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The eight NHL teams on the cusp of greatness

It’s common to kick off the new NHL season pondering whether or not last season’s Stanley Cup champion has the potential to repeat — well, except for that stretch of five years when the greater hockey-viewing world anticipated the Chicago Blackhawks and L.A. Kings to just alternate years winning the Cup.

While the Stanley Cup-defending Pittsburgh Penguins are every bit the team to beat, there is a handful of clubs that are primed for the challenge. Here are the teams from each conference that are on the cusp of greatness headed into the 2016-2017 campaign.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Tampa Bay Lightning
This isn’t the first time in recent history that Tampa Bay has looked threatening before the season even opens. In fact, to call the Lightning “on the cusp” seems like a slight. But the Bolts have yet to hoist Lord Stanley’s mug, between falling in the Final in 2015 and being eliminated in the Eastern Conference Final last year by the Penguins.

With an almost identical roster to last season, there is every reason to believe that the Lightning will be competitive force again — perhaps even better than last season. The Bolts are healthier, with Steven Stamkos well past the surgery to remove a blood clot from his collarbone and starting goaltender Ben Bishop already seeing preseason action after missing a chunk of last year’s Conference Final due to a knee injury. They are also past the distractions of Stamkos’ contract and Jonathan Drouin’s debacle with GM Steve Yzerman.

What could really push the Bolts to another level would be a season without those distractions, although they aren’t off to a great start with leading scorer Nikita Kucherov holding out on participating in preseason until he signs a new contract.

Washington Capitals
The Caps are “that team.” You know the kind I'm talking about, the one that squashes any and all competition through a good portion of the season — the Caps even won the Presidents' Trophy last season — and then simmers out as the playoffs get underway. Having the league’s top scorer in Alex Ovechkin and a cool-as-a-cucumber netminder in Braden Holtby on the roster wasn’t enough to rally the team past the second round in the last NHL playoffs.

Despite Barry Trotz’s club being one of the most stacked, the Capitals are still just knocking at the door of greatness due to their habit of fizzling out late in the season when games matter the most. Now saying that Washington can’t be judged until the latter part of the season is a bit of a stretch — besides, most hockey players will tell you they are only focused on the game right in front of them, not the games taking place three months from now. But the only way the Caps really push themselves into greatness is to find some consistency throughout the season and not let it fade come April.

New York Islanders
Many a playoff bracket was busted last year when the Isles booted the Panthers in Round 1. To be a legit team in the upcoming campaign, they will have to show that same team on a regular basis.

New York also has some newfound relief between the pipes, with Jaroslav Halak finally healthy after an injury-riddled 2016 campaign and backup Thomas Greiss coming off an 11-game playoff run in which he posted a .923 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average. The blue line is coming together with the addition of Dennis Seidenberg — expected to play with scoring blue liner Thomas Hickey — which can take some pressure off of captain John Tavares and the rest of the offense.

The Isles finally have some good pieces in place. It will now be a matter of them firing on all cylinders.

Florida Panthers
Despite being one of the most pleasant surprises of last year’s regular season, there is surely a bad taste in Florida’s mouth after getting bumped in the first round of the playoffs by a banged-up New York Islanders team.

This Panthers team already looks to not be playing the “scrappy” card this season and made plenty of offseason moves to beef up the roster. The Panthers added Keith Yandle to the Aaron Ekblad-led blue line and made one of the biggest splashes of the summer when they signed goaltender James Reimer, who could carry some of the load with Roberto Luongo coming off of offseason hip surgery. Applying some of that push from last season to the revamped roster could boost the Panthers to a whole other level.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Dallas Stars
The Dallas offense was something to behold at the start of last season. At the beginning of December, the Stars were leading the league with an average 3.48 goals per game, catapulting themselves to the top of the Central Division standings.

Of course, that firepower simmered as the season rolled on, and the drop in scoring exposed the Stars’ flaws on the young blue line and a two-goalie tandem that declined as the games went on.

All that being said, this offense-driven team found a way to grind through the last leg of regular-season play and make a dent in the playoffs, even taking the St. Louis Blues to a Game 7 in the second round before being booted. What could take Dallas from being a “good” team to a “great” team will hinge on the health of its leaders, with both Tyler Seguin and captain Jamie Benn coming off of injuries that kept them from participating in the World Cup, and chemistry on defense that could help give netminders Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi some insurance.

Nashville Predators
Nashville remained a relevant threat during the regular season despite star netminder Pekka Rinne’s up-and-down campaign. It was already a big-body team that isn’t afraid to crash the net or get in front of even the nastiest sniper shot. Then, the Predators got an extra boost over the summer with the biggest trade of the offseason, sending then-captain Shea Weber to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for juggernaut blue liner P.K. Subban.

Even with the polarizing Subban on their side, the Predators will still need a bigger season from Rinne if they want to bash through the Central Division. His stat line took a hit between 2015 and 2016, with his save percentage dipping from .923 to .918 — not good enough when regularly facing goal-scoring machines like the Chicago Blackhawks.

Anaheim Ducks
No team had a more bizarre start to the last regular season than Anaheim, who went into opening night a Western Conference favorite and then notched a 1-7-2 record over the first 10 games. Although the Ducks rallied their way up the Pacific Division standings and into the playoffs, they were knocked out in Round 1 by the Predators.

One of the biggest things that could push the Ducks over the edge this season is, as simple as it sounds, to get off to a better start. The roster has a slightly different makeup than last year, but there’s no doubt that veterans Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler and Corey Perry are going to go to great lengths to make sure their team doesn’t get off on the wrong foot again.

The only other thing still standing in Anaheim’s way — at this point ahead of the season, at least — is that two key members of the roster have yet to be signed to new deals. The Ducks have yet to ink new deals for Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell, two key pieces to the lineup who won’t report to the team until new contracts are signed.

San Jose Sharks
The Sharks, much like the Lightning, were so close to winning the Cup that calling them “on the cusp” seems like an understatement. But that doesn’t erase the fact that it was the Pittsburgh Penguins who hoisted the Cup on San Jose ice last June, not the Sharks.

So in the offseason, San Jose looked to correct the problem it had during the Final: speed. The Pens were a much faster team, and the rough-and-tumble Sharks just weren’t as quick. So they acquired that element at the start of free agency by adding forward Mikkel Boedker to captain Joe Pavelski’s offense. A faster offense, mixed with a tight defense and another stellar season from netminder Martin Jones, could be Team Teal’s ticket to a Final win.

One thing to watch for, however? This team is coming off of a shortened summer in addition to its top players skating in the World Cup. Staying rested and refreshed during the regular season will be key, and that will be up to head coach Peter DeBoer, who made it a habit last season to give players enough rest in light of a heavy schedule

Can you name the NHL franchises that have never won the Stanley Cup?

One franchise is listed here as an answer that won multiple Stanley Cup Finals in its original run, but none in its current inception. 

SCORE:
0/10
TIME:
2:00
Western
Arizona Coyotes
Eastern
Buffalo Sabres
Eastern
Columbus Blue Jackets
Eastern
Florida Panthers
Western
Minnesota Wild
Western
Nashville Predators
Eastern
Ottawa Senators
Western
San Jose Sharks
Western
Vancouver Canucks
Western
Winnipeg Jets

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