward and Collin Delia out to the wolves 40-plus times again wasn't a palatable option.

Robin Lehner is an excellent contingency plan, coming off a special season with the Islanders. It'll surely be tougher sledding for him in Chicago, going from Barry Trotz's vaunted defensive system to a Blackhawks squad that had some issues under new coach Jeremy Colliton. They're hoping that a full offseason for the new coach to work with and implement his stuff, to go along with a couple of additions on the back end, will make a difference. It'll be hard for them not to be better defensively, but they'll still presumably need their goalies to bail them out more often than not.

This is a big season for Lehner. He didn't get the type of deal he wanted and thought he deserved this summer, and if he can prove that his play was legit and not just a byproduct of his surroundings, he'll be able to cash in big this time around.

9. Toronto Maple Leafs

You have to love Frederik Andersen and what he stands for in net. At a position that's known for its unpredictability and volatility from one season to the next, he's a stone cold lock for the same numbers every single season. That kind of consistency is really hard to come by, and it's admirable that he's able to go out and keep doing it time and time again. In his 300-plus games in the NHL, he has a .918 save percentage, and he's been somewhere between .917 and .919 in each of the past four seasons.

He's also started 60 or more games in each of his three seasons with the Leafs, which is becoming a rare feat in today's game. That said, the Leafs would do well to preserve him more carefully. No goalie has played more than he has since arriving. It's understandable why they're reticent to do so, however. The support in front of him can be a mess at times, and they haven't really been able to find a backup solution who can hold up well enough under that kind of fire.

While their playoff spot is safe and they can technically afford to give up a couple of extra points here and there if it'll mean a fresher version of Andersen in the postseason, they're also fighting with the Bruins and Lightning for the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Division and an easier playoff path. Considering that no goalie had a bigger positive impact than Andersen, according to Evolving Wild's wins above replacement model, you can see why Mike Babcock wants to use him as much as he can.

8. Montreal Canadiens

No one must have been more relieved than Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin last season when Carey Price turned it around and started looking like a much closer version of the goalie who was widely considered to be the best at his position not too long ago. In the first year of his eight-year, $84 million extension, Price emphatically put an end to his personal skid that had lasted for about a year and a half, and was excellent in the second half of the season.

From January 1 on, he stopped 92.8% of the shots he faced in those 36 games, compared to the .904 save percentage he had in the first 30 games. Considering both the size of the franchise's investment and the quality of the offenses at the top of their division, they'll need that to continue this season if they want to stay in the playoff hunt.

7. Florida Panthers

The Panthers were an absolute abomination defensively last season. They were arguably the most hopeless team this side of Chicago in that regard, so it's not surprising that they completely overreacted and zigged when the rest of the league is zagging. During a time when teams have realized that the volatility and unpredictability of the goalie position makes investing too heavily in it a risky proposition, the Panthers went all-in this summer. They drafted a goalie in the lottery for the first time since 2010 (Spencer Knight, who will play for Boston College this season), and then spent $70 million on Sergei Bobrovsky in free agency.

While there's no question that it was a crazy contract that will more than likely wind up coming back to haunt them at some point down the road, there's also no doubt that Bobrovsky will help fix a lot of their woes in the short term. They were 30th in both 5-on-5 and all-situations save percentage, and that'll rise by a fair margin. Even if Bobrovsky's overall numbers were down last season, the final stretch and postseason showed that he still has it. Just how much of a difference he'll be able to make is the question, especially if the team continues its sloppy ways in front of him.

6. New York Islanders

While the switch from Robin Lehner to Semyon Varlamov might be more of a downgrade than people think, because the latter has been a bigger name than actual performer of late (in the past four years, he has a .913 save percentage and only one above-average campaign), all that really matters here is that the Islanders are bringing Barry Trotz and Mitch Korn back. Look at the difference in the team's numbers from one season to the next, and the immediate effect that the system and structure the two of them brought to town had on the Islanders:

2017-18:

30th in 5-on-5 goals against

30th in 5-on-5 expected goals against

26th in 5-on-5 save percentage

31st in total goals against

30th in total expected goals against

28th in total save percentage

2018-19:

2nd in 5-on-5 goals against

7th in 5-on-5 expected goals against

1st in 5-on-5 save percentage

1st in total goals against

11th in total expected goals against

1st in total save percentage

They'll be a great test case for the argument that goalies are the NHL equivalent of running backs when it comes to the ability to plug and play as long as the right infrastructure is in place. Based on the track record of the two masterminds behind it, I wouldn't want to be the one betting against them.

5. Anaheim Ducks

Thank goodness Randy Carlyle and his possessionless brand of hockey are gone, because I don't know how much longer John Gibson could've survived under that barrage of rubber. There was a stretch early last season when he was playing the position as well as anyone I've ever seen, doing everything he humanly could to steal games and keep the Ducks alive. As good as he is, there was no way anyone could be expected to keep it up over a full season, and sure enough once he started to look like a mere mortal Anaheim completely imploded and wound up firing its coach.

He's still young and has lots of time ahead of him, so maybe it's too early to bemoan his lack of accolades, but it's still distressing to see how often he gets disrespected in year-end awards voting. Since becoming a regular he has a .921 save percentage, which is behind only Antti Raanta and Ben Bishop (the former of whom has played over 100 fewer games). In that time, his +83.73 goals saved above average according to Corsica's model is far and away the best in the league, well ahead of Corey Crawford and Sergei Bobrovsky. And yet he's only ever received one second place vote for the Vezina Trophy from the GMs voting, topping out with a seventh place finish back in 2016.

Aside from team success, which is out of his hands after a certain point, what more can he possibly do by now to get recognition as one of the best goalies in the world?

4. Nashville Predators

I know it's not happening as quickly as people would probably like, but rest assured that the Predators are still following through on the succession plan in net. Pekka Rinne's games played have been steadily dipping, going from 66 in 2015-16, to 61 in 2016-17, to 59 in 2017-18, down to 55 last season. We're still probably at least another season away from Juuse Saros clawing his way into a legitimate 50-50 split or even potentially overtaking Rinne, but that's just fine. The veteran has aged far more gracefully than we could've expected, having a remarkable season in 2017-18 and following it up by being quite good again last season. He was 12th in both save percentage and goals saved above average last season, so it's not like we should just be escorting him to the retirement home quite yet.

