This article is part of our From the Press Box series.
We begin our preparations for the upcoming fantasy hockey season with a look at players who have moved onto new teams or others who will play more prominent roles. We conclude with the final of four columns exploring the Western Conference's Pacific Division.
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks were the class of the division last season, powered by their dynamic duo of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, two of the league's best power forwards. Another key that cannot be discounted was the debut of veteran Ryan Kesler, who anchored a second scoring unit with his own brand of tough two-way hockey. In the off-season they added more toughness with the acquisition of heavyweight Brian McGrattan, in recognition of the fact that this division still sees teams employing players who are primarily regarded for their fighting and offering protection for their skill players. They also picked up power forward Chris Stewart who has a great opportunity to build off the solid finish he had with Minnesota last season. On defense, the club may have lost veteran Francois Beauchemin, but they still have a lot of depth featuring Sami Vatanen, Hampus Lindholm and Cam Fowler. They also added Kevin Bieksa and Shane O'Brien, two more tough players who very adept in their own end. They also re-signed speedster Carl Hagelin and picked up another swift veteran in Mike Santorelli. Anton Khudobin comes over from Carolina to battle John Gibson for the backup goalie behind Frederik Andersen.
Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes drafted Dylan Strome third overall and added him to a growing stable of top offensive prospects that includes Max Domi and Anthony Duclair, who could all push returning veterans for key roster spots this season. Apart from that impressive stable, they acquired veteran blueliner Nicklas Grossmann to add an experienced presence to this young and mostly-offensive minded rearguard that features the high-scoring Oliver Ekman-Larsson. They brought back Antoine Vermette as a veteran presence, likely to work with the aforementioned young prospects. In addition, big John Scott will be local policeman to ensure the safety of his mates. Anders Lindback was signed as a free agent to fill the backup role behind starting goalie Mike Smith. Look for Lucas Lessio, another skilled forward, to get more ice time as a top-six forward after flashing some of those skills in a 26-game sample last year. Martin Hanzal, a hulking 6-foot-6 centerman who had a career-best campaign (24 points in 37 games) derailed by injury last season.
Calgary Flames
As a sign that you can never have too much of a good thing, the Flames picked up Dougie Hamilton in a trade with Boston to further strengthen a deep blueline corps that includes team captain Mark Giordano and three other capable and experienced two way defensemen. Karri Ramo was re-signed to a one-year, $3.8 million contract and will battle Jonas Hiller, who heads into the final year of his deal that will pay him $4.5 million this season. That will be a key battle and could lead to one of them being moved at the trade deadline. Michael Frolik cashed in after a 19-goal, 42-point season and signed a five-year deal with an annual cap hit of $4.3 million. Undoubtedly, he is expected to lock down a top-six role. Sophomore Sam Bennett is the next young gun, whom the Flames hope will take the next step to join Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau in a growing group of talented forwards.
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers can at least point to good luck in the draft lottery, where they once again received the top pick and parlayed that choice in Connor McDavid, who is widely acknowledged as the best junior hockey player to make the jump to the NHL since Sidney Crosby. Their other big off-ice move was to bring in Todd McLellan, who was a long-time bench boss in San Jose and is credited for getting the most out of that offensive-minded roster. He is challenged to do the same with a huge stable of recent high draft picks like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov and Leon Draisaitl, among others, who have not yet gelled into the offensive machine that was expected from this collection of high-end talent. Mark Letestu and Lauri Korpikoski are two experienced forwards who will solidify the bottom-six forwards. Meanwhile, Cam Talbot was picked up in a trade with the Rangers and is expected to improve the goalie situation immediately after such a strong showing last season. Griffin Reinhart, Eric Gryba and veteran Andrej Sekera were all brought in to play key roles in improving the club's biggest weakness on the blueline.
Los Angeles Kings
Mike Richards' off-season troubles resulted in the voiding of his contract, which carried a $5.75 million cap hit until the 2019-20 season. As it stands now, they are only required to pay a recapture penalty of $1.32 million for each of the next five years. That has given the Kings some unexpected flexibility. They turned a lot of heads when they pried one of the league's most feared power forwards, Milan Lucic, from the Bruins. His approach should fit very nicely among other big forwards who play the game that way for Los Angeles. They also took a chance on Christian Ehrhoff, a veteran offensive-minded defenseman who is looking to regain his form. He's a project who failed in a similar attempt with Pittsburgh, but if successful in L.A., he could be a nice windfall. Jhonas Enroth signed as a free agent will be a nice veteran backup to starting goalie Jonathan Quick. Tyler Toffoli, an emerging offensive force, was signed to a two-year bridge contract with an annual $3.25 million cap hit.
San Jose Sharks
After a string of playoff failures, the Sharks changed coaches by bringing in Peter DeBoer to try and change the culture of a team that's had the same core leadership group for a number of years. Melker Karlsson tallied 24 points in 53 games and could get a shot at a top-six role after re-signing for two more years at $1.65 million per season. The Sharks committed a combined $7 million to re-sign defensive-minded blueliners Brenden Dillon and Justin Braun (insert head scratch here). Paul Martin, an offensive-minded blueliner was added as well, coming on board for four years at $4.85 million per year. Among the forward ranks, Joel Ward, a physical player who chipped in 19 goals for the Caps last year, cashed in with an annual cap hit of $3.25 million and should join with a healthy Raffi Torres to give this team some needed toughness. Frazer McLaren was added as their new resident heavyweight. Martin Jones, a career backup goalie in Los Angeles, comes to the Sharks after being traded twice in four days this summer. He will get a shot at the starting job, battling holdover backup Alex Stalock.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks tinkered around the edges in terms of off-season additions, except for the trade that brought in Brandon Sutter from Pittsburgh, bringing in all the attributes that you would expect from that surname. He is expected to assume a second-line center role and provide grit that was missing there last season. In a strange trade, the Canucks moved out Zack Kassian in exchange for tough guy and the strong locker room presence of Brandon Prust, apparently tired of waiting for Kassian to blossom into a power forward. Beyond these transactions they added experienced young defensemen Matt Bartkowski and Taylor Fedun, who will battle for third-pairing minutes. Finally, Richard Backman was brought in to challenge Jacob Markstrom for the backup goalie role.
