NHL Offseason: Expect the Unexpected
The 2022-23 NHL season has come to an end and the Vegas Golden Knights are your Stanley Cup champions. The NHL Entry Draft is next up on the calendar, then free agency, and many important questions might not be answered until the smoke clears in the summer, which certainly makes it harder to make long term forecasts. With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the things that make predicting the 2023-24 season tough.
Jump on the Goalie Carousel
It wouldn’t be surprising to see more than a third of the teams in the NHL mix things up at the goaltending position and shake up the futures board in a big way. Here a handful of teams that have some big decisions to make:
Goaltending depth proved to be an important factor for the Golden Knights in 2022-23, but they are one of the many teams entering the offseason with some big decisions to make. Adin Hill, Laurent Brossoit, and Jonathan Quick are set to become unrestricted free agents this offseason, and Hill and Brossoit are both due for a raise. The only goaltender Vegas has signed, besides the injured Robin Lehner, is Logan Thompson, who is coming off an injury that kept him out of all but two games between Jan. 28th and the end of the season.
The rumour is that Connor Hellebuyck’s next contract will not be with the Winnipeg Jets, and if he does find himself a new home this offseason, it’ll send shockwaves through the NHL because there are several ways it could work out. Teams like the New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres, and Los Angeles Kings are looking for a goaltender and if Hellebuyck were to go to any of those teams it would really cause a stir in the betting world because each one of those teams appears to be a couple of pieces away where they want to be.