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00:00The start of a new National Hockey League season in full, at least stateside tonight
00:09on the NHL's opening night for 2024-25.
00:14So to get you set for the season, and of course, to preview it all, NHL's Pete Jensen joins
00:20us live right here on this Tuesday on the Early Line on Sports Grid.
00:25Pete hosts the Fantasy on Ice podcast for the National Hockey League.
00:29To give you all the analysis and insight you need for a new year on the ice, Pete, we are
00:34so glad to have you here on this Tuesday morning.
00:37Thanks for the time.
00:39Always a blast to join you guys, whether it's the regular season opening night, last postseason
00:44was a dandy, of course, with the Panthers defending their title beginning tonight against
00:49the rival Boston Bruins.
00:52It's cool that Boston got Jeremy Swayman signed, sealed, and hopefully ready to deliver
00:57here for opening night.
00:59A lot of playoff history between Florida and Boston, as we will see tonight in Sunrise
01:05to start off a new regular season.
01:07Pete, let's start big picture, looking at the Stanley Cup title odds as of this moment
01:13entering a new year.
01:15The reigning champs, the Panthers, have that second best place at 10-1, but notice who
01:20is at the top.
01:21It's the Edmonton Oilers, of course, a sensational game seven in a seven-game Stanley Cup final
01:27between these two.
01:29Florida opened up a 3-0 lead, Edmonton rallied, winning the next three games to force that
01:34decisive take all game seven.
01:37So Pete, it's been 31 years now, as Edmonton came up short a season ago, since a Canadian
01:42team has won the most prized possession in hockey, Lord Stanley's Cup.
01:48Is this the year that it finally changes, entering 2024-25, with the Oilers booked
01:54as the preseason favorite?
01:56They have a great chance to win it all if they stay healthy.
01:59They locked up Leon Drysaddle for the foreseeable future, as that was an early preseason storyline.
02:06They cleared that up quickly.
02:07Connor McDavid's the best player in the NHL.
02:10He has players like Zach Hyman, of course, Evan Bouchard, producing at a historic pace
02:15in the postseason, along for the ride.
02:18They also improved in the offseason considerably, adding players like Jeff Skinner, Victor Arvidson
02:24is a really strong two-way forward.
02:26Skinner's a goal scorer who could rejuvenate his career playing with Drysaddle.
02:31That's the second line right now, Skinner, Drysaddle, Arvidson.
02:34They also added prospect Matthew Savoy from Buffalo in a separate deal, and Vasily Podkholzin
02:41has a little goal-scoring potential down the road if he's elevated.
02:45This is the year for Edmonton.
02:47There's no reason they can't get it done.
02:49Stewart Skinner, last postseason, even proved that he can rise to the occasion and be a
02:54reliable goaltender when it matters most.
02:57Pete, if I had a dollar for every time I've heard, this is Edmonton's year, I would already
03:03be retired on this show.
03:06Every year is Edmonton's year, or it's some team from Canada that never ends up happening
03:11here.
03:12But that's in the West is great.
03:14Who do you like coming out of the East if it's not the reigning champs?
03:19Whose year is it, do you think, in the East?
03:23I think the Rangers have the star power.
03:25They have the big five to get it done.
03:28They need to address the secondary scoring.
03:31I like what I saw from the preseason from their prospect, rookie defenseman Zach Jones,
03:36as a secondary or third defenseman behind Adam Fox and Keiondre Miller.
03:42If the Rangers stay healthy, there's a little injury concern with Artemi Panarin entering
03:46the season.
03:47That seems a little grizzled.
03:49And I think they could take a different approach at the trade deadline this year.
03:52They went all in two years ago with Kane and Tarasenko at backfire.
03:56They didn't have the chemistry.
03:57Last year, they were quiet.
03:59They wanted to keep the first round pick at the Sphere.
04:01I get it.
04:02This year, between the Rangers and the Knicks, it's going to be an arms race at the Garden.
04:06And I could see the Rangers making a big move before the deadline to boost their overall
04:11team.
04:13And of course, Alexi Lafreniere needs to keep the upward trajectory going.
04:16Down the stretch last year was excellent, and the postseason was one of the best even
04:19strength goal scorers in the league.
04:21Let's see him take the next step as well to get the Rangers to the promised land.
04:27Championship caliber rosters at Madison Square Garden for both the Knicks and the Rangers.
04:32You know that will be the expectation and the narrative entering this year.
04:36The reigning champs, that's the Florida Panthers.
04:39After being the unlikely eighth seed to reach the cup final two years ago, they end atop
04:44the National Hockey League, hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup.
