24 people who will shape the 2023-24 NHL season
With opening night just days away, these are the faces across the league, on and off the ice, that will define the 2023-24 NHL campaign.
Summer is officially over which means the 2023-24 NHL season is right around the corner!
In our annual exercise, we’ve highlighted 24 people who will play a profound role in shaping the upcoming campaign. We’ve included players, executives, coaches and policymakers, mirroring the Hockey Hall of Fame’s criteria.
As always, it’s worth a reminder: this isn’t necessarily a list of the best players in the league, rather these people may shape it for off-the-ice reasons, contractual reasons, or a certain narrative attached to them.
Players
Erik Karlsson, Pittsburgh Penguins
Karlsson won the Norris Trophy with a tour-de-force offensive performance on a moribund Sharks team that was preoccupied with the Connor Bedard sweepstakes. The nature of his game presents a referendum on what the Norris should represent as Karlsson was on the ice for the most 5-on-5 goals last season and starts anew with a Penguins team looking to win one more Stanley Cup. Will Karlsson benefit from a change of scenery and put the Penguins over the top, boasting supreme offensive gifts with defensive negligence?
William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs
In the center of the hockey universe (stop booing me, I’m right!) Nylander’s ongoing contract negotiations is the primary story of Maple Leafs training camp. Nylander has consistently stated his desire to remain in Toronto and his nonchalance shouldn’t be misinterpreted as indifference. A shot-creation machine, Nylander is starting camp at center and could provide the Maple Leafs with some increased roster flexibility in a pivotal year. And if this is the year the Maple Leafs finally win an elusive Cup, Nylander will be paid handsomely while the denizens of Southern Ontario race to build the No. 88 statue on Legends Row.
Connor Bedard, Chicago Blackhawks
The best prospect to enter the league since Connor McDavid, Bedard is the centerpiece of a Blackhawks organization looking to revamp their image both on and off the ice. Bedard is different from other generational prospects in that his calling card is his one-of-one release which he can get off from anywhere on the ice. Although he’s undersized, Bedard routinely weaves in and out of traffic and is the runaway favorite to win the Calder Trophy. If he can bring the Blackhawks back to respectability in Year One, his pathway to becoming the face of the NHL will be accelerated.
Noah Cates, Philadelphia Flyers
Cates is perhaps the most interesting player you’ve likely never heard of. During his rookie season, Cates emerged as one of the NHL’s best defensive forwards while potting 38 points in 82 games. If the Selke Trophy was truly all about defensive impact, Cates would’ve surged up the list. We’re ignoring the perils of a potential sophomore slump here as Cates could emerge as a two-way dynamo for an otherwise defensively irresponsible Flyers club.
Elias Lindholm, Calgary Flames
Lindholm is another defensive dynamo who should’ve garnered more consideration for the Selke Trophy last year and he’s two seasons removed from a 42-goal campaign. Calgary was the league’s most disappointing team and Lindholm seemingly wants out as the season inches closer. A mix of top-line offensive production, durability and elite defensive ability would make him one of the NHL’s most attractive trade targets. Will Lindholm be on the move at the deadline?
Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
Stamkos set off a firestorm when he declared his disappointment over ongoing contract negotiations with the Lightning and is playing in the final year of an eight-year pact worth Yeah $68 million. Arguably the greatest player in franchise history, it would be a calamity and rare misstep from Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois if Stamkos has to test free agency. The idea of Stamkos hitting the open market is enough to make opposing general managers salivate, even as he enters his age-34 season. How will an irate Stamkos respond this year?
Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
Hellebuyck returned to form as one of the NHL’s best goaltenders, but he could be on the move. It’s clear that the Jets’ core isn’t good enough to win a Stanley Cup and Hellebuyck would provide instant credibility for a contender looking to solve their goaltending woes entering the postseason. It’s entirely possible that Hellebuyck won’t be in Winnipeg at the end of the season and we'll be monitoring his situation as the season progresses.