But I get why people are impatient, because Saros is going to be special. He has a .920 save percentage as a spot starter during the past three seasons, and his +23.59 goals saved above average in that time are good for the 14th best mark in the NHL, despite it being a cumulative stat that rewards volume. His 79 games played are well below anyone else's total in that ballpark, which just speaks to how dominant he's been when given a chance.

3. Dallas Stars
2. Boston Bruins

We're going to put these two together because of how eerily similar their approach, situation and results were last season. They both have stingy defensive structures, they both split their starts right down the middle between their two goalies, and they were both near the top of every goal suppression metric:

Stars:

5-on-5 save percentage: 2nd

5-on-5 goals against: 3rd

All-situations save percentage: 2nd

All-situations goals against: 2nd

Bruins:

5-on-5 save percentage: 3rd

5-on-5 goals against: 1st

All-situations save percentage: 7th

All-situations goals against: 3rd

Ben Bishop was incredible last season. His .934 save percentage was a league best, and only John Gibson had a better goals saved above average than his +24.66. The only knocks against his case for the Vezina were the 46 games played, and the fact that backup Anton Khudobin excelled behind the same defense.

As for Tuukka Rask, he clearly benefited from only starting 46 games himself come the postseason, ceding the rest to Jaroslav Halak. He was out of this world during Boston's playoff run, and was the main reason why the team came within one game of winning another Stanley Cup.

It takes having two options that you're comfortable with, which is easier said than done, but assuming that's the case it's no surprise that the smart teams are gravitating further away from workhorse goalies and more towards even-start shares. At such a physically and mentally taxing position, it helps increase the likelihood that you're keeping your players fresh, healthy, and optimizing their performances.

1. Tampa Bay Lightning

Just like everyone else across the roster, Tampa Bay's goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is ridiculously good. Whether or not you actually think his play thus far in the NHL has warranted him being considered the league's best puck stopper -- as the league's GMs did in awarding him the Vezina for last season -- there's no doubt that he's the most talented one. He possesses a freakish combination of size and explosiveness, which is a gushing description we typically reserve for skaters. But he's such a unicorn that it's almost impossible not to treat him as his own species. His limbs seem to keep going forever, and may as well be made of Jell-O because the angles at which they can contort are unbelievable. Whether it's because of how dominant the team in front of him is or because of how athletic he is, he sometimes seems to try to make saves more difficult than they need to be. It's an unnecessary habit, and likely a negative one, but boy does it look cool.

Considering that Vasilevskiy has dealt with some nagging injuries in the past and publicly admitted to fatigue following heavy usage, it was wise of Tampa Bay to go out and get a reliable backup in Curtis McElhinney to help soak up some starts this season. Considering that Louis Domingue won 21 of his 26 starts behind this team last season, it's without a doubt a pretty desirable gig for McElhinney, too.

Big questions. Bold predictions. Top prospects. Strengths and flaws. Breakout fantasy candidates. This is what you need to know for every team for the 2019-20 NHL season.

The teams are arrayed here by division; click through the link for each team to read the full guide to the season.

Jump to a team:
ANA | ARI | BOS | BUF | CGY | CAR | CHI
COL | CBJ | DAL | DET | EDM | FLA
LA | MIN | MTL | NSH | NJ | NYI
NYR | OTT | PHI | PIT | SJ | STL
TB | TOR | VAN | VGS | WSH | WPG

Atlantic Division

Boston Bruins

Can the bridesmaid become the bride, or is this "27 Dresses?"

The Bruins lost in the last possible game of the 2018-19 season to the Blues. Hey, it happens. The window remains wide open for coach Bruce Cassidy's club to being a title to those poor, championship-starved Boston sports fans -- at least for this season. But with Patrice Bergeron (34) and David Krejci (33) a year older and more fragile, with Tuukka Rask turning 33, with Brad Marchand turning 32 this season and with Zdeno Chara ... OK, he's basically immortal, but you get the point: The Bruins have an elite core that's getting up in years. Luckily, they're still elite, and surrounded by some brilliant young talent in players like David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy. Read the full Bruins preview.

Buffalo Sabres

Can Ralph Krueger pave over the potholes?

Krueger, 60, returns to the NHL with a formidable reputation and a thin hockey coaching résumé. He spent 48 games with the Oilers in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season before unceremoniously getting fired, to the protest of his young players. He was successful as coach of the Swiss national team and led Team Europe, aka one of only two teams that cared, to the World Cup of Hockey finals in 2016. What can he provide the Sabres? Hopefully the kind of system, structure and discipline that will paper over the holes in the Buffalo lineup. Jack Eichel is a star. Jeff Skinner scored 40 goals skating with him. Sam Reinhart and new arrival Marcus Johansson are consistent scorers. Last year's rookie sensation Rasmus Dahlin leads an improved defense, while Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark have potential in goal. But two and a half years into his tenure as general manager, Jason Botterill hasn't put together a roster with the kind of quality depth you need to make the playoffs in the East. Can Krueger compensate for that? Read the full Sabres preview.

Detroit Red Wings

How long before the Yzer-plan kicks in?

Detroit fans have been clamoring for Yzerman's return since he left for the Lightning's front office. He's preached patience since replacing Ken Holland, refusing to put a timeline on Detroit's return to respectability. Which means Steve Yzerman can definitely read an organizational depth chart. While the Wings have some established young players -- led by Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Bertuzzi, with Joe Veleno, Michael Rasmussen, Evgeny Svechnikov, Filip Zadina and Moritz Seider leading the next wave -- they're surrounded by some high-priced holdovers and veteran placeholders from the Holland era. (And, of course, Detroit goalie-for-life Jimmy Howard.) How many of these players are actually part of the Yzer-plan, as he puts his stamp on the Wings? Read the full Red Wings preview.

Florida Panthers

Does Joel Quenneville cure all ills?

Joel Quenneville has 890 coaching wins, second all-time to Scotty Bowman. He won three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks. He is, demonstrably, one of the best coaches in the history of the NHL. But what does that mean for the Florida Panthers? Can he sprinkle magic mustache dust on the roster and fix its general problems, like a defense that helped produced the second worst save percentage in the league (.891) last season and the sixth most goals against at even strength? This Panthers team is loaded with talent up front with Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck, Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman; some productive defensemen like Keith Yandle and Aaron Ekblad; and now they have one of the best goalies in the league after signing Sergei Bobrovsky. Can Q put it all together? Read the full Panthers preview.

