Looking at the moves that have been made so far, in terms of NHL-ready talent, no team is more improved than Buffalo. Losing essentially only Zadorov (again in terms of current NHL talent), the Sabres added O'Reilly, McGinn, Legwand and Lehner through trades and then made what I thought was a really savvy signing of Carlo Colaiacovo. To top it off, they've got Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart likely joining the team. Carolina and Edmonton should also easily dare better than they did last season, and Calgary's built on a great season with an impressive offseason thus far. Detroit will likely keep their Playoff streak alive with their free agent additions of Mike Green and Brad Richards - and having Anthony Mantha knocking on the door isn't going to hurt at all either. Dylan Larkin is going to be making a case for himself soon too, and Teemu Pulkkinen and Xavier Ouellet figure to be mainstays with the big club. The Red Wings also haven't lost any significant assets thus far through the off-season.
As far as which team got worse by the largest margin, I'd have to give that "honour" to Boston. The losses of Lucic, Sorderberg, and Hamilton have not been replaced - the Bruins likely will miss the Playoffs again next season.
Anyways, here are my (very rough) predictions so far:
1 Rangers
2 Tampa Bay
3 Montreal
4 Washington
5 Detroit
6 Islanders
7 Ottawa
8 Pittsburgh
---
9 Florida
10 Boston
11 Philadelphia
12 Columbus
13 Carolina
14 Buffalo
15 New Jersey
16 Toronto
1 Anaheim
2 St. Louis
3 Nashville
4 Vancouver
5 Chicago
6 Calgary
7 Winnipeg
8 Minnesota
---
9 Colorado
10 Los Angeles
11 San Jose
12 Edmonton
13 Dallas
14 Arizona
As far as which team got worse by the largest margin, I'd have to give that "honour" to Boston. The losses of Lucic, Sorderberg, and Hamilton have not been replaced - the Bruins likely will miss the Playoffs again next season.
Anyways, here are my (very rough) predictions so far:
1 Rangers
2 Tampa Bay
3 Montreal
4 Washington
5 Detroit
6 Islanders
7 Ottawa
8 Pittsburgh
---
9 Florida
10 Boston
11 Philadelphia
12 Columbus
13 Carolina
14 Buffalo
15 New Jersey
16 Toronto
1 Anaheim
2 St. Louis
3 Nashville
4 Vancouver
5 Chicago
6 Calgary
7 Winnipeg
8 Minnesota
---
9 Colorado
10 Los Angeles
11 San Jose
12 Edmonton
13 Dallas
14 Arizona
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