Now that the regular season is over, 16 teams now know that they can win the Stanley Cup. The goal of any team’s regular season is to be one of those 16 teams to make the playoffs, because anything can happen come playoff time.
However, for those 14 other teams, they have to admit defeat and start their off seasons early. For some of these teams, their young cores make them confident that they can make the playoffs in the coming years. For others, they have to accept that they are over the hill.
The Boston Bruins come to mind when talking about over the hill. As one of the oldest teams in the NHL, the Bruins playoff miss is disastrous for their immediate future. They face the prospect of getting worse with the same team they have now. That means its time to blow up.
The first player they should get rid of is Zdeno Chara. The 39 year old Chara led the team in minutes per game with over 24, and showed he can still be a top line defender. With 37 points and a 12 +/-, Chara proved he can be a valuable commodity come this off season for a team that is trying to rent a star defender for a year to get over the Stanley Cup hump.
Patrice Bergeron led the team with 68 points, but if the Bruins decide to rebuild, its hard to imagine Bergeron sticking around till then. There is no point in paying Bergeron almost $7 million a year if the team has no chance to make the playoffs. There will be plenty of teams looking for a first line quality two way center this offseason, and what the Bruins get back for the star could allow them to quicken the rebuild process.
The Vancouver Canucks are another team that could very easily blow up this off season. The team finished with the third worst record this year, despite a plethora of veterans that have some worth in the open market.
Ryan Miller is a Vezina caliber goaltender on the right team. His 91.6 SV% and 2.70 GAA are not what you expect from the talented goaltender, but a lot of that had to do with the terrible play in front of him. The market is always open for a star goaltender.
It would be shocking if the Canucks decide to resign Dan Hamhuis or Radim Vrbata. Hamhuis was a part of the core that got the Canucks to multiple playoff appearances in a row. Vrbata got 31 goals when playing with the Sedin twins. However, both are past their prime, and it would be surprising to see the Canucks choose to continue choosing the two over their younger options.
Finally, the Winnipeg Jets are a prime candidate to blow up after a season that saw them never really competing for a playoff spot. A large part of the problem is that all of their Central Division rivals were jostling for a playoff spot into the final week of the season, which means all of those teams are probably going to be competitive again next year. The Jets however can start the rebuild process today, and when those teams get older and over the hill five years from now, can begin to dominate the division themselves.
Blake Wheeler is likely to attract a lot of suitors after a season where he was one of the most productive players in the league. He was tied for sixth in the league with 78 points, while his 52 assists was good enough for fifth. Wheeler also managed to get a 8 +/- on a terrible team, which showed that he is a capable two way forward on the top line.