Montreal Canadiens

Is this a playoff team?

The Canadiens are a confusing team, or in the more poetic French, an "équipe déroutante." They were one of the best even strength offensive teams in the NHL last season, finishing fifth in 5-on-5 goals (188), and a middle of the pack defensive team (15th). Their power play helped shot blanks, finishing 30th at a 13.2 percent conversion rate. One imagines they could have found three more standings points to make the playoffs had it not. There's some real talent up front here: Max Domi, Tomas Tatar, Brendan Gallagher, Jonathan Drouin (maybe), Phillip Danault and the delightful trio of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Armia. So they should put some pucks in the net. Carey Price and an improved defense should bring down a good, not great, goals-against average (2.88). There's a lot to like here, particularly under coach Claude Julien; the question is whether or not it's their time yet. Read the full Canadiens preview.

Ottawa Senators

Is this the worst team in the NHL?

The current over/under point total in Vegas for the Senators is 68.5, which honestly would be an improvement over their 64-point nadir last season. (One that, please recall, didn't even result in them getting a lottery pick as Colorado owned theirs from the Matt Duchene trade). This isn't a team expected to contend, nor built to do so: a collection of veteran placeholders (Artem Anisimov, Mikkel Boedker, Ron Hainsey), promising young players (Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk) and an organization waiting on a top 10 collection of prospects with a slew more on the way with their war chest of draft picks, including five in the first two rounds in 2020. Read the full Senators preview.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Have the Lightning learned their lesson?

"Utter humiliation" probably isn't a strong enough phrase to describe how the Lightning felt after their first-round loss at the hands of the Blue Jackets after one of the most dominant regular seasons in NHL history. The Stanley Cup was being fitted for their hands, and instead they were handed a broom by the Blue Jackets. It was a study in lack of poise, execution and that extra gear that teams must find in the postseason to win by any means necessary. On paper, the Lightning are the best team in hockey, full stop. This was the most egregious playoff collapse under coach Jon Cooper, but not the first. How do they get past that adversity? How do they learn how to win it all? Read the full Lightning preview.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Money, crime, drama ... can the NHL's biggest soap opera end with a Stanley Cup?

The Maple Leafs tend to get more attention than most teams, but the ongoing drama around their team for the past month has made the Leafs the talk of hockey:

• Can Toronto win anything with over $33 million in cap space dedicated to three forwards: Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Mitch Marner, the restricted free agent who broke the bank with the Leafs?

• Is Kyle Dubas in over his head, or has his constructed a one-and-done championship roster on a capped-out team?

• Can Toronto, and its fans, trust Matthews after his idiotic decision not to inform the team about his charges of disorderly conduct back in Scottsdale, Arizona, as his employer had to find out about it on Twitter?

• What happens if they have to play the Bruins in the playoffs again?

• Is Frederik Andersen a Cup-calber goalie?

So many questions. Win or lose, it's never boring in Toronto. Read the full Maple Leafs preview.

Metropolitan Division

Carolina Hurricanes

Was last season a fluke?

The Hurricanes shocked the league in the season's second half, and then in the playoffs as they not only snapped a nine-year playoff drought, but made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals, including knocking out the defending Stanley Cup champion Capitals in the first round and sweeping the Islanders in the second. "This year is really important," coach Rod Brind'Amour told ESPN in training camp. "We had a good year, but we have to back it up. You gotta keep it going. We're starting to get players who want to play here. The word's out. We have something special down here. If we build on that momentum, we're going to be OK. But if we go backwards, it's going to take longer to dig out." Read the full Hurricanes preview.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Was it all worth it?

By now you've heard, ad nauseum, about how the Blue Jackets decided to go all-in last season and mortgaged a bit of their future to do it. Now it's the aftermath. Yes, the Blue Jackets lost Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky (as expected), and no, Matt Duchene didn't re-sign. But it's not total doom and gloom on this roster. There is enough depth to keep this team competitive and maybe even shock some people. Read the full Blue Jackets preview.

New Jersey Devils

Is this a playoff team?

Taylor Hall, the 2018 league MVP, becomes a free agent next summer, and he says his biggest deciding factor will be playing for a team that's close to winning a Stanley Cup. So it doesn't feel like a coincidence that the Devils made significant upgrades this offseason. General manager Ray Shero accelerated his team's timeline after winning the 2019 draft lottery and the chance to select Jack Hughes. Shero then traded for P.K. Subban, a true top-pairing defenseman the Devils previously lacked, and added veteran power forward Wayne Simmonds and scoring winger Nikita Gusev. Is it enough? And can we expect the same MVP-level Hall after a season cut short due to a mysterious knee injury? Of course, all of it will be moot if goaltending cannot hold up. Read the full Devils preview.

New York Islanders

Can they replicate last season's goaltending?

Perhaps one of the summer's most shocking moves was the Islanders letting contract talks fall apart with Robin Lehner -- a finalist for the Vezina Trophy last season. (Lehner signed a one-year, $5 million deal in Chicago). The duo of Lehner and Thomas Greiss won the William Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals in the league. The Islanders clearly have faith in their system and heralded goaltending coach Mitch Korn, as they opted to sign Semyon Varlamov (three years older than Lehner, and five years removed from his Vezina finalist season). Can Greiss maintain his .927 save percentage, or is he due for a fall-back-to-Earth regression? Read the full Islanders preview.

New York Rangers

Is the rebuild over?

The Rangers infamously decided their winning window had closed in February 2018, as management parted with many familiar faces and stockpiled draft picks. Just 20 months later, is it possible they're back in the mix? An excited flurry of offseason moves has the Rangers at least relevant again. In the best-case scenario, the youngsters take a step forward and New York emerges as a dark-horse playoff team. More realistically, we see promise, but 2020-21 is when the Blueshirts actually level up. Read the full Rangers preview.

Philadelphia Flyers

Have the Flyers finally figured out the goaltending?