Update: Hellebuyck signed a seven-year extension on Monday
Timo Meier, New Jersey Devils
Meier was the top trade target at last year’s deadline and the Devils acquired the 26-year-old without having to surrender their top prospects or bonafide stars. His offense dried up during the postseason but an entire season with Meier in the fold makes the Devils arguably the NHL’s most compelling team. New Jersey wasn’t fazed either by his playoff slump, and signed Meier to an eight-year, $70.4 million extension this summer. One of the league’s best individual shot creators while with the Sharks, Meier could be in for a banner season on an offense filled with stars that should be a threat for years to come.
Cole Caufield, Montreal Canadiens
Caufield signed an eight-year, $62.8 million extension in June, making him an extricable link between the Canadiens’ past and future ambitions. The diminutive forward scored 26 goals but required season-ending shoulder surgery in January after playing in 46 games. Caufield is a lethal goal scorer but can he stay healthy? If he can’t, expect another exciting but ultimately fruitless season for the Habs.
Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida Panthers
Bobrovsky was listed as Florida’s backup entering the postseason but once he took over for Alex Lyon, he caught fire and played some of the best hockey we’ve seen in the new millennium. A two-time Vezina Trophy winner, Bobrovsky has a chance to author one of the strangest Hall of Fame resumes we’ve ever seen, provided that the Panthers can replicate their postseason form and revert back to the Presidents’ Trophy-winning outfit we saw two years ago.
Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers
Tkachuk emerged as the NHL’s most clutch player during last year’s postseason, keeping the cardiac Panthers alive until they ran out of gas in the Final against the Golden Knights — and for good reason. Tkachuk played the Stanley Cup Final with a broken sternum, Aaron Ekblad broke his foot and the Panthers are in the infirmary ward for the start of the year. Florida can threaten any team on any given day but will last year’s playoffs take a toll on the Hart Trophy finalist during the early portion of the season?
Jonathan Huberdeau, Calgary Flames
Huberdeau and Tkachuk will always be linked together after last summer’s blockbuster trade and they went in diametrically opposite directions. Tkachuk emerged as the NHL’s premier power forward while Huberdeau’s form fell off a cliff, recording 15 goals and 55 points, coming off a 115-point campaign in 2021-22. Which version of Huberdeau are the Flames getting, and will it affect their decision to embrace contention or start the rebuild?
Mattias Ekholm, Edmonton Oilers
It’s the Connor and Leon Show in Edmonton, but Ekholm was excellent for an Oilers team that desperately needed a top-pair defenseman. Ekholm and Evan Bouchard quietly entered the top 20 percentile of defensive defensemen last year while providing the secondary offense needed on the rare occasions that McDavid and Draisaitl slow down. Edmonton should be the leading contender to win the West and while all eyes are on the Hart Trophy winners, Ekholm will be the defensive catalyst.
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
Marchand and the Bruins are likely still smarting from their first-round upset at the hands of the Panthers. Boston had a chance to become the greatest single-season team of all-time and it blew its chance against a Florida team that received outstanding goaltending and timely scoring throughout its lineup. In the aftermath of the crushing defeat, Patrice Bergeron retired and Brad Marchand is now the 27th captain in franchise history. Marchand is still one of the NHL’s elite forwards, but now he carries the dual role of restoring confidence in a group that could’ve been in the record books, while taking on the responsibilities vacated by the inimitable Bergeron — easily the best defensive forward in the NHL during his final year. Can Marchand lead the Bruins to the promised land and lift the Cup in this transition season?
Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
Hughes is also taking on the ‘C’ this year, but he’s presented with a different set of responsibilities entirely. The 23-year-old has always been an offensive dynamo but his defensive game improved by several leaps last season, playing high-volume minutes on a Canucks team that was looking to secure Bedard in the draft. Hughes is one of the NHL’s best power play quarterbacks and will be looking to improve on a ninth-place finish in Norris Trophy voting last season. He’s now the clear-cut face of the Canucks franchise.