04:48Winning in seven games, it got a little bit dicier than expected against the Edmonton
04:53Oilers.
04:54Pete, they are one of the six teams in action tonight to start off a new season, taking
05:00on the Boston Bruins.
05:03What do you expect Florida to do for an encore in 2024-25?
05:08I have them winning the division.
05:10The Atlantic is really tough to predict.
05:13You could talk about the ceilings of teams like Toronto, Tampa Bay, and Boston.
05:17You could also talk about their floors.
05:19I think Boston cleared that up a little bit with Jimmy Swayman signing.
05:24They have him and Corpus Allo, so the Bruins should be fine to make the playoffs.
05:28I do have my worries, like if Joseph Wall got injured for the Maple Leafs, what their
05:32floor would be.
05:33The goaltender, Tampa, they lost Stamkos and Sergeyev in the offseason.
05:38What is their floor going to be if they deal with any injury at any point for any stretch
05:43to a Headman or Kucherov, Point, or guys like that, Gensel, who they acquired in the offseason?
05:49To answer your question, I think Florida is a pretty safe pick to win the division.
05:54The only concern with them, they have a stable lineup, mostly across the board.
05:58They did lose Brandon Montour in free agency to the Kraken, their top power play defenseman,
06:04and then also Oliver Ekman-Larsen, who is a key secondary guy in a workhorse.
06:10They lost him in free agency to the Maple Leafs, so that's a little problems on the
06:14back end.
06:15Maybe you could catch up to them in the playoffs this upcoming year.
06:19So if you like, Pete, Edmonton, to make a run at this, I would imagine the frontrunner
06:26for the Hart has got to be McDavid on some level, right, and if not him, then who?
06:33I mean, I think Jack Hughes has a glimmer here if he stays healthy.
06:37I think his point ceiling could be something in the 120s, 130s.
06:41We saw it last year, right?
06:43Like McKinnon had 140.
06:45We always knew he had that capability if he stayed healthy for a full season, shattered
06:50his previous career high, won the Hart Trophy in a nail-biter over Kucherov.
06:55So it's not like McDavid wins this thing every single year.
06:58He is my pick to win the award because of all his individual accolades.
07:02The guy can drop 150 points in a hurry without thinking twice and finish, you know, head
07:08and shoulders above the rest of the league.
07:10But if the Devils are the clear bounce-back team of the season, and they're off to a good
07:14start here after the global series sweep of the Sabres, Jack Hughes, shots on goal machine,
07:19point producer like few other players in the league on a per-game basis.
07:24So I really like Jack Hughes' chances if he stays healthy.
07:28Not just an optimistic year ahead for the Rangers at MSG.
07:31You cross the river, you head over to Newark and they're off.
07:34They have high hopes for the New Jersey Devils as well.
07:37Pete, at the bottom of the Hart Trophy odds, you see a familiar name, Conor Bedard, who
07:43despite missing 14 games in his rookie year for Chicago, did win the Calder Trophy as
07:48the NHL's top rookie.
07:5022 goals, 39 assists a season ago.
07:5430-1, 10th best place to win the Hart Trophy.
07:58What does Bedard do in his second year in the National Hockey League?
08:01Yeah, I mean, if you want to have some fun, of course, like low-risk, Conor Bedard, Macklin
08:09Celebrini, this is the future of the NHL at our fingertips.
08:13Celebrini, of course, is rookie-eligible, sounds like he's good to go for the opening
08:17night for the Sharks.
08:19They also have Will Smith, another Calder contender.
08:21But Conor Bedard produced nearly a point per game last year for a terrible Blackhawks team
08:27that dealt with major injuries to Seth Jones and Taylor Hall.
08:30Both of those guys are back.
08:32They added Tyler Bertuzzi for some, you know, insurance on his wing, you could say, a little
08:37protection.
08:38Also, Tevo Teravine is back in Chicago.
08:41Taylor Hall, former MVP, is healthy.
08:43Philip Kurochev has played really well with Bedard.
08:46That means a much stronger supporting cast.
08:49So the ceiling of Conor Bedard is to keep the Blackhawks in contention maybe for a wild
08:54card spot.
08:55And therefore, he would enter the Hart Trophy conversation just because of what he means
09:00to the NHL.
09:01I feel like the voters would just have a frenzy, you know, flocking to this guy.
09:07The Hawks on the road tonight against the NHL's newest club.
09:11It's the Utah Hockey Club.
09:13They host Chicago tonight, a triple-header on opening night of the NHL season.
09:18Pete, we appreciate your time, as always.
09:20We'll talk very soon.