The Flyers were one of the league's biggest disappointments in 2018-19, and a lot of the blame fell on the cast of rotating goaltenders (rightfully so). No team should have to cycle through eight netminders in a season. Of course that masked other issues, like slumping seasons for several players and an overall leaky defense. The blue line did play with more structure and confidence when Hart finally got in net. GM Chuck Fletcher says he expects a 70-30 split between Carter Hart and Brian Elliott; it's unclear who gets the larger load just yet. But Hart, the vaunted prospect, finally gets his chance to show he can be the true No. 1. Does that mean a decades-long problem is finally solved? Read the full Flyers preview.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Will the Galchenyuk-for-Kessel trade be worth it?

The Penguins never found their stride last season, and their worst deficiencies were exposed in an ugly first-round sweep at the hands of the Islanders. GM Jim Rutherford knew he needed to make a change to the culture. So he sent Phil Kessel, one of his most productive forwards, to Arizona. "It was just time to make a change with him," Rutherford said after the deal. "I tried to accommodate him with a place he wanted to go, so it worked out that way." In return, Pittsburgh got Alex Galchenyuk, a 25-year-old who was the No. 3 pick in 2012 and is brimming with potential -- but has yet to translate it to NHL success. Read the full Penguins preview.

Washington Capitals

Could this be the end for the core?

Alex Ovechkin, 34, is under contract for the next two seasons, so we have at least a year until speculation begins on whether he wants to re-sign or head home to Russia. However, Nicklas Backstrom, 31, and Braden Holtby, 30, are both free agents next summer; they both would like to stay in Washington but have yet to work out extensions. The Capitals are still expected to be a dangerous team in 2019-20, but the next few months will be telling for GM Brian MacLellan's long-term vision for his franchise, and if he's ready to embrace a more youthful movement. Read the full Capitals preview.

Central Division

Chicago Blackhawks

Did the team do enough to improve the blue line?

It's no secret that defense was an issue for the Blackhawks, who allowed 3.55 goals per game, second worst in the league, and missed the playoffs for the second straight year. (They also endured massive change, moving on from the legendary Joel Quenneville to rookie head coach Jeremy Colliton early in the season.) GM Stan Bowman, constantly strapped by the salary cap, made a few tweaks to make the blue line better, including trading for Calvin de Haan (Carolina) and Olli Maatta (Pittsburgh). The real issue is that the Blackhawks are overcrowded and need to eventually pave the way for bright young prospects like Adam Boqvist and Ian Mitchell. Read the full Blackhawks preview.

Colorado Avalanche

Are the Avs ready to level up?

In the 2017-18 season, the Avs arrived ahead of schedule and made a surprise playoff run. In 2018-19, they showed they could sustain it, and again exceeded expectations. The challenge this season? Living up to the hype. The Central is a grinder of a division, so the Avalanche don't have an easy task. Cale Makar looked like a natural in the playoffs, jumping in days after his college season ended and scoring in his first game. Colorado is excited to welcome the rookie defenseman for his first full season as a pro. Also new this season: Philipp Grubauer finally assumes the No. 1 role in net. Read the full Avalanche preview.

Dallas Stars

Are we going to see more offense?

Despite being a playoff team, the Stars' offense stank in 2018-19. Dallas finished 29th in the NHL with just 209 goals. Getting more goal scoring was a priority for general manager Jim Nill this offseason. He made a splash, inking former Sharks captain Joe Pavelski to a three-year deal -- one of the best moves of the summer, for any team -- and also took a flier on Corey Perry, who was bought out by the Ducks and looking to fully rebound after undergoing surgery for a torn meniscus and MCL last season. That should definitely help the offense, but is it enough? There's no question the Stars got better for 2019-20. The problem is, so did a lot of the Central Division. Read the full Stars preview.

Minnesota Wild

How much damage did Paul Fenton do?

OK, that sounds a little dire. But Fenton's 14-month tenure as GM was memorable -- for the wrong reasons. Between a trade that immediately didn't age well and trades that didn't happen (and immediately got leaked), the morale and talent level on the Wild aren't as great as they should be. Owner Craig Leipold recognized this and moved on from Fenton just one month after free agency, hiring Bill Guerin as a replacement. Guerin has an excellent reputation from his time as an assistant general manager in Pittsburgh, but nobody knows how he will do now that he's in charge. The bright side? He has a low bar to clear. Read the full Wild preview.

Nashville Predators

Is Duchene the missing piece?

After advancing to their first Stanley Cup Final in 2017, the Predators were never able to live up to expectations thereafter. In fact, over the last two seasons, it felt like their product got stale -- especially in the playoffs, when the Preds fizzled out in back-to-back years. We know Nashville has long had its heart set on a dependable No. 2 center. When it became apparent that Kyle Turris wasn't going to be that guy, GM David Poile attempted again. This time, Poile signed Matt Duchene, a player he had long coveted, but the cost was significant. To free up cap space, Poile shipped P.K. Subban to New Jersey. Duchene told ESPN he doesn't think he'll be compared to Subban because it's not like they were traded one-for-one ... but it's hard not to draw a correlation. (The team also has to save cap space for an eventual Roman Josi extension). Read the full Predators preview.

St. Louis Blues

Is this team going to be spent after last year's Stanley Cup run?

We all know just how hard it is to repeat in the modern NHL. There's a reason so few teams can do it (and why it was so rare the Penguins pulled it off recently). The Blues' 26-game playoff run was taxing -- especially since they were playing such a heavy brand of hockey -- and many players spent the summer not only celebrating but recovering from significant injuries. If there's anyone who can inspire a group to plow through a shortened offseason, have faith in Craig Berube, who whipped this team into a disciplined shape after taking over as interim coach in the middle of the season. Read the full Blues preview.

Winnipeg Jets

Will Byfuglien return?

It feels like nothing in the Jets' offseason went well. Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine were the two important restricted free agents, and neither signed a deal by the start of training camp (though both have signed since). The Jets traded one of their best defensemen, Jacob Trouba, to New York (they knew they likely wouldn't re-sign him) then saw another two blue-line regulars (Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot) sign elsewhere in free agency. And then on the eve of training camp, it was announced that top defenseman Dustin Byfuglien was taking a leave of absence from the team, reportedly to ponder his future. A team that looked like a juggernaut just one year ago is riddled with uncertainty. Read the full Jets preview.