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
Doughty has quietly been among the NHL’s best defensemen for the past two years after a brief lull in his early 30s and he’s always a treat to watch even if he’s become more measured with age. Along with Anze Kopitar, Doughty represents the last vestiges of the Kings’ title-winning years and with the team boasting one of the league’s deepest prospect pools and assortment of young players, does a two-timeline approach work for the Kings? It may be up to Doughty, who still carries some trade value and real utility, coming off his best offensive season in five years.
Coaches and executives
Brad Treliving, general manager, Toronto Maple Leafs
Treliving inherited the Maple Leafs and fit Brendan Shanahan’s autocratic terms of boasting previous management experience with a stellar reputation in the boardroom. This summer, Treliving reworked the roster with the idea of becoming an outwardly tougher team at the expense of some skill. All eyes are on Treliving now and the 2023-24 season is not only a prime season for the Maple Leafs’ core, it will operate as a referendum on Treliving’s decision-making and how he views the modern NHL. No pressure or anything.
Jarmo Kekalainen, general manager, Columbus Blue Jackets
Kekalainen hired Mike Babcock this summer and said he vetted his candidate of choice. Babcock was then found to have violated his players’ privacy by asking to see the photos on their phones, then allegedly displayed them in his office. Kekalainen has been in power since February 2013 and the Blue Jackets have gone nowhere. Consistently producing one of the NHL’s worst rosters while hiring a coach known for abusive behavior, could Kekalainen’s run come to an end with another subpar season?
Kate Madigan, assistant general manager, New Jersey Devils
A rising star in the Devils organization, Madigan is responsible for the Devils’ analytically sound decision making and could become the first woman to be named as an NHL general manager shortly. New Jersey boasts the steady assets and prospects to make a major move, and if the Devils win their first Cup since the Martin Brodeur Era, Madigan’s reputation will grow tenfold.
Brett Peterson, assistant general manager, Florida Panthers
Peterson should be atop the list for general manager vacancies in the NHL. Florida is consistently one of the best shot-creating teams in the league under Peterson’s watch and few understand the balance between mathematically sound decisions and using the eye test better than the former Wasserman vice president.
D.J. Smith, head coach, Ottawa Senators
Ottawa was arguably the flashiest team this offseason and now have an established core of under-27 players that can seize upon the aging Atlantic Division. Smith has been in charge since May 2019 and has been afforded the requisite patience needed for a true rebuild. If the Senators fail to make the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year under Smith’s watch, it may be time for a change in the nation’s capital, especially with new ownership in place.
Policymakers, journalists and builders
Marty Walsh, NHLPA executive director
Walsh took over as the NHLPA executive director midseason and outlined his priorities to assembled reporters in Toronto during a March press conference. A holdover from Joe Biden’s administration, Walsh got to work this summer and took the Blue Jackets’ complaints seriously when investigating Mike Babcock for misconduct. There’s reason to believe that Walsh will make the NHLPA an effective union, which was often a punching bag during Donald Fehr’s reign.
Hugh Fraser, chair, Hockey Canada’s board of directors
Fraser is the new chair of Hockey Canada’s board of directors and holds the legislative experience you’d want out of a group tasked with reforming a broken, national institution. Fraser held a closed-door panel in August — a move that doesn’t scream transparency — looking to eradicate toxic masculinity from men’s hockey. It’s a start, but Fraser cannot rely on platitudes and catchphrases to reform a culture of sexual assault and racism under the previous board of directors’ governance. We’ll give Fraser room to operate but the honeymoon period is over.
Rick Westhead, journalist, TSN
Westhead is the premier investigative journalist in hockey media, ranging from scandals involving the Greater Toronto Hockey League to his tireless coverage of the Hockey Canada and Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandals. If Westhead reports a story, it’s worthy of national attention and it’s why he’s on this list for the second consecutive year.