Pacific Division

Anaheim Ducks

Was coaching the problem?

Dallas Eakins has one key advantage in taking over the Ducks as head coach, in that he's not Randy Carlyle. GM Bob Murray let his beleaguered coach linger behind the bench far too long, as an injury-plagued Ducks team lurched to a 21-26-9 record before his dismissal. Eakins was promoted after a few strong seasons with the AHL San Diego Gulls, and many of the players on the roster have already played for him, which is always an advantage. Can he and assistant coach Darryl Sutter -- still getting used to that, by the way -- find a way to meld the teams' returning veterans like Ryan Getzlaf, Adam Henrique, Jakob Silfverberg and Richard Rakell with their younger forwards? Is the talented blue line plus goalie John Gibson a sturdy foundation on which to build a contender this season? Or is this a franchise in transition? Read the full Ducks preview.

Arizona Coyotes

Can Kessel ignite the offense?

The Coyotes scored 2.55 goals per game last season, which ranked 28th in the NHL. Part of the problem: a woeful 8.3 shooting percentage, which was third worst in the league. Need goals? Go get a goal-scorer, which is what GM John Chayka did in acquiring right wing Phil Kessel, who had fallen out of favor with the Penguins after helping them to two straight Stanley Cups. Only 14 players in the NHL have scored more goals than Kessel's 172 since 2013, and the trade reunites him with Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet, who helped get the best out of Phil in Pittsburgh as an assistant. He may not solve all the Coyotes' problems, but the durable forward -- our sweet Phil hasn't missed a game since 2010 -- certainly addresses their hunger for goals. Read the full Coyotes preview.

Calgary Flames

Can this goaltending be trusted?

The Flames were a huge surprise last season in Bill Peters' first campaign behind the bench, earning 107 points before getting absolutely rolled in the playoffs by the Avalanche in five games. The problem in the postseason was the offense, which sputtered to seven goals in four straight losses. Mike Smith played all five games and was actually not bad, as the Flames had a .947 even-strength save percentage in the series. He's in Edmonton now, with Cam Talbot in Calgary to back up last season's regular-season darling David Rittich (27-9-5, .911 save percentage). Both of their underlying numbers last season don't encourage much confidence, as Rittich was just 2.5 goals saved above average and Talbot is sub-replacement. Outside of the Hurricanes, no team has a more promising lineup potentially sabotaged by shoddy goaltending than the Flames. Read the full Flames preview.

Edmonton Oilers

Can Tippett plaster over all the holes on McDavid's team?

When Dave Tippett was the head coach of the Coyotes, he was famous for taking reedy rosters and molding them into respectable playoff contenders, usually by solidifying their defense. He replaces Ken Hitchcock after the Oilers finished 25th in goals against in consecutive seasons. Edmonton does not have a playoff-caliber roster, despite having the best offensive hockey player on the planet, Connor McDavid, on it. Can Tippett get more out of this group than Hitchcock and Todd McLellan could? Read the full Oilers preview.

Los Angeles Kings

How long is this going to take?

The Kings are caught in that purgatory between their years as a veteran championship contending team and having their next generation of players ready for the NHL. The names you know: Forwards Anze Kopitar (32), Ilya Kovalchuk (36), Dustin Brown (34), Jeff Carter (34), defenseman Drew Doughty (29) and goalie Jonathan Quick (33). The names you'll know in a couple of years: Forwards Alex Turcotte (18), Rasmus Kupari (19) and Arthur Kaliyev (18), and defenseman Tobias Bjornfot (18). It's a team in transition. But having a few players reverse their substandard performances from last season could mean the Kings are a bit more respectable under new coach Todd McLellan. Read the full Kings preview.

San Jose Sharks

Is the window to win a Stanley Cup still open?

There were times last season when it felt like the Sharks' year, and not only because of that Game 7 major penalty miracle against Vegas and other breaks that fell their way in the postseason. But their loss to the eventual Cup champion Blues led to an offseason of significant change for the Sharks: center Joe Pavelski, a heart and soul player for the franchise since 2006, left for the Stars. The Sharks are going to be good, but they're going to be different, even if Joe Thornton still has the locker closest to the door for another season. Read the full Sharks preview.

Vancouver Canucks

Are the Canucks ready to jump to the bubble?

Despite some strong young offensive players, the Canucks were 26th in the NHL last season in goals per game (2.67). They've added some pop to their forward group and their defense corps in the offseason that should help address that. Jacob Markstrom and Thatcher Demko can be a solid goaltending battery. The pieces are starting to come together under one of the NHL's best young coaches in Travis Green, but can the Canucks level up and contend for a playoff spot? Read the full Canucks preview.

Vegas Golden Knights

Is this the West's Stanley Cup favorite?

The Golden Knights shocked the world by making the Stanley Cup Final in Year 1. They bolstered their lineup in their second season with veteran standouts -- Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty in the summer, Mark Stone at the trade deadline -- and then were stunned by the Sharks in that epic penalty killing fail (on a penalty that shouldn't have been called) in Game 7 of the first round. As their third season dawns, does it all come together? Two great lines, quality depth and a goaltender that can still carry this team deep in the postseason. Underlying stats, like a 54.66 expected goals percentage. Is it Knight time? Read the full Golden Knights preview.

Cameron Champ’s victory at the Safeway Open boosted him 100 spots in the latest edition of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Champ is now 70^th, from 170^th at week’s start, the highest ranking of his young career. He jumped 101 spots, to 121^st, following his maiden Tour triumph last year at the Sanderson Farms.

Adam Hadwin, the runner-up in California, moved inside the top 50, from 64^th to 48^th.

The week’s other big winner, Victor Perez, is now two spots behind Champ in the rankings. Perez won his first European Tour title at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship to move from 184^th to 72^nd.

Phil Mickelson missed the cut at the Safeway and dropped one spot, to 44^th. He hasn’t been outside the top 50 in the world since November 1993.

There was only a minor shift inside the top 10, where Francesco Molinari fell from ninth to 11^th, and Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau, respectively, bumped up a spot.

Here’s the current top 10, in order: Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Tiger Woods, Schauffele, DeChambeau.

In-play driver testing began this season on the PGA Tour and at last week’s Safeway Open multiple players were deemed to be using non-conforming drivers, according to one source with knowledge of the testing.

The source didn’t know how many drivers failed the CT (characteristic time) test, which uses a pendulum to measure the amount of microseconds a metal ball is in contact with the face when it’s swung against it, but according to a Reuters story five players had drivers that were deemed non-conforming.

“Unannounced” driver testing, which is conducted at Tour events by the USGA, began this season and the Tour held an informational session during the season-opening Military Tribute at The Greenbrier earlier this month. But some players were still surprised by last week’s test.

According to a source, the testing was conducted last Monday and Tuesday at the Safeway Open and the Tour notified each player’s manufacturer if a driver was found to be non-conforming.

A spokesman for the Tour declined to comment on the Reuters report or any aspect of driver testing.

Driver testing became an issue at this year’s Open Championship when in-play testing revealed that Xander Schauffele’s driver had become non-conforming as a result of “creep” that occurs during a club’s normal use and can push the tolerances beyond the allowed limits.

Players were informed of the new testing in a Sept. 3 memo.

“While this testing program will test the clubs in use by players on the PGA Tour out of necessity, it is important to note that the focus of the program is not on the individual player but rather on ensuring conformity level of each club model and type throughout the season,” the memo read. “We will seek to spread the testing throughout all regular Tour members over the course of a season.”

Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard has said he is not affected by criticism but admitted he can produce much better performances for the club.

Hazard missed the first three La Liga games through injury but since his return, he has failed to demonstrate the form that made Madrid spend an initial £88.5 million to sign him from Chelsea in the summer.

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The forward said he is back to full fitness and asked for patience as he attempts to get back to his best.

"I feel good and strong," he told a news conference ahead of Real Madrid's Champions League match against Club Brugge on Tuesday. "It's true that people expect a lot from me and so do I. I can do better. I'm critical of myself and I'm working every day to achieve great things because we have a great squad.

"We're top of the league. Right now, I'm 100% fit and I hope to give my best in the upcoming matches.

"Like I said in my first press conference, I'm still not a galactico, I have to be the one to prove that I can become one.

"We all know the last No. 7 at this club and I have to be the one who proves I can be the best in the world, to enjoy myself and give my all not just in matches but training too. I don't doubt myself, I'm confident. Right now, I'm only lacking the goals and being more decisive. Football is all about confidence."

Hazard was unable to prevent Madrid losing 3-0 against Paris Saint-Germain in their opening Champions League game but he hopes his home debut in the competition can be better.

"I can see my debut consisting of lots of goals and an important victory," he added.

"It's not going to be an easy match, it'll be tough. After losing in Paris, we have no choice but to win tomorrow. "Brugge are a great team, top of their league and doing a great job.

"They have quality players. Having [Simon] Mignolet is a great reference. They are going to try to win the match. Don't think that it will be an easy match because it's a Belgian team."

Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane defended Hazard and pointed out that he experienced difficulties adapting to Italian football when he signed for Juventus in 1996.

"The same thing happened to me," he told a news conference. "I'm relaxed, I knew it was going to take time for him to adapt and it was worse when I moved to Italy because it took me three months, but less in Madrid.

"Hazard is the same, I know that he's going to succeed here and the most important thing is to calmly accompany him and we'll definitely see an improvement.

"I'm not going to give him any advice on how to play or where he has to be. We know him as a player, he's important for us and we love Eden. It's good that he's not going to change. I'm not worried because I know he'll be very good and we have to be patient with new players."

Former United States men's coach Jurgen Klinsmann has said Christian Pulisic needs to become "nasty" to succeed at Chelsea.

Klinsmann, who oversaw Pulisic's development at national level, said he admired the 21-year-old's decision to move from Borussia Dortmund to England, but acknowledged the winger must do more to fit into the Premier League.

"You never know it's the right fit unless you do it," Klinsmann said.

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"Christian did well to say: 'I'm going to throw myself in another cold water, go over to London and throw myself in the Premier League, and I have to fight through the system there.' So that's what he's in.

"He's a very special player, he's tremendously talented, but this is a big step, because Borussia Dortmund was also basically the club where he got formed into a professional player.

"He came out of the youth system there, he moved himself up, he had all the support within the club and now going to London -- also to one of the biggest clubs in the world -- you got to bring your elbows out."

Pulisic spoke this week about his frustration at his lack of playing time at Chelsea, but Klinsmann said he believed he has the ability to fight for a place in Frank Lampard's team.

"He will go through a phase now where more and more he needs to bring his elbows out to fight himself through the system there," Klinsmann said. "Can he do it? Yes, absolutely he can do it, but you need to be patient too, sometimes you forget he's a very young player.

"You're basically in a daily competition. Maybe in Dortmund he knew: 'I established myself already within the club to be a very special player. I get my minutes in, I get my games in, I'm a starter most of the time.'

"You don't have that automatic assurance at Chelsea. At Chelsea it goes from game to game, week to week. You're basically in training and you have to tell the coach: 'I'm in, I'm going to start this game.' So it's a little bit more cold, it's a bit more nasty.

"What I mean with the elbows is that you have to become nasty in order to make yourself a starter."

Pulisic signed for Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund in January, but was immediately loaned back to the Bundesliga side before joining the Blues this summer. ESPN+ will be the new home of the Bundesliga in the United States after reaching a multi-year agreement that will begin in August of 2020. The deal will include more than 300 top-flight games each season on ESPN+ and ESPN networks, as well as live streams of the DFL Supercup and relegation playoffs matches.

Pulisic joined Chelsea for a fee of £54 million and has not yet scored in six appearances for the club in all competitions, but Klinsmann emphasised the player's ability, which he said he saw from a young age.

"He got the European passport because of the Croatian roots within his family," Klinsmann said. "There was a little bit of a fear -- he got the chance to play for Dortmund because the European passport was there, but we also wanted to make sure that he was in the U.S. forever.

"He assured us: 'No worries at all.' But we made sure, so we played him very early as a 17-year-old just to lock him in. When you see this type of a talent, even if he's only 16 or 17-years-old... I saw him at 15 in Florida at one of these showcase tournaments in December, where and two or three other kids were then brought over to Europe and left the United States at a very early age.

"When you see that type of talent, you got to make sure that he's playing then for your national team. He evolved exactly the way we wished him to evolve."

ESPN+ will be the new home of the Bundesliga in the United States after reaching a multi-year agreement that will begin in August 2020.

The deal will include more than 300 top-flight games each season on ESPN+ and ESPN networks, as well as live streams of the DFL Supercup and relegation playoff matches.

The league has become a go-to destination for young American talent in recent years, boasting the likes of U.S. internationals Weston McKennie (FC Schalke 04), Tyler Adams (RB Lepzig), Zack Steffen, and Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen).

"With a strong connection to the American soccer community, a growing audience in the U.S. and some of the most well-known clubs and players in the world, the addition of the Bundesliga further cements ESPN+ as a must-have for any soccer fan," ESPN+ Executive Vice President and General Manager Russell Wolff said in a statement.

When asked why the league has become so attractive to the brightest young U.S. stars, former USMNT boss and Bundesliga spokesman Jurgen Klinsmann told ESPN: "I think the Bundesliga is a league that traditionally always gives a chance to young players coming through the ranks.

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"It's always based on performance. When an American player comes overseas and he performs, he gets a chance to play. There's not much politics involved, the coaches are usually pretty straight forward and so if the kid understands 'it's all down to my performance and I get a chance,' then the Bundesliga is the place to be."

The agreement will also feature rights to highlights which will be available across ESPN programming, on the ESPN App and ESPN.com.

Bundesliga International CEO Robert Klein said the partnership is a perfect lead-in to the 2026 World Cup which will be staged in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

"[ESPN] will help us build on the strong connections the Bundesliga has with the U.S. having welcomed more American players than any other European league," he said.

"Germany will continue to be an important source of talent for future US national teams and with ESPN we're incredibly excited to take fans on their journey in the lead up to their home World Cup in 2026."

The penultimate week of the MLS season delivered plenty of the weird and wild that we've come to expect from a league that values parity over everything else. Even a historically great team is having a bit of trouble seeing out the regular season (though, to be fair, LAFC doesn't have a lot left to play for.)

The upshot of the week is that we head into Decision Day with plenty of weirdness still available. Sure, all of the Eastern Conference playoff spots are spoken for, but getting a home playoff game in the new format is kind of a big deal.

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Out West, the land of wide-open spaces -- we're looking at you, Galaxy back line -- there are still two playoff spots unclaimed and four teams still in the hunt. We're rubbing our hands together and cackling with glee over the possibilities. The playoffs are on the line, after all. So, without further ado, for the second-to-the-last time ... RANK.

Previous rankings: Week 29 | Week 28 | Week 27 | Week 26 | Week 25 | Week 24 | Week 23 | Week 22 | Week 21 | Week 20 | Week 19 | Week 18 | Week 17 | Week 16 | Week 15 | Week 14 | Week 13 | Week 12 | Week 11 | Week 10 | Week 9 | Week 8 | Week 7 | Week 6 | Week 5 | Week 4 | Week 3 | Week 2 | Week 1

1. LAFC (20 wins, 9 draws, 4 losses)

Previous ranking: 2

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. Colorado, (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

On Sunday, Carlos Vela scored goal No. 31 of the season to tie Josef Martinez's record, but the bigger story might be LAFC's inability to win down the stretch. Wednesday's victory over Houston doesn't do much to quell the chatter that Bob Bradley's team looks nothing like the invincible side we saw for much of the season, especially after the draw with Minnesota.

2. New York City FC (17-10-6)

Previous ranking: 1

Next MLS match: Sunday at Philadelphia, (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

The Pigeons scored a win against Atlanta but looked less good against New England on Sunday. That said, they were good enough to hold on to No. 1 spot in the East (though not in these rankings), NYCFC claimed top seed a week early thanks to Columbus' win over Philadelphia.

3. Atlanta United (17-4-12)

Previous ranking: 4

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. New England (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

After losing in New York on Wednesday, the test for the Five Stripes was to prove they could win without Josef Martinez. They didn't do that, but they did pick up a point and pull ahead of Philly on the tiebreaker for second in the Eastern Conference. Confidence is still a question.

4. Philadelphia Union (16-7-10)

Previous ranking: 3

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. NYCFC (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

While Atlanta was playing to a disappointing draw with the Impact, Philly had a chance to consolidate second place in the Eastern Conference. Instead, the Union took one of those losses fans can only hope doesn't portend a dip in form at exactly the wrong time.

5. Minnesota United (15-8-10)

Previous ranking: 8

Next MLS match: Sunday at Seattle (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

The Loons closed out their home schedule with a win against Sporting KC and a strong performance against LAFC; they will now have a chance to secure the second seed in the West on the road in Seattle next week. There's not much more you could ask for as a United fan in 2019.

6. Toronto FC (12-11-10)

Previous ranking: 5

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. Columbus (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

The difference between a win and a draw on Sunday against the Fire for TFC was the difference between going into Decision Day holding a top four spot and fighting to climb over two teams for one on the final day. The Reds are now counting on Montreal and FC Cincinnati to play spoiler... it's far from ideal.

7. Seattle Sounders (15-8-10)

Previous ranking: 9

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. Minnesota (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

A late Jordan Morris tally in San Jose sets up a massive showdown with Minnesota United on Decision Day with second place in the West on the line. Tip of our cap (it's a bowler, FYI) to Morris, who has bounced back from missing all of 2018 with a 10-goal season.

8. D.C. United (13-10-10)

Previous ranking: 6

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. FC Cincinnati (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

File the performance in New Jersey under "good enough" for United, save for one fact (more on that in a second). The draw gives United the inside track for a home playoff game going into Decision Day vs. Cincinnati. The only problem? Wayne Rooney will miss the game due to suspension for picking up a yellow card.

9. New England Revolution (11-12-10)

Previous ranking: 11

Next MLS match: Sunday at Atlanta (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

The Revs made the playoffs. They'll be going on the road in the first round, but the fact that they're in at all is remarkable. We'll leave it to noted wordsmith Bruce Arena to sum up the achievement with a quote following the win over New York: "As they say, [expletive] happens."

10. Colorado Rapids (12-6-15)

Previous ranking: 15

Next MLS match: Sunday at LAFC (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

The Rapids are clinging to their playoff chances by a fingernail, and it's going to be really difficult not to root for them on Decision Day. Considering the historically poor start to the season Colorado had, just being in the hunt on the last day of the regular season is a Rocky Mountain miracle.

11. Real Salt Lake (15-5-13)

Previous ranking: 12

Next MLS match: Sunday at Vancouver (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

The MLS team most likely to be the subject of a telenovela secured a playoff spot Sunday with a win over Houston following a midweek loss to the Galaxy. Considering all the "outs" happening in Utah, for the team on the field to chalk up an "in" is something of an upset.

12. LA Galaxy (16-3-14)

Previous ranking: 7

Next MLS match: Sunday at Houston (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

At RSL, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 28th goal of the season to secure a playoff berth; against Vancouver on Sunday he scored his 29th, but the defence didn't hold up its end of the bargain against the Whitecaps as a late goal in the 4-3 defeat pushed the Galaxy from third place to fourth in the West. GACK. Double gack. So much gack.

13. New York Red Bulls (14-6-13)

Previous ranking: 10

Next MLS match: Sunday at Montreal (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

All that momentum coming in and all the Red Bulls could manage was a goalless draw with DC United. New York now needs to beat Montreal and have DC to fall to Cincinnati on Decision Day to get a home game at Red Bull Arena in the first round of the playoffs.

14. Portland Timbers (13-7-13)

Previous ranking: 13

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. San Jose (4 p.m. ET, watch live on ESPN)

The Timbers are never boring, that much is certain. A wild and angry affair in Kansas City ended in a draw, which means Portland will play the Quakes on the final day of the season with their playoff lives in their hands, but without the suspended Brian Fernandez.

15. FC Dallas (12-9-12)

Previous ranking: 14

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. Sporting (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

With no wins in four, a 3-0 hammering by Colorado made it another bad week in Texas. But they're still in contention for a West playoff spot. Just.

16. Columbus Crew (10-8-15)

Previous ranking: 18

Next MLS match: Sunday at Toronto (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

It was a season of mild disappointment and brighter silver linings for the Crew. The ultra-competitive Caleb Porter is naturally disappointed in missing the playoffs but with new ownership and the excitement of a stadium under construction, 2020 figures to be better.

17. San Jose Earthquakes (13-5-15)

Previous ranking: 16

Next MLS match: Sunday at Portland (4 p.m. ET, watch live on ESPN)

The Quakes will have a chance to make the playoffs on Decision Day, but it's hard not to think about how much grief they could have saved themselves if they had avoided the late season nosedive. Now a trip to Portland looms with everything on the line.

18. Vancouver Whitecaps (8-10-15)

Previous ranking: 19

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. RSL (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

The feisty Caps from last week stayed feisty on Sunday, pulling out a win against the Galaxy and potentially spoiling Zlatan & Co.'s chances at a home playoff game. That's something!

19. Chicago Fire (9-12-12)

Previous ranking: 17

Next MLS match: Sunday at Orlando (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

The dream died for the Fire a week before the end of the regular season, but there's plenty to look forward to in the offseason. The Fire need to start packing for the move back to Soldier Field, so they're probably out hunting for boxes as we speak.

20. Orlando City (9-10-14)

Previous ranking: 21

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. Chicago (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

A late equalizer against FC Cincinnati saved the Lions from an embarrassing defeat but it couldn't save them from being eliminated from playoff contention. Yet another season, yet another repetition of the question, "What now?"

21. Houston Dynamo (11-4-18)

Previous ranking: 20

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. LA Galaxy (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

Neither LAFC nor RSL was having any of this "Zombie Houston" business.

22. Sporting Kansas City (10-8-15)

Previous ranking: 22

Next MLS match: Sunday at FC Dallas (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

The performance by Sporting on Sunday was "spirited," which is better than the alternative. Roger Espinoza set a record ... for most red cards in an MLS career.

23. FC Cincinnati (6-5-22)

Previous ranking: 23

Next MLS match: Sunday at DC United (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

One more game to go before FCC is no longer a first-year MLS franchise struggling to figure it out. The bad news is that Cincinnati now holds the record for most goals conceded in an MLS season after letting in an equalizer to Orlando City.

24. Montreal Impact (11-5-17)

Previous ranking: 24

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. Red Bulls (4 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+)

We regret to inform you that the Montreal Impact season is now deceased.

Western Australia 6 for 210 (Shaun Marsh 82, Nair 2-18) beat New South Wales 7 for 235 (Hughes 112*, Henriques 75, Coulter-Nile 3-47) by eight runs (DLS method)

Nathan Coulter-Nile and Andrew Tye used all their experience to secure Western Australia a nail-biting eight-run win over New South Wales on the DLS method to put them top of the Marsh Cup table.

For much of the afternoon, it looked as though Daniel Hughes would take New South Wales to victory as they chased a DLS target of 244 following a two-hour rain delay during Western Australia's innings. However, when his 142-run stand with Moises Henriques was broken in the 24th over, the rest of New South Wales' middle order could not quite keep up the tempo, leaving Hughes' 112 off 96 balls in vain.

Following a sluggish start to the chase, which included Jack Edwards being caught at point, New South Wales were never comfortably ahead of the rate despite the crisp stroke play of Hughes and Henriques, which meant that when wickets started to fall, Western Australia were back in the game.

Coulter-Nile had Henriques caught in the deep and then returned to bowl his last two overs in the closing stages, removing Daniel Sams and Nick Bertus in the process as the equation swung further in Western Australia's favour.

It came down to New South Wales needing 14 off the last over and that proved too many against Tye, who conceded just five - despite bowling a wide - and claimed two wickets.

Western Australia had been solidly placed at 3 for 151 off 29.5 overs when the rain arrived and it lingered long enough to cause a significant reduction in the contest. On resumption, they did well to make 59 off the remaining 5.1 overs although New South Wales were hampered somewhat with Sean Abbott and Harry Conway having already bowled out.

Shaun Marsh had a half-century when the rain came and he added two more sixes to his tally after the break, one a huge pull, which went out of the ground, and the second a one-handed slice over backward point which he played from down on his back knee.

Henriques, who was entrusted with two of the death overs, struggled to land his attempted slower balls and was no-balled three times for big full tosses but the umpire did not rule them dangerous deliveries so he was able to continue bowling.